Our Adventures on the AOS last week

[julielouhoo]

Arrival:

 

We arrived on Sunday March 23 (Easter) for our sailing that evening.

We landed at 11:45am, took the RCCL transfer to the ship and we were in our stateroom by 1:30pm.

 

Even though our flight from Philadelphia was on time, our luggage arrived just fine and we were on board without a problem, I would still recommend flying in at least the day before, if possible. We really felt as if the entire first day was a blur.

 

When we boarded, we were immediately greeted by a staff member from Adventure Ocean (the kid's program) and they put a bracelet on our 10 yr old to identify his muster station. I have often wondered how they would control the chaos of parents trying to claim their children in an emergency. We were told that in the event of an emergency, we should proceed to our muster station and his bracelet would tell them where we would be.

 

After checking out our stateroom, we headed up to the Windjammer to try the Honey Stung Chicken that is all the rage on this board!! (It was good).

 

We changed into our pool clothes and headed to the informal M&M we had arranged with the other Crazy Easter Cruisers. One of the ladies in our group had designed beautiful tshirts for us and everyone who wanted them could order them individually, for their own families. It was really nice to see everyone in their shirts congregating at the pool bar.

 

We hung out for about an hour or so (and the kids swam). When we returned to our cabin, our luggage had arrived!! I could not believe how quickly the bags were checked and delivered.

 

All aboard was at 5:30 and our muster drill was at 6pm.

 

We had late seating, so we spent an hour or so checking out the ship. This ship is my new favorite!! So beautiful and clean. They didn't miss a detail!

 

I have to hop off for a few minutes, but I'll be back after I help my little one with his homework!

[julielouhoo]

Stateroom: We had a D1, balcony on the 9th floor hump for the 4 of us. I do have to say, it was a little tight. Our balcony was normal size with 2 chairs and a table. Our friends had a Promenade cabin on the 8th floor and loved it. They didn't think our room was much larger than theirs. They said they didn't hear any noise at all.

 

There was a lot going on the ship that first night and we were too tired for any of it! There is a Sail away party, karaoke, The welcome aboard show and the Sail Away Parade in the Promenade.

 

Dinner:

We had second seating which was great for relaxing and not having that rushing to get ready feeling, but it turned out to be too late for our ten year old. He fell asleep at the table 3 times! Our server, asst. server and bar server were awesome. Our head waiter Singh was the best we've ever had. He had our son's dinner ready for him when we arrived each night and our daughter's fruit. He was around 3 or 4 times each night. The dining room is incredible!! So stunning! We were on the 3rd floor and loved getting the full effect of the levels of the dining room.

 

The food was very good. No one at our table ever had to send anything back or wasn't completely satisfied with their choice.

 

Portofinos:

One of the guys from our M&M board suggested we get a group together for Portofinos. What a great idea!!! We had 5 couples who went. We signed up on our board and he ran to Portofino first thing and made the reservation for the table. If you have a chatty board, I would really recommend doing this. We had so much fun. We went on Wednesday night (the weak night on the menu) and all went to the Quest afterwards. The food was excellent, as well. The servers were really sweet.

 

More to come!!

[pmfan]

Anxious to read more.

[terry2be]

Thank you for the review- can't wait to read the rest!. We'll be on the AOS 4/27!

[julielouhoo]

Ports

 

Aruba: This was our 2nd trip to Aruba, an island we love. I did a little shopping in the early morning and then we took a cab to Palm Beach. We had the cab driver drop us off at the Radisson. We had gotten a tip that as long as you didn't flaunt your RCCL towel, the personnel there didn't bother you. We definitely found that to be the case. We had a couple of chairs under a large straw umbrella. We were even told that they don't stop you from using the pools. I could see that it would have been easy to do. Our cab driver told us that all of the beaches are public and the hotels do not own the beach in front of them, so they are all available to the public. There was a pier nearby with banana boat rides and tube rides and floats to rent. My husband waited too long to book his scuba dive with the group from our ship, so he didn't dive there, but he has dove in Aruba before and loved it. He dove the wreck of the Antilla. A group from our ship booked on their own, with a man named Clive (I can get his web address if anyone needs it) and they had a great time.

 

Curacao: This was our first visit to Curacao. It definitely was my least favorite port. My husband and kids may feel differently. My husband dove with a group from our ship through the Dive Bus. They had great dives. The kids and I walked over the floating bridge and shopped a little in town and had a cab driver take us to Kontiki beach to meet up with my husband. From the other side of the bridge, the ride to Kontiki beach was about 10 minutes and $4 each. Our ship was docked at the farther pier, so it was a little walk to the floating bridge, but not too far a walk. We got to see the floating bridge closing back across the water, after a ship went through. If the floating bridge isn't open, you can take the free water taxi. Kontiki beach has all the ammenities you might want. It has a bathroom, a restaurant/bar, chairs, a little shop, a hut for open air massages, servers who regularly come by. The sand is a bit rocky at the water's edge and you do have to watch out for sea urchins, but the kids loved playing there and collecting hermit crabs. Remember to ask your cab driver to come back for you at whatever time you'd like him too.

 

St Maarten: I love St Maarten! It was our 3rd visit to the island. We booked the Rhino rider excursion through the ship. It is cheaper to book it on your own, but the only time they had was in the middle of the day, so we booked the 9am with the ship. What a thrill!! The Rhino riders are inflatable heavy rubber motor boats. The yellow and white ones can really move. The grey ones are dogs, so don't let them tell you they are the cadillacs!! They take forever to plane off and get moving! The tour is over 3 hours. You cross a couple of bays (about 30 minutes of riding each way) and stop at a beautiful beach for snorkeling (they provide the equipment or you can bring your own), playing on the beach and they provide sodas and water. After about 30-45 minutes we were rhino riding on the way back. They claim the boats are impossible to tip over. It was a fun excursion. Our driver asked if anyone would like to be dropped off in town for shopping rather than going back to the ship. If your driver doesn't ask, and you'd like to shop, he passes right by the shopping area.

We had a quick lunch of whatever my husband could carry back from the Promenade, cleaned up and went for a little shopping. We were a half an hour late leaving port while the Captain waited for a family to return. Most captains just wave good bye!

 

St Thomas: This was also our 3rd trip to St Thomas. We had considered going to St John, but decided to go to Megan's Bay instead. We had an awesome cab driver named Antonio (I have his card if anyone would like his number. That's the one thing I really don't like about St Thomas, most of the cab drivers are nuts). Antonio was wonderful. He stopped on our way back at a beautiful place overlooking our ship. The cab ride was $8 per person each way. We rented chairs and a floating mat. There was a guy renting kayaks, sunfish and paddle boats on the beach and there was a little snack bar/grill.

 

 

More tomorrow about the Captain, the crew, the ship, the shopping, the shows, tips, etc...

[bluecruisin]

Thanks for posting, looking forward to your next installments!

[mchin]

Great review! Look forward to reading the rest.

[julielouhoo]

Sea Days:

Our first full day was at sea. My friend was going to the port talk and I originally went just to keep her company. I am really glad I did. Tanna, the port shopping guides promotes the VIP bag for $25, but there is a limited number per cruise (I'm not sure about that, I saw someone buying one the night before St Thomas). The bag is well worth the $25. You get hundreds of dollars in free merchandise from all of the ports. It also entitles you to 30% signature treatments in the spa, extra bingo cards, extra raffle tickets for all the raffles on the ship and more. My husband always likes to buy me a piece of jewelry to commemorate each trip, but I wasn't sure what (if anything) I wanted, so in Aruba I really just took an hour and ran around collecting all of the great free stuff. From totebags to loose gemstones and pendants, coins, art, disposable cameras, earrings etc. You also get a free gold charm bracelet for attending, that you pick up at the first stop and pay $5 for the first charm, then in every port you get that port's charm for free. It was a lot of fun. My whole family wanted to come with me at every other port! Tanna also has special parties at different stores for extra discounts that she will tell you about.

 

There is so much going on all over the ship on sea days that I found they flew by. I made a list of all of the things that I wanted to be sure to do and see on the ship so I could figure out how and when to fit them in. Some were simple things like visit the skylight chapel or the Blue Moon at night to see the color changing balls. I definitely recommend visiting the gym, even just for a peek. It's really nice. Also the Solarium is very nice but the chairs go quickly.

 

The activities by the pool are always fun. The kids participated in the water balloon toss. The Mr Sexy Legs and the Belly Flop contests are funny. The pools are salt water, so the kids liked having their goggles.

 

My friend attended the scrapbooking classes and said they were more for beginners, but the guy from the cruise staff that ran them was fun. Another person I met attended the cooking demonstration and really enjoyed it (and sampling the finished products).

 

There are adult sporting competitions that were fun to watch, especially the Crew vs Guest Dodgeball game. Captain Tommy played for the Crew's team. I've never seen a ship's captain participate like he did!! He was very accessible.

 

If you want to Ice Skate or Climb the Rock Wall, they are only available at certain times, so you will want to watch for that.

 

The Dining Room serves lunch on Sea Days and has a lunch buffet on the 6th day for a couple of hours. If you would like a table service lunch, the menu was nice, plus they had a pasta station that they would cook to order. You also ordered that with your server, so no standing around necessary. All of the other port days, the Windjammer, Johnny Rockets or the Promenade were your choices for lunch. And room service, of course.

 

The Windjammer is always a popular spot. I found the food and the presentation to be very nice. It's a buffet, not cook to order, but they always had a nice variety. Every day for lunch and dinner they also had a few different kinds of pizza and hamburgers/hot dogs for picky little eaters. You can take food out to the pool, (or to your room) but there aren't any trays to carry multiple items.

There is a soft serve ice cream machine outside that is open until 6pm each day.

 

The Promenade

Was always bustling! The shops are only open when the ship is at sea and every day is some kind of special. The cafe had great little sandwiches, cookies and desserts. Regular coffee/tea/hot chocolate and water were also available. This was usually our first stop for a little snack after coming back from being ashore. It held us over until our 8:30 dinner.

 

The Captain has his welcome reception in the Promenade. The kids from Adventure Ocean performed with the entertainers there and I would definitely recommend seeing at least one parade that goes through there. They don't last long, but they are really cute (and a different thing to do on a cruise).

 

More to come.

[Saracruise]

Sounds like you had a great time. We are taking this cruise next February for my birthday. I will need to check out the excursion in St. Maarten. We took the St. Thomas excursion to St. John and the whole trip was absolutely beautiful.

[julielouhoo]

To finish up....

 

Disembarkation: We had a 5:40pm flight, so we booked a tour of Old and New San Juan that would drop us off at the airport. We booked it through Shoretrips.com and it was wonderful!! We had arranged to be picked up at 10am. We stayed in our stateroom until just before 8am (kick out time) and went to the Windjammer for breakfast. We were group #1 and our friends on the same flight were in group #4 for disembarking. We just relaxed in the Windjammer until around 9:30. By the time we got off the ship and claimed our luggage, it was 10am and our tour guide was waiting for us. He loaded our luggage in his van and away we went. He asked us for any places we'd specifically like to see. He made sure we saw them and much more. He gave us time to walk around and have lunch while he stayed with the van. I have an entirely different view of San Juan from this excursion. When our trip was over, he dropped us off at the airport. Perfect end to our trip. Victor was our guide.

 

Cruise Staff I always think they are great, but this group was really special. I thought they were high energy and a lot of fun. Mike was our cruise director but had to leave on Friday to have surgery on his knee. Pierce replaced him for the rest of the cruise. Two very different personalities, but both fun.

 

Itinerary: This itinerary is awesome!! It really lends itself to a lot of relaxation.

 

Behavior: Our cruise was a Spring Break week, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but I didn't see anyone acting up (well except one 16 yr old girl having a meltdown because her mother wanted her in the family picture)

Everyone was great!!

 

Tips: Our roll call (The Crazy Easter Cruisers) has a list of really great tips a couple of the ladies compiled. I'd start around page 73 or 74. One of the most life saving tips we found on there was to bring a 3 outlet T to plug into the outlet on the desk. My daughter and I could never have gotten ready for dinner on time without it. We also used the over the door hanging pocket thingy in the bathroom which totally freed up our limited counter space. My dh won't cruise without that again.

If you hate laundry as much as I do, mid week they have a wash and fold special for $20. We had a huge bag which came back in 2 bags nicely folded and all clean. Well worth the $20. If you aren't on your roll call, do yourself a favor and sign up. You will meet the most amazing people!!

 

This is an awesome cruise, ship and staff. I totally understand Robyn now....I'm incredibly jealous of all of you who are getting ready to sail on the AOS! Have a great time!!

 

Terri

[julielouhoo]

Sounds like you had a great time. We are taking this cruise next February for my birthday. I will need to check out the excursion in St. Maarten. We took the St. Thomas excursion to St. John and the whole trip was absolutely beautiful.

 

I know you will have a wonderful time, we sure did. We originally wanted to go to St John but with all of the taxi/ferry charges, it would have added up to almost $200 for my family of 4 to spend a few hours on the beach. We may be in Tortola in August and it's an easy ferry ride over to St John, so we may do that. Megan's Bay was awesome and very beautiful. We also have done Coki Beach twice if you like snorkeling.

 

Have a ball!!! I'm jealous!

 

Terri

[TennisLover]

Thanks for your review. Getting ready to book this for April 09!

 

A new ship to research -- what fun!!

[Cruisechic470]

Great review! I've been on the AOS (other route) before and loved the ship. This year we are going again on the Aruba route. I've been everywhere before except Curacao and was wondering if you had to tender in Curacao as it is a smaller port?

[julielouhoo]

Great review! I've been on the AOS (other route) before and loved the ship. This year we are going again on the Aruba route. I've been everywhere before except Curacao and was wondering if you had to tender in Curacao as it is a smaller port?

 

Nope. There are two places the ship can dock. We docked at the farther point (not too far, still in walking distance) to the center of town. A Celebrity ship was in port the same day we were and was at the closer location. They are doing a lot of developing the area, but the walkway is well marked and mostly gated. We didn't tender anywhere on this cruise.

 

Have a great time!!

Terri

 

PS How was the other route? I would love to do a B2B on this ship with both itineraries. I have been to most of the other ports before, but pre kids.

[bluecruisin]

Can you share with us some info on what activities/shows/lounges you enjoyed at night? Thanks!!

[julielouhoo]

Can you share with us some info on what activities/shows/lounges you enjoyed at night? Thanks!!

 

Sure! I don't think we ever did the same thing twice. We were travelling with a 13 yr old and a 10 yr old so we couldn't stay out too late and 3 nights our 10 yr old was asleep at dinner, so we traded off casino time.

 

I only saw one production show Jackpot and it was fine. My family saw the farewell show with comedians and the singers and dancers and they really liked it. The ice show was really good. Quest is awesome if you aren't too conservative. Our friends saw Love and Marriage and said it was hysterical. I didn't really see any of the other shows. (or hear too much about them). We had second seating for dinner, so our show times were often 10:45pm ~ too late to sit after a big dinner (it would make us sleepy). The ones we made were when late seating shows were pre-dinner.

 

Usually the bars up top like the Viking Crown Lounge and the Blue Moon were a pretty mellow crowd. The Schooner bar was usually fun. The Imperial Lounge usually had something fun to watch, going on. We walked into Jesters night club one night, but it was a really young crowd.

(& We're not that old). The bars in the promenade seemed to draw a good crowd each night. The sports bar was usually busy, but I don't know if that's normal or if it's because of the NCAA tournament. The Duck and Dog is the English themed pub. We only got there once, on the last night and there was a group of Irish people who apparently were there each night. They were a lot of fun. That pub was busy every night whatever time you'd walk by.

Whatever your tastes are, they will have it going on somewhere on that ship!! Have a great time!

[Cruisechic470]

Nope. There are two places the ship can dock. We docked at the farther point (not too far, still in walking distance) to the center of town. A Celebrity ship was in port the same day we were and was at the closer location. They are doing a lot of developing the area, but the walkway is well marked and mostly gated. We didn't tender anywhere on this cruise.

 

Have a great time!!

Terri

 

PS How was the other route? I would love to do a B2B on this ship with both itineraries. I have been to most of the other ports before, but pre kids.

 

Thank you!!! I loved the other route, it 's a little port intensive but they're all great islands! As compared to this route.... you'll have to wait until June to find out. I would love to do a B2B as well! Thanks again...

[ckrobyn]

 

 

 

I totally understand Robyn now....I'm incredibly jealous of all of you who are getting ready to sail on the AOS! Have a great time!!

 

Terri

 

 

Terri - I am so glad you had such a wonderful cruise onboard the AOS :) It is positive reviews like yours that will make people realize that if they DON'T book the AOS, they will miss out on a fantastic experience!!!

[marshabear]

just wanted to let everyone know that because of all the positive comments here, i am looking forward , more than ever, to our cruise in October!!

 

as you can see in my signature, we have sailed different lines and only once on RCCL...unfortunately it was not the best....so i was somewhat apprehensive about booking RCCL again....

 

BUT, others traveling with us picked this itinerary so we decided to give RCCL another chance....

 

I have never read so many positive reviews about a ship as i have regarding this one!! i am sure we will have a fantastic time!! :)

 

just wanted you all to know you have made a lasting impression on me!!

 

 

Marsha

[SmplySweet1021]

Your experience was the same as my friends and mine....AMAZING!!!!

 

We went the week before your cruise...it was amazing, can't wait till next years spring break!

[Martin and Lindsey]

You mention a soft serve ice cream machine outside the Windjammer. Is the ice cream free? Do they just serve vanilla flavour?

 

Do Royal Caribbean still do Murder Mystery Dinners? We did one a couple of years ago on the Serenade, and it was great fun.

[mattsmom11]

Thanks so much for the wonderful review. Sure makes me more excited then I already am. Can't wait for Sept. to get here :D

 

Glad you enjoyed your cruise so much.

Loved the review and all your details.

[julielouhoo]

You mention a soft serve ice cream machine outside the Windjammer. Is the ice cream free? Do they just serve vanilla flavour?

 

Do Royal Caribbean still do Murder Mystery Dinners? We did one a couple of years ago on the Serenade, and it was great fun.

 

 

Yes, the ice cream from the soft serve machine is free and self service. They actually have 2 machines one with chocolate and vanilla and one with vanilla and strawberry. Both have the center dispenser which allows you to swirl the flavors. It is not whole milk ice cream, it is either frozen yogurt or lt ice cream (I can't remember which), but it seemed very popular.

 

There was a Murder Mystery Dinner available in Portofino. I didn't go to it because I had reservations in Portofino the following night, but it did look like fun.

 

Enjoy!!

 

Terri

[julielouhoo]

just wanted to let everyone know that because of all the positive comments here, i am looking forward , more than ever, to our cruise in October!!

 

as you can see in my signature, we have sailed different lines and only once on RCCL...unfortunately it was not the best....so i was somewhat apprehensive about booking RCCL again....

 

BUT, others traveling with us picked this itinerary so we decided to give RCCL another chance....

 

I have never read so many positive reviews about a ship as i have regarding this one!! i am sure we will have a fantastic time!! :)

 

just wanted you all to know you have made a lasting impression on me!!

 

 

Marsha

 

 

Marsha~

You are in for such a treat!! Just like you, the largest RCCL ship I sailed prior to the Adventure was the Majesty. Totally different experience. (Although I did have a great time on the Majesty) This ship is so huge and so much fun. The staff and crew really seemed to go out of their way, tons of energy and so much to do. I really think you are going to be thrilled! But, if you really don't think you can do it and want to send me in your place......;)

 

Terri

[Martin and Lindsey]

Do you remember which night was the Murder Mystery Dinner?