Southern carib.

[KruiseKid]

My partner and I are thinking about booking the AOS out of San Jaun this October. We've sailed with Carnival three times and want to try another line now. Any advice or experiences you can share about this line, the ship, or the route would be so helpful. Thanks

 

KruiseKid

Until the Triumph!

 

[cruiserkcs]

We went on the AOS last year. We did the St. Lucia/Barbados route. We loved the ship and the route. We have sailed on both RCCL and Carnival. The Voyager class ships are very different from any Carnival ship I've been on. Tons of things to do. You will love it.

 

Tropicale-So. Carib. 5/92

Nordic Empress-Bahamas 6/93

Celebration-W. Carib. 6/96

Grandeur-E Carib 6/98

Inspiration-W. Carib. 5/01

Adventure-So.Carib 5/03

 

[lovesbaking]

Did Serenade of the Seas last December, absolutley wonderful.

 

michelle

[jst4fun715]

Have never been on a Voyager class ship, but we did the southern route on the Serenade in Jan. Absolutely loved it! Not sure but I think the itinerary for the Adventure is a little different. We did St Thomas, St Martin, Antigua, St Lucia and Barbados. St Lucia is definitely one island I would love to go back to. I would like to do this itinerary again..just the airfare to San Juan is a little pricey! I have never been on Carnival so I can't do any comparison, but I would be money that you would love the Southern route!

 

Carol

 

Enchantment of the Seas 11/01

Mercury 12/02

Serenade of the Seas 1/04

Radiance of the Seas 12/04

 

[skiiergirl]

The southern route is wonderful. We have done it on several ships (all RCI). We prefer the St. Lucia/Antigua/Barbados run over the ARuba run but do them both. Have only done RCI so can't compare to other lines. As a previous poster said though, airfare to SJU is usually very pricey if that makes any difference.

 

 

[BCBeth]

Do you book your air to San Juan independently or through the cruise pkg? I looked online and they were adding $550 for Detroit to San Juan, which I thought was reasonalbe.

[KruiseKid]

I also looked online and found airfare fron San Diego to San Juan for $550.00. My question is should I book now at that price or will fares go down between now and October?

 

KruiseKid

Until the Triumph!

 

[cruizeblues]

We did the five island itin. on AOS last year and LOVED IT! It was awesome to wake up to a different island each day! We loved AOS so much that we booked another cruise on her for this summer...will be doing the Aruba itin. this time! We couldn't think of anything negative to say about this ship, crew or itinerary! You'll love it!

 

Till our next Adventure!

 

[skiiergirl]

Most people prefer to book their air separately as they feel they get a better deal. What I have found though is that that is great for people on the east coast who can get Jet Blue, Spirit, etc. We are in the middle of the country at a "hub" airport and do not get cheap air to SJU. It is different for everyone but for us it is generally cheaper to book through the cruiseline. I went to SJU 3 times last year. $550 was the cheapest I found (and that was through the cruiseline). Trying to book independently would have run me anywhere from $750 to $950. I checked a couple of times a day 5 or 6 times a week for several months and it was always cheaper to go through the cruiseline. But again, this varies depending on where you are coming from.

 

 

[amgal]

hello all..

 

i am booked on the aos for the november 7th sailing. this will be my 4th rccl cruise (2nd on the voyager class) and my 7th overall (others include carnival and princess). i do have to say that i really love cruises so i am not sure how biased my opinion will be but rccl is a great line. you will love the voyager class - the ship is tremendous. it will be a little adjustment for me again now because the last ship i was on was the tahitian princess (600 passengers) in july 03. it is so hard to compare the different lines when the ships themselves were so different. i do have to say that i would definitely cruise princess again but not carnival. i didn't like carnival at all (this was about 8 years ago though so i am not sure about any chages since then).

 

my itinerary is aruba, curacao, st thomas and st maarten. i have been to all of these islands previously and am definitely looking forward to going back again.

 

we booked our airfare about a month ago from newark (NJ) to san juan and are paying 350pp round trip. it is about $200 less than what was being offerend through rccl.

 

all in all, i do not think you will be disappointed...i am interested in hearing some more opinions...

 

alison

[cruizeblues]

Amgal,

What airline did you book with for that great price? I'm going in July and cheapest I found so far was Jet Blue for $540 (flying from Syracuse, NY) Their schedule is terrible for us though--gets into SJ at 6 pm and returning flight has a 10 hour layover in NYC

 

Till our next Adventure!

 

[amgal]

blues, we booked on american airlines out of newark (NJ). jet blue only goes out of kennedy for us which is kind of a trek from where we live. we are actually going down the day before (we should be arriving in san juan about 11am on saturday) and our flight home is at 2pm which wasn't too terrible. direct flights both ways. it actually worked out pretty well...

 

alison

[amc40]

Amgal, We are hoping to get on the Nov 7th cruise of Adventure. We can't book until 30 days prior to the cruise. Do you think the ship will be very full? Adventure is our first choice, Serenade our second. We already booked our air because the prices were so good. They have gone up over $100 each since we booked. This will be our first time doing the southern route, can't wait!

 

amc40 cape cod ma

 

[birdyhunter]

$550 airfare from Detroit to San Juan is high! We booked airfare from Detroit to San Juan July 4th for an AOS cruise on our own and got $360. RCL want $519. We saved enough to pay for our suite on the 3rd in San Juan.

 

RCL Adventure of the Seas July 4, 2004

Till we leave :

 

Carnival Destiny 7/01

Carnival Pride 7/02

 

Stanley Cup 2004!

Wings 2 Predators 0

 

 

[cruizeblues]

Thanks Amgal, I'll try their website. I haven't priced flights in a few weeks. Must be great living close to a big airport--direct flights!

 

Till our next Adventure!

 

[amgal]

blues, i would definitely just check around a little more before i booked directly through rccl. we could have had it better through being close to newark - i never thought of it that way.

 

amc40: i am not sure if the ship will be sold out by 30 days before. we actually booked the cruise in the beginning of dec '03 and it was already filling up. hopefully, you will luck out and we will all be cruising in november!!

 

alison

[Punderful]

For two lengthy reviews of just this itinerary and just this ship (from just over one week ago), read all the posts from this thread:

 

Adventure of the Seas (Long Review)

 

Ron & Debbie -- Wayne, NJ

 

Adventure of the Seas - March 28, 2004

 

[This message was edited by Punderful on 04-12-04 at 04:44 PM.]