ABC cruise on Adventure of the Seas April 2018 Review w/ pics

[Mrs.C05]

More pictures of the island:

 

 

 

This looks pretty new but I don't know if it with-stood the hurricane or was a newly replaced restaurant after the hurricane. Looks pretty sturdy to me though!!!

 

 

[cltnccruisers]

We were in San Juan, St Thomas and St Maarten this past March. St Maarten stood out by how hard the locals were working to recover. Everywhere in Philipsburg were scaffolds and the sound of hammers and saws.

[Mrs.C05]

A beautiful beach we passed in walking! We'd recommend this area which is not far from the port (within walking distance) because a lot of the restaurants were offering 2 or 3 drinks, plus a beach chair for $20.

 

 

 

We headed over toMaho Beach and we got there just in time.

Pictures along the way:

 

 

 

 

 

 

We snagged a table along the water and ordered drinks and food.

 

 

Our view from the table - what used to be Sonesta Maho Resort:

 

[Mrs.C05]

St. Maarten continued:

 

Dad, Maria, Betsy and Jack all gotthere around 12:30pm. They hopped in the water around 1:15pm and swam for aboutan hour before getting out to dry off.

 

 

 

We all headed back to the ship after that. Traffic was kinda bad, as it took us a good hour to get back to the ship.Tommy grabbed some liquor before getting on board.

 

As we were leaving we went through a rain cloud, which was pretty cool, yet scary, lol!

 

We packed a little bit before going to dinner, which was in the MDR. I had the coconut shrimp, Cabonera and cheesecake. Dinner was very good each night.

[Mrs.C05]

Day 8, Fly home

 

A sad view to see.....back in port to head home, however I was very eager to get home to Ethan.

 

Since we were self-debarking, we had to meet in the Conference Room at 6:45am, to get off at 7am. Our taxi driver Giovanni (the one who dropped us off) said he’d be there at 7:15am to take us to the airport. Getting off the boat took a bit of time, but once off, customs was fast and easy (as long as you had your documents ready).

 

Once off the ship Giovanni found us, we hopped in the taxi and headed to the airport. Thankfully the airport wasn’t bad between checking in, security, and walking around to find food.

 

Not much was open at 8am but we did sit down at Air Margaritaville and had “Cracked Eggs”. It was a lot of food, probably 3-4 scrambled eggs, 3 slices of bacon, hash rounds, and 1 slice of toast cut in 2. We ate and then headed to our gate after paying the bill.

 

 

We video called with Ethan real quick, who was going to Target to get a toy, lol. The flight was good, not as bumpy as the first go-around. Can’t wait to get home to Ethan.

 

So long Puerto Rico, it's been fun!!!!

 

[Mrs.C05]

Our room steward Norma was a very sweet lady and was attentive to what we needed. She always had our ice bucket filled and would step out of the room if we came back while she was in it. We really enjoyed her company too. I wish her well and hope she gets to go home for Christmas with her kids.

[Mrs.C05]

Sorry to throw all of this at you in one night, but we have a cruise coming up this weekend and didn't want anyone hanging. If you have any questions, just ask! I'll try to answer!

[Mrs.C05]

Great! Following this review. I have the same itinerary coming up on Freedom in January. Freedom has taken Adventure’s place in SJ.

Awesome! I loved this itinerary!

 

We were in San Juan, St Thomas and St Maarten this past March. St Maarten stood out by how hard the locals were working to recover. Everywhere in Philipsburg were scaffolds and the sound of hammers and saws.

Yes I completely agree. Everywhere I looked people were working on repairing things.

[aliciam]

Thanks so much for your review! We are heading to these islands in October. For St. Maarten, could you be more specific about the location of the restaurants offering beech chairs and drinks? We're debating on a beach day vs. Bernard Tours for St. Maarten.

 

Also, how was driving in Aruba?

 

I appreciate your help!

[MACE]

We were on this same cruise, we called it the CBA Cruise as we visited in order: Curaçao, Bonaire, and Aruba (then St. Maarten).

 

We really liked Adventure. our JS Cabin, its location (one deck below the Pool deck/Windjammer), our MDR Table assignment (1st level right at the bottom of the stairs), our wait staff, and the POCs.

 

Great cruise overall.

Edited August 31, 2018 by MACE

[Mrs.C05]

Thanks so much for your review! We are heading to these islands in October. For St. Maarten, could you be more specific about the location of the restaurants offering beech chairs and drinks? We're debating on a beach day vs. Bernard Tours for St. Maarten.

 

Also, how was driving in Aruba?

 

I appreciate your help!

 

In St. Maarten the beaches that I was talking about with the restaurants offering beach chairs and drinks for a certain price is Great Bay Beach. A bit of a walk outside the port but doable without a taxi IMO (unless you end up having one too many in the sun.:cool:

Driving in Aruba was easy in my opinion, you just have to really know where you're going. My Dad has been there a few times and seemed to know his way around pretty good. If it were just me and my husband, I doubt we'd have done that type of thing on our own. Getting gas there though was a task, lol! You have to fill up the car before returning it, and it was hard to understand the "full service" guy. Oh well, we got it done, and returned the car safely.