How to visit Aruba Flamingo Beach while on a Cruise

I crossed another item off my bucket list! While on our five year anniversary cruise aboard the Carnival Horizon, we visited Aruba! I've wanted to go to Aruba for a very long time, especially ever since I heard about Renaissance Aruba Flamingo Beach. This 40-acre tropical paradise is Aruba’s only private beach and is home to Flamingos, Iguanas and the most beautiful beach I have ever seen.

Flamingo Beach is a private island owned by Renaissance. You have to have a room key to get onto the water taxi which will take you to and from the island. Once off the water taxi, you are almost blinded by beauty. I don't know how to explain what we saw and even photos don't describe the post-card like setting. It's truly an oasis.

On the island, you will find two private beaches, Flamingo Beach and Iguana Beach. Flamingo Beach is adults-only and Iguana Beach is for families. If you have little ones who want to see the Flamingos, they can feed them at 10am. After taking quite a few pics of the Flamingos, we spent the majority of our time on Iguana Beach. The family side of the Island was a little less busy without everyone trying to get the perfect instagram shot with a Flamingo.

In between the two beaches is a store and rental booth, where you can get complimentary towels, floats, snorkel sets, paddleboards, kayaks and more. Plus each beach is supplied with tons of complimentary chaise lounges.

If you find yourself in Aruba while on a cruise, I would 100% suggest finding a way to visit Renaissance Aruba Flamingo Beach. It was the best part of our 8 night cruise and we are trying to figure out when to go back to Aruba for a longer stay.

Here are three ways you can get visit Aruba Flamingo Beach while on a cruise 

Getting to Aruba Flamingo Beach Option 1: Book a room at Renaissance Aruba Resort and Casino
This is what Gabe and I did. I had enough Marriott points to cover a one night stay, which if I paid cash for, would have set us back roughly $250. Being a guest of the resort gave us all the perks including the complimentary water taxi to the Island. Obviously we didn't use the room, but it was nice to take a shower and freshen up off prior to getting back on the boat. With my Marriott Bonvoy status, I also received $25 free play in their Casino, 10% off all food and drinks at the Private Island, and a few other perks. Even if we didn't have the points, I would have still booked a room paying cash as it was the most affordable option while we were visiting.

Getting to Aruba Flamingo Beach Option 2: Book a Spa Cove Treatment at Renaissance Aruba Flamingo Beach
Booking a treatment at Spa Cove will give you guest access to Flamingo Beach. However, your whole party will need to book a treatment and each person will have $25 added to their treatment for the water taxi. When we inquired, a 50 minute couples massage would have set us back $290 (per couple), then the taxi fee and tax would have been $357.40. Sometimes Aruba Resort does have a 2 night minimum so if this were the case when we went, the Spa option would have been the better option.

Getting to Aruba Flamingo Beach Option 3: Buy a Renaissance Aruba Flamingo Beach Day Pass
This is not a guaranteed option and I would only suggest this if you were staying in Aruba vs. going on a cruise. Renaissance Aruba Flaming Beach Day passes are available for purchase only on days that the hotel is not above 80% occupancy. You can only call a day prior to visiting to secure your pass, so if you are on a cruise ship, this will be rather difficult. If we weren't using Bonvoy points, a day pass for two people is the most affordable option. We would have spent $250 which included a  meal and a drink. However, not having the guarantee of visiting crossed this off as an option.

Special thanks to Carnival for hosting me on this sailing. I was not required to write this post and all opinions are my own.

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