Take some Arturo Fuente bands down with you and reband yourself.
Also, a couple things about Aruba, there is a nice cigar shop in the shopping center/strip mall on the main drag. It is downstairs in the back. Good selection and average prices. Upstairs there are a couple of bars and restaurants. Across the street is the swap shop where yu can get decent souveneirs. At that strip mall, on the terrace having a drink, if you face the ocean, look right. That first stop light, if you make a left there you can go up the street and there is a Carlos and CHarlies which is fun at night. Before you get there, on the right hand side, there is a restaurant on the second floor. Just go up the stairs. Good fish there.
Stay away from the cigar shop next to the Cruise Ship terminal. They do have legit cuban at decent prices. They will also bait and switch, taking your Cubans in the back to wrap up and mail to your house. Then when you get them, they are fakes. Also, my shipmate also bought fake Monte's there.
You can take a short cab ride from the main city to the Hooters. There you can catch different sports via satellite. When my buddies and I went there, it was dead. So we sat way in the back away from everybody, and smoked som Montecristo EL's while watching the game and hitting on the waitresses.
Like everywhere else, just be smart. Don't get in a cab if there is 2 people up front. Take cabs, and not local's using their vehicle as a cab, put your ID and credit card in your front pocket seperate from your wallet, dark roads, etc... While the Holloway case is a rare exception, there is generally low rates of violent crime. Usually your local punks snatching and grabbing, drugs, etc... Have fun!
Emo
Enjoy Aruba. it is one of my favorite places.
Be careful buying cigars, there are more fakes than real. LCDH is pricey, but the woman who is always there is nice, and was quite helpful. It is in one of the "malls" in Oranjestad (sp?).
And as for the whole crime thing (not sure if Pegleg was serious or not), yes, if you have an 18 year old girl with you, let her know that getting wasted in clubs and then leaving with strangers to have casual sex is not a good idea while on vacation. If this is new to her...something might be wrong at home. Not that what happened is right, one should be able to have wasted casusal sex without getting killed (hell, college would have been one dangerous place if you couldn't)...but still...
It is down stairs in the back of the big mall right on the water. Decent selection. You can get good deals on the minor marques, but the money makers are always a bit pricey. My buddy bought a box of Tubed cigars for $100. I think they were H. Upmann - Coronas Major.
Emo
