Aos Member's Review

[Thorhillcruiser]

We took our first cruise in 2/06 with several members of my family. We had such a wonderful time on the Adventure that we booked the same cruise, same destination, same everything for the week of 11/19/06. Wow, how things can change in 9 months.

I've heard horror stories about embarkation, but to be honest we never had any trouble. From the airport to the pier and getting on board was no hassle. Just lucky I guess. The first problem we encountered was that it took until almost 8:00PM for our luggage to arrive in our rooms. Since we had been traveling since 4:00AM that morning, we really needed a shower and change of clothes. As it was, we had very little time to freshen up and make the muster drill. Our 2nd seating dinner at 8:30PM pushed back to after 9:00PM by the time we got there.

From that point on our stay on board was very stressful. We have two children ages 5 and 9. They enjoyed the Adventure Ocean youth facilities, but I found the youth staff to be much less enthusiastic then they were on our first cruise.

The biggest problem we had was that there was an extremely large group of locals from Puerto Rico, which makes sense since this is the home port of the ship and I've heard that they are offered favorable pricing in order to fill the boats. There were 50 girls celebrating their 15th birthday on the ship. We learned that the 15th birthday is a very big deal down there. 50 girls plus all of their families and friends. I don't think I would be exaggerating to say that nearly 60 to 75 percent of the passengers on the ship were part of this group. Or at least it felt that way.

 

 

With a group this size they inevitably took over the ship. Every part of the ship was filled to capacity. They were some of the most inconsiderate and rude people I've come across. They screamed and yelled all over the ship. Ate food in the pool, yes, in the pool. Although they were notified to remove the food items from the pool, the remnants remained. There was no organization at the buffet line. They barged right in where ever they saw something they wanted. When I told them that there was a line and they should go to the back of it they played the "I don't speak English" game. When my sister, who speaks Spanish told them, they played the "I didn't know" game. Every time! They left their empty cups and plates in the elevators, on the stairs, in the bathrooms and everywhere else they happened to be when they were done eating.

They congregated in every hallway, stairwell, public space, bathroom, etc... Security on the ship was non existent. I only once saw three security personnel walk through the promenade at the 1:00AM curfew one night to inform the kids under 17 to return to their rooms. However, the kids just moved to the stairwells.

Every 10 minutes someone would shout at the top of their lungs "Yo Soy Poriqua", sorry for the spelling, which translates I believe into "I am Puerto Rican." And 500 or more people would shout back "Parque tu la sepa", again sorry for the spelling, which translates I believe into "Just so you know it" or something like that. The first day or two it was cute, but after 3, 4, 5, 6 days of it we were shell shocked. I overheard that there were 800 children on board. Clearly 90 percent were from this group. They were up all night running through the halls or hanging out in the library, Internet lounge, stairwells, promenade, etc... The 1:00AM curfew was a joke. Parental supervision didn't exist. In many cases the parents were worse than the children.

The bathrooms on this cruise were the worst I've seen. Disgraceful in fact. My mother attempted to use one of the ladies rooms near the dining room one evening. At least 20 ladies from this group were in there talking and fixing their hair. She asked if they were waiting for a stall and they ignored her. After asking several times and being ignored several times she went for an open stall. Of course, no tissue paper. The bathrooms were dirty and the cleaning staff could not keep up with the mess.

And I still don't understand why it takes 10 people to stand in line when only one of them is paying for photographs at the ships photo studio. Just when you thought not one more person could fit in that room, here comes 10 to 15 people pushing through. And I mean pushing. I finally left in frustration after 30 to 45 minutes waiting on line because it wasn't until they got to the register that they decided to sort through the pictures they wanted or not.

 

 

I was equally frustrated with the ship's staff. They did absolutely nothing to control the crowds or enforce the ships rules. In fact, I believe they fueled the rowdiness and unruliness of the local group. Every show was preceded by the cruise director shouting "yo soy poriqua" and hundreds of people shouting back in return. Every ship sponsored activity was dominated by the group. The nightclub played only hip hop and gangster rap for 18 year olds. The cruise director and his staff seemed amused by it all. But they didn't have to navigate around the craziness to try and enjoy a vacation that a lot of money was spent on. The only times we had any peace was at port when we couldn't get off the ship fast enough. There were a few days when we wished we didn't have to get back on!

In the end, we felt totally and completely alienated. It wasn't our cruise. It was theirs. It wasn't my vacation. It was theirs. The ship accommodated this group at the expense of everyone else. I might still cruise with RCCL again, but NEVER from PR. They acted like animals.

Publication Date: 11/29/06

 

[COLOR="Red"]What should RCI be doing to ensure cruisers enjoyment. I am only looking at the lack of supersvision and decorum issues. What recourse do cruisers have during the cruise when it appears they have been denied the ability to enjoy their vacation? What would you do? Can you organize a group while on board to complain en masse?[/color]

[ken_nyc]

Thank you for your review, I guess I will have to rethink going on AOS in August. Has any other cruisers experience this also recently?

[ckrobyn]

Wow - so sorry to hear you did not have a great cruise on the AOS :(

 

We cruised last February and have a B2B planned on the AOS for this February.

 

Honestly - I think you just picked the wrong week :( I would have been pretty upset if it were me on that cruise and none of the RCI staff were doing anything to control these "15 year olds".

 

Yes, there were local Puerto Ricans on our cruise, but they were exactly the same as anyone else - there was absolutely no rude behaviour and the fact was we couldn't nor would we want to distinguish them from anyone else.

 

Once again, sorry your cruise experience is not what you had hoped for, but I still think it was the luck of the draw and you just picked a bad week for youngsters......:o

[scher]

Wow - so sorry to hear you did not have a great cruise on the AOS :(

 

We cruised last February and have a B2B planned on the AOS for this February.

 

Honestly - I think you just picked the wrong week :( I would have been pretty upset if it were me on that cruise and none of the RCI staff were doing anything to control these "15 year olds".

 

Yes, there were local Puerto Ricans on our cruise, but they were exactly the same as anyone else - there was absolutely no rude behaviour and the fact was we couldn't nor would we want to distinguish them from anyone else.

 

Once again, sorry your cruise experience is not what you had hoped for, but I still think it was the luck of the draw and you just picked a bad week for youngsters......:o

When are you going on the Adventure in Feb we are cruising on the 18th I dont remeber seeing you on that roll call but have seen you other places.

Carolyn

[jspang]

We were on the AOS on a cruise, 11/5 - 11/12. It was the same. Very rude, loud people on the ship. There had to be a special rate offered to fill the ship with locals. We rarely heard the English language on the ship! Elevators were the worst and to top it all off they had the “Norovirus” affecting many on the ship which had to be bad food in the Windjammer because 3 out of 4 of us got sick 4 hours after eating there. The staff we had couldn’t have been better; they would do anything for you. If I go on another cruise, never out of San Juan again, with any cruise line. Just my honest opinion.

[scher]

We were on the AOS on a cruise, 11/5 - 11/12. It was the same. Very rude, loud people on the ship. There had to be a special rate offered to fill the ship with locals. We rarely heard the English language on the ship! Elevators were the worst and to top it all off they had the “Norovirus” affecting many on the ship which had to be bad food in the Windjammer because 3 out of 4 of us got sick 4 hours after eating there. The staff we had couldn’t have been better; they would do anything for you. If I go on another cruise, never out of San Juan again, with any cruise line. Just my honest opinion.

oh vey

[Yankee_Fan]

Ok this is the second time I've had to respond to a "I won't cruise with Puertoricans again" thread. I am Puertorican, so I feel I must clear the air yet again.

 

 

Marty, first off, I'm sorry that you had a bad experience, but I dont necesarily think it has to do with the fact that the ship was full of Puertoricans. I just got off the Norwegian Jewel's Thanksgiving week cruise out of Miami and encountered a lot of the same behaviours you described, except these were all "American" (or should I say Anglo) teenagers. Loud, obnoxious, rude, disrespectful brats running amok all over the ship, paying no mind to proper etiquette and just plain common courtesy. It has nothing to do with being Puertorican, American, Japanese or <put your favorite ethnic group here>. It has to do with irresponsible parents. So please don't single out Puertoricans...there are bad parents in all groups.

 

Second, that week on the AOS was a "theme" week...it was called the "Quinceañera Cruise". The Quinceañera is the spanish equivalent of the "Sweet Sixteen" in the US. It's a very big deal for hispanic girls. Your travel agent or RCL should have informed you of this, if they did not, then shame on them.

 

Third, as far as Puertoricans being a rowdy crowd sometimes, I can say that, yes, we like to have a good time and party, but the majority of us know how to conduct ourselves properly and we are very respectful of others. Once again I go back to the fact that this cruise was SPECIFICALLY targeted for 15 year old girls...now you tell me what happens when you get a bunch of teen girls together (regardless of ethnicity)....peaceful relaxation does NOT come to mind.

 

As for the cheaper rates given to locals, that happens in all the home ports where cruise ships sail out of. I live in Tampa and every Sunday the paper is chock full of "resident-only" rates, usually for those trips which the cruise line has not sold all of its capacity and is trying to fill the ship up. This is not unique to just Puerto Rico. Right now I could book a 7 day cruise out of Tampa on Carnival for about $299 pp (not that I would ever in my right mind want to sail on Carnival...but that's another story).

 

I'm sorry that you had the unfortunate experience of being on a "teenager" cruise, but please don't feel that what you experienced is representative of all Puertoricans.

 

Oh, and by the way....Yo Soy Boricua, Pa' Que Tu Lo Sepas :D

[Thorhillcruiser]

The review wasn't mine. I copied it from a member's review. We are criusing on Dec 17. I was wondering what passengers could do on a proactive basis while on the cruise, hence my questions.I don't want this thread discussing any specific group that is based on age, nationality, country of origin or any other identifying item.[/COLOR]

What should RCI be doing to ensure cruisers enjoyment. I am only looking at the lack of supersvision and decorum issues. What recourse do cruisers have during the cruise when it appears they have been denied the ability to enjoy their vacation? What would you do? Can you organize a group while on board to complain en masse?

[Thorhillcruiser]

To Yankee Fan.

We will be cruising together on the 17th. I want to make it clear that it was not my review nor am I making any references to any group in my questions.

Looking forward to meeting you.

A Blue Jay fan

[PH8]

 

Second, that week on the AOS was a "theme" week...it was called the "Quinceañera Cruise". The Quinceañera is the spanish equivalent of the "Sweet Sixteen" in the US. It's a very big deal for hispanic girls. Your travel agent or RCL should have informed you of this, if they did not, then shame on them.

 

 

 

:D

 

Is this an annual event?? Any idea when it will be next year???? PLEASE dont say Nov 11th...:eek:

[Yankee_Fan]

Thornhill,

 

Sorry about that....the way it read...I assumed it was your review...oh well...I guess my comments can be directed to whomever wrote the review then...

[Yankee_Fan]

Is this an annual event?? Any idea when it will be next year???? PLEASE dont say Nov 11th...:eek:

 

I don't know if it is an annual event...you might try contacting RCL or your TA. I just happen to know about this event because when I was last in PR I saw it advertised in the travel section of the local paper.

[PH8]

Dont use a TA and I doubt RCCL reps will know............thanks anyway..

[ckrobyn]

When are you going on the Adventure in Feb we are cruising on the 18th I dont remeber seeing you on that roll call but have seen you other places.

Carolyn

 

We are cruising the week of February 25th and March 4th - doing a back to back....that must be why you haven't seen me in your roll call! :p

[scher]

We are cruising the week of February 25th and March 4th - doing a back to back....that must be why you haven't seen me in your roll call! :p

Are you doing the Holiday cruise out of Bayonne next Xmas? Is that where i have seen you post?

[ckrobyn]

Are you doing the Holiday cruise out of Bayonne next Xmas? Is that where i have seen you post?

 

No, no cruise booked out of Bayonne either!

 

Most likely you have seen my posts on the main board. Clearly I spend way too much time on here! :rolleyes:

[ckrobyn]

Are you doing the Holiday cruise out of Bayonne next Xmas? Is that where i have seen you post?

 

No, no cruise booked out of Bayonne either!

 

Most likely you have seen my posts on the main board. Clearly I spend way too much time on here! :rolleyes:

[ckrobyn]

Are you doing the Holiday cruise out of Bayonne next Xmas? Is that where i have seen you post?

 

No, no cruise booked out of Bayonne either!

 

Most likely you have seen my posts on the main board. Clearly I spend way too much time on here! :rolleyes:

[cesarrcabrera]

The theme Quinceañeras Cruise is indeed advertised in local papers... However, I do not believe your RCI rep would have that info...

 

As I see it on another website, the scheduled dates for Quinceañeras on 2007 are:

 

MAY 27 '07

JUN 10 '07

JUN 24 '07

JUL 8 '07

JUL 22 '07

NOV 18 '07

 

Hope this helps...

[PH8]

Thanks!! Looks like we will miss it......:)

[happy cruzer]

[COLOR="Red"]What should RCI be doing to ensure cruisers enjoyment. I am only looking at the lack of supersvision and decorum issues. What recourse do cruisers have during the cruise when it appears they have been denied the ability to enjoy their vacation? What would you do? Can you organize a group while on board to complain en masse?[/color]

 

I had a very similar problem on Celebrity which had offered deep discounts out of Acapulco. Deep discounts and large groups are usually what starts the problems. The real issue is that the cruise staff lost control of the ship. There can be real security, sanitation, and safety issues. Organizing a group while onboard did nothing to resolve the issue onboard. On the cruise I was on the staff was overwhelmed and in denial. Six months after the cruise completed, the organized group did negotiate a 50% future cruise discount on a future cruise. If the rowdy group is truely out of hand, I would advise staying in areas that they do not visit; maybe to the point of staying in your cabin. These instances are rare but they do happen. Remember the cruiselines cater to large groups and will allow them priviledges.

[happy cruzer]

double, sorry

[Thorhillcruiser]

Thanks for responding to the issue I raised. I hope others will as well,

[Daycare Provider]

yeah...we miss it toooooo......:D APRIL 29,2007

[Family Man]

Unfortunately, we DON'T miss it..... June 24, 2007. :(