AOS Question

[mumsiesof2]

Ok-I know that many of you have sailed on this ship---sooo how about some advice -what are the best & worst things about this vessel. Don't hold back- I need to know the bad,good & ugly. We leave in about 3 weeks. Also, what excursions would you do again & which ones would you stay away from ????

[Shannon12]

Ok-I know that many of you have sailed on this ship---sooo how about some advice -what are the best & worst things about this vessel. Don't hold back- I need to know the bad,good & ugly. We leave in about 3 weeks. Also, what excursions would you do again & which ones would you stay away from ????

 

Would also like any input (although I have a lot longer than 3 weeks)

[Vodad]

I was on the AOS last week and enjoyed the cruise. The only real negatives I can mention was the food in the main dining room was good, however I thought the Mariner's food was better. The only other negative was our stateroom attendant. She gave my children a hard time when we first got on the boat. She lectured them about keepning their cabin clean.

As far as excursions go, on Barbados we did the Silvermoon I. This was the highlight of the trip. It was an amazing day! In Antiqua we spent the day at the Royal Pineapple Resort. We had a great time time. The day pass to the resort was 50 pps. That included Breakfast, lunch and open bar all day. Along with free use of watersoprst and the entire resort.

[EggDropErin]

We had mostly positive experiences on her. Feel free to check out my review in my signature.

[cruisecookie]

I was also on the Adventure last week and I met Vodad at our informal M&M. We had a wonderful trip! The only downside was that RCCL scheduled our M&M for 5:00 pm on Monday. Those of us with main seating dinner had a conflict. We were busy dressing for formal night and I heard that many did not attend. A few of us had planned in advance of our trip to meet informally outside of Johnny Rockets on Sunday. Only a few people showed up at that meeting. I would have liked to have met all the cruise critic members who were sailing on our ship.

 

The low point for me on this cruise like many others is waiting for the elevators! When you are sailing with over 3,000 passengers and half of them have dinner at the same time, it's sometimes hard to find a spot on an elevator.

 

The high point of this cruise was the variety of things to do! We were a party of 5 and during the day we went our separate ways for most of the day. We would meet up at dinner and talk about what we did. Everyone did their own thing and had a wonderful experience. I recommend taking walkie-talkies if you plan to travel like this. They really helped us find each other on board the ship.

 

The food was fine everywhere. We ate dinners in the main dining room and all other meals in the Windjammer. We had plenty of choices. We had a great wait staff. They were really friendly and helpful. When they saw that we had trouble deciding on which appetizer or entree to choose, they would surprise us and bring both! If Suat from Turkey is your waiter, please tell him that you heard great things about him!

 

We did the Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua itinerary. There is a lot of poverty on these islands. I travelled with my sister who is not a beach person and we did a lot of bus touring. Unless you really enjoy taking the "Highlights of" or "Best of" tours, I would really recommend that you take an excursion to the beach or something that keeps you out of the downtown areas of these islands. (Vodad had the right idea.) St. Maarten and St. Thomas were much nicer.

 

If you really want to do a particular excursion, book on line in advance. My husband and son could not get some of the tours they wanted on the ship, they were already sold out by the time we boarded. (They could not get the Segway tour in St. Maarten. And they were wait listed for power snorkeling and miniboats. They finally got the miniboat excursion but it was cancelled at the last minute due to rough seas.)

 

My whole family loved this cruise. However, in the future I would stick to cruises with fewer ports. Five ports in seven days is a lot. I think I enjoyed the Aruba itinerary more. I like the lazy days at the private beach and I enjoy the sea days on the ship. I can sleep later and have time to relax. Four stops in seven days is enough.

 

Of course, take everything I say with a grain of salt. Every sailing is different. I myself have sailed on the Voyager and was disappointed in the dinners. The next time I sailed on the Voyager I thought the food was great.

 

Have a great cruise! You will love it!

[teacherkim]

We were on AOS in June. Awesome trip! Check out my review at the link below.

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=375706

[Shazni]

No negatives whatsoever - great ship, great staff, great food, great ports!!!

 

Our favourite excursion - Caribbean Pirate Extravaganza in St Lucia. A beautiful sail to Pigeon Island/Rodney Bay on the actual ship that was used in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies (some of the crew were actually in the movies as extras so they have great stories to share!). Rum punch/sodas and small snacks (potato chips) are included and you can have time on the beach, swimming or do a pirates treasure hunt (very popular with the kids!)

[vtroper]

We just came off the AOS from last weeks Aug 6 sailing. Our first cruise was on the Mariner last year so with a few minor exceptions the ships were identical. I personally enjoyed the more active itenerary. We chose to spend our Antiuga day on the ship to rest inbetween our 4 other stops. I'd much rather have a rest day while 90% of other passengers are off the ship then an extra day at sea when you can't find a pool chair.

 

Everything was nice. The dining room food didn't seem to be quite as good as we had on the Mariner last year and our stateroom attendent wasn't nearly as personable as our guy last year. I'm sure however there are some very friendly ones on the ship.

 

As far as excursions, I booked all of ours through recommendations from cruise critic and loved every one. We also did the Silver Moon in Barbados and it was excellent. We toured with Cosol in St Lucia, did the Regatta Race in St Marteen and took the ferry to St John while in St Thomas. I'd recommend any of the excursions we did and would be happy to answer any questions if anyone has any.

[beachdiamonds]

AOS is awesome, absolutely no negatives. We did the Barbados route. I have to second the Vodad's comments concerning Pineapple Beach Resort. This turned out to be one of the best "excursions" we did. The beach is absolutely gorgeous!!! Make sure you go there. We did Magen's Bay in St. Thomas. I was not that impressed with it but enjoyed myself...next time we will go to Trunk's Bay. In St. Lucia, we went to Rendevous resort and were utterly dissappointed. The resort is old and the beach leaves alot to be desired...Take my advice go to Reduit Beach. Barbados was great..we went to Malibu Beach...the water was breathtaking. Just my two cents.

[tazboyles]

mumsiesof2/Shannon12 .Which itinerary are you doing?

[mumsiesof2]

mumsiesof2/Shannon12 .Which itinerary are you doing?

 

We leave Chicago to San Juan on Sept. 10th. The itinerary goes like this:

Aruba-Curacao-St.Maarten & St. Thomas. When I posted I didn't realize that the other trips were to different ports. Call me :o . So now I need some feedback on these ports. Help I Need Somebody---my DH has left me in charge of all our excursions !!!!!

[rascalious]

We have cruised the AOS twice on the Aruba tour. This year we are doing the Barbados route. I am glad to see we have selected some great tours for our Sept. 17th cruise. Two that were mentioned - we are doing. First the Silvermoon II (Barbados) comes highly recommended and second, the Pineapple Beach Resort (Antigua). We are confirmed for both of these.

For St. Lucia, Herod's tour and for St. Martin - Orient Beach - which we have done before. For St. Thomas - Well, who could resist returning to St. John's Trunk Bay? We are less than a month away from all of these great excursions. Can't wait!!!

[BuyReallyLow]

We leave Chicago to San Juan on Sept. 10th. The itinerary goes like this:

Aruba-Curacao-St.Maarten & St. Thomas. When I posted I didn't realize that the other trips were to different ports. Call me :o . So now I need some feedback on these ports. Help I Need Somebody---my DH has left me in charge of all our excursions !!!!!

 

While at St. Thomas, take the ferry to St. John. You will not be disappointed at Megan's Bay. Unless you REALLY love the beach life, if you leave early you will be able to return in time to do some shopping. Don't worry, with a bit of planning (not much - really!:) ) you should be able to do it without going on a ship-organized tour. You will save yourself some money.

 

Have fun! We are going on the same trip in December. I'll look for your review.

 

BRL

[rascalious]

How to do Trunk Bay on your own: Get off the ship early, take a taxi to Redhook Ferry, ferry to St. John, get a taxi at Cruz Bay to Trunk Bay. You will beat the ship's tour by an hour or more and have the beach to yourself. Return by Cruz Bay Ferry to Charlotte Amalie about 1:15, in time to shop downtown or at Havensight Mall.

[tazboyles]

We are a group of 4 couples who cruise together. You can see this was our first Voyager class ship. We all loved it for the most part. With fear of being flamed we found that some of the younger locals, of which there were many, were a bit rude. Many seemed to ingore lines and barged ahead be it at the elevator, windjammer, excursions, photo gallery etc. One of our party uses crutches and was pushed more than a few times. No big deal but noticable. I also agree that there were not enough elevators during high traffic times. We often used the stairs which was much needed exercise. We also noticed that some bars were very cold while others seemed almost warm. On the other hand we loved the dining room and meals. The windjammer had more food and more variety than you can imagine. Very good minus a cold pancake here and there. Can't be helped when serving so many. Say hi to ARUN from the VT gang at table 405. Portofino's was amazing. Service and food were outstanding. The shows were excellent. Much better than we saw on the Vision and Enchantment. The crew was very friendly and helpful. The promenade was cool and Seattle Best coffee, cookies and pastries were very good and available for free 24/7. It really was fun exploring the ship. We also had balcony cabin on deck 6 which we loved. Great ports and welcome days at sea.

 

We booked early excursions (8:30) which turned out to be earlier than we thought given that you needed to be wherever you meet 15-30 minutes early so you can wait for others who show up late(ha-ha). We also had to go through customs in ST.J (on board) that started at 7:15. These early morning cramped my style at the casino and bars and will be on my mind for the next cruise. It did beat being out during the hottest time of the day which pleased most of our gang. We did the Beach express which stopped at a poor-fair spot to snorkle and to Palm beach which was beautiful. I would rate it 7/10. Our natural bridge tour was cancelled for unknown reasons. In Curacao we did the Trolly tour. Laid back but interesting. 8/10. Then we enjoyed walking around Willemstad and taking the ferry. Next was the Spectacular St. Martin and Plantation tour. We could have lived without the plantation tour, but the rest of the ride was a blast. Our tour guide "the Dr. of love" was a riot. We stopped at some local vendors for the usual items and then on to Orient beach. Excellent.8/10 The next was the St. J beach tour (out of St Thomas) which was the best. Great snorkling for those who are not ready to go out in the middle of the ocean at Trunk Bay. Beautiful beach. 9.5/10 There are many more active excursions but our group was happy with the one's we booked. That's about all I can come up with this late at night. Feel free to ask more questions.

[Shannon12]

mumsiesof2/Shannon12 .Which itinerary are you doing?

 

Aruba Itinerary

[mumsiesof2]

We are a group of 4 couples who cruise together. You can see this was our first Voyager class ship. We all loved it for the most part. With fear of being flamed we found that some of the younger locals, of which there were many, were a bit rude. Many seemed to ingore lines and barged ahead be it at the elevator, windjammer, excursions, photo gallery etc. One of our party uses crutches and was pushed more than a few times. No big deal but noticable. I also agree that there were not enough elevators during high traffic times. We often used the stairs which was much needed exercise. We also noticed that some bars were very cold while others seemed almost warm. On the other hand we loved the dining room and meals. The windjammer had more food and more variety than you can imagine. Very good minus a cold pancake here and there. Can't be helped when serving so many. Say hi to ARUN from the VT gang at table 405. Portofino's was amazing. Service and food were outstanding. The shows were excellent. Much better than we saw on the Vision and Enchantment. The crew was very friendly and helpful. The promenade was cool and Seattle Best coffee, cookies and pastries were very good and available for free 24/7. It really was fun exploring the ship. We also had balcony cabin on deck 6 which we loved. Great ports and welcome days at sea.

 

We booked early excursions (8:30) which turned out to be earlier than we thought given that you needed to be wherever you meet 15-30 minutes early so you can wait for others who show up late(ha-ha). We also had to go through customs in ST.J (on board) that started at 7:15. These early morning cramped my style at the casino and bars and will be on my mind for the next cruise. It did beat being out during the hottest time of the day which pleased most of our gang. We did the Beach express which stopped at a poor-fair spot to snorkle and to Palm beach which was beautiful. I would rate it 7/10. Our natural bridge tour was cancelled for unknown reasons. In Curacao we did the Trolly tour. Laid back but interesting. 8/10. Then we enjoyed walking around Willemstad and taking the ferry. Next was the Spectacular St. Martin and Plantation tour. We could have lived without the plantation tour, but the rest of the ride was a blast. Our tour guide "the Dr. of love" was a riot. We stopped at some local vendors for the usual items and then on to Orient beach. Excellent.8/10 The next was the St. J beach tour (out of St Thomas) which was the best. Great snorkling for those who are not ready to go out in the middle of the ocean at Trunk Bay. Beautiful beach. 9.5/10 There are many more active excursions but our group was happy with the one's we booked. That's about all I can come up with this late at night. Feel free to ask more questions.

 

 

 

Did you book your excurions with the cruise line or on your own, if so which company did you use ??

[Nurse Daybreak]

My DH and I did that trip last Jan. We really loved it. On Curacoa we did the swim with dolphins. I know it looks expensive and I almost didn't book it as the cost seemed a bit much but it was the best excursion I have ever done. My husband and I couldn't stop saying WOW for several days. On St Maarten my husband did the Harley Adventure. Again another expensive trip but he had a blast. I could have ridden with him at no additional cost but I don't relish the idea of riding on the back of his cycle, but that's another story:D .

[tazboyles]

Hi

I booked them all with the ship since time at times seemed tight and I didn't want to worry about getting left behind. On our first cruise the tour bus, booked on board, broke down quite a distance from the ship. We were late getting back but it waited. In Alaska I booked a number of independent tours during the land tour breaks and during the cruise. We also had more time in the ports.