Just off AOS

[Jamerican71]

Just returned from AOS and loved it! This was my first cruise and definitely not my last!!! Here are some highlights and/or random thoughts:

(1) When traveling with an unrelated minor, make sure the travel auth letter is NOTARIZED. We arrived at the pier around 1:00pm and we were not allowed on the ship since the signed letter was not notarized. We begged, cried and pleaded but they did not budge. The supervisor then said she had a lawyer friend who could come if we could reach the parent of the minor. We reached her father who was boarding his flight home to the west coast. By 4:45 we were boarding the AOS! Thank goodness for the Bacardi drink samples in the pier area!!

(2) The ship was huge!!!!!! I did all my research but that was not enough b/c as a first time cruiser, I was so overwhelmed at first. There was sooooo much to do and see.

(3) We scheduled 3 family events during the cruise:

a. Hospitality suite – scheduled during the 6 pm muster drill so it was cut short

b. Group photo – kind of disappointed as we paid for the scheduled photographer in advance and figured the pictures would have turned out nice – we only ended up with 2 usable shots.

c. Reception – in Jester’s disco and the staff was great. It was a beer/wine/soda reception but they actually walked around with rum punch and Yellow Bird’s. Appetizers were decent but they don’t let you take the leftovers J

(4) Didn’t make it to any of the shows except the Caribbean deck party/midnight buffet which is FUN and so worth it. Other family members went to the shows every night and loved the Fountain Performers, Quest, Newlywed, and Ice Show. I did go to the Art Auction (for the free champagne) and that was kind of neat as I’ve never been to one before.

(5) Meet & Mingle – nobody showed up except folks in my group so not much mingling but still fun. I won a cap, key chain and a water wallet.

(6) Food – way toooo much. I also expected better quality. I read everywhere that RCCL is known for their food but it was not impressive and not as tasty as I expected. Others who have traveled this cruise line before said they think the quality in the food had gone down. You sure won’t go hungry but it just wasn’t what I expected

(7) Drinks – awesome Mojitos, Mai-Tikis, BBC’s, and Love Connection’s!!! I had drinks at just about every bar on the ship and every drink that I ordered was done properly.

(8) ARUBA – been there before but did take my mom to see the Natural bridge and had the driver drive us around until we made it back to the beach. No taxi drivers would take us to Baby Beach which is where I originally wanted to go. Still trying to understand that one.

(9) CURACAO – hired a taxi that drove us around. Can’t really remember too much we did but did make it to the Curacao liquor factory for free tastings and the slave museum

(10) ST. MAARTEN - took the water taxi. Small beach area but the bars/restaurants were pretty cool so I enjoyed some drinks while my nephew rode the jet skis. Ended up walking around Front Street but I’m not much of a shopper so I went to Juggies who was offering a free Cuban cigar and 2 cold beers for $2.99!

(11) ST. THOMAS – I was sick after dinner from the night before so I was unable to leave my cabin. I heard Meagan’s Bay and Sapphire Beach were really nice.

(12) Last morning – I was pleasantly awakened at 7am to Customs and Border patrol pounding on my door as my room had been randomly selected for an inspection. We stepped outside and had to answer a whole bunch of questions including where I work, how’s the job market, do I make good money, why I’m traveling, what I do for a living, how old I am and some other ones I can’t think of right now.

Overall, I would rate this cruise a 10+!!! The ship was clean and every staff person was helpful and nice!!! I’m not quite a cruise addict but I do know this will not be my last cruise!

[mostlycurious]

This will be our first cruise as well so I am happy to hear you liked it so much.

 

I may have some questiosn later. I have already asked them on another thread.

[AF-1]

Glad u had a great cruise. I always say u can do as much or as little as you like. It's your vacation and rccl wants to make sure u get your money's worth. They must be doing something right; they keep getting repeat customers.

[cabana1]

hmmm I wonder why you had that type of inspection. I've never heard of that before unless there was a "reason" to inspect the cabin...

[Jamerican71]

hmmm I wonder why you had that type of inspection. I've never heard of that before unless there was a "reason" to inspect the cabin...

 

My thoughts exactly! I asked a few times why our cabin was selected and they said it's a standard practice and with such a huge ship they do random checks on several rooms. I peeked at his list and he had about 10-15 other cabins that either had been inspected or were about to be inspected.

 

I too believe "random" equates to a particular reason of which none I can think of. There was nothing different about my cabin except that I was traveling with an unrelated minor and I didn't get off the ship in St. Thomas due to being ill from friday night. Nothing else as I don't do drugs which is what I figured everybody was thinking who were in the hallway while we were being inspected.

 

I was the group leader of about 40 of which a sister and nephew were in cabin next door to me, aunt and uncle in cabin on other side of me and parents were in cabin next to aunt and uncle. Plus other family and friends spread on other floors. Nobody else in our group had the random inspection.

 

Soooooo, maybe this is a first that you've now heard but I would love to be enlightened to find out the real deal behind their "random" checks.

[Martin and Lindsey]

Did you report to Immigration on the St Thomas day, even though you didn't get off the ship? If not, perhaps they thought you were trying to avoid them!

 

What a horrible way to wake up after feeling unwell the day before.

[Jamerican71]

Did you report to Immigration on the St Thomas day, even though you didn't get off the ship? If not, perhaps they thought you were trying to avoid them!

 

What a horrible way to wake up after feeling unwell the day before.

 

Yes, I did. Most people thought you had to be there by 7am (I was told the line was long). I got down there @ 8:15am and was back in my cabin by 8:30am.

 

It definitely wasn't a nice way to wake up on the last day but we needed to be up anyways. I started to go out there in just my t-shirt that I was sleeping in and the officer laughed and said I could go in and get dressed before coming out.