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

[ckrobyn]

Just wanted to share my thoughts...I did a back to back on her in 2007. The first week was great The second week was no so good they ran a special in SJ and the ship was full of them it was nice but different. I said Ill never sail her again..Well guess what I did her again this year First let me tell you she is a beautiful ship Love the islands crew is very very good Love the captains hummor. I think it is a hit and miss I have opened my eyes that if I let anyone ruin my time its my fault All I can say is go on this cruise you will never be sorry....I loved it so much I booked my 2 week cruise for next year I cant wait.People dont listen to the negitivity.You can hear that all day..There is some people in this world that will never be happy about anything...... I say hurry make your reservations ............. Dont second guess

 

Excellent advice :)

I too believe a cruise is what you make of it.

The AOS is a great ship for B2B's - especially with the new itinerary!

[JamFan]

I am traveling with a large group and we just received our dining assignments. We have the following tables: 300, 301, 302, 303 & 305.

I'm assuming these are in the dining room on the 3rd floor, correct? I was just wondering if anyone knows where these tables are. It's not like I would ask them to change a thing, I'm just so happy they were able to give us tables all together!

 

I also have a silly postcard question. I've heard of several people mailing postcards from the ship that never make it home. My children would like to send a postcard from each port (Aruba, Curacao, St. Maarten & St. Thomas) to several different family members. Is there a place right off the ship we can mail them? And what about postage?

 

Last vacation my son mailed a postcard to his class from Disney World & that never made it either:( .

[nvbabe]

I am traveling with a large group and we just received our dining assignments. We have the following tables: 300, 301, 302, 303 & 305.

I'm assuming these are in the dining room on the 3rd floor, correct? I was just wondering if anyone knows where these tables are. It's not like I would ask them to change a thing, I'm just so happy they were able to give us tables all together!

 

I also have a silly postcard question. I've heard of several people mailing postcards from the ship that never make it home. My children would like to send a postcard from each port (Aruba, Curacao, St. Maarten & St. Thomas) to several different family members. Is there a place right off the ship we can mail them? And what about postage?

 

Last vacation my son mailed a postcard to his class from Disney World & that never made it either:( .

 

We just had table 316. You will be on the main floor in the dining room. We we're fairly close to the center, two tables from the captains table.

[TPKeller]

I also have a silly postcard question. I've heard of several people mailing postcards from the ship that never make it home. My children would like to send a postcard from each port (Aruba, Curacao, St. Maarten & St. Thomas) to several different family members. Is there a place right off the ship we can mail them? And what about postage?

Mailing postcards from the islands can be somewhat problematic.

 

These are things I've learned from my own experiences, YMMV:

 

No ship I've ever been on sells postage stamps native to the itinerary. If you want to mail from the local post office, you have to find 1, a place to sell you a proper stamp, and 2, a place from which to mail it. This (especially #1) can take quite some time, and depending on your plans, may put a serious crimp in your schedule.

 

All the ships I've been on will let you mail from the ship, but they usually hold the mail until they return to the home port. This sort of defeats the purpose of sending post cards from each island.

 

It is handy to note that for the USVI and Puerto Rico, a regular US Postal Service stamp, for the regular domestic postage amount, is just fine, and it probably won't be hard to find a mailbox while you're about town.

 

It is cool to send post cards from each island, a real authentic souvenir, and usually not too expensive. It just may take time.

 

Most ships I've been on do sell post cards that represent the itinerary in the gift shops on board. This can be a huge time saver, if you want to write any sort of detailed message on your cards, as opposed to doing it while in port.

 

If anyone has any personal experience for the AOS itinerary, I'd be interested to hear some more recent and pertinent data!

 

Theron

[tuliplvr]

Could anyone tell me what my other "free" lunch options are besides the Winjammer? Thank you

[moofus]

I am traveling with a large group and we just received our dining assignments. We have the following tables: 300, 301, 302, 303 & 305.

I'm assuming these are in the dining room on the 3rd floor, correct? I was just wondering if anyone knows where these tables are. It's not like I would ask them to change a thing, I'm just so happy they were able to give us tables all together!

 

I also have a silly postcard question. I've heard of several people mailing postcards from the ship that never make it home. My children would like to send a postcard from each port (Aruba, Curacao, St. Maarten & St. Thomas) to several different family members. Is there a place right off the ship we can mail them? And what about postage?

 

Last vacation my son mailed a postcard to his class from Disney World & that never made it either:( .

 

How did you get your dining assignment?

My cruise is in Dec. and I have never gotten my assignment before getting my seaPass card.

[ckrobyn]

Could anyone tell me what my other "free" lunch options are besides the Winjammer? Thank you

 

You can have pizza's/ sandwiches at the cafe promenade, have lunch in the main dining room (Brasserie menu), Johnny Rockets or room service. Did I forget anything? :rolleyes:

[tuliplvr]

You can have pizza's/ sandwiches at the cafe promenade, have lunch in the main dining room (Brasserie menu), Johnny Rockets or room service. Did I forget anything? :rolleyes:

 

Thank you!

[TPKeller]

You can have pizza's/ sandwiches at the cafe promenade, have lunch in the main dining room (Brasserie menu), Johnny Rockets or room service. Did I forget anything? :rolleyes:

And this leads to the most important question of all: Does the Cafe Promenade on AOS have Coconut Ranger cookies?

 

The answer to this question is directly correlated to how much weight I will gain on this cruise....

 

Theron

[JordanLovesCruisin]

Adventure of the Seas has had my FAVORITE ports.

 

San Juan was beautiful and we had a very easy embarkation.

 

Aruba is the one place I would love to go back to again.

 

The ship, the staff, everything was perfect.

 

The ethnic diversity was not a problem at all. There were two different quinceneras, (like a sweet 16 for latino young women at 15) and they were both elegant. They were as formal, or more formal than a wedding, and it was nice to admire the beautiful dresses! I learned a lot on the trip, as i was 15 myself when I went. I learned that the families save up for this event starting the day their daughter is born.

 

It was the best ship and I would love to go back.

 

[sealeggs]

tuliplvr there is a fee for Johnny Rockets of $3.95, unless you have a free coupon from your crown and anchor booklet you receive in your cabin when you board and it's good for 1 person and 1 visit. You have to be a member of crown and anchor to receive the coupon book thugh. Have a great cruise.

[ckrobyn]

And this leads to the most important question of all: Does the Cafe Promenade on AOS have Coconut Ranger cookies?

 

The answer to this question is directly correlated to how much weight I will gain on this cruise....

 

Theron

 

 

Theron - you will be pleased to know that I have had the yummy coconut ranger cookies in the Cafe Promenade on the AOS :D They are not available all the time (the chocolate chip one's are though) so you need to stop by each day and see if they are there.

 

Don't worry too much about the weight gain......look at all the steps you have to take to walk down the Royal Promenade! :p

 

When are you sailing??

[TPKeller]

Theron - you will be pleased to know that I have had the yummy coconut ranger cookies in the Cafe Promenade on the AOS :D They are not available all the time (the chocolate chip one's are though) so you need to stop by each day and see if they are there.

 

Don't worry too much about the weight gain......look at all the steps you have to take to walk down the Royal Promenade! :p

 

When are you sailing??

11 days... but who's counting? ;)

 

Theron

[ckrobyn]

11 days... but who's counting? ;)

 

Theron

 

 

Oh you lucky guy!!!!!!! LOVE the AOS as you know :D

 

Keep her in good shape for me ok? 129 more sleeps 'til I am back onboard!!

 

Have a wonderful cruise!!!!!:)

[kellyco]

We will be on AOS in May in a GS. My kids are going to sleep in the pull out bed. However, is there enough space in the room to get a roll away bed in case the pull out isn't big enough. My kids are younger, but can take all the space in a king sized bed if you let them. When they shared a pull out on the Freedom, my son kicked my daughter right out of the bed and she landed on the floor!

 

Thanks for your help.

[ckrobyn]

We will be on AOS in May in a GS. My kids are going to sleep in the pull out bed. However, is there enough space in the room to get a roll away bed in case the pull out isn't big enough. My kids are younger, but can take all the space in a king sized bed if you let them. When they shared a pull out on the Freedom, my son kicked my daughter right out of the bed and she landed on the floor!

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Hi Kelly,

 

Yes you can have a roll away bed in your GS. The cabin attendant will set it up for you in the bar area of your suite. The only downside is that the roll away will stay there for the week and it does take up some of that bar space and makes it a bit difficult to access the closets.

 

The pull out in a GS is a queen, so maybe that will be enough room for them?

[kellyco]

Thanks for your quick response. I would assume the bed will be big enough, my kids are 7 and 4 but wanted to just double check. It would be a bummer to have gotten the bigger room only to lose some of the space with a roll away.

 

We are excited for this trip. Thanks for your great information and pictures.

[ckrobyn]

Thanks for your quick response. I would assume the bed will be big enough, my kids are 7 and 4 but wanted to just double check. It would be a bummer to have gotten the bigger room only to lose some of the space with a roll away.

 

We are excited for this trip. Thanks for your great information and pictures.

 

You are going to have an awesome cruise on the AOS!!!!

 

You will love the added space of the GS - we have one booked as well for our February cruise :)

 

The bathroom is amazing - LOTS of space in there!!!!

 

If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask!

[toonjie]

Toonjie,

That baby of yours is just adoreable! How old are the older kids that get to go on your next cruise?

 

Robyn,

You misinformed Toonjie...those sleepless nights don't end at 18...by then he'll have his driver's license and then Toonjie and DW will get NO sleep...lol ;)

 

DS is 12 DD1 is 10 and DD2 is 7. They were all great sleepers, but Josiah is a little rough, but not that bad.

 

Oh, hey, how was your Explorer cruise? Did I miss the review?

[JamFan]

Theron - Thank you for the info on the postcards. I think I might just purchase them on the islands (or ship) then mail them all from Puerto Rico when we get back. It's better than the NJ postmark!

 

How did you get your dining assignment?

My cruise is in Dec. and I have never gotten my assignment before getting my seaPass card.

 

We just asked our travel agent & she emailed it to us. She received the assignments directly from RC.

[green eyed lady]

Toonjie,

No you didn't miss the review...we leave Nov 1...can't wait! :D

[toonjie]

Toonjie,

No you didn't miss the review...we leave Nov 1...can't wait! :D

 

How did I miss the countdown timer? Must have been looking at a quote. Have a great cruise!

[cds2423]

I'll be sailing a week from Sunday on your Adventure of the Seas, I hate the idea of sailing from San Juan because the one and only previous experience returning from there was awful, i swore we'd never do it again, but alas we are. Now I do believe that we have to clear customs in St. Thomas on the Saturday, will they still have to customs clear the ship again the morning that we arrive back in San Juan, we have a 10:00am flight back to Montreal and we're being told that we'll make it, i'm doubtful with our arrival into SanJuan showing as 7:00am, my only hope is that we don't have to clear the ship again as it will have been cleared the day before in St. T, we all know how long it can take to disembark on arrival morning in the port, due to the paging of passengers and god knows what else.

The last time we were there, we non-U.S. citizens were definetly poorly treated and i'm really concerned that the same will apply again. Any feedback would be appreciated.

TIA ;)

[ckrobyn]

I'll be sailing a week from Sunday on your Adventure of the Seas, I hate the idea of sailing from San Juan because the one and only previous experience returning from there was awful, i swore we'd never do it again, but alas we are. Now I do believe that we have to clear customs in St. Thomas on the Saturday, will they still have to customs clear the ship again the morning that we arrive back in San Juan, we have a 10:00am flight back to Montreal and we're being told that we'll make it, i'm doubtful with our arrival into SanJuan showing as 7:00am, my only hope is that we don't have to clear the ship again as it will have been cleared the day before in St. T, we all know how long it can take to disembark on arrival morning in the port, due to the paging of passengers and god knows what else.

The last time we were there, we non-U.S. citizens were definetly poorly treated and i'm really concerned that the same will apply again. Any feedback would be appreciated.

TIA ;)

 

Hi CDS,

 

Customs always has to clear a ship in her home port at the end of a cruise, so yes - the AOS will have to be cleared for disembarkation. A 10:00am flight is cutting it a little close! Just be sure that you let them know onboard that you have an early flight so you can get the first off colour in the morning. One good thing about your early flight is that there won't be any lines to go through security that early at SJU. The ship arrives in San Juan earlier than 7am (I am usually awake around 6am and we are already docked) I think what is meant by that, is that passengers can start disembarking shortly after 7am or as soon as the ship is cleared.

 

I never felt a difference in treatment between U.S and non U.S citizens. We all get in the same line to get off the ship. The only delay you may find is when you are off the ship and in the terminal building, the line with non U.S citizens may take a bit longer, but not usually?

 

My only real feedback to you is that you should never book a return flight before at least 11:30am or possibly noon on the day the cruise ends. Is there any way you can switch to a later flight so you won't be stressed out about missing the 10:00am flight??

 

Let me know if you have any other questions.

[green eyed lady]

Thanks Toonjie! Really looking forward to 4 sea days...I need some R&R ;)