Would you go BACK on the AOS??

[PH8]

Lately, I have been reading all the pros and cons of the AOS..........I am really looking forward to going to Aruba and Curacao,since we have never been..............

 

 

I was just wondering if you have been on the AOS,would you go again??

 

Why??:confused: Why not??:confused:

[CoronaCpl]

Absolutely would go back! We had a couple reasons why we sailed her the first time. The Aruba and Curacao leg was the primary reason.

 

Had a fantastic time on AOS. IMHO, hard to beat a Voyager-class ship. OUR experience was extremely favorable. For our cruise this past January we gave her high marks in service, food, comfort and just about anything else you can think of.

 

Something about the itinerary and ship made this our most relaxing cruise yet. Curacao & Aruba are great islands, with wonderful people. From what we experienced we would gladly do a land vacation at each; if it weren't for this cruising addiction!

 

We hit all the venues onboard AOS and had a blast! Plenty of space to relax and plenty of places to really let go if that's your thing.

 

Worse part of sailing out of Puerto Rico is getting there! Flight wasn't bad, but the expense is a little more than flying to Miami or any of the other Florida ports.

 

Kids weren't much of a problem in January. They were present and yes, we did experience minor inconveniences because of them. The typical elevator issues being the most prevelant. Just enough to make you want to smack a little head or two.

 

I cannot fairly offer comments about the Puerto Ricans onboard since I am one myself. I'm sure you'll draw a comment or two about this angle...just about anything on CC about AOS does.

 

My $.02...

[bplazo]

We were on the AOS on 12/03 and had a great time.

 

Aruba was one of our favorite islands. We did ABC jeep tours which was the highlight of our cruise.

[toriwc]

We were on her in June of 06, Barbados route. Next week on EOS, we are planning to book for June 07, Aruba route. We had a few glitches completely unrelated to AOS, so we have no problems sailing her again. I am curious to know if something has gone downhill or something since June??

[PH8]

I am curious to know if something has gone downhill or something since June??

 

Would help if maybe some of those who voted NO so far,told us why..........

[cruisecookie]

Yes, we've already sailed on the AOS twice -- We did the Aruba itinerary in January 2005 and the Barbados itinerary in August 2006. We had a great time on both cruises, but I'd love to go back to Aruba!

[Ocean Boy]

Would help if maybe some of those who voted NO so far,told us why..........

I would be quite interested in "why" myself. I booked AOS because I have been to neither Aruda or Curacao yet and I want to go back on a Voyager class ship after doing Serenade last time.

[Shannon12]

I would be quite interested in "why" myself. I booked AOS because I have been to neither Aruda or Curacao yet and I want to go back on a Voyager class ship after doing Serenade last time.

 

Also curious as to why the "no's". Ocean Boy, I believe we're on the same cruise...

Still, just about 75% would sail her again and I dont think thats so bad

[HookLine&Sinker]

Loved it, loved it! It was our first cruise and we loved everything about it. No problems with children (went in early April), all the rude people must have stayed home that week as we didn't run into any, the food was steady, not fine dinning but certainly good and plentiful, crew was helpful and pleasant.

 

We are going on the Explorer in March and hope we have as much fun this time.

[swmichigan cruiser]

I've tried to figure it out and I know for sure we've done a least 5 cruises out of San Juan and the last one was the Nov 26th cruise on the AOS and we decided never again at least on the AOS. Maybe it was just this particular cruise but I won't chance it again. To expensive to get there as there are closer ports and plenty of other ships to cruise on and its not worth it to me to try it again. I really liked the ship,the itinerary and the staff on the ship but the bad out weighed the good. The thing that helped push me over the edge was we had never been to Curacao and its a Dutch Island and we did the Trolley tour and the tour was done in English. Unfortunately we had a large group of people on the tour that didn't know english so the tour guide asked them if they could speak a little softer so the others could hear her commentary. Well I guess one could so she yelled back at the tour guide to learn Spanish and then all of them started talking louder to drown out the tour guide. That was the straw that broke the camels back so to speak. I did book 3 more cruises while on board but none on the AOS. Maybe this cruise was not normal for the AOS but I won't chance it again.

[cb at sea]

That sounds like a tour problem, not so much a ship problem!

I'd venture to say that from 1 week to the next, each cruise will have a totally different feel--the passenger's being the "wild card", so to speak!

[swmichigan cruiser]

I said that was the problem that broke the camels back not that it was the only problem. Go on the AOS and you decide that's the best way to find out. They asked the question if we'd do it again and my answer was no.

[Murphy]

CKRobyn needs to chime in on this one! She's been on the AOS twice already I think and is booked for a B2B in Feb and then booked again in 2008!

[DedeM]

Absolutely yes! I loved Aruba and Curacao and it really added something to the usual east and west caribbean itineraries that we're used to.

 

Flying out of San Juan is no picnic, but I really enjoyed the cruise.

[blklabfan]

Ok folks...I voted no. The reason? To fly four people from Baltimore, two rooms for the pre cruise stay, lunch and dinner, cost almost as much as the cruise. All day getting home after the cruise was a drag too.

If the question would have been...would you cruise the AOS again from a more convient (sp) port (Norfolk, Baltimore, NJ) , the answer would be a resounding "yes".

We loved the ports, Aruba, Curacao, etc. and the ship, it's the travel and travel cost that we didn't like.

[estreetbandfan523]

the AOS is great!!! i would not think twice about taking a third voyage on her

[sgttami]

Probably not...

 

I've sailed AOS twice...1/03 and 10/05.

 

The first time was a lot of fun and my first time on a Voyager class ship. Stayed pre-cruise in San Juan and it was also a first for Aruba and Curacao. Other ports I'd been to numerous times. Wasn't crazy about Aruba OR Curacao OR the fact that most of the ship were locals.

 

In between, went on Empress '04 from San Juan. 99.9% locals (I'll say no more!)..we followed this with a 2 week trip to St. John so that was OK.

 

In '05 we went again on AOS..friends were going and we booked last minute. Stayed on the ship in Aruba and Curacao. Stayed pre and post cruise and even though it was OK, we said "never again."

 

Did Voyager '05 and Explorer (twice in '06) from home ports (Bayonne) after that and when all is said and done, we'll probably never do the Voyager class again...too many kids and families...like going to a floating amusement park!!

 

So NO, no more AOS or any Voyager or Freedom class ships...whether they leave from San Juan or Bayonne...they are just too family friendly for our current tastes!!

[Ju1es]

In a heartbeat! Our AOS cruise was fantastic and I would do it again without a second thought. I can't think of a single complaint.

[Tex_Jen]

Well, having been on AOS last year doing the Barbados itinerary, I booked another cruise for 2007 for the Aruba itinerary. Loved the ship, the ports, the staff, etc. Other passengers were not an issue, either. Do they make announcements in Spanish? Yes, as well as several other languages.

 

As for ship size, the Voyager and the Radiance class each have their charms. Is the Voyager class more kid friendly? Absolutely! Another reason why I have found that cruising out of San Juan works for me. I do prefer the Radiance class, but that ship doesn't sail the Aruba itinerary.

 

I sailed the Jewel out of Fort Lauderdale and encountered many problems that seem similar to what the complainers about AOS are saying minus the language issue. Loved the ship, but not thrilled with the families and their stewardship towards each other on that cruise. Airport on the way home was a disaster in FLL as well.

 

How many times have we heard someone complain about San Juan's airport? Once you can get to the gate, San Juan really is a decent airport and I saw improvements last year compared to the first time I went.

 

If you don't want to be on the AOS, that is fine. To each his or her own.

 

Jen

[pambo]

Absolutely!

 

We did the Barbados itinerary in May 2004 and the Aruba itinerary in December 2005. Both were fantastic. We loved the ports as well as the ship. We met so many wonderful folks on both cruises. We spent some time pre-cruise in San Juan on both occasions. Once we stayed in the Condado district and the other time in Old San Juan. We especially loved Old San Juan as we were stationed in Spain while my husband was in the Navy and it reminds us of the area where we lived.

[teacherkim]

Yes in a heartbeat! We were on last June and did not notice a problem with kids BUT since I spend all day with about 130 7th graders my tolerance level is probable pretty high! I know a lot of people have complained about so much Spanish being spoken on the ship. When we were on they also repeated the announcements in German, French, and Portugese...whats the big deal?

[HookLine&Sinker]

After reading other peoples experiences at SJU I feel the need to share ours. We had an early afternoon flight back to New York (I can't remember the exact time) we paid for the AA service from the ship. Received our luggage tags and boarding passes the night before in our stateroom. Our color tags where called about an hour before they were supposed to be, we walked right off the ship, found our luggage, made it through customs (we didn't buy much) the porter dropped our luggage at the AA counter and brought us to the cab line. We got right in a cab and were at the airport, through security and at our gate in exactly 1 hour from the time we left the ship.

 

Maybe we were just lucky but I hear all these horror stories (and I'm sure they happened) about the whole experience leaving the ship and at the airport and ours couldn't have been easier. I guess we just got lucky but I travel a lot for business (tradeshows) and I've experienced much worse trying to get out of Chicago.

[Ocean Boy]

Well, so far from what I am reading the problems don't seem to be with AOS. Some don't like Voyager class ships. I LOVED Explorer and Mariner. Others had problems with tours. I make my own tour. Some don't like the locals. I had a great time on San Juan when we sailed Serenade and thought the pasenger mix on the ship was fine. Some don't like the airport.... I won't argue THAT point! Some don't like the expense of getting to San Juan. I can't argue that either.

 

I'll tell you what I don't like. I don't like Sunday-Sunday sailings. But I had to suck it up if I wanted to get to Aruba and Curacao on a Voyager class ship!

[BEVGOO]

WE had sailed out of San Juan 1987, 1995, 1996 in the spring and then we the day after Thanksgiving starting 2000 to 2004. 1986 and 1988 we sailed out of Miami. Then in 2003 and 2004 we spent the night before in San Juan. The hotels we picked were not much for the price we paid. Although in 2004 the hotel had a wonderful FRENCH Bristo that served a great filet and had a Jazz group that made our evening. You just never know.

 

We used up all our FF miles and the hotels keep getting more costly every year. Then we noticed that the ships were full of locals and I could tell several stories that would explain why the locals made a difference to us but I will just say this is OUR choice. The many locals seemed to be the deciding factor for us to find ships that sailed out of Florida.

 

We sailed the Radiance after Thanksgiving last year and this year and had a wonderful time. The ship had a mix of people and everyone seemed to be doing their own thing and bothering no one else.

 

I think the above info shows we have enough experience to make a comparison regarding how we cruise.

[Annefran]

This will be our first cruise (April 2007) on AOS and my daughter & I are really looking forward to it. My ex-husband is Puerto Rican and we took vacations there every year. I've been all over the island and love Old San Juan area. Mayaguez is beautiful too. Yes it is more expensive to fly to PR than say FL but we have a balcony room and the southern caribbean is absolutely beautiful. Can't wait to meet new people and hopefully meet more people from PR to talk about the island and all the places we've been. I want my daughter to learn more about her heritage.

 

I'll say YES to the poll for now, although in 2008 we will probably be trying FOS out of Miami. My daughter wants to go on the ship, don't care about the itinerary so much since that will be our 4th cruise together and my 6th.

 

Happy Holidays all!