A Review: First Time with Royal on the Adventure

[sjmbruce]

The adult area, complete with loungers, a pool and hot tub. I was very grateful for this area. I was expecting tons of kids on this spring break cruise, but only noticed a couple of times. Mostly in the hot tubs. What is it with little kids and hot tubs?

Anyway, it was nice to escape from them from time to time.

 

 

 

[sjmbruce]

I loved these interactive screens. Not only did it help find the way around the ship, it included activity information.

[sjmbruce]

And to wrap up our first day, I was able to scan some of the Compass packets. Here's the first one of our trip:

 

 

 

[sjmbruce]

Day two: Easter Sunday at Sea

 

 

 

[sjmbruce]

I've never been on a cruise during a holiday. Spending Easter in the middle ocean was pretty unique. The ship did a few things to celebrate.

My mom woke up in time to go to the service at 8:00 which was a Catholic mass. At the breakfast buffet they had a large cake and a huge chocolate display with varying sizes of eggs and bunnies for passengers to take. By the time I woke up and made it up there it wasn't picture worthy, but they did a good job with the chocolate.

 

It was a special experience to be able to give my niece her Easter basket on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean.

Just being able to enjoy peace and/or a coffee on our balcony was a good start to the day.

Edited August 20, 2018 by sjmbruce

[sjmbruce]

After breakfast, my husband and I spent most of the day lounging by the pool. The movie screen was a little odd during the day, showing mostly short video clips that belonged on You Tube or America's Funniest Home Videos. This only encouraged kids in the hot tubs, but staff did a good job of letting them know when they were getting too rowdy. Even so, we did feel the need to escape to the adult's only area.

We also went to the first ice show of the cruise. I shared the pictures earlier but will reiterate the need to get there early for good seats.

Before we knew it, it was time to get dressed for dinner and the first formal night.

Edited August 20, 2018 by sjmbruce

[sjmbruce]

My husband and I met up with the rest of my family to take professional pictures. We got there early and took multiple pictures at several different backgrounds. It seemed a little ridiculous how many pictures we took, but I'm glad we did as we only ended up liking a handful of them. My advice is to get there early to avoid really long lines and to be assertive with the photographers if they suggest something you know you won't like or if you'd prefer a certain pose.

[sjmbruce]

After our photography session, we all sat down to dinner. I immediately started to feel ill. Unfortunately the feeling didn't go away, so I didn't take any pictures, cancelled my order and went back to the cabin to get into bed. The only positive thing about having to skip Easter dinner with my family was witnessing the sunset that night.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 20, 2018 by sjmbruce

[Dulciana8]

Your review is amazing! The Adventure was my first cruise, eleven years ago from San Juan. Love this ship, and I’m enjoying seeing her again! Thanks for your great review.

[schazzy]

Thanks for the review! It is being very informative on what to expect for my first Royal cruise on the AOS I just booked for 2020 and also I'll be stopping in San Juan next year on my Carnival cruise, so it was nice to know a bit more about it and gave me some ideas where to go! :)

[DaughterInGrenada]

Yourreview is magnificent! Wife & I stayed overnight in OSJ beforeour Nov. '17 cruise on Jewel OTS. Went to virtually all the places in OSJyou did...your pics brought back so many wonderful memories. Thehurricane wiped out the hotel we were originally booked at in Corandado. 2nd place we got booked into ran into the same prob you did..relief workers extended their stay & the hotel never informed us!!! Here'swhere our TA came in handy; she noticed our reservation had been cancelled...wewere clueless! She found the Hotel Casa Blanca on Calle Fortaleza forus. Old, with lots of charm you don’tfind in the new big box hotels. We dideat at Barrachina’s & it was a fabulous meal! Being the good Protestants we are, we didcatch a portion of the mass in the Cathedral Sunday morning! Here’s a tip for any future visitors toOSJ. If you are in OSJ & want to geta swim in the ocean & don’t want to stray away from OSJ, across from thestate capitol building is a plaza dedicated to St. John. Pay no attention to the fact he looks like he’scalling hellfire & brimstone down on you…LOL! On the right side of the plaza is a set ofsteps leading down to a small, but very private beach. Wife & I would love to visit OSJagain. As we have a daughter &son-in-law living on Grenada, with a baby on the way next month, we have theperfect excuse to do so!

Looking forward to the rest of your review, and, oh yah...go Bucs!!! Did I tell you I once shook the hand of Woody Hayes while pouring cheap wine over his head in front of 60k+ people...hey, he just beat Michigan & was going to the Rose Bowl and was in a good mood!!!