Dan M. Posted July 4 #1 Share Posted July 4 We have always been Princess cruisers but when planning for a family cruise, my daughter felt that we needed to take a cruise line that has more for younger kids. For a variety of reasons, we booked on Adventure of the Seas for next summer (2025). This is also our first time in more or less booking by ourselves through a company rep. Previously, we used a local TA and were very pleased with the results. But the RC planner didn't help much; we weren't asked about trip insurance nor were we told much about shore excursions and Coco Cay. But I'm trying to be open minded, knowing that we had been spoiled in the past. The kids will be 10, 8 & 6 when we cruise. What kinds of activities are there onboard for them? I'm also curious about specialty dining... I keep getting these emails promoting specialty dining at Chops, "starting at (what I think is an unusually high price for a dinner). Am I simply behind times or is $53 per person the going rate for a dinner at Chops? Kindly enlighten me... :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine3601 Posted July 5 #2 Share Posted July 5 I cannot answer questions about children, other than some love the adventure club. I'm sure the kiddos will have a great time. Your best way to check out excursions, specialty dining pkgs as well as internet and beverage packages is on the cruise planner on royal caribbean website or download their App. Create an account then add your cruise booking ID number to future cruises. From there you can check out everything. We buy an annual travel insurance policy since we cruise a couple times a year. There is an insurance thread you can check out on cruise Critic or call royal caribbean and ask about their plan and pricing for your sailing. Lots of free stuff to do on coco Cay or you can purchase tickets for the water park and various other things at coco Cay. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiseguy1016 Posted July 5 #3 Share Posted July 5 We don't do specialty dining unless it is a gift from our TA or RCI. The free dining venues serve very good food and we see no reason to spend extra money on dining. As for the kids, RCI's Adventure Ocean program is top notch. The kids are put into group with other kids their age. There will be activities scheduled throughout most of the day. The kids will love it. If you log into the app, look at the current cruise and you will be able to see what activities are planned for each day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruising89143 Posted July 5 #4 Share Posted July 5 Personally I don’t think any of the specialty dining venues are worth their current prices. The food is good but not worth the current prices. The food in the MDR is nothing more than buffet quality food plated up and served by your wait staff. Not trying to be a Debbie Downer but Royal has decreased the overall quality since the return of cruising after the pandemic. We have found that the Windjammer has the better food for dinner. Breakfast, not so much. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiseaholic777 Posted July 5 #5 Share Posted July 5 For the kids you have water slides, miniature golf, a rock climbing wall, the flowrider for surfing and an ice skating rink. This is A great ship for everyone. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George C Posted July 5 #6 Share Posted July 5 I really like this class of ships , lots of activities, inside and outside, not to big , not to small. Do not miss the Ice show , it is very entertaining for both children and adults . We are fans of Chops and normally buy UDP which allows us to eat all meals on a specialty restaurant. If you want to save money book chops for lunch , very similar menu still can get a good steak for about 20 or more less. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larryhnj Posted July 5 #7 Share Posted July 5 The adventure is going into dry dock this October for 17 days so you should find some improvents but you never what might fixed or improved. Larry & Darlene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokeybandit Posted July 5 #8 Share Posted July 5 According to a captain's corner last March, Adventure was not getting any upgrades during drydock. Just the regular maintenance and upkeep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larryhnj Posted July 19 #9 Share Posted July 19 On 7/5/2024 at 12:58 PM, smokeybandit said: According to a captain's corner last March, Adventure was not getting any upgrades during drydock. Just the regular maintenance and upkeep. Seventeen days just to do regular maintenance and paint the outside of the ship. Seems like a long time unless they only have a team of 12 people doing all the work. In any case we will see when we board the Adventure sometime after it gets back. Larry & Darlene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cruiselvr04 Posted July 20 #10 Share Posted July 20 (edited) On 7/4/2024 at 6:48 PM, Dan M. said: We have always been Princess cruisers but when planning for a family cruise, my daughter felt that we needed to take a cruise line that has more for younger kids. For a variety of reasons, we booked on Adventure of the Seas for next summer (2025). This is also our first time in more or less booking by ourselves through a company rep. Previously, we used a local TA and were very pleased with the results. But the RC planner didn't help much; we weren't asked about trip insurance nor were we told much about shore excursions and Coco Cay. But I'm trying to be open minded, knowing that we had been spoiled in the past. The kids will be 10, 8 & 6 when we cruise. What kinds of activities are there onboard for them? I'm also curious about specialty dining... I keep getting these emails promoting specialty dining at Chops, "starting at (what I think is an unusually high price for a dinner). Am I simply behind times or is $53 per person the going rate for a dinner at Chops? Kindly enlighten me... 🙂 Adventure is one of the smaller ships. However it still has a lot to offer. One thing that’s nice is you don’t have to pre book shows like the big ships. Enjoy the ice show, production shows, flow rider, pools and hot tubs. Mini golf. Adventure ocean has lots of kid activities. Specialty dining isn’t necessary, especially for a family it can get pricey. For a nice dinner out, it’s worth once for a couple on a cruise. The price has risen so much we don’t do it much on a ship this size unless we get some kind of a deal like a BOGO. We were on her sister, Navigator, a couple of months ago. It’s a very nice size, easy to get around, entertainment venues aren’t too crowded. Cabins are dated but functional with lots of storage. Use the cruise planner to help you plan and watch for deals on drink packages, dining and excursions. Edited July 20 by cruiselvr04 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momof4blessings Posted July 21 #11 Share Posted July 21 We are going on Adventure in January. We were on it previously just before the shut down and had a wonderful vacation. Our 4 kids at that time were ages 9-17. We are infrequent cruisers on various cruise lines, but our kids do not like going to the kids programs (nothing to do with the excellent programs...it's just awkward for them to go in with kids they don't know). We had 4 days at sea though, and they enjoyed the many activities around the ship. We were never bored. Besides the activities mentioned above, we also did some of the events in the planning guide (oragami, trivia/puzzles, scavenger hunt, contests). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelCMTX Posted July 21 #12 Share Posted July 21 While I can't speak of kids activities (we don't have 'em and my folks decided kids shouldn't be taken on a cruise until they're 41 😆 ), we were on Adventure a couple years back and, not knowing how new of ships you on with Princess, just keep in mind it's a maintained but older ship so the styling, decor and amenities might be on the dated side. Don't judge too harshly. As for the Specialty Dining, for just the two of us it may make sense but for a larger party my wallet would get hotter than I'd like. But research the living bejeebers on the RC website as far as excursions go. Between that and what I've learned on this site, the only conversation with our T/A have been "book this, this date, this cabin..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishin' musician Posted July 22 #13 Share Posted July 22 I'm with your daughter, RCI is much more family/kid oriented than Princess. My wife and I have done many Princess cruises, we like the quiet, serene vibe. We've experienced many other brands as well, but for a cruise that includes our adult children, their spouses and children (aged 3, 7, 9) we also chose Adventure of the Seas. We were on her about 15 years ago out of San Juan and at the time it was huge... not so much now. But definitely a louder, more "let's get the party started" vibe. Looking forward to an exhausting time trying to keep up with the grandkids! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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