Is Holiday Travel with the Whole Family Worth It?

This past Thanksgiving, the four of us decided to spend a holiday travel to Aruba. Typically, we stay home, but after a debacle of a Spring Break trip to the Poconos where a freak winter storm dropped 9 inches of snow, we desperately wanted a do-over. Aruba always has the best weather and beaches, so after a family vote, we all agreed to go to One Happy Island.

If you’ve ever been to Aruba, you know how beautiful it is. There are gorgeous beaches with crystal clear water and white sands as far as the eye can see. And if you’re not into swimming in the ocean (which is totally fine), there’s also snorkeling and scuba diving. Plus, there are many activities like parasailing and jet skiing or just hanging out on the beach drinking cocktails. Guess what my favorite thing to do in Aruba is? If you guesses the latter, you’d be correct. I’m very good at chilling.

We flew down the day before Thanksgiving. The flight was a little under 4 hours, so we had just enough time to eat, drink and get a power nap so we could hit the ground running. It’s much easier traveling with the girls now that they’re older. We’re always on the go, so they are good at packing and gathering everything they need with little or no supervision.

There are many places to stay while visiting Aruba, but we like Resort Row in Noord. The proximity to sights, public transportation, excursions, dining, and shopping is a major convenience. On this visit, we stayed at the Barcelo. It’s an all-inclusive resort, but we chose to eat and drink off-site. The food at the Barcelo is meh. I’m chill about a lot of things, but life’s too short to eat blah food. Don’t get me started about drink preference. I’m way too damn old to be drinking house “licka,” so we always stop at the Duty-Free shop in the airport to pick up a little something.

For the reasons mentioned, The Barcelo isn’t our favorite, but a few pros outweigh the cons. The staff is the absolute friendliest, and adjoining rooms are always available. This is super important to us. Only a few resorts offer suites, and those must be booked at least a year in advance. I applaud the folks that can plan that far in advance; but that’s not my ministry! We’re more along the lines of, “We need a break; where do you want to go?” mindset. Anywhoo, the girls are too big to stay with us, and they need their privacy just as much as we do. Also, Papa McKnight doesn’t rest well if he can’t get to his girls quickly in an emergency.

On the first day, Thanksgiving Day, we visited Flamingo Beach, a private island connected to Renaissance Aruba Resort and Casino. Flamingo Beach has a full restaurant and 2 beaches. One is for adults, and the other is geared more toward families with little ones. The family side is much better. It’s bigger, so you can spread out more. If you love Flamingos, this is the place for you. There are ample opportunities for photos and feeding the flamingos. If swimming, feeding, and taking pictures of the exotic birds isn’t cool enough, the only way to get to there is by boat. It’s a legit island.

Thank you, Christine, of Planes, Trains, and Champagne, for this breakdown of the luxury cabanas we visited. Please see below.

These are the larger cabanas.

Rental cost: $425 USD per day plus a 15% service charge
Rental period: 9 am to 6:30 pm
These cabanas include: Bottle of sparkling wine, two bottles of Voss still water (375 ml), two bottles of Voss sparkling water (375 ml), refreshing tray-passed bites, two water floats, towels, cabana butler service, and two snorkeling masks.
These cabanas accommodate up to 6 adults.

It was worth every penny! The level of service, food, and drinks was top-notch.

We spent the entire day on the island and started to venture back to our resort around 4 pm to prepare for Thanksgiving dinner. For dinner, we went to Gianni’s. Their signature dish? Italian Spaghetti al Formaggio Parmigiano. How does it work? They bring out a giant wheel of Parmesan cheese, shave out some cheese, pour whisky on it, light it on fire and when the flames die down, they pour in the cooked spaghetti and roll it around completely, covering the spaghetti with the cheese. You cannot get closer to pasta heaven. Liya and I got the signature dish, and I added shrimp to mine. Eric had Penne, and Naiya opted for the special. For the table we got a grilled lobster. It was delicious!!!!!

Friday, Saturday (Eric’s birthday), and Sunday, we vegged out and spent the entire day on the beach in the sun and sand. Eric wanted a low-key day, so reggae, reposado tequila, and a cigar on the beach was what he did. Of course, the girls drank their weight in daiquiris and Pina Coladas.

We thoroughly enjoyed our Thanksgiving, but it didn’t feel like Thanksgiving until dinner. I can’t believe I missed my husband watching football and sleeping for hours. After talking to the fam, they agreed that while we had a fantastic experience, we won’t make it a habit of traveling for Thanksgiving. Instead, we’re going to try traveling every other year and see how we like it.

Pros of Traveling for Holidays

You don’t have to cook or clean
Thanksgiving is a great time to get away from the hustle and bustle of your regular life
You get to experience new things and create new memories
You get to try a variety of different foods
Lots of activities to do with your family
Escape cold weather