Adventure of the seas-SAN JUAN

[WishICouldCruiseMore101]

We are looking to book the AOS out of San Juan in March but reading the most recent reviews has me really thinking the ship may not be up to par with quality.

 

Is this just the typical people only have time to post negative verus positive reviews or is the ship really on less quality side?

[tinaparrotthead]

I hope that is the case. We have been on the AOS 3 times and scheduled for 2 times this year. It has been since 2008 that we cruise on AOS so I hope these negative comments are just off base.....

[Clarea]

Our experience has been very positive on Adventure. So much so, that we will be going on Adventure again very soon.

[WishICouldCruiseMore101]

Thank you and I hope more will still chime in

[davekathy]

We are looking to book the AOS out of San Juan in March but reading the most recent reviews has me really thinking the ship may not be up to par with quality.

 

Is this just the typical people only have time to post negative verus positive reviews or is the ship really on less quality side?

 

Remember, everyone on Cruise Critic has a right to THEIR opinion concerning different aspects about their specific Cruise and will wright their review/comments accordingly. I read the good with the bad and just consider the source. All of our Cruises have been great with no complaints. That’s just us so I guess we are easy to please. We did a B2B Cruise on the Adventure in March/April 2012 and we are doing another B2B on the Adventure March/April 2015. We liked the ship and the ports. If you decide to book the Adventure, go, have fun and come back to CC and let all know what you thought of the Adventure Of The Seas.

Edited January 12, 2015 by davekathy

[bigque]

I am going on Adventure in October and I don't care anything about how bad anyone says it is. My 1st cruise was on Sovereign Of The Seas and you should have seen all the bad things people were saying about that ship back then. We overlooked all the bad reviews and went and had a blast. That Sovereign cruise is what made us really like cruising and now I pay no attention to the "Bad" reviews and will book any ship I want to go on and form my own opinion about how good or bad it is! Of my cruises thus far none of the ships I have been on have been bad and I am not expecting the same on Adventure! :cool:

Edited January 12, 2015 by bigque

[hummy0605]

We were on adventure out of san juan march 2013 and loved it - far more people take the time to moan and post negative reviews then positive ones

[WishICouldCruiseMore101]

You both are right and I just wanted to make sure. It's a big splurge for us with all of the flights and whatnot attached to it so we want to make sure we are good. Thank you!

[danp]

We will be on the Adventure leaveing San Juan on Jan 25.We are doing a B2b at that time.We love this class ships.To us we make a good time on whatever ship we are on.

[BillOh]

Our experience has been very positive on Adventure. So much so, that we will be going on Adventure again very soon.

 

 

You will have to me us know when so we can step up our answering questions during that time to cover :) I actually put a courtesy hold on Adventure for April 30th of 2016, but then Royal pulled Adventure's last 2 or 3 cruises out of San Juan from the schedule. I wonder if she will be going elsewhere?

[Sherman793]

We sailed on Adventure a little over a year ago and would love to go again. Great atmosphere, lovely ship, great service. Spent a day and a half before in San Juan and really would love to go back now that I have experienced more than the 4 hour stop you normally have. The beaches were beautiful. The itinerary is the best part of this cruise. The ship shows a little wear in spots, like some tiles are gone around the hot tubs...but who cares? It is no where near enough to be concerned. I LOVED the Salsa bands and the dancing at night. I hope you go and have a wonderful time!!:)

[Clarea]

You will have to me us know when so we can step up our answering questions during that time to cover :) I actually put a courtesy hold on Adventure for April 30th of 2016, but then Royal pulled Adventure's last 2 or 3 cruises out of San Juan from the schedule. I wonder if she will be going elsewhere?

I hope she's not going to China!:eek:

[leighuf]

The AOS isn't terribly old and I feel like RCCL does a good job keeping their ships looking nice over the years. Granted, there will be stains on carpets, some rust, and other signs of age. I never let little flaws ruin my trip. I'm sailing on the Splendour (a much smaller, older ship) later this year without hesitation.

 

I absolutely love the Southern Caribbean and Puerto Rico! I am sure you will have a wonderful time. :D

Edited January 12, 2015 by leighuf

[cruiseguy1016]

If you go on ANY ship looking for things to complain about (ruin your cruise :eek:), you will find them. If you go on ANY ship looking to have a good time (and enjoy your vacation :D), you will find that also. It all depends on what you want to look for.

[BARNET]

We cruised on AOS for 21 nights in Nov 14, TA for first 14 nights then 7 nights southern caribbean, only thing that was disappointing during the 21 nights was the waiter we had on the last 7 nights, he seemed to be total out of his depth one night we waited 35 mins between starters and the main course being served when it did arrive it was not what we had ordered.

Have read reviews from cruise that we have done before and sometimes wondered if we where on the same cruise, have cruised on AOS a couple of other times and enjoyed it what I would say is go with a open mind and enjoy yourself's.

[DawnC28]

We were on Adventure over Xmas (look up my prior posts), but all in all, it was a great cruise. The food in Windjammer was not up to my standards, but we did not go hungry.

 

A cruise is what you make it. We enjoyed the staff, especially Phillip in the Champagne Bar, Bryan, our cabin steward, and our My Time dining staff, Albert and Charlie. Guest services was great too...

 

We enjoyed the Xmas vibe with lots of local Puerto Rican families aboard, although lots of others thought they were over the top...

 

Loved the ports as well...and with all the Xmas decorations, we did not notice any worn areas.

 

Enjoy, and post a review once you've been!

[tsconley19]

I am going on Adventure in October and I don't care anything about how bad anyone says it is. My 1st cruise was on Sovereign Of The Seas and you should have seen all the bad things people were saying about that ship back then. We overlooked all the bad reviews and went and had a blast. That Sovereign cruise is what made us really like cruising and now I pay no attention to the "Bad" reviews and will book any ship I want to go on and form my own opinion about how good or bad it is! Of my cruises thus far none of the ships I have been on have been bad and I am not expecting the same on Adventure! :cool:

 

Ditto!

Sovereign was our first cruis back in 2002. That's what got us cruising. Adventure was our first big ship and loved it. Sailing her again in March. Honestly liked Adventure and Independence over the Allure.

Tom

[Mangomom77]

We sailed on AOS in 2008 and booked again for Feb 2015. We had a great experience the first time and expect nothing less this time. We understand that she has gone thru some upgrades. Really looking forward to the movies by the pool! Understand the Aquarium Bar is no longer. It was our favorite place to hang out. Our go-to point if we got separated. And a great place to meet with friends and have a drink before dinner. I am sure that whatever changes were made that we will love it. We agree that you cannot make everyone happy, but hey, we am on vacation and we WILL have a great time. Can't say that we have ever had a bad cruise. We have enjoyed every minute of everyone!

[donovan52]

We sailed on AOS in 2008 and booked again for Feb 2015. We had a great experience the first time and expect nothing less this time. We understand that she has gone thru some upgrades. Really looking forward to the movies by the pool! Understand the Aquarium Bar is no longer. It was our favorite place to hang out. Our go-to point if we got separated. And a great place to meet with friends and have a drink before dinner. I am sure that whatever changes were made that we will love it. We agree that you cannot make everyone happy, but hey, we am on vacation and we WILL have a great time. Can't say that we have ever had a bad cruise. We have enjoyed every minute of everyone!

 

 

I think the aquarium bar is just called the lobby bar now, so you could still meet in the same spot!

 

We were in the Adventure in December and while a few things (Windjammer food, happiness of the crew in general) were not as good as in the past, we still had a fantastic time and would do it again in a second. We thought the entertainment was great, we had a great room steward (maybe the best we've ever had), and great service from the Champagne bar and Pool bar.

[Mach1]

We have been on the Adventure twice now and have the third scheduled, great ship, doesn't feel over crowed most the time. Haven't experienced anything super negative that I remember :p

 

Sailing out of San Juan to the Southern Caribbean is the best, no matter what ship you are on, you will have a great time! :)

 

~Enjoy

[2bthereagain]

I am also booked on AOS for August 2015. I can't wait! I too have read some of the negative reviews, but I try to keep them in perspective. For instance, in two of the more recent reviews one person complains that her salmon tasted 'fishy' and another complained that there was too much shade around the children's pool. Really?! The fish tasted like fish and the kids didn't get sunburned in the middle of the Southern Caribbean - how terrible..... Must have really ruined the cruise :confused:

 

I just don't understand some people's expectations. You can't please everyone all of the time. And you can't please some people any of the time.

 

Have fun on AOS, we will!

[cruiselover04]

You will have to me us know when so we can step up our answering questions during that time to cover :) I actually put a courtesy hold on Adventure for April 30th of 2016, but then Royal pulled Adventure's last 2 or 3 cruises out of San Juan from the schedule. I wonder if she will be going elsewhere?

 

I have heard that she is going in for refurbishment in April 2016. I wonder if that's why these dates have been pulled from the schedule.

 

Jenni

[thrifty99]

We have sailed the Allure / Oasis the past several cruises so was not sure how we would like a smaller ship for our recent Adventure sailing. We went into it hoping for a more intimate experience on a smaller ship. We have also sailed on the Liberty and Jewel.

 

First, It is all personal preference, but after sailing on the Adventure the larger ships are definitely our preference. I will outline below why we prefer the Oasis class so you can see if the same things matter to you or not. And we have NEVER felt like we wasted our money on a Royal Caribbean cruise - they are always enjoyable and memorable no matter what ship you are on.

 

As to the most recent sailings on each, we were on the Allure in Nov 2014 and about 5 weeks later on the Adventure in Dec 2014. The main reasons we like the larger ships are:

 

- Quality and number of shows. The Broadway and headliner shows are SO MUCH BETTER on the Oasis class. We actually did not enjoy the shows on Adventure. Oasis class also has more shows such as the Cirque de Soleil style of show and AquaTheater shows. We found the Ice Shows comparable on both. Comedy shows depend on the comedian.

 

- Crowds. I found the Adventure felt more crowded than the Oasis class. For example, the lines at the Promenade cafe were longer at times. Part of this is due to the Adventure having the Promenade cafe compared to Oasis class having the Promenade cafe and Sorentos both on the Promenade (more about dining below). The Oasis class has so much more room / more venues to spread out in. The Oasis class has the Central Park, Boardwalk, and Promenade large open areas compared to just the Promenade on the Adventure.

 

I did find the pool areas felt more crowded on the Oasis class. However, most of our trips on those ships were at Spring Break with ships at full capacity.

 

- Food. Definitely prefer all the food choices available on the Oasis class. Adventure has Main Dining Room, Windjammer, Giovanni's, Promenade Cafe (has pizza like Sorentos but can't make your own), and Johnny Rockets.

 

Allure has Main Dining Room, Windjammer, Giovanni's, Johnny Rockets, Rita's Cantina, Boardwalk Dogs, Promenade Cafe, Park Cafe, Izumi, Sorentos Pizza, Chops, Solarium (Samba Grill at night), 150 Central Park, Vintages, WipeOut Cafe.

 

The Solarium offers a healthier menu for breakfast (free) which is nice. There are just a LOT more choices for both complimentary and specialty dining on the Oasis class.

 

We have not been happy with our Main Dining Room experiences on any ship the past few years and now enjoy the specialty restaurants. We feel the food and service are better and worth the up charge.

 

Activities. Both had similar activities such as karaoke, trivia, contests, etc. But there were not many people at the events we attended (karaoke and Majority Rules game). We won the Majority Rules but there were only 7 teams participating.

 

Adventure had a great piano bar entertainer (Matt Yee) that my wife and 18-year old son enjoyed nightly. Those depend on who is on your particular sailing.

 

The Oasis class has the FlowRiders which our son enjoys. I also like the jogging / walking track on the Oasis class as it has its own deck.

 

Since we sailed out of San Juan, there were a lot of Spanish speaking guests. For this reason they do ALL the announcements/comments before shows and activities in both English and Spanish (which is understandable). However, some of the comments by the staff got long-winded and you had to listen to them in each language. I wish they would keep the stories / funny comments shorter if they are going to tell them twice as it got tiring after a while.

 

Internet: this is an easy one... on the Allure in November I paid $136 for the mid level internet package (w/ Emerald Discount). Download speeds of about 2Mbps. The Adventure was $161 with the discount and was HORRIBLE. After the first day of having to wait 5 minutes for a page to load I cancelled and received a full refund. Maybe it improved later in the week, but I found it unusable.

 

Ports: Adventure wins here as they stop at more ports and has fewer days at sea. If you want to see more islands / do more excursions then Adventure wins. Oasis class does stop at their private port of Labadee which is a nice day of relaxing activities. We have been spending less time sight seeing at ports, so more days at sea is our preference.

 

Staterooms: Hard to compare. On the Allure we have had Oceanview Balconies, Junior Suite, Grand Suite, and Owner Suite. On the Adventure we had the Royal Family Suite for the 3 of us. That was a great suite... 2 bedrooms / 2 bathrooms and a huge aft balcony. I would prefer to not have an aft balcony as I like to watch as we are approaching a new port, but the RFS was the best stateroom we have ever had.

 

Summary: the shows and variety of dining venues are the big items for us. Fewer ports / more days at sea also preferable to us. If you enjoy seeing more ports, don't need the variety of specialty restaurants, and are not as particular about shows at night then Adventure will be an awesome cruise for you.

 

 

 

 

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[crisndeefromde]

Can't wait to board the Adventure of the Seas in a few weeks for another b2b! already have 2016 booked on Adventure as well. Love cruising out of San Juan and the size of the ship and the fantastic crew. Food is food. Not everyone is going to like everything.

[pcur]

We were on the Adventure for the 12/7/14 sailing. We had been on the Jewel the week before, also out of San Juan.

 

The Adventure ship, crew, and food were all great. We enjoyed the whole experience that RCCL presented. Our dining and cabin staff were amazing!

 

HOWEVER, we had some issues with the other passengers from Puerto Rico being extremely (I mean VERY) noisy. Usually it's not a problem for us, because there are so many places to go on a cruise ship. But, this was all over the ship!

 

I think it might have been because of the time of year during the holidays, as closer to Christmas the prices go way up, so this sailing was lower priced in early December. There were huge numbers of large family groups that moved in large packs of people. It made walking around and using the elevators difficult.

 

The Windjammer was always very,very crowded, too. They served lunch from 11:30 - 5:00, and by 4pm they ran out of entree food. It was like this on most days.

 

My son (33) said it was like everyone on the ship wanted to make sure they got their money's worth of food. The specialty restaurants were practically empty, while we saw people in the main dining room eating SIX entrees (yes, six).

 

Noisy, tired toddlers and young children were a problem, because the whole family wanted to stay together, so there was no one to stay in the cabin with the little ones in the evening. So, the parents brought them into the dining room and entertainment venues after dinner. The head waiter had a serious problem with a toddler at the next table crawling around on the floor and creating a tripping hazard for the dining staff.

 

Having said all this, I'm happy that others had really great cruises on the AOS. We just no longer want to sail out of PR anymore.