barnes061805

Most likely Spring 2019.

Thanks! Was hoping wouldn't have to wait that long. I'm a planner and love having things booked way far in advance. :):)

Does anyone know when Royal will release the summer 2020 British Isles cruises? Specifically looking for June or July 2020. Thanks!

My wife Gina and I were on the same cruise with you, I see we observe similar things. That pool deck has been a problem for a lot of people. If I remember right they pulled up the old carpet back around 2008 and put in that very slippery surface. I had a lady fall onto my chair at the pool Thursday. Fortunately she was a nice lady to meet by accident.

 

Here is my review of the same cruise.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2416209

I saw your review! We saw you on the Love & Marriage show too!

My daughter fell a few times, but that's not unusual for her, but she really did hurt herself on the one fall.

Thanks for the review. We are on the MOS November 4 for a quick 3 day get away with our son who is visiting us from Michigan. We are from The Villages in Florida so it is only about a 2 hour drive to the port.

My parents live in The Villages and we visited with them for a few days before the cruise and left our 3 year old with them while we were on the cruise. They dropped us off and picked us up, was very quick!

I don't have pictures on this computer yet, but here's my review from our cruise this past week on the Majesty!

We chose this cruise to take our daughter (8 years old) on her first cruise. We wanted a relatively short one that left from Orlando and over her fall break. This was my eight cruise and my husband's fourth. We arrived at the port at 10:30 am and security and check in were a breeze. We were through it within 5 minutes and on the ship at about 10:50. We made our way to the Windjammer for lunch, and there was no wait. Spent the next few hours at the pool and hot tubs.

Room: Our room was ready right at 1:00 and our luggage was waiting in the hall. Our room steward, Jean, was great and always able to get us what we needed. We had brought two bottles of wine with us, but forgot a corkscrew, and he had one readily available on his cart for us to use. We are platinum C & A members and he also brought our robes on the first night, which we weren't expecting since we had never received them before :-). We had an oceanview on deck 3. We had a pullman bed for our daughter. It was pretty tight in the room for 3 people, but we were really only ever in there to sleep or get dressed, so no big deal.

Dining: When my husband I cruise, we generally like to eat the main seating in the dining room at a table for 2. We are introverts and prefer not to be forced to talk to strangers. However, our daughter is a social butterfly, so we decided to just go with it and not request a special table. Royal did a great job of pairing our family up with another family of three who had an 8 year old daughter. They were also from the same general area of the country. The girls got along great and we had a nice time at dinner each night. Our waiters were Rommel and Jaywanna, and they were also great. They remembered our names and our preferences and service was generally good. The only issue was the second evening the time between appetizers and entrees was especially long. Rommel mentioned there was a backup in the kitchen and apologized several times. The food was pretty good, the best thing I had was the striploin on the first evening. It was very tasty! My husband was disappointed there wasn't free lobster on the formal night, but Rommel mentioned that is only on 7 night cruises.

Pools: We spent a good deal of time a the pool on this cruise. We didn't get off the ship at all on the day at Nassau and we also had a sea day. Both of those days was spent on the pool deck. Our daughter loved the new kid splash area, however, it was only open when they had someone from Adventure Ocean there to stand in the area and direct the kids on the slide. If there wasn't a staff member, it was closed. She's a great swimmer, so she was able to go in the other pools no problem when that area was closed. There are 4 hot tubs, and they were nice and warm and open in the evening too. There are some newer deck chairs on the pool deck that are mesh instead of the old style slatted kind, and they were more comfortable. On the sea day, we went to the pool pretty early, so had no trouble finding a spot, but we did notice people later in the day looking for chairs and not being able to find one that didn't already have someone's stuff on it. I didn't notice any staff removing people's things from chairs if they hadn't been to them in 30 minutes.

Adventure Ocean: We've never had to worry about Adventure Ocean before since we've never taken a kid on a cruise before. However, we knew enough to get her signed up on the first day in case she wanted to use it later. We signed her up about 3:00 on the first day. She went back the second and third night for about an hour each time. She had a lot of fun, but she preferred going to the shows and playing in the pool and making friends there.

Ship: The ship is one of the older ones, and we knew that going in so our expectations were not inflated. There were definately areas of rust and such, but nothing that I really cared about and didn't affect our vacation one iota. There was some smells in the hallway on the floor of our room sometimes that smelled of sewage, but nothing in our room itself. The seas were rockier than normal the first two evenings and it was very noticeable. Not enough to make any of us sick, but if you were first time cruiser you might have been a little worried.

Staff: Everyone we met, staff wise, was very nice and accomodating and did things to make our vacation better. We had one bar server not charge us for a frozen drink for our daughter the first day. We bought some pictures after formal night and my daughter came with me to pay and mentioned she liked the nice photo book they have for sale for $20. The lady who rang us up said, "For her, no charge" and gave us the photo book for free. It was little touches like that that made the trip special.

Medical: We actually had to visit the medical area on this trip. Our daughter slipped on the pool steps and banged her leg up. Not enough to have to see a doctor, but enough where she needed an ice pack. We went down to the medical facility at about 3:55. They didn't open until 4:00. Right at 4:00, someone opened the door. The facility looked nice, but we didn't see a whole lot since we just needed an ice pack. Turns out, they don't have ice packs. They gave us some plastic bags and told us to have our steward give us ice. Worked fine. However, we did notice they had free seasickness medicine in a box outside of the medical facility with a note they also provide them at guest services. Never knew that!

Entertainment: The singers and dancers were very good on this cruise. Probably some of the best singers we've seen. The headliner was en Elton John impersonator and his show was really good! We went to all of the shows and really enjoyed them.

Shore excursions: The only thing we did was rent the sun shade and lounger on Coco Cay. I burn easily, so it was nice to have the lounger and shade and it was on the quieter side of the island. We were the second ship to go to Coco Cay since the hurricane and the water looked gorgeous. There was some evidence of the hurricane on the island, but overall it looked great. It became windier as the day went on and the tender we took back to the ship at about 1:30 was pretty rocky, but nothing terrible. I believe they stopped the tender service early coming back from the island because it was getting so windy.

Debarkation: We decided to walk off the ship with our luggage, and this is the first time we've done this. Apparently, everyone on this cruise had the same idea. The line snaked from deck four up the stairs all the way to deck 6, I think. Once the line started moving, it went pretty fast and we were off the ship and through customs within 20 minutes of when we got in line.

Overall: We had a great time and would sail this ship again. My first cruise 20+ years ago was on the Empress, so I knew what to expect. Our daughter loved it and can't wait to go on another cruise. I would highly reccomend this trip to anyone, as long as you know what to expect.

My sister wants to see both sides of the island, and of course visit the french bakery. Since we are visiting on a Sunday I know that most shops will be closed, so really don't want to spend a lot of money.

Should we do the RC excursion? a private tour? or try to find a taxi :eek: we've never done this before, to take us to both sides?

Thank s for any tips or advice!

We were just there in September and we went on a Sunday. We booked a tour through Bernard's Tours and we saw both sides of the island. It was a great tour, we went to the bakery, and I feel like we really got to see everything and got a lot of history. I don't know about the RC excursions since this was the only time we've ever been, but I can highly recommend Bernard's.

Our sailing is a ways off, but I am quite an OCD planner, so I am thinking of things already. Never did a sailing that wasn't CONUS, so I am wondering....

 

1. We'll be coming into San Juan the day before. Where is the best place to stay? I know everyone has there favs, so there is no bad answer. For our group of 6, we would likely prefer first, the best location for getting to the pier. Second would be convenience for a touring day.

 

2. The ship leaves port later than we are used to...830PM. When is the best time to board? Does it make sense to do any tourist things on the day of sailing, or better to get to the ship at the earliest possible time?

 

3. If you had one tourist thing to do in San Juan (and have never been there before) what would you do? We'll have most of the day before sailing available.

 

4. If you have ever done the AOTS Southern Caribbean itinerary before....What are your one or two must do excursions/activities? In St. Maarten, I kind of want to go to the beach at the end of the airport runway. That looks cool.

 

Our group last sailed n Adventures sister ship, Navigator, so we are very familiar with the ship. We all have balcony rooms next to each other n Deck 7. We are also hoping that the November drydock for Adventure is awesome.

 

In advance, I thank all of you for inputs. I love this site for planning and reviews.

1. We stayed at Plaza de Armas. It's pretty close to the pier, but it isn't fancy. It's in old San Juan, so lots to see and do around the hotel.

2. We got to the pier at about 10:45 and were 5th in line for when the doors opened. We were on the ship by 11:30 (I think) and it was great to have the whole day on the boat.

4. We absolutely loved our SNUBA excursion in St. Kitts. We had never done it before and it was so much fun! I now want to SNUBA every cruise we ever go on. I don't know if you're going to Barbados, but we absolutely loved it and really enjoyed snorkeling with the Sea Turtles. They were amazing.

Have fun!

We LOVED going to the helicopter pad. At port, it was a great vantage port to see the islands and watch people coming back to the ship. It was really great to sit out there at night and see all of the stars. There was hardly anyone ever there.

We also really enjoyed the Duck and Dog Pub. Have fun!

We didn't have a JS on Adventure, be we did have an Aft room last year. Even with the structure, it was beautiful and I really loved having the aft room. We were on deck 9.

Did you happen to notice the balcony on 9690? We just booked and both were available. I checked out voyager-class.com but those pictures are really old now. We like the corner afts but couldn't get 1688 or 1388 which are our preferred cabins.

I remember looking over, but I can't quite recall if it had loungers or the size comparison to the balcony we had.

My husband and I had an aft on deck 9 last year and the balcony was larger than normal with two loungers, two chairs and a table. It was a great room! We were in 9692

We stayed at Hotel Plaza de Armas in Old San Juan. It was $99 for the night. It's a small hotel, no pool, but in the heart of Old San Juan with a lot of restaurants around.

At some points the minimum was $5 and others was $10. There were some times they had "early bird" specials with $3 mins. They advertised those in the compass

Sailaway-

sailaway4 by J B, on Flickr[/img]

sailaway3 by J B, on Flickr[/img]

stkitts by J B, on Flickr[/img]

room by J B, on Flickr[/img]

room4 by J B, on Flickr[/img]

room6 by J B, on Flickr[/img]

We were on the same cruise and I totally agree with everything you said. Probably saw you in the Solarium because that is where we spent most of our days. LOVED that there were no children! LOL! I forgot to mention in my review what a GREAT job the Pool Patrol did. They were taking towels and cleaning up constantly. Service was superb (except for our steward who was almost non existent and had an attitude the one time we did see her ). SO so glad that there is still a Viking Crown Lounge. We had a JS and it was just lovely.

I bet we did see you at the Solarium! It was a little strange to see only adults in pretty much every pool! There was one little boy about 9 or 10 who came to swim in the Solarium on the day we were in St. Lucia, but the pool patrol came and told him to move to the other pool. I saw in your review you went to the helipad. I forgot to put in my review that we went there pretty much every day! It was one of our favorite spots. During the day was really nice, but especially at night when you could look up and just literally see thousands of stars and we were pretty much the only two people we ever saw up there. Too bad your steward was unfriendly, but glad you had a good cruise too!

I'm not a big poster except in roll calls but I just wanted to say this was an awesome little review! And it's made me so excited for Oct 24. I'll be on the adventure and in the very same room you were in. To funny!!

You'll love the cruise and balcony! I was frustrated there weren't a lot of pictures of this room leading up to the cruise, so I'll try to post some when I get a chance. The balcony was really big and the view was very calming. We loved it!

Hi Barnes061805

Enjoyed reading your thoughts upon your trip on the AOS!! We're big time cruisers w/ RCCL. This will be our 5th time sailing on the AOS. But it's been many years since our last sailing w/ them. Picked this one due to the many islands we'll be visiting. Can you just let me know,are they still charging the $25 service fee for getting towels thru them if not returned??

Any specifics on the entertainment- I read you touched base upon this. Sailing w/ RCCL to me is kind of "lacking" in that category. If you could tell me any details on that I'd really appreciate it.

Have a great day !! And my count down is on. . . . . Oh one more question,how was the "LOOK" for the Formal Nights??? I've heard HORROR stories w/ this? What is the majority ruling here, up or down. We're traveling w/ our dear friends & the four of us enjoy dressing to the 9'ssssssss for these nights!

 

Thank's😎

Thanks for the kind thoughts.

For the towels, there is a sign that says they will charge the $25 if not returned, but I don't know if they actually do. They scan your seapass when you take one when leaving the ship and scan it when you return the towel. They do not scan your card when you are using them in the pool area.

Entertainment...There was a welcome back show, we didn't go to that. There was the Can't Stop the Rock Show, and a Dance themed show. There was a headliner show with Marcus Terrell and the Serenades, which we didn't care for. There was a show with two comedians, their names escape me at the moment. There was a late night comedy show with a different comedian. One ice show that they performed three different times. There was a piano player in the Schooner Bar every night from 10-midnight. There was a guitar player in the Duck and Dog every night from about 10-late. There were other little bands and such set up, but not quite sure where and when. They had the Love and Marriage game show, we did see that and it was the same as always, but still funny to me! They had the Quest gameshow. They had a lot of little trivia contests. There was also the farewell show. Hope this helps!

Formal nights...definitely saw everything from maxi dresses to glitzy dresses. It really did run the whole spectrum, but I think it leaned more towards dressy. Everyone I saw looked great and very pretty. I didn't see any tuxes on the men, though. Most wore suit coat and ties. I think you'd be fine dressing to the 9's based on my cruise. :-)

Hello! Came back Saturday from a great cruise aboard Adventure of the Seas. I read every single review for Adventure since I booked last June, so thought I'd add mine.

My husband (32) and I (33) booked this cruise as our 10 year anniversary trip. We had an aft balcony cabin, 9692, and both had the premium beverage package. This was his third cruise, all on Royal and my seventh, 6 on Royal one on Disney. Our Honeymoon 10 years ago was on a Voyager class ship, so knew what to expect. Left the kids at home with Grandma and Grandpa and prepared to have a great time.

We flew in to San Juan from Indiana on Friday 9/11/15. We landed late, 10:30 pm, and grabbed a cab right outside baggage claim to take us to Hotel Plaza de Armas in Old San Juan. Cab was $25 for two passengers, two bags, late night to Old San Juan. The hotel was small and we paid for a "suite" with a courtyard view. The elevator was super slow and the room was okay. The courtyard outside was very noisy, but we were just there to sleep. Got up in the morning and were going to wait until 11 to cab it to the pier, but decided to head out at 10:15. Went outside and grabbed a taxi right out front. Cost of the cab from hotel to pier was $16.

Got to the pier and in line to go inside at 10:30, they opened the door at 11. There were about 20 people in front of us, including the suite and diamond line. Embarkation was super fast and easy as I had already checked in online. We then went to sit in the seats and wait for the door to open to let us on to the ship! We expected the doors to open at 11:30, but it was closer to noon before they let us on. Once they opened the door, we were on our way! We made our way to the Windjammer before it could get busy and had a little lunch. We then spent the next 2 hours exploring the ship. Our room was ready right at 2 and our suitcases came literally as we were walking down the hallway to go to our room. Fastest we've ever gotten them! Our stateroom attendant was Franklyn, but we didn't meet him until dinner time. He was great!

We ate at Giovanni's the first night. The filet was so delicious! We ate dinner in the dining room the rest of the cruise. Our waiter was Venkata and his assistant was Wilma. Venkata was very nice and always willing to bring two appetizers, multiple entrees, etc. If we were unsure between two dishes, he brought both. My husband loves lobster, so he brought him 4! We thought, for the most part, the food was very good in the dining room. We ate at Windjammer for breakfast twice and lunch once. It was okay, about what you would expect for buffet food. We had room service for breakfast once and lunch once, and it was good. We had a few things from café promenade, again it was good. Nothing to write home about.

We liked going to Nicholae in the Duck and Dog as our bartender. He was a little slow, but very sweet and willing to talk about his life on the ship. His wife worked in the casino too. We had no trouble getting service at any of the bars or the pool. We were in the Duck and Dog one evening and the people behind us were complaining that it was taking a long time, but still stood there instead of going to the empty sports bar across the promenade. Oh well, to each their own. We did see one gentleman in the Duck and Dog who was very upset they were not serving him and serving others around him. He eventually left and the bartender mentioned they would have gotten in trouble if they served him because he was too impaired. Nice to see they watch for that.

We went to the Can't Stop the Rock show and the show about dance (can't remember the name!) The stop the rock show was very good, I thought the singers and dancers were very good on this cruise compared to others I've seen. Didn't really care for the dance show, but it didn't last very long. We went to one of the headliner shows, Marcus Terrell and the Serenades, and left after about 20 minutes. Apparently he was on some reality shows like American Idol and America's Got Talent. He said the show would be a musical journey through his reality tv time? He sang some songs from the 60's, which were pretty good, but it was kind of boring, so we left. We were going to go see the comedians, but fell asleep. We went to the ice show and thought it was kind of weird :-) We went to the piano bar 3 different nights and really enjoyed him. His name was Dan Davies. We also listened to the guitar player in the Duck and Dog one evening, I think his name was Brian Raith. He was very good.

The ports of call were great, we went to St. Maarten, St. Kitts, Antigua, St. Lucia, and Barbados. It rained all day in Antigua, so we didn't see much. We had one day at sea at the end of the cruise.

Disembarkation was easy, took about 30 minutes from the time we were off the ship until we made it to our transfer.

One thing of interest, there were hardly any children on the cruise. It was the least amount of kids I've ever seen on a cruise. Was really nice!

About the room: Loved, loved, loved the balcony. It was larger than the standard balcony. We had two loungers, two chairs, and a nice sized table on the balcony. Plenty of storage.

About the ship: The ship was in great shape. I know other people have mentioned in reviews the ship looked tired, rust, etc. There was some of that to be sure, it definitely wasn't brand spanking new. However, everything was clean, they were always cleaning, and everything worked. The ship was great!

About the entertainment: Singers and dancers were good. Headliners, I could give or take. The cruise director, Dan Dan, was okay. Went to the casino a few times and played bingo once.

About the pools: Spent all of our pool time in the Solarium. It was warm, not too crowded on port days and bar service was great. On the sea day, deck patrol was out making sure chairs were not being reserved for over 30 minutes.

About the food: Mostly good!

About the beverage package: Loved not having to worry about the cost of drinks and how many we were getting. My husband definitely came out ahead and I probably broke even. We were both definitely done with drinking by the last day. :-) It was really great to have this part of the vacation already paid for. Our bill at the end of the cruise was only $45!

About the ports: Loved visiting the different ports. Barbados was our favorite. In St. Maarten we booked a tour with Bernard's tours and it was great seeing both sides of the island and all the different stops and all the information they provided! In St. Kitts we book a RC tour to SNUBA. First time to SNUBA and we fell in love. It was amazing and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Just wish we would have went to a better reef. Didn't do anything in Antigua and St. Lucia. We did do some shopping in the port of St. Lucia. In Barbados, we booked a RC tour to sail on a Tiami catamaran and snorkel with Sea Turtles. It was really cool to see the turtles and we spent a little time at a beach that wasn't too crowded. Barbados had the best looking water. It was so clear and so blue.

Overall, we had a great time and would definitely book that room and this cruise again! If you are on the fence about going on the Adventure, go! It was great!

This will likely get moved to a board more specific for excursions... However, we are doing a river tubing trip in Jamaica next week. If I can find your post I will be glad to let you know how it was.

My husband and I did river tubing in Jamaica on our honeymoon cruise 10 years ago. It was and still is my favorite excursion I've ever done.