Pan American Pier and Adventure of the Seas Questions

[cosmo115]

Our embarkation March 3 was as smooth as everyone else is reporting. One small note: They kept the doors to the stateroom halls LOCKED until exactly 2 pm, which was when our papers said cabins might be available. We were told they'd been doing that regularly.

 

We all got our luggage very shortly after we got into our cabins. All in all, couldn't have been happier with the whole process.

 

That's great to know. Thanks!!

 

I also recommend a post-cruise excursion through the ship. They take your luggage to the airport and someone stays with it until you arrive. It was really nice to not have to schlep our luggage around with us all day or even worse, sit in the airport for hours.

 

Find the helipad on the ship. If I remember correctly (someone please correct me if I'm wrong), go outside on deck 4 and walk all the way forward to a set of stairs and go up.

 

In St. Maarten, I highly recommend Bernard's tours. Just go on the St. Maarten forum page and you'll find more information. We had a blast and wouldn't hesitate to book with him again.

 

When you get on board, tell the Cafe Promenade staff that they better stock up on the cookie making materials because I'll be there 3 weeks from Sunday! :D

 

Thanks for the tips. I'm guessing the cookies are good. :)

[RZ3]

We did this itinerary aboard the Serenade in 2011. As others have said, getting aboard early isn't an issue. I don't recall exactly what time we arrived, but we were very early and boarded well before we expected to. We flew in the night before and stayed and the Marriot Stellaris after getting a great Priceline price. Just narrow your bid to a resort and you will get one of two, neither of which is bad. Bid low and iut will come back with what others have been successful bidding.

 

The itinerary is fantastic, but WILL wear you out. Take it easy and enjoy everything. Our last stop was St Croix where we just rented a jeep and drove around the island for several hours. We were quite tired of the beach by then. :-)

 

When leaving, DO NOT forget to run your bags through the agricultural scanners before checking in at the airport or you will have to go back and do it before checking your bags. They put stickers on them after the bags are scanned.

 

Enjoy your trip and rest up before you go if you plan on doing something other than sitting on the beach at each stop. :-)

[cosmo115]

We did this itinerary aboard the Serenade in 2011. As others have said, getting aboard early isn't an issue. I don't recall exactly what time we arrived, but we were very early and boarded well before we expected to. We flew in the night before and stayed and the Marriot Stellaris after getting a great Priceline price. Just narrow your bid to a resort and you will get one of two, neither of which is bad. Bid low and iut will come back with what others have been successful bidding.

 

The itinerary is fantastic, but WILL wear you out. Take it easy and enjoy everything. Our last stop was St Croix where we just rented a jeep and drove around the island for several hours. We were quite tired of the beach by then. :-)

 

When leaving, DO NOT forget to run your bags through the agricultural scanners before checking in at the airport or you will have to go back and do it before checking your bags. They put stickers on them after the bags are scanned.

 

Enjoy your trip and rest up before you go if you plan on doing something other than sitting on the beach at each stop. :-)

 

Thanks for the tips!! :)

 

As mentioned earlier as of right now:

 

I only booked two excursions (e.g., Tiami Sail, Turtles and Beach in Barbados and Stingray Swim & Snorkel in Antigua). The rest of the ports, I'll be heading to the closest beach to chill. :cool:

 

Although I will likely be adding one of the post-cruise excursions I mentioned earlier as well.

[RZ3]

We did a non-cruise sponsored turtle swim and snorkel in Barbados, beach on St. Lucia (vendors bugged us constantly... cabs will wait to fill up beofre heading out so be aware of that or hire a private cab), Prickly Pear Island in Antigua (great place, private island with limited guest count), Golden Eagle in St. Maarten (done that one four times now), and rented the Jeep in St Croix. We also stopped at Coconuts on St Croix, which has a great view of the ship and is a pretty decent beach. We just stopped there to eat before turning in the Jeep, though, so no beach time. It is very popular with a lot of people, including ship's staff.

[emmac25]

just because the ship leaves at 830 doesn't mean that you are able to late board. Your muster drill will be scheduled for 530 -6 pm which is mandatory to participate in regardless of whether you have sailed with RCCL previously. .

 

This concerns me greatly, I had posted previously about the "all aboard time" and was told 90 mins before departure (which in this case would put us at 7pm). To be told 5.30-6 is worrying when we only land (if on-time) at 2.30ish. I know 3 hours SHOULD be enough time to get to the ship but if we get delayed I would prefer that extra "cushion" a 7pm all aboard time provides.

[crookedhalo]

Crusindee is correct. We had the muster drill at 6pm on the first day. I do not know if they had one the next morning for those that missed it. We landed at 3:29 the day before the cruise and were at our hotel (the Sheraton Convention right next to the terminal) by 4:30 with no problem. I think the trick will be to set up your transportation ahead of time with a private company. Our driver was waiting for us in baggage claim and off we went - no fuss, no muss:p. Try GoPuertoRico Shuttle - they're very reliable:cool:.

[crisndeefromde]

This concerns me greatly, I had posted previously about the "all aboard time" and was told 90 mins before departure (which in this case would put us at 7pm). To be told 5.30-6 is worrying when we only land (if on-time) at 2.30ish. I know 3 hours SHOULD be enough time to get to the ship but if we get delayed I would prefer that extra "cushion" a 7pm all aboard time provides.

 

The ships in San Juan at Pan Am Pier have agreement with the airport next door about departures or something along that line. First dinner is at 630 the first night and second seating is 9. (first night only)

 

Only exceptions to missing the muster seemed to be the guests that were on choice air with royal and royal was in touch with staff to know where these passengers were at all times in flight or enroute from airport to pier so that their paperwork could be completed for departure for homeland security, who requires this. We had passengers coming on during muster...large group..we saw two busses bringing them, and then again about 7 or so...5 busses came with passengers still wearing heavy coats. Major snowstorm in midwest held up passengers. We had several in our rollcall that were supposed to be on our flight out of baltimore that missed our flight as their flight was delayed de-icing. Our room attendant had two cabins from one of the groups that she had to do muster drill with. She explained that she would take them to where they would have to be for emergency and then come back to cabin and make sure they could put on life vest correctly and go over procedures and they would sign a paper to give to officer in charge that they had gone thru this. Before our dinner we saw her taking them to our area. They were thrilled that they weren't in trouble for being so late. You will be fine with time getting to the ship. We always always come in day before our cruise in the winter cause here on the east coast we never know what is going to happen. Today for example...its freaking snowing...its spring.

[crisndeefromde]

Crusindee is correct. We had the muster drill at 6pm on the first day. I do not know if they had one the next morning for those that missed it. We landed at 3:29 the day before the cruise and were at our hotel (the Sheraton Convention right next to the terminal) by 4:30 with no problem. I think the trick will be to set up your transportation ahead of time with a private company. Our driver was waiting for us in baggage claim and off we went - no fuss, no muss:p. Try GoPuertoRico Shuttle - they're very reliable:cool:.

 

Hey Karen...which week were you onboard? We were on feb 17 and 24!

 

 

booked for next year already. really enjoy this ship and these islands...

[GoCards73]

I was also on the Feb 24 sailing. Thanks to a broken plane, we didn't arrive in San Juan until 4:15 on the day of sailing. We grabbed a cab right outside baggage claim and we were on the ship by 5 PM.

 

I still have our cruise docs, and they list check in and boarding as 1:30 PM - 7 PM.

[GoCards73]

BTW has anyone done the Tiami Sail, Turtles and Beach Excursion in Barbados?

 

We did this excursion in Barbados and had a great time. The turtles were awesome, but the coral reef we snorkeled was not very exciting. The crew on the boat, lunch and drinks were all great.

 

It's only fair that I also say that if you're after a smaller, more intimate catamaran trip, you might check out some of the reviews on the Barbados board. Our catamaran had about 40 people on it, but we enjoyed the socializing.

[RZ3]

Our snorkeling trip in Barbados was with Silvermoon. It's a smaller sized group. Great folks, very responsible, and a fun time for our whole family. The turtles scared my then 9YO daughter at first, but she eventually started chasing them. The reef was nice, too. I enjoyed seeing her relax and start diving toward the bottom to get closer looks at some of the fish.

[karen11g]

The ships in San Juan at Pan Am Pier have agreement with the airport next door about departures or something along that line. First dinner is at 630 the first night and second seating is 9. (first night only)

 

Our room attendant had two cabins from one of the groups that she had to do muster drill with. She explained that she would take them to where they would have to be for emergency and then come back to cabin and make sure they could put on life vest correctly and go over procedures and they would sign a paper to give to officer in charge that they had gone thru this.

 

On our recent (3/3) sailing on Adventure, the whole muster drill really surprised us. We did not have to bring our life vests with us. We gathered in comfort in the MDR. It was very brief and we never went outside.

 

No sweltering in the sun under a life vest. Entirely unexpected.

[wrp96]

On our recent (3/3) sailing on Adventure, the whole muster drill really surprised us. We did not have to bring our life vests with us. We gathered in comfort in the MDR. It was very brief and we never went outside.

 

No sweltering in the sun under a life vest. Entirely unexpected.

 

 

No one has to bring lifevests to muster anymore on RCCL. :) Although I do miss my obligatory orange vest photo.:p

 

As to the inside vs. outside stations, it all depends on your cabin. Many of the muster stations are outside, but they also use the MDR, and some of the other inside public places on the lower decks. It's luck of the draw depending on your cabin, not a change in policy.

[crookedhalo]

Hey Karen...which week were you onboard? We were on feb 17 and 24!

 

 

booked for next year already. really enjoy this ship and these islands...

 

 

We were on the 2/3 sailing (Super Bowl on board - oh yeah:D). I've got a few NCCs burning a hole in my pocket - nothing booked yet :(.