Adventure of the Seas B2B 6/3 Live(ish) Review

[Goodtime Cruizin]

Champagne Bar on the Adventure was our go to bar as we enjoyed the staff. Fun group. Following!

[cruisinfromtampa]

Muster drill happened around 5:30. Out muster captain Jeff is one of the singers, and he is fantastic. Great sense of humor, and kept the muster informative while not boring.

 

The Guest Services Manager sent us up a bottle of wine thanking us for sailing. It was an unexpected and thoughtful touch.

 

Dinner in the MDR. We are on Deck 4 next to the balcony. The view is nice. Service was a little slow, but it is the first night and is expected at this point.

 

 

After dinner, we walked around the ship and then headed back to the room to finish unpacking and turn in.

 

The view from our balcony at night while still in port was fantastic.

 

 

We sat our on the balcony during sail-away, sipped on a glass of wine, and took in the view.

 

 

Up next, Day 2: St. Maarten!

 

 

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[Jax129]

Great start to your review. I hope to do this itinerary one day & St Lucia is one of the reasons. Is it just the bigger ships that they can't accommodate? What a bummer but I hope you have an amazing cruise!

[maggieq]

Any idea if they cleaned the air ducts in the cabin during dry dock? We went on adventure twice last year/different cabins and both absolutely stunk of must. As soon as you would open the cabin door it would hit you as you walked in. Would love to go again but can't take another musty smelling cabin.

[cruisinfromtampa]

Great start to your review. I hope to do this itinerary one day & St Lucia is one of the reasons. Is it just the bigger ships that they can't accommodate? What a bummer but I hope you have an amazing cruise!

 

 

They are dredging the port to accommodate larger ships, and the work is not done.

 

 

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[cruisinfromtampa]

Any idea if they cleaned the air ducts in the cabin during dry dock? We went on adventure twice last year/different cabins and both absolutely stunk of must. As soon as you would open the cabin door it would hit you as you walked in. Would love to go again but can't take another musty smelling cabin.

 

 

We don't have a musty smell in our room. I can't speak for anyone else. There have been a few times walking through the hallway to our room that a few spots have a bit of a smell.

 

 

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[cruisinfromtampa]

What room on deck 8 you will stay? we have 8690 in November.

 

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We are in 8690. The room is a standard balcony room. Balcony is great!

 

 

 

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[cruisinfromtampa]

Day 2: St. Maarten

 

We woke up at 7:30. Sleeping in was glorious! We are used to alarms between 4:00 and 4:30, and those extra few hours were much needed. The view when we opened the curtains was absolutely terrible. I do not recommend a corner aft at all.

 

 

 

 

After breakfast in the Windjammer, we were off the ship by 9:30. We had a private tour of the island booked at 10:00. A teacher at my school is a native, and she set us up with her uncle for the day. The tour took us all over the island, and ended at Maho Beach, a bucket list destination for me.

 

 

Our driver took us around the island, explaining things as we went. We got out and made the climb up to Fort Louis, which is on the French side of the island. I think we burned off breakfast on the way up. The view was amazing, and the breeze was a great way to cool off after the climb.

 

 

 

 

After walking down from the fort, we made the drive over to Princess Juliana and Maho! It was a beautiful drive, and my anticipation was building. We arrived, and got out just as a plane was landing. It was everything and more! We stayed for about an hour, and got some great videos and pictures.

 

 

Up next: Evening #2!

 

 

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[MalteseMama2]

Following.

 

 

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[Big Wave Dave]

Take care of the cabin, we will be in it on the 17th!

 

 

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[Taishartrueblood]

Enjoying this review, thanks!

[cruisinfromtampa]

After a quick nap, we showered and had dinner in Windjammer. Tonight's theme was Asian. I continue to be impressed by the food they are serving. We have always found the food on the buffet to be adequate, but this is definitely a step up from what we remember on other ships. I mean...can we talk about the chunks of lobster in the bisque?!?

 

 

 

While we were out, some robes were delivered to our room. A bottle of wine the first day, robes on the second...I could get used to this! We're not sure why we're getting stuff, as we're only gold (hitting platinum next week!), but I'm not complaining!

 

 

Our first towel animal also made an appearance.

 

 

 

After relaxing in the room for a bit, we headed to the theater for the first show, Invitation to Dance. We thought it was ok. The singers and dancers were great, but a lot of the song selections just seemed a little outdated. We probably won't go if they do it again next week.

 

We left St. Maarten heading for St. Kitts. As we will be visiting St. Kitts on our second leg, we have nothing planned. We're intend to sleep in, hit the gym, grab Johnny Rockets for lunch, walk around the pier for a bit, and the DH has doctoral work to do. He's trying to utilize the "free" time while he has it. It just means I get to spend my afternoon at the bar. Darn!

 

 

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[Dan-P]

Thanks for the "live" review. We'll be doing the itinerary that is the first part of your B2B in September and really looking forward to it.

 

Dan.

[floatel_lvr]

Thanks for the live review. Were on the Adventure a few week ago and agree that the WJ was quite good. Enjoy!!!

[readytolose]

Enjoying your review. We had this same b2b itinerary booked for November but unfortunately had to cancel the first leg due to a scheduling conflict with my husbands job. We have an aft JS booked and I hope to have as terrible of a view as you!

[cruisinfromtampa]

Day 3: St. Kitts

 

We slept in until 10:00. I couldn't even begin to tell you the last time I was in bed until 10:00...If you discount the biological alarm clock waking me up at 5:30, it was glorious.

 

The view outside our room in the morning is getting more and more unacceptable. I really must speak with someone about it.

 

 

After finally waking up, we went to the gym and put in a few miles on the treadmill. With being on board for so long, we're trying not to gain too much. The gym was practically empty, which made it nice and relaxing. No waiting for a machine.

 

For lunch, we hit Johnny Rockets. I don't think I've been to one since high school. DH had cheese fries and a grilled cheese sandwich. I opted for chili cheese fries with a side of ranch and the Smokehouse burger with grilled mushrooms. Sometimes you just want s greasy burger, and this hit the craving. We felt like the cover charge was not exorbitant, and we will probably go back next week.

 

 

We finally got off the ship around 1:30. We spent about an hour walking around the port area, taking some pictures, grabbing a Christmas ornament, and then got back on the ship.

 

We also had to go by the Harley store and grab a keychain for my in-laws. They ride, and everywhere we go they get a keychain.

 

 

I've been wanting some new earrings, so we popped in Diamonds International just to see what they had. They quoted us $39k for one carat studs. Maybe I'm just off the mark, but I found that to be utterly ridiculous.

 

 

 

The water at the dock is so clear.

 

 

 

We had dinner in the MDR, and we were planning on going to the show, featuring an Elvis impersonator, but the Women's College World Series was on, and we got sucked in.

 

Tomorrow we are in Antigua. We are swimming with stingrays and kayaking through mangroves. Should be a good day!

 

 

 

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[Mim Lloyd]

Great to follow this, thanks - I'm on the Adventure in September. Can I ask you to check something if possible if you don't mind? We have Deluxe Drinks Packages booked for our cruise. I love Prosecco or Cava sparkling wine. I thought I'd seen somewhere that a glass of either costs more than the drinks package limit of $12 per glass. Have you noticed the price of them? I'll be gutted if I have to pay any extra - the drinks prices are way expensive to start with!

[BigHouseFootball]

Thank s for doing this. We are on Adventure next April. Would you happen to remember what time the Muster Drill was? I am thinking of a speciality dinning on day 1 but wanted to reserve a time after muster. It early enough that we won't miss sail away.

[floatel_lvr]

Thank s for doing this. We are on Adventure next April. Would you happen to remember what time the Muster Drill was? I am thinking of a speciality dinning on day 1 but wanted to reserve a time after muster. It early enough that we won't miss sail away.

 

We just got off of the 5/20 sailing. Muster was at 5:45 (If I remember correctly). We had our reservation for Giovanni's for 6 and just showed up after muster. Once done with dinner we went out for sailaway and got some great pictures of the coast all lit up. Missed actually pulling out but that may have been due to us not heading straight out.

[BigHouseFootball]

Awesome! Thanks so much!

[cruisinfromtampa]

Day 4: Antigua

 

Today started out like the rest. Woke up, got ready, and ate breakfast in WJ. We met in Studio B for our excursion. We did the Stingray and Kayak Adventure. There were only 11 of us, which made it nice. 4 couples, and a set of grandparents with their grandson.

 

We loaded into a van and drove to the stingray center. We all boarded a "speed boat", and it was a quick but bumpy ride out to the floating dock where the rays are. The rays were numerous. Everywhere you walked there was one swimming past you.

 

They had an area set up for you to hold one and have your picture taken. They are much heavier than I anticipated, and an extremely squishy texture.

 

 

After the stingrays, we got back on the boat and went over to the mangroves to kayak. It was a short trip, but just as bumpy as before. The kayaks were set up for pairs. Our guide was knowledgeable, and was able to find and talk about several types of wildlife that live in the mangroves. We had the opportunity to hold starfish, a sea cucumber, and an upside down jellyfish.

 

 

 

 

After dinner in the MDR, we attended the ice show. It was entertaining. The rink is so small to get the speed they need for some tricks.

 

Love and Marriage followed. While it was entertaining, it was my least favorite show that we have seen. There were moments that just felt awkward. Hopefully next week'a will be better.

 

We're going into Day 5 slightly hesitant. The last minute port change to Martinique is no fun, and the excursion that we booked on boarding day was cancelled because not enough people signed up. Having to quickly find a replacement was concerning. Here's hoping it exceeds expectations.

 

 

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[Taishartrueblood]

You guys will have a great day, thanks for sharing again!

[Aviator of the Seas]

Great to follow this, thanks - I'm on the Adventure in September. Can I ask you to check something if possible if you don't mind? We have Deluxe Drinks Packages booked for our cruise. I love Prosecco or Cava sparkling wine. I thought I'd seen somewhere that a glass of either costs more than the drinks package limit of $12 per glass. Have you noticed the price of them? I'll be gutted if I have to pay any extra - the drinks prices are way expensive to start with!

 

I'm just off the Adventure. My wife drinks prosseco and the extra charge was just $1.00. ($13.00 TTL).

[cruisinfromtampa]

Day 5: Martinique

 

We were originally scheduled to visit St. Lucia, but because of the continued work dredging the port, we were switched to Martinique. On boarding day, we selected "The Best of Martinique" as our excursion. When we arrived back from Antigua, we received a notice that the tour was cancelled due to lack of participation. We were forced to settle on "A Panoramic Tour of Martinique".

 

It was a bus tour of the island, and it more than exceeded our expectations. The island is absolutely beautiful. We were able to see many different areas throughout the tour. If you are looking for a tour that is stress free and easy going, I recommend this one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I read about Martinique, and the people there, a lot of what I read said that they would only take euros and most did not speak English. While that may be true away from the port/tourist areas, we had no issues with communication or using US$ to pay for things.

 

Up next: Mystery Dinner!

 

 

 

 

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[ChrisB66]

Excellent updates. We're on the Adventure 29th july for a B2B after a week in Puerto Rico first. Really looking forward

 

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