Adventure B2B Trip & Ultimate Beach Review 4/16/16 - 4/30/16 (photo bomb)!!!

[AZAficionado]

San Juan, Puerto Rico (Day 8/1):

18°27'31" N 66°5'44" W

 

We woke up to a pretty typical Caribbean day - it was drizzling a little, overcast on and off, blazing hot sun, the entire mixed bag.

 

We departed the ship at about 9:30 or so. With the express lines and In-Transit Cards, it took only a few minutes to get through customs. They (Immigration, et al.) wouldn't let me take pictures. Boo!!! Hiss!! To be serious, I get it. They don't want anyone being able to study photos and circumvent their security measures. Of course, there's a few hundred miles of border in AZ that doesn't have so much as a "Welcome to America" sign to stop anyone, let alone check the contents of their bags for prohibited items, but let's not open that little can of worms...

 

We grabbed a cab ($12 for two people) to Old San Juan and just wandered around.

 

Old San Juan:

18°27'50" N 66°6'54" W

 

There is a huge castle at the western end of Old San Juan. We lucked out as it was National Parks Week and the entry fee ($5 each) was waived.

 

 

 

[AZAficionado]

 

The other side of the harbor entrance. Even with the cannons of the 1600's, how could you miss a ship passing through?

 

Looking back at Old San Juan.

 

Beware of the Iguanas.

[AZAficionado]

We just wandered and soaked in the sights. If you are ever in Puerto Rico, see Old San Juan. These are in no particular order:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[seadog67]

Dudddeee! Loving this review sooo much, awesome job! Definitely helping with waiting for our upcoming Allure Cruise! Great Pictures and awesome commentary, love it!

 

Thanks!

[AZAficionado]

 

 

 

 

 

[AZAficionado]

 

 

 

 

 

[AZAficionado]

 

 

 

 

 

[AZAficionado]

 

 

They have two different free trolleys that go through Old San Juan, one open and the other air conditioned. They take you through most of the old city, stopping often. It was an awesome way to see the city without walking. We walked around as well.

 

Up next is lunch and our second sail away...

[AZAficionado]

Dudddeee! Loving this review sooo much, awesome job! Definitely helping with waiting for our upcoming Allure Cruise! Great Pictures and awesome commentary, love it!

 

Thanks!

You are most welcome. And thank you for the very kind words!! :D

 

Two years ago, I did an Allure B2B review. The link is listed below, if you're interested.

[crusincucamonga]

Did you participate in any on-board "specialty" activities? A murder mystery dinner or a themed party????:

[AZAficionado]

I'm really enjoying your review! It's my lunchtime getaway. Thank you so much for taking the time to write it. It is a lot of work, but I really appreciate all the tips for our upcoming Southern Adventure in Jan'17.

You are most welcome and I'm thrilled that you are enjoying it!!! :)

 

It can be an overwhelming amount of work, depending on how you do it. I think it would be an impossible task to just take a bazillion pictures and not start the work until you get home, go back to life as usual, back to work, etc. Down that path lies madness.

 

However, with a little bit of planning and some discipline, it becomes very manageable and gets easier with each review. For me, the most difficult part is remembering to take a picture *before* half the food/drink is gone. :rolleyes:

[AZAficionado]

Did you participate in any on-board "specialty" activities? A murder mystery dinner or a themed party????:

Not really. But there weren't that many. The murder mystery dinner was just one night each week in Giovanni's, they serve a fixed menu, and it's not my kind of thing. There was a 70's dance party in the Promenade. A 50's/60's dance party. There was Twenty, which has been great on previous cruises, but it didn't start until 12:30 am and it was dead when we got there.

 

Here's my pet peeve: Royal does theme parties and specialty parties on various ships from time to time. The problem is that they keep it a secret (which would be fine), but they also expect you to have brought the correct clothing. Sorry, I'm not shelling out another $35 (each way) to the airlines for an extra bag of clothes that includes a Village People costume, an entirely white suit, a leather jacket and 50's style jeans (not sure I'd want to put that on while in the Tropics), a bunch of glow items, and so on, just "in case". If they advertised which parties would be thrown, they might get more participation.

 

Example: There was a group of people the first week who showed up in the Champagne Bar dressed in all white with blinking and glowing "jewelry". They thought there would be a White party and came prepared. When they learned of no White party, they decided to just wear the stuff anyway. They were disappointed. A little communication would go a long way. Just sayin'.

[wolfganghowell]

AZ - I can tell by your photos that Adventure is different. Schooner looked totally different and all the other ships have Boleros now. Even the Promenade looked less like Mariner, Voyager,Navigator. They are all decorated differently but Adventure definitely more so.

[Luv my furbaby]

Thanks for the great review and pictures! I'm on the Adventure in November. The more I look at your pictures, the more excited I get!!

[AZAficionado]

AZ - I can tell by your photos that Adventure is different. Schooner looked totally different and all the other ships have Boleros now. Even the Promenade looked less like Mariner, Voyager,Navigator. They are all decorated differently but Adventure definitely more so.

The Schooner may be due to the angle of the photo. I had to go to the far corner due to the lighting (port holes). In person, it looked like most of the other Schooner bars I've seen.

 

The rest is probably because she is long due for a dry dock. Although, except for the names, Adventure already has a Boleros (Lobby Bar) and a R-Bar (Champagne Bar). While she looks good, the decor is a bit dated.

[AZAficionado]

Thanks for the great review and pictures! I'm on the Adventure in November. The more I look at your pictures, the more excited I get!!

You are most welcome!! I'm glad you are enjoying the pictures! :D

 

You'll get to see Adventure when she's all new and pretty (prettier?). I'm jealous.

[Shannon12]

Thank you for your review! I sailed Adventure many moons ago, and it is still my favorite cruise. Your review brings me back!

[Sea and Me]

Your review & pictures are really awesome. We will be on the Adventurer in Aug. with our son and his family. We were in San Juan before 9/11 and there was a gentleman who gave us a tour all over San Juan. His name was Orlando and we still talk about that tour! He had us everywhere so your photos brought back many memories. Everyone knew Orlando!! I'm really enjoying your review, you write well!! I'm getting anxious to sail in August.

 

Thank you for all your work. It's great!

 

Carol

[AZAficionado]

Thank you for your review! I sailed Adventure many moons ago, and it is still my favorite cruise. Your review brings me back!

You are very welcome!! I'm glad I could bring back some great memories for you. :) Sounds like it might be time to book another cruise on Adventure. ;)

[AZAficionado]

Your review & pictures are really awesome. We will be on the Adventurer in Aug. with our son and his family. We were in San Juan before 9/11 and there was a gentleman who gave us a tour all over San Juan. His name was Orlando and we still talk about that tour! He had us everywhere so your photos brought back many memories. Everyone knew Orlando!! I'm really enjoying your review, you write well!! I'm getting anxious to sail in August.

 

Thank you for all your work. It's great!

 

Carol

Thank you for the very kind words. I'm happy that people are enjoying the pics and my ramblings!! :)

 

Orlando could still be doing tours. We sat next to a gentleman on the trolley who was a tour guide/travel agent or something. Years ago he came to San Juan from New York (can't remember why) and never went back (other than to visit). I don't blame him. That place is simply gorgeous.

[AZAficionado]

 

 

Lunch was at Cafe el Punto, a hole-in-the-wall place that has awesome local food and probably one of the best Mojitos I've ever had.

 

The house mojito. Note the piece of sugar cane - a nice touch.

 

The menu.

[AZAficionado]

SolsticeAZ did the Beef Tostones with yellow plantains, rice and beans.

 

I went for the Avocado (house specialty) with Crab and Shrimp with fried green plantains, rice and beans. I should explain that under the shrimp and crab meat is 1/2 an avocado. If you are ever in San Juan, eat at this place. You won't be sorry.

 

We passed by a place where the Pina Colada was invented, or so the plaque on the wall says. It was an awesome "port day".

[AZAficionado]

Back on board, I had a fantastic Old Fashioned for sail away.

 

It was just as pretty as the week before, except this time there was a full moon.

 

Unlike other times I've done a B2B, they did not change our table for dinner. However, all of the wait staff (waiter: Jeffery, asst: Maria), including the head waiter (I didn't get his name) changed.

 

For dinner, I started with the Mediterranean Tart, which was very nice. Beneath the flakey pastry shell was a mixture of spinach, cheese, and sun-dried tomatoes.

 

Next, I had the Scallops and Linguine. It was quite good, although it didn't really meet my expectations. There were only a handful of bay scallops (the really small ones) which was disappointing. Same old food story - great execution by the chef, but using lesser ingredients.

 

It was rather quiet on board that night. I'm always surprised how much of a difference there is between one set of passengers and the next. You'd think with a sample of 3,000+, you would get pretty much the same spread (more or less). And yet, they were closing the bars one hour earlier than the prior week.

 

Don't go away, St. Croix is coming up for the second time...

[volunteer cruiser]

Enjoying your review. My family of 9 is sailing in June. What bar had the best selection of wines since Adventure does not have a vintages yet?

[oraelo]

SolsticeAZ did the Beef Tostones with yellow plantains, rice and beans.

 

I went for the Avocado (house specialty) with Crab and Shrimp with fried green plantains, rice and beans. I should explain that under the shrimp and crab meat is 1/2 an avocado. If you are ever in San Juan, eat at this place. You won't be sorry.

 

We passed by a place where the Pina Colada was invented, or so the plaque on the wall says. It was an awesome "port day".

 

The day we left we had a few hours to kill. We dropped our bags at Barrachina (they will take your luggage and store it for an afternoon at no charge) and roamed the city for a while. We went back to Barrachina for lunch and had the paella for two. Was fantastic.

Did you happen to see the chocolate restaurant? Cafe Cortez I think it was called. Everything on the menu had chocolate involved somehow. We got some to go sweets but didn't stay for lunch.