DIVERTED! Adventure Southern Caribbean June 3, 2017

Les Deviation – Martinique

So many things planned…I had been working for over a year on our excursion to St. Lucia. The adventure group was going to Tet Paul Nature Trail for a hike overlooking the Pitons and then taking a ferry to Anse Mamin and Anse Chasternet beaches. The other group was sailing to a beach near the Pitons. It was going to be such a great day for everyone. But no…

There were 40 slots on the morning Beach and Turtle Tour, our group had 18 of them. Our guide was a woman who’s name I cannot spell so I’ll call her Shawana. Her English was very good and she even knew when she would get a syntax or a plural wrong and correct herself. That was a big plus because finding English speaking guides is supposedly kind of hard to do here.

We had a large catamaran motor boat that had bench seating for the most part. The harbor in Fort de France is huge and we had to head across the harbor and out to the coast which isn’t a short trip in and of itself. We headed up the coastline and passed by Ilet Ramier which is a nature preserve and looks like it would be a great place for a hike, if they allowed anyone on it, which apparently, they don’t. Then we headed up to a cave and they actually maneuvered the bow of the boat into the cave opening. Which was interesting. Our other couple was on a snorkel tour that came to this same cave and a tour boat showed up while they were in the water and proceeded to get very close to the snorkelers…they said it was kind of a tense thing between the two tours.

We proceeded up the coast until we reached Grande Anse d’ Arlet. A large bay with many sail boats anchored there and a beautiful mountain backdrop. As we approached the dock we encountered a problem. There was major repair work going on and nowhere to dock the boat. Discussion ensued between the crew and the dockworkers. We did find a place to dock but we had to walk through areas of construction and navigate boards, tools, hoses, etc. Half the group, which was our half went ashore to the beach and the boat departed with the others to go look for turtles.

It wasn’t a large beach, it was still morning, and there was absolutely nothing open or happening anywhere. There were some picnic tables in the shade so we made camp there. We walked up and down the area and took some cool pictures. A few people waded into the water for a while. We saw a scuba tour return from a dive boat and trudge to the beach with all their gear and then disappear into a dive shop. We had about 40 minutes to kill. When it was almost time for the return of the boat a woman emerged from the restaurant and told us we all needed to move unless we were buying something – which hadn’t been possible because the restaurant wasn’t open. I felt sorry for the second beach group because they would have to sit in the sand or purchase something in order to use the tables.

We boarded the boat and most of us went down into the two catamaran runners which had windows in them. There was no way 20 of us would have fit. It did have air flowing to make it cool but it wasn’t an easy fit for us and if you are claustrophobic forget it. We would need to yell “turtle” when we spotted one so the captain could stop the boat for us to watch. We did get to see several turtles and our guide kept up a running narrative for quite a while about the turtles and the importance of them to the island. Honestly 40 minutes of the turtles was about 20 minutes to long for me.

This area needed to hold at least 10 people. We had some sitting on the floor or in other people's laps. Doable, but pretty cramped. We did see several turtles.

Eventually we were all back on the boat and headed on the return leg. Our guide had kept up a commentary for most of the trip and she pretty much demanded our attention. Sometimes scolding us a bit to force us to listen to her. She brought out some 100-proof rum and mixed it with lime and some sugar, this was the local drink. Adam was the volunteer to try it, he said it was like drinking straight fire. They did mix up some less potent versions of the drink for us and she passed out a little fried pastry puff of spicy meat for us to eat. We also had chips to munch on. We arrived back at the dock and said our goodbyes.

It is not the worst excursion you could have. It had some very pretty scenery. But at almost $100 for half a day it is expensive. By comparison we did everything on the Captain Bob trip for about $120. The beach we went to was not somewhere I’d want to spend a “beach day.” If you’re into snorkeling the RCCL snorkel trip is likely a better choice but many on my crew aren’t snorkelers.

Fort de France

We all decided that going into Fort de France would maybe be fun. We had visions of finding a quaint little French café and eating pastries while sipping espresso. Those thoughts were quickly dashed. Once you finally make your way to the city, which isn’t easy really. Not like other ports where there is a clearly marked route to the port exit. We found ourselves walking across parking lots and sort of meandering around trying to get to where we obviously needed to go.

Once we got there we found very narrow streets that were crowded with locals. Everything is in French and Euros with very few businesses making any attempt to woo non-French speaking customers. We looked for some pastries but really saw nothing of note. In fact, the pastries on-board looked to be better than what was on offer here. My wife and I wandered around for a while, got her a T-shirt and the kitchen magnet souvenir we get everywhere we go. I told her to buy the T-shirt now because we were never coming back. The vendor in the souvenir shop was friendly and spoke enough English to transact business. We stopped at some other venues to look at items and we were basically ignored. The smaller street vendors seemed particularly disinterested in us.

We did eventually find a small central square area and there was a singer who was blind. He was a young man and we learned he was from St. Lucia. We wound up getting his CD my wife may use some of his songs in her Zumba classes. Then we headed back to the ship to eat. But not before we walked by the McDonald's that was advertising their food as “New York City Street Fare!” We had a good laugh at that one.

The Fort was closed...

The group pretty much agreed that if we had to do it again we would have saved our $1700 and treated Martinique like a sea day. Maybe a quick jaunt into town. If you like land based sightseeing tours you might fare better here than we did. I did talk to a couple of people who took a land tour and really enjoyed it and I would expect that the scenery is pretty up in the hills. Most people we spoke with seemed disappointed overall with Martinique especially when so many were looking forward to St. Lucia. Compared to the other islands on this cruise Martinique really didn’t fare well for us. Hence the following T-shirt design I came up with…

Great review!!!

We are sailing Adventure in April 2018. Looking forward to the rest of your review

Barbados

This was a more low-key beach day. A good guide will suggest an alternative when something you planned may not pan out. That was the case with Kathrina from MHKK Tours & Taxi on our day in Barbados. I had planned to have her take our whole group of 20 to a Rockley (aka Accra) beach. That was the plan I had from the research I had done.

She picked us up in 2 vans. She had asked me in our email exchanges if we wanted to get beverages on the way to the beach and if we did she would provide 2 coolers with ice for us to use. Bonus! So, we made a couple of quick stops for coke, water, beer and rum. This was a total “locals” stop and we got some Banks Beer and a small bottle of local rum.

Shopping like Locals!

On the way, she asked me if I was certain I wanted to go to Rockley. She said the waves were pretty choppy there today and it might not work best for our group. I had several people who would not have fared well in rough conditions. With her help, we switched up plans and she got us a great spot on a section of calm beach that was perfect for our group.

We went to a section of beach that was not overrun with tourists and yet had great sand, great water and a great view. She hooked us up with "Spidey" who got lunches for everyone and assisted us with whatever we needed. Some wanted to rent jet-skis and she helped us there as well. We had a great day on the beach and she was a huge part of making it happen.

When she picked us back up she told me that after she dropped us she drove over to the original beach we had planned on just to make sure we had made the right choice.

Working with her was a breeze and she was prompt with all communications leading up to our arrival in port.

That evening was Quest. It’s always fun to experience the Quest with people who haven’t seen it before. One of our own was a team captain and that made for a fun time of Questing.

Sea Day!

If there is a downside to this itinerary it is that there isn’t a sea day in the midst of all the island hoping. We had a relaxing day on Adventure. My DW and some of the others were ready to Zumba and had a great morning workout. Zumba has become more prevalent on the ships as more staff members have become certified.

I decided to see how crowded the Flowrider would be first ting in the morning. To my amazement almost no one was in line at 9:30 for the start of open riding! I guess all the young ones stayed up way too late and couldn’t get out of bed. That was fine with me. There were literally 5 of us surfing for over an hour. It was the most Flowrider time I have ever had.

One bit of advice, don't fall asleep with a bee on your head.

Final Musings

We had a great staff in the MDR this trip. (really, we have never had a poor experience in the MDR). As a large group that puts certain demands on the wait staff and they were up to the task. One night we got an entire plate of lobster tails very late in the dinner process! They literally ran through the dining room with a covered platter of tails for us. Several in our group were dying for sushi and so one night they brought out a big platter of sushi for our group. Another evening they ran out of roasted chicken and several of us were wanting that dish. A couple of nights later they brought us a whole plate of roasted chicken to share. Those waiters really work hard.

The first day as we ate lunch in the Jammer we were approached about dinner at Giovanni’s. The young man was very persistent. He brought us menus and talked about how great the dinner would be and he kept trying to get us to leave the Jammer and go see how wonderful Giovanni’s space is and what a great dining area they have. It went on for a long time. Ultimately no one was that interested in doing Specialty Dining on this cruise. But that was probably the hardest sell I have ever had for Specialty Dining. We got asked about Giovanni’s a couple of other times on the trip but no one ever asked us about Chops. Not once did we get a Chops pitch. Which I thought was strange.

The VOOM internet was awful. Worst wifi we have had in 4 cruises. If you pre-purchased internet you get a code and everyone that got the code had constant issues with dropped connections. The connections dropped ALL THE TIME. And streaming...a joke. Those that purchased on board seemed to fare better. Setting up an account name and password to log in just seemed to keep the connection better for whatever reason. We were heavy wifi users and thus we noticed the dropped connections a lot. At one point, they finally gave my wife a different code and that worked a little better. If you are planning on doing Facebook Live or something similar it is going to be very hit and miss.

Because this is such a port heavy cruise I didn’t feel like I got to interact with the crew as much which is a part of the fun of going cruising. Again, lots of port days change the way things go on-board. Not a bad or good comment, just different.

In the end, everyone had a great time. Our first timers had fun and I think we hooked at least one couple with the cruise bug. Everyone liked the islands and all the things we got to see on this cruise. However, when we began to talk about where to go in 2019 the consensus seemed to be headed back towards the Oasis class. There just isn’t anything like an Oasis class ship. Everyone also said they missed having a couple of sea days to just enjoy the ship. I eagerly await the summer 2019 schedule to see which Oasis class ships are where. It will also be interesting to see how this Southern Caribbean itinerary goes when they put the Freedom in San Juan.

Until we sail again...

While I'm not going on this particular cruise as of now, I enjoyed reading your review very much!!!

This was just AWESOME, thank you!

You tell a great story. Very enjoyable review

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I agree with you about the number of sea days. When we have done this (similar) itinerary out of San Juan it seemed like there just wasn't quite enough down time. I like having the last day out at sea but I also like having one somewhere in the middle of the week.

Nice write-up. :)

I agree with you about the number of sea days. When we have done this (similar) itinerary out of San Juan it seemed like there just wasn't quite enough down time. I like having the last day out at sea but I also like having one somewhere in the middle of the week.

 

Nice write-up. :)

That's another reason we prefer the Aruba/Curacao itinerary, as it has two sea days. We typically have done a B2B on Adventure, and I would not do that if both itineraries had 5 stops.

That's another reason we prefer the Aruba/Curacao itinerary, as it has two sea days. We typically have done a B2B on Adventure, and I would not do that if both itineraries had 5 stops.

I know there was a period of time (don't know if it still happens) when they would sometimes do the 5 stop itinerary in reverse order and the first day was at sea and all the other days had stops. I would NEVER book that.

My issue with the Aruba/Curacao itinerary that they now do, at least the last time that I checked, is it does not include St. Maarten as it used to. I never get tired of stopping there.

I know there was a period of time (don't know if it still happens) when they would sometimes do the 5 stop itinerary in reverse order and the first day was at sea and all the other days had stops. I would NEVER book that.

 

My issue with the Aruba/Curacao itinerary that they now do, at least the last time that I checked, is it does not include St. Maarten as it used to. I never get tired of stopping there.

Well, the days of enjoying a B2B out of San Juan on Adventure are quickly dwindling away. We've got one more booked for next year, and that's probably it. Not really interested in a B2B on Freedom out of San Juan.

By the way, we recently did Oasis to St. Maarten, San Juan, and Labadee. Not a bad itinerary.

Well, the days of enjoying a B2B out of San Juan on Adventure are quickly dwindling away. We've got one more booked for next year, and that's probably it. Not really interested in a B2B on Freedom out of San Juan.

 

 

 

By the way, we recently did Oasis to St. Maarten, San Juan, and Labadee. Not a bad itinerary.

Bob .. I understand your love of the Adventure .. Voyager class ships are our favorite .. but Freedom is so similar .. why the lack of love?

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Bob .. I understand your love of the Adventure .. Voyager class ships are our favorite .. but Freedom is so similar .. why the lack of love?

The additional 500 guests seems to crowd some of the public spaces that are the same size as Voyager class , such as Schooner, theater, elevators, etc.

The additional 500 guests seems to crowd some of the public spaces that are the same size as Voyager class , such as Schooner, theater, elevators, etc.

Only been on Freedom once and it was NYE .. did notice Schooner was more crowded but thought that was because of the entertainer .. really didn't notice larger crowds anywhere else. Actually found ice show less crowded. That said, still prefer Voyager and Radiance class ships [emoji1]

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By the way, we recently did Oasis to St. Maarten, San Juan, and Labadee. Not a bad itinerary.

My first Eastern Cruise on Voyager had Nassau, ST Thomas, San Juan and Labadee and I enjoyed that one a lot. I can't count the number of times people on this forum have told me Labadee is in the Western itinerary only, it can't be done. ;)

My first Eastern Cruise on Voyager had Nassau, ST Thomas, San Juan and Labadee and I enjoyed that one a lot. I can't count the number of times people on this forum have told me Labadee is in the Western itinerary only, it can't be done. ;)

We left Labadee at 5pm and had one sea day to make it back to Port Canaveral.

Thank you for your review, we did this same cruise last September although we did stop in St, Lucia. It was one of our most favorite ports of all the places we have been. If you get a chance to get there it is definitely worth it.

This itinerary wore us out also with all the port visits. We decided to stay in San Juan for a couple of days after the cruise just to lay on the beach and relax before flying home.

Thanks for another fun read! You have convinced me to buy that FauxPro :)

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Totally happy with the FauxPro. For the money you really can't go wrong.

Thanks for reading. I really need to find a way to take more cruises so I can write more reviews.

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Great report- thanks for taking the time to prepare it!!!

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Just got a chance to read your review today and all the pictures seem to be gone, bummer! It's a good read even without the pictures, thanks for posting.

Well, this is the end of photos in my reviews...or at least the reviews I have posted over the last few years.

I have used Photobucket which seemed to be what lots of people used. Very recently Photobucket eliminated 3rd party hosting from most accounts. Now it will cost $400 per year to have 3rd party hosting. That is insane. I cannot afford that.

So all the great pictures that many have posted are gone and never to return to these reviews that have been posted.

Suggestions for a new hosting site for my next review?

For those who have used Photobucket and are interested, here is a link to a petition to get the Photobucket decision reversed:

https://www.change.org/p/photobucket-reverse-the-photobucket-third-party-rule?recruiter=718186436&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=share_petition