Adventure of the Seas - Feb 6 - Feb 13 Reflections

[brm]

It is a day after our Adventure of the Seas cruise (February 6th-13th). I am back home in the cold New York City suburbs after a great vacation.

We spent 2 days prior to the cruise in Old San Juan (Sheraton) though after I made the reservation, I discovered that Royal Caribbean leaves from across the bay and I needed a short taxi ride to get to the boat. We loved the hotel anyway and it was very comfortable on their 9th floor pool with great views of the city. Old San Juan and its forts and free tram were very enjoyable.

Our cruise was great. The reason I like cruising is there are many things to do and each new port offers great anticipation and excitement. The reason I don’t like cruising is that I get sea sick. I picked this cruise because of the expected calm waters and we were in port every day but the sea day. We visited St Thomas, St Croix, Antigua, St. Lucia and Grenada.

We really had a great time. Though I had seen some comments about the ship looking tired and worn, I found none of that. The boat was very elegant and you had to look hard for any flaws. The cruise staff was wonderful. We did My Time Dinning and had the same wait staff for 5 out of 7 days and they took very good care of my wife and myself. Though we had a great time, I think there was room for improvement in a few areas. My negative comments here should not distract from the fact that it was a real WOW for much of the week.

We were non-stop for most of the 7 days and had limited time just to chill but I think that fit our personality.

Airport/Getting on and off the boat

Airport in San Juan was small. Luggage came out easy but there was a very long taxi line. Prices are fixed. It cost me $30 (including tip) to the Sheraton. It was $26 (including tip) from the ship to the Airport. We got to the airport a bit too early and I our flight was delayed about 2.5 hours on the way back. You could not check in until it was 4 hours before the flight was due to leave. Thus, we ended up standing around until 11:30 (about 2 hours after we arrived). Only piece of additional advice is your luggage has to be scanned by the department of agriculture before it can be dropped off. This was not obvious to me.

The ship was very efficient in getting us on to the ship and back off a week later. We got to the pier about 11:10 on February 3 and we were on the ship in about 20 minutes. First you drop off your luggage (with a tip for the guys who took it) and then on a line to show your documents and passport to get into the building. You now had to fill in a form to attest to your health (though it would take some courage to say you were not feeling well). After a short line, they took our signed document, took our picture and gave us our Sea Pass. It was next on to the boat (where we eluded the photographers).

We went to the Windjammer buffet which had just opened. I had too many bags with me and I regretted that I did not check my carry-on.

Getting off the boat was a breeze. I had changed my time of departure and was assigned Number 12. As we got to our location a bit early, we were almost immediately led off the boat and down the ramp to get our luggage. That was fast. There were porters there to help (if needed) and they had their own line. We just got on the big line and it moved very fast. Custom agents were very pleasant. Long line of taxis so no troubles back to the airport.

 

Health

Everything was very clean. They had hand sanitizer everywhere and you could not get into the buffet without using the machines or getting some from the person stationed there.

My wife and I were very healthy for the entire week. Stomachs great (other than eating too much). Biggest risk was in the pool area and deck 12 in the morning which was pretty wet. I did not see anyone slip but I was conscious of that as I walked the deck in the morning and right near dusk.

We came with bug spray (Off) which was hard to find in NY in the winter time but we never opened it. Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands had Zika cases but we never saw any mosquitos. Thus, we never felt a need to take it out (though a carried it around for a few days).

We did meet a few people who had small accidents and were in wheelchairs. One missed a step some place.

I took Bonine for the 7 days for seasickness and my wife used 2 patches. I was not seasick at all. Water was very calm and the distance between ports was very short. Thus, the boat speed seemed slow. I was apprehensive about our sea day but had no problems. This was our 11th cruise and one of the easiest for me on seasickness.

I was troubled by the amount of smoking locations and smokers. Lots of non-Americans on board. I just don’t get the fact that they set up a track to walk and run on deck 12 and every cycle you have to breathe secondhand smoke.

Cabin

We were in an inside cabin on deck 9. I found the room very functional. To me, the beds were comfortable and we generally slept great, especially since there is no light coming through. The Shower was small and I could never get it fully hot. We spent very little time in the room other than sleeping so it worked out find. Steward was very attentive. 3 nights of towel animals.

Food

We ate at the Windjammer buffet for Breakfast and Lunch. I am not a huge breakfast person but I like orange juice. This was the worse orange juice (if you can call it that) that I had tasted. They were happy to sell you fresh squeezed orange juice for $3.50 a pop. They made omelets for you but the line looked generally slow. I usually had cold cereal but not all of the cereals that I liked were always together so you had to go to a few stations to get it all. There was a toast person there. Waffles and pancakes were good with a strawberry and syrup mixture. No fresh strawberries or blueberries. Most days, I had to ask for a banana (when I discovered they had them) as they were not always out. No smoked fished. I give the breakfast a B. It got us started and I really did not want to eat too much as we were touring every day.

Lunch was a disappointment (which was not a surprise given some of the past reviews). I thought it lacked imagination. There were some hot dishes including some pasta but not all stations had everything. The salad bar varied from day to day with some days better than others. They cut meat every day but it was never beef (one day it was meat loaf). Pizza was pretty good. They had a station to make your own sandwiches but it lacked roast beef, pickles, chips, cole slaw or potato salad. We were eating at around 2 most days after coming back from 3-5 hours of touring. I give lunch a C.

Dinner was the complete opposite of lunch. We loved dinner. The MTD area was elegant and the staff great. We are not huge eaters. My wife is 100 pounds. Thus, we tried to limit to 3 courses. I think we disappointed our waiter when we only had a single main course each night. The food was very good. Of course, I liked the lobster tail on the second formal night the best but their salmon and sole were outstanding. Best part was dessert. My wife enjoyed different sorbets most nights. Their expresso chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream was quite memorable. We were able to eat in about an hour. For the most part, we ate at 8 (for a table for 2). Thus, I give dinner an A+.

Entertainment

We thought the entertainment was good. We saw 4 comic shows (2 by one comic including 2 adult late time shows, 2 specialty shows by the ships dancers and singers, one balancing act and one flute player (which I fell asleep on). We went to the ice show twice and loved that. The 7 PM performance was the better one to attend since it did not get filled until the end. We got there little before 6 to line up. We were told that the 9 PM show sold out. We went back on the sea day and there was room for everyone. Where there were 2 shows, we were generally at the early show and had dinner afterward. The early show was not well attended and one of the comics said he was saving his best stuff for when there are more than 12 folks attending (there were more than that so I thought the comment was insulting to the folks who came out to support him – he was the best of all of the entertainment and his Bill Cosby was great). I did go to some of the 9 PM show which was packed (I stood for 30 minutes) and he did do more stuff.

We were at Quest which was crazy. The folks really got into it with pants and bras coming off. We got there at 10:30 for the performance and ending standing for a bit before we got someone’s seats. We left at 11:30 and they were still going strong.

We sat at a few bars during the week (though we don’t drink on the ship due to our medication for seasickness) and liked the piano man and the young lady singing mostly 70s tunes. We passed by as their guitarist was sing a great version of American Pie (my favorite as I can still remember it as a freshman in college in 1971 when it first came out).

The Love and Marriage show was very funny as the honeymooners did not seem to have any limits and shared a bit too much information about their love life.

They had 2 shows on the 5th floor. One was a 70s show complete with their version of the Village People. It was way too crowded so we did not enjoy it. They had a Caribbean parade which we watched from the comfort of the 8th floor and it was fine.

Pool and hot tubs were fine. I like to swim so it was a little harder to do so since most were sittings around the pool. It was hard getting chairs on the sea day. We got there early but the Pool Patrol moved our stuff into a sunny area. I thought they could have done more at the pool area on sail away days. It never seemed that exciting there. In fact, we saw the Britannia twice. We were both sailing from Grenada (it was their last day before the end of their cruise) and they were waving British flags and playing happy music. They did seem to be having a bit more fun as we left the harbor.

My wife and I played miniature golf about 5 times. Course was hard but a lot of fun. We did play table tennis once though I was disappointed that their tournament was held when we were in port and not on our sea day

We saw 2 movies in their small movie room on the 2nd deck (Bridges among Spies and Pen). They seem to be repeated a lot so I was disappointed that I did not see more. They did saw movies on the pool deck (11) but the times were never convenient. One of the movies I missed (The Intern) was shown on the plane back to NY so that worked out well.

I think ice skating was offered only on 2 days. I ice skated for about 15 minutes on our sea day and I would have liked a picture of me in my blue provided skates, helmet and elbow pads. As I wrote to my daughter, at least I did not kill myself.

They had a nice set-up for the super bowl which I saw the beginning and end.

Meeting the captain of the ship was a bit anticlimactic as there was no line to get our picture taken (which did not come out too good so we did not opt to pay $22 to purchase it).

Ports

St. Thomas – We took a shared taxied to Coral Park ($10 shared taxi a person) and enjoyed Stingrays and a Sea Lion. We then taxied ($10 taxi a person) to town to do a little window shopping. Though you could walk back to the boat in the hot sun, it was a long journey so we opted for the $4 a piece taxi to the boat.

St. Croix - Very disappointing port. We first went to the beach which was on our left as we excited the pier. We are not big beach people so we did not find it very attractive. We instead opted for a group taxi ride (about $20 a person round trip) to the bigger area – Christiansted. It had some nice shops and an attractive port area. We also toured the fort. Not much to see in the van up and back. Back in port, there were some tents set up to sell local merchandise but we just bought some cokes.

St. John, Antigua - Very attractive Island. We came out and were matched with 2 other couples for a 3 hours tour going to Nelson Dockyards and a bit around the Island ($30 including tip a person). It was a very pleasant morning. We got some great views and learned a bit about their Island.

Castries St. Lucia – Great day but hampered by rain and fog. Again, we got matched with 3 other couples for a 4 hour tour (which lasted 5 hours) with a cost of $40 person. We saw a lot but it felt a little long. The main sites are a ways away so we were going down winding roads up and down the Island. We saw the Pitons with a great view from some restaurant. We drove into the volcano and paid to get a closer look with one of their guides. Sulfur smell but very fascinating to see the steam and bubbling water. Next we paid to get into the Botanical Gardens and quickly walked to see their waterfall. We passed some other pretty towns.

St. George, Grenada – Probably our best port. We shared a tour with some couples from cruise critic. Again a 4 hour tour that lasted 5 hours. We went to Concord falls, the chocolate factory, the nutmeg factory, a plantation where were learned about chocolate, nutmeg, clove and cinnamon. We drove through the rain forest and visited their crater lake. Again, great views and learned a lot about their country including when the Americas came to rescue them in the 80s.

Sea Day – Not my favorite day. Everyone by the pool. I would have liked to see a bit more activities than the world’s sexiest man and the belly flop contest. We ended up in the afternoon the bar area on the 14th deck in air conditioned comfort with a great view of the pool below and the surrounding Caribbean.

Overall impression

We met some very interesting people along the way. Everyone seemed to be having fun. We had a great time. It lead up to expectations and more.

[Clarea]

Glad to hear Adventure is still doing a great job.:)

[sg1phileshipper]

Seems like you a had a great cruise. Thanks for sharing :)

Cindy

 

 

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[maggieq]

Thanks for the review. We are going on the adventure soon and same itin. Can you tell me if they give out tickets for the ice show or how that is scheduled? Thanks!

[JimAOk1945]

Glad to hear you had an enjoyable cruise. We have been on the Adventure of the Seas twice (two different itineraries) and had a great time.

 

Thanks for posting your review.

[titansrobin]

Thanks for the review. I will be on Adventure with my son and daughter in-law Saturday doing the same itinerary. Staying in San Juan for a couple of days pre cruise. Can't wait.

 

 

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[cincicruisers]

Thank you for taking the time to post your review.

[keishashadow]

Thank you for your review. I've been waiting to read one for 'my' upcoming itinerary.

 

Good to hear the food in the MDR was a hit. Breakfast sounds disappointing, no smoked salmon? Any bacon, ham or sausage offered?

 

Re Grenada, we took a cab to Grand Anse and were 'schooled' by the driver that many residents deemed the US involvement there as an invasion. Didn't stop him accepting our tip.;)

[brm]

There were no tickets for the ice show so first come first serve. On Tuesday (I think), there were 2 shows 7 and 9. We got there at 6 with doors opening at 6:30. We were not first in line but no more than a dozen folks. I still think you can come at close to 7. We sat on the side. When we went back on Friday (Sea Day), we sat facing the skaters and that was better. Plenty of room on the sea day so if you don't like to stand on line, that is your day. We meet interesting people on line so we did not mind standing. The 9 show is much more crowded as was any of the entertainment days. Most folks ate early so that made things much more packed. Since we generally ate at 8, the early show was better for us. The entertainment seemed program for folks eating around 6 so I found it quiet on the boat from 9-10 PM when most folks were at the late show.

 

Regarding the breakfast question, there seemed to be bacon, sausage and if I remember they were cutting ham. Hash Browns, grilled tomatos and plenty of hot cereal. I liked their black bread which I then added some cheese. There was certainly plenty of food to fuel up for our tours.

 

For the folks who responded, you will have a great time. So many things to do so study each day's compass to make your choices. Honestly, one of my most favorite things to do was walking on deck 12 as we were leaving each port and waiting for sunset (around 6:15). Thus, it can be the simpler things that are the most memorable (beside their chocolate desserts).

[laauuren]

Thanks for the review! We will be on Adventure with the same itinerary on April 2nd. Question: were there 2 formal nights or 1, and do you recall which days they were on? Trying to coordinate w/ a group of 12 and possibly do mystery theatre, but everyone's worried about missing formal night.

[Sky616]

Your review was very thorough and well written. Thanks. We will be on this ship in 7 weeks but different itinerary with only St. Croix being the same.

[dividedsky]

Thanks for the review! We will be on Adventure with the same itinerary on April 2nd. Question: were there 2 formal nights or 1, and do you recall which days they were on? Trying to coordinate w/ a group of 12 and possibly do mystery theatre, but everyone's worried about missing formal night.

 

There were two the 2nd night (St. Thomas) and 6th night (Grenada).

 

We were on the same cruise. Fantastic time :)

[itchintocruise]

Thanks for the review, sounds like the ship won't fall apart before we get on in 3 weeks.:cool: Just a little concerned about the disappointing breakfast options as this is my favorite meal.

[yknot13]

Thank you for your review. I've been waiting to read one for 'my' upcoming itinerary.

 

Good to hear the food in the MDR was a hit. Breakfast sounds disappointing, no smoked salmon? Any bacon, ham or sausage offered?

 

Re Grenada, we took a cab to Grand Anse and were 'schooled' by the driver that many residents deemed the US involvement there as an invasion. Didn't stop him accepting our tip.;)

 

Smoked salmon is available daily upon request.

Fantastic made to order omelets as well.

Ham and bacon were available daily and very good.

Sausage was available but I did not try it.

[gowensricks]

Thank you for your review. Sounds as though overall, you had a wonderful cruise! I am really looking forward to my turn on Adventure in three months now.