Excursion you would recommend on the AOS the Southern Carribean

[calenta]

We will be going to the Southern Carribean to Oranjestad, Aruba and Curacao, St. Maarteen, St. Thomas, what is fun to do on these islands?

[DMorris]

We are sailing on the AOS, the same route as you, next Sunday. We are doing a 1/2 day jeep tour in Aruba with www.abc-aruba.com In Curacao we are going the Breezes and all-inclusive resort for the day. In St Marten we are going to Orient Beach. And in St Thomas we are doing a 1/2 day sail with New Horizons www.newhorizonsvi.com We planned all these excursions on our own which is half the price of doing ship excursions. Hope this helps to give you some ideas. Will let you know how they turn out when we return.

[premiumrican]

Dmorris, you made a great choice with ABC jeep tours. I was in Aruba for a week last month and used them for the full day jeep tour. It was really fun you going to enjoy it.

 

If you guys like night life try to do the Kunuku Paranda Tour by arub adventures..lots of fun!!! Here is the link. ENJOY THE SO. CARIBE and the AOS.http://www.arubaadventures.com/index.html

[calenta]

DMorris...Thanks for the reply...When you get back from your cruise email me with the outcome. Let me know how the food was and how your excursions went.

[DMorris]

Will be sure to let you know how it went.

[MszKitty]

We did the dolphin swim in Curacao and in 15 cruises that was the most memorable excursion we have ever done. Its a bit pricey, but so worth it.

[cruzincanuck]

We were on the AOS last January and the most memorable excursion was the helicopter tour in St Thomas. Amazing!!! for our first helicopter ride.

[babs275]

Loved the ABC jeep tour - we did the full day on our trip in May. A caution though - wear clothes that you don't mind getting EXTREMELY dirty :D . My hubby was sitting in the very back with our friend being the somewhat crazy driver - and he ended up looking like "Pigpen" from Charlie Brown - everyone was taking pictures of him. I still haven't gotten that shirt all the way clean but luckily it was just an inexpensive one from St Thomas!

[DMorris]

Thanks for the heads up about the jeep tour. Will make sure I pack an older set of clothes for that one.

[DChabira]

rarely book excursions through the Cruise Line. Here are the web sites where you can book directly.

 

The Horseback Riding in Aruba was fantastic:

 

http://www.ranchodelcampo.com/

 

The Sea Aquarium in Curacao has an agreement with the cruise lines not to solicit customers but you can book directly like we did. On the reservation sheet where it asks, where will you be staying, enter staying with a friend instead of naming the cruise ship:

 

http://www.curacao-sea-aquarium.com/

 

This is the Dive Operator I used in St. Lucia:

 

http://www.divefairhelen.com/cruise...p%20special.htm

 

Have fun!

[hersh]

We're sailing on AOS next June on the Aruba route, so it really helps to hear your feedback.

DMorris, let us know which excursions you did and which you recommend.

DChabira, what was the sea aquarium like?

[DChabira]

Below is a review of a similar cruise we took on the AOS this past May. We visited most of the same ports.

 

There are many beautiful beaches in the Caribbean and lots of azure blue waters but some beaches are better than others. Aruba and "Orient Beach" in St. Maarten will be the best beaches you will visit with this itinerary, in my humble opinion.

 

Southern Caribbean

May 2, 2004

 

It's been over a week now since we returned and this is the first chance I've had to take a minute to write about our voyage.

 

My wife and I are in our early forties and this was our fourteenth cruise since 1990, eight of which have been with RCI. We will sail for the ninth time with RCI aboard the "Splendour of the Seas" this coming December 18th. We sailed alone on the "AOS" to celebrate our twentieth wedding anniversary but will have our two teenage sons with us and our in-laws in December. This was our second trip on a "Voyager" class ship having done a family vacation last year on the "Voyager of the Seas" (Western Caribbean).

 

We departed Las Vegas on the red-eye Saturday night May 1st flying into Ft. Lauderdale on America West, which ran into a storm over Alabama and arrived an hour late, causing us to miss our connection on American Airlines to San Juan. Fortunately America West was on the ball and phoned American Airlines while we were in the air, booking us the last couple seats on a slightly later flight. We finally departed Ft. Lauderdale at 9:30am and had a smooth flight down to San Juan arriving just before noon. We quickly gathered our bags from the carousel and took a taxi to the pier for $18.50.

 

There were two very long lines at the pier. First you have to stand in line for ever to hand over your luggage and then you go to the back of an even longer line to wait to enter the terminal. The terminal opened about 12:30 pm just after we dropped off our bags and fortunately the line into the terminal moved pretty fast. Once through security we were able to get into the Crown & Anchor line which was very short. We only had one couple in front of us and we were in or cabin in a matter of minutes.

 

After dumping our bags I went immediately to the dining room to check out our table and was pleasantly surprised to find we had been assigned the table for two we had requested. We then moved on to the Windjammer for some lunch where we witnessed a passenger being removed on a gurney by the ships medical crew. We never did learn what that was all about. With some food in our stomach and after a sleepless night we returned to the cabin for a three hour nap. We woke at five and prepared for dinner at the early seating which turned out to be at 6:30pm the first night and was at 6pm thereafter.

 

Let me stop for a minute and say that we always try to fly in the day before for a cruise but we just couldn't make it work with our schedules this trip. NEVER AGAIN will I arrive the day the ship departs. We had very little sleep on the flights and were absolutely exhausted the first two days of our vacation.

 

First let me give you a quick run down of the important things. We had an inside category N cabin. As much as we'd like to have a balcony, we can afford to take two cruises a year with an inside cabin vs. one cruise a year with a balcony. We got an especially good deal, paying $650.00 ea for the cruise including all port charges and fees and $350 each for airfare, so we were able to do the trip for $2,000, not including tips, excursions and miscellaneous expenses.

 

The ship was in excellent condition, the staff was incredible, and despite what anyone says the food was very good. We ate every dinner in the Dining Room except the last Monday at Sea when we dined at Portafinos. I went with my waiters recommendations every night and he only let me down once. Every meal was excellent except for the Veal Shank.

 

Portafinos was spectacular and I highly recommend it. One small complaint though, we ate at Portafinos the next to the last night and the ship was headed into dry dock following our cruise. Just like we had read on the "Cruise Critic" board, renovations were beginning towards the end of our cruise. The carpet in the lobby and on the stairs, just outside of Portafinos was being replaced while we ate, and the very strong smell of contact cement drifted in as we dined. Not the most pleasant smell while you're eating a spectacular meal.

 

I would say the only low point on the ship was the entertainment. RCI has a reputation for top notch entertainment both with the production shows and the guest headliners. Unfortunately, this time the entertainment was not the cream of the crop. The wardrobe for the production shows was ghastly. Let me say that I work for the Cirque du Soleil show "O" at the Bellagio, so I'm very involved in the entertainment field. Honestly, I'm not being overly critical. Most of the time I love the ship board entertainment and the theaters on the "Voyager" class ships are state of the art. I just feel that the entertainment was not up to par on this sailing. The Ice Show was definitely the strongest.

 

This was our second ten day cruise and is definitely the only was to go. One week just isn't enough time to unwind.

[DChabira]

Here is Part 2 of my review. It wouldn't let me post the entire review on one post.

 

 

Now the ports:

 

Day 2- St. Thomas

We docked at 7am, grabbed some breakfast at the Windjammer and were off the ship at 8am. We immediately caught a taxi to Red Hook ($7.00 ea) and took the Ferry across to Cruz Bay in St. John ($3.00 ea) once in Cruz Bay we rented a jeep ($50.00) and headed for Waterlemon Cay to snorkel. We drove until the paved road ends and then onto a dirt road for about a mile. We then parked and hiked about a mile and a half down the beach until we came to a tractor tire on the beach. From here we put on our gear and swam out to a small island. There is minimal snorkeling just off the beach, but the snorkeling around the island is world class. The swim out to the island isn't too bad but there's a strong current against you coming back to the mainland and you have to kick pretty hard. We had snorkeling vests and I wouldn't go out there without wearing one. We made it back to Cruz Bay by 2:00pm and caught the 2:15pm Ferry all the way back to Charlotte Amaile where the ship was docked ($7.00 ea). The Ferry doesn't actually go to the pier but drops you off in town, where we walked back to the ship, which is quite a long walk.

There is a "Pueblo" supermarket by the dock where you can stock up on Soda, Beer and Wine.

 

Day 3- St Maarten

The Ship docks on the Dutch side and we took a taxi ($5.00ea) to Orient Beach which is on the French side. Orient Beach is beautiful with pristine white sand. You will see some topless sunbathing on the main part of the beach and the very south end is totally nude. We loved this port and would consider returning here for a vacation.

 

Day 4- St. Lucia

We had originally planned on visiting Sandal's until they doubled the price of a day pass. I went scuba diving by myself with an independent operator and my wife went shopping.

The first dive was one of the best I've ever done and I've been to a lot of dive sites all over the world. The second dive was a drift dive called "Superman's Flight" and it really lived up to its name. The current was so strong it was like diving into a tornado. I have to admit that even as an experienced diver I was a little nervous on this dive. I was out from 9am-4:30pm so I never saw much of the island but my wife wasn't too impressed with it.

 

Day 5- Antigua

We did very little here but look around town. The island was very poor and dirty and I wouldn't particularly want to return there again.

 

Day 6- Barbados

This was the only ship excursion we took which was the 5 Star Catamaran trip. You used to be able to book this excursion independently but RCI has an exclusive arrangement with them now. It's only a couple dollars more thru the ship so it really doesn't matter. We heard great things about this excursion and they were all true. We snorkeled in two spots, saw big turtles, had a wonderful hot lunch, unlimited open bar, and spent some time at a private beach. This is a must do in Barbados. The trip lasts 5 hours so we didn't see much of Barbados but it looked like a very nice place.

 

Day 7- At Sea

Ate at Johnny Rocket's for lunch and watched a lot of DVD on the laptop in our cabin. We took a mini surround sound system and this was just great! Spent some time at the pool. Just a good relaxing day at sea.

 

Day 8- Aruba (in port 7am until 1am the next morning)

I booked a horseback riding trip online with a place called Rancho el Campo for $45.00 ea. The owner's wife picked us up at the pier at 8:30am and took us to the ranch. What a wonderful professional bunch at the ranch and what a great set-up. This is another must do excursion if you like to ride. The ranch hands are Columbians, and boy did we ride. This wasn't a boring old trail ride where one horse walks slowly behind the other. We trotted, we ran, we went up and down the mountains, stopped at the "Natural Pools", ran on the white sand beach and trotted all the way back to the ranch. I was sore for two days after, but what a great ride. We returned to ship just after noon, and showered and ate lunch. We walked around town in the early afternoon but it was Sunday and not too much was open. We finally took a city bus to Palm Beach ($1.00 ea) where we swam and hung out at a beach bar. This was the best stop on the cruise and definitely a place we want to return to for a long vacation.

 

Day 9- Curacao

We booked a dive at the Curacao SeAquarium directly online for 11am. The ship offers this same excursion at 9am for $89.00 ea but we booked it directly for $54.00 ea. I am a certified diver and my wife is not, but since you're in only 12 foot of water you can do this dive without being certified. They give you a great briefing and this is a once in a lifetime experience. You get to feed sharks, and swim with the stingrays. The SeaAqaurium is very nice and the staff is wonderful. We caught a taxi back in to town ($5.00ea) and dropped off our gear and showered at the ship. We spent the rest of the day in town where we shopped and had a drink. Curacao is a cool place. It has some slightly scary places if you get too far off the beaten path, but we were never really frightened. I liked it but I'm not sure I'd want to visit there on a solo vacation? I would like to check out the third island of the A-B-C islands, Bonaire as it's supposed to be a diving paradise.

 

Day 10- At Sea

Just a relaxing trip back to San Juan with a wonderful farewell dinner of Lobster.

 

Weather was great, seas were fairly calm and we couldn't have asked for a nicer vacation. Debarkation was quick and smooth and we were off the ship at 8:30am. Despite what everyone warned us about the San Juan airport we had no complaints. It was air-conditioned and the lines were short. Our flight didn't depart San Juan until 2:50pm so we had a long wait and didn't return to Vegas until 10:30pm. A very long day but well worth the trip.

 

I'll be happy to answer any questions?

 

Happy cruising

 

dchabira@cox.net

[DMorris]

I will post my review of the cruise when I return. We are doing the following:

 

Aruba - jeep tour with ABC Jeep Tours

Curacao - spending the day at Breezes an all-inclusive resort

St Thomas - 1/2 day sail with lunch with New Horizons

St Martin - going to Orient beach

 

Will let you all know how they were when I return.

[skiiergirl]

St. Maarten....Definitely either Golden Eagle or America's Cup. They are both fantastic.

[negc]

In Curaçao, we took the Beach Express bus to a beautiful beach on the other side of the island. By far the best beach of all those that we have visited in our many visits to Curaçao. I believe it was Porto Mari.

In Aruba, the Kukoo Kunukoo which includes dinner, or the Aruba Pub & Bar Crawl, which doesn't and is therefore slightly less expensive, provide a great nighttime experience. During the day we just hopped a cab and went to Palm Beach on our own. Easy and relatively inexpensive. If you haven't been to Aruba before, a tour of the island which takes you to the Natural Bridge etc. is probably worth the cost.

In St. Maarten, my favorite was the America's Cup and a second favorite was the Duck Tour, which we booked online since it was not offered through the cruiseline. First time visitors should probably include a visit to Orient Beach.

In St. Thomas, the unique BOB (Breathing Observation Bubble) Underwater Excursion is fascinating fun. It fills up quickly so I recommend booking it online in advance. Otherwise I would hop a cab to Red Hook and take the ferry to St. John. There are plenty of unique excursions available on these islands and they will add immeasurably to your overall cruise experience. If you just want to sightsee, I suggest that you wait until you arrive in port and then negotiate a tour with a taxi or van driver at the port. It will usually be less expensive than a similar tour offered through the line.

[imosoreal]

We also did this itinerary in October and had an absolutely marvelous time. We booked a snorkeling excursion with Bounty Adventures included a fabulous lunch and drinks. I posted a little information on the ports of call board. In St. Maarten we did another snorkeling excursion with Aquamania adventures on a catamaran with two other couples and were served drinks, gouda cheese and crackers. We went to DePalm Island in Aruba for food, sun and plenty of fun including snuba. I would do the exact same things again.

[snapshot]

Hi, we'll be on AOS, southern caribbean and I am interested in booking a half day sail. However, when I checked Horizon's website, it only had a listing for a full day sail. Does anyone know if there are half day snorkeling adventure available? Thanks

[naylenk]

DMorris

 

Can you tell me more about your plans for the day at Breezes? Is this something that you have already booked? How did you book it? How much does a day pass cost? How far away is it from the pier? Any other info that you have would be greatly appreciated! My husband and I will be honeymooning on the AOS in January and I think this would be a great way to spend the day in Curacao! Thanks in advance!

 

Kristin

[TerriDHair]

I will be on the AOS 2/13/05 and would love all the port information I can get! Let's keep this thread going! :D

[OCruisers]

We will be going to the Southern Carribean to Oranjestad, Aruba and Curacao, St. Maarteen, St. Thomas, what is fun to do on these islands?

 

This year in CURACAO we are planning to go on our own via taxi to .....

 

Kontiki Beach Club (click for thread)

 

Have fun planning your trip! Happy Sailing! OCruisers :)

[lisara]

Just returned from the AOS on 11/14. Had a wonderful time.

Aruba - booked the 4x4 jeep tour throught the cruiseline. Wonderful! They used Depalm tours. Some of our group booked through ABC because it was cheaper. The cruiseline tour was off the boat first, right to the buses and on our way in seconds!! We filled out our release forms, assigned jeeps and on our way. We had the whole island to ourselves for the whole morning. Met up with ABC at the gold mine ruins and after that we had alot of traffic. The differences in tours - Our tour tooked pictures of you at the light house and we could purchase 2 tshirts and a picture for $20. Stopped at Depalm island and had a buffet dinner with unlimited "virgin" strawberry daquiris! The fish there were awesome. Took froot loops and were swarmed by the big blue fish!!! We were the first ones at that island also! Our tour guide "poppy" was fabulous!! The ABC tour stopped at the natural pool and ostrich farm, I think! Our tour was well worth the price we paid!! Had an older couple with us and they really had a ball!!

St. Martin and St. Thomas our tours were cancelled! So we went to Divi Beach in St. Martin and rented jet skis and snorkeled. Used the resort pool and I was hand cuffed by the security guard. Actually, my hubby and friends were in the pool (by ourselves) and it takes me awhile to get in. Here comes this security guard and says if I don't get in he will hand cuff me. So I stood up and he cuffed me. Made sure he had his key!!! Had LOL! Then on St Thomas they had a bad storm go by and damaged Trunk Bay. So RCCL cancelled and the guy at the desk advised us to go to Turtle Cove. Glad we did. We were on the Dancing Dophin with captain Larry, Robert and Bree. The second youngest captain in the caribbean. He was 25! My sister in law had 2 tickets to go also, but when it started pouring they backed out. So now we had their tickets. We returned from the 9am at 12:30 and had time to make the 1pm tour. Went back out to Shipwreck cove(didn't go to turtle cove because it was to dangerous either time) and saw more fish then in the morning! Only 11 people on this trip. We had a fabulous time!!!

It rained off and on this whole trip. Rained so hard in Aruba. But eventually it cleared up and it was actually nice. No hot sun, wind or dust!! Just muddddd!!

Our group of 29 had a wonderful time!! Alot of us made it on the video!! Especially from "the Quest" game!!

[OCruisers]

If anyone is considering going to DePalm in Aruba, here's a helpful thread to read:

 

DePalm ... Anyone Been? (Click for Thread)

 

Happy Sailing! OCruisers :)

[TerriDHair]

Thanks for the great information, Lisara and Ocruisers!

[calenta]

Lisara since you just returned from AOS did you have to purchase your food at JR's or Ben and Jerry's ice cream? Seen on another post that RCC was starting to charge for those things? We will be sailing 1/16/05 and any info would help.

Also on your jeep tour did you see any quad tours (4 wheelers) because my husband booked us on that one in Aruba? Never been on a 4-wheeler and we have 2 but they are not automatic and the ones with the tour are so I thought I would compromise. I wanted to do the Jeep tour.