Looking for information about Adventure of the Seas

[bitofun]

Just booked an 8 night Southern Caribbean cruise on Adventure of the Seas. This will be our first experience with RCI. I'm hungry for any and all information about the ship and itinerary (Curacao, Bonaire, and Aruba) plus I'm trying to get up to speed with RCI, drink packages, internet packages and managing my booking on RCI website.

 

 

Thanks in advance for replies and recommendations.

[Clarea]

Good start here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/royal-caribbean/adventure

[not-enough-cruising]

OP

When are you sailing? I am looking at that itinerary for Feb 1 2020 for a 50th Birthday Cruise. I was on Adventure last summer out of San Juan and absolutely LOVED the ship. Have never done southern route from any embarkation port other than San Juan (4 times) and this one from Port Everglades is very exciting for me.

 

 

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[CntPAcruiser]

Adventure is a fantastic ship--we've sailed on her several times and our next cruise is on Adventure. The ABC islands are a great destination. We used Sonny Binns on Aruba for an island tour and had a very nice time. On Bonaire, if you enjoy snorkeling, check out Woodwind. They are fantastic, offering a drift snorkel with two stops, fully guided, and including a hot lunch after! On Curacao, you won't need to book an excursion if it's your first time there. You can just walk into town and enjoy looking around, shopping (it's like a little bit of Amsterdam got plunked down in the Caribbean), and food/drink.

 

Let me know if you have specific questions about the ship. We haven't been on since the most recent refurbishment, so we've not seen the new features yet.

[bitofun]

OP

When are you sailing? I am looking at that itinerary for Feb 1 2020 for a 50th Birthday Cruise. I was on Adventure last summer out of San Juan and absolutely LOVED the ship. Have never done southern route from any embarkation port other than San Juan (4 times) and this one from Port Everglades is very exciting for me.

 

 

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We are sailing April 25, 2020, so it's a very long countdown, but we're very excited about the itinerary and looking forward to getting to know the Adventure during 4 relaxing days at sea ;) Glad to hear you loved the ship!

[bitofun]

Adventure is a fantastic ship--we've sailed on her several times and our next cruise is on Adventure. The ABC islands are a great destination. We used Sonny Binns on Aruba for an island tour and had a very nice time. On Bonaire, if you enjoy snorkeling, check out Woodwind. They are fantastic, offering a drift snorkel with two stops, fully guided, and including a hot lunch after! On Curacao, you won't need to book an excursion if it's your first time there. You can just walk into town and enjoy looking around, shopping (it's like a little bit of Amsterdam got plunked down in the Caribbean), and food/drink.

 

Let me know if you have specific questions about the ship. We haven't been on since the most recent refurbishment, so we've not seen the new features yet.

 

Thank you for the destination recommends. We'll definitely consider them. Like the idea of not needing to book anything on Curacao, sounds like a nice change of pace.

 

No specific questions about the ship, yet ;) All of RCI is new to us having only been on Carnival in the past so I'll be busying myself looking around online for cruise line/ship tips.

 

I was surprised there is already a roll call for the sailing, so I got on that. Looking forward to another amazing cruise.

[geomancer]

Thank you for the destination recommends. We'll definitely consider them. Like the idea of not needing to book anything on Curacao, sounds like a nice change of pace.

 

No specific questions about the ship, yet ;) All of RCI is new to us having only been on Carnival in the past so I'll be busying myself looking around online for cruise line/ship tips.

 

I was surprised there is already a roll call for the sailing, so I got on that. Looking forward to another amazing cruise.

 

There isn't a whole lot different between the major budget lines so most of what you know about Carnival will likely apply. One of the differences I've noticed is that Royal has fewer included food options. For example, there is no grill (burgers/hot dogs/etc) instead there is Johnny Rocket's, which is a pay per person specialty restaurant. The only included food is the MDR, the Windjammer (buffet), and Cafe Promenade (pizza, premade sandwiches, pastry/desert). The Windjammer has fixed hours around meal times and is not open late.

 

Drink packages are fairly simple. The lowest is just soft drinks (Soda Package), the middle tier includes almost everything without alcohol (Refreshment Package), and then the booze package (Ultimate Beverage Package). The prices for all these, along with specialty dining, are in your Cruise Planner. If you order something and in the future see a better price, you can cancel your previous order and then re-buy at the lower price. There is no penalty. You need to drink a fair amount, every single day including port days to "break even" on the packages. 3+ on the soda package, everything on the refreshment (soda + OJ at breakfast + espresso + mocktails + bottled water), ~5+ on the booze. Regular juices at breakfast, tap water, regular teas, and regular coffee are all included in your fare.

 

On the Adventure, there are no reservations for entertainment ahead of time. So really all you need to do is decide if you want any drink packages or excursions and then enjoy your cruise.

[ButterflyGA]

The good-

 

Embarkation and debarkation

Smooth and well organized. Arrived at the port around 12:00, Was at the ship by 12:35p. No major lines and security very organized and professional. Headed directly to the WJ to grab some lunch until cabins were ready (they moved the time to 1:30P) Debarking was the same, very organized, no major lines anywhere and bags were available when they said they were going to be available. The best debarkation process we have experienced (and we travel a lot!)

Food at the MDR

Decent, well prepared and good selection. Lobster offered on Day 6. Escargot available the first 3 days. NY Strip Available every day (we ordered twice and came at perfect temperature) Desserts are nothing fancy, and some are not that good. The Onion and Goat Cheese Tart is AMAZING.

Service in the cabins

Cabins are serviced twice a day, and kept immaculate. Great service from the Cabin Steward. He really seemed genuine in wanting to know us. Super guy.

Diamond Club

Never crowded. Nice offerings of drinks and snacks from 4:30-8p. We were able to use our drinks in the MDR without problems. Very Accommodating ambassador

Cafe Promenade

I heard so many bad things about this cafe and their pizza, that I wanted to go and check it out myself. Perhaps I imagined it to be sooo bad that in reality was ok! LOL... Of course is not the BEST pizza ever, but when your kids are hungry, coming from port and just want a quick bite to tie you up until dinner (since you havent eat in the last 6min!) this hit the spot. I was under the impression that only pizza was offered in this cafe, but they have finger sandwiches (varied selection every day) salads, fruits, dessert and cookies. They also offer breakfast sandwiches and fruit cups and yogurt and granola each morning. This was perfect for us, because we dont like buffets (WJ) and we wanted to sleep in, so didnt go to the MDR for breakfast. It fitted us and what we wanted.

The music bands in Boleros

There was a Latin Music band (3 Mexican guys) that played everything from Salsa to Merengue to Bachata and they were awesome! and there was another band with more contemporary music, great selection of soft rock, 80's and 90's that was fantastic.

 

Port-of-calls

Great places, rich in culture and sights, explored the cities with gusto and curiosity. Portland- Took a trolley tour through the city (booked ourselves) BarHarbor- Went to Acadia Park with Oli's Trolley, fantastic! Saint Johns- Visited several times before so we did our own thing, walking and visiting on our own. Halifax -LOVED it!!! did our own thing, Citadel, and Promenade.

 

The bad-

 

Service.

It has definitely gone downhill in RCCL. So sad about this because I didnt want to believe what I read about this. There were a few here and there that really went above and beyond (our Cabin Steward, Waiter and Assistant Waiter on table 266, the Diamond Club Manager, 2 Guest Services Agents and 1 Casino Cashier) All the others we encountered, it was like they didnt want to be there... and perhaps they dont want to be there. No eye contact, short, rude and plain awful. It didnt spoil our vacay, but definitely not what it used to be.

 

WJ

Let me start saying that we are not buffet ppl. I cant stand the mess and the rude patrons eating with their hands and then reaching out to the thongs to serve themselves some more. So I am the first one to say that my view *might* be skewed LOL... Buffet was messy, no themed what so ever. Its like they put random dishes out there... Mind you this is just my impression of the ONE day I ate there. Might not be a totally fair review. JUST MY OPINION< take it with a grain of salt.

 

Casino

Good selection of games, but not a good air filter... you can smell a heavy scent of cigarette smoke everywhere. I get it... is a Casino, you are going to smell cigarette smoke... BUT it was a lot... just saying.

 

Air Filters in the cabin

After seeing a review right here on the boards, I made the point of checking our vents first thing when we got to our rooms. Dirty Dirty Dirty... The exhaust on our bathroom shower was FILTHY too.

 

The Ugly

 

Really cant think of anything really really bad on the cruise that could spoil my vacation. Just as I was debarking, I got the news of Anthony Bordain's passing and that was UGLY to me. Still in shock about that.

 

My kids enjoyed everything, however, they dont want to cruise again in RCCL. Now that they have tried RCCL and Carnival, they prefer Carnival. I prefer RCCL, however, I am just hoping this *service* thing gets better.