Oranjestad, Aruba cruise port guide

Located in the southern Caribbean, Aruba stands out with its desert-like vistas, wind-shaped trees, natural rock formations and breath-taking beaches. Its terrain offers plenty of opportunity for exploration and off-road trekking. As you arrive on an MSC Caribbean and Antilles cruise in Oranjestad, the tax-free capital named after William I (the Prince of Orange and the first King of the Netherlands), admire the city’s charming Dutch Colonial architecture with its antique buildings and houses that blend in with today’s modern architecture. Not much grows on Aruba. However, its hot dry climate is ideal for aloe farming. Book an MSC excursion to the Aruba Aloe Museum & Factory, and learn about the 160-year history of aloe farming on the island. If adventure is on your agenda, get on a UTV on an MSC excursion that will take you through Aruba's outback, skirting along the coastline with visits to the Alto Vista Chapel, the Bushiribana Gold Mill ruins that remind us of Aruba's 19th-century gold rush, and to the early 20th-century California Lighthouse, which bears the name of an unfortunate ship that sank nearby in 1891. An on-road driving MSC excursion will visit those sites as well, along with the amazing Casibari Rock Formation, or huge diorite boulders found in the centre of the island. Take a “Natural Aruba” MSC excursion to tour the Butterfly Farm, then pass countless divi divi trees and cacti before arriving at Aruba’s Natural Bridge, a wonder carved out of solid coral by the relentlessly pounding surf. Or relax in the calm waters lapping Arashi Beach and Palm Beach, while snorkelers will enjoy our catamaran sailing excursion that explores Boca Cathalina and the “Antilla” World War II shipwreck, considered to be one of the top dive and snorkel sites of the Caribbean.