Just back from AOS S. Carib - Any questions?

[CookieBird]

Just back from 2-8 sailing of AOS on Aruba route. Had a great time - please let me know if there are any questions.

[cruiseguy1016]

They keep changing our departure time for Aruba. What time did you depart Aruba?

[CookieBird]

We departed at 8pm. I had been seeing conflicting info for our cruise as well and was suprised when I got the Compass the night before that we were departing at 8, I had thought they changed it to 6pm. Really it is such a short distance to Curacao.

 

I also noticed there seemed to be no charge for room service during the day.

[smw0621]

They only charge you for room service after midnight.

[DireMongoose]

Just back from 2-8 sailing of AOS on Aruba route. Had a great time - please let me know if there are any questions.

 

What did you do on each island, and what did you think of those excursions/activities?

 

We're doing the same cruise in a couple weeks and if there's something awesome to do on one of the islands that we've missed (or something we shouldn't do because it wasn't that fun) I'd love to hear about it.

[jeniferlyn]

Did you try the new dining option or did you stay with traditional dining?

[CookieBird]

They only charge you for room service after midnight.

 

Oh - I thought I had heard they were charging around the clock now. Ok - well they did charge after midnight.

[CookieBird]

Did you try the new dining option or did you stay with traditional dining?

 

We did traditional dining. I think it might have started as an option this week on the AOS. At least I didnt hear anything about it being an option on our cruise. We did the late seating which worked great with being busy in ports.

[CookieBird]

What did you do on each island, and what did you think of those excursions/activities?

 

We're doing the same cruise in a couple weeks and if there's something awesome to do on one of the islands that we've missed (or something we shouldn't do because it wasn't that fun) I'd love to hear about it.

 

 

Aruba - we did the jolly pirates excursion through RCI because we wanted to do lunch on our own. I thought it was just ok - probably the weakest of the excursions. It is a party boat the snorkling wasnt that great. I guess it depends on if you are looking for a fun party atmosphere or to do some real snorkling. The snorkling at the shipwreck was cool but the water was choppy and a strong current so some were afraid to get in the water. After we ate at a restaurant on the main beach, grabbed a couple of beach chairs, and also went for a tube ride which was fun. The main beach, forget the name is nice. Lots of activity but too much seaweed for me. Afterwards I was dragged to Sr. Frogs. Aruba was my least fav stop.

 

Curacao - we did the kayaking tour through RCI. It was a lot of fun. They took us to a nice beach 1/2 way through. We also checked out the downtown. I liked this stop a lot.

 

St. Martin - we did the americas cup excursion. this is one of my fav and not to be missed. after we hung out on the main beach downtown and looked around. orient beach is nice on st. martin. on of the guys on the boat told us to check our mullet bay as well but we were feeling pretty lazy and just decided to stay at the beach downtown.

 

St Thomas - we went over to St. Johns which is my fav Caribe island so far. Trunk Bay is not to be missed.

 

Have a good time! Let me know if you have other questions.

[Kikkycat]

MTD was introduced to AOS on the 2/15/09 sailing.

[Mysticcruiser]

What time was life boat drill? How did you like the food? Any favorites? We will be sailing this Sunday and can't wait!!!

[DCwom]

MTD was introduced to AOS on the 2/15/09 sailing.

 

Geez, another option, my brain is going to explode:p First it was what seating, then Portafinos, now MTD, this is relaxing? Must work on spreadsheet...:rolleyes:

 

Someone asked about departure time (from Aruba), how about the other ports, was there much devation from the porsted arrival & departure times?

[spike1739]

How was the disembarking from the ship on last day.Been hearing it is mass confusion and delays getting away from the pier,because there are [2] ships in port.!!!!Thanks

[printingchick]

Is Mike still the CD?

 

Did the crew give any hints about what ship would replace AOS in San Juan in June, when she moves to Spain?

[Solarad]

I am so disappointed to read about your experience with Jolly Pirates in Aruba. I thought I had researched that company thoroughly here on the boards. Everything I've read previously stated they were not a 'party' boat and it was more of a family atmosphere. I've already booked and paid them for our upcoming stop in Aruba on our March 22 cruise. I definitely do not want a party atmosphere. I'm taking my three teenagers and that is not what I want to expose them to. We love to snorkel and that's the main objective. Should I consider canceling? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[kpauley]

I've already booked and paid them for our upcoming stop in Aruba on our March 22 cruise.

 

Did you book this directly with JP or through the ship? We are on the same sailing and I'd planned on booking this week. Stop by and check out our Roll Call http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=578310 .

[Kikkycat]

I got off AOS on Feb. 1st so have pretty recent experience also.

 

The other ports were timed as posted. The only one which deviated was Aruba. We left at 8pm.

 

Disembarkation was mostly smooth. I think they made a mistake when they called a bunch of numbers all together, including ours. It was a good 30 minutes before we were expecting to be called. We hadn't even reached our waiting lounge (Lyric Theatre)... we had stopped at Gravity bar to watch tv and noticed 4-5 maybe 6 numbers get checked off on the list all at once. We hurried to the Lyric to be told it was our time. Not surprisingly there were a LOT of people right then waiting on the ramps to leave. Finding our luggage wasn't without problem as the colors of luggage groups didn't quite line up with the color codes on the ceiling, but they were nearby. The customs person spoke to us for less than 30 seconds. He only asked what sort of food we had, since we had marked the form "yes" for food. We answered "cheese" and he said "smile!" and waved us on.

[cruiserssandr]

Is Mike still the CD?

 

Did the crew give any hints about what ship would replace AOS in San Juan in June, when she moves to Spain?

Casey P was the cruise director. I thought he did a great job.

[Solarad]

Did you book this directly with JP or through the ship? We are on the same sailing and I'd planned on booking this week. Stop by and check out our Roll Call http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=578310 .

 

kpauley, we booked directly with JP. Are you still planning to book? I'm curious if your research indicated that this was more of a party boat than a serious snorkeling excursion. Thanks for your input.

[donvets]

We were on the Jolly Pirates last year. The trip was not a party boat at all. Yes there was a bar, but no one got our of control. There were about 8 young people there and about 10 of us who were older. No one got drunk or did anything that was astray.

 

the 8 young people were relaxing - One was due to return to Iraq, and his girlfriend had just returned, so they were enjoying themselves. heck if anyone deserved to "klet loose" it was them.

 

I would recommend the trip and definetly take the kids

[kpauley]

kpauley, we booked directly with JP. Are you still planning to book? I'm curious if your research indicated that this was more of a party boat than a serious snorkeling excursion. Thanks for your input.

 

I get the feeling this excursion is a “fun” family atmosphere, not a “party” atmosphere where a lot of drinking was taking place. We have two teen daughters and would not go if we thought it was the drunken party boats we’ve seen before. A few years ago, we went on the Lord Sheffield in St. Marten and while they did serve alcohol, very few people had more than one drink and it was appropriate for families. I’m 90% sure we’ll book this next week directly with JP assuming they still have space. We are traveling with my husband’s two sisters and their husbands and they want us to do the 4 x 4 jeep excursion. I’m waiting for feedback on the jeep excursion from someone who was suppose to be there today and then we’ll make a decision early next week. By the way, where are you at in Ohio? We in the Dublin area.

[mex25]

Was Portofino's worth it? I've heard mixed reviews as most of my cruise Amigos said chops was better-Thoughts?:confused:

[CookieBird]

What time was life boat drill? How did you like the food? Any favorites? We will be sailing this Sunday and can't wait!!!

 

 

I can't remember the exact time of the drill - maybe around 6ish? On the first night all the dinner times are pushed back a 1/2 hour to accomodate muster drill and departure.

 

Food was eh. I thought the food was much better on Carnival. I personally thought Fri night was the best. The lobster was good and bigger than I thought. I also liked the grilled chicken they had every night. Needless to say we always found something to eat- no one starved. LOL. In general though Carnival is better foodwise. And I would still sail RCI despite the food.

 

Have a great time--- you will love it!

[CookieBird]

Geez, another option, my brain is going to explode:p First it was what seating, then Portafinos, now MTD, this is relaxing? Must work on spreadsheet...:rolleyes:

 

Someone asked about departure time (from Aruba), how about the other ports, was there much devation from the porsted arrival & departure times?

 

The other ports were pretty much the standard 5 or 6 departure. I can't remember exactly but no changes that I saw.

[CookieBird]

How was the disembarking from the ship on last day.Been hearing it is mass confusion and delays getting away from the pier,because there are [2] ships in port.!!!!Thanks

 

I thought it was rather easy. We were in group one for departure....there are 18. We ate breakfast and by the time we got to the theater they were already calling group 1, around 9ish. We waited in maybe a 20 min line to go through customs, grabbed our bags, walked out, and it took about 30 seconds to get a cab. We were on our way with no traffic to the airport. There was one or two other ships in port with us. No major headaches.

 

Not sure about boarding...we waited until around 330 to board and I think missed most of the rush.