Latest time to reboard AOS

[bosox04]

Hi,

 

I someone could please help with this question. We will be on the AOS on Sun 11/06 around 2:00pm we want to do our boarding process and then take a taxi to Old San Juan. My question is what is the latest that we should be back on the ship or the time RCI wants us back on the ship before the 10pm sail away. I would appreciate anyones experience with this.

[Jeepers385]

We just got off the AOS this past Sunday and I don't have my compass with me but I think you had to be back to the ship before the muster drill which was at 7:30 promptly. We were in the middle of dessert and had to leave it behind because they were ushering us out the door.

Debbie

[renebfl]

Jeepers, what excursions did you do?

[Jeepers385]

Depending on your itinerary we went to Curacao and did snorkeling at the sea aquarium. The sea aquarium and shows are good but the water for the snorkeling was cloudy. You could see the fish, sea turtles and sharks but not very clear.

Aruba - I went to Eagle Beach and DH went fishing for a full day. Later in the evening went to Carlos & Charlies.

St. Marten's did an excursion with Joyce Prince. She's very good but normally booked up way in advance. She will ask you what types of things you want to see and where you want to go, tailors the tour to what you want. She's very good.

St. Thomas we did a full day sail with Aluent Charters. Absolutely wonderful time. Capt Ron & Carol were wonderful. We had fruits & fresh baked bread on the way to St. John's, if you wanted mimosa's, bloody mary's, rum punch, beer, wine or soda it was available all day. We snorkeled at a beautiful area of St. John's and then had lunch a quarter piece of chicken, rice & beans caribbean style, salad and fried plantaans, delicious. We then sailed to Great St. James Island and snorkeled again.

Hope this helps also we don't normally do excursions through the cruise line since they normally charge double the price and so far we've enjoyed all we've done.

Any questions let me know.

Debbie

[SPARKLE10]

Jeepers385

 

We have the AOS booked for next March. How was the condition of the ship? Did you find a lot of unruly kids onboard, as I have been reading about? Also, I've heard horror stories of the SJ airport. Do you have any comments or tips you can pass on reference the AOS or the airport? Did you have a good time? Are you posting a review?

 

Thanks.....

 

Happy Cruising

 

Buddy

[Jeepers385]

Hi Buddy, as for the overall condition of the ship I would say was very good. Yes there are stains on some of the carpets but with that many people I wouldn't think they'd be changing it every week anyway. Kids there were kids but not so many as they interferred with anything and no they weren't unruly. One thing I noticed though was that there were a lot of kids in the hot tubs including young children, they looked to be as young as 5. As for the airport can't comment since we came in a day early and stayed an extra day. I think in March you have a lot of colleges on spring break but if anything they might liven it up a little. We actually had a fun group and closed the Duck & Dog every night and moved to the disco after that, and no I am not in my 20's, actually 50, but this was very much a party group we were with. Here's a little something I put together for friends of ours that we sailed with on Princess and they wanted to know about RCCL. Remember this is just my opinion.

 

A little bit about our trip. We went in one day early and stayed at the Radisson Ambassador in San Juan, we were lucky and were upgraded to a suite which I was surprised since we booked through Priceline. We had friends on the flight down and was staying at the hotel with us. Later we met other CCers and met in the lobby to go to dinner at 7:00. There was a total of 10 of us and we hit it off from the start. We went to a local restaurant (Yerba Buena) and had the best service and food, it took a long time but everything was made to order and wonderful. By the time dinner was over it was 10:30 and everyone was exhausted since most of us were up at 3:30 am the morning before.

 

The next morning we got up and was out of the hotel by 11:15 and at the pier by 11:30. We stood in line for approx. 10 min before Royal Caribbean (RCCL) let us into the building to get our seapass cards and then moved us to another area to wait for boarding. Same as any other ship (I guess) if you have more cruises you wait in one area and since we were still gold members (only 3 previous cruises) we waited in a different area. Actually we were in the same area separated by a rope but they would get on before us. We were told it would be approx a 1 hr. wait since the ship was still disembarking. The time went quickly and RCCL made it very comfortable. At exactly 12:40 we were allowed to go forward and before entering the gangway we had our picture taken and then went up the walkway to the ship.

 

I was disappointed as we went on board and there was no one to greet us. I mean no one. We decided to go to our deck to see if we could get into our cabin and all doors to the cabin area were closed and a sign was listed saying guests could go to staterooms at 2:00 so we decided to go to the Pool Bar which was located on Deck 11. Lo and behold we run into a couple of friends and we stay there until 2:00. Just as they stated the doors were open and off we went to our stateroom. We found our room after awhile, we took the looonng way there. Boy what a big ship she is and we did a big u turn to find our room. We had a balcony but both Carnival and Princess rooms are bigger with the balconies being a lot bigger. Closet space has to go to Princess and Carnival too. We then met up with others at 5:00 before going to dinner and muster drill to follow. We were all to meet at 10:00 for sailaway on starboard side of ship to pass Fort El Morro Castle.

 

At Sailaway there were only 4 of us that actually met at the area of the ship that we were supposed to which I think was going to happen since some people had late dinner. Jeff & I then went to the downstairs Bar and there were a lot of our CCers, guess they couldn’t part from the bar & band. Now as for the sailaway party, there was hardly anyone there and nothing like Carnival’s sailaways, and then it started to rain so we went inside to a Pub inside called the Duck & Dog. That’s when the party started.

 

This ship is huge. It is 1020’ in length with beam of 157.5’, draft is 29’ and gross tonnage is 138,000. They say the passenger capacity is 3,114 but we had 3,600 w/o crew. For as many people that were on her it really never felt crowded until you went to the Windjammer (buffet) at times. We went to the shows and the theatre was never completely full, the dining room is 3 stories and huge, they have there own theatre which is small but just like being at the movies. Much prefer the anytime dining that Princess has.

Deck 5 is the Promenade area where it looks like a mall setting. They had customer service (purser’s office), champagne bar, shops, sports bar and a fantastic pub (where we spent most nights); they had a food area that was open 24 hrs. for coffee, pizza, sandwiches & Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. The casino was on the Deck 4 and was quite big w/a lot of slots and tables. Most nights we closed the Duck & Dog at 1:30 and moved to the Disco which was happening until 4:00 am. Most of the time we were at the Disco until 3:00-3:30 and then up again for the next day at 8:00-9:00 to begin the nest day of/excursions.

 

All I can tell you is that a lot of drinking, dancing & partying went on and we met some great new people and had a blast.

 

Disembarkation takes longer than Princess but we found a nice quiet area that had couches so we stretched out and fell asleep until our number was called. We were off by 10:30 and then on our way back to the Radisson for post stay. When we got to the Radisson I was hoping we weren’t going to have to wait until 3:00 to check in and we were lucky, they told us to come back at noon and our room would be ready so it left us for 45 min to gamble and then checked in.

 

Our flight down was smooth as glass and coming back we were delayed by ½ hr. because of bad weather back home and just before we started to load it started to thunder and lightening. They waited until the storm passed and we took off and again a great flight home. Our cruise was so smooth you never knew the ship was moving.

Debbie

[Clubber]

SJ Airport can be quite a mess. The biggest tip is not to fly delta or american. I would suggest flying United as there are only a couple of flights per day, so the lines are minimal. In addition, if you are coming off of the AOS, there is a United check-in at the pier and they give you your boarding passes and take your baggage there. So you really only move your bags about 100 feet at most. We tend to get early flights, so we minimize our time at the airport and avoid the zoo that occurs in the afternoon. However, it is always a risk that we get delayed and miss our flight. Last winter, we were off the AOS by 8:30, to the Airport by 9:00 am. Through security within a few minutes and out of there by 11:00 am.

 

The other option is to take a really late flight, so that the rush is done by the time you head to the airport.

[Daycare Provider]

Jeepers...

what deck were you on? A group of us is sailing in April of 07. We are deck 10, what should wee expect? Did you do any excursions in PR? Would you also have an e-mail or web address for teh company that you used in St.Thomas? Would you recommend we bored early then go sight seeing or spend the day out and about and come back late? What time should we board?

[Jeepers385]

DaycareProvider, we were on Deck 7, Cabin 7578. Since we had been to PR before this time we just went on board and stayed on board. It's so much easier when the ship docks in downtown San Juan cause you can walk off and on the ship at will. At the Pier American pier you would have to take a taxi into town, not a big deal but just not as convenient. The ship was great so have a great time. Like I said there were a group of us so we had a great time at the Duck & Dog and the entertainer was Christine McCann who was fantastic. Now I know in a couple of weeks she's going on vacation for a couple of months and is not sure whether she will go back to AOS or another ship or line. As for the full day sail in St. Thomas the email address is: www.alauntcharters.com

As for what time to board I really can't tell you, it would depend on if you were going into PR the day before. Or if you were to check in first and then go out early that would be great so this way you get to go around OSJ for a period of time. OSJ has a free trolley that will take you around the city, you just have to look at the front signage to see where there going. Don't miss El Morro Castle or walk from the castle to downtown to the pier area and then take a taxi back to the pier for AOS.

Best of luck whatever you decide to do.

Debbie

[Madkitty]

So you dont actually get any time in San Juan then? We arrive the night before and I presumed that we wouldnt board AOS until 5pm ish :eek:

[Jeepers385]

If you drop off the luggage and go into town you have plenty of time. Since the mustard drill was at 8:30 be on before that so you would have enough time to go into town. According to my Compass you had to be on board by 8:15 pm.

Debbie

[Daycare Provider]

Jeepers.....Thank you for your help. WE will be arriving in PR the day before we set sail and we don't fly home until the day after we get back. I have Frommers 5th edith Caribbean Ports of Call that has various maps of PR. I was hoping to avoid long lines getting on the AOS. Maybe we will be board at noon just so we can check our luggage and leave again.