Adventure/Perfect Day quick review

[KG1924]

Just wanted to give a quick review of our recent Adventure of the Seas cruise to Bermuda and the Bahamas, including a Perfect Day at Coco Cay. We sailed 5/17/19-5/25/19. "We" are my husband and I along with 10 other family members ranging from ages 3-70.

 

Bayonne:

  This was our first time to New Jersey/New York and the port itself was fine. We had an early flight into Newark and saw the 9/11 memorial and Museum with my parents. We stayed in Jersey City the night before at the Hyatt House (good hotel, great location with a beautiful view of the skyline at night) and took a 9:30 Uber to the port. We were there pretty early but there was plenty of seating and almost no line to check in.  I'd say we were on board by 11?

 

Ship:

  Our very first cruise was on the Adventure 14 years ago, so it was a bit nostalgic to sail her again. She's in great shape, although not as modern as the newer, larger ships. We really like the Freedom class of ships so while the Adventure is a bit smaller, the layout is identical so it felt very comfortable. Plus very easy and fast to get anywhere on the ship. The best part was the lack of lines/crowds. We feel like we never waited for anything this trip, including drinks 🙂

 

Service:

  Hands down, this was the best service we've had on any cruise in YEARS! We felt like we went back 14 years to when the service felt special. Our steward was funny and very personable, our servers in the dining room were still rushed like they have to be these days but still so kind and thoughtful. Bar service was the best we've ever had. Now, I will say that we are decent drinkers, especially on vacation. Everyone in our group gets the drink package and uses it well 😉 The servers in the pub were fantastic, especially Raul! The pub was often our meeting spot before dinner so if my sister had her kiddos with her he would bring them fancy frozen drinks (virgin of course) every time as well as remembering all the adults regular drinks (the kids did not have any refreshment package either....he just did it). The part I was most surprised with was the bar service around the pool. I feel like the last few years they've really minimized the servers that walk around deck taking drink orders but we had fantastic service this time. They were plentiful but not in your face. Even the bartenders at the pool bar itself were great-my brother in law would be 20 feet away and by the time he got to the bar, they would have his drink waiting for him. This was all before giving any extra tips by the way.

 

Ports:

  Bermuda - absolutely beautiful! We just went to Horseshoe Bay, taking the $7/person mini bus there and back. Then we just walked around the port area a bit which was very nice. We contemplated taking the ferry over to Hamilton, but being that it was a Sunday we weren't to keen on spending the time or money to get there knowing that not all business are open on Sundays. This was probably the only "negative" of the trip, but obviously we knew that when we booked. We will definitely go back to Bermuda, but if we cruise we'll choose an itinerary that spends a couple days there.

 

  Nassau - our entire group has been here a few times so we didn't really plan much. We were in port from 12pm-12am as well so it was kind of odd times for regular excursions. Half of our group stayed on the ship, myself and the rest walked to the John Watlings Distillery which is beautiful and a fun way to spend some time. We then went to the Pirate Republic Brewery near the pier as well as the Never Say Never Again Bar & Grill which is a newer bar next to Senior Frogs. It was probably one of the funnest trips to Nassau even though we didn't do much.

 

  Coco Cay - So.Much.Fun. My husband and I have never been here so we don't have a comparison to the old vs. new but everyone in our group loved it. The same beautiful, relaxing beach areas are there along with all the other new activities. We spent most of the day by the pool bar (I told you...we're drinkers) My sister and her family went to the water park and loved it. Lines weren't bad at all and they had reduced the passes to $25 before we left so they were very happy. Some of us went out to the floating tiki bar which is fun, but a small rain storm rolled through so we headed back to land. We had lunch at Snack Shack which was surprisingly good. We had the crispy chicken sandwich and mozzarella sticks....hardly fancy but tasty! We all really had a great time. So much so that by the time we got back on the ship my other sister was already looking up itineraries that go there for next year 🙂

 

Debark:

   Easy easy easy! We had group 8 but we were a little slow getting off so I believe they were already on the teens by the time we got off. Either way there were almost no lines, and customs consisted of us standing in front of a camera and being let through. I have no idea what it was as I've never seen it before, but either way it took all of 10 seconds and we were out the door. Our flight home wasn't until 3:15 so we dropped our luggage off at the hotel that my sister and her family were staying at for another night (they drove in so they wanted to spend more time in the city) and 3 of us did a whirlwind tour of New York, hitting all the major things I wanted to see (I had to say I walked in Central Park) before heading back to Newark Airport. Which FYI is under construction and the week before we left it was voted the worst airport in the US...I can't say it was my favorite airport but it got the job done!

 

Overall, it was just a great trip. My parents stayed on for the 6 day Canada sailing and are still receiving great service. I really don't have any negatives, other then the internet is not great on the Adventure-it was much better on the Allure and the Liberty which were our most recent Royal sailings. I didn't even get it because I had read it was bad and other then my dogs at home, there is thankfully not much I need to stay connected with as my family was with me. The rest of the group did have it and while it worked, it was intermittent. So if you really need to be connected, be aware that it's not the best!

 

Any questions, please feel free to ask away. We don't keep the daily compasses (sorry) and we didn't even do any specialty dining our week, although I bought my parents a dining package for this week and they loved both times at Chops and one night in Giavannis. Also, I don't have kids but my sister did use the kids club-her middle daughter (7) LOVED it, but she usually does on most cruises. Her 3 year old went 2x's...but he's going through a bit of a mommy stage right now so once they convinced him to stay, he was good to go. Their 9 year old daughter has never been a fan of kids clubs so she never went. I believe my sister was happy with their services and my niece got a cute little boyfriend that she met there lol!

Edited May 30, 2019 by KG1924

[Merion_Mom]

Fantastic review - thanks for your time and energy.

[AlaskaNewbie68]

Thanks so much! We will be on Adventure next Sat. going to NE/Canada. Glad to see this!

[Artemus]

Great Trip Report. Thanks for sharing.

[Pkgman]

Thank you for your review, we are taking this cruise in a few weeks!  

[smashof904]

Hi there! I'm helping my sister plan her AOS Bermuda cruise coming up, can. You let me know which days the formal nights were? Thank you!