Live AOS 4/30/06

[Tex_Jen]

njoyndride, enjoy your cruise! I was one of those trying to get off the ship as you all were waiting to get on. We were able to get on much quicker a week ago so I'm not sure exactly what the holdup was this time.

 

Are you enjoying the Cruise Activity Staff? We found Richard Spacey (the CD) to be one of the best.

 

Say hello to Benny the bartender at the Champagne bar for me (Tell him that Jenny and Beth sent you) and if you have Lucilo as your waiter, you are in good hands!

 

Keep the ship in good shape. We plan to be back next year...

Jen

[buchie614]

They boarded plant. before diamond and suites? Oh My, well we leave on the l3th for the AOS, excited to be going, we will overnight in FLL and then take a flight to SJU on the l4th coming from AZ, we felt that was the best way to go, will be relaxed and ready for the fun to begin. Thanks for the post.

[TryingCruising]

Have fun! I was on the AOS in March for my first cruise and had a blast! I also really enjoyed the Kukoo Kunukoo and wish I could be there again! :)

[rascalious]

Doing Kukoo Kunuku tonight so I will refrain from drunk typing

Loved the dinner and bar crawl. Did you do both or just the bar crawl. We had fun at all the bars except the last one which is Carlos and Charlies. It was too crowded and kind of dangerous - as in "what if a fire broke out?" We left after one drink. Of course this was all before the Natalie Holloway incident. I would probably go to Aruba again, but not Carlos and Charlie's. It is definitely for the younger crowd.

[njoyndride]

Gail that's great!!! I'll have to congratulate them next time I run into them!!!

I've trouble getting on this board today, not sure if it was CC or this very slow connection.

buchie - they lumped platinum, diamond and suites in one group, there weren't that many of us, perhaps 75-80.

texjen - we really like Richard too, he's a crack-up.

Here's Monday our day at sea:

 

Today (Monday) was a day at sea and hot hot hot. The pool deck was hopping but not overly crowded. We had our Meet and Mingle at 11am in the Blue Moon lounge. We had 60 signed up and ended up with 40 or so actually there. I thought that was great compared to prior M&M’s. They served appetizers, juice and water, no giveaways or prizes. We were a lively and friendly group, and it was fun meeting everyone. The M&M lasted about an hour.

We’re traveling with a group of 8 and prior to the cruise we decided to bid on a horse if it came within our price range. We all gathered for the horse racing at 2pm, the auction was to take place in between races. We are now the proud owners of California Chardonnag…think good thoughts on Thursday Go Baby Go!!!! One of our party brought the saddle blanket she made for the horse and plastic grapes to hang all over. Our horse definitely has style!!! We spent the rest of the afternoon at the Solarium Pool which wasn’t crowded at all.

This was formal night and the Captains Party. We met the rest of our group, including the horse LOL and had champagne and interesting stares due to our equine addition. Captain Remo introduced his staff; he is a very personable Captain. Dinner was fun, our waiter is a bit dry but very efficient. We chose the pasta as we don’t eat meat and it wasn’t that great. We grabbed a brie sandwich later at Café Promenade and headed to Rockaroake. What a hoot, it’s amazing what that some people really think they can sing LOL. There was one guy who was great though. After a trip up to the helicopter pad for some star gazing we crashed and rested up for Aruba!!!!!!!!

[3 Kitty Mommy]

We will be in 9618 on the AOS next week (May 7). Our first JS and am so looking forward to it.

 

Thanks for the live updates.

[jmacway]

Hello there SIL. it is good to read you, Thom and the rest of your party is having a good time but then again you guys always do.

[wrp96]

Loved the dinner and bar crawl. Did you do both or just the bar crawl. We had fun at all the bars except the last one which is Carlos and Charlies. It was too crowded and kind of dangerous - as in "what if a fire broke out?" We left after one drink. Of course this was all before the Natalie Holloway incident. I would probably go to Aruba again, but not Carlos and Charlie's. It is definitely for the younger crowd.

 

When I went, I did just the bar crawl but had an amazing time. Everybody in our group agreed the C&C wasn't great and we all left there quickly after having our 1 drink. But it isn't just for the young crowd. Believe me it was full of all ages on our Brilliance cruise and we all were having a wonderful time.

[puertorican]

Just wondering if RCI made any mention of the news that the Puerto Rican government shut down today (ran out of money - heard it on CNN this morning), and if there would be any impact to cruisers at all (i.e. imigrations, airport, taxi service, etc.).

 

.

 

bankofdad

 

Not misunderstood the news, ONLY some government offices are temporary closed, in order to square the budget, anyway, Airports, Inmmigration, Customs etc are federal agencies, Taxis, Piers, porters etc are private.

 

Anything related to tourism isn't affected.

[mel47]

PUERTORICAN - I see that it has been raining a lot their. Does it rain all the time, or is it nice most of the day? Just curious since weather is always talked about and you actually live their.

[daybreakbds]

njoy- thank you so much for posting. i have some friends on board with you and its like i am there (in spirit). have a great time!

[njoyndride]

Hey jmacway…..pretty soon it will be your turn :D !

Day 3 – Aruba!

We arrived around 7:15am to a partly cloudy sky and it was already very warm. We stayed on board until about 9am and let the crowd thin down, then headed out to the cab stand. We headed out to our favorite Palm Beach in fact showed the cab driver the trick of the alley next to the Hyatt. The very first time in Aruba the cab had dropped us there right at the beach so there was no reason to cut through any of the properties. The driver was so excited he actually drove us on the beach itself LOL. We grabbed chair and shade for $10 and got settled in. The water which is always so clear was murky for some reason but it still felt wonderful. Around 12:30 we headed back to the ship, catching a cab right in front of the Hyatt. After a shower and some lunch we headed out for some shopping a quick contribution to Crystal Casino. I love being able to walk off the ship and in to town. We went back to the ship around 4 to dunk our hot bods in a cool pool. That was sooooo welcome as it was really hot. We grabbed a snack since I was going on the Kukoo Kunuku bus, would miss dinner and for obvious reasons wanted something in my stomach.

Our group, 2 couples, my friend and I went down and boarded the bus at 7:45. My friend’s hubby and mine weren’t interested so she was my date. Hymie was our driver with help from Dennis and Natalia. The bus was completely full and with passengers ready to party. We stopped at 4 bars and then ended up at Carlos & Charlies. We bought the Kukoo Kunuku sipper cup @ $5 and kept them full for the entire trip LOL. Dennis and Natalia led the dancing and singing at every stop. If you’re not the type to dance on bars, dress up, line dance or sing Karaoke they don’t bug you to do so but it sure is fun to join in. At the 3rd stop 3 other Kukoo Kunuku buses joined us and that was really really wild and fun! We were dropped back at C & C at around 11ish. It was very crowded so we decided we’d go back to the ship, meet up with the rest of our party and get ready for sail away and the party up on deck. The party was fun, love the light up glasses! At 12:45 everyone was all aboard so off we sailed, very slowly, to our next stop Curacao.

[wrp96]

If you’re not the type to dance on bars, dress up, line dance or sing Karaoke they don’t bug you to do so but it sure is fun to join in.

 

Isn't it a great time? This is one of my favorite excursions of all time.

[bankofdad]

bankofdad

 

Not misunderstood the news, ONLY some government offices are temporary closed, in order to square the budget, anyway, Airports, Inmmigration, Customs etc are federal agencies, Taxis, Piers, porters etc are private.

 

Anything related to tourism isn't affected.

 

Thanks for the info, it puts my mind at ease!:)

[njoyndride]

Day 4 - Today is Curacao and again it is HOT! We’ve sailed this time of year before and I don’t remember it being so hot and dry before. We didn’t really have any plans since we’ve done the island tour before, shopped in Williamstad and been to Kontiki Beach Club on prior trips. We had a leisurely morning, hot tubbed followed by breakfast and left the ship at 11. We walked along the promenade to and took the ferry over to the Punda side. The ferry was REALLY overcrowded; it was kind of scary actually. We wore our swimsuits and took our towels since we didn’t know where we were going to end up. We walked completely around the outskirts of Williamstad starting at the floating market and ending back where the ferry lands. It was an interesting walk but we were in need of some cooling off and decided to go back to Kontiki for a dip and something cool to drink. We found a taxi stand one block up from the ferry landing and for $12 headed to Kontiki. It was $3 each to enter, it wasn’t crowded at all and we immediately jumped in the water. The bottom was pretty rocky and a little hard on the feet, I don’t remember this from our last trip. At 1 a boat pulled up and dumped off a good 75-100 passengers from the ship. All of the sudden our private paradise felt like Waikiki Beach. On the last trip to Kontiki we had paid the $3 entrance and then the chairs were free if you bought something to eat or drink. Along with the throng of people came a beach attendant collecting another $3pp for the chairs. After another quick dip we decided to head back to the ship, we thought it might be less crowded LOL. We decided next time we’ll try BooBoo Jam. Had a nice nap, taunted the late arriving passengers, RUN FOREST RUN, and sailed off to a nice relaxing day at sea.

Side note: Late arriving passengers - what part of all aboard @ whatever time do you not get? It was interesting watching these people sauntering, yes sauntering, a couple of blocks away 15 minutes after they were supposed to be back on ship. I did notice the officer at the gangplank talking to them and pointing at his watch.

It was partly cloudy so no sunset to speak of and no stars. Hopefully tomorrow will necessitate a walk to the helipad for stargazing.

[njoyndride]

Ahhhhh a day at sea, they are wonderful relaxing days. We slept in a bit and were lazy getting out and about. At 10 I signed up for the slot tournament. One of our group made the finals and came in 2nd receiving $318. It was so much fun to watch! We played in the casino a bit afterward and then got ready for the big event……it was time to race our horse! Race 1 we came in a dismal last but we actually kind of pleased as we didn’t want to use all our luck up and Race 2 was the Owners Cup. California Chardonnag got off to a wonderful start, doubles right away and jumped out in front. In the Owners Cup you race down the mat, then turn and race back again. At the turn the 5 passed us up never to be caught again….awwwwwwwww. It was fun participating and is cheap entertainment if you get a group together to pool the auction money.

Tonight was the 2nd formal night and we had a lovely time at dinner. Again nice and relaxing. It was interesting, as it seemed people were more dressed this formal night and I’ve always experienced the opposite.

So far my only complaint…..I haven’t seen a decent sunset yet. It’s been partly cloudy every day, which is wonderful when you are out and about but not so great for sunset pictures.

We signed up for the luggage valet service for Sunday, we’ll see how that goes. Tomorrow St. Maarten and off to Orient Beach!

[JENANDGENE]

Yay! Keep it coming I leave for the airport tomorrow afternoon and will be boarding as you get off! Feel free to shout HI JEN! If you see a rather pregnant redhead waiting in line to get on..... Hopefully I will be the only one he he he.....

 

Glad to hear that tourism will "most likely" not be affected by the shut down. I have officially enterted panic mode about it!

 

~Jen

[njoyndride]

Jen - No need to worry, tourism puts food on the table in many places, they aren't going to jeopardize that, plus the services you will need for your 24 hours in SJ won't be effected.

 

You are going to have a blast. I'm not a big fan of the Cruise Directors as a whole but Richard Spacey is great. He has the same warped sense of humor I do LOL. The weather has been really great, other than the lack of sunsets. Today was great in St. Maarten, just enough cloud cover to make in nice walking in town. All aboard is in a little over an hour, I think I'll go grab a spot by the pool for a bit.

 

Have a great trip!!!!

[ckrobyn]

Thanks for the amazing updates - feels like I am back on the ship again! :o

I can't believe people were sauntering back to the ship......and late for that matter! We didn't experience that problem on our sailing, guess we were lucky?

Have a wonderful cruise and thanks again for taking the time to post!

[KKeeganS]

Thanks for taking the time to give us AOS junkies a fix while you're on vacation. As others have said, it is just like being on board. Hope you have a blast!

[njoyndride]

I will be back with days 6 & 7, debarkation and our not so smooth trip home. We finally just got our luggage delivered a bit ago :rolleyes: . I will try my best to finish tomorrow.

[njoyndride]

Day 6 – St. Maarten

Another beautiful day in the Caribbean, partly cloudy mid to high 80’s. Once again we are the only ship docked. We decided to go into Philipsburg around 9am for some shopping and make a decision about going to Orient later. We got off the ship and bought the $5 all day water taxi band. It was wonderful shopping, there was nobody on the street. If you’ve been there before with numerous ships in port you know how congested it can get. We toyed with swimming right there at Great Bay so we wandered down the beach looking for likely spots. There are many places to rent a chair w/shade etc., the best for cushy loungers and soft beach was right next to the water taxi pier in the middle of the boardwalk and each place was exactly the same price. We ate lunch at a place on the beach in the same area, the name was Barefoot something. We were looking for conch fritters which they had. To be honest they weren’t very good but I had a jerked veggie burger that was awesome. The view was wonderful and the drinks were yummy and VERY strong. After lunch DH (who doesn’t drink) had an urge to buy me something (gotta love the man) and ended up with a very nice aquamarine and diamond ring.:D

We took the water taxi back around 4 and surprisingly it wasn’t crowded. Since it was only an hour away from all aboard and we didn’t want people to taunt us, Run Forest Run, we decided no beaching today LOL.

We sailed off into another NON sunset and headed for our final port St. Thomas. I think the ship would be going backwards if it went any slower. Although the tv screen said we were going 6 knots it felt like 1 knot.

[njoyndride]

Day 7 – St. Thomas

We’ve been to St. Thomas many times since it is on all eastern and southern itineraries. We decided to take the ferry at Red Hook over to Cruz Bay and hike the Lind Point trail down to Soloman Beach on St. John. As most of you know when St. Thomas is the last port before you can debark you are required to go through immigration. I wish all immigration processes were as quick! In the Compass there are instructions for US citizens to go to the Mozart dining room between 7:30-9:30 whether you are getting off the ship or not. Once you go through you are free to get off the ship, everyone does NOT need to go through before they let you off. Since we wanted to get out a bit earlier than usual we went down to the dining room at 7:35 and get in line….what line???? We walked in the door around the dining room, the immigration officer checked our documents, they marked our Sign and Sail card and out the other side we went. It took less than 3 minutes. We thought we just timed it right and checked with others in our group. Once couple got in a very short line at 7:20, they opened before 7:30 and they waited maybe 5 minutes and had the same 2-3 minute experience. We had expected a minimum of 30 minutes so I used the found time to begin my packing. We timed our cab ride to Red Hook to catch the 10am ferry, it took us about 25 minutes to get there due to a traffic accident that blocked one lane of the two lane road. The cab was $10pp and the ferry $5pp. We bought some water when we arrived in Cruz Bay and set out on the trail which starts right behind the National Park Visitor Center. The trail starts uphill but levels out after about ¼ mile. The length to Soloman Beach is approx. 1 ¼ miles. The Beach was really beautiful and there was only 1 other person there when we arrived. By the time we left there were probably 10 people total on the beach. We hiked back out and had lunch in Cruz Bay, catching the 2:15 ferry back to Charlotte Amalie. We finished our packing (boo hoo), turned in our cybercabin box and watched our final sail away from St. Thomas. It was a beautiful evening, finally there was probably a sunset but I was busy in the casino LOL at that point. We said our good byes to our dining staff and walked around the ship to get one last look before putting out our luggage and going to bed. We opted for the luggage valet service and upon our return from dinner our boarding passes and airline luggage tags were waiting for us. This is offered for American and United flights and I’d do it whenever it was available.

[dutchgirl73]

thanks for the day by day, it was fun to read. can you tell me where in st thomas the AOS docks? Havensight or Lindbergh i think are the two different places?

[njoyndride]

We docked at Havensight and were the only ship there :D