CruiseDad-NYC

I was on the Adventure of the Seas from 9/1 - 9/10 (i.e., a 9 night voyage from Cape Liberty to New England and Canada). My wife and I had an interior gty fare that was $252 per person, the lowest I had ever paid for a cruise and which we had purchased in early July. My Royal Up email had a range of $170 as the minimum to a high of $900 for a balcony. I originally bid $200 but then got my interior cabin assignment around 8/1, and it was an interior corridor cabin at the very, very back of the ship. It looked to me that the ship might be full, since there didn't seem to be many balconies available. This was a 25th wedding anniversary trip, so I increased my bid to $400 per person. I found out 8 days before my cruise that it was accepted, and we got a terrific balcony cabin midship on deck 7. So our total base fare for the balcony cabin ended up being $652, which I thought was excellent for a 9 night cruise where balconies were going for about $2K per person when I booked. I would have been perfectly happy with an interior cabin (we were just happy to go away on another cruise), but we really did love the balcony and made good use of it.

I noticed on a wave tracker that the Aurora has been passing through bands of Hurricane Fiona and the seas have been over 10M and currently 9M+. Curious if anyone on board can describe here what it is like and how the ship is handling the storm. I know ships are built to handle it, but that is pretty rough! Thanks and all the best.

The Song of America was my first of 18 (soon to be 19) cruises with Royal/Celebrity. I went with my grandmother in the fall of 1991 (and, yes, I got Crown & Anchor credit for it). I remember thinking that the ship didn't seem that fancy, but still had a really great time. My grandmother and I got along really great, and it was a perfect vacation for the 2 of us to take. We ate at a big table, and there was a very nice young couple my age who was there on their honeymoon, and I hung out with them a bunch and we kept in touch for a couple of years afterwards. I earned my Ship Shape T-shirt and had it for many years. I remember having to work for it harder than I expected and thinking how cool it was doing early morning yoga on the large, aft teak deck. I remember there was a lavish Midnight Buffet that felt really exotic. Actually, everything felt really exotic, because I had never been to the Caribbean before. I thought the Crown Lounge was really cool and special (even though it pales in comparison to anything you would see on a ship today). I remember choosing this voyage over the newer Monarch because this one had a stop at Labadee, which I was really curious about. Unfortunately, there was political unrest in Haiti, and that stop was replaced with an additional sea. The cabin was small - the twin beds were in an L (one length wise and the other horizontal under the porthole). The bathroom didn't have a separate shower stall or tub - a nozzle and a drain and the water went all over the bathroom if you weren't careful. All in all, a great time. I get wistful and excited whenever I see it under its new name. I saw it with my wife and kids as the Thomson Destiny in Barbados and under the Celeystyal brand in Rhodes. Happy memories that still have me cruising on RCCL 31 years later!

+1 My teenage son (vaxxed and boosted) got Covid on the Adventure of the Seas and was sick for 10 days. He started up with a fever the day after we got back last month from a 9 day trip sailing to the Caribbean. My wife and other teenage son (vaxxed and boosted) did not get it. I started showing symptoms 6 days after we got back and presume my son exposed me to it because I hadn't left my home. I felt sick for 4 days (fever for 24 hours; achey, sore threat, headache) but never tested positive over a week of daily testing, so I assume I had an immune response and may or may not have had it (e.g., it could have been some other random cruise ship bug). Just be careful and try to have your kids avoid crowded indoor spaces without masks if you can, because Covid is on board all of the ships. Have a great trip and enjoy the ship and the wonderful itinerary - you are going to great ports!

Hi, Bencruisin - I am sorry this happened to you and can understand how frustrating it must be. It hasn't happened to me, but is something that I have worried about. I had read on these boards a long time ago that a parent and a grand parent had been denied boarding because they were traveling with a minor child and weren't able to establish that the parent of that child had proper permission to take the child out of the country without the other parent. My wife and I have different last names (and my children have mine). I had been concerned that if challenged, we would not be able to demonstrate that my wife was my wife and the mother of my kids. So, we always travel with their birth certificates (in addition to their passports) and our marriage license just in case we are asked to show by paper that my wife is their mother and that I am not taking them out of the country without permission. 18 cruises and 15 years later, we have never been questioned, but it was something that concerned me particularly when they were much younger. Good luck and all the best.

Hi, luckybecky - I really want to thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed, well-written review. I think it might be one of the best I have ever read on Cruisecritic! The helpful information and photographs were all really great. I took a similar cruise with my family back in the summer of 2019 (a 10 night cruise on the Celebrity Constellation from Venice to Dubrovnik, Mykonos, Santorini, Rhodes, Athens, and Katakolon). I would like to go back! I am sorry you got hurt - I remembered from our cruise that I had never seen more people injured on a trip (e.g., tripping on bumpy cobblestones to a woman who broke her ankle after a man stepped on it in the crowds of Santorini). People were also passing out because of the extreme heat in Rome and Greece when we were there and one of our memories is how we spent more on water than we did on wine on that trip. When you and your husband hire a driver to take you around for the day (like you did in Kefalonia), how much does that cost roughly? My wife and I have thought about doing something similar but haven't yet and are curious. Thanks again. My wife and I are thinking of doing a similar cruise again during the summer of 2024 and I will come back to this very terrific review again.

Hi, johnjen - Thank you for your review. I was on the same itinerary just before you went on your cruise (i.e., I was on from June 23 - July 2). I really liked the itinerary, especially leaving from New York on Royal, but I totally agree with your assessment of the food. It was just not good. I don't go on cruises for the food and I am very sympathetic that we we are still in a pandemic so things aren't going to be like they were for awhile. But, I thought the quality of the food went way down hill and was not acceptable for Royal. The menu items sounded appetizing, but the "charcuterie board" you showed was a perfect example of what Royal is trying to pass off as OK (e.g., order the pastries on the room service breakfast menu and they will include dinner rolls from the night before; fish that is mushy from being frozen; vegetables that obviously had been frozen; and more). There were a few meals that were good, but most were not good. My fear is that people will just accept this and it will become the new normal. This was my 18th cruise on Royal/Celebrity and the only time I have been truly disappointed with the food (and it was actually my most expensive cruise).