kcamp317

We were on Empress earlier this month for the first time.   Wrote a review of it on here you can check out.   Yea, its smaller and doesn't have all the bells and whistles but my biggest pleasant surprise was the nearly complete lack of lines and waiting in crowds anywhere on the ship, all day every day.   Windjammer even at the busiest times was a breeze to get in and easily find a table.   Never had to wait at a bar, shows, etc.   I found it very relaxing and not hectic shoulder to shoulder like some of the larger ships.   There were a few times I would look around and ask my wife "where is everybody?"  Lol!!!   Its a great relaxing cruise.  Another thing I noticed was the smooth ride.   I was expecting that since it was a small ship the waves and swells would be noticed much more but it was very stable.

We cruised out of this port for the first time in June on Majesty. Seems really laid back and not nearly as busy as say Miami. Our departure was delayed for about 4 hours, captain said something about not having clearance to leave but I don't know what that meant. Going under the Sunshine Skyway bridge on the way out is interesting. Sure is a tight fit!

Have 200+ nites on Radiance Class ships, with another 100 planned this next yr, most on Serenade. Never feels as crowded as other ships. Fewer things for kids to do but the Kids Program is great, Grand Daughter(8yrs) loves it. Unless near Holiday or school break there isn't as many kids on board. These longer trips are more relaxing, don't feel rushed. Wind Jammer for Dinner has great selection and better taste then most...

I wish we had the time and money to do that many nights! We are lucky to schedule in 1 maybe 2 cruises a year. Thanks for the response.

Thanks for the responses. It does look like a nice ship and class. It would be our first time on this type. Having been on a few 4-5 night ones over the past several years we are ready for a longer (at least 7 night) for sure. Especially since we have to fly I consider it getting my moneys worth on longer itineraries.

Our first was in 2006 for our honeymoon. I was 29, wife 25 at the time. I still remember seeing Adventure of the Seas for the first time in San Juan from a distance and realizing how unimaginably huge it looked in real life.....but yea, that started the addiction. About one a year since then as time and money allows, we enjoy it a lot! Now we have our daughter as well....she is 6 and has been on 3 cruises with us over the past several years and another booked for March 2019. She enjoys them as well.

My wife enjoys getting into the blackjack tournaments and I think last month on our cruise she came out $60 ahead. Thats about the extent of our winning....I just stand back and watch....haha. I don't bother because my luck stinks at such things.

Thanks! We are considering it. She's a pretty seasoned cruiser so far....lol! Been on 3 with us and really likes it, enjoys the Adventure Ocean a lot. It may be a stretch getting coverage at home for folks staying here and watching our dogs for that long but we may be able to pull it off. The fact that we can catch the last day of the "kids sail free" promotion is really tempting and puts this into a real possibility. Additionally, her elementary school spring break is a bit extended and a week prior to most other schools so she would not have to miss any days which is also a plus but it would be close! I'm sure we will have fun and enjoy either way, always do.

Hello. We are currently booked on Adventure of the Seas in March for an Eastern Caribbean 7 night. Ive been checking in on prices and have noticed theres also a 10 night Serenade of the Seas Eastern Caribbean for nearly the same price since its leaving on the last day of the "Kids sail free" promotion, our daughter who is 6 is going with us. We could probably make that work although I was wondering what 4 days at sea would be like on a Radiance Class ship which we have no experience with. Obviously I've read some reviews and watched some YouTube videos. It looks almost like a larger Enchantment of the Seas inside with a lot more glass, nice looking ship. Anyway, just wondering what some of your opinions might be. We've never been on a cruise past 7 nights so I'm sure the crowd on the ship will certainly be of a different type as opposed to shorter cruises which is fine by me.

We just did this on our own last month. We've done dolphins before but they also have a similar manatee experience that was amazing! Much less crowded than the dolphin thing and we were in the water with them for an hour (there are various levels and prices of the dolphin thing). I put our experience in a recent Majesty of the Seas review if you want to check it out for further details and our opinions.

We had weighed options on Anthem next March vs Adventure. A factor for us was not wanting to fly to NJ and risk being in cold weather/snow for the first day or two outbound and again on the way back vs. just flying to Ft Lauderdale for the same price to get on Adventure and enjoy the warmer weather right off the bat after winter here in Ohio. Plus the itinerary wasn't very appealing on that particular Anthem cruise vs the Adventure during the same time period.

I checked our 7 night for March on Adventure and its holding right at $56. I would imagine I could make that almost worth it myself but since my wife doesn't drink alcohol and theres not much of any chance of her not having to buy into it, it gonna be a no go.

Very nice!!

We have had great experiences with the Adventure Ocean staff on several cruises. Our daughter has been on 3 cruises total with us when she was 4, 5, and last month on Majesty, she's now 6. She loves it there and always asks to go for a little bit in the evenings. Its nice to have an hour or two for us to do adult things like see an adult themed show or go to the casino. On a smaller ship like Majesty its fun to see her meet and talk to the little friends she's made over the cruise from the class. They do crafts, play games, watch movies, etc. They seem to be pretty involved with the kids there.

As far as them walking off, not gonna happen. They have locking doors, plenty of staff keeping track of them in the area, and only the parents equipped with her sea pass card and our own can sign her in and out of the area.

Only annoying thing Ive seen is parents who take their kids and just drop them off there for the whole day. To each their own I guess but I'd rather spend time and have fun with my daughter, do things on the ship or in the ports with her, etc. especially since we paid to take her with us and experience everything. We will take her there for an hour or two in the evenings because she requests it and being around other similar age kids is fun for her.

Your child will be equipped with a color coded plastic bracelet as well as you get on the ship that matches her up to your muster station area so if for whatever reason something happens and he/she is in the kids club they will be brought down by the staff to the muster area to meet up with you. Also, since our girl always brings on a stuffed animal with her she asks if it can also have a bracelet as well and they always are happy to do so!

Another thing you might consider.....we always keep her sea pass card with us so it doesn't get lost but you can ask for an extra one for your kid to have as well. Basically doesn't do anything (just a "dummy" card) but she likes to have her own to be like us. Plus it can act as an extra level of ID for her in addition to her bracelet in case of the unlikely event of something happening so they can locate us if need be.

Ill second the good results on SAS.

We also live in Ohio, just a little east of Cincinnati. With the discount airlines available from CVG now its so much easier and cheap to fly from here compared to just a few years ago and we can be parked at the airport in about 40 minutes. I drive a lot for my work and part of my vacation is NOT to be driving....especially to Florida where we are taking Adventure from next March. Its at least a 17-18 hour drive non stop and the flights are 2 hrs so yea.....Im good! I didn't mention, I loved your review and pictures......very good job!!!

I HATE this new method of ordering. Very tacky, and I bet there is a lot of wasted desserts.

I'm not sure when that was implemented. This is the first time we've experienced it

We are booked on Adventure next March. Have been on the ship twice, once in 2006 and again in 2008. Funny thing is our room is 7515 so that's right next to your rooms!

I did notice on our recent cruise in June they have you order your appetizer, main course, and dessert all at the same time. I'm sure that makes things more efficient for them but we always choose first seating and haven't ever felt rushed

Probably too late for your question now but when we were there in late June it was a big mess.

I think the camera angle and perspective makes it appear as if she's much closer to the plane than actuality.

We've done that twice in the past and loved it seeing as how I am an aviation/airline enthusiast that place is like the mecca for people like me. As others have mentioned, I think the hurricane damage really slowed down the frequency of the flights in and out so it may not be very busy anymore as far as big commercial airline traffic.

Be wary of the time as well as to when you're leaving to go back to the ship. There is quite a bit of traffic on the roads and can sometimes take your taxi longer than expected to arrive back at the port.

Did your 6YO not get her own seapass card at check in? I thought everyone regardless of age got one as you need that to get on and off the ship.

Yes, she did but we kept it with us so it didn't get lost. She just wanted an extra to carry around with her to be like us.

Yes they will if you ask at guest services. Our 6 year old daughter wanted her own sea pass card on a lanyard (to be like us...lol) and when we took her to Adventure Ocean in the evenings we felt better that she had it in addition to her bracelet. I believe there was no way to purchase anything on it, it was basically just a room key that had her name on it and looked similar to ours

I can agree with that. Our first cruise was in 2006 for our honeymoon and we have been on at least one a year since then, all but one on RCL. You can definitely notice a difference in the quality and service since then until now. I would imagine thats true across the board with most lines.

Well, since this thread is on a Royal forum, I expect most people would be pro-Royal. However, even though Royal is the cruise line I have the most cruises on (I'm D+) and even though it used to be my favorite, I think Royal Caribbean has slipped greatly since I first cruised on Royal in 2004.

 

The cruise line with the second most cruises is Carnival. I have enjoyed all my Carnival cruises. However, finding Carnival cruises that are longer than eight nights is difficult. Carnival has some advantages over Royal Caribbean and Royal Caribbean has some advantages over Carnival.

 

Since I have become less happy with Royal Caribbean, I have decided to branch out some more. I recently completed my fifth cruise with Princess. My next cruise is with Royal Caribbean, then the next three are with NCL. After that I decided which will be my favorite. All I can say at this time is it will not likely be Princess (Princess is not high energy).

 

All the cruise lines have their advantages and disadvantages. I'm looking for a cruise line that is fun, honest, high energy, credible, and has longer cruises. That is the line I'll sail the most. But so far I have not written off any of the other cruise lines. I still want to try Costa, HAL, and Celebrity, and perhaps Regent, Disney, and MSC.

Thanks everyone. We are going to go ahead and stick with our original reservation on Adventure. I think after a winter here in Ohio we'd be much happier hitting the warmth of Florida right off the bat and not have to deal with more winter for two days on Anthem and its NE departure port. We are looking forward to it.