All Things Adventure of the Seas

[ckelly14]

Photo of a similar balcony:

 

This doesn't look too bad. Just booked connecting deck 8 balcony staterooms for March 2016.

 

One thing that puzzled me:

 

I read that Adventure was upgraded in April 2014, but then I heard about a dry dock in 2016. How does the ship look, and should I wait until after the 2016 dry dock to check her out? Is this the correct info? What is planned for the dry dock in 2016?

[Clarea]

This doesn't look too bad. Just booked connecting deck 8 balcony staterooms for March 2016.

 

One thing that puzzled me:

 

I read that Adventure was upgraded in April 2014, but then I heard about a dry dock in 2016. How does the ship look, and should I wait until after the 2016 dry dock to check her out? Is this the correct info? What is planned for the dry dock in 2016?

The dry dock in 2014 was a full marine maintenance dry dock, and only a partial revitalization dry dock. In 2016, they will likely add more restaurants, a flowrider, and staterooms.

[FloatMe]

This doesn't look too bad. Just booked connecting deck 8 balcony staterooms for March 2016.

 

One thing that puzzled me:

 

I read that Adventure was upgraded in April 2014, but then I heard about a dry dock in 2016. How does the ship look, and should I wait until after the 2016 dry dock to check her out? Is this the correct info? What is planned for the dry dock in 2016?

I am on the ship now, sadly disembarking tomorrow. I had read many reviews that spanned the entire spectrum of satisfaction. Personally, I think the ship looks great. The decor in the state rooms is a bit dated, but after I read some of the reviews pooh poong the ship's condition, I was surprised to find that it looked so GREAT! Absolutely no reason to wait to cruise on this beautiful ship.

[Paulette3028]

I am on the ship now, sadly disembarking tomorrow. I had read many reviews that spanned the entire spectrum of satisfaction. Personally, I think the ship looks great. The decor in the state rooms is a bit dated, but after I read some of the reviews pooh poong the ship's condition, I was surprised to find that it looked so GREAT! Absolutely no reason to wait to cruise on this beautiful ship.

 

I truly don't mean to be difficult, when I ask about the highlighted in red section.

 

I have cruised on Royal for 11 years only. There is a bed, end tables, desk with drawers, in some cabins small sofa/sofabed; small glass table with a silver wastebasket....'old decor' -- carpet looks OK; sometimes perhaps it could use a shampooing; but what exactly could be such 'old decor'.

 

If the sofa/sofabed fabric is worn -- that is bad and needs replacement. If the mattress isn't firm or is lumpy, it needs to be replaced....but I just struggle with the description of 'old decor'.

 

Or is it just me?

[ckelly14]

Thanks for the comments. I wish Royal didn't have two ships that were ready for dry dock that year (Jewel in April, Adventure in the ?Fall?). Considering the same cruise in December 2016 instead, but I have Adventure booked for now.

[Paulette3028]

Thanks for the comments. I wish Royal didn't have two ships that were ready for dry dock that year (Jewel in April, Adventure in the ?Fall?). Considering the same cruise in December 2016 instead, but I have Adventure booked for now.

 

How does that really affect your decision?

[ckelly14]

How does that really affect your decision?

 

 

Simple, given the choice I'd rather cruise right after a major renovation than before...

[Paulette3028]

Simple, given the choice I'd rather cruise right after a major renovation than before...

 

We cruise when we can cruise, and I can understand your sentiment, but you can choose from other cruises.

[Noblarneyimirish]

I was just off the adventurer a couple weeks ago. Thought overall the ship looked pretty good. But, honestly our bed was terrible and the carpet and couch in our room needed to be replaced but we spent so little time in our room and the price was right so it didn't really matter. We had a great cruise

[Paulette3028]

I was just off the adventurer a couple weeks ago. Thought overall the ship looked pretty good. But, honestly our bed was terrible and the carpet and couch in our room needed to be replaced but we spent so little time in our room and the price was right so it didn't really matter. We had a great cruise

 

I hope you reported the condition of the bed, carpet and couch to Guest Services.

[Ocean Boy]

We cruise when we can cruise, and I can understand your sentiment, but you can choose from other cruises.

 

There are not too many other choices on RCI to the southern Caribbean from San Juan.

[Noblarneyimirish]

I hope you reported the condition of the bed, carpet and couch to Guest Services.

 

Nah, we traveled with a group of 12. It was the same in every cabin. Some had inside and some had balconies. I'm sure RCI is well aware of the condition of the cabins. It by no means ruined our trip. Just a minor complaint. Our cruise was fantastic. :)

[Paulette3028]

There are not too many other choices on RCI to the southern Caribbean from San Juan.

 

But if they had to fly to reach San Juan and then cruise the Southern Caribbean, there are other alternative ports to fly into and therefore other itineraries to choose from.

 

I read enough about people that will only fly from a port that they can drive to and then complain about their limited options....personally we are lucky, since we have 4 ports we realistically can drive to; two of which are very close and 2 are a reasonable drive.

[ckelly14]

But if they had to fly to reach San Juan and then cruise the Southern Caribbean, there are other alternative ports to fly into and therefore other itineraries to choose from.

 

 

 

I read enough about people that will only fly from a port that they can drive to and then complain about their limited options....personally we are lucky, since we have 4 ports we realistically can drive to; two of which are very close and 2 are a reasonable drive.

 

 

I am certainly open to suggestions, but since is the Adventure thread, I don't want to hijack it.

 

My wife spent a few years in San Juan, so we are traveling there over spring break and looking at cruises from that port.

[Paulette3028]

I am certainly open to suggestions, but since is the Adventure thread, I don't want to hijack it.

 

My wife spent a few years in San Juan, so we are traveling there over spring break and looking at cruises from that port.

 

I am not saying hijack the thread...and realize that if you want to cruise Royal out of SJ, then your choices will be more limited... people have said that at times, there only is one Royal choice out of SJ....I can't speak for that, personally.

[mar915]

How deep is the pool I. The Solarium. It has been over 8 years since I have been on it

[Fraggle5512]

Hello, hoping you all can help me with a couple questions I have!

 

1) Does anyone know when the drydock is scheduled for 2016? We just scheduled a back to back on the Adventure in September of 2016 for our honeymoon.

 

2) Does anyone have a price on the photo package you can purchase before the cruise?

 

Thank You!

[racerxspeedy]

1) All comments indicate Late 2016 Dry Dock. The Adventure is cruising all of September thru Oct 15. Your B2B should not be impacted

 

There is nothing showing Oct 15 thru Nov 19 - this could be the dry dock period.

 

2) Unlimited was 249, but may have changed.

[Familygoboston]

Hello fellow "Adventurers"

 

Just returned from our AOS cruise to Barbados, StLucia, Antigua, SMX, StCroix and thought I'd share a few quick thoughts here about some of the issues that came up on this thread and our experience related to them.

 

WIFI, crowds and passenger mix

 

-We bought an unlimited WIFI package or 2 devices at a time. This was the best WIFI service I have ever had on a cruise ship, certainly, the newly upgraded service is excellent! I was able to see Face Book with all it's photos, and I was able to download my full color newspaper daily within 20 minutes (at home it downloads within 10-30 seconds, so I think that the internet might be optimized for uploading in order to get all us happy customers posting pictures of our fun cruise to our friends, vs downloading movies;). I was able to update my blog with photos in a matter of seconds! It is slower than at home, obviously, but I was very pleased and found the package well worth it for people who need to work on board. I'll post the whole list of available packages and prices on my blog when I get everything scanned.

 

-We had an aft balcony, and unfortunately we did find an occasional person still smoking on their balcony, however because it's verboten, it was far less noticeable than when smoking was allowed. There was smoking in the Casino, and at certain times of day, it did waft a bit into the Schooner Bar area. Smoking was allowed on the Starboard side of the ship at the pool deck, but NOT in the Solarium. Every passenger (except the balcony guy) seemed to be following the smoking rules and we did not find it troublesome.

 

-This was the most diverse crowd on a cruise we have ever experienced. There was a great mix of Latin culture, all races, nationalities, ages, and sexual orientations. This worked out very well, because diverse interests send people on the ship to diverse places, which spreads out the crowd throughout the ship, eating and participating at different times, and we never felt it was crowded.

 

-we had reservations for MTD, and never waited more than 30 seconds for a table to be cleared, seated with the same wait staff, sometimes at different tables. We only noticed a line at MTD at 8:15-8:30 PM on formal night, it appeared to move quickly.

 

-In port, we always walked right off the ship without any line (maybe 1 -5 people in front) and when we came back, even at the last moment there were never more than 10-20 people moving right along in front. Also, cool towels and water was offered in a covered shelter at every port.

 

Food

-The food was excellent overall. When you have the same menus fleetwide, you can compare ship to ship, and Adventures was some of the best in flavor (not bland) texture (crispy stuff crispy, soft stuff not overcooked and crusty) in our opinion. We also noticed that we did not run out of certain foods (plain yogurt, ice cream flavors etc) by weeks end as we have on other cruises.

 

- WJ always had a table even on the busiest days, staff cleared quickly and almost always got drinks. There are three sections, right, left and in the bow, all of the buffets offer essentially the same stuff, but the bow buffet (Island Grill) is the only one that has the staffed cooked to order/carving stations, etc

 

-We found it was better to go to the left, there are fewer people going that way even though there are a few less tables on that side.

 

We had an overall excellent experience in the WJ...one of the best on a large ship WJ!

 

-Johnny Rockets was offering a special while we were on board. There was a card that you get checked off for each meal it reads; "Enjoy 3 meals and get the 4th meal is on us. When completing the 4th meal you can win a free dinner for 2 persons in Giovanni's on Day 7"

 

- We ate at Giovanni's and they have an open kitchen where they cook to order with different ingredients used. Our experience was very good, a big step above a top Italian chain or the lines own "Italian" night. As an example...the MDR tiramisu is a gelatinous sort of confection, where as the Giovanni's used real marscapone and the texture was a real tiramisu. But we really enjoyed our food and experience there.

 

 

Cabin and condition of the ship

-we did notice more significant noise and vibration (though minimally more motion) in our corner aft cabin on deck 7, 7688. Our balcony was huge and mostly shaded (which worked really well for us!) Lastly, it was very private, no one can see on it if you are sitting down on chairs. Standing at the rail you can see the blue canopy on 6 and slice of the crew smoking area on 5 ...but we never smelled smoke from that area even when they were out there because it was further aft and blew out to sea. Also, although the crew could sit in a pair of chairs and look up to our balcony, one or 2 were very, very rarely out there and even when they were it was for a minute and then right back to work...they just don't have the time to hang out staring at passengers!

 

-Before we left we heard that people were inquiring about the condition of the bedding, and we did find it very very tired! Of course, we also sleep at home in a bed built like a case for a fine Swiss watch; we are completely encased in memory foam! So after the first night on the bed, which was very hard due to the cushioning being condensed over time, we did have our cabin attendant bring the eggcrate topper, and the bed was much better after that! The pillows had also lost most of their "loft" so we asked for extras.

 

-We found Adventure in good working condition though an occasional piece of upholstery might look worn or stained, (such as our couch or scratches on the back of the seats in the theater) it's nothing that detracts from the look and feel of the ship.

 

 

-Pool towels were offered without swiping a sea pass at the pool deck, but the attendants handing them out at the gangway or shore excursion meeting points in each port WERE scanning sea passes for towels taken out and scanning again when you bring the used ones back. "We want to make sure the beaches...our guests visit stay as clean as when we first arrive..."

 

 

Crew

 

-the crew is as advertised, generally positive and friendly. I feel this reflects the top down management and this ship sea like a well cared for bunch who want to succeed for their managers!

 

-The cd was Bobby from Scotland and he was traditional, but very smooth! Tino his activities manager was hysterically funny and they are a great one two straight man/joker combo.

 

-The rest of the activities staff is super high energy and super inclusive!! Eric (from Mexico) saw my DH struggling to figure out the dance in Latin night by the pool and he grabbed our hands and led a tutorial and made us feel like the cool (very pale) kids even if the others were laughing at us (just a little)

 

Over all, we had an amazing trip, one of our best Royal cruises in quite a while! I did write a "live" thread during this trip...it can be found here:

 

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2197856

 

I've also written a few Adventure posts with DH's photos on our blog, and I did live tweeting and FB page posts on board for the first time...it was fun and didn't impinge on our vacation time, so I was happy to share! Those links are below in my CC signature. Lastly, next week, I plan to write a full review here on CC with DH's photos and post the Cruise Compasses (and other ephemera) and ships tour photos on our blog!

 

Thanks to all who "followed" us on this cruise, and to those who posted here before to help us plan ours!!:D

[MrSmoofy]

WIFI, crowds and passenger mix

 

-We bought an unlimited WIFI package or 2 devices at a time. This was the best WIFI service I have ever had on a cruise ship, certainly, the newly upgraded service is excellent! I was able to see Face Book with all it's photos, and I was able to download my full color newspaper daily within 20 minutes (at home it downloads within 10-30 seconds, so I think that the internet might be optimized for uploading in order to get all us happy customers posting pictures of our fun cruise to our friends, vs downloading movies;). I was able to update my blog with photos in a matter of seconds! It is slower than at home, obviously, but I was very pleased and found the package well worth it for people who need to work on board. I'll post the whole list of available packages and prices on my blog when I get everything scanned.

 

Thanks for your feedback, we go on 5/16

 

The WiFi, what was the cost of unlimited for 2 devices and where was WiFi available?

[Clarea]

Thanks for your feedback, we go on 5/16

 

The WiFi, what was the cost of unlimited for 2 devices and where was WiFi available?

The WiFi on Adventure is all over the ship.

[MrSmoofy]

The WiFi on Adventure is all over the ship.

 

Thanks, do you know the costs?

[Clarea]

Thanks, do you know the costs?

The WiFi costs on Royal's ships are all over the place. I remember something like $190 per week back in January for one device unlimited, but it might be different now.

[FloatMe]

Thanks, do you know the costs?

I was on Adventure April 5 thru 12. Cost was $189 for unlimited access for one device and $219 for two devices, before any C & A discounts.

[Ocean Boy]

Food

- WJ always had a table even on the busiest days, staff cleared quickly and almost always got drinks. There are three sections, right, left and in the bow, all of the buffets offer essentially the same stuff, but the bow buffet (Island Grill) is the only one that has the staffed cooked to order/carving stations, etc

 

 

I really don't want this to come across as being picky but the Island Grill is the stern of the ship. I just don't want people who are not real familiar with the layout of the ship, or those who are directionally challenged, to think there is another buffet areas on the ship that does not actually exist.