First Time on Royal (Adventure of the Seas)

[pfanny37]

My family (wife, son 14, son 11) just completed our first Royal Caribbean cruise.  We have sailed Norwegian 8 times, and Carnival 1 time (don't judge, we all make mistakes).  We really enjoyed the cruise.  We thought the good at the included restaurants was good, the shows were fun (the rock show was the one that was really odd), and the staff were great.  We loved Coco Cay, and we enjoyed the port area at Puerto Plata.  We have two connecting inside cabins.  If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask, and I will do my best to answer them.

[SilkySal]

Glad you enjoyed the ship and your cruise experience! We have been on the Adventure multiple times and will sail on her even more next year! I believe that she's due for some minor refurbishment (facelift) this fall. She is a wonderful mid-size ship! However, our favorite Royal ships are in the Oasis class; even though they are bigger with more passengers, there are plenty of different areas to spread out and enjoy! Happy cruising!

[George C]

We also love Voyager class , great ship to try rccl . Not too big and not too small. Now we also cruise oasis class because of the extra entertainment and suite perks.

[cruisinfanatic]

17 hours ago, pfanny37 said:

My family (wife, son 14, son 11) just completed our first Royal Caribbean cruise.  We have sailed Norwegian 8 times, and Carnival 1 time (don't judge, we all make mistakes).  We really enjoyed the cruise.  We thought the good at the included restaurants was good, the shows were fun (the rock show was the one that was really odd), and the staff were great.  We loved Coco Cay, and we enjoyed the port area at Puerto Plata.  We have two connecting inside cabins.  If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask, and I will do my best to answer them.

depending on ship and itinerary, there is nothing wrong with Carnival

[smokeybandit]

29 minutes ago, cruisinfanatic said:

depending on ship and itinerary, there is nothing wrong with Carnival

Nothing wrong with Carnival. It keeps those people off RC.

[queenfrostine22]

Just got off Adventure as well. Thought the ships crew were fabulous. Possibly the best we have ever encountered! 

[Tropikali]

On 6/24/2024 at 6:35 PM, pfanny37 said:

My family (wife, son 14, son 11) just completed our first Royal Caribbean cruise.  We have sailed Norwegian 8 times, and Carnival 1 time (don't judge, we all make mistakes).  We really enjoyed the cruise.  We thought the good at the included restaurants was good, the shows were fun (the rock show was the one that was really odd), and the staff were great.  We loved Coco Cay, and we enjoyed the port area at Puerto Plata.  We have two connecting inside cabins.  If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask, and I will do my best to answer them.

Were your kids happy with the activities onboard for teens? Did your eldest visit the teen club, and if so, did they enjoy it?

[Cruise a holic]

Glad you enjoyed.  We had a different opinion.  We love Oasis class ships- and even freedom class.  We went on Adventure and were so disappointed.  Windjammer was like a school cafeteria- you went around in circles before you got to what you wanted.  Also, few specialty restaurants.  I guess when you are used to a newer class of ship, your bar is set higher.  

 

glad you enjoyed your cruise!  Try an oasis class ship next.

[Arzeena]

On 6/25/2024 at 9:50 AM, SilkySal said:

Glad you enjoyed the ship and your cruise experience! We have been on the Adventure multiple times and will sail on her even more next year! I believe that she's due for some minor refurbishment (facelift) this fall. She is a wonderful mid-size ship! However, our favorite Royal ships are in the Oasis class; even though they are bigger with more passengers, there are plenty of different areas to spread out and enjoy! Happy cruising!

Hello! Long time no see on a ship! Hope you both are good. Was also thinking about Kay.

We are on the Adventure in Dec. Was also wondering about the refurbish.

[SilkySal]

2 minutes ago, Arzeena said:

Hello! Long time no see on a ship! Hope you both are good. Was also thinking about Kay.

We are on the Adventure in Dec. Was also wondering about the refurbish.

We're doing a B2B on her this year for NYE and the week after. Will we see you then maybe? Yep, we're both doing ok with occasional aches/pains. I literally died last January due to blood clots in both lungs; spent 5 days in hospital; clots gone (hopefully), so can quit the blood thinner next January. We decided to up our cruises and go as much as we can, whenever we can, until we can't. I have never had blood clots and I actually think they developed due to either having Covid or receiving the Covid vaccines 4x, which I will never take again! Do your research before taking those shots and talk to several medical professionals about the risks!

 

Cruising Grandma (Kay) had some serious medical issues as well but is currently doing fine and she has a couple of cruises booked (Utopia and Freedom). Looking forward to cruising again with her! She's a hoot!

 

Hope you and yours doing well too! Take care! Cheers my friend!

 

[smokeybandit]

17 hours ago, Tropikali said:

Were your kids happy with the activities onboard for teens? Did your eldest visit the teen club, and if so, did they enjoy it?

We're new to teen activities as this was our 2nd cruise after aging out of AO.

I was not impressed with the teen activities. Basically a couple events per day, mostly sports related, often pretty late at night. The teen center was barely even open. Hopefully it's better on other ships.

 

That said not a bad thing to say about Adventure overall though.

Edited June 28 by smokeybandit

[PhillyFan33579]

On 6/25/2024 at 9:50 AM, SilkySal said:

Glad you enjoyed the ship and your cruise experience! We have been on the Adventure multiple times and will sail on her even more next year! I believe that she's due for some minor refurbishment (facelift) this fall. She is a wonderful mid-size ship! However, our favorite Royal ships are in the Oasis class; even though they are bigger with more passengers, there are plenty of different areas to spread out and enjoy! Happy cruising!

I have sailed on Adventure several times over the last few years (she was my first cruise post COVID out of Nassau). I agree she is a wonderful mid-size ship, but when discussing Voyager class ships, I think Navigator and Mariner are significantly better ships due to the upgrades on both ships. Still hope sooner than later they move Navigator back to a Florida port. 

[CntPAcruiser]

Adventure was our first and we've sailed her maybe four times now. I think she'll always be our favorite, but we're hoping that they never destroy her with so-called amplification the way they ruined Navigator (and Voyager?). 

[Sea Dog]

Adventure was our first Royal ship we sailed on for out 20th wedding anniversary. We have been on her again last October. Great ship with a special spot in our hearts. Love sailing on her as she is just the right size. Not too small, not too big.

[smokeybandit]

I'd take a Playmakers on Adventure. Everything else is good as is.

[Toddcan]

Here are some questions for you - we will be sailing on her next month. 

 

Puerto Plata - you enjoyed the port. Did you hang out in the free beach / resort area right at the port, or did you do something else?

 

This might be too specific - in the logo store, did they have a decent selection of Royal apparel?  I'm a real fan of the long sleeve Jersey Wear shirts with the ships name along the back. I also love T-shirts - did they have a T-shirt sale in the promenade like most ships?  

 

Did you try any of the specialty restaurants?  We've been on several voyager class ships before, but this is our first on Adventure - any comments on Chops / Giovanni ?

[smokeybandit]

I was disappointed with the free area at Puerto Plata. Really no shade at all.

Every cruise has a t-shirt sale. 2/$30. They also recently had some cheaper clearance stuff.

[PhillyFan33579]

14 hours ago, CntPAcruiser said:

Adventure was our first and we've sailed her maybe four times now. I think she'll always be our favorite, but we're hoping that they never destroy her with so-called amplification the way they ruined Navigator (and Voyager?). 

Always interesting how different people view things differently. Navigator and Mariner are my two favorite Voyager class ships because they have both been amped. I am a big fan of Playmaker’s and I also like the Bamboo Room on these ships. In my opinion, Navigator had the best slides on any RCI ship until Icon came along. 

[pfanny37]

On 6/27/2024 at 4:26 PM, Tropikali said:

Were your kids happy with the activities onboard for teens? Did your eldest visit the teen club, and if so, did they enjoy it?

My sons don't ever want to do the activities, so they didn't.  Sorry, I can't offer any info on that.