Boarded Adventure of the Seas today (5/28) for 7 night ABC cruise

[happy cruiser1234]

I appreciate your honest opinion good or bad. Too many cheerleaders on this board act as if you have just said something horrible about their family member, and feel the need to defend their their favourite cruise line. Imagine what these boards would be like if everyone here spoke nothing but praise and glory about the ships.

 

I am very interested to here good and bad reports and then make my own decisions as to if I would like to sail that particular ship.

 

Sorry some people are picking on you. I hope you continue to have a great cruise and continue to post your honest opinion.

 

Thanks

[CruiseCheapsk8]

Have fun on your upcoming cruise!!!!! Also, if you have a chance see if you can find out more info about Adventure's upcoming renovations for us! Thank you so much in advance! Cheers

 

Here is the link to the thread on the upcoming AOS refurb- http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2360985&highlight=adventure

It contains an official link on page 2 or 3 of the thread, that is an official announcement from Royal Caribbean. Enjoy!

[EMC21]

Thank you, looking forward to reading a few more reviews before I sail her June 11th.

 

My fiance (getting married Saturday) and I will be sailing with you! We are super excited. This will be my fiance's first cruise ever.

[PatrickCruises123]

I think I stated it in the original post, it was limited to just the breakfast buffet in the MDR on deck 3. The people at our table that morning that ordered breakfast off the menu really enjoyed it. That buffet in the MDR....that morning....wasn't as hot as it should have been and just didn't seem up to par. We've been doing room service or Windjammer for breakfast since that morning.

[PRIDE]

Here is the link to the thread on the upcoming AOS refurb- http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2360985&highlight=adventure

It contains an official link on page 2 or 3 of the thread, that is an official announcement from Royal Caribbean. Enjoy!

 

Thank you so much!

[KMagz]

Webboy634 - thanks for your honesty. VERY glad to hear things are looking up!

[riclop]

Day 1 was rocky. San Juan cruise terminal leaves a lot to be desired. The muster drill was so late and took so long, it's screwing up both seating times in the main dining room so we're gonna have to do windjammer. I miss Allure.....

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Not a good start.

[catcruzer]

Hello, I am also on this cruise and I too have a big complaint. Tomorrow we have to get off the ship!!!!! We had a wonderful cruise and have no complaints about the ship. The crew was wonderful and the food was up to par with any other cruise we were on. This was our second time on Adventure and would gladly sail on her again.

[mike45orlando]

Sitting at the pool bar right now. I have the basic slow Voom and switch between an S3 S5 and S7 to play a Boom Beach game. Works but slow. 0.48 download and 0.16 upload. The prediction was 60-80 percent chance of rain every day but it turned out to be the opposite. Perfect cruise.

[PRIDE]

Southern Caribbean (St. Marteen, St. Kitt, St. John, St. Lucia, Barbados)

Which island and the name of the beach is the best place to rent jet ski's? Thank you so much in advance.

[PatrickCruises123]

We're back home in Orlando.

 

My summary of our May 28th cruise to Bonaire, Curacao and Aruba.

 

----------------------

Pros:

Stateroom attendant Garnet Rolle was amazing. 22 years with RCCL and it shows. He should be getting a raise/promotion soon.

 

Dinner in the MDR was top notch. Some of the best food I can remember. The head waiter, main waiter (Arnold) and assist waiter (Wira) were great. Once they learned what we wanted at dinner each night (iced tea, etc..) it was always in full supply.

 

Ports of call. Just can't describe how awesome the ABC islands are.

 

Roxanne from the cruise director staff. Her musical trivia in the Schooner bar is not to be missed.

 

Amir (bartender in Schooner). Awesome guy.

 

The bartenders in Duck & Dog in the afternoon. They make a perfect chocolate martini (according to my wife).

 

Food in the Windjammer. Overall, excellent. A couple of times, the food was a little warm instead of hot but that was probably just timing.

 

--------------------

Cons:

The departure port. Wow..where to start with that one. Getting on the ship was quick and overall, pretty good. Getting off the ship, nightmare. Mostly because of customs and border (they're usually the problem in every port). We weren't crazy about having to leave the ship in an escorted fashion but that's one of the many quirks about Puerto Rico (apparently). They only had FOUR border agents to handle the thousands coming off the ship. Once we got out to the curb, plenty of taxis to the airport so that part was ok I guess.

 

The airport. Thanks mostly to JetBlue and TSA, our experience leaving through the airport was horrible compared to arrived the week before. It's amazing to watch the TSA and their overall attitude about the hundreds of people in front of them while they only have two lines open and take their time laughing and cutting up.

 

These first two are NOT Royal Caribbean related but if you're planning an AoS cruise, be prepared with the aspirin for the departure day.

 

 

Ship related:

WIFI. As I stated before, grade of D-. Yes, as stated by other people, you're on vacation, unplug, etc. HOWEVER. There are still times when you want to check in with the rest of the world. After really paying attention in the last few days, I noticed two main problems they need to address:

1) The seem to only have the WiFI transmitters in the common areas of the ship, such as the Promenade. They must be hoping the signal is strong enough from those to make it into all of the staterooms.

2) There really does seem to be a capacity issue. At times when most people are at the pool or shopping the promenade (middle of afternoon on a sea day), forget it. But, try it late at night, early in the morning or during a port visit where most people are off the ship and it works much better. We paid $180 for two devices for unlimited access for the whole cruise. On balance, I suppose it was worth it...

 

 

Staff in the photo department. Another area of the ship we've never had a problem with before; one of staff was arguing with me in the port before we boarded the ship because I didn't want my picture taken. (I mentioned this one in a previous post in this thread)

 

 

Plumbing issues. Another area of the ship we've never had problems with before. On the 3rd night of the cruise, after my wife took a shower before dinner, I went in and found that we had no cold water in the shower. We called guest services and reported the issue. About 10:45pm that night, someone finally showed up but we sent him away because we were about to turn in (early morning excursions). The next night, the issue seemed to be resolved but then on the 5th night, it was back. We called again but they still couldn't send anyone. The next morning at SEVEN THIRTY in the morning, a maintenance guy is knocking on our door. Again we sent him away because we hadn't even woken up yet. By night 7, they finally figured out how to send a guy around 5:30pm in the evening and he made an adjustment in the hallway and it was fixed. We found out that night my mother in the cabin next to us had no water at all for a few hours in the afternoon on day 7. Maybe dry dock fixes these kinds of issues?

 

 

Overall inexperience of the crew members. I noticed it in many small ways. Staff in windjammer that dropped trays of dirty dishes. Staff at guest services that didn't handle the line of people waiting for help correctly (they'd ask if they could help while you're in line but they started all the way at the back of the line?? instead of the people at the front of the line that had already been waiting there for a long time). One of the assistant waiters spilling water all over the floor in the dining room while trying to poor water. A staff member in the general store who didn't know that the excursion desk carried the exact type of shirt we were looking for (another guest on the ship had to be the one to tell us because they bought one too). Small things but I've never noticed them before on other RCCL ships. It almost seemed like Adventure is a training ship or something..

 

------------------------

 

I doubt I would do this cruise again. We're going to stick to the Oasis and Quantum class ships going forward.

 

Sept 2017 on the Oasis; can't wait.

[Kissmya63]

We were on Adventure on the May 28th sailing. Our biggest complaint was departure on the last day. We ended up leaving on our own or we would have missed our flight. It ended up being okay. I don't know what the issue was. Other than that we loved everything! In our opinion Adventure is an awesome ship!!

 

I think I had an issue with the internet once for maybe about 30 minutes. I logged out and back in and all was good. It was slower in the room than in public places.

 

Fridge did not cool too well, but it was good enough to put some waters in to have for the next day.

 

The other issue we had was with the Romance Pkg that I purchased. They delivered the canapes to the room way too soon and didn't include the champaign. I went to guest services the following day and they gave us a bottle of wine for our trouble and said they'd make sure that on the 2nd formal night that it would be okay and it was.

 

So those are the problems we had. The good outweighed the bad for us and we had a great experience!

 

Day 1 out of San Juan - it was raining that day so I think everyone had the same idea to get to the ship right away. We started walking around OSJ but when we saw the rain wasn't going to stop anytime soon we walked back to our hotel, got our luggage and we were on our way to the ship. Lines were long. Because we had a JS we had priority boarding, but later we talked to several people that said considering the long lines that it was under an hour wait. Now, please keep in mind that I have hardly any cruise experience, but the people I spoke to didn't seem to really mind all that much.

 

The islands were wonderful, the staff that we dealt with were wonderful. Our stateroom attendant Dwayn was awesome! Otis, our head waiter was equally awesome!

 

We had an outstanding time and I would sail Adventure again in a heartbeat!

[MikeBayAreaCa]

What time was your flight?

[Kissmya63]

What time was your flight?

 

Our flight was at 1:50pm. I don't think we got off the ship until after 11am!

 

Cost us $10.00 well worth it tip to a guy that knew what to say and do to get through customs quicker.

[MikeBayAreaCa]

Was the ship late? We have a 12:41 flight and plan to do the self disembark as early as possible. You mentioned on another thread that the premium package including tip was 64 something. That's quite a jump in price. Someone else on that same trip said it was 49 + tip or around 57.

Edited June 7, 2016 by MikeBayAreaCa

[Kissmya63]

Was the ship late? We have a 12:41 flight and plan to do the self disembark as early as possible. You mentioned on another thread that the premium package including tip was 64 something. That's quite a jump in price. Someone else on that same trip said it was 49 + tip or around 57.

 

We made the mistake of changing our disembark time from number 11 at 8:45am to number 21 at 9:45am. I think people that got out early were okay. I don't know how self-disembark works, but as I recall I think it's early so you should be fine.

 

As for the drink package. We didn't buy beforehand with the cheaper prices because we wanted to use our $300 OBC. We don't usually buy anything on the ship so we knew that our OBC would go towards the drink package and in the long run save, even over the internet special.

[MikeBayAreaCa]

Thank you.

 

I want to use our credit too.

 

Self-disembark means that you don't leave your luggage out on the last night and you carry it yourself off the ship. There is a meeting area and you can leave the ship very early.

 

Mike

[gowensricks]

It's 5:01pm Sunday so Day 2 of the cruise. We're backing out of St Maarten right now. A few more irritations.

 

Thoughts so far: (Sorry..they're mostly negative)

 

The Wifi is spotty; not as good as we experienced on Allure in Nov 2014 (our last time on there). It works well enough but it's not top notch.

 

The bartenders seem to think Grey Goose and Ketel One are the default Vodkas now (I'm not sure they know what a well is anymore). RCCL is pushing the drink packages like you've never seen before. The upside to the Premium Package is you can knock yourself out with Grey Goose or Ketel One at your heart's desire.

 

We did book our next cruise in Sept 2017 on Oasis this afternoon with the NextCruise desk and got a really sweet deal. Only $100 deposit to lock in the res and we got 60% off the second person so a Superior Ocean View Balcony for $1,931.00. :D And we got $100 on board credit on this cruise so it wipes out the $100 deposit.

 

We talked to one of the bartenders about the screw up last night with the delayed dinner and he said that happens every week! So some dumbass decided to do the muster drill at 5:45pm each Sat and it backs up into the 6pm dinner in the MDR which backs up into the 8:30pm dinner and both are delayed..every single week. The reason, which is stupid in my opinion, is because they don't leave San Juan until 8:30pm so they allow guests to board up until 7:30pm. They do a second muster drill at 8:15pm for anyone who boarded after the first muster drill at 5:45pm. To me, and I've been on numerous cruises, this is a cluster@!@$.

 

Btw..I forgot to mention this earlier in the thread. On Sat at the terminal in San Juan, they tried to get us to get our picture taken at the bottom of the escalator that takes you to the ship. When I said no thanks, the RCCL lady literally started arguing with me about why I need to get my picture taken and some *#$@ about if we wanted to get pictures later in the cruise that we had to take that one first (which isn't true). It was breathtaking. She was literally arguing with me for about 30 seconds because I had the audacity to say no to a picture.

 

I just wanted to chime in because the same thing happened to us at the pier. We were getting ready to go up the escalator to board and the lady told us "we had to take a picture!" if we did not then they would not be able to find our pictures later on in the cruise. I knew this was not true and when I pointed out people going straight up the escalator without stopping for a picture, she said "well they will be sorry later when they go to purchase pictures!" Yes, she was very pushy...however we always buy the boarding picture for our book, so it was no big deal

[MikeBayAreaCa]

We have $450.00 in on board credit and were going to book an 11 to 14 day retirement next cruise in a GS. We would get $400.00 for that and then pay for the drink package.

 

The other option is to take on two bottles of wine, pay as we go for the first three days, do the Chefs table one night, Giovannis another, and then buy two drink cards on the fourth day.

 

Decisions, decisions. :)

[Kissmya63]

We have $450.00 in on board credit and were going to book an 11 to 14 day retirement next cruise in a GS. We would get $400.00 for that and then pay for the drink package.

 

The other option is to take on two bottles of wine, pay as we go for the first three days, do the Chefs table one night, Giovannis another, and then buy two drink cards on the fourth day.

 

Decisions, decisions. :)

 

Sounds wonderful!

 

I'm jealous, LOL!!! :p

[MikeBayAreaCa]

Like many, I am an over planner, but also like many, really need the vacation. :)

 

Did you take the Bonaire Vista Tour? We have signed up for that?

[Kissmya63]

Like many, I am an over planner, but also like many, really need the vacation. :)

 

Did you take the Bonaire Vista Tour? We have signed up for that?

 

Yes we did! It was a nice tour of the island! Although I felt that we could have spent a little more time at each of the stops. We had both English and Spanish speaking people in the van and the tour guide struggled a bit with her Spanish and you can tell she got a little frazzled here and there. The stops were awesome, but I think an extra hour total to have more time at each of the stops would have made it more enjoyable.

[MikeBayAreaCa]

Thank you. We have never been to Bonaire before so thought it would be a good way to see some of the island.

[BillOh]

BTW...If you have the DL available to you...tell..Sucel hello from her two B2Ber's that loved those two seats nightly by themselves by the computers...she'll know who we are :)

 

Where is the DL on Adventure, though perhaps that might change by the time I board her? Comments welcome on that ! I haven't started studying the deck plans yet, but I'm familiar with the Voyager class and will wait till after the upcoming refvitalization.

[Ashland]

Where is the DL on Adventure, though perhaps that might change by the time I board her? Comments welcome on that ! I haven't started studying the deck plans yet, but I'm familiar with the Voyager class and will wait till after the upcoming refvitalization.

 

The DL is on deck #14 starboard side at rear of VCL...this area and location won't be changing.