New Poster - AOS Questions...

[biledo]

We are headed off on 3/26 (my wife, son 14 and daugher 10)... We are all so excited... so many questions.... I'll stumble thru most but wanted to ask all of you -

 

Ice Show - when / where do I snag the tickets ? I keep hearing they go fast, so I'd like to be prepped.

Mini Golf/Skating(both)/Rock wall - long waits? age limits? best times?

Screening Room - shows movies how old? new? 2nd run?

 

We had free air from ORD to San Juan so we arrive there around 1:30, bought the xfers from RCI. What should we do when we get to the ship? Swim? play? (sorry, so many many questions)

 

We have a Jr Suite - does anyone know if it has one of those "drop down" beds from the ceiling?

 

OK, thats it for now...Im sure as March approaches there will be more...

 

Thanks in advance!

[ccg1957]

JR suites have a couch that opens up.

[Dem920]

We went on the Barbados Itinerary in August with a group of 20 people. We had a great time. We went rock climbing and ice skating a bunch of times. Never too long of a wait, but they are only open certain times of the day. We had no trouble getting tickets for the ice show, it gets announced in the daily magazine when you can get them. We had one person in our group get all 20 tickets. We had early dining so we went to the ice show after dinner on the second night it was offered. The first night their was another show going on at the same time that we didn't want to miss.

 

Never saw the screening room, although went in the game room and card room a bunch of times. My son was 14 and my duaghter was 12, so you are bringing kids of a great age on the boat. There is tons for them to do.

 

We opted for 2 promenade rooms overlooking the royal promenade for a cheaper price than the suite, which gave us 2 bathrooms and two tvs and a door to close when we wanted to get some sleep and the kids wanted to watch tv. The rooms were adjoining and I would do it again in a second given the opportunity. Food was great in the dining room. So good that we went to the specialty restaurant the one night and the food was good, but not that much better than the regular dining room.

 

We loved it with the exception that the Barbados itinerary was a bit taxing. Stopping at 5 ports on a 7 day cruise was too much, but we still had a great time. If you are on the same itinerary and want any port suggestions, let me know. I can be reached at tdembek@optonline.net.

 

-DEM920

[biledo]

Sorry - Our itinerary include Aruba, Curacao, St. Maarten, and St. Thomas.

[ccg1957]

You will have to share a bathroom in a JR suite, but it is large and has a full size tub. You also get a walk-in closet which I also used as a dressing room, (it's that big), and you get a big balconey. Promenade rooms also sound like a good idea, but my husband is a smoker, so we really need that balconey!

CathyPS: I'll be doing the same itinerary as you but on Feb. 19 instead. I sailed two years ago in a JR suite on the Explorer of the Seas.

[kevin priestley]

Hey I hope you have a wonderful cruise, By the way when you go to Curacao if you think of it check around and see if there is a 4' x 6' banner congratuating the little leaguers. I gave one to the town's department of tourism two years ago and it would be nice to know if it was hanging so future cruisers could see it.

[TC Cruiser]

My wife and I took your AOS itinerary and loved it! If you get your ice skating tickets within the first couple of days you should be fine. I did the mini golf later in the cruise and didn't have to wait for anybody. I think the novelty must start wearing off a bit into the cruise. I've heard you have to plan ahead for the rock climbing wall, but perhaps somebody who did it could chime in.

 

The inline skating is closed whenever the course is wet. Every time I was in the mood to try it was after a brief sun shower.

 

When you get to the ship, just start exploring and get the layout of the place. You'll be able to get a snack when you arrive. Our flight left Minneapolis before 7:00 a.m. so I certainly needed the coffee break.

 

Take a tour of the spa, even if you don't intend to use it.

[TexasMom2]

Just a suggestion -- not sure how much you are paying for transfers, but a taxi would probably be a lot cheaper, plus you can go straight to the ship instead of waiting for the bus to fill up. It should be less than $30 with tip.

[elkdude]

We sailed AOS in June 2004; same itenerary as you are going on.

 

Spend first few hours getting acquainted with the ship; she's large, but is laid out very well & well marked with signs, etc.

 

We opted to do our own shore excursions; Jolly Pirates in Aruba was a great snorkel / lunch cruise (about $40/pp); Curacao had a great beach;$6 cab ride from the downtown area.

 

St. Maarten was also nice; beach & shopping. In St. Thomas, took the Godfrey tour ... best deal of the trip. Picks you up at the ship, a couple hours of shopping; 2 hr island tour and 3 hrs of beach time then takes you back to the ship. $20/pp. (http://www.godfreytoursvi.com)

 

We had a great time; sailing again this June on Explorer out of NY.

 

Enjoy!

[biledo]

Thanks - also saw the "tips and tricks" posting... great stuff!

[WhiteSoxFan]

We did the same cruise three years ago at the same time of year. We did the 4 wheel drive excurision with the snorkeling in Aruba. This is a lot of fun. You go out to the north side of the island, which is basically a desert, and stop to see a few sites. Then we went to the south side of the island for lunch and snorkel. If you decide to do this a few things to know. Unless you are in the front of the caravan you will get filthy, not dirty or dusty but brown/orange filthy. We had our clothes cleaned onboard afterward and they came clean but the combination of dirt and sunscreen wouldn't even come off when snorkeling. The vehicles are little 4 wheel drive Isuzu Rodeo sized vehicles with mostly manual transmissions which can be a problem for some.

[Daycare Provider]

:) We will be traveling on the AOS April of 2007. We be visitng St. Thomas, St. Martin, Antigua, St. Lucia and Barbados leaving from San Juan.

l:o Can somebody please tell me which nights are the formal nights? Which ports do we tender into? Did the staff keep the children out of the adult pool area? Does anybody know about the cabins on deck 10?

How often is the ice skating show offered?

:( I am sorry about all the questions. Thank you for the help.:cool:

[cb at sea]

To Biledo--As far as the ice show tickets--there are tickets for every passenger--so they won't run out. They simply can't fit everyone into the arena at once, so they issue tickets for each show time. They will announce when and where to pick them up, so don't stress over it!

[Daycare Provider]

:rolleyes: Where do we get the tickets? Are we able to get them as we board the ship?

[cruzfiend]

The ice show tickets are available the first day down by the ice arena or by the photo area. It will be posted in the Cruise Compass (a news paper for your cruise with info on various happenings and times of things to do) you get in your room. The tickets are to get the right amount of people to fit in the arena. That is why they have different times.