AOS MAY 23 04 REVIEW

sorry it took so long for this review but i was out of town (work!)

spent 3 days prior to cruise in san juan. wyndham old san juan hotel-nice place. would use it again. close to old san juan and nice staff---not great but nice. did the rainforest tour which we loved and a walking tour of old san juan-great city! alot of restaurants. we had a dinner at el convento hotel and enjoyed it. try stuffed planton (mufusoo s/p?)

embarkation
on the moring of our cruise we were to be picked up at our hotel at 1pm (transportation through rcl) but decided to take a cab and arrive at pier at 11 am (aos had been in drydock so i thought we could embark early-which we did).
11am we arrive at pier maybe 15-20 people infront of us. we waite 20 mins or so then are told we will be going in soon. and so we did. [B]its such a wonderfull feeling to be in the terminal about to be checked in..an exciting moment![/B]
we are sitting in the chairs,our number is called, and by 1215 we are on the ship and heading to our jr. suite (#9584). the suite is great. enough room for alice and i and our <monster<S>daughter who is 20. there is a walk in closet which we love and a tub. the balcony is 60 sq feet and all is well!
we had lunch at the windjammer then check on our table in the dinning room (main seating large table).[B]at this point i must say this: the food was good not great but GOOD[/B]..SO TO THOSE OF YOU WHO LIKE TO POST HOW BAD THE FOOD IS PLEASE BE FAIR!!!!! IT WAS NOT GOURMET BUT IT WAS GOOD. the prime rib abd the steaks were very good! windjammer by and large was very good. the cafe promenade food was very good. j. rockets was free save for milkshakes and was good( the staff does a song and dance thig--cute!)--one last word on the food...it helps to know what to pick and what not to pick. one day at lunch in the dinning room i made a mistake and ordered something with a nice sound turned out to be........RANCH STEAK..my only food blunder. over all in the dinning room for lunch it looked like a good menue!
the ship looked great. they varnished railings, painted, and put down new rugs in sections of the ship during our cruise but it was no big deal!
the shows...guess im a bit o.d on the production shows..cant stop the rock and velvet rope....so so. the ice show was fine but not as good as the one on explorer!
saw[B]a great comedian/impersonator...afroamerican..cant remember his name. this guy should be a huge star![/B] the costers were ok.
could not win in the cassino to save my life but still enjoyed it!
disembaring ship was easy we had a 150pm, a.a. flight home. waited in the lyric theater for 50 mins,our group was called, walked of the ship, claimed bags,arrive at airport. from the time we were called to arriving at airport took 55 mins. the aiport is not that bad (at least at american airlines terminal).
the ports;
st thomas..we snorkled at st johns-loved the island!(let me get this out of the way..if you have shopped on a few islands you have shoped on them all!!)
st maartens was great...toured the french side AND THE BUTTERFLY TOUR IS A MUST. we liked both sides equalY.
antigua..a beauty..we did the catamaran/snorkeling...loved it.
st lucia...we feel in love whith this island and plan to go back and spend a week at sandles in september...love this island and the people...we did a catamaran and pigeon island and snorkeling.
barbados...did the harrison cave(intresting)and the gardens tour(love. loved. loved the gardens A MUST SEE!!!)

[B]guys sorry for all the typos..im not even rereading this. i have been in washington <on the road> for 11 days and im very tired. but felt like i owed you this review asap so please be understanding![/B]

we all, even monster/daughter had a great time. im planning another cruise next year...PLEASE SEND ME ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE. WILL BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ALL OF THEM!

<blush blush...i started the aos may 23 rollcall-----then missed the party on board....a shore excursion lasted longer than i expected and the party was slated for 5pm/momday.blue moon!
got to unpack!
dean & alice (the truth and the joke is that alice has yet to post word one here but we are a team and i do all posting for her!)

ALICE & DEAN
ADVENTURE 5/23/04 EXPLORER 9/27/03
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time left till adventure of the seas

So glad you had a good time had friends from work on same cruise as you and their food comments were about same as yours. I'm not looking for really really great Good is good enough for me

6 monts fro today we will be on AOS

Thanks Dean for the review. Anxiously awaiting my turn on her...


Valerie

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Until Adventure of the Seas (St Lucia/Antigua.......

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Grandeur of the Seas 6/00
Voyager of the Seas 6/02
Adventure of the Seas 7/18/2004

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Dean -- great review. We sail her in August and are also booked at the Wyndham Old San Juan. Do you know if there is a swimming pool at the hotel? My two teen daughters would like to spend Saturday afternoon swimming. Also, do you know if Portofinos takes reservations for Sunday night? That is our 18th wedding anniversary and would like to treat ourselves to a nice, quiet dinner.

Adventure of the Seas 8/2004
Explorer of the Seas 7/2003
Paradise 7/2002

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Til We Set Sail on the Adventure of the Seas!

Melissa

on the top fl. (9th fl.) there is a small pool and hot tub located right by the gym! have a great time.

ALICE & DEAN
ADVENTURE 5/23/04 EXPLORER 9/27/03
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=800080&cdt=2004;5;23;22;0;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]
time left till adventure of the seas

There is a pool on the 9th floor on AOS?? Our room is 9358...can I be that lucky????

Adventure of Seas 10/3/04
Soveriegn of Seas 10/94
Soveriegn of Seas 10/89

[img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_confused.gif[/img] OOPS...didn't read the post before, oh well....

Adventure of Seas 10/3/04
Soveriegn of Seas 10/94
Soveriegn of Seas 10/89

Dean- thanks for the review! We are on the AOS in a few weeks in cabin 9580. I upgraded us from a balcony to a JS, so I'm glad you liked your cabin. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

AOS 7/04
Sovereign 4/03
AOS 7/02
Nordic 7/01
Zenith 7/00
Nordic 7/99
Sovereign 5/98
Monarch 5/97
Sovereign 5/96

Dean, we had JS 9618 on the hump in November and also thought it was a great cabin. It's tough to go back to a D1 after experiencing the bathtub, the walk-in closet and all that space!

I'm glad you had a good time. It sounds like your expectations were realistic going in and you enjoyed yourselves (except for the ranch steak experience). When's the next one? [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Karen

6/5/05 Brilliance Mediterranean [url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=1683059817&m=75010536"]roll call[/url]

Infinity in... [img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=0000ff&cdt=2004;12;5;21;00;00&timezone=GMT-0800[/img]

Brilliance 6/05, Infinity 12/04, Brilliance 2/04, Adventure 11/03, Brilliance 2/03, Grand Princess 3/02, Dawn Princess 11/01, Ocean Princess 5/00

we are doing brilliance of the seas panama cruise in apr 8 05( i think the date is right). my only concern is going from the voyager class to rad. class.....still I CANT WAITE <s>

DDEAN52, In Barbados which garden tour did you go on? Is the cave worth checking out?

it was part of the "harrison cave & flower garden tour"--you will find it under rccl excursions for barbados.

[quote name='olliekl']Dean, we had JS 9618 on the hump in November and also thought it was a great cabin. It's tough to go back to a D1 after experiencing the bathtub, the walk-in closet and all that space!
[/QUOTE]
Karen,

My DH and I just booked this same cabin for 4/10/05. All that space sounds grand! We would love to hear more it if you'd be so kind to share! :)

In particular, how was the noise situation from above and the hallway? How was the balcony and its view from the hump? Do you have any photos of the cabin?

Thanks in advance for the info!

Hey Sonshiner- you are cruising latethis year. We are also going on the AOS but on March 13. I hope your hubby is well. Tell him to take care of himself!
We are cruising with only 1 teen this year - the 14 year old. Those 19 year old college boys have other plans...what a shame... heeehee
Take Care
Patty

How's it going? How was your summer in Wisconsin?

Yes, we are sailing a bit later (April vs March.) We just got back from an Alaskan cruise and a week ala carte on land so our wallets need a bit more time to recover! ;)

We were also able to take advantage of a C&A coupon for the 4/10 sailing as well. So, we decided that we wouldn't mind missing part of the ugly slushy thaw. That's if we actually get some snow here this year. The sled already has it's cover off. A bit early if you ask me. That's what I get for taking DH someplace that had snow and ice! :eek:

My DH is doing well. He handled our Alaskan adventure well and enjoyed it very much. Especially those naps he got to take while I was off exercising. ;)

I don't know. I'm thinking your cruise next Spring is going to be kind of boring compared to the last one with no 18 year old spreading his party wings around! ;)

Have fun with your 14 year old and enjoy your time with him because he'll be 18 in a blink of an eye!

Have a great time on the AOS! Stay in touch and let us know how great it is and what we have to do! :D