Reveiw of family cruise on Adventure of the Seas 3/22 to 3/29

[KAP]

We are a family a five with a 17 year old son, 13 year old daughter and 9 year old son. We like vacations with both family time and a chance for everyone to do their own thing. We are on a budget and look for ways to save money.

 

My son decided on a cruise for his senior gift and picked the southern Caribbean as where he wanted to go. We looked the different boats and itineraries over and picked Adventure of the Seas. We have been on several other cruises and feel comfortable making our own arrangements. I booked the cruise through the Royal Caribbean phone number. The agent was very helpful and we had no problem with the booking process. Family friends with a son the same age decided to go on the same cruise with us along with both set of grandparents. This gave us a nice cross section of experiences to compare on our cruise.

 

Getting to San Juan from the Northwest is a bit of a hassle. I was looking for the cheapest airfare and US Airways was $200 to $300 cheaper. The only problem was because of the economic downturn, US Air kept changing flights on us and eventually we ended up flying to Chicago on United then to Philadelphia and San Juan on US Air. We flew back to Charlotte then Chicago then home. We flew to San Juan a day early and stayed at the Courtyard Marriot Miramar. The hotel room was nice and met all our needs. I got 2 rooms for $80 each on Priceline. The hotel location was great as there were some restaurants and fast food places nearby and the bus line to Old San Juan ran right in front of the hotel. The bus was 75 cents each way which was much cheaper than a taxi. We did have to wait about 20 minutes for the bus going into town.

 

We left our luggage at the hotel on the day of departure and toured Old San Juan in the morning. The bus to Old San Juan ends right at the first stop of the Old San Juan trolley (free). That is a good place to get on the trolley as the trolley quickly fills. We rode the trolley to Fort San Cristobal then toured that fort. We didn’t tour Fort Morro as it was a long walk and all the trolleys were full. We then took a leisurely walk back down through Old San Juan window shopping at the many stores. We spent some time in one of the plaza’s listening to a folk music group and eating a local ice treat we bought from a street vendor. We eventually ended up at the waterfront and looked some local ships. It was a short walk back to the bus terminal where we easily caught the same bus back to the hotel. The whole excursion took 3 or 4 hours. We picked up our luggage and took a taxi to the pier at about 2 p.m. The hotel was close to the pier so the ride was about 5 minutes. There was very little traffic into the pier at that time. There was a short line at the pier but it only took about 20 minutes to give our luggage to the porters, go through security, process our setsail passes and get on the ship.

 

Everyone in our group was impressed by the Adventure of the Seas. My family’s cabins were ocean views on deck 2 aft. We actually enjoyed this location as it was very easy to get on and off the ship and we didn’t have to use the elevators. Dinner was on deck 3, the theater on deck 4 and the promenade on deck 5 and again we just went up the stairs. The only negative was that when going to the Windjammer on deck 11 or the kids club on deck 12, the elevator would stop at almost every floor. We had connecting rooms and one of the rooms had bunk beds that pulled down from the ceiling which my youngest son loved. We felt like we had plenty of space. The windows were large and close to sea level so we had great views of what went on when docking and leaving port. Our friends had balcony cabins on deck 6 and quite frankly I didn’t think they were worth the extra cost. Those balconies were tiny and I felt like I was in a cave. We felt some motion but nothing that bothered any of us. We all slept comfortably and had no problem with the beds. We had different room stewards for each room and both did excellent jobs. We had towel animals each night. With two teenagers you can imagine how messy the rooms got. One complaint I have about the rooms is the stupid coffee table each room had. What a waste of space. I noticed many people putting the tables in the closets. One thing we noticed was at times the water in the showers wouldn’t get very hot. I also found the small refrigerators stocked full of items you would have to pay for to be a joke. We asked the room steward if he could take everything away but he said no although we could put it in the closets if we wanted to use the refrigerator ourselves. We didn’t and it wasn’t a big deal. We had plenty of closet space but I really think that trying to put 4 people in a room would be a stretch. Our room with 3 was full. It would probably work with little kids but not teenagers or adults. There is no clock or night light so bring your own if you want those amenities. The hair dryers worked fine.

 

The food was great. We had 15 people with both families and I didn’t hear anyone complain about not having something good to eat. Most nights everyone ordered several starters, main courses and desserts. I think everyone thought the beef dishes were the best. I never felt the need to pay extra for the Chops steak. Several in our group enjoyed the pasta dishes. The seafood was a little more hit or miss. The salmon, shrimp and lobster were great. The other seafood choices were just ok. I had chicken marsala one night and it just wasn’t very good but no problem I just ordered something else. Everyone loved the fruit soups. Desserts were also hits and misses. Some were great and some were very bland. Our waiter and assistant waiter were great. The head waiter was also very helpful. We ate breakfast in both the formal dinning room and the Windjammer. If you want to meet some other cruisers, the formal dinning room is the way to go. We met several families the first couple of days at breakfast that we saw over and over the rest of the week. The breakfast dishes are better in the formal dinning room but I like sampling a bit of everything so I actually enjoyed the Windjammer breakfasts better. We were out on excursions many days and often ate no lunch but had a snack at the Café Promenade. The pizza was good and I really liked the small ham sandwiches. The desserts were also very good at the Café Promenade. We bought drink cards for two of our kids and they made good use of them and we got our money’s worth. I know some might have a different opinion but my kids have fond memories of being able to drink all the pop they wanted and going up to any of the bars to get a pop. It made their cruise special and never really caused any problems.

 

There was so much to do on the ship. My oldest really enjoyed hanging out with other teenagers and participating in their activities. He was out until one each morning. He complained about the curfew but ship security was very good about making sure the teenagers were back in their cabins by one. We had a lot of kids on our cruise as it was spring break for many but there were no real problems that I observed with obnoxious kids. My daughter never really hooked up with other teenagers but she really enjoyed wandering the ship, looking in the stores and observing some of the adult games like the belly flop contest. Our whole family enjoyed the shows each night. My littlest son got to be part of the comedian’s show and the husband of the family traveling with us got to be part of El Gaucho’s show so we have some great memories. The Royal Caribbean dancers were good and the ice show was really good. Be sure to get tickets to the ice show when they first are available as the shows do fill up. One item to note is that on Tuesday there was no formal show in the theater so that is a good night to go to the ice show. I think that was because we were in Aruba until 8 p.m. My youngest really enjoyed the kids program. He is almost 9 so they let him go into the 9 to 11 age group. We enjoyed the miniature golf even though it isn’t the best course and the wind can blow the ball around. It is open 24 hours and is a good place to kill a little bit of time when kids are bored. We did the in line skate course on one of the sea days. The course is small and the turns tight but it was fun for one time. We also ice skated one day and that was a lot of fun. The rink really didn’t get that crowded. My sons liked the rock wall and we spent some time in the pools and hot tubs. We always found chairs by the pools and on the decks. The ship was almost at full capacity and I never noticed a problem with lines or crowding. We aren’t night people so often after the night show; I would lie on my bed and watch one of the movies available for free on the TV. They were the same ones showing in the theater. Others in our group did the art auction and enjoyed that.

 

A short comment about the Puerto Ricans on the ship, I really enjoyed their presence. Yes they are loud and no, they don’t stand in line well but we found them to be friendly and full of life. My 17 year old son who is so sure of himself didn’t know what to think about the excited young Puerto Rican girl that asked him to dance several times. We visited with several different Puerto Rican families and found them friendly and interesting. Their culture is different than ours and I loved being exposed to it. They all speak English, especially if you smile and are friendly.

 

Our shore days were great. In Aruba, we rode the local bus to Boca Catalina beach. The bus terminal is almost directly across the street from the pier. Most of the buses go only to the hotel district and Boca Catalina is just north of the hotel district so you have to be sure to take bus 10B. It was $2.30 round trip and took about 25 minutes. Boca Catalina is a great snorkeling beach with a small amount of sandy beach. We saw lots of fish and played in the ocean. If snorkeling is not your thing, go to the hotel beaches, Palm and Eagle. They are beautiful with lots of services but no snorkeling. Boca Catalina has no services although it does have some shade. The locals seem to call Boca Catalina Malmok beach. I walked to the actual Malmok beach and it doesn’t exist. Malmok is a rock ledge with a few inlets where you can crawl down into the water to snorkel. I wouldn’t take a family there. The only problem we had was getting back to the ship. I thought the buses ran every 30 minutes but apparently on the day we were there the bus ran every hour. We ended up waiting for the bus for almost 50 minutes and it was hot and we got tired. If you are going to take the bus, make sure you check the schedule for the day by talking with the bus driver or one of the workers at the terminal.

 

In Curacao, I arranged a tour with a local tour guide Henry “Leo” Plaate. Henry showed us around town then took us to the Boca Tabla sea caves. The caves were interesting and very spectacular to look at. We then drove to the very north end of the island and looked at several small beaches that are very picturesque with cliffs and beautiful blue waters. We then drove to Playa Portomari, one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. Full services including a dive shop were available. We snorkeled almost the whole time we were there. There is interesting snorkeling close to the beach but I thought the best was further out in deeper water past the swim raft. I enjoyed the tour and learned a lot about the island but if I ever am in Curacao for just a day again I will just head to Playa Portomari. It is a 30 or 40 minute ride from the pier. We had a large group so the price per person was just $40. Normally Henry charges $75 for the first four and $40 for additional folks. We had 27 in our group (we joined with another group we didn’t know) and Henry arranged for a small bus to take us around. If you really like tours, Henry is great as he knows so much about the island. Henry will also tailor the tour to what you want to do. One fun thing we experienced is an iguana that crawled on the road. The bus driver stopped the bus and picked the iguana up. We all got an up close and personal visit with the iguana.

 

After two days of snorkeling beaches, we decided we wanted to play in some waves so on St. Maarten we took a taxi to Dawn beach. I really liked the taxi set up at the St. Maarten pier. Prices were clearly posted and they weren’t exorbitant. It was $6 dollars per person to Dawn beach and took about 15 or 20 minutes. We arranged with our driver to pick us back up for the same price. Dawn beach is very beautiful although there is a lot of development going on. Several restaurants were available. One of the time shares allows you to use its showers and bathrooms for free. Chairs and umbrellas are available for rent ($5 per chair and $5 for the umbrella). You can also rent boogie boards and snorkel equipment. Dawn beach definitely has waves, about 4 to 6 feet. When we got there no one was playing in the waves and when we started boogie boarding we drew a crowd. I don’t think boogie boarding is common in the Caribbean. It wasn’t the best boogie boarding I have experienced (Hawaii has better) but it was definitely fun and a good change for the kids. We saw only one topless sunbather and then only for a moment. You can also snorkel at Dawn beach. You have to get past the waves and the swells bounce you around a bit. There wasn’t a ton of fish but you could find enough to make it interesting. There were a few vendors selling trinkets but they were very nice and no trouble. One of the girls in our party got her hair braided which was a highlight for her. The grand parents in our party went to the beach right in Philipsburg (Great Bay Beach) by taking the water taxi. They had a great time swimming in the ocean and lying in the sun.

 

St. Thomas was our big adventure as we took the ferry from Red Hook to St. Johns and Trunk Bay. We did it on our own. The taxis that are inside the pier want $10 per person. I had read that if you walked out of the pier area to Kmart, that you could take a local taxi to Red Hook for $2 per person. With our large group that was a huge cost savings so we took the free shuttle from the ship to the pier area gates and started walking to Kmart. If you are in good shape, the walk is about 10 to 15 minutes. Little kids and older folks might find the walk too hard. One of the grandparents in our group had to stop walking after about 5 minutes. Fortunately for us an enterprising taxi driver noticed our dilemma and stopped and made a deal with us for $3 dollars per person each way to Red Hook and we took it. The ride to Red Hook from the pier took 15 or 20 minutes. The ferry to St. Johns runs every hour. The ferry was full but still had space both ways. When we got off the ferry, we took a taxi to Trunk bay for $6 per person. The beaches on St. Johns are beautiful. The biggest difference from the other Islands is that the beaches have trees right by the sand that give good shade. We got to Trunk bay all excited to snorkel when to our dismay we discovered that there was high surf and no snorkeling was allowed. We almost left but decided we would go down and look. The beach was just so beautiful and from what the park rangers told us every beach would have high surf we decided to stay (we learned later this was true from other cruisers). There were life guards at the beach warning that swimming probably wasn’t safe. We sat and watched the waves for a bit and realized they were much gentler than the ones on St. Maarten and many of the beaches of Hawaii. The older boys and I went out and tested the waters and quickly determined there were no strong current, just large gentle waves. The whole group started body surfing. We drove the lifeguards crazy but they really couldn’t do anything but warn us about the “dangers”. It was some of the best body surfing I have ever experienced. The waves carried you a long ways and gently dropped you to the sand. Even one grandma and grandpa got in on the action. It turned out to be a great day (I still wished I could have snorkeled there). We caught the 2 o’clock ferry back and called our taxi driver before getting on the ferry. She was waiting to bring us back to the ship. We had several hours to shop at the pier (the best of all the islands for pier shopping).

 

Getting off the ship was both good and bad. Royal Caribbean has improved the process by allowing you to stay in your cabin until it is time to leave. You still go to a departure area until they call your number but we only sat there for about 10 minutes. San Juan on the other hand needs to fix its pier traffic. With two large ships unloading and taxis and buses trying to get in and out, it was a mess. We got in a taxi quickly but it took 20 minutes to get out of the pier area. Unfortunately, the San Juan airport is a disaster on Saturdays and Sunday until about 4 in the afternoon. The lines are unbelievable. It took one hour to check in and one hour to go through security. You need at least three hours between the time you get off the ship until your plane leaves. Our friends had a 10:45 flight and they just barely made it. We had a 12:45 flight and we just barely made it. I would suggest staying over another day or leave later in the day.

 

We had a great cruise. We enjoyed the ship and the ports. I would highly recommend this cruise to anyone.

 

I will try to answer any questions but unfortunately real life requires my attention.

[mysparky]

Sounds like you had a terrific trip and it must have been great to have the multi-generational crowd! We're on the AOS 4/12 sail and are also staying on 2 connecting rooms on the 2nd floor. So glad to hear that you were happy with your choice. I've been rethinking my cabin choice (i.e. should I just have gotten one balcony?) but it certainly sounds like the room place was convenient.

 

Thanks for the good info on ports as well. I've also been wondering if any of the beaches had any wave action (we love snorkeling, but not for 4 days) and I'm definitely going to check into Dawn Beach a bit more.

 

Thanks for all of the details!

[bubbadog]

HHhmmm,Well sounds like you had an impeccable time,from what we hear lately,it sounds like a dream,hopefully your next cruise will be same;)

[masonpips]

We are going on AOS in Oct and I loved your review. I just hope the airport was worse than normal as it was Spring Break! We have a noon flight and will leave as early as we can (we are Platinum so should be able to get off early if it holds true to Port C last fall) to avoid the huge backups

 

Thank you!

[Cruisingjer]

If you are leaving early use the luggage valet, that way you can skip getting your USDA sticker for your luggage. Plus you will already have your boarding passes(avoid long lines), so you can so walk through security.

[rrqueen1]

My fiance' and I were on the same cruise. After cruising many times with Carnival we were excited about trying a new cruise line. We were not disappointed. We had a rough first night in the dining room (rude waiter and were seated at a table for 10 where 6 did not speak a word of English) but we requested a table change the next day and got a wonderful table with the best dinner companions ever. The food indeed was great, with the exception of the desserts - they were a hit and miss. The shows were great as well. We had a balcony room which we enjoyed thoroughly and never felt cramped. In fact, the balcony was larger than any previous one we've had on Carnival. I only wished that we had brought my children (ages 14,19,21). We were so impressed by the number of things there were for them to do (basketball, volleyball, dodgeball, climbing wall, in-line skating, miniature golf, and ice skating). They would've loved it! We've decided to do another cruise next year and take them along. The itinerary is wonderful. We enjoyed all the islands. We booked three ship excursions (the snorkel trip on the jolly pirate ship in Aruba, the city east highlights tour in Curacao and the best of St. Thomas tour in St. Thomas). We booked a private excursion with Bernard in St. Maarten and got to see three planes, including one jumbo jet land on Maho Beach. Our debarkation went very smoothly, and yes, the airport was packed but we avoided the long line by paying the skycap $5.00 per bag to check-in. Well worth it! We will definitely take this cruise again!

[mjeffv]

We too were planning the Kmart walk. Did the driver offer you $3pp or did you have to negotiate that? How much was the taxi back to the pier and was it the same driver?

[KAP]

The driver offered the $3 price. I am sure she new exactly what we were doing and saw the chance to make and extra $14 each way as we were a large group. We got the same price coming back to the boat. The taxi driver gave us her card to call her when we were ready to come back.

[I'm on holiday]

Glad to hear a great time was had by all. It must have been great to travel with so many family and friends!

 

One question...how long would you guess it took you to get from the ship to the beach at Trunk Bay, and how long for the return? I have a vague memory that the afternoon traffic back from Red Hook can be brutal.

[mjeffv]

The driver offered the $3 price. I am sure she new exactly what we were doing and saw the chance to make and extra $14 each way as we were a large group. We got the same price coming back to the boat. The taxi driver gave us her card to call her when we were ready to come back.

 

Thank you. We leave tomorrow and could not be more excited. I hope our trip is as good as yours.

[Cruising89143]

Thanks for the review. We fly down two weeks from tomorrow. I guess the one good thing for us is both Princess and Carnival chartered their ships out during this time so the Adventure will be the only ship with passengers heading to the airport.:)

[Carebear86]

Cruisingator2 - I will be on AOS at the same time. Are you on the Roll Call board? Have you signed up for the Meet and Mingle?

Also, if those other ships are chartered out I'm hoping that means the Sunday coming home will be less crowded too. I've heard really bad things about SJ airport on Sundays.

 

KAP - Thank you so much for your review. This will be my first cruise so I'm trying to absorb all the tips and information I can.

[familyof4cruising]

Great review! Thanks

 

We are leaving Sunday. I am worried about the airport and catching our flight home. Did anyone do the luggage transfer with RCCL? I hoping that saves time.

[hunter08]

Thank you for the great review. This is our first cruise and we're (me, wife, D12, D10) are reading everything we can get our hands on. We leave in a week and are looking forward to all the cruising learning curves. Heard great things about this line and this ship.

[ken_nyc]

Thanks for the great review! Will be going on the AOS in August.

[Cruising89143]

Cruisingator2 - I will be on AOS at the same time. Are you on the Roll Call board? Have you signed up for the Meet and Mingle?

Also, if those other ships are chartered out I'm hoping that means the Sunday coming home will be less crowded too. I've heard really bad things about SJ airport on Sundays.

 

KAP - Thank you so much for your review. This will be my first cruise so I'm trying to absorb all the tips and information I can.

 

We did sign up for the M&M. Depends on the day and time if we attend. I have not been active on the roll call board. Do visit it from time to time.

 

Since this is the last cruise before the Adventure heads into dry dock, I wonder if they will be starting some of her work while we are on board? I sure hope not.

 

With the Adventure going into dry dock, she will not have any new passengers coming on board so that should also help with the airport issues.

[jeniferlyn]

KAP- Thanks for the awesome review, we are going on May 24 and I am so excited!! Did you and your family do MTD or traditional seating? Thanks....

[KAP]

Our travel time to Trunk Bay was 90 minutes (the walk to Kmart takes time). Our return from Trunk Bay was about 1 hour since the taxi dropped us off in the terminal. We didn't experience any brutal traffic but there was only one other large ship and one or two small ships in port.

 

I forgot to mention that we tried to sign up for My Time Dining but if you have a group size other than 2 or 4 it just doesn't work as almost all the tables set aside are for 2 or 4. There were like 3 tables for 6 and that was it.