All Things Adventure of the Seas

[Duddy]

Subscribe again :)

[crisndeefromde]

I don't have anything booked. No reservation to check everyday. :(

 

Have you been to Bermuda before? You are going to love it. It isn't too long before your cruise, right?

 

Oh man...well hoping you saw something that struck you today when some of the new schedules came out

 

yep heading to bermuda a month from now. I have been there once before for a night and a half on a 9 nighter on explorer....it was the weekend so nothing but the dock open on the sunday. So my family that picked this ship and cruise have been there several times so I will get to see more.

[crisndeefromde]

The link to Bonnie Voyager's pictures no longer works.

 

hmmmn I used it a week or so ago showing someone 7388 on the voyager class ship. guess i need to go hunt it down again.

[rupertfrog]

I know this is an AOS thread ... but also know we usually will/can help clear up questions.

On the WOW news of the Quantum of the Seas it was said to be smaller than the Oasis & Allure .... but nothing further.

Does anyone know where this ship fits in? Is it larger than the Freedom or AOS sized?

Where are the MDR's? And lots of comments re: no Promenade .....

[sky0000547]

I know this is an AOS thread ... but also know we usually will/can help clear up questions.

On the WOW news of the Quantum of the Seas it was said to be smaller than the Oasis & Allure .... but nothing further.

Does anyone know where this ship fits in? Is it larger than the Freedom or AOS size?

 

QOS is way smaller than Oasis Class but marginally bigger than Freedom Class. So it is bigger than AOS.

[Mac303]

A condensed review: Adventure, 04/07/13

 

Arrived in San Juan, on Saturday, stayed at the Sheraton Convention Center Hotel,

we did a self tour of Old San Juan. (have been to San Juan 4 times prior)

 

On Sunday arrived at port @11:30AM was on ship by 12:15.

 

The Duty Free shop at the port had a small but decent choice of wines, also

purchased some water and soda to carry on. (no issues with carry on)

 

Ship looks good, service was excellent, crew very friendly.

 

This cruise we had smooth seas, a few minor rain showers.

 

We did not go to the diamond events, so can't comment on it.

 

Shows were good, we did not go the the ice skating, been there done that.

 

Overall was a good cruise.

 

Would sail on The Adventure again without hesitation.

 

Now for the issues, NONE impacted the overall experience:

 

1. The toilets stopped working for approximately 9 hours during a port

day. it appeared to be limited to the cabins on 9th deck center hump

area only.

 

2. When checking in for our return flight, the Internet was the slowest I

have ever experienced on a ship. And printer issue slowed it even more.

 

3. The printer had to be coaxed to print out the boarding passes, it would

only print out page one of three, I had to change settings from print all

pages, to print each page individually, this took what should have been

a 10 minute use of the Internet into a 30 minute experience, as all

others trying to print boarding passes were experiencing the same

issues. Each person then would pass on the "how to print info"

along to the next person. Notified Customer Service, they passed on

the complaints to the IT people.

 

Separate from the Ship experience was the San Juan Airport. A

disorganized mess, The airlines will not let you check in your luggage

until it is four hours or less before your flight, so waiting around the

airport with little to no seating, along with hundreds of other cruise

passengers was interesting to say the least. Unfortunately the luggage

valet program is not offered in San Juan.

 

 

Excursions that we did were:

 

Stingray Swim & Snorkel in St John's Antigua, had a great time.

 

Dolphin & Whale Watch in St Lucia, and did see plenty of dolphins and 4 whales.

 

Harrison's Cave & Island Tour, was a really nice tour, the facilitys at Harrison's cave are excellent, after the island tour the driver gave the option of going to town for shopping or back to the ship.

 

In St. Marteen, we rented a van from Hertz (party of 6) at the pier, (pre cruise reservation online) and drove around the island with a long stop at Maho Beach for the plane landings and takeoffs

Edited April 19, 2013 by Mac303

[Ocean Boy]

Glad to see that someone here besides me likes caves!:)

[Clarea]

Glad to see that someone here besides me likes caves!:)

We just got back from an Explorer cruise to Bermuda and saw the Crystal Caves. Very interesting and incredible formations. No bats at all.;)

[karena1]

So excited about going on Adventure. One we love the Southern Caribbean and never get tired of going there. But two - will be so cool to go out of San Juan on a bigger ship. have not been on a Voyager class since 2004 and never on Adventure so also a new ship for us, so cannot wait. Nice to know our big cruises are booked all the way through April 2015 and I just have to book short cruises around it.

[rcprncss]

I just got back from two weeks on the Adventure. We loved the itinerary and the ship. One of the best RCI cruises in a very long time. :)

[Garn]

Glad to hear you had a great time. Wish I were still on her (and not just because it snowed two nights ago)

[sellwingri]

We'll be on the AOS for the 2nd time in Mar '14 and I'm already counting the days. WE were thrilled to actually find a cruise with ports we've never visited after 8 previous cruises. Never been to Aruba or Curacao but we will be in a short 11 months (but who's counting????)

 

We stayed at the Embassy Suites in San Juan and will be staying there again. It's a great hotel with a nice little casino.

 

It's so exciting to see a thread devoted to my 2nd favorite ship, after Brilliance.

Edited April 24, 2013 by sellwingri

[pauldell]

We will be ahead of you on January 12, 2014. Sorry we will miss you. It seems so close to the holidays, but we booked it because the following week is Martin Luther King day so I'll have the following Monday off of work. I now know that I'll need this day to recover. ;)

 

Koohiichan

 

Hey there! We are also booked on AOS for Jan 12!!! Can't wait! We booked back in Feb when I found a great deal on a grand suite!! This will be our third time on Adventure, and can't wait! The last time was back in Sept 2009 where we met a great group of friends who we still try and cruise with every few years and our cruise BFF's that we pretty much go on every cruise with and they will most probably join us in January. Stop by and say hi on our roll call when you get a chance. It is very small now but I am sure it will pick up in no time!!

See you in January! :D

 

Paul

[mom4travel]

So excited. We just booked AOS for next year, January 2014 for the "B" itinerary (Antigua - St. Lucia, etc.). We just came back from the "A" itinerary (St. Thomas-Curacao, etc.) this past February. Had an awesome time. We think you just can't beat sailing out of San Juan in the winter time and the only disappointment we had with our last cruise was not getting to stay on for the other itinerary. Unfortunately, we just can't take off two weeks for a back-to-back at this time in our lives.

 

Robyn: if you read this, we will be sorry to miss you guys and the other February cruisers, but Jan will work better for us next year. Hope the weather, etc., is just as lovely this time of year. Also, if you or anyone else who has done the "B" itinerary has any suggestions on excursions, etc., I'd love to hear them.

 

Yay!

 

Kooiichan

 

Hi,

 

I have been searching this thread and it is possible that I just missed the information I am looking for . . . but, I would love to know from you guys which itinerary you think is best -- either A or B. Pro's/Con's of either . . . We are ready to book, but, just can't seem to make our mind up!

 

Thanks for any help or suggestions!!

[rupertfrog]

Hi,

 

I have been searching this thread and it is possible that I just missed the information I am looking for . . . but, I would love to know from you guys which itinerary you think is best -- either A or B. Pro's/Con's of either . . . We are ready to book, but, just can't seem to make our mind up!

 

Thanks for any help or suggestions!!

 

We have done the Barbados, St Lucia, St Maarten, Antigua, St Kitts route a few times .... LOVED it. We did the Aruba route only once but would do it again.

We LOVE the ship & would go whereever she travels in the Caribbean!

But after all of our (not that many) cruises .... think Barbados is our favorite island. Have had very different experiences each time we've been there ... and still have plenty more options. The people we have encountered on Barbados have been very hospitable ... KEY on Barbados the US money & Barbadian money are not equal ... so check that you are paying the price of the currency you are using. We have NEVER had them overcharge us based on that but people say they have been .... so be forewarned to watch the pricing.

[Deangriff77]

On board right now. Having a pretty poor experience. Had one customer service rep try to get me to lend him 20 dollars to cover a mistake he made. Had a bar guy refuse to serve us due to a problem with the card kept sending us back to reception even though reception kept saying there was no problem. Turns out, he didnt want to write out a physical receipt, the entire time we were there he ignored us by reading the cruise news rather than deal with us. Then, we decided to get a bite to eat, only to be told that the wind jammer was running late then we were PHYSICALLY removed. Seriously, the manager, a guy named Phil, physically put his hands on us and ushered us backwards out of hallway. I couldn't believe it. Thing is, I have never complained before but am seriously thinking about complaining this time. It's like the crew hate us. Thing is, I've got two more cruises booked and paid for with RC and am now considering just not going due to this experience. I need help on how to complain without having to experience any more negativity during my last two days on board.

[Yorkshire Voyagers]

On board right now. Having a pretty poor experience. Had one customer service rep try to get me to lend him 20 dollars to cover a mistake he made. Had a bar guy refuse to serve us due to a problem with the card kept sending us back to reception even though reception kept saying there was no problem. Turns out, he didnt want to write out a physical receipt, the entire time we were there he ignored us by reading the cruise news rather than deal with us. Then, we decided to get a bite to eat, only to be told that the wind jammer was running late then we were PHYSICALLY removed. Seriously, the manager, a guy named Phil, physically put his hands on us and ushered us backwards out of hallway. I couldn't believe it. Thing is, I have never complained before but am seriously thinking about complaining this time. It's like the crew hate us. Thing is, I've got two more cruises booked and paid for with RC and am now considering just not going due to this experience. I need help on how to complain without having to experience any more negativity during my last two days on board.

 

What length of cruise are you doing on the Adventure at the moment???

[Deangriff77]

We are doing 2 2 day samplers back to back from Southampton to France.

[freedman]

I'm just off the transatlantic and the first 2 night cruise.

 

There was a noticeable drop off in service for the 2 night cruise which may have been due to a huge changeover of staff which took place after the transatlantic.

 

Still had a great time though due to the great weather and the unexpected stop in Cherbourg (was orginally a cruise to nowhere) which was lovely. Got a stupendously good rate on a Royal Family Suite which helped too!

 

Hope the 2nd 2 nighter works out better for you. The awful service you received is definitely not the norm for RCI.

[Yorkshire Voyagers]

Adventure is almost our second home, we've just left after another 4 weeks on board including the transatlantic. I can honestly say we've never experienced anything remotely like this, your post comes as a shock

 

Who do you mean by 'customer service rep' - its more than any of the staff's job is worth to risk asking to borrow money from a guest, and they do value their jobs.

 

The Windjammer Manager is someone we've known for many years and is definitely not called Phil

 

Will be interested to hear the rest of your comments.

[Missus Makkem]

got to agree with Yorkshire voyagers .

[CRUISEFAN0001]

We have done the Barbados, St Lucia, St Maarten, Antigua, St Kitts route a few times .... LOVED it. We did the Aruba route only once but would do it again.

We LOVE the ship & would go whereever she travels in the Caribbean!

But after all of our (not that many) cruises .... think Barbados is our favorite island. Have had very different experiences each time we've been there ... and still have plenty more options. The people we have encountered on Barbados have been very hospitable ... KEY on Barbados the US money & Barbadian money are not equal ... so check that you are paying the price of the currency you are using. We have NEVER had them overcharge us based on that but people say they have been .... so be forewarned to watch the pricing.

That's been our experience as well.

 

We've been on AOTS twice now (most recently in February) - same ship, same destination ports - even the exact same cabin (by choice).

 

Great ship, great service, great food, great weather, great experiences.

 

Once she's dry docked late this year...Adventure should get a boost in terms of refurbishment. She's a great ship.

[Deangriff77]

Hi there guys. We made the complaint and so far we have been very happy with the response.

 

We have had a bottle of champagne as way of apology for the "borrowing money" thing. We have been promised an apology from the catering top guy and you're right, his name isn't Phil. So far, I am very happy and feel like they actually care, the follow up has been first class.

[Duddy]

Hi,

 

I have been searching this thread and it is possible that I just missed the information I am looking for . . . but, I would love to know from you guys which itinerary you think is best -- either A or B. Pro's/Con's of either . . . We are ready to book, but, just can't seem to make our mind up!

 

Thanks for any help or suggestions!!

 

We did the B trip in March and loved it. I had been to many of the "A-Trip" islands but moreso it was the kids' Easter week off school so that was the deciding factor.

 

I can write a short review later on. For now, please check out http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1788318 It is long, but ful of information. Robyn did a B2B with daily reports. Very cool.

 

~Bob~

[Missus Makkem]

Hi there guys. We made the complaint and so far we have been very happy with the response.

 

We have had a bottle of champagne as way of apology for the "borrowing money" thing. We have been promised an apology from the catering top guy and you're right, his name isn't Phil. So far, I am very happy and feel like they actually care, the follow up has been first class.

 

So glad to hear of your positive response and nice to know that the Management are looking after you.