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Back from AOS Aruba route - any questions?

QueensChick

By QueensChick,
in Royal Caribbean International

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QueensChick

QueensChick

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We're back from our Adventure of the Seas cruise.

Beautiful ship... Wonderful food... attentive, friendly service.

 

Due to Hurricane Ivan, we missed Curacao and went to St. Lucia instead.

Planned itinerary: San Juan - at sea - Aruba - Curacao - at sea - St. Maarten - St. Thomas - San Juan

Actual itinerary: San Juan - at sea - Aruba - at sea - St. Lucia - St. Maarten - St. Thomas - San Juan

 

We actually had to run from Ivan for a bit on Wednesday morning. It was a little rough, but Captain Zini & his staff did a spectacluar job.

 

I'd cruise again on this ship in a heartbeat. Seven days were not enough. ;)

 

 

 

 

"Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking."

-Marcus Aurelius Antonius

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hersh

hersh

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Glad to hear that you enjoyed your cruise. Where was your cabin? Did you feel much movement on the ship, especially during bad weather? We are sailing on AOS next June, and some of our group has cabins in the front of the ship, and I'm concerned that they may feel a lot of motion up there.

Thanks for your help!

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QueensChick

QueensChick

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Where was your cabin? Did you feel much movement on the ship, especially during bad weather?

 

Our cabin was on deck 9, midships. We didn't feel any motion at all in our cabin as we had very calm seas for the most part.

The only time we felt motion was Wednesday morning during breakfast in the Windjammer (deck 10, aft). We were caught in the tail of Hurricane Ivan, with 18-20 foot waves and it was quite rocky for a few hours. But don't worry, AOS handles rough water quite well. Enjoy your cruise.

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Ms.Fixit

Ms.Fixit

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We're back from our Adventure of the Seas cruise.

Beautiful ship... Wonderful food... attentive, friendly service.

 

Great Review! I can hardly wait...sailing AOS aruba route 10/3/04.

 

 

If you do in fact have a copy of the Compass, could you please e-mail me one if you can? (http://www.tzu2luv@aol.com).

 

Thanks so much and happy cruising!

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Mdseagull

Mdseagull

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So glad to hear you had a good time!:)

 

We'll be on AOS on 10/10 which is the "other" route but we'll be stopping in St. Lucia, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. What kind of excursions did you do? Is there any "can't miss" things to do or see on these islands?

 

Also how formal are the formal nights? I want to make sure I don't over/under dress.

 

Did they have the special where you can buy liquor and take to your room the first night with the $9 charge?

 

Last question I swear, I heard there is a duty free shop on the pier in SJ where you can buy sodas and beer and take them on the ship. Is this true?

 

Thank you Thank you Thank you!

(Can you tell I'm excited? ;) )

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Zark427

Zark427

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Sounds like you escaped the first part of the wrath of Ivan, but it maybe on it's way to NY with a ton of rain... But who cares, you had a great time, right?.?.

 

We're going on 10/17 and have a couple of questions for you, if you don't mind... 1) On the 9th floor did the balcony have a "see-through" wall or was it solid steel. And would a bungee cord be helpful to keep the door ajar? 2) Which, in your opinion was the best bar. (Hey, I'm not afraid to admit it, I'm looking for a good drink). What shows, etc. were worth it... which ones should we skip?

 

Glad you had a good time... Thanks in advance.

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raerae

raerae

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What time can you begin to board? We have a pre-stay in San Juan and want to be at the pier early to enjoy as much time on the ship as possible. I too wanted to know if there is a duty free shop at the pier where we board?

 

Glad you enjoyed your trip!! :p

 

Cindy ;)

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samkmm

samkmm

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what did you do in Aruba??? how where the beaches??? thanks... :)
If you say the whole day in Aruba, meaning you sail at 1AM the next day, we recommend the all day 4x4 safari. We stayed on Aruba for a week and took the tour. It was great. You'll get real dirty, as Aruba is a desert, but you travel the whole island, through neighborhoods, an island for lunch and snorkle and see lots of stuff.
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CGAGE

CGAGE

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We were on the same voyage at the OP and here are some answers to some of the questions.

 

*The ship docks at the Pan American Pier and doesn't have any place that we saw to buy soda or water or wine or liquor. We stayed at the Normandie the night before and took a taxi to the grocery store on Saturday afternoon to buy wine and Red Bull to take on board. (No problems by the way with taking on 4 btls of wine, 2 btls of champagne and 4 cans of Red Bull...we got a box from a guy at the grocery and carried it on board like that!)

 

*We arrived at the pier around 11:30 and waited a little while outside in line, then checked in pretty quick, then waited in plastic chairs for a while until the ship emptied out I guess, or until it cleared customs...regardless the wait kind of stunk. They group the Diamond and Platinum together along with all suite guests, than the rest of us embarked right after them. They did keep track of who came when. Since we were in our orignal line quite early, we pretty much got on board right after Diamond and Platinum. I could safely say we were in our cabin 8610 by 1:30.

 

*In Aruba we took a short trip via taxi through town to the Natural Bridge, shopped in town a little bit, then took another taxi out to the Hyatt and had lunch at the outside bar, then hung out in their pool and on the beach. It was AWESOME!!!! Then we went back to the ship to clean up and then did a little bar hopping on our own...no scheduled tour. We loved Aruba and are already thinking of going back as soon as we can! The beach was gorgeous!

 

*Ms.Fixit...My husband rented a tux on board for both formal nights and I wore semi-fancy pantsuits both nights. As I've seen on all cruises I've been on you see one extreme to the other! We don't recommend walking to the "other" shopping are in St. Lucia. We did and wished we had taken a taxi...email me if you want more details. A scheduled excursion might be a good idea for this port, or the shopping right by the pier was pretty decent if that's all your looking to do. In St. Maarten...we took a taxi to the shopping district and visited our favorite store Gulmohars which is right next to McDonalds. We are familiar with Venita there and she always treats us right with t-shirts, cigars and cheap liquor! She's also a sweetie...if you go, tell her Tim and Carrie from Fl said hi!!! I don't know about the carrying liquor back to your cabin from the shop for a charge...Sorry!

 

*Zark427...our balcony cabin on deck 8 had steel half way up, then glass. We were on the beginning part of the bump and had solid steel walls on each side of our balcony instead of the glass partitions...it was VERY private! Also...we had no need for a bungee cord...the door doesn't swing open...it's a sliding glass door...very nice!!! I hate to admit that we didn't attend one show, so I can't comment on that. The 19th hole bar has a bartender...I can't remember his name...I think he was Romanian or Russian... but he poured a good drink and offered free ones if you could figure out his riddles and tricks. He was quite entertaining! The bar right next to that also poured a good one and had a great band a couple of the nights we were up there. I should note...both of these bars are in the Viking Crown at the top of the ship I think on deck 14. Pablo...a bar waiter by the pool deck was great! He serviced both pool areas.

 

*Buzz and Julie...I think the Drifters finally made it on board and performed, but like I said...unfortunately we didn't see any of the shows. The reggae band by the pool was great as was the band that played in the Viking Crown lounge...they had a female singer, but didn't perform the last night we saw them...she was sick.

 

I think I answered some of the questions. Please feel free to email me at cgage61299@aol.com if you have more specific ones.

 

***NOTE...In St. Maarten...they are re-doing Front St. which is the main shopping area downtown. It's a mess and I mean mess!!! No car or taxi traffic at all as they are re-doing the street, sidewalks and installing drainage pipes. You have to walk across a sheet of plywood in some shops to enter it. I honestly don't see how you could maneuver a wheelchair or stroller very succesfully. Just thought I would let you know...we weren't aware until we arrived. We made the best of it...bought what we needed and went back to the ship. Also...the water taxi wasn't operating that day due to the heavy swells...the ship was slightly rocking at the dock!

 

That's all for now...I plan on writing a review as soon as I can.

Thanks-

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sbgrace

sbgrace

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cabin 8610 ...our balcony cabin on deck 8 had steel half way up, then glass. We were on the beginning part of the bump and had solid steel walls on each side of our balcony instead of the glass partitions...it was VERY private!

 

Great info, thanks. We are booked in cabin 7610 (right below you!) next June, and were wondering about the balcony being right in front of the bump. Were you able to see into the bump balconies--and vice versa? Could you leave the curtains open at sea and not worry about someone seeing in?

 

Thanks!

Chris

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QueensChick

QueensChick

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Thanks for the great response Carrie. Very thorough answers.

 

Ms.Fixit, I'm sorry to say that I didn't save any of the Compasses. Hope you can get a copy elswhere.

 

I'd have to say that for the view and ambience you can't beat the Blue Moon Lounge in the Viking Crown area, deck 14. Very good bar servers in that area.

 

We didn't take any ship sponsored shore excursions this time. We mostly did beaches and shopping.

 

In Aruba, we took a short 2 hour island tour out to the Natural Bridge and other sights. It cost $10 per person in an air conditioned van (thank goodness, it was a furnace on that island) that we got right at the pier. Nice photo ops. Came back and took the public bus, for $1 each to one of the many gorgeous beaches down the road on the hotel strip. Very pretty, nice faciilities. Came back to the ship and had dinner, then headed out to Carlos & Charlies for a bit. Mistake! ;)

 

In lush and beautiful St. Lucia (my personal favorite), got a cab to another beautiful beach which I don't know the name of, but it wasn't far away. We arranged for the driver to pick us up in 2 hours and headed back to the ship as we had a pretty short day there.

 

In St. Maarten we did a bit of shopping right at the shops at the pier and headed to the beach that you can see from the ship, bought a drink at the bar and hung out there. We didn't go into downtown Philipsburg b/c the water taxis weren't running due to rough waters. Heard from our tablemates that it was a mess due to construction. Not sure when construction will be finished, but it the town should be really nice when it's done. We headed back to the ship pretty early.

 

In St. Thomas, got an open air safari van that made stops downtown & Magen's Bay. Went straight to Magen's Bay ($6 for taxi/$3admission) and stayed there for a few hours. It's beautiful! Can't be beaten. We then took another taxi downtown for some shopping, then back to the ship. There are some nice little souvenir & liquor stores at the Havensight Mall right at the pier. Don't miss the Paradise Point tram if you haven't done it before. You get a beautiful view of the harbor and the ship(s) in port. We were being hounded by Golden Princess this cruise. :p We were in port with them in St. Lucia and St. Thomas in addition to embarkation nd debarkation day. It looked like quite a beauty, but ours was bigger. ;)

On Saturday morning in St. Thomas, you had to report for the immigration check between 7AM and 9AM. After completing immigration, you were given a pass to exit the ship. I think people started getting off around 7:30. Very easy... no long lines, no problem.

 

On formal nights I saw a few tuxes and many dark suits. Ladies had gowns, cocktail dresses and elegant pants suits. I didn't see anyone inappropriately dressed.

 

We had a morning flight out of JFK and arrived at the pier around 2:30. We checked in and boarded right away. The whole process of check-in, long walk up the ramps in the San Juan heat, stop for souvenir photo, and stop for security photo took about 15 minutes. I've heard 10:30-11AM is a good time to arrive if you'd like to be one of the first to board. But there'll a wait. The spa is open for demonstrations and appointments right away. Portofino's was also taking reservations and giving out samples right away.

 

Our Captain was Hernan Zini, a hottie 37 year old from Argentina. Don't cry for him. :D Couldn't resist.

 

Our cruise director was Mike Hunnerup, the thunder from down under. G'Day Mike! We had The Drifters w/ Ron McPhatter, Clyde McPhatter's son. They called him Junior and made cute jokes. It was a wonderful show and worth the wait. (Hurricane Ivan kept them from getting to the ship until St. Maarten.) The production shows were really good. Velvet Rope was a "walk" through all the exclusive "clubs" of New York, Paris, Buenes Aries and others. Can't Stop the Rock was a remembrance of famous and not so famous music from various films over the years. From The Matrix, MIB, To Sir With Love, The Bodyguard, the 60s beach party movies and others. The singers were spectacular and the dancers wonderful. Cool Art, Hot Ice in Studio B is not to be missed. Be sure and get tickets (no charge) and get there early to get a good seat.

 

As Carrie said, the balcony had a sliding glass door that could be positoned and locked in place however you liked. There was steel half way up and then glass enabling very nice views. There was solid steel on each side assuring complete privacy. Some of the balconies appeared to have glass partitions on one side. No one can see onto your balcony except the window washers who hosed down the balconies on each port day. They did it hanging from a scaffold off the side of the ship. Hats off to the maintenance workers. Look out for them if you're in your cabin during the day and close the balcony door when you leave. (That hose is pretty powerful.) :D

 

Enjoy your cruise, everyone.

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CGAGE

CGAGE

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SBGRACE...We could not see into any part of the balcony of cabin 8612, but could lean over the edge and look into balcony 8608. We felt totally comfortable and totally private in our cabin and on our balcony. As QueensChick said...the maintenance crew does a great job of cleaning all the balconies, so be careful about what you leave on the balcony and keep in mind of their view...ie...especially if you're in your birthday suit!!! :) :) :)

ALSO...hope you're not going to feel too much of the effects of IVAN in GA!

 

Ms.Fixit...I started to save our Compasses, then once our itinerary changed, most of them were listed as Revised, so I figured they may not be as helpful to future cruisers on AOS. If you have any specific things you want to know about...I'm sure between QueensChick and I we can answer your questions!

 

Happy Cruising to all!

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sscruising

sscruising

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Hi:

 

So glad that you enjoyed your cruise! We did the same one for the last 2 years but this yeat did the Antigua route the week before you and loved it! I agree, Capt. Zini is awesome! Kinda reminded me of Doogie Howser-oh,oh my age is showing!. The Drifters were unbelievable & Mike,the cruise director did a superb job. Can't wait before I start planning my next-hopefully on the AOS again!

 

Sandi

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