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Adventure of the Seas - LONG trip report- Feb 27

schmoopie17

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schmoopie17

schmoopie17

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The title warned you that this would be a LONG trip report, so if you wandered in here, you might as well pull up a chair. On second thought, you're on your computer so you're probably already sitting on a chair. Alrighty then...

 

Overall, we had a great trip on the AOS, with a couple of snafus (none of which were RCCL's fault). First a little background. We are the Schmoopies (okay, we're really Gary and Jane, but for those of you playing along at home, we're also huge Seinfeld fans. Hence the Schmoopies. For those of you who aren't Seinfeld fans...if such a person exists...ask a Seinfeld fan where "Schmoopie" comes from. No, get your mind out of the gutter...it's not dirty. But I digress...). We're also huge Green Bay Packer fans (aka Cheeseheads...more on that later). You should also know that this was Jane's very first cruise, while Gary is the cruising veteran in the family, with three cruises under his belt. Gary is also the trip planner in the family and he booked this cruise way back in May. Since he booked the cruise, he then spent every single day (and I mean EVERY single day) on Cruise Critic planning the finer points of the trip. If you don't believe that, ask Jane, who adopted the phrase "Are you still on that damn cruise site?" as her mantra for the next nine months. Okay, on to the report:

 

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 26th

Flew from Chicago to SJU. Stayed at the Embassy Suites in Isla Verde. Chose that hotel because of the nightly Happy Hour and great breakfast. The room/suite was just okay, but the rest of the hotel was nice. Happy Hour made us, well...happy. We had to stand in line for drink refills, but that was okay until Gary started choking/coughing from a peanut (or something) stuck in his throat while standing in line for our third (or was it our fourth) refill. A little old Puerto Rican woman started hitting Gary on the back to try to dislodge the peanut (or something)...or maybe she did it because that was her way of hitting on him (literally). Of course, she was about 75 years old, so it's unlikely she was actually "hitting" on him...she was just probably hitting on him. The coughing jag finally subsided after what seemed like 20 minutes (it was probably only about a minute or two, but Gary tends to exaggerate...just one of his charms). Since we had pretty much filled up on drinks, we weren't tremendously hungry, so we ordered a small (actually tiny) pizza from the food place inside the hotel. It looked and tasted like dough with tomato sauce on it, nothing more. But since we weren't starving, it did the job. The next morning, the breakfast was better than your average hotel continental breakfast. All in all, the Embassy Suites was fine for a pre-cruise stay, close to the Pueblo market and a Walgreens (as well as just about every fast food joint you can name).

 

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27th

We were excited to get to the ship asap, so we arrived around 11:30 to find an enormous line of like-minded early arrivers boarding the ship. Luckily, the line moved pretty rapidly and we were on the ship by noon. We immediately headed to the Windjammer to try some of the famous Honey Stung Chicken. After reading about this delicacy for nine months, Gary couldn't wait to sink his teeth into that luscious, delectable chicken. The problem, was, the chicken was so tough and dry that he couldn't eat more than a bite or two. This was a HUGE disappointment and we hoped this wouldn't be an omen for the rest of the food on the cruise (luckily, it wasn't). We then roamed around the ship for a while to get our bearings before indulging in our first drink. We sat in the Duck and Dog where we were served by Larry, a fine young gentleman from Nigeria who made a point of remembering our names every time we saw him...even several days later. We thought that was impressive but also soon discovered that all of the staff we would encounter would remember our names. The service on the entire ship was, without exception, outstanding. Speaking of outstanding, it was about this time that we met our cabin steward, Jasper. As we introduced ourselves to Jasper, a man from a cabin across the hall came over to say that we had the best cabin steward on the ship, as he had just completed week one of a back-to-back and that Jasper was exceptional. It turns out that the man wasn't lying as Jasper attended to every need we had and some we didn't even know we had. Jasper wasn't even offended when Gary told him we have a cat named Jasper. In fact, he said that a woman from the previous week told him the same thing. Small world. Following muster (which we attended with relish) we went to the dining room to meet our table mates. We were the first to arrive at the table for 12, so we sat at one end. The next couple arrived a couple minutes later and promptly sat at the opposite end. We thought this was odd, but maybe some sort of cruise ship etiquette of which we were unaware. Another couple came and sat next to them way down on the other end. We began to think maybe it was our breath, or something. However, another couple came and sat right next to us. So there were four of us on one end and four on the other end. Talk about awkward. It became even more awkward when the final four of our assigned table mates approached, saw who was sitting at our table, and apparently decided to find other dining accommodations for the remainder of the cruise. That's okay because after the awkwardness of the first night, the eight of us got to know each other pretty well and have even exchanged e-mail addresses to send pictures to each other. We ended up having some very enjoyable dinners with Nicki and John, Al and Linda and Stan and Nadine...who coincidentally live about 30 miles from us. I would be remiss if I didn't give special kudos to our waiter, Thomas and assistant waiter Franklin. Thomas was absolutely outstanding. We agreed that he could be working in any five star restaurant in the country. We later attended the Welcome Aboard show, which was pretty good. The comedian (who I know had a name but I can't recall it at the moment) was actually pretty good, considering he was a cruise ship comedian. The orchestra was also better than expected. We then decided to call it a night. However, the first night was the roughest as we were awakened in the middle of the night by the ship noticeably rolling from side to side. Good thing we had started taking Bonine and Ginger capsules a few days before the cruise. We had considered Sea Bands, but having used them once before, Gary decided they make you look like a wuss (or an even bigger wuss than usual) and they are probably only a placebo, anyway. So no Sea Bands (or excessive wussiness) for us on this cruise. We had no seasickness for the duration of the cruise (although we personally witnessed some fine exhibitions of public vomiting by a few of our fellow cruisers).

 

MONDAY, February 28th

Before I go any further, I should tell you that five years ago we met the old fashioned way (on the internet). Our first date was on February 28th. (Jane insists that it was not our first date, but the first time we actually met face-to-face and that our first date was actually a short time afterward (what Gary refers to as our second date.) Since Gary is the one writing this trip report, we'll just assume Gary's point of view is the correct one. Anyway, assuming you're still following along, this was our fifth anniversary of our meeting/first date. We marked the occasion by not doing anything special, as it was a sea day and spent most of the day laying by the pool and looking for ways to entertain ourselves. One of the ways Gary entertained himself was by wearing a number of different Packer shirts and his prized Packer hat throughout the cruise, relishing in the reactions he would get from fellow football fans. Did I mention that the Packers won the Super Bowl this year? It was especially fun when we encountered Bears fans, or the occasional Steelers fan (the team that the Packers beat when they won the Super Bowl this year...did I mention that?) Monday night was formal night and the highlight was seeing an older gentleman sporting one of those t-shirts with a tuxedo design on it. They actually let him into the dining room dressed like that. Gotta give the old guy points for that one. And who says they're strict about the dress code? I'm surprised some of the fashion police on this board didn't show up and demand that he be denied entrance to the dining room. Old guy, we salute you!

 

Tuesday, February 29th...aka March 1st

First stop was Curacao and we decided to do a self-guided tour of the town. We walked across the floating bridge, traversed the various streets in town and then decided it was time for our first island beer. We found a nice outdoor cafe and had a couple of the local beers priced at about $2.50 each. We then walked around a bit more when we decided it was time for some more beer. We found another place that had Coronas for $3.00 each. You can probably tell that we like beer and saving money, too. (Typical Cheeseheads)...

 

Wednesday, March 2nd

Aruba was the next stop. Our plan was similar to what we did in Curacao. We walked around town for a while then took the city bus to Palm Beach. Went to Bugaloe, a bar that is on the end of the pier and is surrounded by water on three sides. Had a couple of semi-cheap beers and some onion rings that weren't worth ordering. For $5.00 you get five TINY onion rings. But after a few beers, somehow it doesn't matter so much. Walked up the beach to another bar where the beer was much more expensive, served by a bartender who was surly, obnoxious and downright mean. Other than that, I suppose she was okay. We took our beers and headed back up the beach. By this time, the clouds began to roll in (this was one of the themes on this cruise, particularly during beach stops...more on this in the St. Thomas section, below.) It was disappointing because Jane really wanted to see the crystal blue water that the Caribbean is famous for. But with the cloudy skies, the water wasn't blue...unless you count bluish-gray. Oh well.

 

Thursday, March 3rd

Another sea day and another formal night. (For details, see the description under Monday...it was pretty much more of the same (minus the guy with the tuxedo t-shirt). It was about this time that Gary brought up the fact that in a couple more days we'd be back at work. It was also about this time that Jane slapped him for being such a downer. It was about this time that Gary quickly re-focused on the cruise.

 

Friday, March 4th

We were eager to arrive in Dominica because we arranged a tour with Antours which included whitewater tubing. We met our tourmates, Skip and Carol and Dick and Laura and immediately hit it off with them. The problem was, Skip and Carol had not booked the tubing tour, they just wanted to see the falls, the Emerald Pool, etc. But they were good sports about it and ended up taking pictures of the four of us as we battled the raging Layou River. It should be noted, however, that as we pulled up to the river, Jane began to have second thoughts about the whole tubing idea because the raging Layou River was really raging and maybe we should keep Skip and Carol company in the van while Dick and Laura went tubing. But then she found out that we would have guides by our side as we went down the river, so she decided to give it a shot. And she's glad she did because let me tell you, the tubing was AWESOME. This wasn't some lazy river thing where you plant your butt in the tube and then lay back and float. Not even close. There were some pretty mean rapids and some pretty huge rocks, but after we managed to survive about 45 harrowing minutes, we all said we would do it again if we could. The guides were awesome and without a doubt this was the highlight of the entire week!

We went to the Emerald Pool which was okay, I guess. Dick actually went under the falls while the rest of us watched from afar. We then stopped at Mr. Nice's fruit stand and as he was ready to crack open a coconut, Mr. Nice asked Dick what his name was. Of all the people there (there were other tour buses, as well) he picked Dick to ask him his name. Mr. Nice had a field day with the fact that he was cracking Dick's nut...I guess you had to be there.

 

Saturday, March 5th

As we pulled into St. Thomas we were happy to see the bright sunshine, as this was the day we booked a tour which included a couple of hours at Magen's Bay. This would be our big beach day. Well, not so fast. The tour we booked was with Air Force One, and the owner (Papa Bear) met us at the dock to say that the other group of six had canceled at the last minute and that he would give us a private tour. Let me tell you, Papa Bear (I'm sure his parents didn't name him that) was a very nice guy who is really into the history of his island. We made several stops where the sun was shining brightly before heading to Mountaintop, where the sun was shining brightly. We then headed to Magen's Bay and the sun began to NOT shine brightly. In fact, the sun completely disappeared behind a massive dark cloud that seemed to follow us for the next hour. Shortly before arriving at Magen's Bay, the rain came down in torrents. Just our luck, this would be our beach day. Papa Bear offered to drive us to Sapphire Beach, thinking that maybe the rain would stay at Magen's. But no...that friggin' dark cloud followed us all the way to Sapphire. The ironic thing was we could see other islands off in the distance and they were all bathed in bright sunshine. The only one of the U.S. Virgin Islands that had rain was St. Thomas. In fact, when we later returned to the ship one of the crew mentioned that this was the first day they had rain in St. Thomas since the ship relocated from Europe. Oh well, Gary figured that he had to make it up to Jane (who, if you recall from about 100 paragraphs earlier) had really wanted to see crystal blue water on a beach. So we decided to head into town to do some shopping. We had gotten a tip from one of our table mates about a jewelry store in St. Thomas that had smoking deals on diamonds, so we headed there first. Jane tried on several different diamond rings while Gary downed a few "free" beers. (I guess they really weren't free, considering the diamond purchase that we made). When we got married in 2009 Jane only wanted a small wedding band. Neither of us were really happy with that band, so now Jane has the gorgeous diamond ring she deserves. And let me tell you, this ring is gorgeous and the price made it even sweeter. It more than made up for the earlier beach disappointment. After all, going to a beach is only for a few hours, but a diamond is forever. (Where have I heard that before?) That night we had dinner in Portofino, since we wanted to make our last night special. The dinner was great, the server was great, the desserts were great...everything was, well, great. The only thing that wasn't great was the fact that we had to return to our cabin, pack our bags and put them out in the hall. The cruise was almost over.

 

Sunday, March 6th

 

After sitting in the theater for about an hour and a half waiting for our disembarking number to be called, we finally got up and reluctantly left the ship. At least we could look forward to going into Old San Juan to see the city to kill several hors before our plane left around 4:00pm. Upon entering the cab and asking the driver to take us to Barrachina's Restaurant where we could store our luggage (and also have one of their famous pina coladas) the driver informed us that Old San Juan was closed. What??? Closed??? How could it be closed??? He said (in broken English) that "people are walking in the streets". He said all roads into and out of Old San Juan were closed because of the people walking in the streets. We never did find out exactly what the people were doing walking in the streets (were they rioting? Were they doing a marathon?)...all we knew was that we wouldn't be having a pina colada at Barrachina's or seeing any of the sights that we were so looking forward to. Instead, we were treated to about six hours of "airport time"...not the farewell day we had planned. We sat around for a while, went to a restaurant at the airport (which we do NOT recommend to anyone who likes good food or service), sat around some more, and as they say on "Seinfeld", YADA-YADA-YADA. Our trip had come to a not so satisfying conclusion.

 

If anyone is still reading this (you ARE still reading this, aren't you?) Jane just came up to ask if I was STILL writing this thing. (I knew she was coming down the hall because her diamond ring was shining so brightly.) Anyway, I would hate to think that after all the work I put into this, nobody made it this far). But I'll wrap it up with a few more random thoughts:

 

FOOD: In a word, AWESOME. Other then that first bite of Honey Stung Chicken, everything we ate was outstanding! One more shout out to Thomas and Franklin for making the experience so memorable.

 

ENTERTAINMENT: In addition to being "Seinfeld" fans, we're both huge Beatles fans and were looking forward to the Beatles show that had been on previous AOS cruises the past couple months. Well, needless to say, there was no Beatles show on our cruise. They did have a Beatles night in Jester's Lounge, with a DJ who played some Beatles songs, most of which skipped. Not the Beatles experience we were looking for. On the other hand, the shows we did see were great. The Scintas, a Vegas act, were outstanding...that Frankie can really play the piano and the mandolin. A pretty good sense of humor, too. Also, we saw the Earl Turner show, another Vegas performer who was a very good all-around entertainer. We actually met him in an elevator one day and he was a good guy, as well.

We went to the Love and Marriage show and it was pretty funny...so much so that we watched the rerun on TV the next day. I do need to say that prior to the cruise, all of the CC message boards said you have to go to Quest...don't miss Quest...you'll love Quest. But for us, not so much. We just didn't quite get what all the build-up was about. It was just kind of okay...with the only highlight being the guy who wore the tuxedo t-shirt from a thousand paragraphs earlier being called down so the women (and the men) could kiss his bald head.

 

SHIP: The ship was absolutely beautiful and in great shape for someone of her age. We saw no dirt, no stains, no rust...in fact, everything looked new. We had a Promenade room on the 8th deck and couldn't hear anything when they had parades. But it was nice having a window to the world outside (or would that be inside??) in the Promenade.

 

All in all, it was a great cruise. Sure, some things could have gone better on the islands, but it sure beat working and being in the frozen tundra. If anyone would like more details, feel free to ask (although I can't imagine anyone who read this far would possibly want to know anything else)...

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sassyj

sassyj

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I loved your review! We leave in 18 days for SJU and the Adventure, same itinerary. Can't wait,especially after reading this.

 

We're doing the tubing And falls with Antours too. I don't remember seeing it was whitewater tubing though.:eek:

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schmoopie17

schmoopie17

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We're doing the tubing And falls with Antours too. I don't remember seeing it was whitewater tubing though.:eek:

 

Trust me...there was a LOT of whitewater when we went. (That's what made it fun). Both of the other couple who went with us fell out of their tubes...I'm surprised neither one of us did. But it was an absolute blast!

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Xcat9

Xcat9

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Thanks so much for the terrific review!

Would you mind sharing the name of the jewelry store? The husband will likely have something to make up for by that day of our trip :)

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schmoopie17

schmoopie17

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Thanks so much for the terrific review!

Would you mind sharing the name of the jewelry store? The husband will likely have something to make up for by that day of our trip :)

 

We got two hot tips on jewelry stores from table mates who made purchases on previous trips. One was Ballerina (where we bought the ring) and the other was Grand (where we would have gone next if we hadn't found the perfect ring and deal at Ballerina.) Both of the tipsters said they got their rings appraised back home and the appraisals came back significantly higher than what they paid. These stores are practically next door to each other on the main street. Actually, we made a comment like, "Maybe we should see if they have anything down the street", at which point the beer started flowing and the price dropped. :D

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scrossma

scrossma

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The title warned you that this would be a LONG trip report, so if you wandered in here, you might as well pull up a chair. On second thought, you're on your computer so you're probably already sitting on a chair. Alrighty then...

 

Overall, we had a great trip on the AOS, with a couple of snafus (none of which were RCCL's fault). First a little background. We are the Schmoopies (okay, we're really Gary and Jane, but for those of you playing along at home, we're also huge Seinfeld fans. Hence the Schmoopies. For those of you who aren't Seinfeld fans...if such a person exists...ask a Seinfeld fan where "Schmoopie" comes from. No, get your mind out of the gutter...it's not dirty. But I digress...). We're also huge Green Bay Packer fans (aka Cheeseheads...more on that later). You should also know that this was Jane's very first cruise, while Gary is the cruising veteran in the family, with three cruises under his belt. Gary is also the trip planner in the family and he booked this cruise way back in May. Since he booked the cruise, he then spent every single day (and I mean EVERY single day) on Cruise Critic planning the finer points of the trip. If you don't believe that, ask Jane, who adopted the phrase "Are you still on that damn cruise site?" as her mantra for the next nine months. Okay, on to the report:

 

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 26th

Flew from Chicago to SJU. Stayed at the Embassy Suites in Isla Verde. Chose that hotel because of the nightly Happy Hour and great breakfast. The room/suite was just okay, but the rest of the hotel was nice. Happy Hour made us, well...happy. We had to stand in line for drink refills, but that was okay until Gary started choking/coughing from a peanut (or something) stuck in his throat while standing in line for our third (or was it our fourth) refill. A little old Puerto Rican woman started hitting Gary on the back to try to dislodge the peanut (or something)...or maybe she did it because that was her way of hitting on him (literally). Of course, she was about 75 years old, so it's unlikely she was actually "hitting" on him...she was just probably hitting on him. The coughing jag finally subsided after what seemed like 20 minutes (it was probably only about a minute or two, but Gary tends to exaggerate...just one of his charms). Since we had pretty much filled up on drinks, we weren't tremendously hungry, so we ordered a small (actually tiny) pizza from the food place inside the hotel. It looked and tasted like dough with tomato sauce on it, nothing more. But since we weren't starving, it did the job. The next morning, the breakfast was better than your average hotel continental breakfast. All in all, the Embassy Suites was fine for a pre-cruise stay, close to the Pueblo market and a Walgreens (as well as just about every fast food joint you can name).

 

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27th

We were excited to get to the ship asap, so we arrived around 11:30 to find an enormous line of like-minded early arrivers boarding the ship. Luckily, the line moved pretty rapidly and we were on the ship by noon. We immediately headed to the Windjammer to try some of the famous Honey Stung Chicken. After reading about this delicacy for nine months, Gary couldn't wait to sink his teeth into that luscious, delectable chicken. The problem, was, the chicken was so tough and dry that he couldn't eat more than a bite or two. This was a HUGE disappointment and we hoped this wouldn't be an omen for the rest of the food on the cruise (luckily, it wasn't). We then roamed around the ship for a while to get our bearings before indulging in our first drink. We sat in the Duck and Dog where we were served by Larry, a fine young gentleman from Nigeria who made a point of remembering our names every time we saw him...even several days later. We thought that was impressive but also soon discovered that all of the staff we would encounter would remember our names. The service on the entire ship was, without exception, outstanding. Speaking of outstanding, it was about this time that we met our cabin steward, Jasper. As we introduced ourselves to Jasper, a man from a cabin across the hall came over to say that we had the best cabin steward on the ship, as he had just completed week one of a back-to-back and that Jasper was exceptional. It turns out that the man wasn't lying as Jasper attended to every need we had and some we didn't even know we had. Jasper wasn't even offended when Gary told him we have a cat named Jasper. In fact, he said that a woman from the previous week told him the same thing. Small world. Following muster (which we attended with relish) we went to the dining room to meet our table mates. We were the first to arrive at the table for 12, so we sat at one end. The next couple arrived a couple minutes later and promptly sat at the opposite end. We thought this was odd, but maybe some sort of cruise ship etiquette of which we were unaware. Another couple came and sat next to them way down on the other end. We began to think maybe it was our breath, or something. However, another couple came and sat right next to us. So there were four of us on one end and four on the other end. Talk about awkward. It became even more awkward when the final four of our assigned table mates approached, saw who was sitting at our table, and apparently decided to find other dining accommodations for the remainder of the cruise. That's okay because after the awkwardness of the first night, the eight of us got to know each other pretty well and have even exchanged e-mail addresses to send pictures to each other. We ended up having some very enjoyable dinners with Nicki and John, Al and Linda and Stan and Nadine...who coincidentally live about 30 miles from us. I would be remiss if I didn't give special kudos to our waiter, Thomas and assistant waiter Franklin. Thomas was absolutely outstanding. We agreed that he could be working in any five star restaurant in the country. We later attended the Welcome Aboard show, which was pretty good. The comedian (who I know had a name but I can't recall it at the moment) was actually pretty good, considering he was a cruise ship comedian. The orchestra was also better than expected. We then decided to call it a night. However, the first night was the roughest as we were awakened in the middle of the night by the ship noticeably rolling from side to side. Good thing we had started taking Bonine and Ginger capsules a few days before the cruise. We had considered Sea Bands, but having used them once before, Gary decided they make you look like a wuss (or an even bigger wuss than usual) and they are probably only a placebo, anyway. So no Sea Bands (or excessive wussiness) for us on this cruise. We had no seasickness for the duration of the cruise (although we personally witnessed some fine exhibitions of public vomiting by a few of our fellow cruisers).

 

MONDAY, February 28th

Before I go any further, I should tell you that five years ago we met the old fashioned way (on the internet). Our first date was on February 28th. (Jane insists that it was not our first date, but the first time we actually met face-to-face and that our first date was actually a short time afterward (what Gary refers to as our second date.) Since Gary is the one writing this trip report, we'll just assume Gary's point of view is the correct one. Anyway, assuming you're still following along, this was our fifth anniversary of our meeting/first date. We marked the occasion by not doing anything special, as it was a sea day and spent most of the day laying by the pool and looking for ways to entertain ourselves. One of the ways Gary entertained himself was by wearing a number of different Packer shirts and his prized Packer hat throughout the cruise, relishing in the reactions he would get from fellow football fans. Did I mention that the Packers won the Super Bowl this year? It was especially fun when we encountered Bears fans, or the occasional Steelers fan (the team that the Packers beat when they won the Super Bowl this year...did I mention that?) Monday night was formal night and the highlight was seeing an older gentleman sporting one of those t-shirts with a tuxedo design on it. They actually let him into the dining room dressed like that. Gotta give the old guy points for that one. And who says they're strict about the dress code? I'm surprised some of the fashion police on this board didn't show up and demand that he be denied entrance to the dining room. Old guy, we salute you!

 

Tuesday, February 29th...aka March 1st

First stop was Curacao and we decided to do a self-guided tour of the town. We walked across the floating bridge, traversed the various streets in town and then decided it was time for our first island beer. We found a nice outdoor cafe and had a couple of the local beers priced at about $2.50 each. We then walked around a bit more when we decided it was time for some more beer. We found another place that had Coronas for $3.00 each. You can probably tell that we like beer and saving money, too. (Typical Cheeseheads)...

 

Wednesday, March 2nd

Aruba was the next stop. Our plan was similar to what we did in Curacao. We walked around town for a while then took the city bus to Palm Beach. Went to Bugaloe, a bar that is on the end of the pier and is surrounded by water on three sides. Had a couple of semi-cheap beers and some onion rings that weren't worth ordering. For $5.00 you get five TINY onion rings. But after a few beers, somehow it doesn't matter so much. Walked up the beach to another bar where the beer was much more expensive, served by a bartender who was surly, obnoxious and downright mean. Other than that, I suppose she was okay. We took our beers and headed back up the beach. By this time, the clouds began to roll in (this was one of the themes on this cruise, particularly during beach stops...more on this in the St. Thomas section, below.) It was disappointing because Jane really wanted to see the crystal blue water that the Caribbean is famous for. But with the cloudy skies, the water wasn't blue...unless you count bluish-gray. Oh well.

 

Thursday, March 3rd

Another sea day and another formal night. (For details, see the description under Monday...it was pretty much more of the same (minus the guy with the tuxedo t-shirt). It was about this time that Gary brought up the fact that in a couple more days we'd be back at work. It was also about this time that Jane slapped him for being such a downer. It was about this time that Gary quickly re-focused on the cruise.

 

Friday, March 4th

We were eager to arrive in Dominica because we arranged a tour with Antours which included whitewater tubing. We met our tourmates, Skip and Carol and Dick and Laura and immediately hit it off with them. The problem was, Skip and Carol had not booked the tubing tour, they just wanted to see the falls, the Emerald Pool, etc. But they were good sports about it and ended up taking pictures of the four of us as we battled the raging Layou River. It should be noted, however, that as we pulled up to the river, Jane began to have second thoughts about the whole tubing idea because the raging Layou River was really raging and maybe we should keep Skip and Carol company in the van while Dick and Laura went tubing. But then she found out that we would have guides by our side as we went down the river, so she decided to give it a shot. And she's glad she did because let me tell you, the tubing was AWESOME. This wasn't some lazy river thing where you plant your butt in the tube and then lay back and float. Not even close. There were some pretty mean rapids and some pretty huge rocks, but after we managed to survive about 45 harrowing minutes, we all said we would do it again if we could. The guides were awesome and without a doubt this was the highlight of the entire week!

We went to the Emerald Pool which was okay, I guess. Dick actually went under the falls while the rest of us watched from afar. We then stopped at Mr. Nice's fruit stand and as he was ready to crack open a coconut, Mr. Nice asked Dick what his name was. Of all the people there (there were other tour buses, as well) he picked Dick to ask him his name. Mr. Nice had a field day with the fact that he was cracking Dick's nut...I guess you had to be there.

 

Saturday, March 5th

As we pulled into St. Thomas we were happy to see the bright sunshine, as this was the day we booked a tour which included a couple of hours at Magen's Bay. This would be our big beach day. Well, not so fast. The tour we booked was with Air Force One, and the owner (Papa Bear) met us at the dock to say that the other group of six had canceled at the last minute and that he would give us a private tour. Let me tell you, Papa Bear (I'm sure his parents didn't name him that) was a very nice guy who is really into the history of his island. We made several stops where the sun was shining brightly before heading to Mountaintop, where the sun was shining brightly. We then headed to Magen's Bay and the sun began to NOT shine brightly. In fact, the sun completely disappeared behind a massive dark cloud that seemed to follow us for the next hour. Shortly before arriving at Magen's Bay, the rain came down in torrents. Just our luck, this would be our beach day. Papa Bear offered to drive us to Sapphire Beach, thinking that maybe the rain would stay at Magen's. But no...that friggin' dark cloud followed us all the way to Sapphire. The ironic thing was we could see other islands off in the distance and they were all bathed in bright sunshine. The only one of the U.S. Virgin Islands that had rain was St. Thomas. In fact, when we later returned to the ship one of the crew mentioned that this was the first day they had rain in St. Thomas since the ship relocated from Europe. Oh well, Gary figured that he had to make it up to Jane (who, if you recall from about 100 paragraphs earlier) had really wanted to see crystal blue water on a beach. So we decided to head into town to do some shopping. We had gotten a tip from one of our table mates about a jewelry store in St. Thomas that had smoking deals on diamonds, so we headed there first. Jane tried on several different diamond rings while Gary downed a few "free" beers. (I guess they really weren't free, considering the diamond purchase that we made). When we got married in 2009 Jane only wanted a small wedding band. Neither of us were really happy with that band, so now Jane has the gorgeous diamond ring she deserves. And let me tell you, this ring is gorgeous and the price made it even sweeter. It more than made up for the earlier beach disappointment. After all, going to a beach is only for a few hours, but a diamond is forever. (Where have I heard that before?) That night we had dinner in Portofino, since we wanted to make our last night special. The dinner was great, the server was great, the desserts were great...everything was, well, great. The only thing that wasn't great was the fact that we had to return to our cabin, pack our bags and put them out in the hall. The cruise was almost over.

 

Sunday, March 6th

 

After sitting in the theater for about an hour and a half waiting for our disembarking number to be called, we finally got up and reluctantly left the ship. At least we could look forward to going into Old San Juan to see the city to kill several hors before our plane left around 4:00pm. Upon entering the cab and asking the driver to take us to Barrachina's Restaurant where we could store our luggage (and also have one of their famous pina coladas) the driver informed us that Old San Juan was closed. What??? Closed??? How could it be closed??? He said (in broken English) that "people are walking in the streets". He said all roads into and out of Old San Juan were closed because of the people walking in the streets. We never did find out exactly what the people were doing walking in the streets (were they rioting? Were they doing a marathon?)...all we knew was that we wouldn't be having a pina colada at Barrachina's or seeing any of the sights that we were so looking forward to. Instead, we were treated to about six hours of "airport time"...not the farewell day we had planned. We sat around for a while, went to a restaurant at the airport (which we do NOT recommend to anyone who likes good food or service), sat around some more, and as they say on "Seinfeld", YADA-YADA-YADA. Our trip had come to a not so satisfying conclusion.

 

If anyone is still reading this (you ARE still reading this, aren't you?) Jane just came up to ask if I was STILL writing this thing. (I knew she was coming down the hall because her diamond ring was shining so brightly.) Anyway, I would hate to think that after all the work I put into this, nobody made it this far). But I'll wrap it up with a few more random thoughts:

 

FOOD: In a word, AWESOME. Other then that first bite of Honey Stung Chicken, everything we ate was outstanding! One more shout out to Thomas and Franklin for making the experience so memorable.

 

ENTERTAINMENT: In addition to being "Seinfeld" fans, we're both huge Beatles fans and were looking forward to the Beatles show that had been on previous AOS cruises the past couple months. Well, needless to say, there was no Beatles show on our cruise. They did have a Beatles night in Jester's Lounge, with a DJ who played some Beatles songs, most of which skipped. Not the Beatles experience we were looking for. On the other hand, the shows we did see were great. The Scintas, a Vegas act, were outstanding...that Frankie can really play the piano and the mandolin. A pretty good sense of humor, too. Also, we saw the Earl Turner show, another Vegas performer who was a very good all-around entertainer. We actually met him in an elevator one day and he was a good guy, as well.

We went to the Love and Marriage show and it was pretty funny...so much so that we watched the rerun on TV the next day. I do need to say that prior to the cruise, all of the CC message boards said you have to go to Quest...don't miss Quest...you'll love Quest. But for us, not so much. We just didn't quite get what all the build-up was about. It was just kind of okay...with the only highlight being the guy who wore the tuxedo t-shirt from a thousand paragraphs earlier being called down so the women (and the men) could kiss his bald head.

 

SHIP: The ship was absolutely beautiful and in great shape for someone of her age. We saw no dirt, no stains, no rust...in fact, everything looked new. We had a Promenade room on the 8th deck and couldn't hear anything when they had parades. But it was nice having a window to the world outside (or would that be inside??) in the Promenade.

 

All in all, it was a great cruise. Sure, some things could have gone better on the islands, but it sure beat working and being in the frozen tundra. If anyone would like more details, feel free to ask (although I can't imagine anyone who read this far would possibly want to know anything else)...

 

We had 18 of us wearing the tuxedo shirts Wed pm (6:00 seating).

Two of us were in lt blue rest black. We were celebrating the ones in blue's 25th anniversary. The table next to us had 1 guy who wore his shirt a different night. It was fun, I agree cruise was awesome but didn't like the quick showers of rain or all day rain on Saturday.

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lmroach3

lmroach3

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Thanks for the great review! This my first cruise, along with my DD. Going with sassyj, who's been on many, so happy to have a seasoned cruiser along.

 

My question is in ref to your comment about the bonine and ginger capsules. I've heard of the bonine but not of ginger capsules. Can you elaborate on that and why to start taking a few days before?

 

Thanks!:)

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crisndeefromde

crisndeefromde

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thank you so much for a great review. We booked a b2b on the Adventure next February with much thanks to everyone on the Adventure thread and some great reviews from Ocean Boy. We are very excited to do these ports but we so so wish the airfare would come down. We have great deals for our cruises for this and same cabin but oh wow is the airfare continually going up.

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ktbr11crs

ktbr11crs

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Thanks for the review! We're looking forward to an upcoming B2B on AOS and we will be staying at the Embassy Suites before the trip. Great to hear your report on the evening reception and breakfast; we'll think of you while we're enjoying the drinks!

 

I'm also a diehard Packer fan and have a couple shirts picked out for the trip!!

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schmoopie17

schmoopie17

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Thanks for the great review! This my first cruise, along with my DD. Going with sassyj, who's been on many, so happy to have a seasoned cruiser along.

 

My question is in ref to your comment about the bonine and ginger capsules. I've heard of the bonine but not of ginger capsules. Can you elaborate on that and why to start taking a few days before?

 

Thanks!:)

 

We took the ginger because of tips we found on CC. The label says they can help with nausea and dizziness caused by motion sickness. I don't know if they actually did much, but neither of us got seasick, so maybe there really is something to them.

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schmoopie17

schmoopie17

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I'm also a diehard Packer fan and have a couple shirts picked out for the trip!!

 

If you're on the Aruba itinerary, there is a jewelry store right when you get off the ship, across from the fancy mall building. I believe it's called Grand Jewelers and he had Packer hats in the window that also said Aruba on them. He saw us walking by and he yelled at us to come in. We didn't buy any because we already have lots of Packer stuff, but pretty interesting to see stuff like that in Aruba.

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dwdwnurse

dwdwnurse

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Thanks Gary and Jane for the most excellent (and entertaining) review :)!

 

We are sailing on AOS in 11 days, but doing the St. Lucia itinerary. Can't wait!!! (This is our 3rd time sailing on the AOS).

 

Would love to know what shop you went to in St. Thomas - we're going there in July!

 

Thanks!!!

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schmoopie17

schmoopie17

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Thanks Gary and Jane for the most excellent (and entertaining) review :)!

 

We are sailing on AOS in 11 days, but doing the St. Lucia itinerary. Can't wait!!! (This is our 3rd time sailing on the AOS).

 

Would love to know what shop you went to in St. Thomas - we're going there in July!

 

Thanks!!!

 

Thanks for the compliment. We went to Ballerina Jewelers...although I'm beginning to think we could have probably gotten a similar deal at one of the million other stores. But we're happy with the purchase...the ring is beautiful (and so is Mrs. Schmoopie ;))

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