Just off Adventure of the Seas 3/24-3/31/2013

[vikqueen]

We stopped by Orient Beach but only wanted to stay about an hour since we had had too much sun already and we wanted to get to Maho Beach in time to see the 747 land at 1. Here $10 bought 2 chairs with really nice, thick cushions, an umbrella and 2 rum drinks, $5/ person! That made it worthwhile for even our short stop.

 

[/img]

 

This beach was beautiful. It was all soft sand and the bluest blues. My pics do not do it justice. My nephew appreciated the fact that although we were not on the nude part some women still went topless.

 

[/img]

 

I would love to return here.

[vikqueen]

I really enjoyed St Martin, so many scenic vistas and David was a fun host. He definitely had his prejudices pro-Dutch side but I loved hearing his viewpoint.

 

[/img]

 

In Marigot we stopped for lunch at Seraphina's, yum! I had a delicious ham and cheese croissant and we all enjoyed a pastry for dessert. There is a lot of shopping available here, but we wanted to time our arrival at Maho beach so we moved on.

 

[/img]

[Duddy]

Did u fly in the day before? Where did u stay?

 

We flew in on Saturday. Early non-stop from Philly so we were there by lunchtime. We stayed at the San Juan Marriot. Beautiful place, I would definitely stay there again. The only thing I did not like was that the room was not available until 4pm so we missed out on the day of sightseeing we had hoped for. I should have asked ahead to get an early room. I will do that next time if it is an option. FAST elevators!! Don't use the stairs. Sometimes they go to the next floor and sometimes you end up outside in an alley. No joke. Just sayin'

 

We killed time that day by enjoying the pool. Lunch was great at the pool restaurant. I think they were short-handed because the service was extremely slow. We waited almost 25 minutes to get a menu and then almost another hour for the food. But it was delicious! I wanted to return for dinner but they closed at 5pm. I think they are missing out on tons of potential business. :rolleyes:

 

We had dinner at an pizza joint right down the street. That was very good and a lot of food. I forget the name but it is on the same side of the street and has a porch. If you get one of the personal pizzas, split it with someone. It is huge! :D

 

Walgreens was right down the street for a few last-minute toiletries and wine for boarding. And all the alcohol is incredibly cheap. I felt like spending $500 on booze and asking them to ship it home for me!

 

Pics to come

 

~Bob~

[vikqueen]

We got to Maho just a a KLM 747 was coming in, it was loud, scary and fun (we didn't get directly under it).

 

[/img]

 

The beach itself was nice but small and very crowded.

 

[/img]

 

There is a bar there, also crowded and a bit loud, we couldn't find anywhere to sit in the shade there.

 

[/img]

 

So we stayed a short while watching some smaller planes take off and land then headed back to the ship. This was really fun thing to do, once, I don't think I'll be back.

 

View of our ship on the way back:

 

[/img]

[Duddy]

We stopped by Orient Beach but only wanted to stay about an hour since we had had too much sun already and we wanted to get to Maho Beach in time to see the 747 land at 1. Here $10 bought 2 chairs with really nice, thick cushions, an umbrella and 2 rum drinks, $5/ person! That made it worthwhile for even our short stop.

 

 

This beach was beautiful. It was all soft sand and the bluest blues. My pics do not do it justice. My nephew appreciated the fact that although we were not on the nude part some women still went topless.

 

I would love to return here.

 

Great pics!!

 

St Maarten is still my favorite. Been there like 5 times. I love walking through the shops in town. Almost missed Guavaberry's! My wife already opened her banana rum. YUMMM. 80 proof. Whoa!

 

Wanted to do the nude beach but this was a family & in-laws vacation. We'll be doing the clothing optional at the B&B next month in the Keys ;) Any takers? :cool: LOL

 

~Bob~

[john kaz]

great read so far Vikqueen

[NorbertsNiece]

John Kaz - If you go to Norbert's Niece and click on the "HERE" at the end of the line where it says Adventure B2B, it will direct you to the thread with her blog and pictures - great reading and wonderful pictures.

 

Thanks!!

 

Loving these pics.... bringing back many memories.....

[Duddy]

Thanks!!

 

Loving these pics.... bringing back many memories.....

 

At last count when we were still in St Lucia, I was up around 800 pictures already! Not sure what the final total was. Of course I will only post the very best on here. There just simply is not enough space.

 

I did take some very nice ones of public rooms/lounges on boarding day before most folks were even onboard. I will try to post them in the CC ship photo gallery.

 

~Bob~

[vikqueen]

Thanks John and Nobert's Niece! Bob, St Martin was the favorite for everyone in my family, too. I can't believe I forgot to mention the Guavaberry cocktail! YUM! I'm glad you got a lot of ship photos, we must've been charging the camera all the time after getting back from port!

 

Wednesday I awoke in Antigua. It was overcast and the forecast was for showers off and on. With so many ports on our schedule we tried to throw in several beach only days, and weather or not, this was one of them! We took a bus (#20) to Jolly Harbour Beach (the free side). It cost $1.50 a person and the only hard thing was walking past cab drivers near the port and then waiting for the bus to fill up (took about 20 minutes). Lots of students going to school.

 

After the bus lets you off it is a short walk to Castaways where you can rent chairs, etc. A woman named Joyce offered us two chairs and an umbrella for $15, which is less than we had been told from the Antigua site so we took it. It was such a beautiful setting in a horseshoe with milky white water!

 

[/img]

 

We were the only ones in this part of the beach for 1/2 an hour, doubtless due to the on and off rain showers.

 

[/img]

 

This was truly a beautiful beach. It was so easy to just float or play in the waves. You couldn't see your hand below the surface though!

 

[/img]

 

Joyce came by later, said she noticed we came by bus but if we would let her nephew drive us back she would charge $5 a person rather than $8, and we took her up on it. The taxis are big enough to carry all 6 of us.

 

Besides the weather this was another lovely day, and since we were wet anyways it didn't ruin anything!

[vikqueen]

In St Lucia we had a Serenity tours land and sea tour. I had been especially looking forward to visiting this island! It was easy to meet our guides right on the dock. We had John as a driver and Ingrid as a guide, these two had us laughing all day long! We stopped to visit the church in town but it was closed, maybe due to Good Friday? So we just visited the park across the street as Ingrid gave us a little history of the place.

 

[/img]

 

We stopped at a scenic overlook and ate creole fish rolls with banana ketchup, these were super good!

 

[/img]

 

They also served us pop, water, rum punch, and beer throughout the day. We loved the non-alcoholic guava juice!

 

We stopped at a banana plantation and learned about how this fruit is grown. We were given a banana to try and I stopped at a stand to buy some spices and banana bbq sauce-- it is tasty!

 

We drove through a couple of fishing villages and stopped in one for creole bread, they taught my daughter how to ask for it in creole and she found that to be a lot of fun!

 

[/img]

 

I liked the local element of this tour, visiting the real bakery, etc.

[vikqueen]

We stopped at a roadside coconut stand and tried the coconuts. A woman cut them open to drink with a machete and when the liquid was gone she cut it in half so we could eat the pulp! She let some of us try, it was not easy. I bet her kids do what she tells them to do!

 

[/img]

 

We then went to a beautiful little garden in the rainforest, it was amazing.

 

[/img]

 

My favorite pic of the week:

 

[/img]

 

Then we stopped for a buffet lunch at a restaurant called Beacon, it was colorful with jaw dropping views of the Pitons and the food was delicious.

 

[/img]

[vikqueen]

We took a private tour so that we could have a mudbath in the volcano. The water there was hot! The mud is not easy to rinse off, but we all believed our skin felt better afterwards!

 

We then met with the boat for the sea part of the tour. I was a bit nervous when I saw our driver because he looked pretty rastifarian and I hoped he wasn't smoking, but that was my prejudice, he was friendly, kind, and full of helpful facts. He was also a great driver, taking us through some arches and caves.

 

[/img]

 

[/img]

 

[/img]

 

It was fun to see the island from both the land and the sea. We stopped to snorkel a bit on the way back to the ship, it helped get off any missed mud spots!

 

This was a long day full of activity, we had a great time. We got back to the ship at 4. I highly recommend this tour.

[vikqueen]

Our final port was Barbados. We signed up for a snorkeling with the turtles excursion through Calabaza. They sent a taxi driver to the port to bring us on the short trip to the catamaran. This was a 5 hour cruise with lunch and drinks and snacks with two snorkel stops planned. The crew was very friendly and were great hosts. They told us about the island as we sailed up to where we would snorkel with the turtles. But then Danny got a call that someone had seen a whale nearby so we left the turtles to wait and went looking for the whale. We didn't see him at first, but then we did! He surfaced several times and then completely breached! No I did not get a good pic, this is the best I can do:

 

[/img]

 

He's in there, I promise! This excited me so much!

 

Then we went to snorkel with the turtles. There were a lot of them and they didn't seem shy. Besides turtles there wasn't much to see here, aside from a few stingrays.

 

[/img]

 

[/img]

[vikqueen]

I liked this excursion for the last day. It was very relaxing just sailing along. There was plenty of room on the catamaran since they only let 12 passengers per trip, so you could easily find a place in the sun or the shade to hang out.

 

[/img]

 

[/img]

 

[/img]

 

[/img]

[vikqueen]

We sailed to the second snorkeling stop at a shipwreck. There was a bit of a current here to you needed to pay attention to not float away!

 

We then stopped for lunch by a nice, sandy beach. The food was great and they sent us recipes after the tour! They also sent links to photos they took.

 

[/img]

 

[/img]

 

The crew always made sure we had drinks, but it didn't feel like a crazy party boat. The music was good but not ear-splitting. Unlike the cool runnings boat that went by with Psy cranked, they mooned us as they went by! (Another of my nephew's favorite moments)

 

[/img]

 

I thought this was a great tour to end our port stops!

[battchief1]

thanks for the review.

[Duddy]

Here is a basic review I posted the other day here on CC http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=217762

 

I downloaded the pics from the camera tonight. 919 Wow! Some were dupes or out of focus or whatever so there are really about 900. Many were crooked so I need to run them through Photoshop or something to slightly rotate them. My camera does have a level meter. Guess I need to actually use it :rolleyes:

 

~Bob~

[drarill]

Here is a basic review I posted the other day here on CC http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=217762

 

I downloaded the pics from the camera tonight. 919 Wow! Some were dupes or out of focus or whatever so there are really about 900. Many were crooked so I need to run them through Photoshop or something to slightly rotate them. My camera does have a level meter. Guess I need to actually use it :rolleyes:

 

~Bob~

 

Great review!! Thanks for sharing!:)

[vikqueen]

Nice review, Duddy! Glad you enjoyed your trip!

[cariad1000]

Excellent review Duddy, echoed my own experience pretty much. Great photos too viqqueen, mine would look pathetic alongside those, I'm such a rubbish photographer.

[Duddy]

quote=cariad1000;37850143]Excellent review Duddy, echoed my own experience pretty much. Great photos too viqqueen, mine would look pathetic alongside those, I'm such a rubbish photographer.

 

Thanks! I can only take good pictures with a good camera, so we just sucked it up and got a Canon SX 50. A little more than what i wanted to spend but I was extrememly pleased with the results.

 

For example I took the one out of the back of the moving water taxi in St Maarten. The other was straight into the morning sun. Both on automatic.

 

 

 

~Bob~

[vikqueen]

Beautiful pics, Duddy!

[AF-1]

Vikqueen and Duddy. Thanks for the great reviews and thanks for the info on San Juan Marriott. I think I have stayed there before. Nice pics

[Sunebeach]

Awesome review, loved the pics...

 

question? Were beer coolers available through RCI on Adventure? DH bought one on Allure last fall and was bringing with him, but recent reports they are not honoring the 'refill' deal anymore? Someone please advise...we leave in 5 days for SJ...:eek::D

[Duddy]

Awesome review, loved the pics...

 

question? Were beer coolers available through RCI on Adventure? DH bought one on Allure last fall and was bringing with him, but recent reports they are not honoring the 'refill' deal anymore? Someone please advise...we leave in 5 days for SJ...:eek::D

 

They had mike and Smirnoff's. Not a a lot of flavors of each but theyhave them. I think that was on embarkation day and they were not cold attghe tiome, so possibly be prepared to ask for ice. I drank mostly beer.

 

One thing, some of the frozen drinks came in these http://www.mycokerewards.com/rewards/royal-caribbean-international-12oz-clear-plastic-soda-can-cup/26413?WT.z_flt1=keyword&WT.z_flt2=all&WT.z_flt3=all&WT.z_pclick=1&WT.z_flt4=all+Points&WT.ac=Royal+Caribbean_1_26413_7_2_c If you use Coke Rewards, they are now available if you want more. 175 points each

 

~Bob~