Quick trip report of my Adventure on Adventure

[Oceans4]

I was on Adventure in November (group of 10).   I had a great time and no complaints at all!   I agree 100% about the guy at the coffee bar, and it sounds like it's the same one - he was so friendly and knew my order each day.   It is well worth giving them a few extra bucks when they treat you so nicely!   

 

The ship is so easy to navigate.   I'm a bit intimidated to go on the Oasis class and large ships...but I will when I can!

 

[Bkchero]

7 hours ago, Biker19 said:

While they replaced the carpet during the dry dock (it would have about a year of wear now), typically, none of the furniture except sofa was replaced in the cabin.

I was thinking the comment was directed at common area furniture,  i.e. seats in bars, etc.  I assume that gets changed out in a long drydock.  Subsequent comments seem to lessen this issue, if there was one.

[Canadian Scarlett]

I was also on this sailing....we loved it!  The food in the Windjammer at dinner was amazing!  Some of the drawers in our stateroom stuck and were a little annoying but other than that everything was wonderful.  Easy and quick embarkation...we had our first drink by 11:30 am!

[ecslady]

Any pics of the inside cabins? Did they re-fresh them when Adventure was in drydock last year?  I'll be in an inside in a few months, and haven't sailed on the Voyager class in a long time.

[The Fun Researcher]

15 minutes ago, ecslady said:

Any pics of the inside cabins? Did they re-fresh them when Adventure was in drydock last year?  I'll be in an inside in a few months, and haven't sailed on the Voyager class in a long time.

 

Appears that they may have redone the carpet.  Other as needed I would suppose.  Here's a post refurb video of an inside.

 

 

And a link just after refurb

https://www.*****.com/2018/02/12/first-look-royal-caribbeans-newly-refurbished-adventure-of-the-seas

 

 

Dan

[JimmyL]

On 2/10/2019 at 7:05 PM, Ilovesailaway said:

Just off Adventure OTS 2/2 through 2/9 traveling out of Port Everglades and stopping in Labadee, St.Maarten, and San Juan.

I want to do a quick comprehensive review of my trip and cover some of the things that I asked about leading up to it so that the info might be be useful to others.

 

Trip down, rental car, hotel

Flew down to FLL the day before on Delta. Flight was on time even though we connected through LGA (aka where travel plans go to die).

Arrived at FLL around 2pm, walked with my carry on and laptop bag (no checked bag) over to pick up my rental car -- 5 min walk. 

Had a full sized rental with Alamo. In the full sized aisle, they had several cars like the Altima, Malibu,.... they also had a few full sized quad cab pick up trucks. I chose an F150 because I wanted to be able to offer a ride to the port for a few ppl in my cruise party. Btw, Alamo did not require me to top off the fuel tank when returning. They said because my tank was so large I only needed to bring it back at over half.

Had a room booked at Sheraton Suites Fort Lauderdale at Cypress Creek -- good deal on Hotwire. Hotel was perfectly fine for pre-cruise: 20 min. from port, places to eat nearby. Hotel was a bit outdated but clean, and the staff was friendly. Only complaint was some road noise that others mentioned, but I didn't hear it.

 

To Port Everglades and rental return

Easy 15 min. drive from the hotel to the port. I brought 3 other cruisers from my party and their luggage. We were in terminal 25.  We arrived at the port at about 11:20. The line at security to drive into the port went quickly. I dropped everyone and luggage at the terminal and returned the truck. Alamo is right at the port entrance and very convenient. No hidden charges, drop off was very quick and I was on a shuttle to my ship in less than 10 minutes.

 

Boarding the Ship

I walked into the terminal at about noon, and I was on the ship in 10 minutes. No line at security. I had completed all check-in info online a few days prior. I grabbed a couple slices of pizza on the promenade and was sitting in the pub with an ice cold Newcastle in no time. At 1pm, I went to my inside room on deck 6 and unpacked. The room steward came by and introduced himself. 

 

The Ship

The ship is in great shape and the crew works hard to keep her clean. The level of craftsmanship is impressive. Its obvious that pride was taken in the tile work and the finish carpentry in the indoor spaces. I know that the ship is due for a renovation soon and you could see some areas where carpet and worn furniture could use replacing. However, that did not detract from my experience. My room was 6487. It's an inside room all the way aft. I don't mind being that far from the elevators and stairs because I like to walk a lot on board. The room was quiet. The attendant kept it clean and well stocked.

 

The Staff

I wanted to point out how great the staff is on Adventure. I have been on about a dozen cruises on a few different main stream lines. The staff on Adventure OTS is, hands down, the friendliest and most helpful I have experienced. They come across as very genuine and welcoming. An example is when I saw a woman who was having trouble with her electric scooter as she was going though the promenade. It appeared that the battery was low. I started to walk over but before I could get there someone from the cleaning staff, without even being asked, stopped what they were doing and quickly assisted. That was just one small example of the interactions I noticed. As awesome as they treated other guests, I almost felt like I was the most important passenger on the ship. I look forward to letting RCCL know about the great customer service.

 

The Food

This cruise was kind of a booze cruise / super bowl party for our group of 6 middle aged adults. We only had a few meals in the dining room where we were all together. We did not eat at any of the up-charge restaurants, other than Johnny Rockets for lunch one day. Having said that, and knowing food is subjective, I will give you my likes and dislikes. The Windjammer was bland. It also seemed a bit disorganized. An example would be having burgers before buns in line, then having to go someplace else to find cheese or to the salad bar for lettuce or tomato. It adds to the chaos LOL. I did hit the omelette station in the Windjammer every morning and that was decent.The main dining room was pretty good. The steaks were always to the right temp. Other dishes, such as pasta and chicken, were very tasty as well. My favorite was the lobster. Johnny Rockets was as good as I remember. Love the onion rings. I did notice that RCCL appears to have improved the pizza recipe, although it's much better when fresh. 

 

Entertainment

I thought the Caribbean and Latin bands were pretty good. A guitar player could be found on most nights in one of the lounges, but his set list seemed limited and often repeated. There were also a couple of female singers who were pleasant to listen to while having a drink. The 70's show in the promenade was fun. The piano players name was Keith, I believe. He played in the Schooner Bar and was very popular -- get there early for a seat. The ice show was very impressive. Hard to believe that is taking place on a ship at sea. I didn't catch the comedian or any of the other shows. One of the reasons for this cruise was to be on for the Super Bowl. They had a party with a burger/hot dog/taco spread in Studio B. They also had the game on at the big screen on the pool deck. It was fun being on board for the game. Wish the game was a little higher scoring though.  Passengers were allowed to wager on the game in the casino, and squares were also available.

 

Itinerary

The itinerary was perfect for the experience we were looking for. We sailed on Saturday. Sunday was a sea day, which was perfect because the Super Bowl was that night. It was also the first formal night, but I think some passengers skipped dinner to watch the game. We then had 3 straight port days. First was Labadee: I did the zip line. It was great. They weigh you and make you sign a bunch of waivers. Then you are fitted in a harness and walk over to a smaller zip line where they teach you the necessary technique. After that you are driven up the mountain and to the mother of all zip lines LOL. Its a great spot to snap a few photos but not so great if you don't like heights. A couple people did back out. I am not sure if a refund was given. The next day we docked in San Juan. I just walked around and took some pictures. Still see some hurricane damage. It's one of my favorite ports because of the narrow, cobble stone streets and old buildings. Our final stop was in St. Maarten. I took a cab to Maho beach just like my last visit here but was disappointed this time. The beach was very crowded and not as many planes to see. It didn't help that a lot of the beach seemed to be eroded, most likely from the hurricane. Traffic was really bad, as well, so it took a long time to get to Maho and back to the ship. We then had 2 sea days on our way back to Port Everglades.

 

Leaving the ship and Customs

I had a 9:40 flight to catch at FLL, so I did the self-assist debarkation. The ship docked at about 5:30. Those doing self assist started lining up luggage inside the Lyric Theater at about 5:45. We were able to start walking off at 6:45, and I was among the first off. Customs was a breeze. Even though I had the app, they wanted to see my passport and only asked a couple questions. I was in a cab to the airport by 7. There was only a short line at TSA, and I was at my gate for my Southwest flight with a ton of time to spare.

 

It was a fun trip. I hope this info is helpful. Let me know if you have any questions

 

Thanks for the great review. We are on the same itinerary 3/16 - 3/23. We were on the Adventure over 10 years ago and loved it. I think one of the best tips (like yours ) is getting there early for boarding and enjoying the ship that much longer.