Adventure OTS 12 Day PE to Cape Liberty 5/5-5/17/19

[mugtech]

Was our first cruise on Adventure, 5th on RCCL. We found Ft Lauderdale a very efficient place to get to and stay to board a Port Everglades cruise.  The airport is next to the cruise port.  We were told to not show up until Noon since there were traffic problems in the port that day, Sunday, 5/5/19.  There was a water and air show going on, so we got to deck 12 by 2 PM, got to see the Blue Angels flying right over the ship.  All of that ceased after 3 PM, but our shove off time was backed up from 5:30 to 9 PM.  Evidently Allure was part of the problem, and there was also a Carnival ship waiting to get out of port.  The people on the shuttle to the port who were going on the Allure told us they were not supposed to show up until 3 PM, they would be sailing at 8 PM.

                Turns out the Allure did not pull out until 9:15 PM, the Carnival ship 20 minutes later, and the Adventure started moving at 9:50 PM.  It was announced that after 2 days at sea the Adventure would be an hour late into the first port, Aruba, on Day 4.  However, all aboard at Aruba was moved back from 4:30 to 10:30.  Since Curacao is so close it was no problems to keep the schedule of 8AM to 5 PM the following day.  The only other change was on the last sea day it was announced that due to a medical emergency we would be pulling into Cape Liberty ASAP, about 2 AM on 5/17.  No one else could get off early, but things went very well for us, walking our own luggage off at 8AM and getting to our Transbridge bus at 8:35.  Bus was supposed to leave for The Lehigh Valley Airport in Bethlehem, PA at 9 AM, but 4 people did not show until 9:30 AM, did not realize they could have had their number lowered to get off sooner because of the scheduled bus departure.  They seemed to be bus nubies.

               We had sailed 22 days previously on Mariner so the Adventure seemed like a homecoming.  The ship was in excellent shape, and other than having to walk through the casino on deck 4 to get to the theatre, we enjoyed most venues.  We had an inside close to midship on deck 9, cabin 9591, Troy took good care of our cabin.  We ate all of our meals in Windjammer except lobster night meant my time dining.  My wife prefers the great variety of WJ, enjoys the different theme nights.  We usually did the early shows in the theatre, either 7 PM or 8 PM, so we never missed a show we had planned to see.

               There was plenty of trivia available throughout every day and even at 7:30 PM.  I met a couple from Austin, Texas and joined their progressive trivia team.  After 6 rounds at 10AM every sea day our team came in third, 82 points out of a possible 120, the winning team had 84 points.  So we got bronze medals and a RC thermos.  The other days we also did quite well, I have a lifetime supply of pens, key chains, highliters and zipper guards.  I have not attended any meet and greets for years, find it best to make new friends at trivia.  All the games were enjoyable, did not have any arguments about the answers.  All the crew members were friendly fun, and there were no language problems which had been encountered on previous cruises. 

                  More on ports and entertainment later.

[Maraprince]

1 hour ago, mugtech said:

Was our first cruise on Adventure, 5th on RCCL. We found Ft Lauderdale a very efficient place to get to and stay to board a Port Everglades cruise.  The airport is next to the cruise port.  We were told to not show up until Noon since there were traffic problems in the port that day, Sunday, 5/5/19.  There was a water and air show going on, so we got to deck 12 by 2 PM, got to see the Blue Angels flying right over the ship.  All of that ceased after 3 PM, but our shove off time was backed up from 5:30 to 9 PM.  Evidently Allure was part of the problem, and there was also a Carnival ship waiting to get out of port.  The people on the shuttle to the port who were going on the Allure told us they were not supposed to show up until 3 PM, they would be sailing at 8 PM.

                Turns out the Allure did not pull out until 9:15 PM, the Carnival ship 20 minutes later, and the Adventure started moving at 9:50 PM.  It was announced that after 2 days at sea the Adventure would be an hour late into the first port, Aruba, on Day 4.  However, all aboard at Aruba was moved back from 4:30 to 10:30.  Since Curacao is so close it was no problems to keep the schedule of 8AM to 5 PM the following day.  The only other change was on the last sea day it was announced that due to a medical emergency we would be pulling into Cape Liberty ASAP, about 2 AM on 5/17.  No one else could get off early, but things went very well for us, walking our own luggage off at 8AM and getting to our Transbridge bus at 8:35.  Bus was supposed to leave for The Lehigh Valley Airport in Bethlehem, PA at 9 AM, but 4 people did not show until 9:30 AM, did not realize they could have had their number lowered to get off sooner because of the scheduled bus departure.  They seemed to be bus nubies.

               We had sailed 22 days previously on Mariner so the Adventure seemed like a homecoming.  The ship was in excellent shape, and other than having to walk through the casino on deck 4 to get to the theatre, we enjoyed most venues.  We had an inside close to midship on deck 9, cabin 9591, Troy took good care of our cabin.  We ate all of our meals in Windjammer except lobster night meant my time dining.  My wife prefers the great variety of WJ, enjoys the different theme nights.  We usually did the early shows in the theatre, either 7 PM or 8 PM, so we never missed a show we had planned to see.

               There was plenty of trivia available throughout every day and even at 7:30 PM.  I met a couple from Austin, Texas and joined their progressive trivia team.  After 6 rounds at 10AM every sea day our team came in third, 82 points out of a possible 120, the winning team had 84 points.  So we got bronze medals and a RC thermos.  The other days we also did quite well, I have a lifetime supply of pens, key chains, highliters and zipper guards.  I have not attended any meet and greets for years, find it best to make new friends at trivia.  All the games were enjoyable, did not have any arguments about the answers.  All the crew members were friendly fun, and there were no language problems which had been encountered on previous cruises. 

                  More on ports and entertainment later.

Is it possible to walk through deck 5 to get to the theater on deck floor and then use a stairway to go to deck 4?

 

MARAPRINCE

[mugtech]

3 minutes ago, Maraprince said:

Is it possible to walk through deck 5 to get to the theater on deck floor and then use a stairway to go to deck 4?

 

MARAPRINCE

Yes, that is what we always did.  However, the same cannot be done on deck 3.

[Maraprince]

As long as we can do it from deck 5, that's fine!!!   😂

 

MARAPRINCE

[mugtech]

                The first sea day the production number was Invitation to Dance, very well done and very entertaining, plenty of swing with two international champs.  The Adventure OTS Orchestra was very good for this show and all subsequent performances.  For us the live music makes RCCL entertainment superior to Carnival and Princess.  NCL live music is also usually quite good.  Shows were at 8:15 And 10:15.

               Day 3 was Remember When Rock Was Young - The Elton John Tribute Starring Craig A Meyer.  Show times were 8 and 10 PM.  This was a great review on Elton's music, starting with The ***** is Back and then Philadelphia Freedom.  He did 3 songs from the only John Album I ever owned, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.  He did not do the title song, but included Candle in the Wind, Benny and the Jets and Saturday's Alright For Fighting.  He included high energy piano pounding, and ended up standing on the piano at the conclusion of I'm Still Standing.  He played 45 minutes and it seemed to be over very quickly.  Would go to see him again for sure.

               Aruba day had Amy Jo Slater doing A Night With Adele.  She has a wonderful voice and was very convincing with her singing.  For me it was not my kind of music, but it was worth hearing that one time, would not go back a second time.

                The singers and dancers did a production show honoring Las Vegas on Curacao day.  The orchestra did a great job of presenting the different kinds of music Vegas is known for.  Once again it was all well done, but I have heard a lot of said unremarkable music often.  For me it was more like, What happens in Vegas should stay in Vegas.

               David Lucas did some music and mostly comedy on Bonaire day.  We was very funny without being crude or mean.  He was the best I have seen on a ship in some time.  I won't say anything else to give away any content, but he is worth seeing, would go again ASAP.

               Sea Day after Bonaire featured Lou Gazzara Live From Las Vegas.  Heard good reports but we did not attend.  Would have been a good night to see the ice show, but it was not available that night and we did not see it this cruise.  Nice to have that additional choice.

               Etta May did her Queen of Southern Sass for 55 minutes on Antigua day.  Some of it was good, some of it was corny.  Not my cup of tea, but it was fun for one time, will not go to see her again.

               Another production Can't Stop the Rock featured the singers and dancers doing music from movies.  I enjoyed the variety of the music, I was thinking this was the first cruise in a while on which I did not hear Born to Be Wild.  Then on the last day Born to Be Wild was one of the 15 classic rock songs played for Name That Tune.  Enjoyed this show very much.  The shows were at 7 and 9 PM, saw some people coming into the theatre at 7:50  thinking there was an 8 PM show.  Told them they would have any seats they wanted for the 9 PM show.  So not everyone reads their Cruise Compass as closely as I do.

                Skipped the Lyric Theater on Day 10, as it was a hypnotist, billed as Comedy Hypnosis.  Saw such a thing a few years back. Yawn

                 Oh What a Night, tribute to Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons was Day 11 headliner.  They work out of Vegas and on ships, saw them on the NCL Sun.  They sing the music very well, but it was the same show I saw 4 years ago, including bad jokes.  And it was the same songs, all worth hearing.  I would not go to hear them for a third time.  On the Sun we had heard two different Four Seasons tribute bands plus we ate in the Four Seasons restaurant, so we had enough for a while.  They did remind us they got their name from a bowling alley in New Jersey.

                Cary Long did some comedy as part of the Farewell Showtime on Day 12, was mostly about travel, packing, cruising etc.  He did it quite well, mimicking foreign workers on the ship.  Did not attend his 10:15 adult show, gotta wonder how that went.

               Generally speaking we enjoyed this cruise as much as any others we have taken.  The Dutch Caribbean was new for us, was surprised it was only low 80's and very windy all three days.  Looking forward to TA, TP, Baltic Sea and Hong Kong to the Philippines and Singapore.

 

 

[LuCruise]

Really appreciate the feedback and especially interested in the entertainment which you don't hear a lot about.  We'll be on Adventure in December.  Sounds like you had a great cruise.

[george35]

Did they have " THE LOVE & MARRAGE  GAME " on board?

 

george35

[mugtech]

1 hour ago, george35 said:

Did they have " THE LOVE & MARRAGE  GAME " on board?

 

george35

I believe they did, we usual ignore those games. Played majority rules a few years ago, was not very entertaining.

[mugtech]

5 hours ago, LuCruise said:

Really appreciate the feedback and especially interested in the entertainment which you don't hear a lot about.  We'll be on Adventure in December.  Sounds like you had a great cruise.

Don't know that any of the entertainment will be the same 7 months from now, but the concepts were good.  Are you doing the ABC islands?  Some nice Florida based cruises in December.

[LuCruise]

1 hour ago, mugtech said:

Don't know that any of the entertainment will be the same 7 months from now, but the concepts were good.  Are you doing the ABC islands?  Some nice Florida based cruises in December.

Our Adventure cruise is just a 6 night Western Caribbean.  But I think a couple of the production shows would be the same plus a general feel / similar headliners.  

[ecslady]

Thanks for your thoughts.  I'll be boarding the Adventure on May 25.  Do yiu know who was playing in the Schooner Bar and do you know how long they will be on, or if they were getting off when the ship got to Cape Liberty?

[Maraprince]

23 hours ago, mugtech said:

                The first sea day the production number was Invitation to Dance, very well done and very entertaining, plenty of swing with two international champs.  The Adventure OTS Orchestra was very good for this show and all subsequent performances.  For us the live music makes RCCL entertainment superior to Carnival and Princess.  NCL live music is also usually quite good.  Shows were at 8:15 And 10:15.

               Day 3 was Remember When Rock Was Young - The Elton John Tribute Starring Craig A Meyer.  Show times were 8 and 10 PM.  This was a great review on Elton's music, starting with The ***** is Back and then Philadelphia Freedom.  He did 3 songs from the only John Album I ever owned, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.  He did not do the title song, but included Candle in the Wind, Benny and the Jets and Saturday's Alright For Fighting.  He included high energy piano pounding, and ended up standing on the piano at the conclusion of I'm Still Standing.  He played 45 minutes and it seemed to be over very quickly.  Would go to see him again for sure.

               Aruba day had Amy Jo Slater doing A Night With Adele.  She has a wonderful voice and was very convincing with her singing.  For me it was not my kind of music, but it was worth hearing that one time, would not go back a second time.

                The singers and dancers did a production show honoring Las Vegas on Curacao day.  The orchestra did a great job of presenting the different kinds of music Vegas is known for.  Once again it was all well done, but I have heard a lot of said unremarkable music often.  For me it was more like, What happens in Vegas should stay in Vegas.

               David Lucas did some music and mostly comedy on Bonaire day.  We was very funny without being crude or mean.  He was the best I have seen on a ship in some time.  I won't say anything else to give away any content, but he is worth seeing, would go again ASAP.

               Sea Day after Bonaire featured Lou Gazzara Live From Las Vegas.  Heard good reports but we did not attend.  Would have been a good night to see the ice show, but it was not available that night and we did not see it this cruise.  Nice to have that additional choice.

               Etta May did her Queen of Southern Sass for 55 minutes on Antigua day.  Some of it was good, some of it was corny.  Not my cup of tea, but it was fun for one time, will not go to see her again.

               Another production Can't Stop the Rock featured the singers and dancers doing music from movies.  I enjoyed the variety of the music, I was thinking this was the first cruise in a while on which I did not hear Born to Be Wild.  Then on the last day Born to Be Wild was one of the 15 classic rock songs played for Name That Tune.  Enjoyed this show very much.  The shows were at 7 and 9 PM, saw some people coming into the theatre at 7:50  thinking there was an 8 PM show.  Told them they would have any seats they wanted for the 9 PM show.  So not everyone reads their Cruise Compass as closely as I do.

                Skipped the Lyric Theater on Day 10, as it was a hypnotist, billed as Comedy Hypnosis.  Saw such a thing a few years back. Yawn

                 Oh What a Night, tribute to Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons was Day 11 headliner.  They work out of Vegas and on ships, saw them on the NCL Sun.  They sing the music very well, but it was the same show I saw 4 years ago, including bad jokes.  And it was the same songs, all worth hearing.  I would not go to hear them for a third time.  On the Sun we had heard two different Four Seasons tribute bands plus we ate in the Four Seasons restaurant, so we had enough for a while.  They did remind us they got their name from a bowling alley in New Jersey.

                Cary Long did some comedy as part of the Farewell Showtime on Day 12, was mostly about travel, packing, cruising etc.  He did it quite well, mimicking foreign workers on the ship.  Did not attend his 10:15 adult show, gotta wonder how that went.

               Generally speaking we enjoyed this cruise as much as any others we have taken.  The Dutch Caribbean was new for us, was surprised it was only low 80's and very windy all three days.  Looking forward to TA, TP, Baltic Sea and Hong Kong to the Philippines and Singapore.

 

 

Speaking of the ice show, when is it offered?  On sea days in the afternoon, at night?  Do you need to pick up tickets for the time you want?

 

Thanks.

 

MARAPRINCE

[mugtech]

7 hours ago, Maraprince said:

Speaking of the ice show, when is it offered?  On sea days in the afternoon, at night?  Do you need to pick up tickets for the time you want?

 

Thanks.

 

MARAPRINCE

It was offered on two early in the cruise nights at 7 and 9 PM when the theatre shows were at 8 and 10.  Don't remember any ice show during the day on sea days.  Don't know that you can reserve seats,just get in line early.  

[mugtech]

9 hours ago, ecslady said:

Thanks for your thoughts.  I'll be boarding the Adventure on May 25.  Do yiu know who was playing in the Schooner Bar and do you know how long they will be on, or if they were getting off when the ship got to Cape Liberty?

There was a Filipino piano player who played every night from 9 PM to closing.  He did the typical Billy Joel Elton John stuff and had a Filipino friend of his sing a couple Sinatra tunes the only night I checked him out.  I didn't go back.

[ecslady]

12 minutes ago, mugtech said:

There was a Filipino piano player who played every night from 9 PM to closing.  He did the typical Billy Joel Elton John stuff and had a Filipino friend of his sing a couple Sinatra tunes the only night I checked him out.  I didn't go back.

 

Thanks for the info.

[mugtech]

At Bonaire we took the tour to Klein island.  It was a 30 minute ferry trip from the dock right next to Adventure.  The island is small and not developed at all.  We hung out in the shade on the beach.  The snorckelers said it was great.  We got to see a huge iguana, many other small lizzards and birds and about a billion sand fleas.  The surf was disappointing, there were no waves.  We hung out for 3 hours, glad I took a book.  We received a bottle of water each and paid $39 pp.

               On Antigua we took the walking tour for $35 pp and also received a bottle of water each.  It was Sunday, so everything was closed.  The writeup said be able to walk a mile.  It was more like two miles.  It was a waste of time and money.  Not very informative, could have done it ourselves at our own pace.

[tcmagnum]

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