Ubiquitous Cruiser

We were there is April of this year and had lunch at Splash.

Any menu item was included. We had the fish and mixed tacos. The fish was fresh grilled amberjack. We ordered all of our drinks from Splash or poolside. We had mimosas, beer & a couple of the drinks posted on the marquee which ranged from rum to vodka based drinks. They told us that really every drink was included in our package - but we did not look for scotch or single malts.

My DW also ordered a Blue Hawaiian and there were no added charges.

Even @ $109 I'd go back considering the food, drinks and transportation ... plus the resort is beautiful!

trixigal, glad you had a good time ... we sure did too.

When we checked in at the front desk they gave a sheet of everything that was included in our package and gave us a red wrist band for the day. We were told that was our pass for the day and the staff (bar, food and towels) all recognized it and did not ask us for any other details as we enjoyed the amenities. I believe the sheet indicated that water activities were available on a cash basis.

We just ran an open tab at the pool bar with our last name and no questions were asked, but glad it all worked out for you. Like you we found the staff to be friendly and accommodating. In fact, the resort bar manager stopped by during lunch to chat with us and make certain that we were being well cared for during our visit.

Just got a price reduction for 2 upcoming cruises using the 20% off promo ... One saved us $120 and the other $48 ... none of the prices on our cruises were below the introductory prices though, but it worked for me since I did not book immediately as the schedules were released.

Last month on Adventure the DOD was not discounted ... It was just highlighted & cost the same as all the other drinks.

I only found one review for cabin 2148 on this ship and it says it is right over the engines so it's very noisy and there are vibrations. Does anyone have any input about this particular cabin or the cabins in this vicinity? It is on deck 2 aft.

I think we stayed in the adjacent cabin (2150) last Oct. It was like any other cabin as far as comfort. It was rather cool down on deck 2 and you could definitely feel the vibration when lying in the bed. That doesn't bother us since it's gentle.

It was not noisy at all except when pulling into port and they were tying off the ship to the dock.

For this reason we booked the last Freedom sailing for PC (10/30/16). It's a 5 night western & the prices are still within reason. We also plan to do a 3-4 night on Enchantment in the winter of 2016.

We have never experienced a cabin that would not cool on Royal & we like to sleep with it pretty cool too. In fact, I always enjoy cruising so I can drop it cooler than my wife allows at home ... :D

The tour looks fun, but I am worried it will be a bit rowdy for my 7rd old and 13 yr old. Thoughts?

We did their sunset cruise 2 weeks ago & there were a couple of younger kids on the sailing ... If your kids are strong swimmers, they would likely enjoy the rope swing and they do have soda for them to drink. The crew is lively but does not get rowdy so it would really depend on the customers on board with you.

Our group had a good time but no one got out of hand but most everyone was pretty buzzed ... except for the crew and the kids ... :)

I would rather spend my day on the beach than around a pool. What is the beach there like? Palm trees? White sand? Beautiful blue water? Lots of chairs? Thanks in advance!

They have a very large beach with lots of shade as well as loungers & umbrellas - all of which is included. We did not see palms but rather small trees that are common to eagle beach in Aruba. But not sure what they're called.

Visited the resort just last week & agree that is amazing. The food and drinks were as advertised and the staff is eager to please. They do not treat cruisers as second class guest and were eager to find out more about our trip.

I ordered the Brion beer just to try the local brand. We also ordered mimosas and several of the featured cocktails on the marquee at the pool bar. The grounds are incredible as well and they have loungers with umbrellas for the beach and pool. The servers will bring drinks to you and never expect an extra tip. At the end of the day, we did tip one particular server that gave us extra attention throughout the day.

There is also WiFi in the great hall (lobby) that you can catch from the first pool area. We will definitely be visiting here again and even are considering an extended visit on their AI package.

Now onto the state of the ship which people seem to think it's in great shape they have really been drugged or something because I disgree.

Was on the same sailing as you & I must have missed out the drugging sessions. Was that listed in the Cruise Compass delivered to your stateroom?

Thanks for the review -

 

Where did you pick up the bus in Aruba? Where does the bus drop you off?

 

Thanks

You pick up the city bus (Arubus) across the street from the cruise terminal. As you exit the ship, you will enter a building. Exit that and pass the tour buses that all line up. Then you will exit the lot and cross the street. The terminal is visible from the street & the schedule is posted on a huge board on the left. The buses run about every 10-15 minutes and only run east & west. We told the bus driver that we wanted to get off at the Holiday Inn and he let us know when we approaching it. That was Palm Beach and is the hotel, shopping & casino district. Just before that is Eagle Beach and is less populated but beautiful as well. Either one will cost $2.30 / person. You then pick-up the return bus at any of the well marked Arubus bus stops.

Just now reserved the Santa Barbara Beach Resort - Curacao..thank you..

 

Is it customary to tip anyone on this type excursion?

 

Also doing, http://www.trikes-aruba.com

You will not be disappointed! We did tip one particular server at the resort who provided us great poolside service throughout the day. However, upon checking in at the front desk you are given a fact sheet that notes that tipping has already been factored into your price.

Ubiquitous Cruiser,

 

Thanks for answering my question. It sounds like you had a fantastic cruise and made good use of your time at each port. Wow! You did a lot!

 

How did you decide what you were going to do at each port?

Yes we were quite busy and looked forward to the sea days to vacate. I used Cruise Critic for much of the research and used the Internet ouija board (Google) to find the Curaçao AI, which is a new offering from what I learned on the port forum.

Heyyyy, Sailor Jack an I are in charge of RCI funny. Welcome!!!!:):)

Enjoy your observations and dry wit so birds of a feather and all that ... :D

Thanks for your observations. Which ports did you visit? Did you go off the ship on any excursions?

This was for the Southern Carib and departed from San Juan, PR. Here are the stops and things we did.

San Juan - Cab ride to Old San Juan, explored the forts and strolled around down town. The forts were really amazing and could have spent much longer there.Found a fantastic brew pub and sat and enjoyed our beers while watching the streets come to life in the evening.

St. Thomas - Toured with Godfrey on the full day shopping, sightseeing & beach time. Highlight was visiting the Banana Daiquiri Factory where that drink is amazing ... think grown up smoothie ... fresh bananas with a little cream and a rum shot mixed in a blender. Yummy! Also visited Meghans Bay, but it was closed due to prevalent rain and thus unsafe swimming water. So he took us to Conkell (?) and we had a relaxing afternoon lounging on the beach.

St. Kitts - Toured with Javin on a full day cultural, snorkeling, rainforest and black rock hiking tour. The black rocks were incredible as Javin has installed a path down to the rocks with a rope to ease yourself down the embankment. The rainforest hike was fascinating too and included some amazing meat and veggie patties. The beach time included free flowing rum punch and leftovers from lunch. Javin loves his homeland and shares much of the history and economy with you ... highly recommend him.

Aruba - Took the public bus to the beaches ($2.30 / person) at the high rises and enjoyed some cocktails at the Moomba Beach Bar. Took a nice long walk on the beach and then boarded the Jolly Pirate for a sunset sail to Eagle Beach. The bar was open the entire trip and many enjoyed the rope swing. It was a party atmosphere, however, no one got out of hand or crude.

Curacao - Booked an AI day pass at Santa Barbara Beach Resort through Resorts for a Day, which included transportation. Highly recommend this as the resort is stunning and the staff was most gracious and never treated us cruisers as second class. The lunch we had was fresh red snapper tacos with onion rings and the bar staff/service was top notch. Ended the day exploring a little bit of Willemstad, but could have used a few more hours to thoroughly do that.

Looking back we seemed to structure a lot of our activities around food and alcohol ... so now I have to visit my two least favorite women in the world ... Jenny Craig and Betty Ford ... :D

Not a full on review but just some casual observations:

Appearance: We found the ship to be in fine shape. Sure there was some cosmetic issues and the occasional furnishings that needed repair but the crew was active in cleaning, repairing and painting throughout the cruise.

Crew & Service: The crew was friendly and responsive. We had some concerns with our MTD wait staff and politely requested to be moved after the second night since we had made pre-reservations for the entire cruise. Upon arriving to the dining room on the third night we were quickly escorted to a new section and had fantastic service. The head waiter also followed us out of the dining room that night and double checked to make sure that our expectations were met. The Windjammer staff was very attentive and was always quick to bring drinks with your meals. They also quickly bussed tables and we never once had an issue locating a table when dining in the Windjammer.

Bar Service: The lines at the bars never seemed long and they usually had 2 bartenders at every bar. They also had the rolling drink carts on the pool deck and in the Windjammer. There were also roaming drink of the day servers on the pool deck for sea days with the customary rum shot on top. The bartenders all appeared to be measuring their pours.

Drink Prices: The prices were as we have all discussed ... quite high IMO. The drink of the day was the same price as any other drink ($10) and any special pricing (2 for 1 or % off wine) was advertised in the Compass and in a newsletter that was available in the Schooner Bar.

Beer Selection: The Duck and Dog had an IPA (Sam Adams Rebel) and it was priced the same as the other bottle beers ($5.50). There was also a Blue Chimay but I did not inquire to its price.

Food Quality: We found the food in the Windjammer and the Main Dining to be on par with all our other cruises. The Windjammer did provide 2 pre-made omelets (with and w/o cheese) and they were always present and hot, which helped shorted the line for the made to order egg/omelet station. The bacon was cooked more crispy than we have experienced in the past. The coffee stations offered ample supplies of milk, hot milk & half & half.

Entertainment: It was your typical variety but there were no really standout performances. The featured act one night was an Elvis impersonator, who we were admittedly not very enthused about. He was actually entertaining and did a spot on job while not taking himself too serious and thus made the show quite enjoyable. Due to the cruise departing from San Juan, PR there was a large Hispanic presence of pax on the cruise and we did stumble upon one lounge (forget the name of it) that was quite lively and seemed like a scene out of Havana nights. The greeter at the Windjammer that urges you to wash your hands was a kick too ... He enjoyed making up songs to popular hits like Michael Jackson's hit, Billy Jean washed her hands, and sang some tunes in Spanish ... He was a Pacfic Islander and him singing in Spanish made it all the more fun.

Disembarkation: The process was quick and timely. The only issue is that it appeared that they had Diamond (?) cruisers exiting from a different exit than the rest and this caused a little angst as they attempted to merge into the customs line with the rest of the pax.

All in all we had a wonderful time and found our first experience on AOS to be a total blast & would definitely sail her again. Feel free to ask questions and I know there was a large group of Cruise Critic members on this sailing ... so I'm sure your questions can be addressed.

Does he have a website? I've tried Google but nothing comes up. Would like to see what his tours offer.

Myislandstours.shutterfly.com

Many thanks for sharing. I'm just looking into this resort for our cruise in October. I've been sent the info from the resort and just had one query. Under the section that states whats included it say "house brand beers". Do you know if that includes Budweiser? Thanks again

Found this on two of their menus ...

http://www.santabarbararesortcuracao.com/i/downloads/Medi_Beverage.pdf

Brion •$4.00

Polar •$4.00

Presidente •$6.

Presidente Light •$6.00

Amstel •$5.50

Amstel Bright •$5.50

Heineken •$5.50

Corona •$6.00

Not sure if these are the House Brands or if it's Brion, which is a pale ale brewed in Curacao, or the Polar, which is a Venezuelan American lager.

Do you need to make reservations for the Ice Show like on Freedom?

Thanks for sharing the details. We booked the same just a few weeks ago for our upcoming trip ... Did you see any water activities that we available on the property & were they extra?

Is gratuity added onto the price per bottle ordered via Gifts & Gear?

Sunset cruise suggestions from June 2014

 

We have sailed with Strea Charters, Jolly Pirates and Tranquilo. They were all great. It just depends upon what type of experience you are looking for.

 

Blue Melody & Black Pearl Sailing also receive excellent reviews on CC's sister website http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g147249-d1566249-Reviews-Blue_Melody_Black_Pearl_Sailing-Palm_Eagle_Beach_Aruba.html

How is the Jolly Pirate sunset? We like a more relaxed vibe but don't mind a few laughs with a cocktail, but are not looking for a party barge ... Is this for us?

We were charged $10 before tax, tag & title for a basic rum punch this week on Brilliance ... We bought 2 for a five night cruise. House Chardonnay was $7 & the Cabernet was $8 ... we used our C&A BOGO coupons for one of each for those. I was told that a vodka tonic cost $8 but ordered a vodka cranberry instead and it was $8.

Our bar bill was almost nothing on this cruise due to the sticker shock.