An Adventure of a LIfetime - Preview and Semi-Live Trip Report - AOS - Eastern

[dreadpirate3]

In just over two weeks, I will embark on the Adventure of the Seas, for a 9-day itinerary that visits four ports in the Eastern Caribbean.

 

* Labadee, Haiti

* San Juan, Puerto Rico

* Phillipsburg, St Maarten

* Basseterre, St Kitts

 

This cruise has 3 sea days and departs from Fort Lauderdale.

 

This will be the longest cruise I have taken, and my sixth cruise, all on Royal Caribbean. I will be a platinum member this time, and hope the top tier party is not the same time or date as the other things I plan to do onboard.

 

You are welcome to join me. Oh, did I mention this is my 50th birthday cruise?

 

[dreadpirate3]

I'm a cruise nerd, and really like to see the map view of where the ship will go.

 

 

This is my first visit to these ports, and I've planned something different in each one.

 

In Labadee, I booked the beach lounger for the day. I enjoyed the one we had in Coco Cay in 2015, and wanted to have that bit of extra shade, a little more privacy, and hope for a great spot on a beautiful beach. The beach loungers are on Adrenaline Beach.

 

In San Juan, we will enjoy a hike to the forts, a late lunch at a great seafood taco spot, and some shopping.

 

In St Maarten, we are going to Holland House, where an umbrella, two loungers, and four beverages are $30.

 

In St Kitts, we are going to Carambola Beach Club, and have reserved an umbrella and loungers for $35.

[lazydayz]

We are on the Adventure now and having a great time. The Top tier event was held at 7:15 last night. The band was good but we left early due to reservations at Chops. 

 

Happy early birthday. 

[dreadpirate3]

2 minutes ago, lazydayz said:

We are on the Adventure now and having a great time. The Top tier event was held at 7:15 last night. The band was good but we left early due to reservations at Chops. 

 

Happy early birthday. 

 

Thank you so much!

[dreadpirate3]

When booking this cruise, the prices for the balconies were just a bit higher than what I felt comfortable with.

 

We ended up booking an oceanview all the way forward on deck 7.

 

These rooms are shaped like a wedge, with two windows, one forward and one starboard. There will be a sign stating curtains must be closed at night to keep from inhibiting the night vision of the crew on the bridge.

This photo from cruise deck plans . com shows the general layout.

[SDA1125]

Cant wait to read your reviews ! Happy 50th !

[dreadpirate3]

My cruising companion is my partner of 24 years, and we enjoy the service and food at the main dining room. We always choose my time dining. I have already scheduled our times on the calendar.

 

New this time, we will probably get the Chop's Grille lunch for a sea day, and have booked the Galley Brunch on the last sea day. We enjoyed that on Majesty a few years ago.

 

We generally get up late on sea days, enjoy breakfast in the MDR, and lunch in the MDR on sea days.

 

The way these port calls are scheduled, I do not think we will be on the ship during lunch times, except for San Juan, when we will embark just after lunch time. We will have a late breakfast to get us through half that day.

 

What is your favorite meal on a cruise ship?

[Clarea]

5 minutes ago, singinalot said:

I gotta say the roast beef sandwiches in Park Cafe

 

Which are not available on Adventure, in case someone is making that connection.

[dreadpirate3]

I would have to say our meal in Chop's on Freedom was a highlight of that week.

 

I don't know that I would ever pay to dine in Giovanni's again. It was a miss for us.

 

I am looking forward to the specialty dining options on Symphony in May.

[lazydayz]

Just off the Adventure and highly recommend Giovanni's Table. We had the Ultimate Dining Package and tried Izumi and Chops, which are on the Royal Promenade. No complaints about food or service but they were noisy.

 

After that, we stayed with GT due to the ambiance and great service. By the end of the cruise, they told us to just show up when we wanted to eat. Big ups to Amar and Arvind for taking great care of us. 

[dreadpirate3]

Thank you for your comments! We're looking forward to the Galley Brunch and will book the Chef's Table for the first time if we get a good offer for it onboard.

 

Change of plans for parking. We had initially booked through hotel n parking for a hotel the night before that included parking and a shuttle. Due to changes in my husband's work schedule, we have canceled that plan, and will park with Park n Go. I prepaid for the parking, which saved us $4 per day. We have used them many times when cruising out of Port Canaveral. Parking using Park n Go instead of at the port saved us $6 per day.

 

We will drive from central Florida early Saturday, and plan to arrive by 11. Our check in appointment at the port is 11:30.

 

 

[CntPAcruiser]

dreadpirate, nice to see the trip report! We're hoping the shutdown will be over by the time we get to San Juan so we can fully enjoy visiting the forts. We plan on doing much the same as you in SJ since we've never been to the old part of the city. Looking forward to meeting you and the rest from the roll call soon!

Edited January 6, 2019 by CntPAcruiser

[twopackages]

On 1/2/2019 at 11:13 AM, dreadpirate3 said:

I'm a cruise nerd, and really like to see the map view of where the ship will go.

 

 

This is my first visit to these ports, and I've planned something different in each one.

 

In Labadee, I booked the beach lounger for the day. I enjoyed the one we had in Coco Cay in 2015, and wanted to have that bit of extra shade, a little more privacy, and hope for a great spot on a beautiful beach. The beach loungers are on Adrenaline Beach.

 

In San Juan, we will enjoy a hike to the forts, a late lunch at a great seafood taco spot, and some shopping.

 

In St Maarten, we are going to Holland House, where an umbrella, two loungers, and four beverages are $30.

 

In St Kitts, we are going to Carambola Beach Club, and have reserved an umbrella and loungers for $35.

Can you tell me about Holland House at St. Maarten please.  Do you reserve this?  Just show up?

[dreadpirate3]

1 hour ago, twopackages said:

Can you tell me about Holland House at St. Maarten please.  Do you reserve this?  Just show up?

Link - https://www.facebook.com/HollandHouseBeachHotel/posts/-info-on-beach-chairs-day-passes-dear-friends-we-are-getting-many-request-for-in/1646097052118540/

 

Info

 

Dear Friends, We are getting many request for information about day packages for the beach from those of you who are visiting us on a cruise. The following information might be helpful and we look forward to welcome you!

The package we offer is $25 and includes;

- 2 beach chairs and 1 umbrella from the time you arrive
- 4 beverages consisting of beers, water and soda. 
- Free WiFi 
- Shower on the beach that you can use.

We serve lunch on the beach and have a full cocktail menu available for your. Bathrooms are inside of the hotel and free to use.

First come, first serve. We do not take reservations.

In case you want to make reservations for lunch, please email oceanlounge@hollandhousehotel.com

[kerryincork]

Just booked the same itinerary so looking forward to your review.

[bobmacliberty]

Giovanni's has varied for us.  Tremendous experience on Allure.  So-so experience (at best) on Freedom.  I still miss Portofino.

 

I hope the OSJ forts are open for you (I hadn't considered that these could be affected by the shutdown).  If you enjoy photography, it's a great place to visit.

[lazydayz]

On 1/5/2019 at 2:53 PM, dreadpirate3 said:

Thank you for your comments! We're looking forward to the Galley Brunch and will book the Chef's Table for the first time if we get a good offer for it onboard.

 

Change of plans for parking. We had initially booked through hotel n parking for a hotel the night before that included parking and a shuttle. Due to changes in my husband's work schedule, we have canceled that plan, and will park with Park n Go. I prepaid for the parking, which saved us $4 per day. We have used them many times when cruising out of Port Canaveral. Parking using Park n Go instead of at the port saved us $6 per day.

 

We will drive from central Florida early Saturday, and plan to arrive by 11. Our check in appointment at the port is 11:30.

 

 

 

We used Park N Go as well. Great service and we were able to avoid the massive traffic jam getting into the port on December 30.  There were eight ships in Port Everglades that day. 

[dreadpirate3]

I do love photography, and look forward to visiting the forts in Puerto Rico. I do hope the shutdown ends before then.

 

At St Augustine in December, I took these at the 17th century Spanish fort.

 

[dreadpirate3]

We have the Refreshment Package pre-booked for this cruise. It was $17 per person, per day during the Black Friday sale on Cruise Planner. It includes most non-alcoholic beverages on the ship.

 

A typical day for us:

 

Specialty coffee

Freshly squeezed orange juice (split with DH, since it's too much for me alone)

Bottle of water back to the room

Diet Soda or sparkling water

Diet soda at lunch

Coffee for the afternoon

Sparkling water at dinner

Cappuccino with dessert

Soda or water before retiring to the cabin

 

More info here: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/experience/beverage-packages

Enjoy our entire selection of premium coffees and teas, bottled water, fresh-squeezed juices, non-alcoholic cocktails, plus fountain soda with a free Coca-Cola® souvenir cup. Onboard pricing is currently $26.00-$29.00/per day for 2018 sailings and $29.00 per day for 2019 sailings.

• Premium coffees and teas
• Bottled still and sparkling water
• Fresh squeezed orange juice
• Non-alcoholic cocktails
• Fountain sodas / Coca-Cola Freestyle® beverages

 

[The Fun Researcher]

Great choice of itinerary!  We've done that one twice now (once on the Independence, and once on the Navigator).  It's our favorite so far.  

 

• 8 nights. 
• Great ports (well, San Juan is not our fav but makes for a great day on the ship if we choose)
• ...and LOVE the two sea days at the end.  I hate packing up when there is only one sea day after visiting the all the ports.  Having two sea days allows for one FULL DAY OF RELAXING on the ship and sleeping in the next day if desired.   Then the final day and the dreaded packing up and knowing the cruise is almost over.  😞

Dan

[dreadpirate3]

22 hours ago, The Fun Researcher said:

Great choice of itinerary!  We've done that one twice now (once on the Independence, and once on the Navigator).  It's our favorite so far.  

 

• 8 nights. 
• Great ports (well, San Juan is not our fav but makes for a great day on the ship if we choose)
• ...and LOVE the two sea days at the end.  I hate packing up when there is only one sea day after visiting the all the ports.  Having two sea days allows for one FULL DAY OF RELAXING on the ship and sleeping in the next day if desired.   Then the final day and the dreaded packing up and knowing the cruise is almost over.  😞

Dan

Thank you for your comment.

 

We booked the Galley Brunch for the last sea day. These are four new ports for us, so we're looking forward to each one. San Juan will probably be our most active port, as we plan on touring quite a bit of it during the afternoon and just after sunset.

[TimeToGetNauti]

Looking forward to your review. I just booked Adventure for December for the ABC islands. Have a great trip.

[The Fun Researcher]

28 minutes ago, dreadpirate3 said:

Thank you for your comment.

 

We booked the Galley Brunch for the last sea day. These are four new ports for us, so we're looking forward to each one. San Juan will probably be our most active port, as we plan on touring quite a bit of it during the afternoon and just after sunset.

Great choice.  We did the Galley Brunch for the first time on our last cruise and loved it.  Fun to see the inner workings of the kitchen.  It definitely gave me a new respect for each hand crafted entree.  The lunch afterward was fantastic also.

 

Re. San Juan...  part of the reason we haven't like this port in the past is because it's always been such a short stop.  No time to do much when the ship leaves at 2pm!

 

Dan

[dreadpirate3]

20 minutes ago, The Fun Researcher said:

Great choice.  We did the Galley Brunch for the first time on our last cruise and loved it.  Fun to see the inner workings of the kitchen.  It definitely gave me a new respect for each hand crafted entree.  The lunch afterward was fantastic also.

 

Re. San Juan...  part of the reason we haven't like this port in the past is because it's always been such a short stop.  No time to do much when the ship leaves at 2pm!

 

Dan

We arrive in San Juan at 1 PM and all aboard is at 9 PM.

 

Our other port calls are:

 

Labadee - Day 3 - 7-4

Phillipsburg, St Maarten Day 5 - 8-6

Bassetterre, St Kitts Day 6 - 7-5

[dreadpirate3]

6 more work days!

 

I've started packing. We do not pack light for cruises, and especially not for a 8-night cruise. We like to bring our own snorkel gear, and I bring a fully stocked camera bag.

 

Here are some photos from our last two cruises to whet your appetite.

Coco Cay

 

Cozumel

 

Rose Island, Bahamas