Just Off The Adventure of the Seas!!!

Just got off 7 nights on the Adventure of the Seas out of San Juan. We stopped in St. Thomas, St Kitts, Aruba and Curacao!!! I am not going to post a review of the cruise, but would be more than happy to answer any questions anyone may have. I will just say that overall it was a great cruise. The ship is in great shape, staff was amazing and just overall an amazing week. This was my second time leaving out of San Juan and it was one of my favorite places to leave from. Let me know if you have any questions and I will be happy to answer them.

Do you remember the cost and options for internet access?

I'm doing the exact same cruise in September and it's great to hear good things about the ship and staff!

What did you do in each port? I'm having issues nailing down a tour in St Kitts. Also, if you had a balcony cabin, did you find the views were better from the starboard or port side? I'm so excited now.

We are on September 19 sailing of AOS. Trying to lighten our pack. Can you please tell us what men and women were wearing on formal and semi-formal nights ?

My friends did this over spring break and said the MDR food wasn't good. This was their 3rd RCCL cruise and were happy with the food on the others. Wondered your thoughts. They also said that the food choices outside of meal times (snacks) was very limited. Your thoughts ?

How was the weather? I've been keeping an eye on daily weather in southern ports and this past week showed lots of rain and clouds. Did you find this to be an issue? Or is my weather reporting those 5 minute afternoon showers and making it look as though the whole day was raining when it really wasn't? I'm trying to see how I can interpret the weather report when I go on my cruise in a couple weeks and look at the future weather for that week.

We are doing this itinerary next year. Curious as to what you did in each port (except St. Thomas - we have been there many times). Thanks in advance!

Did you arrive in San Juan before the cruise? If so, where did you stay? Did you do any tours while in San Juan? What was the cost of txi to & from airport? What time did you disembark post cruise? What is the earliest, safest time for flight post cruise?

I'm doing the exact same cruise in September and it's great to hear good things about the ship and staff!

 

What did you do in each port? I'm having issues nailing down a tour in St Kitts. Also, if you had a balcony cabin, did you find the views were better from the starboard or port side? I'm so excited now.

In St. Kitts, we did The Tour with Thenford Grey. (google him - CC won't let me post the link here). He is a wonderful private tour guide, and shows you all the highlights of the island and allows plenty of time on the beach too.

In St. Kitts, we did The Tour with Thenford Grey. (google him - CC won't let me post the link here). He is a wonderful private tour guide, and shows you all the highlights of the island and allows plenty of time on the beach too.

I've emailed him already and he said he needs a minimum of 6 people and we're only 3. He said he'd keep us in mind should anyone else contact him.

We are on September 19 sailing of AOS. Trying to lighten our pack. Can you please tell us what men and women were wearing on formal and semi-formal nights ?

I'm on that sailing as well! Come by and say hello in the roll call :D

Do you remember the cost and options for internet access?

Unfortunately I don't remember the pricing and I don't recall them really advertising it much on the boat.

I've emailed him already and he said he needs a minimum of 6 people and we're only 3. He said he'd keep us in mind should anyone else contact him.

Did you ask on your roll call? You probably can find 3 people to join you

I'm doing the exact same cruise in September and it's great to hear good things about the ship and staff!

 

What did you do in each port? I'm having issues nailing down a tour in St Kitts. Also, if you had a balcony cabin, did you find the views were better from the starboard or port side? I'm so excited now.

St Thomas: Magens Bay

St Kitts: Island tour with Thenford Grey (amazing tour guide and we have now used him twice) Shows you the entire island and then you end at a beach. We ended at Cockelshell Beach at the Reggae Beach Bar! I would highly recommend this

Aruba: We started the morning with a 4 hour snorkel tour with Jolly Pirates. It is 3 snorkel stops with an open bar and lunch. Tour was awesome and the staff is even better. After the tour we walk down the beach and hung out on Eagle Beach for a few hours, before heading to dinner at Pinchos Bar and Grill. I would highly recommend dinner at this restaurant. Food was amazing and the view is that much better

Curacao: We used Henry Platte for a tour and then we ended up at Porto Marie. A beautiful beach with amazing snorkeling.

We did have a balcony but it was an aft JS. I would recommend this room if its available.

We are on September 19 sailing of AOS. Trying to lighten our pack. Can you please tell us what men and women were wearing on formal and semi-formal nights ?

On formal nights the men wore shirts and ties and the women wore dresses. Most people that I saw dressed up for the formal nights. The rest of the nights most women had on dresses and the men wore pants with a button up or polo. I will tell you they DID NOT allow people into the MDR on formal nights wearing shorts because I had 2 people in my group not allowed to come in.

My friends did this over spring break and said the MDR food wasn't good. This was their 3rd RCCL cruise and were happy with the food on the others. Wondered your thoughts. They also said that the food choices outside of meal times (snacks) was very limited. Your thoughts ?

I thought the food was good, but everyone is going to have their own opinion on the food. I will just say that everything I had in the main dining room was very good and trust me I tried a lot. We had a group of 22 and with the exception of a few items everyone had great things to say about the MDR room. Now was the food something you would get a a 5 star restaurant at home, no probably not, but it also wasn't bad like going to your local McDonalds. I try to keep in mind that they are cooking for 3000 people. As far as finding food outside of meal times, I never struggled to find food. I felt like the windjammer always had snacks out and the Cafe Promenade always had pizza and sandwiches available. The only disappointing thing about the food was a friend of mine at our table got the Chops steak one night in MDR for 16.95 and the steak wasn't better than what they were serving in the MDR. I did hear the Giovanni's was very good even though we never tried it.

I hope this helps.

How was the weather? I've been keeping an eye on daily weather in southern ports and this past week showed lots of rain and clouds. Did you find this to be an issue? Or is my weather reporting those 5 minute afternoon showers and making it look as though the whole day was raining when it really wasn't? I'm trying to see how I can interpret the weather report when I go on my cruise in a couple weeks and look at the future weather for that week.

I wouldn't concern yourself too much with the weather. It only rained twice the entire time and that was for about 10 minutes tops. I would say about 98% of the cruise was sunny and blue skies. I will tell you I was checking the weather prior to our cruise just as you are and was seeing the exact same weather reports. One thing that I learned is that 2 or the stops Aruba and Curacao are very desert type climates and receive very little rain at all. I thought these would be very lush green islands and they are exactly the opposite. They are like the west. Dry and brown, except for the white sand beaches and the blue water. St Kitts is also in a major drought and haven't had significant rain fall in weeks and our tour guide told us they are not expecting much rain until late September (take that for what it's worth) So I am not a weather man but I would be willing to bet you will see plenty of sun.

We are doing this itinerary next year. Curious as to what you did in each port (except St. Thomas - we have been there many times). Thanks in advance!

St Thomas: Magens Bay

St Kitts: Island tour with Thenford Grey (amazing tour guide and we have now used him twice) Shows you the entire island and then you end at a beach. We ended at Cockelshell Beach at the Reggae Beach Bar! I would highly recommend this

Aruba: We started the morning with a 4 hour snorkel tour with Jolly Pirates. It is 3 snorkel stops with an open bar and lunch. Tour was awesome and the staff is even better. After the tour we walk down the beach and hung out on Eagle Beach for a few hours, before heading to dinner at Pinchos Bar and Grill. I would highly recommend dinner at this restaurant. Food was amazing and the view is that much better

Curacao: We used Henry Platte for a tour and then we ended up at Porto Marie. A beautiful beach with amazing snorkeling.

We really enjoyed all of our excursions. Let me know if you have any specific questions about any of the stops.

Did you arrive in San Juan before the cruise? If so, where did you stay? Did you do any tours while in San Juan? What was the cost of txi to & from airport? What time did you disembark post cruise? What is the earliest, safest time for flight post cruise?

Yes we arrived in San Juan 2 days prior to departure. We stayed at the Caribe Hilton and the cab from the airport to the taxi was $4 per person plus another $1 per bag. On Friday we toured the Louie's VIP tours and did a tour the rain forest. I would highly recommend this tour as he is very knowledgeable and the rain forest is amazing to see. We got off the boat at 9AM and are flight wasn't until 12:45. I know they allow people to begin getting off at 6:45AM, but to get off at this time you have to cary your own bags off. I would say the earliest and safest would probably be around 10:30. It is only about a 10 minute ride from port to the airport and there are plenty of cabs waiting.

We were also on this cruise and had a great time. We booked JS 9628 at the edge of the hump which has a totally private balcony and walk in closet that is amazing. As far as the food we had dinner at Giovanni's which was fine but we would choose not to repeat this cruise. Ate breakfast in the dining room (I enjoy being spoiled on vacation) each morning as well as the two at sea days. Dinner was MTD and we found ourselves at a table for two by the window with lovely neighbors who we enjoyed talking with each evening. The food was mostly fine, not spectacular or awful. Wait staff of Julio and Albino were very attentive and took great care of us.

Due to work commitments we did not fly in until Saturday - arrived in San Juan at 3 pm, luggage was just carry on so we were at the port and in our stateroom by 4 pm, ready to vacation. Sebastian was our cabin attendant and took good care of us.

Found that staff around the ship was kind and willing to help.

I was a bit concerned that with a full ship we would feel crowded but always could find a quiet place to sit and enjoy the sea. Except for sea days we always found seats at the Solarium pool.

We are on this same itinerary in a few weeks (8/8 sailing) and it was so nice to read a great report!

By any chance do you have your daily compasses that you could post? We are a family group of 13 and trying to plan a mutual MTD dinner schedule since everyone will be going seperate ways when we do port excursions

Did you love Porto Marie? How was the beach? My mom is with us and she has issues with her knees and walking on soft sand..was it easily walkable? Any other suggestions for a nice beach at any of the ports?

Thanks again to taking the time to post and answer all of our questions

We were also on this cruise and had a great time. We booked JS 9628 at the edge of the hump which has a totally private balcony and walk in closet that is amazing. As far as the food we had dinner at Giovanni's which was fine but we would choose not to repeat this cruise. Ate breakfast in the dining room (I enjoy being spoiled on vacation) each morning as well as the two at sea days. Dinner was MTD and we found ourselves at a table for two by the window with lovely neighbors who we enjoyed talking with each evening. The food was mostly fine, not spectacular or awful. Wait staff of Julio and Albino were very attentive and took great care of us.

 

Due to work commitments we did not fly in until Saturday - arrived in San Juan at 3 pm, luggage was just carry on so we were at the port and in our stateroom by 4 pm, ready to vacation. Sebastian was our cabin attendant and took good care of us.

 

 

 

Found that staff around the ship was kind and willing to help.

 

I was a bit concerned that with a full ship we would feel crowded but always could find a quiet place to sit and enjoy the sea. Except for sea days we always found seats at the Solarium pool.

We have that JS Sept 12!

St Thomas: Magens Bay

St Kitts: Island tour with Thenford Grey (amazing tour guide and we have now used him twice) Shows you the entire island and then you end at a beach. We ended at Cockelshell Beach at the Reggae Beach Bar! I would highly recommend this

Aruba: We started the morning with a 4 hour snorkel tour with Jolly Pirates. It is 3 snorkel stops with an open bar and lunch. Tour was awesome and the staff is even better. After the tour we walk down the beach and hung out on Eagle Beach for a few hours, before heading to dinner at Pinchos Bar and Grill. I would highly recommend dinner at this restaurant. Food was amazing and the view is that much better

Curacao: We used Henry Platte for a tour and then we ended up at Porto Marie. A beautiful beach with amazing snorkeling.

 

We did have a balcony but it was an aft JS. I would recommend this room if its available.

I was looking for a place to have dinner while in Aruba on our cruise in October since there is plenty of time to enjoy the evening. I went to Pinchos web site and it does look good. A couple of questions... Do you need to take a taxi from the ship to get there? Is it easy to go and just get seated or will you have a wait?? What time did you go there??

I was looking for a place to have dinner while in Aruba on our cruise in October since there is plenty of time to enjoy the evening. I went to Pinchos web site and it does look good. A couple of questions... Do you need to take a taxi from the ship to get there? Is it easy to go and just get seated or will you have a wait?? What time did you go there??

Interested in this information as well. Right now, we have reservations at Barefoot Restaurant but this one looks amazing and tempted to switch.

We took this cruise a few years ago and had the most amazing dinner at the Flying Fishbone in Aruba (http://www.flyingfishbone.com/). It is a bit of a taxi drive, out, but so worth it!!