Which Southern Caribbean Itinerary on AOS???

[djwool]

Trying to decide on which Adventure of the Seas cruise to take in May. We have never visited any of the islands on either cruise and was wondering what you guys and gals thought. Both leave from San Juan with one visiting Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Maarten and St. Croix. The other stops in Aruba, Curacao, Dominica and St. Thomas.

 

Appreciate any comments and feedback.

[paggerscorvette]

Trying to decide on which Adventure of the Seas cruise to take in May. We have never visited any of the islands on either cruise and was wondering what you guys and gals thought. Both leave from San Juan with one visiting Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Maarten and St. Croix. The other stops in Aruba, Curacao, Dominica and St. Thomas.

 

Appreciate any comments and feedback.

 

We loved the Aruba/Curacao route. Would do it again in a heartbeat.

Whatever you decide, have a great cruise:D

[cappy09]

My vote goes to the Barbados, St. Lucia cruise..

[Home.Brew]

We have done both, and both have their strong points.

 

The Barbados route is great because there is a new island almost every day. A lot of shopping and island exploring done on this route.

 

The Aruba route worked well because I dive and Curacao and Aruba have very good dive opportunities.

 

All depends on what you like - more islands vs. days at sea vs. activities planned on the islands. I honestly don't think you can go wrong with either. Have fun!

[djwool]

I was wondering if 5 different islands 5 days in a row might be a little too much of a good thing. (Is that possible? ;))

 

With the Aruba itinerary, there is a day at sea between the first two stops.

[djwool]

Oops....should have typed "between the first two stops and the last two". :o

[karena1]

God never to many - we LOVE LOVE LOVE the Barbados route. By far our favorite. We are going on Serenade again this year just for that route and plan to do the B2B on Serenade in 2011 just to go on that route again!

 

You really cannot go wrong with the Southern route. We love lots of port time and the beautiful beaches that go along with it.

 

So really either will be great I am sure, but I for sure vote for the Barbados route.

[lovemylab]

I went on the Barbados route last year on the Serenade and loved it. I would do that route again in a heartbeat.

 

We have the Adventure booked next year and will be going on the Aruba route. We chose that one because it will allow us to visit three ports we have never been to.

[sealeggs]

For us the Barbados route for sure. We loved all the different Islands. Have done the Aruba route also just liked the Barbados one better.

[jerzeycruisechick31]

I am also looking at these itineraries for May 09. I am leaning towards the barbados b/c of the isalnds but nervous about only one sea day. love my sea days...but i guess then it is just my excuse to go on another AOS to see the parts of the ship I didn't :p:D;)

I am also leaning that way b/c that is the itinerary for Memorial Day week...one less vacation day to use..gotta love that!!!!

[Tropical Traveler]

We have sailed both itineraries and enjoyed both very much. We will be doing the Aruba route again on AOS in Oct. '09. We prefer the Barbados route because of certain shore excursions. If shore excursions will be a factor in making your decision, there are four absolutely outstanding ones that can be taken on the Barbados route.

 

Barbados: Silvermoon Catamaran.

St. Lucia: Cosol's tour.

Antigua: Eli's Eco or Xtreme Circumnav tours.

St. Maarten: The America's Cup Sailing Regatta.

And as to St. Croix, this is a port of call that for many cruisers would be someplace new and different.

 

You'll experience a wonderful cruise on either itinerary, so which ever you wind up choosing, enjoy and have a most excellent time. :cool:

[djwool]

Thanks to all for the input.

 

Right now, based upon port reviews and comments, I'm leaning towards the Barbados itinerary. Plus, the airfair to San Juan is quite a bit more for the one week delay. Go figure. :confused:

[madriverglen999]

Tough call, I would never sail from San Juan again. Although apparently the non-Carnival lines do not appear to fill the boat with locals, there are a lot of them on board. From a recent past experience (last week) the locals (not all of them mind you) are rude, obnoxious and toss trash everywhere. Almost seems to be they are entitled to do as they please with total disregaurd for anyone else.

[djwool]

OK....decision made. Barbados route for us. :):):)

 

[monn_a]

They're both good, my preference is the Barbados route (though I love sea days), this is just a nice route, IMHO.

[sealeggs]

djwool, you will not be disappointed. Have a great cruise.

[karena1]

Tough call, I would never sail from San Juan again. Although apparently the non-Carnival lines do not appear to fill the boat with locals, there are a lot of them on board. From a recent past experience (last week) the locals (not all of them mind you) are rude, obnoxious and toss trash everywhere. Almost seems to be they are entitled to do as they please with total disregaurd for anyone else.

 

I am surprised by that. We LOVE sailing from San Juan. Have done it a number of times and can't wait to go again in April. Have never found the people on board to be anything but great, same as going out of any other port like Miami or PC. I love San Juan as you get great islands to dock at, lots of beach time and just love Old San Juan. Unless there is a specific ship we want to sail on out of Miami, we pick San Juan just to go from there to the Southern Caribbean.

[Traveler723]

I would suggest that in August, children are out of school and more kids are on cruises. Having said that, AOS will certainly be bombarded with kids because of all the activities and child-friendly places on the ship. You may want to consider that in making a decision. Serenade is not geared as much for kids as AOS.

As to leaving out of PR, I just did it and would not do it again either. I've done it several times and this was the first time where I was not totally happy about it. To each his own. Best of luck and have a great time.

[BuyReallyLow]

Tough call, I would never sail from San Juan again. Although apparently the non-Carnival lines do not appear to fill the boat with locals, there are a lot of them on board. From a recent past experience (last week) the locals (not all of them mind you) are rude, obnoxious and toss trash everywhere. Almost seems to be they are entitled to do as they please with total disregaurd for anyone else.

 

 

Careful of this hook. Don't bite down too hard or the it will be set! That saw ("I hate San Juan") has been wore out on other threads - check there for both sides of the story. You can see by the ships we've sailed on that we enjoy San Juan.

 

You can't go wrong with either route - but if you really love your Sea Days, do the Aruba route (If I have it right! :o)

[Ocean Boy]

I would suggest that in August, children are out of school and more kids are on cruises. Having said that, AOS will certainly be bombarded with kids because of all the activities and child-friendly places on the ship. You may want to consider that in making a decision. Serenade is not geared as much for kids as AOS.

As to leaving out of PR, I just did it and would not do it again either. I've done it several times and this was the first time where I was not totally happy about it. To each his own. Best of luck and have a great time.

 

You have sailed out of San Juan multiple times but because ONE time did not make you totally happy you would not do it again??:confused: I could understand someone having a bad experience as a first timer and not wanting to do it again but I don't understand your position.

[Cruising89143]

Going on the Aruba route in April as it has two sea days which I like. The other itinerary sounded great but only had one sea day.

[AnnieB925]

We're trying to decide between the two choices being discussed here also. We have chosen the AOS out of San Juan that includes Aruba. Our choice was based on wanting a couple of sea days and on work schedules dictating a particular week. We have no concerns about sailing out of San Juan... it gets us deeper into the Caribbean on a one week cruise.

 

Good luck to all!;)

 

Careful of this hook. Don't bite down too hard or the it will be set! That saw ("I hate San Juan") has been wore out on other threads - check there for both sides of the story. You can see by the ships we've sailed on that we enjoy San Juan.

 

You can't go wrong with either route - but if you really love your Sea Days, do the Aruba route (If I have it right! :o)

[Ocean Boy]

Going on the Aruba route in April as it has two sea days which I like. The other itinerary sounded great but only had one sea day.

 

I also like having two sea days. However, when we did the Barbados route on Serenade the sea day came at the end of the cruise which was ok as you at least have the last day to unwind and relax a bit. Sometimes the ships do that route in the reverse order and the sea day is first. I would NEVER do it that way. I would absolutely not want to end up back on land and having to face a flight home after all of those port stops and no down time!

 

We are doing the Aruba route for the third time in March. I'm glad that we did the Barbados route and I highly recommend it. But after doing it once I prefer the more relaxing Aruba route now.

[djwool]

I appreciate the continued input on the two routes. I considered the extra day at sea as a plus for the Aruba route, but having never been to the Southern Caribbean, chose to visit more ports.

 

As for travel partners out of San Juan, I'm not worried. A cruise is like any other thing in life. It is what you make it. ;)

[karena1]

I appreciate the continued input on the two routes. I considered the extra day at sea as a plus for the Aruba route, but having never been to the Southern Caribbean, chose to visit more ports.

 

As for travel partners out of San Juan, I'm not worried. A cruise is like any other thing in life. It is what you make it. ;)

 

I love your attitude! and it is so true. We have never had a vacation that we haven't thought was wonderful. Never anything so bad that happens to ruin it. We are so thankful we can go on vacation, it would take something horrible to ruin it for us.

 

You will love San Juan, love cruising from there, love the Soutern Caribbean. Enjoy.