Toonjie's AOS Review

[toonjie]

I found this review when I was searching to see if I wanted to keep 1688. Thanks for your input, I have decided to keep it. We will be on the AOS October 4th, 2009 for our 10th Anniversary. Also, we had a baby boy 8/28/08. Amazing how fast they grow. Good luck with your little one.

 

It just hit me how many connections we have- October 4th is DW's birthday. August 28th was Josiah's due date and he was one day late as well as the same ship and cabin-1688. :)

[Linecas]

Thanks. Isn't it funny? I wasn't due until 9/13, thankfully he can early. Maybe you should take your wife on the AOS 10/4 then... I think 1388 is open! Ronda

[toonjie]

Okay, I finally am getting my Mariner review up and running, it will have tons of pics and some comparison between Mariner and AOS. Click on the link in my signature for our latest adventures and meet our big kids, Tom, Liz and Abby.

[toonjie]

I just got my Crown and Anchor Magazine and it is the member photo edition, one of my pics from Bathsheba in Barbados made it in. :) It is on page 5 entitled, Barbados by David Latoundji.

[scapel]

I just got my Crown and Anchor Magazine and it is the member photo edition, one of my pics from Bathsheba in Barbados made it in. :) It is on page 5 entitled, Barbados by David Latoundji.

 

Beautiful pictures but no labels so don't know where it is.

[dcbiker97]

Hi Toonjie- Great pics and narrative of your vacation. I even caught a couple glimpses of us in them. We will be going back in November on AOS and are really excited. I think we might also stay at the resort you stayed at. Glad to hear someone we've met has good reviews of it.

[toonjie]

Beautiful pictures but no labels so don't know where it is.

 

It's the top picture in post #115 labeled Bathsheba Pics

 

Here it is again:

[stanford's girl]

Thank you for putting in so much time with your review, Toonjie!! We are going to a lot of your ports on the Ruby Princess in Nov and your info is fantastic.:D

And congratulations on the birth of Josiah David!! He's now 7 months old and I bet he is even cuter than when he was born. :D

[MARTYsmom]

Much thanks Toonjie for all your help in the past with our upcoming AOS cruise. We have aft 1688 and can't wait to see it. All you pics helped make my decisions easier.

 

Hope your son and wife are doing well.:)

 

I'll post my review when we return........off to the caribbean:D

[toonjie]

Thank you for putting in so much time with your review' date=' Toonjie!! We are going to a lot of your ports on the Ruby Princess in Nov and your info is fantastic.:D[/color']

And congratulations on the birth of Josiah David!! He's now 7 months old and I bet he is even cuter than when he was born. :D

 

Much thanks Toonjie for all your help in the past with our upcoming AOS cruise. We have aft 1688 and can't wait to see it. All you pics helped make my decisions easier.

 

Hope your son and wife are doing well.:)

 

I'll post my review when we return........off to the caribbean:D

 

Thanks guys! I'm glad folks are still reading this review! Today was the first day of Spring and we were greeting with a few snow showers this morning! :mad: I guess it's God's way of saying we need to take another cruise!

You will love 1688! We had a side cabin on our Mariner Cruise in December and boy did we miss having an aft!

[magmid]

LOVE your attitude. It's great to hear others be positive even with the little quirks that always seem to happen.:)

[toonjie]

LOVE your attitude. It's great to hear others be positive even with the little quirks that always seem to happen.:)

 

Thanks! I've always found when things go wrong in travel, you often have a great story to tell of an exciting adventure or something like that, so I always look for the positive in any situation. (I plan like the dickens so nothing does happen, but if it does, you just have to go with the flow and improvise.)

[magmid]

Toonjie

 

The picture of your DW's feet in the lounge chair cracked me up :D I have pictures of my feet in all the beaches I've been. I was thinking about creating an album Feet around the World on Shutterfly. LOL

[toonjie]

Toonjie

 

The picture of your DW's feet in the lounge chair cracked me up :D I have pictures of my feet in all the beaches I've been. I was thinking about creating an album Feet around the World on Shutterfly. LOL

 

That sounds like a fun project! We thought the beach reminded us of those Corona commercials so much, we had to get a shot, we were just missing the Corona bottle!

[klfhngr]

Dang, the signs ALONE are going to make me puke!

[Londen'sMiMi]

Thanks for taking the time to share!:)

[hcm949ik]

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[miss meow]

Hi - - loved the review and just makes me that much more anxious to go - - we are booked on the AOS out of SJ on April 11, 2010...we're flying into SJ 3 days early to just dink around and relax. Our itinerary is the same as yours was, except we don't go to St. Thomas, we go to St. Croix instead. Got the Intercontinental for the 3 days prior to cruise on Priceline and then the Sheraton OSJ for the night after...hopefully, we'll enjoy both. Your pictures are wonderful, we take lots of pictures when we travel, but you've definately got us beat!!!

Question for you - - you mentioned your cpap machine, my DH has a cpap as well (best machine in the world - ha)...can we bring our own extension cord/power strip, or does it have to be supplied by the cruise line?

We have booked a balcony cabin this time around, last cruise (and first cruise for us) was inside, so no view of the outside at all....looking forward to it. This time around we're wanting to spend more relaxation time vs go go go go like on our last cruise - and the last cruise was more "at sea" than this one...so, trying to do plenty of research to see what we want to do in the different ports - we'll rent a jeep in St. Maarten, we did that the last time and loved it, this time we know what to expect in regards to timeline, so we can take a little more time to visit the French side, etc. Any beaches at the other stops that you'd REALLY recommend - my DH is a fish and loves to be in the water, I'm not quite "water friendly"...I'll get in, but only if it's "quiet" and not over my head (I had an experience like you and your wife in trying to get out of the surf in Cancun and felt like a piece of driftwood being rolled around everytime I tried to get up)...so, any good suggestions would be great. I'll go back and re-read again to catch anything I may have missed, and also read the different port boards..but I think that you're definitely a great resource!! Thanks again for the GREAT write up...sooo awesome!! Take care of yourself and your family!!

[toonjie]

Hi - - loved the review and just makes me that much more anxious to go - - we are booked on the AOS out of SJ on April 11, 2010...we're flying into SJ 3 days early to just dink around and relax. Our itinerary is the same as yours was, except we don't go to St. Thomas, we go to St. Croix instead. Got the Intercontinental for the 3 days prior to cruise on Priceline and then the Sheraton OSJ for the night after...hopefully, we'll enjoy both. Your pictures are wonderful, we take lots of pictures when we travel, but you've definately got us beat!!!

Question for you - - you mentioned your cpap machine, my DH has a cpap as well (best machine in the world - ha)...can we bring our own extension cord/power strip, or does it have to be supplied by the cruise line?

We have booked a balcony cabin this time around, last cruise (and first cruise for us) was inside, so no view of the outside at all....looking forward to it. This time around we're wanting to spend more relaxation time vs go go go go like on our last cruise - and the last cruise was more "at sea" than this one...so, trying to do plenty of research to see what we want to do in the different ports - we'll rent a jeep in St. Maarten, we did that the last time and loved it, this time we know what to expect in regards to timeline, so we can take a little more time to visit the French side, etc. Any beaches at the other stops that you'd REALLY recommend - my DH is a fish and loves to be in the water, I'm not quite "water friendly"...I'll get in, but only if it's "quiet" and not over my head (I had an experience like you and your wife in trying to get out of the surf in Cancun and felt like a piece of driftwood being rolled around everytime I tried to get up)...so, any good suggestions would be great. I'll go back and re-read again to catch anything I may have missed, and also read the different port boards..but I think that you're definitely a great resource!! Thanks again for the GREAT write up...sooo awesome!! Take care of yourself and your family!!

 

 

Thanks! For the CPAP machine, you can send an email to special_needs@rccl.com, give them your reservation # and sailing date as well as cabin # and tell them you need an extension cord. They will email you back that they will make sure you have an extension cord and a gallon of distilled water waiting for you in your cabin. (one caveat though, I have done this the last 3 cruises, 2 on the AOS and 1 on the Mariner, and never has the cord or the water been there, the cabin steward always had to scramble to get me one.) So I would say bring your own cord just to make sure and a power strip is pretty much required cruising supplies these days since there is only 1 outlet in the cabin and every cruise we seem to have amassed more electronic equipment.

As far as beaches go, there are so many to choose from on that itinerary. For Barbados, I would try to do Crane. We didn't get there, but the locals say it is the best on the island. If you want to stay closer then Accra/Rockley Beach is tops and you avoid the crowd. (There are pics of it on my Shutterfly site.) For St. Lucia, Jalousie Plantation Beach was really great and going to it takes you past most of the great sites. I can't recommend Herod highly enough as a guide, he was fantastic! For Antigua, they just about all are great, but we loved the secluded and scenic Freeman's Bay (Galleon Beach). It is right near Nelson's Dockyard, which is one of the top tourist sites in Antigua. (http://www.antiguanice.com/v2/client.php?id=676&cat=35) For St. Maarten, we usually rent a jeep, like you are planning, and circle the island counter-clockwise hitting Orient Point in the morning and Maho in the afternoon with lunch and shopping in Marigot in between and shopping in Phillipsburg at the end of the day. Hope this helps, any other questions just ask away.

[boquer]

Toonjie.....you guys (among other things) have convinced us to try the Adventure after having sailed a few times on the Serenade. We've been lucky enough to get one of those two great cabins. Please....would you let me know just how annoying the light at night is? Can you still look out over the horizon without glare in your eyes? Can you see the wake? We love aft cabins and have always had them on Serenade and on Celebrity but we're ready to try something new. Thanks, Phyllis

[boquer]

It's me again. Just in case my post wasn't clear.....I mean the light on deck six, I believe, that you spoke about. Thanks again.

[curiouscat]

Boquer

 

 

Hi... I have a question since you live in Puerto Rico. We're leaving for PR on Oct 31st for our Nov 1st AOS sailing.

 

Does PR celebrate Halloween? Or is this only a Continental United States Celebration....????

 

Thanks

 

PS glad u are going on AOS...what cabin did you get... We gave up our our aft balcony for a hump

[boquer]

Hello again.

Yes, Puerto Rico does celebrate Halloween. Kids (and adults) wear costumes and there is trick or treating in some places. It used to be celebrated in the grade schools until some religious groups decided that it was the day of the devil. Kids still sing some great Halloween songs, though, and I think that the school parties are coming back. Not only does it celebrate Halloween, but being a mostly Catholic country, on November 2 everyone goes to the cemeteries and lights candles and sometimes there is a mass for the dead. What are you planning?

Oh...we're going to be in that aft corner on the tenth floor.

Phyllis

[curiouscat]

Thanks.... right now we have nothing planned. Will go with the flow once we check into the Ritz Carlton late afternoon and see what's going on.

 

I'm very excited about re visiting PR... it's been about 8yrs and I heard it has changed considerably. I am thinking of visiting the rain forest upon our return from the cruise as we have an extra day before we fly home on Monday.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Our aft cabin was on deck 8 ... two things... didn't want the "door" and it looked like the third berth was right over the bed... My hubby is 6'2 and if he sat up in bed would knock his head...:D I guess I just chickened out and went with reg balcony cabin.

 

CC

[toonjie]

Toonjie.....you guys (among other things) have convinced us to try the Adventure after having sailed a few times on the Serenade. We've been lucky enough to get one of those two great cabins. Please....would you let me know just how annoying the light at night is? Can you still look out over the horizon without glare in your eyes? Can you see the wake? We love aft cabins and have always had them on Serenade and on Celebrity but we're ready to try something new. Thanks, Phyllis

 

Hi. Glad we convinced you to try this great ship! The light actually helps you see the wake and only glares into your eyes if you try to look off the side and forward. It was only just a small inconvenience and is hardly worth mentioning compared to all the great things about these aft cabins. (1688, 1388) I just wish they turned out the light say at 1:00 am or so, it's nice to sit out and look at complete darkness and just hear the wake.