Semi-live + Recap: Thanksgiving cruise on Adventure, 23 November to 1 December 2019

[Arzeena]

46 minutes ago, FionaMG said:

 

It was fine. This is the third time we have had a promenade view cabin and we would definitely do it again. We find it to be a very good value-for-money option, especially if, like us, you spend very little time in the room. We were on deck 7 - #7593, a location we found to be very convenient. 

You do have to be careful with the location. Last year we had #7279 on Navigator, which was opposite the pub, and we found it to be noisy. The ones we have had towards the ends of the promenade have not been noisy at all.

You also have to remember to keep the curtains closed when you are in the room with the light on. We got a birds-eye view of something we would rather not have seen in a cabin across from us! 

 

Thanks!

🤣 Will remember the curtains!

[FionaMG]

I spent the better part of today uploading pics from my phone and tablet so I will be able to start posting stuff tomorrow.

I also read through what I managed to post while on board and I noticed some of the pics are not too clear. Apologies for that. With the internet issue I was too busy rushing to try and get them to post to realise that they were not actually "postable" quality. 😳

[FionaMG]

22 November - Fort Lauderdale - Water taxi day

 

The last time we were in Fort Lauderdale we spent the day on the water taxi and enjoyed it so much we decided to do it again.

The Bahia Mar water taxi stop (no. 5) is just a five-minute walk from the BW. 

As we left the hotel we met a local lounging on the path.

 

 

We thought it was cute but apparently they are an invasive species and a real pest, causing considerable destruction to people's gardens.

 

We caught the first northbound water taxi of the day (10.40 am at that stop) and rode the whole northbound loop before getting off at the Hilton Marina stop to change to the Hollywood route.

 

That took us past Port Everglades, where there were two ships, a Silversea one that I can't remember the name of and the Celebrity Silhouette, which we got a good close-up view of.

 

 

On arrival in Hollywood we had some lunch at an instantly forgettable pizza place on the Broadwalk and then enjoyed wandering up and down along the beach, before catching the 5 pm water taxi back. It was actually late as it had to stop for the Celebrity Silhouette in the turning basin.

 

We hopped off at the Riverside Hotel stop, wandered up and down Las Olas and then went for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory (again, I know that's not very exciting, but this is another chain we don't have in Portugal, so it's a novelty for us) before catching what was probably the next-to-last water taxi back to the Bahia Mar. The crew on the one that had dropped us at the Riverside said the last one from that stop would be around 9 pm.

 

What a great day! I didn't really take any pics worth posting this time round, but here a few I took when we did the water taxi in December 2017. On that occasion we were lucky enough to be in the turning basin when Harmony and Indy sailed.

 

 

 

 

[EDiamond22]

6 minutes ago, FionaMG said:

 

 

On arrival in Hollywood we had some lunch at an instantly forgettable pizza place on the Broadwalk and then enjoyed wandering up and down along the beach, before catching the 5 pm water taxi back. It was actually late as it had to stop for the Celebrity Silhouette in the turning basin.

 

 

have you, or anyone for that matter, been to a awesome restaurant in Hollywood Fl? We are all staying the day before in Hollywood and would love a good food/drink spot 😄  

[FionaMG]

7 minutes ago, EDiamond22 said:

have you, or anyone for that matter, been to a awesome restaurant in Hollywood Fl? We are all staying the day before in Hollywood and would love a good food/drink spot 😄  

We haven't but I bet if you posted on the Florida board you'd get some good recommendations from posters who are local to the area.

[FionaMG]

23 November - It's Cruise Day!

 

Day 1 Compass:

 

 

 

 

 

And MDR menu:

[FionaMG]

It is our preference on cruise day not to go to the port early. This is because we consider our hotel stay to be part of our holiday and we prefer to relax by the pool or go for a wander on embarkation morning rather than sitting in a waiting room at the port. Our aim is to get on board just in time for the cabins opening up so that we don't have to lug our carry-ons around with us.

 

On this morning, we had a leisurely breakfast, packed up our stuff, checked out (check-out is at 11 am latest at the BW) and asked the hotel to hold our bags for us while we went for a wander. There was no charge for this.

 

At just after midday we ordered a Lyft ride, which arrived in under two minutes. The cost was just under $12 including tip. It took a while to get into Port Everglades; the driver got a telling off from the security guard at the gate for not having the ride details all ready to be checked but otherwise there were no issues.

 

The security line at the terminal was quite long; I think it took us about half an hour to get through it, but after that it was only a couple of minutes before we were checked in by an agent with a tablet. We had literally just been dinged on the ship when the announcement was made that the rooms were ready. Perfect timing!

 

For this cruise we booked a promenade view cabin on deck seven - no. 7593. This is located opposite the gifts and jewellery shop, towards the aft portion of the ship. We found the location to be very convenient and we were not disturbed by any noise. Location is important for these cabins; last year we were in 7279 on Navigator, across from the pub, and on several evenings we were inconvenienced by the live music playing until late. These cabins are a great value-for-money option. They are usually slightly cheaper than the standard ocean view cabins because they are classed as interiors, but they have the benefit of a window, so they don't feel as closed-in as the "real" interiors, even though there is no natural daylight.

 

One important thing to bear in mind is that there are cabins opposite. You do need to keep the curtains closed when you have the light on for the sake of privacy. Things may be on view that would be best unseen! 

 

Our cabin and the view from the window (please excuse DH's "cool" pose; the photo without him came out blurred ). 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 4, 2019 by FionaMG

[NateUpNorth]

1 hour ago, EDiamond22 said:

have you, or anyone for that matter, been to a awesome restaurant in Hollywood Fl? We are all staying the day before in Hollywood and would love a good food/drink spot 😄  

 

If you take a walk on the Hollywood Beach broadwalk there are several different restaurants there that range from "beach shack dive feel" to "hotel front fancy" (Margaritaville)

 

We had food at Hollywood Brewing Company and Landshark Bar & Grill.

Both would be classified as "Ok", although we went to Hollywood Brewing more for the local "craft beer" tasting.

 

[FionaMG]

Once we had dumped our carry-ons, we headed down to Izumi's to book our specialty dining. We had the three-night package on this cruise and the first night had been reserved for us at Giovanni's, which was great since that was exactly what we wanted. The other days we wanted were day 3 in Chops and day 5 back in Giovanni's but we had to switch these around because of the Mystery Dinner being held in Giovanni's on day 5. On that day, the venue was closed for all other bookings. The reason for wanting these days was that we had checked the menus in the app (all of which proved to be accurate) and those were the days with the menus we did not particularly care for. We did not want to do Izumi for specialty dining because we are not sushi fans and Adventure does not have the hot rocks option.

 

After that it was time to start doing what everybody does best on a cruise ship - eat! So we headed up to the Windjammer.

 

There was a table outside where you could buy a beverage package if you hadn't bought one online. There was also a specialty dining table. With the exception of one rather annoying waiter from Chops, who came around the WJ targetting larger groups to try and sell them specialty dining, we did not notice anything in the way of hard sell. Or maybe we looked like cheapskates and nobody wanted to waste their time trying to sell us anything!

 

 

 

The WJ was pretty busy but we were able to find a spot since the early boarders had already moved out to find their cabins. I did not take any photos of the food in the WJ as there were always lots of people around but we found there was plenty of variety and the quality was decent. I don't particularly like the layout of the WJ on the Voyager class ships; it seems to create long lines that are very difficult to break into if you just want to grab a single item rather than going all the way along the display.

 

After lunch we went to check out the Diamond Lounge, up on deck 14 (newbie Diamonds, remember ). We thought it was very nice. The coffee machine is available from 6 am to 11 pm. The DL is accessed through the Blue Moon lounge, which was used as an overflow for the happy hour since there were more than 400 D, D+ and P on board. I think they said 24 or 27 Ps.

 

 

The views from the Blue Moon were amazing. We actually spotted what looked like an Oasis class ship sailing out of port. This was earlier than a normal sail-away time and I wondered if it might be one of the preview cruises on Oasis? Anybody know? You can see it in one of the pics below.

 

 

 

There were several other ships sailing on this day and ours was the last to leave. By the time we sailed out of PE it was already dark, so I didn't get any photos.

 

Our luggage had arrived by the time we went back to the cabin after sail-away so we unpacked and put everything away. There was plenty of storage; we didn't need it all. And we managed to keep our cabin very tidy for the whole trip. Our stateroom attendant must have loved us, he had so little to do! 

 

Dinner, as I mentioned, was at Giovanni's. Unfortunately, excitement got the better of me and I failed miserably in my task of taking photos of the menu (forgivable; it's on the app and hasn't changed in years anyway) or of my dinner choices (unpardonable. Sack the blogger! ). 

 

Since there was no after-dinner show, our first evening was rounded off by having a wander around the shops and making a small contribution to the casino, which seemed to be particularly tight-fisted on this cruise. 

 

[EDiamond22]

1 minute ago, NateUpNorth said:

 

If you take a walk on the Hollywood Beach broadwalk there are several different restaurants there that range from "beach shack dive feel" to "hotel front fancy" (Margaritaville)

 

We had food at Hollywood Brewing Company and Landshark Bar & Grill.

Both would be classified as "Ok", although we went to Hollywood Brewing more for the local "craft beer" tasting.

 

now you are talking my langue ! we will defiantly be checking out the hollywood brewing co. thanks for the tip !:D

[NateUpNorth]

Just now, EDiamond22 said:

now you are talking my langue ! we will defiantly be checking out the hollywood brewing co. thanks for the tip !:D

 

Don't wanna sidetrack the thread but the tasting flights were really good. I believe I had one of each.......

It's all the way at one end of the broadwalk so if you don't enjoy a good walk maybe plan accordingly, although we were able to walk the whole thing with our young kids...........

 

[NateUpNorth]

1 hour ago, FionaMG said:

23 November - It's Cruise Day!

 

Day 1 Compass:

 

 

 

 

 

 

And MDR menu:

 

 

 

Do you happen to recall if the onboard video screens list the activites in the same jumbled manner as the Compass? 

Or have they stayed in chronological order? (really dislike the way these are done!!!)

[FionaMG]

15 minutes ago, NateUpNorth said:

Don't wanna sidetrack the thread but the tasting flights were really good.

Haha, no problem, sidetrack away .

 

11 minutes ago, NateUpNorth said:

Do you happen to recall if the onboard video screens list the activites in the same jumbled manner as the Compass? 

Or have they stayed in chronological order? (really dislike the way these are done!!!)

I didn't even notice them, I'm afraid. But I totally agree with you. I much preferred the previous style. It's very easy to miss something the way it's done now.

[FionaMG]

Day 2 - At sea

 

Day 2 Compass:

 

 

MDR menu:

 

And onboard Voom prices. However, they stopped onboard Voom sales until they were able to fix the malfunctioning server on day 6.

 

[FionaMG]

This was essentially a typical sea day.

 

It started bright and (way too) early with the Meet & Mingle at the ungodly hour of 9 am!  Come on, guys! We're supposed to be on holiday here! Anyway despite the early start it was reasonably well attended. There were 3 or 4 pretty boring raffle prizes (we didn't win) but the Activities Manager, Kelly from Alabama, came across as very personable and bubbly and she did a good of job of getting people to interact.

 

The M&M was followed by a cabin crawl that was organised by one of the people on our roll call. I had never done one and thought it was a lot of fun. We got to see about 10 different types of cabin, ranging from a tiny "real" interior to a grand suite and a panoramic ocean view suite. Would that I could, sigh...

 

The rest of the day was spent doing (or, in our case, mostly watching) typical sea day activities such as pool games, flow rider and mini-golf (we did actually play the mini-golf; we are both completely rubbish at it so there was a fair bit of cheating going on ).

 

Some random pics from around the ship:

 

Lively pool deck:

 

 

 

Quieter spots for relaxing:

 

 

Busy stuff for sporty types:

 

 

 

 

 

 

A model of Vision of the Seas. I have no idea why that is here on Adventure.

 

The promenade by night:

 

And our first towel animal of the cruise:

 

We had dinner tonight in the MDR. We were at an 8-top on deck five. The other six people had all eaten there on the first night, but one young couple from somewhere in South America never showed again, which is hardly surprising given that they were on their honeymoon and had been seated with a bunch of old fogeys.

 

I once again failed miserably in my duty to photograph my food. However, I can tell you that I had the seafood vol-au-vent for starters (underwhelming), the roasted beef tenderloin for mains (delicious and very tender but you need to ask for it to be medium rare; if you ask for medium well it comes out overdone and dry, as someone else at our table discovered), and the Royal chocolate cake for dessert. To me, a dessert is not dessert if it doesn't have chocolate in it and this classic has never let me down. One of my favourites.

 

That's all I have time for today but I will post more tomorrow. Many, many thanks again for bearing with me. 

 

[FionaMG]

Day 3 - 25 November - Labadee

 

Cruise Compass:

 

Today was our first port of call. This was our second visit to Labadee; the first one had been the previous year on our Navigator cruise and oddly enough was on the exact same date.

 

Arrival was at 7 am so we were not up and about to see it. We actually got off at about 10 am and the first thing I wanted to do was to go up to the look-out where you can see the whole ship front-on. On our previous cruise we did this in the late afternoon, on our way back to ship, and I wanted to get a photo with different lighting. You can see what a difference this makes. Both photos were taken from the exact same vantage point, admittedly with different devices, but neither device is very sophisticated - one is a smartphone and the other is a tablet - so I doubt that would account for much of the difference.

 

25 Nov 2018:

 

25 November 2019:

 

After that we headed over to the tram stop to get the tram to Columbus Cove. On the way we spotted a massive chair. I don't know if it was already there last year; if it was I did not notice, but you know what it's like when you visit a place for the first time - you need a circle of eyes all round your head to see everything!

 

 

Note that the chair is not actually on a slant; it's just that my DH can't be trusted with a camera! 

 

On arrival at Columbus Cove we got sorted out with a couple of loungers in a shady spot very close to the water. I love that you can see the whole ship from here.

 

 

We went for lunch at 1 pm by which time there were no lines at all and headed back to the ship not long after, since all aboard was at 3.30 pm. Having missed the ship's arrival, we made a point of being up top for sail-away to get some nice pics. The view of the bay is gorgeous.

 

 

This evening we had dinner again at Giovanni's. We had the meat plank appetiser to share, which we had also ordered on day 1, and enjoyed it again.

 

 

For mains we ordered the filet (on day 1 we had the gamberetti, which we liked a lot, wish I had remembered to take a photo). The filet was absolutely excellent (as it had been the year before on Navigator). Interestingly, after he had placed our dishes in front of us, our server asked us to cut into the steak to make sure it had been cooked to our satisfaction. This is the first and only time that has happened. I did remember to take a picture but only after devouring half of the steak. Ooops! 

 

 

After dinner we went to see the headliner show in the theatre, which was an Eagles tribute band called "The Long Run". They were good but they played mostly later songs; I would have liked a few more of the earlier ones. The whole theatre sang along when they played "Desperado".

I much prefer to have a show after dinner, like this. We always have late seating so frequently the show is before dinner and we end up missing it because that's the time that I like to go to the gym and DH likes to soak in the hot tub.

The show was followed by another visit to the tight-fisted casino before we called it a night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[FionaMG]

Day 4 - 26 November - San Juan, Puerto Rico

Cruise Compass:

 

Despite the weather forecast in the Compass forewarning us of cloudy skies with a chance of rain we had a lovely sunny morning prior to our 1 pm arrival in SJ and sunshine for virtually the whole afternoon. There were plenty of activities on the pool and sports decks, which we enjoyed watching.

 

Shortly before 1 pm we headed up to the quiet area at the very front on deck 12 to watch the ship's arrival. We had a fantastic view from up here.

 

 

Our plan for today was simply to take a leisurely stroll up to the El Morro Fort and back. Before leaving the port area we turned left and paused to take a pic of the ship.

 

Then we continued along the Paseo de la Princesa.

 

And on up to the fort at a very relaxed pace.

 

The fort is amazing. Even if you are not really into history it is well worth a visit. The standard adult ticket cost $7 and allowed admission into both forts on the same day. We did not really have time to do this since they close at 6 pm and that would have been pushing DH's tolerance level anyway. 

 

 

 

While we were in the fort we spotted the Norwegian Encore sailing into port.

 

On our way back down from the fort we happened on the cathedral and went in to have a look. It is quite simple but is attractively decorated.

 

 

We also found a gastronomy shop where I bought some spicy sauces to bring home with me.

 

By the time we got back to the ship it was almost dinner time. Tonight's dinner was in the MDR. Here is the menu but I am afraid it's a rubbish pic, very blurred. My bad. 

 

Tonight's menu was very underwhelming. We both had the seafood cake for starters, which was OK, and the New York Strip Loin for mains. Once again, if we had ordered it done medium-well it would have been overcooked and dry. It was just OK done medium-rare. I forgot to take pics of both of these.

 

I did, however, remember to take a pic of my dessert, the warm dark chocolate cookie. I had this for the first time last year on Navigator and really enjoyed it. I am happy to report that it did not disappoint this time round either. Yum! 

 

After dinner we went up to the top deck where there was a dancing under the stars party going on. There wasn't a great deal else to do this evening due to the late departure, which meant that the shops stayed closed and the casino did not open until 11.45 pm. By that time we had called it a night, so we saved a few dollars! 

 

We had our second towel animal tonight.

 

[zanydoc]

Thanks for your review! We’re on Adventure December 21st. Did they start putting up any Christmas decor while you were aboard? 

[FionaMG]

6 hours ago, zanydoc said:

Thanks for your review! We’re on Adventure December 21st. Did they start putting up any Christmas decor while you were aboard? 

My pleasure. 😊 I will be completing it over the next few days.

They did not put any Christmas decorations up during our cruise. We were told they were going up during the one after ours. Last year, when we sailed just after Thanksgiving the decorations went up several days into the cruise and the year before, when our sailing date was the 4th of December the decorations were already up when we boarded.

You will definitely have a nicely decorated ship for your sailing. Enjoy!

[FionaMG]

Day 5 - 27 November - St Thomas

 

Cruise Compass:

 

 

I touched briefly on our day in St Thomas back in post 62 since the internet allowed me to upload a couple of pics but I'll go into a bit more detail here in case anyone else might be interested in doing the ship-sponsored excursion that we did.

 

The excursion was the 5-star island tour. This included a half-hour stop at Mountain Top to admire the view, sample some drinks and shop, followed by two hours at Magens Bay Beach and a further two hours for shopping in downtown Charlotte Amalie before being returned to the ship. All in all it is an excursion that lasts for about six and a half hours.

 

 

The excursion was exactly as described, except that the description failed to mention that the transport is in the open truck-type vehicles. I was expecting an actual bus, which was not an issue for us but could have been for others.

 

We were to meet at 9.15 on the pier. We got there at 9.10 and were practically the last ones to arrive so we went in the last of the several vehicles doing the trip. Our driver/guide was Percy and he was pleasant and informative.

 

We did not actually pay for the excursion since we used promotional OBC to "buy" it but I did keep obsessively checking the cruise planner for sales and cancelled and re-booked twice to take advantage of price drops. Under these circumstances I would have to say that it was definitely worth the "money" but we probably wouldn't have bothered with it if we had paying with the real thing. It was probably worth the price if you got it at the cheaper rate, not least for the sake of convenience. If you wanted to do all three elements of the tour, it would have been quite a hassle to do them under your own steam.

 

The highlight of the tour was, by far, the stop at Magens Bay. Although we have been to St Thomas several times before, we had never actually made it to this particular beach but this will be our go-to place on any future stops at this port. I can't say enough good things about this beach. We are not really beach people and 2 - 3 hours is usually plenty for us. We will spend that time strolling along the edge of the water and this beach is long enough (a mile long, the guide said) to let us do that. 

 

We were dropped off beside the toilets and changing rooms roughly in the middle of the beach. If you went to the left it was much quieter and if you went to the right, where the bar and restaurant are located, it is much busier. So there is something for everyone. I was amazed to see a female bar server walking along the beach carrying what must have been a really heavy tray of drinks and wearing a belt that had about a dozen bottles of water and cans of soda in it! And how she was ever able to find the folks who had ordered those drinks I cannot begin to imagine! 

 

Anyway, we really enjoyed our day.

 

Dinner tonight was the third and last of our three-night dining package and it was at Chops. I completely forgot to take any photos but I do remember what we ordered. We had the jumbo lump crab cake for starters, which was OK. I thought it had a slightly odd crumbly texture. This was followed the the filet, which was a bit of a let down after the one we had in Giovanni's. It was overcooked and not particularly tasty, and although the sautéed mushrooms were nice, the mashed potatoes were not as good as Giovanni's either, in terms of both taste and texture. I wish I had not allowed myself to be swayed by our waiter as I had intended having the rack of lamb, which I have heard is very good at Chops. For dessert I had the red velvet cake. Having heard lots of good things about it I had wanted to try it last year on Navigator and for some reason it was not on the menu then. So I ordered that and it was very good. I did not particularly care for the waiter in Chops, who I felt was doing some serious tip-fishing. I had already seen him previously in the WJ doing some hard sell at a large table next to us.

 

We had a rather surprising note left in our cabin today 

 

I can't begin to imagine how I would have felt it that had happened to us. Or that somebody could have a bag in their stateroom that was not theirs and not realise... I wonder if they ever managed to find out what happened to it.

 

Tonight was the Love & Marriage Game, which we always enjoy, but we missed it because although it was mentioned on the inside of the Compass it was not listed on the back. Boo. 

So DH made his usual small contribution to the casino and we called it a night.

 

[John&LaLa]

Fiona, your Day 3 compass says Day 2

[EDiamond22]

2 hours ago, FionaMG said:

 

I can't begin to imagine how I would have felt it that had happened to us. Or that somebody could have a bag in their stateroom that was not theirs and not realise... I wonder if they ever managed to find out what happened to it.

 

My aunt took a cruise with friends once, 3 friends on one room. went they got in there room threw all the luggage under the bed and unpacked later, well the 3 ladies not knowing exactly what the others brought all assumed this extra bag was one of the others, not until then end they realized it was actually none of theirs 😞 unfortunate for that person, it was an honest mistake in that case and obviously returned it as soon as the realized just rough that happened to be the last night 

[FionaMG]

3 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

Fiona, your Day 3 compass says Day 2

Oops. My bad.  

Thanks for the heads up. I will post the correct one in the morning. 

[FionaMG]

2 hours ago, EDiamond22 said:

My aunt took a cruise with friends once, 3 friends on one room. went they got in there room threw all the luggage under the bed and unpacked later, well the 3 ladies not knowing exactly what the others brought all assumed this extra bag was one of the others, not until then end they realized it was actually none of theirs 😞 unfortunate for that person, it was an honest mistake in that case and obviously returned it as soon as the realized just rough that happened to be the last night 

Good point. That scenario did not occur to me.

[FionaMG]

Here is the Compass for Day 3 (25 November, Labadee) since I accidentally re-posted the day 2 Compass back in post #117.