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Bit of a blog - Adventure of the Seas – B2B in the Caribbean – 18th November 2012

NorbertsNiece

By NorbertsNiece,
in Royal Caribbean International

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Coralc

Coralc

Posted
Posted
I'm sorry, Linda, that your 2nd week was impacted by so much negative behavior. I have to disagree, though, that this is "nature of sailing out of Puerto Rico." We sail Adventure in January. It's our first time on anything larger than a Radiance class ship, and we're very much looking forward to it, especially after following Linda's blog. However, we've sailed Southern itineraries out of San Juan many times. We've never seen fire sales on the Radiance class and smaller ships, and have not encountered large groups exhibiting disruptive, rude behavior. Maybe we'll see more of it on Adventure. We're going in with a positive expectation, and hope that our experience is more like Linda's first week than than the second. That being said, we're already booked back on a Radiance-class ship, Jewel, out of San Juan for a B2B in January 2014. We love cruising out of San Juan, we'll have to see if this year's trip is a one and done on Adventure.

 

 

Really? Because we have read these comments online and we have also spoken to people (and not even Cruise Critic members) in person.....since 2001, about good weeks and less than pleasant weeks on sailings out of Puerto Rico.

 

You can certainly disagree. I've never personally experienced any unpleasant behavior on our sailings from San Juan. And we have sailed out of Puerto Rico 4 times. But! I also moved our cruise to a different week.

 

I mentioned the passenger mix. I don't particularly care for children and teens. The passenger mix on any cruise can have an effect on a particular sailing. It's not just sailings from PR, although that is of frequent mention...it could be from from any port. :)

 

We have a wonderful time in San Juan pre-cruise. We love visiting. :D

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Miss Vickie

Miss Vickie

Posted
Posted
Really? Because we have read these comments online and we have also spoken to people (and not even Cruise Critic members) in person.....since 2001, about good weeks and less than pleasant weeks on sailings out of Puerto Rico.

 

You can certainly disagree. I've never personally experienced any unpleasant behavior on our sailings from San Juan. And we have sailed out of Puerto Rico 4 times. But! I also moved our cruise to a different week.

 

I mentioned the passenger mix. I don't particularly care for children and teens. The passenger mix on any cruise can have an effect on a particular sailing. It's not just sailings from PR, although that is of frequent mention...it could be from from any port. :)

 

We have a wonderful time in San Juan pre-cruise. We love visiting. :D

 

I've read the comments, too, but nearly always about Adventure. We always sail in January, usually the 2nd or 3rd week of the month, last year and in 2014 both of those weeks. We've not seen large groups of kids and teens on our previous San Juan sailings. Perhaps we've just been lucky, I've tended to think it was because of the times we travel and that AOS draws more family groups than the Radiance-class ships. Maybe it was just luck. I do appreciate that others have had different experiences than we have. Our few sailings out of Florida have had more kids and teens than any cruise we've taken out of San Juan.

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MNfamilycruiser

MNfamilycruiser

Posted
Posted
Having no expectations is a wonderful thing. I have had a fun day with interesting people in a lovely environment. I arranged a Jewish Heritage Tour with Gigi Scheper and I will write a full report on that for the Curacao board on my return. Curacao is an intriguing island and when you visit be sure to go to the Curacao distillery…. The coffee liqueur is delicious! You can easily pick up a taxi tour at the pier which is right next to the dock. You will have heard of the floating bridge and the floating market which are both within easy walking distance…. the market no longer floats by the way!! The shopping opportunities are plentiful….. though the store prices were not particularly attractive…. I would have bought a delightful Christmas table cloth but at $90 (already discounted) I figured I could do better back home.

 

I am so tired when we get back that I nap before dinner. I am not even aware that we have left port. I manage to catch some sunset.

 

I asked about an unlimited wine package this evening and have been advised that his hasn’t been discussed for Adventure as yet.

 

I want to say that this cruise has been the smoothest ride ever. Tomorrow is a sea day when I will spend some time packing. I had a conversation with regards to debarking with GS. I want to debark with the US guests who have an earlier time and I am advised that I can’t and that I should leave my bag outside the room and will be given the earliest debark time after the self assist people. When the advice arrives in my room I am to debark with the Americans. I will not be leaving my case outside my room. I am aware that earlier in the blog there was a conversation amongst some readers that was ‘off topic’ and apologies were made for hijacking the thread. I’ve not had a chance to read those posts yet but I want to say this.

 

I will never sail out of Puerto Rico again. And it’s not just because the port is in an inconvenient location. I have spoken to many first time cruisers this week and their opinion of RCCL is not good. The behaviour of some of the guests this week has been appalling; rude, inconsiderate and on occasion obscene. Patty has had obscenities written on the board outside her room. I have just (?) encountered rudeness. The Windjammer has been crammed and on occasion the queues have been unbelievable. I think the staff may have been overwhelmed and I’m not entirely convinced that the serving areas were utilised to their fullest potential….. it seems the left hand side as you go in wasn’t open for most of the time. I believe this may have been a school holiday for some guests. This week has been considerably different to last week. Musicians have taken over the instruments on the bandstand; I don’t know if they were the same group that on another occasion had been turfed out of the solarium for playing in there….. or maybe they had moved from the solarium to the bandstand…… shrug.

 

I’m aware that post final payment the cruise was discounted. The large group that took over the Conference Centre seemed to do everything together….. so when one person was in line others would join in….. you can’t be doing that in Windjammer or in a queue to board for example. Or at the Pool Party or trying to get into My Time Dining. An advisory leaflet on acceptable behaviour should not have been necessary but clearly lifestyles are very different. The poor behaviour of a few has impacted the opinion of many; I know many Puerto Ricans, staff and guests, were upset at the behaviour displayed.

 

I know there are many reading this blog who will now worry. I have to say it as I find it. Have I already recounted the story of the drummer outside my room one night? I won’t be leaving my case outside my room tomorrow night because I am concerned that it will come to harm. I have already been given information that I am debarking with the Americans…. Will see how that is dealt with on the day.

 

I have met many delightful people this week whose presence I know will enhance my life in the future. The ports of call have been wonderful and the choices I have made ashore have proven to be sound. I have been away from home for 2 weeks now and I miss my family tremendously. Edi and Marin who have been my waiters have taken really good care of me, as has Bruce my room steward, and I have been extremely appreciative of all their efforts. The crew are awesome in general. When they know something isn’t working they do do their very best to sort it out. I would love to sail on her again…. Hopefully this coming summer in the Baltics…. Will have to see how the finances are….

 

I don’t want to leave this blog with a sour taste so I have plans for picture taking tomorrow that will involve the final appearance of the pink boa. I have arranged to meet some people to show them Nevis pictures. Captain Ron has his Q&A at 1015am so I will likely go and disrupt that again this week! There’s a Blackjack tournament that I may join but as my expertise lies in losing I may just observe. Think I’ll pass on the ‘Miss Biceps’ competition ;)

 

On my way down to post this there was a security guard standing at the deck 6 landing. I had a few gentle words about drums, boards, pens and he countered with kids button pushing all the floors in the elevators..... he's got his hands full.....

 

Do you have any sense of what made the difference? I know on the week before we had approximately 1/3 of the passengers from PR....and LOTS and LOTS of family and kids... And as you said, we really noticed no problems at all. Just chance that the second week had more unruly people?

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NorbertsNiece "Live from...." Rare

NorbertsNiece

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Hi all,

 

Sitting with Patty waiting for Q&A with the Captain. I have lots of credit to use up.

 

Our feeling is that some of the behaviour was not handled well by the crew.... I can understand why, but it has meant that I don't spend as much time as I would like in certain parts of the ship. Maybe I'm just tired and ready to go home. Maybe I'm just too long in the tooth. I can only describe my personal experience and try and relate what I have heard from others. I am just aware that I have never experienced behaviour like this on any other RCCL cruise.

 

Captain Ron, Drew and the Hotel Director are hanging out waiting for more people to arrive....

 

We've been handed the fun facts sheet.

 

BBIAB.

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maggieq

maggieq

Posted
Posted

Sailing out of Puerto Rico used to be my favorite port and itins. However, after our last cruise on the Adventure, we haven't been back. Can't say if we just caught a rowdy crowd that week but it was a turn off. I have heard that the Aruba route is usually a big seller for Puerto Rican cruisers so maybe that could be it. We sailed the serenade and Golden Princess on the Barbados route and we had no problems.

 

Although, I will have to say we experienced the same loud behavior on our first Liberty cruise which had the most diverse mix of cruisers...mostly brazilian. I do think luck has alot to do with it. I live in NJ and get offended when cruisers complain about loud nj/ny peeps.

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Ocean Boy

Ocean Boy

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Posted
I'm sorry, Linda, that your 2nd week was impacted by so much negative behavior. I have to disagree, though, that this is "nature of sailing out of Puerto Rico." We sail Adventure in January. It's our first time on anything larger than a Radiance class ship, and we're very much looking forward to it, especially after following Linda's blog. However, we've sailed Southern itineraries out of San Juan many times. We've never seen fire sales on the Radiance class and smaller ships, and have not encountered large groups exhibiting disruptive, rude behavior. Maybe we'll see more of it on Adventure. We're going in with a positive expectation, and hope that our experience is more like Linda's first week than than the second. That being said, we're already booked back on a Radiance-class ship, Jewel, out of San Juan for a B2B in January 2014. We love cruising out of San Juan, we'll have to see if this year's trip is a one and done on Adventure.

 

Thanks for mentioning the cemetery on Nevis. We've done "Jewish tourism" on St. Thomas, Curaçao, and Barbados, several times each. We'll be going to St. Kitts for the 4th time in '14, and may have to visit Nevis this time to see the cemetery. Happy Chanukah to you!

 

We have sailed on both Serenade and Adventure out of San Juan several times and never encountered problems on either class of ship.

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kastke

kastke

Posted
Posted
We have sailed on both Serenade and Adventure out of San Juan several times and never encountered problems on either class of ship.

 

We sailed Serenade last Feb out of San Juan in a week that had a fair number of kids/teens onboard due to winter breaks. We had no problem whatsoever. Hoping for the same this coming Feb on Adventure in the same week.

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paylady

paylady

Posted
Posted

Linda -

 

Thank you for all the work you put into this blog. It was so nice to view your pictures and read about your experiences.

 

I am so sorry you experienced inconsiderate passengers the second week. Clearly, the ship personnel need to ensure everyone has a pleasant time onboard. We've been lucky sailing out of Puerto Rico the third week of January the past three years. I just hope this trend continues next month.

 

Shabbat Shalom!

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campbell51

campbell51

Posted
Posted

another excellent blog Linda, thoroughly enjoyed getting on here each night reading about your day and enjoying your beautiful photographs.

Looking forward to your next cruise and blog whenever that may be.

Thank you again Linda for all the time you have spent on this and I am sure I speak for all your readers, WELL DONE LINDA.

Safe journey home to the UK.

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nroundlake

nroundlake

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We are cruising on AOS in March for our first cruise. I learned so much about cruising and what to expect. We are doing the first week of your cruise. Thanks Daycare Provider for letting us know about this blog! My husband appreciated the beer pics. Thanks so much again!

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CntPAcruiser

CntPAcruiser

Posted
Posted
Really? Because we have read these comments online and we have also spoken to people (and not even Cruise Critic members) in person.....since 2001, about good weeks and less than pleasant weeks on sailings out of Puerto Rico.

 

You can certainly disagree. I've never personally experienced any unpleasant behavior on our sailings from San Juan. And we have sailed out of Puerto Rico 4 times. But! I also moved our cruise to a different week.

 

I mentioned the passenger mix. I don't particularly care for children and teens. The passenger mix on any cruise can have an effect on a particular sailing. It's not just sailings from PR, although that is of frequent mention...it could be from from any port. :)

 

We have a wonderful time in San Juan pre-cruise. We love visiting. :D

 

We've sailed twice on AOS from San Juan and each time experienced exactly the types of behaviors and rudeness being discussed here (pushing on and off of elevators and the large-group noisiness in public areas beyond the usual, as well as people playing musical instruments and drums in various places on the ship who were not part of the entertainment). Since not moving when someone said "excuse me" and tried to pass and pushing one's way through/past people seemed to be part of the culture, we just went with it and pushed as well. When in Rome?

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mation101

mation101

Posted
Posted

We are so sad that its your last night. We have enjoyed each and every post.

 

You have definitely joined the ranks of trainman and radio.

 

Well done!!

 

Safe travels home, and you can bet we will be posting a few questions in the next few weeks as we prepare for our b2b in Jan.

 

Godspeed

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2Cruzin Fools

2Cruzin Fools

Posted
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Hi Linda, we met you last week in Barbados on the Calabaza excursion. What a great time that was!

 

We actually felt the same way about never wanting to sail out of Puerto Rico again after last week's sailing for several reasons. We had kids pound on our cabin door at 1:00am and people - both adults and children - hanging out on the stairs for hours at a time (we actually called GS about that). This was our fourth time on Adventure and boy, is she in need of refurbishing! We had a leak on the carpet near the balcony door. When we reported that to GS they caulked the tub (which is no where near the balcony - LOL). The toilet had permanent stains and the bathroom towels were yellowed and stained. The rug had rust marks and spots if you moved the tables and chairs. The balcony furniture was very yellowed and not appealing to look at. The lifejackets in the closet had a half inch of dust on them. Embarkation and disembarkation were nightmares! Customs really has to get their stuff together. We were on Oasis in September and they get twice as many passengers on and off their ship in record time.

 

Our Adventure cruise was chosen for the ports of call and we were not disappointed there, only in the condition of the ship and the rude passengers. The crew was excellent and always seemed to be in a good mood. GS also gave us 2 robes for the trouble we had with the leak.

 

Safe travels back home Linda!

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crisndeefromde

crisndeefromde

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Posted

Here it is the last evening of your wonderful trip. i am sorry this week has differed so from last week.

 

Thank you for sharing all of your experiences these past two weeks with us all. My hubby and I have so enjoyed them.

 

We can't wait for our two weeks in february to get here.

 

safe travels.

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