Adventure of the Seas March 3rd - 10th

[cruiseguy1016]

We just got off the 6 night Western Caribbean cruise on Adventure of the Seas with stops in Grand Cayman, Costa Maya and Cozumel. I started a thread when I got on the ship offering to answer questions regarding the ship if I could. I answered those as best as I could and now I want to post a short review of our experience.

 

Embarkation: We like to get on the ship early so that we can start to enjoy our vacation. We arrived at the port at 11:15 and there were still passengers disembarking from the previous cruise! I don’t know what the delay was but it had me concerned as we had an early flight scheduled after our return. After a bunch of research on Cruise Critic I felt safe booking flights for 9:47 AM. With self-assist debarkation and if there were no problems with customs, I knew we could be at the airport with plenty of time to spare. Today’s debarkation time raised my concern a little.

We dropped of our luggage and checked in. There were about 200 or so people already waiting to board. Boarding started about 12:15 and we were on the ship at 12:30.

 

Our stateroom: Our stateroom was 7688 which is the corner aft on the port side. The balcony for this cabin is HUGE! We have had corner aft cabins before on various decks of various ships but this balcony was, by far, the biggest we have ever had. It had 2 loungers, 2 chairs, a low table and a high table. There was room for 2 more loungers and at least 4 more chairs. I’m not sure these pictures will show its true size. Our only complaint about the balcony was that it had a "roof" over it. It was completely covered. There were not many times when the sun shone on the balcony.

 

[cruiseguy1016]

The ship and crew: We were on this ship one year ago, 2 weeks after she came out of dry dock. She was in beautiful shape then and is still in great shape now. The carpet and furniture that was new last year showed no sign of wear and still looked great this year. The crew was very friendly and attentive. Our cabin steward (Miguel) was as good as any we have had. Our only request from him was ice every day and he made sure the ice bucket was always full. Our wait staff (Rommel and Wayan) in the MDR was much better than the team we had last year. They were very pleasant and attentive to our needs. People are always looking for Compasses from previous cruises. With that in mind, I saved all of mine so I could scan them and post them for those that want to see them. Here are days 1 - 3.

 

 

[cruiseguy1016]

Days 4 – 6.

 

 

[cruiseguy1016]

I also wandered into the Adventure Ocean area and grabbed some activity sheets from in there. I realize now I did not grab sheets for the 4 - 11 age groups. Sorry.

 

 

Edited March 19, 2019 by cruiseguy1016

[cruiseguy1016]

Fellow Passengers:  With all of the recent reports of chair hogs, and knowing how bad they were on this ship last year, I was not expecting a pleasant experience related to this on this cruise. I must say I was quite surprised. Our second day on the ship was a sea day. We were out on the pool deck around 9:00. We usually grab chairs on deck 12 above the pool deck. Between the pool deck and deck 12, I don’t think there were 50 chairs with towels on them at 9:00! On the pool deck there were as many available chairs as there were claimed chairs. There were almost NO claimed chairs on deck 12. For the entire cruise we never had a problem finding 4 chairs next to each other. The only possible exception to the whole chair hog situation was the Solarium. I looked in there a few times and most of the chairs were claimed. However, most of the chairs had people in them or the occupants were in the pool. There were very few chairs with just a towel or a book “occupying” them. In addition to all of the friendly people around the pool we found this to be a very pleasant group of passengers. There were no line cutters in the Windjammer. Elevator courtesy was the best I have ever seen.

 

Our first cruise as Diamond members: We turned Diamond on our cruise last year on Adventure and have been looking forward to experiencing some of the perks associated with being a Diamond member. We used the 20% spa discount, the BOGO glass of wine, the free photo and our free spins in the casino (I won a tee shirt!). The biggest perk for us was the Cocktail Hour in the Diamond Lounge and the 3 drinks loaded daily onto our Sea Passes. We are not big drinkers. When we cruise we always choose a bar to have a cocktail at before dinner. We sometimes have another with dinner and one or two more later that night. We visited The Diamond lounge a few nights but it was always full so we never stayed in there to drink. We got our free drinks and some snacks and took them out to the Viking Crown Lounge. On a couple of the nights, we visited the Champagne Bar before dinner and used the free drinks that were loaded onto our Sea Passes. We visited several of the bars after dinner on our way to the show each night and never had a problem getting one of the free drinks. I think there were only one or two nights that we used all three of our drinks.

[cruiseguy1016]

Our ports of call: Our first stop was Grand Cayman. We chose to use the public bus to do a self-guided tour. The buses run around the island and all you have to do is flag one down. They’ll pick you up wherever you happen to be. The cost to ride the bus is $2.50 per person and the price is the same regardless of how far you ride. The buses were plentiful and we never waited more than 10 minutes for one to come by. We stopped at the Cayman Turtle Farm, the town of Hell and Calico Jack’s for a drink and some food before heading back to town. Our next stop was Costa Maya. My wife and I had massages scheduled for the afternoon so we didn’t want to do much ashore. We went to the pool/beach area to hang out for a while. The chairs and palapas in that area were free but they “requested” that each person using them spend $10 on food or beverages. We had planned on having a cocktail or two anyway so their “request” was honored. Our final stop was Cozumel. My wife and I chose to spend the day at Paradise Beach. This was an excellent choice. The cab ride to Paradise Beach was about 10 minutes and cost $15. Admission to the resort was $3 and that gave you full access to the facilities. The resort had a huge pool, a gorgeous beach, a couple bars and a couple restaurants. We grabbed a two chairs by the pool and spent the day there. The drinks and food were very good and reasonably priced.

 

Debarkation: Debarkation could not have gone any better. We had 9:47 flights so we wanted to get off the ship as early as possible. We chose to do self-assist debarkation. We arrived at the Lyric Theater (the staging point) at 6:30, they started letting people off at 7:02, we got to the cab stand at 7:20, and we were through security and at our gate at the airport at 7:43. I don't know how it could have gone any smoother.

[KroozFoolz]

You have the dates wrong in the title of this thread.

 

We were in that cabin the cruise before you. That is a wonderful balcony, and I loved that it is covered. Best balcony I have ever had. Miguel is an excellent cabin steward; he also kept us well supplied with ice. We had a different MDR wait staff (Pranab and Stephon) but they were excellent as well.  We left a bottle of champagne in the cabin. Did you find it?

 

We were told the delay in our sailing's debarkation was due to there being only three ICE agents working in the terminal. I believe some more showed up later in the process, but the lines were still very long when we finally disembarked.

[cruiseguy1016]

9 hours ago, KroozFoolz said:

You have the dates wrong in the title of this thread.

 

Oops, How did I manage that? You are correct, we were on March 10th - 16th. Maybe one of the moderators can change the title for me?

Quote

 

We were in that cabin the cruise before you. That is a wonderful balcony, and I loved that it is covered. Best balcony I have ever had. Miguel is an excellent cabin steward; he also kept us well supplied with ice. We had a different MDR wait staff (Pranab and Stephon) but they were excellent as well.  We left a bottle of champagne in the cabin. Did you find it?

 

No, we didn't. My guess is that Miguel has it. My son and his girlfriend were in the cabin next to us and they also left a bottle of champagne in their room. They vacated their cabin only a few minutes before we did and Miguel was in right away to start cleaning. He found the bottle and brought it to us saying our son had left it behind. We told him that our son knew he couldn't bring it on the plane so he left it.

Quote

 

We were told the delay in our sailing's debarkation was due to there being only three ICE agents working in the terminal. I believe some more showed up later in the process, but the lines were still very long when we finally disembarked.

 

Thanks for sharing what happened with debarkation. I was very curious why it took so long and hoping we didn't experience the same thing.

Edited March 19, 2019 by cruiseguy1016

[DaisyGirl55]

17 hours ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

Our first cruise as Diamond members: We turned Diamond on our cruise last year on Adventure and have been looking forward to experiencing some of the perks associated with being a Diamond member. We used the 20% spa discount, the BOGO glass of wine, the free photo and our free spins in the casino (I won a tee shirt!). The biggest perk for us was the Cocktail Hour in the Diamond Lounge and the 3 drinks loaded daily onto our Sea Passes. 

 

 

My cruise next month on this ship will also be my first as Diamond.  I knew about the Happy House/Cocktail Hour in the Diamond Lounge, but did not know about the 3 drinks loaded on to our Sea Passes.  

 

Every Day?  How do I know if they are there before I go and order a drink only to be charged instead?  This is so cool as we are not big drinkers, but I do enjoy a glass of wine or a foo foo drink here and there.

[Biker19]

3 minutes ago, DaisyGirl55 said:

Every Day?  How do I know if they are there before I go and order a drink only to be charged instead? 

 This is so cool as we are not big drinkers, but I do enjoy a glass of wine or a foo foo drink here and there.

Yes. The bartender can put your card through their machine and see how many you have left - or you keep track of it yourself. You typically can't get a foo foo drink as D drink.

Edited March 19, 2019 by Biker19

[cruiseguy1016]

3 minutes ago, DaisyGirl55 said:

 

 

My cruise next month on this ship will also be my first as Diamond.  I knew about the Happy House/Cocktail Hour in the Diamond Lounge, but did not know about the 3 drinks loaded on to our Sea Passes.  

 

Every Day?  How do I know if they are there before I go and order a drink only to be charged instead?  This is so cool as we are not big drinkers, but I do enjoy a glass of wine or a foo foo drink here and there.

 

There will be 3 free drinks loaded onto your Sea Pass every day. They are available only during the Cocktail Hour in the Diamond Lounge which was 4:30 - 8:00. The list of drinks available is limited to what is being offered in the Diamond Lounge. You will find your typical, rum, gin, vodka, whiskey etc. but no "fancy" drinks. I'm a gin drinker. They offered Beefeater and some other brand but not Tanqueray. The list is available at any bar. All drinks in the Diamond Lounge are free during Cocktail Hour. If you get a drink at any other bar, just hand them your Sea Pass and let them know you want to use your Diamond drinks.

[lcpagejr]

Thanks for the review... Sounds like you had a great time on Adventure of the Sea. We will be taking a 8 day cruise on her leading up to Easter. Really appreciated reviewing the "dailies" to get an idea of whats being offered and  going on. 

 

Looking forward to this cruise... although we've cruised frequently (other lines) this will be our 1st cruise on RCL since 2001.... and we are looking forward to reacquainting ourselves with RCL!!

[rakes5]

As a Diamond member, were you able to get preferred tender tickets for Grand Cayman?

 

If not, how was the tender process?

[cruiseguy1016]

7 hours ago, rakes5 said:

As a Diamond member, were you able to get preferred tender tickets for Grand Cayman?

 

If not, how was the tender process?

 

I don't know if preferred tickets were available. The tendering process was a breeze for us. The "rules" are, if you get off the ship before 9:00, no tickets are needed. We got off at 8:30. The line was short and moved fairly quick. After 9:00 it was recommended that you have a ticket. Tickets were available outside the MDR I believe. If you didn't have a ticket, you had to wait behind those that did. There were at least 3 (maybe 4) tenders servicing our ship. Because we had gotten off early, I don't know how long the wait was after 9:00. As for getting back on the ship, the last tender was scheduled to leave the pier at 2:30. We got to the pier at about 1:30 and there was a very long line to get on the tenders. However, with 3 or 4 tenders servicing the ship, the line moved very quickly. We had nothing planned for the stop so we had no timetable to keep. The whole process for us was painless. For others, depending on timing, it might have been a bother.

[Maraprince]

On 3/18/2019 at 9:17 PM, cruiseguy1016 said:

Fellow Passengers:  With all of the recent reports of chair hogs, and knowing how bad they were on this ship last year, I was not expecting a pleasant experience related to this on this cruise. I must say I was quite surprised. Our second day on the ship was a sea day. We were out on the pool deck around 9:00. We usually grab chairs on deck 12 above the pool deck. Between the pool deck and deck 12, I don’t think there were 50 chairs with towels on them at 9:00! On the pool deck there were as many available chairs as there were claimed chairs. There were almost NO claimed chairs on deck 12. For the entire cruise we never had a problem finding 4 chairs next to each other. The only possible exception to the whole chair hog situation was the Solarium. I looked in there a few times and most of the chairs were claimed. However, most of the chairs had people in them or the occupants were in the pool. There were very few chairs with just a towel or a book “occupying” them. In addition to all of the friendly people around the pool we found this to be a very pleasant group of passengers. There were no line cutters in the Windjammer. Elevator courtesy was the best I have ever seen.

 

Our first cruise as Diamond members: We turned Diamond on our cruise last year on Adventure and have been looking forward to experiencing some of the perks associated with being a Diamond member. We used the 20% spa discount, the BOGO glass of wine, the free photo and our free spins in the casino (I won a tee shirt!). The biggest perk for us was the Cocktail Hour in the Diamond Lounge and the 3 drinks loaded daily onto our Sea Passes. We are not big drinkers. When we cruise we always choose a bar to have a cocktail at before dinner. We sometimes have another with dinner and one or two more later that night. We visited The Diamond lounge a few nights but it was always full so we never stayed in there to drink. We got our free drinks and some snacks and took them out to the Viking Crown Lounge. On a couple of the nights, we visited the Champagne Bar before dinner and used the free drinks that were loaded onto our Sea Passes. We visited several of the bars after dinner on our way to the show each night and never had a problem getting one of the free drinks. I think there were only one or two nights that we used all three of our drinks.

 

Where is the Diamond Lounge located?  Can you get coffee there in the morning?

 

Thanks.

 

MARAPRINCE

[Biker19]

7 minutes ago, Maraprince said:

Where is the Diamond Lounge located?  Can you get coffee there in the morning?

VCL. Yes, assuming the machine is not broken.

[Maraprince]

4 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

VCL. Yes, assuming the machine is not broken.

 

What deck?

 

MARAPRINCE

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, Maraprince said:

What deck?

14, starboard.

[MaritimeR&R]

Coffee is available in both the DL and the SL starting at 6am.  There were signs posted in both lounges for the month of November and all of February.

 

[Lvscruzn]

Thanks so much for the review! Leaving this Sunday on this ship with the same itinerary!

 

[hoss23]

Thank you for the review and the activities paper very informative. I have a question for you. We are on the May 5th 12 day repositioning cruise. We have MYD and we’re trying to figure dining time based on the showtimes.  I see that lyric shows were at 7 &9 except day 2 which were later. First time on RCL so we were wondering if we should base our dining time on shows being held at 7 & 9. Thanks for your help.

 

 

 

[cruiseguy1016]

13 minutes ago, hoss23 said:

Thank you for the review and the activities paper very informative. I have a question for you. We are on the May 5th 12 day repositioning cruise. We have MYD and we’re trying to figure dining time based on the showtimes.  I see that lyric shows were at 7 &9 except day 2 which were later. First time on RCL so we were wondering if we should base our dining time on shows being held at 7 & 9. Thanks for your help.

 

 

 

 

My guess is they changed the show times that night because of the Captain's reception on the Royal Promenade. The reception was at 7:00 which is the normal time for the early show, which is the show meant for people that have late dining. The first show that night was at 8:15 which was good for the early diners and the second show at 10:00 was for the late diners.

[wbc12345]

Thank you so much for posting the cruise compass for each day of your cruise! I love to look at them before my cruise and I know it's a labor of love to upload them.

[Maraprince]

On embarcation day, what time does the Diamond Lounge open?

 

MARAPRINCE

[Clarea]

21 minutes ago, Maraprince said:

On embarcation day, what time does the Diamond Lounge open?

 

MARAPRINCE

 

The Diamond Lounge is accessible 24 hours with your SeaPass card.

 

The Concierge will probably show up around 4:30pm or 5pm, when the happy hour starts.