queenschick9b

This might be a boring review - I don't have any photos.

This was my third time on the AOS and I am not going to really get into the appearance of the ship as I know there is a dry dock coming. It was completely neat and clean but as others have noted some chairs in places looked frayed and the color palate in the rooms could use an update.

We visited St. Marteen, Antigua, Barbados, St. Lucia, and St. Kitts.

I spent 2 days before in SJ at the Marriott. We have stayed there a lot and while it is still very nice the room could probably use a little sprucing up. We had dinner at Oceana which was amazing and short 2 block walk from the hotel. It was on the water and very picturesque. Someone actually proposed while we were eating :)

Unfortunately, we did not have the best weather this week. We made the most of it and still had a great time.

Embarkation was a breeze. Got to port a little after 10:30 dropped our bags on that line, then got online to get into terminal. Since it was pretty early the line to let people in wasn't really moving. Then we were on our way. We were on one of the returning guest lines and nobody else was and we got our sea passes and then waited until when they let us on.

My only real complaint about the trip was the quality and variety of food in the windjammer. (Which wasn't the end of the world - just the one area that I felt could really use some improvement). There never seemed to be anything different and it was never hot. One thing I love about the Windjammer compared to the buffet on NCL is the staff that helps with serving especially drinks. When I go on NCL I am usually by myself and I hate that I either need to leave my stuff at my table when getting some water or lose my spot because I was thirsty.

I traveled with my parents and we both had balconys on the 8th floor with different room attendants. Mine was Joseph and he was great. Theirs was Richard and he was good, not great. I think it was just the order in their routines - so I was towards the beginning of his rooms and they were at the end of theirs. The first day I had a little trouble with hot water but by the time dinner was over it was never a problem again.

We did MTD which we had never done before. We had made reservations in advance and ate at the same time every night except the first. We also did one night at Giovanni and the chef table. We had the same wait staff each night in the main dining room and they were excellent. I am one of those people who love the escargot (and the delicious garlic butter) and I remember on past cruises having to hold onto my roll so I would have it. Our assistant waiter was constantly coming over with more bread and water never having to ask. We like the fact that we had the ability to pick our own time and still have the service that comes with having the same people while being able to have our own table. Best of both worlds for us!

We loved Giovanni's and the chefs table. Both so much food. After my wine and drinking my own and my mothers chocolate martini I was feeling no pain :)

Entertainment wise, we went to the soggy sailaway party and they tried to get people excited, but it didn't really seem as lively as usual and I am sure it was the weather. We went to the first production show on the 2nd night and I thought it was pretty good dancing. We didn't make it to any other shows - with the MTD the times didn't work out but there was nothing we were really trying to see. We went to the 70s night in the promenade and it was jammed everyone was having a great time. We watched karaoke in the blue moon one night and went to the Jazz show last night. Both were fun! There was a silent dance party which I really want to try but I was so tired I didn't make it. This itinerary (which I love and is why we chose this cruise) is so port intensive I didn't really utilize the ship as much as on other cruises.

In St marteen we did it on our own, just went into town and got some chairs and umbrellas spent the morning on the beach then grabbed lunch and shopped. We took the water taxi and it dropped us somewhere I had never come in before, almost at the furthest end of the beach/town. We walked back more towards the square for our chairs.

Antigua we did the ships excursion the catamaran with lobster lunch. It was really good - the crew was great. Even my parents who never danced got up and danced!

St Kitts I stayed on ship and they did an island tour through the ship. They had never been to the island before and felt it gave them a good overview.

St Lucia we did a cruise to the pitons with a beach stop. It was okay and a very long cruise with a 30 min stop. Wouldn't recommend.

Barbados we did the beach break and we know it was super touristy but we liked it and would go back their on our own. Unfortunately that day was the worst weather - it poured 3x.

I am happy to answer any questions! Hopefully it is helpful to someone!

Eta: we did not do the drink package because we were off the ship so much, but lots of people had it. We saw drink severs everywhere and had no problems getting drinks at the solarium, blue moon, the pub and schooner where we spent most of our drinking times.

I got the voom - surf and stream and was able to steam Amazon prime (mr robot) with some stoppages. It was better when we were "near" the islands.

Here is the Cruise Compass for Adventure of the Seas Southern Caribbean- San Juan, Puerto Rico, St. Maarten, St. Kitts, Antiqua, St. Lucia and Barbados.

 

 

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4zLgucAkos8NVBBbE5wRXJxVVE/view

Thank you so much!!! This is super helpful!

irun5k, It is a pretty much the same on the other side, with some of the restaurants also having their outdoor seating there.

Went on the Breakaway in December and even though the weather wasn't the best, I loved the waterfront. (but then again, I love the quiet seating on the promenade level)

Just did it a week ago. We did a cruise sponsored excursion (through Royal Caribbean). At first I was very leery to do a ship excursion because of the number of people. There were about 20 people on the excursion but the guide split us into groups based on our ability. Not all groups made it to the top, just the first two groups.

 

 

 

Our excursion was from 8:30am - 2:30pm. We were in the first group and got to the top, we had a decent amount of rest stops on the way up and down. When we got down we just had enough time to eat a sandwich (provided by the tour company) and it was time to head back to the ship.

 

 

 

It was a really fun trip! Hope you get it to work out for you.

I don't know if you will check back on this before I leave on 7/2, but I am very interested in this RC excursions, and wanted to get your thought. I am 38 and I am in okay shape (work out multiple times a week, inclined with a trainer) and talk long walks (5-7 miles) each weekend, but they are not hikes and mostly flat. Do you think I will have a problem in the "slower" group? I really want to push myself to do something beyond all beach days and sitting around.

Also, sneakers are okay? I don't have hiking shoes or anything.

I definitely remember it on a carnival and maybe my very first cruise (ncl). Both were before 2005 and ships were much smaller so you used to see the same people all the time and they would have their horse with them all week. I remember betting being involved and that is why they had them around so that more people would bet on them.

The times I have utilized the studio lounge, the staff member has been an activity person, from the cruise the director staff, not really a concierge and the only specialty reservation was on both cruises one night of the 7 day cruise, a group dinner was arranged in a specialty - one was in Moderno and I can't remember the other one. Perhaps others have had other experiences. what I did for my upcoming was make reservations for times I wanted, purposely not making anything for the first night so I can go to the lounge and see what the schedule is and then make changes if needed. Didn't want to take the risk of not getting in somewhere I wanted.

I know for my Christmas cruise last year, it was open at midnight. (I was nervous about getting the spa pass).

On breakaway in December the first meet up was in a bar but the rest of the weeks meet ups were in the lounge.

The vast majority of pictures were from a Canon 7D with an 17-85mm f/4-5.6 lens. For the really low light pictures (like the tunnels), I can crank up my ISO to 3200 and still get reasonable picture quality. I also brought my 70-200mm f/2.8 and my "nifty fifty", but I never changed lenses. There may be a few iPhone 6+ pics in there was well.

Thanks for the information regarding cameras! And i agree about the open, I am not a huge golf watcher but my dad and I have gotten to go to the US open when it was in NY a few times and it is a great time.

We are looking at this same deal. Just waiting to see what the Dawn price tag comes out. Celebrity has some pretty nice perks with their suites and while it may not be the same "suite life", im not much for using the Butler and Concierge anyway. The last perk was the pre-paid gratuity

I went on the summit to Bermuda and I loved the experience, but I will say it is one of their older ships and pretty small- age and size very similar to ncl sun. I have heard the newer ships have many more bells and whistles.

I agree they pay for the movies they show, but they used to be willing to do that because they used to have a channel that played movies. I remember one time on Adventure of the Seas I watched all of "something borrowed" - in pieces completely out of order since they showed it each day at different times and each time I caught a different part :)

Your photos are great. What camera are you using?

Excellent doing this exact itinerary on 7/2.

Following along, I have lost close to 30# since my breakaway cruise in December and I have an RCL cruise in a few weeks and the breakaway in August.

I plan on being like Karen said she did - choose one meal a day to let myself enjoy a little.

I feel like I do make better choices in general now, that I know I would still do on a ship - lots of fruits and veggies, much less mindless snacking.

My other two thoughts are cruise ship MDR meals are pretty portioned controlled compared to restaurants at home.

I am also usually disappointed in desserts - they always feel like there is something they use for frostings so it can hold its shape in hot weather changes the texture so I might have a mudslide for dessert.

Basically my hope is not to count my WW points for the week through and let myself enjoy within reason (and of course exercise, take stairs, etc)

I figure I feel so much better now, why would I want to go back to how I felt before.

I'd like to see better programming as well. My pool at home is nicer than the one onboard. And while I love the dance classes and what not, sometimes I just want to come back and chill in my room. I love my balcony but there have , times when it was too hot or raining and then I would just be in my room.

 

On Freedom in November there were DreamWorks movies on all day and there was this show that featured a bunch of teenagers who were on a cruise on Freedom or Allure. Their week progressed with our week so that by the last night it was their last night too. I thought it was kinda funny. Two girls fell for the same guy and there was drama between them. It was a nice change.

 

But movies would be awesome!

I think the movies are only on the ships with the Dreamworks experience.

Going in less than a month and happy to see escargot still on there :)

Some years ago they used to have a channel called, I believe, Me TV. The programming was comprised of old tv shows such as Burns & Allen, Ozzie & Harriet, etc. Enjoyed while dressing for dinner--brought back such good memories.

My parents get me tv at their house. That and antenna tv. One has a lot of love boat and murder she wrote.

Great review!

On a complete experience basis, for me I like Royal the best. Thought the ship layout on allure (especially pools and crowd control) was a lot better than Breakaway or Epic, but 2/3 of the time I travel solo and nothing for me is better than traveling on NCL with the studios and solo get together where people try to arrange for meals together.

My cruising reflects this :)

My last 2 and upcoming 2 - freedom of the seas, breakaway, adventure of the seas and breakaway again.

I think unless you expand you won't know what you will like.

I also went on X summit and the thought that service and food was great, but their itineraries don't work for me - my next two cruises are summer but I still want to do Caribbean- they seem to only been in Alaska or Europe.

The ones I have used just need regular water. I saw a bunch today at Sports Authority where everything is on sale since they are going out of business.

I was on epic its first year in January and the breakaway this Christmas. Both times there were lots of solos of all different ages in the lounge for the daily meet up. I wasn't in a studio for breakaway, but went to the gathering. I ate in specialities by myself most nights, but did Christmas Eve dinner with the group. Most of the others did eat together the other nights. There were sign ups for all the meals and all of the entertainment. I ended up going with them and moving my original show choices.

I was so happy with the experience I am going on Breakaway again in August and booked a studio.

I have to wonder what these people have in their suitcases that cause all that struggle. I have been on 33 cruises and years ago I used to put my suitcase out because that was the procedure. Since self disembarkation was implemented, I have been using it with no problems at all. I see other people pulling their single piece of luggage with no problem also.

 

My piece of luggage is under 50 lbs as required by airlines. Getting off at the Manhattan port, I have walked to 8 Av & 50th for the subway to Brooklyn and another time to LaGuardia in conjunction with the Q70 bus without huffing and puffing. I guess if a person has mobility issues or heart problems that would be a different situation. But for a normal relatively healthy individual it works with ease.

Because there are people like me who can't pack lightly if their life depends on it :) When I was on the breakaway, I live in the city so I didn't have to fly. I almost took a second bag, but held back, but I think my bag must have been 60lbs. I know I don't want to deal with it, so I don't do self-disembark and I try to use a porter once I grab my luggage.

Curious about the answer to this since it would be the same for the Breakaway.

I am sure they will change slightly again, but someone recently posted new dailies. You should try to find those because February would have been the Florida/Bahamas run and in August you are probably doing Bermuda, which might be slightly different since you can get off the ship all the time for 2.5 days.

3 times I had GSC scheduled on my cruises ALL 3 times skipped it. All 3 times docked in Nassau early the day before scheduled around 3 pm. I'm a jinx I have figured out lol

Happened on Breakaway on Christmas cruise. We had same except got in at 5 as there were no spots at pier before that.