Davey Interweb

Hi Lois! We initially wanted to do the Tulip Time itinerary, but the dates didn’t work for me. No matter, we toured Germany instead - we met some fine people onboard had a great time. I highly recommend the cycling tours!

Lois, I'm sure you'll love AmaWaterways! I've cruised with them three times now (Vietnam/Cambodia, Danube, and Duro) with a fourth trip upcoming, and each has been fantastic. They're responsible for me catching the river cruising bug :D

I’m not changing any of my plans, I have a Paris - Provence river cruise coming up in the spring and I know it will be terrific.

To be perfectly honest, I’m more apprehensive about travelling within the US. Sadly, America seems to be saturated with crazy these days.

Looks like the OP booked on Summit instead. It's clear now that her travel agent was just trying to steer her toward a more expensiv...oh wait.

I personally cannot imagine a RCCL employee recommending one ship over another

What? I have to ask, why is this so implausible to you? RCCL had four ships regularly sailing round-trip San Juan (three now). Of course it's possible a rep might steer a travel agent to recommend one over the other.

Also, out of curiosity, where would bait-and-switch come into play here?

The things that are negative could be the difference between a good and a great vacation. Information communicated to the actual TA but not mentioned here. I don't waste much time with positive reviews. The negative ones are more helpful in setting my expectation.

Very true. I'll take information I glean from reviews with a grain of salt; generally I dismiss any that are entirely negative or entirely positive. No cruise or ship I've ever been on has been flawless. Me, I've never had a bad cruise, but I would easily rank my AOS experience right at the bottom of all the sailings I've done. Experiences are quite subjective, aren't they?

There are some great ships sailing the southern route, and it'd be difficult to make a bad choice. Each will have a different feel to it and it's up to the TA to determine what their client is looking for out of a cruise, based on the questions they ask of them and the answers they receive. That's supposed to be what they're there for.

Are you kidding me...read the reviews on this site...I sailed AOS and absolutely loved it...you will always have those that don't have a good time, but it's a great cruise. You need to find another TA...

Did you read the OP's last post? Sure, there have been many glowing reviews of AOS on this particular forum, but there have also been a great deal of negative ones. Would I recommend it based on personal experience? Maybe, but with strong caveats.

My AOS cruise wasn't awful or anything, it was just flat-out boring compared to other RC cruises I had been on. The ship was asleep at midnight and the casino vacant, every single night. Keep in mind, though, every sailing is different. The one after ours could have been a non-stop party for all I know.

I'll readily admit that I dislike the Voyager/Freedom class ships to begin with; I love the Radiance class and Serenade would be the ship I'd personally opt for if I did the southern route again. Just a preference.

I'd say complete the instruction/classroom stuff at a local PADI-certified school if you have access to one, and do the actual certification dives during the cruise.

I don't mean to be negative, but there is nothing luxurious-looking about the decor in that suite. Honestly, it looks cheap and institutional to me.

To me it's so awful it's almost like they were trying to make it retro-kitschy on purpose, but failed with hilarious results.