For all those who have booked or are going to book the AOS - read this!

[Ocean Boy]

That's funny. :D

 

I did feel that if anything could have been better about the cruise, it would have been the evening entertainment. I didn't think that there were enough options. I would have liked to have seen some more smaller venue performers (comedians/magicians, etc.). The ice show was fantastic - and a good reason why Mare needs to sail this boat a 3rd time and see it already - however I don't know if I'd want to see the same show again.

 

You should consider trying Oasis or Allure. If you want options you will not be disappointed. Those ships absolutely shine in the entertainment department.

[Alexis]

Ocean Boy ... Any tips on those islands for excursions, eating/drinking, MUST SEE places? Any vendors to recommend or do you use the RCCL excursions? How about beaches? We have plenty of time .... there is a thread for our trip on AOS 3/18/12 if you want to post it.

 

We may go early to stay in San Juan for a day or two before/after --- I likely have hotel points for Marriott & Best Western .... any tips on staying in San Juan?

 

Hi, The San Juan Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino

(There are 4 Marriott's in San Juan so make sure you look at this one

in the Condado area right on the water.)

 

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/trave...llaris-casino/

 

When you open the link, the pictures will change so you can see the hotel. ;) Just click Photo Tour for a 360 on all the pictures that open.

It is a beautiful hotel right on the beach. It has it's own casino, restaurants, lobby bar, coffee and snack bar in the lobby also. (At night they serve Chinese food at it)

Walgreen's is right across and down a half a block. A lot of people go there to get the things we can not carry on the planes anymore.

There are many very nice restaurants around there to eat at, but if you want a really good reasonable one, try this place.

Go out the front door of the hotel and make a left on Ashford Avenue. Walk about two short blocks until you come to a small place on your left with a covered outside porch for dining outside. It also has an inside dining area. It is called Danny's.

They have great food, fast service and very good prices.

There are many fine restaurants in that area right next to and near the hotel too.

The bellman told us about this place and we ate there 3 times on our last stay. :D

There is a StarBucks directly across the street from the hotel too.

It is very safe there to walk around the shops and places in that area in the day and at night.

 

I always stay there when cruising from San Juan. I have it booked already for my Serenade B2B cruises next December.

[Teeara]

Hi gang! I'm back from our 4 days pre, 3 days post cruise in OSJ and, of course, our weeklong cruise on AOS to Aruba, Curacao, Dominica and St. Thomas. Got into Boston last night and what a shock! 83 when we left Puerto Rico and 45 at landing at Logan. Brrr!!!

 

Have much to say but will take a few days to get to it.

 

Did want to say that Schmoopie, we had almost the same issue you had on Sunday after the cruise. Our taxi driver said there was a "race" going on in OSJ, but he said he could get us in but it might take 45 minutes or longer. In fact it only took us 30 minutes. I told our driver that I didn't care how long it took, just get us into OSJ.

 

On Monday we went to Cariloha (the bamboo store in OSJ) and had a nice chat with the 3 clerks there. They told us that it wasn't really a race. It is a group of rich people who are getting together with their fancy cars for a drive through OSJ. They didn't get permits and apparently this last one caused a lot of people to miss their flights or get into work late. We were told that some people are talking about suing the city because of it.

 

Anyway, I will have A LOT to say about OSJ and AOS since we were a week in both. But first I need to put food in my refrigerator and wash my clothes! So please be patient.

 

Oh, and I didn't see any Beatles show advertised for the 4/10 cruise. But I might've missed it. Didn't do any shows on this cruise. Just enjoyed our big balcony on the back of the ship.

 

Talk to you soon,

 

Theresa

[sealeggs]

Well folks we are now down to 10 very long days until we board. On a positive note we only have 8 days until we arrive in San Juan.

[Ocean Boy]

Hi gang! I'm back from our 4 days pre, 3 days post cruise in OSJ and, of course, our weeklong cruise on AOS to Aruba, Curacao, Dominica and St. Thomas. Got into Boston last night and what a shock! 83 when we left Puerto Rico and 45 at landing at Logan. Brrr!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, I will have A LOT to say about OSJ and AOS since we were a week in both. But first I need to put food in my refrigerator and wash my clothes! So please be patient.

 

 

Talk to you soon,

 

Theresa

 

Great to be back, huh?

[Teeara]

Great to be back, huh?

 

Well, it's great to be back to sleeping in my own bed with my own pillow, that's for sure. But I sure am missing that warm weather!!! Hard to believe that two days ago I was in shorts and flip flops and this morning I was in a parka, boots, earmuffs and gloves! ;):D

 

Now to start getting focused on the Canada / NE cruise in October on Jewel with my mom...:rolleyes:

 

Theresa

[Ocean Boy]

Well, it's great to be back to sleeping in my own bed with my own pillow, that's for sure. But I sure am missing that warm weather!!! Hard to believe that two days ago I was in shorts and flip flops and this morning I was in a parka, boots, earmuffs and gloves! ;):D

 

Now to start getting focused on the Canada / NE cruise in October on Jewel with my mom...:rolleyes:

 

Theresa

 

Yeah, I know what you mean about being back in your own bed. The thing that I am always happiest to be back to is my bathroom. There is a lot to be said for empty SPACE.

 

I'm waiting to hear about your trip.

[schmoopie17]

Hi gang! Did want to say that Schmoopie, we had almost the same issue you had on Sunday after the cruise. Our taxi driver said there was a "race" going on in OSJ, but he said he could get us in but it might take 45 minutes or longer. In fact it only took us 30 minutes. I told our driver that I didn't care how long it took, just get us into OSJ.

 

At least you had the benefit of our misfortune to know that if you're persistent you'll get there. Being the dumb tourists that we were (and not having read of any similar occurrences of this type on this board) we just assumed that the cab driver knew best. Silly us...:mad:

 

It's funny that the Beatles show seems to come and go. Now you see them, now you don't (and we didn't...) :mad:

 

Looking forward to your review! :D (I figured I better put a :D in here someplace to counter-balance the frowns...)

[Teeara]

Yeah, I know what you mean about being back in your own bed. The thing that I am always happiest to be back to is my bathroom. There is a lot to be said for empty SPACE.

 

I'm waiting to hear about your trip.

 

I'll be working on the official CC review this weekend and should have it posted on Monday. Otherwise, I kept a journal each day on my laptop so if you want to see that I can post that.

[Teeara]

At least you had the benefit of our misfortune to know that if you're persistent you'll get there. Being the dumb tourists that we were (and not having read of any similar occurrences of this type on this board) we just assumed that the cab driver knew best. Silly us...:mad:

 

If you hadn't had your experience I wouldn't have been prepared for how I handled it. I think you probably would've been much more insistent had you been staying overnight in OSJ like I was. There was no way I wasn't getting into OSJ on Sunday.

 

It's funny that the Beatles show seems to come and go. Now you see them, now you don't (and we didn't...) :mad:

 

Yes, very strange indeed.

 

Looking forward to your review! :D (I figured I better put a :D in here someplace to counter-balance the frowns...)

 

Thanks! Yes, like the smileys! :)

[sealeggs]

Ok folks we are just 6 days from boarding this beautiful ship. May 1st here we come.

[Teeara]

I'm waiting to hear about your trip.

 

I've posted my cruise journal and CC cruise review here on the RCI board.

 

Here's the link: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1412554

 

Enjoy and thanks to everyone for the great suggestions!

 

Theresa

[Lorey2007]

Any folks that have stayed at the Intercontinental pre/post cruise I would like any info you would have in regard to restaurants including fast food, CVS or Walgreens, grocery stores, shopping and anything else that is within walking distance. How safe is it to walk around at night? Is the bus stop close to the hotel. We are also wondering how the area around the Intercontinental compares to the area around the Marriott Stellaris. Anything else will be greatly appreciated. We're sailing on the Adventure again next year because we enjoyed it so much this year.

[princess5750]

I was on the AOS March 14-21, 2010 as well!!! We LOVED the ship. I had only been on the Disney cruise previously but this was a great ship...enough so much that we are actually happy our next cruise, March 2012, was on the AOS as well. We know what to expect, the service was great, the ship was in great condition and gorgeous. Lots to do and we are looking forward to it! I love this post....AOS might not be the biggest or newest but it's still wonderful!!!

 

 

I think this thread is long overdue.

 

Each week I see at least 2-3 posts regarding the Adventure of the Seas, people who have booked and are now afraid they made a mistake - and people who have yet to book, that may not ever book because of what they read on here.

 

As many of you know, I have cruised on the AOS 3 times and have had wonderful cruise vacations on all 3. I am sailing again next month on my 2nd B2B on the AOS and I am eagerly anticipating another fantastic cruise! :)

 

Here are a few commonly asked questions about the AOS:

 

Q: Does the AOS have a large amount of Puerto Ricans sailing on her for most cruises?

A: Yes, there are Puerto Rican's on cruises out of San Juan. It is their home port and I would be very surprised if they weren't.

Q: Are the announcements in Spanish as well as English?

A: Yes they are. Is it an issue? No.

Q: Are Puerto Ricans rude and rowdy?

A: No more rude and rowdy than other passengers I have seen on other ships and other itineraries. Puerto Ricans are a lively bunch :)

Q: Is the AOS a sick ship, or more prone to Noro than other ships?

A: No. The AOS has as much chance of a noro outbreak as any other ship in the RCI fleet.

Q: I have booked the AOS and after reading negative reviews, I want to cancel - what should I do?

A: You can cancel you cruise if you want, but you will be missing out on a fantastic cruise on a great ship sailing on a wonderful itinerary!

 

I do understand that some people have had negative experiences on the AOS - but the same can be said for any other ship. There will always be people cutting in line, pushing elevator buttons, chair hogging and the list goes on......unfortunately, some people like to leave their manners at home :(

 

My experiences have been terrific on the AOS and I would encourage anyone to sail on her and see for themselves what a great ship she is!!

 

Yes....I am an AOS cheerleader, and proud of it!!!

[rupertfrog]

I was on the AOS March 14-21, 2010 as well!!! We LOVED the ship. I had only been on the Disney cruise previously but this was a great ship...enough so much that we are actually happy our next cruise, March 2012, was on the AOS as well. We know what to expect, the service was great, the ship was in great condition and gorgeous. Lots to do and we are looking forward to it! I love this post....AOS might not be the biggest or newest but it's still wonderful!!!

 

 

Princess when in March 2012 will you be cruising on AOS ... we are onboard 3/18/12 ...and have an active thread going already. If you are on that cruise please look up our thread - we've already got 30 for the M&M!!!

[charleyroo]

have chosen AoS for our first cruise next Feb 26th :)

it looks a beautiful ship, think we have made the right choice!

[kaybeeeeeee]

have chosen AoS for our first cruise next Feb 26th :)

it looks a beautiful ship, think we have made the right choice!

 

Charleyroo, you absolutely have. We've been on the AOS twice now and it's 90% sure we'll be on your cruise as well. Hope to meet you and the others on that thread at some point.

 

 

Ken

[ka4ren]

I agree, well said.

 

I'd like to sail on Adventure of the Seas some day.. the itenerary looks great and I love the Mariner so I'm sure I'd like AOS as well. The only thing holding me back is the airfare to SJ.

 

Sigh.. why doesn't RC have sailings out of Miami or Ft. Lauderdale that go to the southern Caribbean? Celebrity, Carnival & Princess have them. :( :cool: Some day hopefully!!

 

Well said we just loved out trim out of Puerto Rico want do do it again just can afford the air fair. We had people that were very rowdy on our mairner out of LA, stilkl had a grest trip

Gail

[sealeggs]

We just returned from our TA to Malaga. we had a wonderful time. The 13 days flew by very quickly. Now the only problem is I don't know if we can go back to just 7 days at sea anymore.

[emtb12]

have chosen AoS for our first cruise next Feb 26th :)

it looks a beautiful ship, think we have made the right choice!

 

We took our 1st ever curise this past Apil on AOS. If I could sum it up in one word. AMAZING! We had such a great time, we booked for 2/2012 with the NOS. Same class ship. ENJOY!

[CrasyLynne]

We just returned from our TA to Malaga. we had a wonderful time. The 13 days flew by very quickly. Now the only problem is I don't know if we can go back to just 7 days at sea anymore.

 

We fully agree that the TA was great - see my full review at http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=83182. We long ago decided that 7 days just were too short but it is not too often we can do 2+ weeks away. Wish we had more vacation time (and funds) to do it again real soon.

[Lorey2007]

Anyone who did the itinerary this year that included Barbados, St Lucia, Antigua, St Croix & St Thomas can you tell me which were formal nights? I'm sure the first one will be day 2 the sea day but not sure about the other.

[SharC]

Lorey - Did you get your album done?

[Lorey2007]

Lorey - Did you get your album done?

 

Hi Sharon, my daughter is making the scrapbook for me. I organized all my pictures and other things by day and she will put it all together for me. She works full time and our grandson is 6 and our special needs granddaughter is 3 1/2 so she has her hands full. On top of that about 4 weeks ago we had monumental rain and her basement/rec room flooded and is still in the process of getting repaired. When she finishes it I will be able to relive all those great days aboard AOS. We also decided to do the other itinerary in February...can't wait.

[ckrobyn]

A big hello to all my fellow AOS followers!!! :)

It has been a very busy few months since March when I was on the AOS and as a result I have not posted here in ages :(

As you can see by my signature, 2012 will be the first year since 2006 that I have no plans to sail on my favorite ship :rolleyes: I am not abandoning her, just taking a year off! I convinced my DH to try another ship and Cape Liberty is only an hour and a bit flight from Toronto. We are booked on a 10 night cruise and are travelling with our best friends so it will be fun :p

I will still check this thread and answer questions, although there are so many of you who can answer them!!!!

Happy Cruising!!!!:D