My Adventures on Adventure-- Feb. 2-9

[iambumbo]

This was my 9th cruise, 5 on RC (twice before on Adventure), 3 on Carnival, and 1 on Princess. I was traveling with a buddy of mine from college, Steve (we're both in our early 40's). Overall it was a fun trip, mostly because of the ports and excursions. Compared to other cruises, I found the service to be competent but not WOW.

 

Sat. 2/1-- Arrival in San Juan. I flew on Southwest from Milwaukee with a layover in Orlando. Arrived about a half hour late, and the airport was basically abandoned when I got in around 11pm. Took a cab for a little over $20 to Radisson Ambassador, which I'd booked through Hotwire for $82/night ($114 after fees/taxes). Steve was already there, so dropped luggage off and went down to the casino for a few hours. Met some people who'd be cruising with us and had fun, made about $50. Room was adequate, bathroom a little small but had an outside mirror/shelf so two people could get ready. Decent value for a Saturday night in San Juan.

 

Sun. 2/2-- Embarkation Day. We slept in and were going to take a bus to El Morro. Started chatting up a few locals while waiting and decided to just check out the Condado beach. Wandered along the shoreline and ended up at some kind of farmer's market type of place with all kinds of foods/beverages to snack on. Headed back to the hotel just before noon and took a cab to the pier (about $20 again). Got there around 12:20 and probably took about an hour to get onboard with the line. I purchased the premium drink package at $55/day. I'll agree with those that said you don't get shorted on service with the package, but then I pretty much went to the bar to get my own stuff. Definitely a good value for me as I easily spent the cost on a daily basis and was fun to mix up what I'd drink. Thank you, RC, for changing the policy on packages as Steve doesn't drink so I wouldn't have bought it before.

 

Headed up to Windjammer to grab lunch. Ate there for breakfast every day and a few times for lunch later in the week and food was fine, nothing special. Wait staff was attentive taking empty trays throughout the cruise. Luggage was already at our cabin when they opened up the rooms a little before 2:00. Put our stuff away and wandered around, played some ping pong, shuffleboard, mini golf, checked out the ship. Ship condition overall is fairly clean, pretty solid condition for heading into dry dock shortly.

 

We ate dinner every night in the main dining room, level 3, late seating (8:30 pm). Our waiter Rufo from Philippines and Argo from Indonesia were fine. Always got the food right but very direct, which is fine since I'm there to eat and not be entertained. We were seated with a couple from Michigan and a couple from New York. Both nice enough although they ate elsewhere most of the week. Another reason I always like large tables-- greater chance for socializing if several decide not to eat in the dining room.

 

Most of our nights during the week were spent in the casino, Jester's, Schooner Bar, or some of the other band shows. We didn't see any shows except the ice show, which was worth going to. I've been on enough cruises and I don't particularly care for most of the shows so I'm afraid I can't comment on them. The music mix was pretty good, definitely had a Latin flair considering the port we departed from, which I rather liked but it's probably not for everyone. They had a good mix of entertainment overall so anybody who's bored just didn't try hard enough.

 

Mon, Feb. 3-- St Thomas. We did a snorkeling excursion on Sea Blaster through the ship. I'd done it before a few times and was basically the same tour. Speedboated to Turtle Cove ahead of the crowd. If you want to get wet (which we did), you will get drenched upfront but it is fun. Spend about 40 minutes in the water, then speed over to the second spot, which I think they said was about 3/4 of the way to St. John. You dock at a relatively secluded by with lots of different fish along the shoreline mini-reef. Another 40 minutes in the water and then a leisurely sail back with rum punch and other beverages. Nice excursion and well worth the money ($50-some).

 

When we got back to the ship, grabbed a quick bite to eat after changing and then walked into Charlotte Amalie. They have a nice walkway along the shoreline past some shops. Took us maybe an hour at a slow pace. Shopped at some of the cheapo tents and picked up some t-shirts and other souvenirs, then walked back to the ship. Good exercise but probably not well planned considering what we were doing the next day. This was the first formal night and everyone was dressed up nicely. Captain's party was well-attended as usual.

 

Tues. Feb. 4-- St. Kitts. We booked the Volcano Hike tour through Thenford Grey for $69 ($99 through the ship, same tour but more people). He met us at the pier and introduced us to our guide, Al. We were put on an open air Jeep with 8 other people and drove about an hour to the other side of the island and up to the base. Scenic countryside to drive through. We stopped just outside the forest, about 800 feet up. The peak we would get to was about 3500 feet up. If you haven't heard, this excursion is no joke if you are not in excellent shape. You will climb virtually nonstop through very steep inclines for almost 2 1/2 hours straight through with minimal breaks. You and your shoes will get muddy and it is over very rough terrain. Al kept us motivated, saying he was gonna make winners of all of us and we could do it. Eventually, when you get to the peak, you climb up a 12 foot ladder to a narrow ledge maybe 20 feet across. Unfortunately it was cloudy that high up so we couldn't see all the way down but you still had some amazing views. A few didn't go up the ladder for fear of heights because there's no rail and if you take that extra step, you better have a parachute. Coming down was no easy task either, about an hour and a half and harder on your knees. I was glad I did it, and while I like to think I'm in good shape, it was a serious workout. They drove us back to the pier area and picked up a few more souvenirs before getting back on the ship. Returning cruiser's party was that not but I forgot to go (probably because I had the drink package so didn't need the free drinks!).

 

Wed. Feb. 5-- Day at sea. We did a lot of different stuff here, played in a volleyball tournament, ping pong, mini golf, hit the pool and watched some of the games. I believe they had an outdoor dance club setting in the Solarium that night, which was fun.

 

More to follow but feel free to ask questions and I'll answer if I can!

[Dajbman22]

I'm really enjoying your review so far (going on the same itinerary next Jan). If you don't mind me asking, how many drinks do you feel is the break-even for the premium package? My fiancee and I are 27, and can be somewhat big drinkers (especially on vacation), but I feel like $55pp/d is a lot of alcohol to consume. Did you feel you even got your money's worth on port days (sea days I can easily see us getting our money's worth)?

[iambumbo]

I'm really enjoying your review so far (going on the same itinerary next Jan). If you don't mind me asking, how many drinks do you feel is the break-even for the premium package? My fiancee and I are 27, and can be somewhat big drinkers (especially on vacation), but I feel like $55pp/d is a lot of alcohol to consume. Did you feel you even got your money's worth on port days (sea days I can easily see us getting our money's worth)?

 

The break even point will really depend on what you like to drink and your definition of "big drinker." Beers are in the range of $5.25-$6, average cocktails/wines are in the $7-8 range, and other drinks like martinis and margaritas are closer to $9. Considering the package includes the 15% tip, you'd need an average of about 5-6 premium cocktails or 6-7 basic cocktails each day to get close to even. If you'll comfortably make that average, then definitely get it. If you're only going to drink beer and wine, you'll probably be better off getting that package for $40/day, although I liked the premium also lets you get bottled water to take onshore or sodas if you wanted them. I definitely got my money's worth on all days. But then on vacation I often blow right past the "big drinker" label and into "lush" territory. ;)

[sellwingri]

What are your thoughts of the Cruise Director, Mercedes? We take advantage of a lot of ship activities so the CD is very important. Another post I read said that she really doesn't have a great command of the English language which could be concerning unless her team handle most of the activities (trivia, Bingo, Love and Marriage, Quest, etc.)

 

We're on this cruise in 17 days so we're basically in a countdown mode.

[Clarea]

What are your thoughts of the Cruise Director, Mercedes? We take advantage of a lot of ship activities so the CD is very important. Another post I read said that she really doesn't have a great command of the English language which could be concerning unless her team handle most of the activities (trivia, Bingo, Love and Marriage, Quest, etc.)

 

We're on this cruise in 17 days so we're basically in a countdown mode.

Mercedes is extremely fluent in English, no problem there. We also thought there was a wide variety of activities on the ship. There is usually a music trivia every night at 8pm, amd if they are held by Samanta or Bjorn, you will be very entertained.

[CruisingTeacher19]

Somehow my post got deleted from two days ago so I'll ask again.we are staying at the Radisson precruise in two weeks. Was the beach within walking distance? What about a walgreens for wine? Do you recall if the taxis are readily available to go to the ship in the morning?

 

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk

[Missus Makkem]

What are your thoughts of the Cruise Director, Mercedes? We take advantage of a lot of ship activities so the CD is very important. Another post I read said that she really doesn't have a great command of the English language which could be concerning unless her team handle most of the activities (trivia, Bingo, Love and Marriage, Quest, etc.)

 

We're on this cruise in 17 days so we're basically in a countdown mode.

 

have met Mercedes on more than one RC ship and she is great, her English is very good and she is full of fun, a really good CD.

[iambumbo]

Somehow my post got deleted from two days ago so I'll ask again.we are staying at the Radisson precruise in two weeks. Was the beach within walking distance? What about a walgreens for wine? Do you recall if the taxis are readily available to go to the ship in the morning?

 

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk

 

Yes, the beach is just a couple blocks away, we headed there Sunday morning before going to the ship. There's a Walgreens about 3 blocks to the west on the same street. There were several taxis sitting outside the Radisson when we checked out just before noon.

 

I join in with others who said Mercedes is very fluent in English. She speaks a little fast so I think that might be why some people have a harder time understanding her, but it wasn't a problem for me.

 

Rest of my report coming tomorrow!

[drarill]

Great start!! thanks for sharing your cruise with us, looking forward to the rest!:):)

[iambumbo]

Before continuing on with my daily reports, a few comments about our cabin. We were in 8381, an interior cabin that was actually on the starboard outside row, right next to the last balcony. While it was a standard interior cabin in layout, it was obviously very near engine operations because other than the first night on the short jaunt to St. Thomas, it was very loud at night. The light fixtures over the bed would rattle off and on all night long so this is not the cabin for any light sleepers. Our cabin steward Francisco was pleasant but we only saw him maybe 3 times all week. We were a little concerned because we did not get any turn down service the first night but no problems after that and he did a fine job cleaning the room.

 

Thursday-- Aruba. We had not made any pre-trip excursion plans, having been to the island several times before. I was interested in doing some more snorkeling and as it turned out, the ship had a couple cancellations for their half-day trip to DePalm Island, so we booked that. Took a bus for about 15 minutes to the pier, and then a 5 minute ferry ride over to the island. It's a small stretch of private land that's been developed into a mini-resort. There's a few beaches protected by rock walls, a designated snorkeling area, a bar/snack bar area, a larger restaurant area, a waterpark for kids, and regular bathrooms. Also had a "banana boat" that held up to 10 people, for what we in Wisconsin would just call tubing. I think they had an area for people to scuba if they wanted to pay extra. Open bar the whole time and some snack foods in the snack bar and a larger meal in the restaurant, all included.

 

Shortly after getting there I checked out the snorkeling. They have all the equipment there for you to use, you just step off their patio and into the water. You're literally right in the reef as soon as you enter the water. It's a pretty large bay but very shallow reefs (mostly 6' or less). I've snorkeled in probably a dozen places and I think this area had the coolest variety of fish and the largest groups of brain coral I've ever seen. Definitely made the trip worthwhile for that experience alone, I went back out a second time later before we headed back. The food was decent as were the beverages. All in all, worth the $79. Tour bus dropped us off in the shopping area, which was good for us because it became stuck in traffic from a car accident ahead, and then I think it hit one of the other cars trying to get around the scene. Oops.

 

That night they put on a buffet with Caribbean band right next to the pool. Beautiful night to be outside and a lot of fun.

 

Friday-- Curacao. We had booked the Breath of Curacao excursion through Curacao Actief for $65. They make you prepay and send back a form ahead of time but no problems with the booking. Had a bit of a hard time finding the driver but eventually hooked up with him. There were 2 open air jeeps that would be taking us to the northwest side of the island to see some natural sights. Other jeep had a full 8 but ours was just us and a couple of ladies. The drivers, Leo and Henne, were fun and knowledgeable. Much of the trip was along the rugged east coast, where the winds drive the ocean into the land and create some impressive views that I could've watched all day.

 

We stopped first outside the airport, which apparently is largest in the Caribbean and is the place where Air Force One stops when the President visits most of South America. After that, did some offroading until we got to a blowhole, which blew a nice refreshing mist on us. Next was a stop at the natural park, which had some impressive inlets and caves. Then off to Bo Ka Pistol, which is a little inlet which sounds like a gunshot going off when the water crashes in. Next was to the very northern tip of the island, where the rougher east waves and calmer west side meet. Since we still had a few minutes on our way back to town, our driver stopped at one of the coolest looking beaches I've ever seen. Seriously, it looked like something out of a movie. I took a picture so I'd remember the name: Playa Kenepa Grandi. If you're a beach person, looked like a must-see. Great excursion overall and got to go to a number of places the bigger tour buses couldn't reach.

 

Driver dropped us off at our request near the Queen Emma floating bridge so I could pick up a few more souvenirs. Wandered around and admired the colorful city. Headed back to the ship and got ready for formal night. One observation I noticed was compared to other ships I've been on, a lot fewer people stayed dressed formally after dinner. That was fine with me but I suspect some prefer a more formal evening all night long. That night they had a 70's themed show/dance party in the promenade after second seating dinner that appeared to be the most heavily attended activity of the entire week.

 

Saturday-- Day at sea. Enjoyed another warm, sunny day with some pool time and other activities like shuffleboard, ping pong, and volleyball, along with some casino time. Definitely windier outside than other days but not overly so.

 

One other thing I enjoyed doing throughout the week was taking a stroll after dark to the very front of the ship. I don't think a lot of people know about this because I was usually the only one up there. If you go on deck 4 (promenade) and walk all the way forward, you'll see a staircase straight ahead on either port or starboard side. Go up the stairs, walk straight around a corner and you'll be all the way at the nose of the ship where you can recreate your own "Titanic" moment. They close it off sometimes for high winds but it's been super-windy and still open plenty of times. I find it very exhilarating and in the darkness you can see a million stars. Check it out if you haven't already!

 

Sunday-- Disembark. My flight wasn't until 3:00 but they had us off the ship in group 9, which got called around 9:00. No problems finding our bags, kind of a long line (about 20 minutes) to get through customs, and then just took a cab to the airport to ride out the duration. Unfortunately Southwest wouldn't take my bags until 4 hours before takeoff so had to hang onto my stuff for awhile as we killed time at the airport. No problems on my flight home on Southwest, had a stop in Ft. Lauderdale during which I was able to move up to the front row for some nice leg room for a change! Arrived back in Milwaukee about 15 minutes late to frigid temps. Welcome back!

 

All in all, it was a fun vacation primarily because of the excursions. The cruise itself was probably slightly below average compared to others I've been on, mostly because the service/events was forgettable. Not to say it was bad, just not as great/memorable as other trips.

 

Thanks for reading-- any questions, let me know!

[ckrobyn]

Thanks for sharing!!!! We are boarding next weekend :D

[BellsRUs]

Where does the Adventure dock in St. Thomas? At Havensight? Or Crown Bay?

 

Thanks!

Patti