Just off the AOS. Report from the 11/5 sailing

[tricializ]

We are sitting in the airport waiting for our plane to take us back to reality and COLD> :( We were celebrating our tenth anniversary and the trip was wonderful. I will also start off with the negatives so I can end with the positives....

 

1. Elevators!!!! They could seemingly easily program them to be more traffic friendly. People would just smash on and then not move if you had to get off and were in the back. Also, people would push into the elevator before you even got out. The long wait and crowds got old after a time. My DH has a bad knee so taking the stairs too often was not an option. We did though more than we thought just to avoid waiting on the elevators.

 

2. Remote Controls for TV. We were in room 1620 and the remote controls were HUGE. They probably weighed about 3 pounds each and the batteries wouldn't charge despite putting them back in the charger or even taking them out of the remote and charging just the battery. If you happen to put the remote down face down, the volume would soar up and freak you out. I don't know why they have these types of remotes when all the controls could be found on a standard RC. Oh well. (must have been a pretty good cruise to pick on the remote controls. LOL).

 

3. Some of the people. You'll find this anywhere but a special thanks to the rude, blonde woman sitting in a middle table of 4 at Portofinos on 11/10. You were obnoxious, rude and drunk. Your loudness could be tolerated for a time until you started in with the shouted swearing etc. Noone said a thing despite looks etc. The child at the table next to you (who shouldn't have been in there as they were nowhere NEAR 13 could teach you a lesson or two on how to behave in a restaurant). Thank goodness you were only there for the first hour of our dinner. Also, a special shout out to the rude elevator people and those who decided to sit on the staircases on debarkation day. And to those who think baseball hats, sandals, ripped jeans and t-shirt are fine for the dining room....well I guess there is nothing I can say.

 

4. St. Thomas. I loved this island the past 2 times there but it seemed overly aggressive in hawking their goods and trying to get you into the stores and the taxi/buses would literally drive onto the sidewalk and didn't care if you were walking on it. Sort of a get out of the way or else mentality. Could have been that it was a Saturday and very busy though too.

 

5. Norovirus outbreak. RCCL seemed to really jump on this though and probably minimized this as best as possible. :) (so far so good with us.)

 

Average or just ok things....

 

1. Food. It was good; not great. Just good. In fact I was probably least impressed with Portofinos. (could be drunk lady ruined it a bit). It just wasn't great as I was hoping for. Thought the dining room food was as good or better. So, if you are looking to save a bit of $$, I would skip it.

 

2. Aruba... Just not a very pretty island, however the beach we went to had the most beautiful water I have ever swam in. So clear, powdery sand and quiet. :)

 

3. Concierge. Dee dee (totally missing the spelling. sorry). was very nice but seemed limited in what she could do. Kind of upset about one thing. We had a couples massage scheduled for one evening and the morning of the massage, she called us and asked us if we were interested in dinner with the captain for that night. Well, we had the massage booked (and not cancellable) and told her that in the morning so we said not to pursue that. Well, we get back to our room at about 4PM and there is an invitation inviting us anyway with the Maitre D calling us asking if we are coming. We felt like we snubbed the captain and were put in a funny position. Not a big deal, but oh well.

 

Positives...

 

1. The staff. I have sailed on Carnival a few times before and my DH has been on Carnival and Princess and we both had to say how outstanding and friendly the staff was, no matter where you went. Our room steward, Al, was wonderful and was never there unless you needed something and then he was right on it. Perfect for us! Really a nice guy too. Our waiter Joseph (table 449...table for two whoo hoo) was also very attentive as was the head waiter and assistant. In fact last night, we were talking with the head waiter and we were talking about Portofinos and what we ate etc. I commented that I loved the Caprese salad both there and in the dining room...how it was so good. 3 minutes later, he brings me one from Portofinos. Wasn't expecting it. Didn't ask for it. Really loved it. :) They noticed when you came to dinner, when you didn't, asked about your day etc. all the time. I went to guest relations one time and then a few days later we had a question and the lady remembered me by name and asked if the other issue had been taken care of. Impressive. Also the bar waiter in the restaurant, after only one time in there before, just brought us our drinks that we had the night before without even asking for them. The overall feeling was that they seemed happy to be there and genuinely cared that you had a nice time.

 

2. Our suite. Absolutely huge and beautiful. (1620). Clean and comfortable.

 

3. Caprese salad. Yum.

 

4. Loved St. Maarten and Dawn Beach. 75 cent Carib beers from 11-4PM and a beautiful beach to sit at. Can't do better than that. LOL Plus, my favorite jewelry store is there (Ballerina) and didn't disappoint again this year. LOL (poor DH)

 

5. Ship itself was beautiful. Loved the decor. Not tacky and the promenade is a great idea.

 

6. Maegan's Bay drink special. (pretty good...though strong!)

 

7. Embarkation. Went quickly and easily.

 

8. Delta check-in at the boat. Very convenient and nice.

 

Overall it was a wonderful trip. We had incredible weather with no rain and minimal wind and clouds. Really, paradise. I have seen some posts complaining about this and that, too many people from Puerto Rico etc. I did find there were a lot from PR, but that is to be expected. So, the chances of a rude person being from there when the majority on the boat are from there, you can get a bad feeling about the whole thing. Mostly though, people were in a good mood and friendly. I would definitley sail on RCCL again and am planning my Alaska cruise. :) Too bad DH doesn't know about that yet. haha.

 

Tricia

[dave&micki]

Glad to hear you had a good time ---We are counting down the days--- what beach did you go to in Aruba???Sorry to hear about "loud drunkin lady" can spoil a nice dinner-- Staff should have done something if she was that crude--BUT I guess there are always going to be those who should not be in public when they drink--But remember-- Abad experience while cruising is still better than a day at work!!! HAPPY CRUISING TO ALL!!!!!

[Madkitty]

great to hear a positive on AOS ang glad you had a good time x

[andy1962]

We are sitting in the airport waiting for our plane to take us back to reality and COLD> :( We were celebrating our tenth anniversary and the trip was wonderful. I will also start off with the negatives so I can end with the positives....

 

1. Elevators!!!! They could seemingly easily program them to be more traffic friendly. People would just smash on and then not move if you had to get off and were in the back. Also, people would push into the elevator before you even got out. The long wait and crowds got old after a time. My DH has a bad knee so taking the stairs too often was not an option. We did though more than we thought just to avoid waiting on the elevators.

 

2. Remote Controls for TV. We were in room 1620 and the remote controls were HUGE. They probably weighed about 3 pounds each and the batteries wouldn't charge despite putting them back in the charger or even taking them out of the remote and charging just the battery. If you happen to put the remote down face down, the volume would soar up and freak you out. I don't know why they have these types of remotes when all the controls could be found on a standard RC. Oh well. (must have been a pretty good cruise to pick on the remote controls. LOL).

 

3. Some of the people. You'll find this anywhere but a special thanks to the rude, blonde woman sitting in a middle table of 4 at Portofinos on 11/10. You were obnoxious, rude and drunk. Your loudness could be tolerated for a time until you started in with the shouted swearing etc. Noone said a thing despite looks etc. The child at the table next to you (who shouldn't have been in there as they were nowhere NEAR 13 could teach you a lesson or two on how to behave in a restaurant). Thank goodness you were only there for the first hour of our dinner. Also, a special shout out to the rude elevator people and those who decided to sit on the staircases on debarkation day. And to those who think baseball hats, sandals, ripped jeans and t-shirt are fine for the dining room....well I guess there is nothing I can say.

 

4. St. Thomas. I loved this island the past 2 times there but it seemed overly aggressive in hawking their goods and trying to get you into the stores and the taxi/buses would literally drive onto the sidewalk and didn't care if you were walking on it. Sort of a get out of the way or else mentality. Could have been that it was a Saturday and very busy though too.

 

5. Norovirus outbreak. RCCL seemed to really jump on this though and probably minimized this as best as possible. :) (so far so good with us.)

 

Average or just ok things....

 

1. Food. It was good; not great. Just good. In fact I was probably least impressed with Portofinos. (could be drunk lady ruined it a bit). It just wasn't great as I was hoping for. Thought the dining room food was as good or better. So, if you are looking to save a bit of $$, I would skip it.

 

2. Aruba... Just not a very pretty island, however the beach we went to had the most beautiful water I have ever swam in. So clear, powdery sand and quiet. :)

 

3. Concierge. Dee dee (totally missing the spelling. sorry). was very nice but seemed limited in what she could do. Kind of upset about one thing. We had a couples massage scheduled for one evening and the morning of the massage, she called us and asked us if we were interested in dinner with the captain for that night. Well, we had the massage booked (and not cancellable) and told her that in the morning so we said not to pursue that. Well, we get back to our room at about 4PM and there is an invitation inviting us anyway with the Maitre D calling us asking if we are coming. We felt like we snubbed the captain and were put in a funny position. Not a big deal, but oh well.

 

Positives...

 

1. The staff. I have sailed on Carnival a few times before and my DH has been on Carnival and Princess and we both had to say how outstanding and friendly the staff was, no matter where you went. Our room steward, Al, was wonderful and was never there unless you needed something and then he was right on it. Perfect for us! Really a nice guy too. Our waiter Joseph (table 449...table for two whoo hoo) was also very attentive as was the head waiter and assistant. In fact last night, we were talking with the head waiter and we were talking about Portofinos and what we ate etc. I commented that I loved the Caprese salad both there and in the dining room...how it was so good. 3 minutes later, he brings me one from Portofinos. Wasn't expecting it. Didn't ask for it. Really loved it. :) They noticed when you came to dinner, when you didn't, asked about your day etc. all the time. I went to guest relations one time and then a few days later we had a question and the lady remembered me by name and asked if the other issue had been taken care of. Impressive. Also the bar waiter in the restaurant, after only one time in there before, just brought us our drinks that we had the night before without even asking for them. The overall feeling was that they seemed happy to be there and genuinely cared that you had a nice time.

 

2. Our suite. Absolutely huge and beautiful. (1620). Clean and comfortable.

 

3. Caprese salad. Yum.

 

4. Loved St. Maarten and Dawn Beach. 75 cent Carib beers from 11-4PM and a beautiful beach to sit at. Can't do better than that. LOL Plus, my favorite jewelry store is there (Ballerina) and didn't disappoint again this year. LOL (poor DH)

 

5. Ship itself was beautiful. Loved the decor. Not tacky and the promenade is a great idea.

 

6. Maegan's Bay drink special. (pretty good...though strong!)

 

7. Embarkation. Went quickly and easily.

 

8. Delta check-in at the "ship". Very convenient and nice.

 

Overall it was a wonderful trip. We had incredible weather with no rain and minimal wind and clouds. Really, paradise. I have seen some posts complaining about this and that, too many people from Puerto Rico etc. I did find there were a lot from PR, but that is to be expected. So, the chances of a rude person being from there when the majority on the boat are from there, you can get a bad feeling about the whole thing. Mostly though, people were in a good mood and friendly. I would definitley sail on RCCL again and am planning my Alaska cruise. :) Too bad DH doesn't know about that yet. haha.

 

Tricia

..................................................................................

[MIcruiser99]

8. Delta check-in at the boat. Very convenient and nice.

Tricia

 

I have only heard of American Airlines with this option. I did not realize that you could with Delta. Could you tell me what you did or how you arrange this? Thanks!

[BuyReallyLow]

We are sitting in the airport waiting for our plane to take us back to reality and COLD> :( We were celebrating our tenth anniversary and the trip was wonderful. I will also start off with the negatives so I can end with the positives....

 

1.

2.

3.

4.

5. Norovirus outbreak. RCCL seemed to really jump on this though and probably minimized this as best as possible. :) (so far so good with us.)

 

 

Positives...

 

1. The staff.

2. Our suite. Absolutely huge and beautiful. (1620). Clean and comfortable.

 

3.

Tricia

 

Novovirus....Oh OH... Will be on the boat in less than a month. Let's hope it is cleaned up before then.

[andy1962]

Novovirus....Oh OH... Will be on the Ship in less than a month. Let's hope it is cleaned up before then.

..........................................................................................

[tricializ]

I have only heard of American Airlines with this option. I did not realize that you could with Delta. Could you tell me what you did or how you arrange this? Thanks!

 

The weird thing was that although there was an AA desk at the ship gate, the paperwork we received in the middle of the cruise offering this service specified that you had to be flying Delta on all your flights, had to be in the US and it cost $10/pp. Made it really easy, I must say. Still at the airport though so don't know yet if the bags will make it. LOL

Tricia

[windjamming]

Hi Tricia, thanks for the good, bad and ugly on your AOS cruise. We loved our waitstaff and housekeeping team, too, on our AOS May 2006 (Barbados itinerary)! What a friendly crew!!

 

Did you have Richard Spacey as your CD? We loved him!!

[SherriZ366]

Tricia -- good review with many valid points. We too love Ballerina Jewelers -- do our shopping in St. Thomas with James. Lots of folks on the boards love them on both islands.