Adventure of Seas - May 26, 2012 Malaga Mediterranean Cruise - Quick Highlights

[markpghpa]

Hello everyone,

 

We were on the Mediterranean cruise that left Malaga, Spain on May 26, 2012 and I wanted to give a few highlights that may assist others. (I will right a full review soon.):

 

Downtown Malaga to cruise ship?

The port begins in downtown Malaga adjacent to the shopping district and if you are at a hotel in downtown Malaga, it is a 5-15 minute walk to the beginning of the cruise port terminal. However, the AOS docks at the far end of the terminal. It is about 20-30 minute walk with luggage to reach the Adventure of the Seas. You can either walk, take the public bus, use taxi, or RCCL transfers.

 

 

Passenger Profile (According to Cruise Director, Abel):

Approximately 3,200 passengers from 46 Nations

1005 from Spain

990 from United Kingdom

220 from United States

 

Is the main dining room dinner options available in the buffet (Windjammer)?

Yes, you can get most of the main dining room options in the buffet including lamp chops, caviar, the appetizers including the chilled cherry soup, etc...

 

Additional Dining/Food Options:

Starbucks coffee - available in main lobby (Sprinkles cafe)

Note: free coffee is also available in this area

Ben & Jerry's ice cream - available in main lobby (Sprinkles cafe)

Johnny Rockets - $4.95 per person near the pool areas

Portofino Special Restaurant - $20 per person adjacent to Windjammer buffet

Note: We did not eat at Johnny Rockets or Portofino. The other dining options were good.

 

Topless decks?

Yes, the ship had 2 topless decks on the Mediterranean cruise including 1 above the main pool bar and in front of the ship

 

Ports of call:

Valencia - since this was a Sunday, many of the stores in downtown Valencia was closed. We would have preferred another port of call.

Rome - great!!!! We went directly to Rome via train. (Train is easy to find near port.)

Livorno - great!!! The AOS docked in a cargo area and we could not walk out the terminal. Use either taxi to shuttle. We went to Lucca and Pisa. Next time, we will spend more time in Livorno. It looked nice while we passing through it.

Corsica - nice, easy relaxing port! Since this was the 3rd day in a row of port of calls, it was nice to have this relaxing port where the ship docked in town.

 

Ease of debarking:

Easy! Passengers could walk off as early at 6:15 AM with their own luggage or could use the regular procedure of leaving your suitcase by the the previous night and they assigned you a number. It was relaxing, we ate breakfast at the buffet and then waited to debark at 8:30 AM, based upon our assigned number.

 

Malaga as a port!

Great!!!! We loved the transportation options including the newer train station and nice airport. The city had great shops and restaurants! Picasso museum is very cool and beaches were nice. We may consider going to Spain for Malaga alone.

Tip for US Passengers: Delta has begun non-stop flights from Malaga to JFK airport for the summer months.

 

Please contact me for more information or with questions/comments.

 

Mark

[razal68]

Mark,

 

Did the ship, in Valencia, provide shuttle transportation to port gates or downtown? Or was it with a third party? Cost of transportation?

 

As it was Sunday, I assume shops were closed, but were the tourist sites open?

 

 

 

Thank you

David

[kandpsmom]

Thanks for sharing your quick highlights. I had no idea about the topless decks. Thanks for the heads up. I also appreciate the passenger profile, it gives me an idea of what to expect.

[markpghpa]

David,

 

In response to your your question regarding Valencia and transportation. There were 3 choices for transportation:

1. Bus services from cruise ship which was a fee of $15 per person

2. Taxi - we used the taxi service and shared with another couple to the center of town

3. Public Transportation - According to a fellow cruise ship passenger, there was a public bus at the port.

 

I would use one of the first 2 options.

 

Regarding what was open and closed:

The Central Market (Mercardo Central) was closed.

The Silk Market was open for sightseeing.

We stopped by a museum that was open.

Arts & Sciences was open.

 

Hope this helps,

Mark

[markpghpa]

One more quick add:

 

The ice skating show was great!!! It is a MUST-SEE!!!

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for the quick review that you posted of your cruise.

[Verfai]

Hello, May I ask how you knew those two areas where topless decks?

On LOS, it is undecided (for us and on these boards) if the "Saint-Tropez" area at the front of the ship is a topless deck or not, it is nowhere written or posted that it is so or not…And my girl does really hate the sun tan lines from the bikini top.

We are on NOS in September so are very curious to your reply :D

 

Kudos for posting this in your short review, I would have mentioned it to, the high prudishness level here, I am surprised you have not gotten any stupid remarks about it here (yet) :D

[markpghpa]

To Verfai,

 

I remember seeing the "topless deck issue" on the Cruise Critic Boards before I left so I was inquisitive. (Curious minds have to know and I am not a prude.) It was a good area to be with only adults also.

 

Attached are the signs which indicated the areas that were topless.

 

Hope this helps,

Mark

[Verfai]

Excellent! This sign is nowhere to be found on LOS so that concludes that topic then :). I’ll watch for it on NOS.

And like you when seeing this, and knowing the CC topics, I would have taken a picture of it.

 

I was not implying that you are prude, just about 90% here are, and not a little bit at that (my opionion)…So many topics crack me up here how they are blow out of proportion by conservative views.

[madcat444]

David,

 

In response to your your question regarding Valencia and transportation. There were 3 choices for transportation:

1. Bus services from cruise ship which was a fee of $15 per person

2. Taxi - we used the taxi service and shared with another couple to the center of town

3. Public Transportation - According to a fellow cruise ship passenger, there was a public bus at the port.

 

I would use one of the first 2 options.

 

Regarding what was open and closed:

The Central Market (Mercardo Central) was closed.

The Silk Market was open for sightseeing.

We stopped by a museum that was open.

Arts & Sciences was open.

 

Hope this helps,

Mark

 

Hi,

 

I was on the same sailing and took the free public bus from the port. Its drop off point was the port terminal and from there you could walk into town. I walked to the Oceanographic which was open and pretty good way to spend a couple of hours. It's next to the Science and Arts centre which I'm pretty sure was closed.

 

Felt $15 for ship transportation was an absolute rip off to be honest when a free bus was available.

 

Fiona

[FionaMG]

Hi,

 

I was on the same sailing and took the free public bus from the port. Its drop off point was the port terminal and from there you could walk into town. I walked to the Oceanographic which was open and pretty good way to spend a couple of hours. It's next to the Science and Arts centre which I'm pretty sure was closed.

 

Felt $15 for ship transportation was an absolute rip off to be honest when a free bus was available.

 

Fiona

 

We did the same cruise last September and also took the free port bus. However, there was no mention of this in the Compass and we discovered it by chance, parked beyond the paid RCI shuttle... read into that what you will. From the terminal building we walked to the beach. It was a bit of a hike but the beach was great. The less mobile could easily take a taxi.

 

(Another) Fiona :D