Five Ports???

[ndsumfun]

My husband and another couple are considering taking AOS out of San Juan which departs 5/11/08. Has anyone taken this cruise? Are you worn out by the fourth port. Any other good info you can provide? Thanks.

 

Just off one that was in port 5 days. We had excursions planned at all of them but by Thursday we decided to skip out on that one. We were just too tired of all the running. While it is nice to be on the "empty" ship......I always feel like I am missing out on something if I have never been to that particular port. We are going on the Crown Princess next year April 26th. It is port intensive also but we are going to take it easy & enjoy the ship rather than just go go go!

[astridwilson]

Here is my trip report from that cruise in 2004:

Flew to Puerto Rico from RDU via Chicago for a three night stay and from there we took a seven day cruise to the Southern Caribbean Islands of St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Antigua, St Lucia and Barbados with Royal Caribbean. There were two active hurricanes and three tropical waves in the Caribbean when we left. Frances and Ivan were past Puerto Rico when we left, but Ivan’s original path put him in line with PR on Thursday morning. Jeanne, Karl & Lisa all turned into tropical storms while we were at sea on our cruise. Only Jeanne caused us any trouble. On Tuesday, we almost did not stop at St. Maarten. The winds were gusting at 30-40 miles an hour and the usually calm Caribbean Sea had waves with 5-6 foot swells on the eastern shores of the island.

Thursday September 9, 2004.

The flight to PR was uneventful and fun, they showed Shrek II as the in flight movie. When we arrived in PR we took a taxi to our hotel. The Hotel was across the highway from the airport and the cabbie made it a point to let us know that he thought a $10.00 fare was too cheap for such a long ride. We stayed at the Wyndam El San Juan resort & Casino. The Hotel was lovely, the lobby, restaurants, pool area & beach were beautiful. We stayed on the ninth floor on the airport side, room 924. We enjoyed watching the planes take off and we had a good view of the ocean from our balcony.

The first night we dined at the Tequila Bar & Grill on the 10th floor. It was excellent. It has an open air view of the ocean. We had enchiladas and quesadillas and Dave had the biggest margaritas I’ve ever seen. Our waiter Alex, knew it was our anniversary so he gave us double shots of tequila. After dinner we went down to the pools. The pools were mostly deserted and it was wonderful to swim under the palm trees especially feeling as good as we did.

Friday September 10, 2004.

Had breakfast at Denny’s where the grand slam was $7.99 versus $2.99 at home. Spent the day on the beach and in the pools. The water was very pretty but not as clear as I had expected. That night we had dinner on the beach at the Ciao Mediterranean Café at the Intercontinental Hotel. It was the best meal we had in San Juan. I had the best chicken Marsala I’ve ever had.

Saturday September 11, 2004.

Visited the El Yunque rain forest in the morning with a tour group. The rain forest was beautiful, but I think Dave & I would have enjoyed it more if we had been on our own. We spent the rest of the day at the beach back at the hotel. That night we eat at Sonny’s tavern/Blue dolphin on the beach, the atmosphere is nice but the food was very bad.

Sunday September 12, 2004.

Headed to the pier to catch our ship. The ship was not leaving until 10PM, so we caught a taxi to Old San Juan and visited the El Morro fort. The fort was a good 20-minute up hill walk from where the taxi dropped us off and it was 950 and very humid. The fort was worth the effort. From there we walked back into town and then headed back to the ship for dinner. The evening shows on the cruise were excellent. The first and last night they had jugglers from Russia. I have never seen juggling done quite like that. They also had two comedians, The Drifters and Kenny James. We saw the ice show twice.

Monday September 13, 2004.

St. Thomas. Dave & I took a boat cruise to St. Johns and at St Johns we caught a bus to Trunk bay. We snorkeled for 1-½ hours. We saw an octopus and many large parrotfish. The water was crystal clear and teal blue. It was the prettiest beach, I have ever seen. Dave & I enjoyed the beach a touch too much because we missed our bus that took us back to the boat that took us back to St Thomas. We left the ship with no cash on us, so fortunately, a taxi driver gave us a ride down the mountain for free and we caught the boat. That afternoon we shopped at St. Thomas. We visited the Hard Rock Café and other small stores along the main street.

Tuesday September 14, 2004.

St Maarten and Hurricane Jeanne. Our plans were to taxi to Dawn Beach where there are coral reefs right off shore that are excellent for snorkeling. The water was so rough we could not swim out to the reefs and the water was so stirred up it was cloudy. We still enjoyed the beach and the water, but it was too windy to stay long and hard rain threatened, so we headed back early to the boat and played Name That Tune at the schooner bar. We won!! Did some shopping at the pier stores later that afternoon.

Wednesday September 15, 2004.

Antigua. Dave & I did a dolphin swim in Antigua. It was fun, but I am not sure I would be tempted to do it again. It was expensive and they seemed more interested in taking your picture for profit then letting you enjoy the experience. That afternoon we headed to Dickenson’s Bay Beach and swan. The beach was next to the Sandals Resort. Couldn’t check out the resort. There was security by all entrances. The water was pretty, it was similar to Puerto Rico, not as clear as I had expected. The Island was hilly with many beaches and a large mix of very wealthy and very poor.

Thursday September 16, 2004.

St Lucia. This was by far my favorite Island. We took a coastal cruise to the Pitons. The ride was breath takingly beautiful. The Island is lush, volcanic and the waters although not the blues of the Caribbean, are crystal clear. We stopped for a ½ hour for snorkeling and saw many many fish; lots of sergeant majors. We plan to return for a longer stay.

Friday September 17, 2004.

Barbados. We went into down town in the morning. The city was busy and noisy. That afternoon, we snorkeled with Sea Turtles and a ship wreck and spent some time on a one of the beaches there. We saw a small eel in the water; this really grossed me out because I thought it was a snake. The water in Barbados was the prettiest we saw, baby blue and clear, but the dock was the ugliest.

Saturday September 18, 2004.

Day at Sea. Time to relax. Spent the day walking around the ship and at the pool. Dave played final Bingo. Unfortunately, he never won. That evening Dave sang and played American Pie for the second night at the Duck & Dog pub on the ship. The crowd enjoyed it and I was told he was really good, but I knew that.

Sunday September 19, 2004.

Headed Home. Flew into Miami and then Home. Mixed feelings, glad to be home and sad at the same time that vacation was over. Time to plan the next.

[shutterbug630]

We did AOS with 5 ports in Oct. We planned excusions in three ports, catamaran in Barbados, private tours in St. Lucia and Antigua and just wondered around St. Martin and St. Thomas. We picked the 5 ports to see the most we could for our buck. You don't have to overextend yourself in each port. Go to port for half a day instead of a full one. We weren't as tired as we were after a week in Disney.

[ali07]

We have done the 5 port cruise on the Serenade and we almost always do an excursion. However, we try to mix them up, make sure they don't run too long (prefer 4 hours or less) and if we do something a little more strenous one day, we do an "easy" one the next. Also, given a choice, we choose an early excursion (perhaps a little cooler than the afternoon).

[silky_mommy]

From what I have read here in CC, I definitely want to do a private tour with Cosol in St. Lucia and shopping in St. Maartin ..... so what island do I want to take it easy. There is a sea day before Barbado. My parents are 75 and I want them to see everything possible without wearing them out.