Family Adventure on the AOS 12/2/12 with Pics!

[Debitoo]

Disclaimer: I am not a photographer. I bought this camera for this trip. I had no idea how to use it. It’s a Panasonic DMC-FZ150. It has quite a few features that a SLR camera has but without the interchangeable lenses. I mostly used the auto mode for my shots. I’m hoping to get better at it before our next cruise to Alaska. I think I need to take some classes!:rolleyes::eek:

 

First, a little about us. I’m Debi 60, my daughter Jessica 33 and my grandkids Cameron, 13 and Alexis 10.

We are from Beaumont, a small town in the Inland Empire of So Cal. This is my 2nd cruise; the first being in 1988 aboard RCI Song of Norway to the S. Caribbean. For everyone else, it’s their first. It’s my first vacation in 12 years and was my first flight on a plane since before 9/11. I was nervous about EVERYTHING! I am an over-planner. I admit it. I had with me the dreaded cruise binder with everything categorized by day, port excursion etc. The thing probably weighed 7 or 8 pounds. I’m so glad I had it. My DD made fun of me about it. She told all her friends about it. They all laughed. Now she’s helping me assemble one for the Alaska cruise. Mom knows best. ;)

 

We pulled the kids out of school for this vacation and had them on independent studies. This actually worked out very well. If you are contemplating doing this, go ahead, you’ll be glad you did it!

 

Our travels began on Friday afternoon, Nov 30th with a drive (in the pouring rain) to LAX. We had reserved the Park, Sleep & Fly at the Hilton by the airport. This was a great decision! Our flight took off on time at 6:30 AM. We had to change planes in Dallas. The plane on our connecting flight was decommissioned………….so we had to wait for them to find us another plane. Surprisingly, they had another one ready in under an hour. We landed in SJU at 7:45 PM. Whew! That was a long day!

 

We were never told which baggage claim to get our luggage so we had to watch them all. The first bag on the carousel was ours! Of course, the last one out was ours also. :mad:

 

As soon as we collected our luggage we caught a cab for around $17 plus $1 for each bag. We were at the DoubleTree in about 15 minutes.

 

The DoubleTree was a nice place to spend 1 night. I don’t think I’d want to spend a week there. The hotel was fine but the area was a little sketchy. The 24 hour market across the street was very handy. They had a deli inside which had fresh sandwiches and salads and a few pasta dishes. I decided to pick up a couple bottles of Kendall Jackson Chardonnay to take aboard the ship. CAUTION: It was not a good place to buy wine. Both bottles had not been stored properly and had gone bad.

 

Finally, the morning of the 2nd had arrived. We got up and checked out of the hotel at about 10:45 and caught a cab to the pier.

 

Coming next: Embarkation

[clochette]

great start, I look forward to reading more.

[hipster1]

HI Debi!

Great review so far. We board Adenture in 2 weeks!! We are also staying at the DoubleTree.

 

I can't wait to read more.

 

Allie

Edited December 30, 2012 by hipster1

[Debitoo]

Next up: At the pier!

 

We were so excited when we saw the ship waiting for us!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The port was packed! It was impossible to get to the curb to unload us and our luggage so the cab driver let us off in the parking lot. He did hail us a porter who loaded up our luggage checked it in and then sent us on our way to get into the long line of people to get through the check-in process. But wait, we had priority boarding! There were no signs anywhere for priority boarding. I asked a worker that was standing by a roped off area where the priority line was and she had us follow her to a counter where there was no other people checking in. Bam….we were done. We were ushered to a seating area to wait to board. The place was pretty crowded already but we were just 5 or 6 short rows from the front.

 

 

Can we get this show on the road already???

 

Next up: We're boarding!

[Cupcrazy]

Great start Debi. Can't wait to read more.

[Boavfan]

Good info. TY

[Debitoo]

We continued to wait.....it seemed like forever but was probably only 30 minutes.

 

The crowds grew.

 

This is the door that when opened, leads you to the gangway and on to the ship.

 

 

Finally.........the door opens and we are ushered onto the gang way!

 

 

This is where they take pictures of you in front of a fake ship. We declined......

 

 

We’re finally on board!

 

These pictures were shot in 640 x 480. I corrected this when we get to day 2. See, I'm learning to use my camera already!

 

We wandered around the ship for a bit and then headed over to the Windjammer for lunch. The crowds weren’t too bad and we found a seat quickly. The food was ok. We had the Honey Stung Chicken. It was good. One thing we found out about the WJ, is that if you go all the way to the backside of the buffet, Islands Grill has different foods than what they offer on the sides. I felt stupid that I never ventured back that far until day 6.

 

Here's a few shots of the pool deck.

 

 

 

The Solarium

 

 

Next Up: Meeting CC Roll Call Friends

[PathfinderEss]

Great pictures, enjoying your review, looking forward to more.

[Debitoo]

We had an unofficial CC Roll Call meet and greet by the pool bar at 4 PM. We ended up having a FABULOUS time on this cruise with some of you. LOVED you guys!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next Up: We get to our room...a Grand Suite!

[Debitoo]

great start, I look forward to reading more.

Thank you! I have a new respect for those that post reviews.........it's a lot of work!

[Debitoo]

HI Debi!

Great review so far. We board Adenture in 2 weeks!! We are also staying at the DoubleTree.

 

I can't wait to read more.

 

Allie

Oh, I'm so jealous! I'd love to be back there. You'll have a blast!

[Debitoo]

Great start Debi. Can't wait to read more.

Thank you for following along. It's almost like being there again!

[Debitoo]

Good info. TY

You'll be on board before you know it! Enjoy your cruise!:D

[Debitoo]

Great pictures, enjoying your review, looking forward to more.

Thank you so much for following along. I'll have more tomorrow!;)

[patattack]

I just bought the Panasonic DMC FZ200. I also need to spend a lot of time learning this camera.........lol.

 

pat

[louhun88]

Looking forward to the rest of your review, I'm sailing on this ship in September!

[CroozeAddict]

Can't wait for more! :D We'll be on AOS in 4 weeks.

[bonniboo1]

Can't wait for more! :D We'll be on AOS in 4 weeks.

 

Morning Gary and June, I'm so glad that Debi is doing this review for us! FOUR more weeks, woo hoo! See you at 3;00 at the informal Meet and Mingle,

[Daycare Provider]

What time did you arrive at the port? We will be sailing in March.

 

Thank YOu!

[Debitoo]

What time did you arrive at the port? We will be sailing in March.

 

Thank YOu!

We arrived about 11:15. It was VERY busy.

[Debitoo]

This is the door that leads to the hall way where the cabins are. They would open at 1:00.

 

 

FINALLY! It's time to see our cabin!

 

 

We had a GS cabin # 1578. It was in a perfect location. No noise from above at all nor did we hear our neighbors. They did hear my DD yelling at the kids one night but that’s another story…..

 

 

 

We had a connecting room door so the couch was small. It would have been nicer if the couch were queen sized as the kids had to share it at night. It was ok for the 4 of us in this room. If the kids were any older, then we would have been cramped.

 

 

Our cabin attendant was Jeffery. He was excellent! He did get mad at us

for making our beds every day. Sorry, habit!

 

 

 

[ckrobyn]

Loving this review!

Can you confirm that there were suite seats by the pool? I remember the area on either side of the pool bar being roped off for suite guests, are the yellow towels still there?

[Debitoo]

One thing to remember is that there is an electrical outlet located at the back wall under the glass shelves on the mini bar. We had piled lots of junk there and never saw it until we were packing to go home. Duh! We sure could have used it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

View of the port from our balcony

 

[Debitoo]

More from the balcony

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next up: Muster Drill

[Debitoo]

Loving this review!

Can you confirm that there were suite seats by the pool? I remember the area on either side of the pool bar being roped off for suite guests, are the yellow towels still there?

 

Thank you for taking the time to read this! :D The only reserved seats for suite guests was the roped off area on either side of the pool bar. I'm sorry to say I don't remember where the yellow towels were as we never used them. We always had an abundance of them in our room. Every time we left the room, Jeffery brought more.