Adventure of The Seas Photo Review 4/19/2015 (S.Caribbean B)

[Familygoboston]

Day 5 Antigua

Excursion: Antigua VIP Safari

 

Our next stop was lunch; Keisha gave us two options for lunch, a "local" ( local specialties) lunch without a scenic view or a more traditional "tourist" lunch (things American tourists would like) at Shirley Heights where there was a spectacular view. We decided to try the local specialties and were not disappointed!

 

We arrived at Caribbean Taste, in a little residential neighborhood around the corner from Nelson's Dockyard. It's located in a house with the seating on the porch, the family whips up specialties inside while local dogs and chickens wander on the road from yard to yard. It was very charming!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Menu board; which included hamburgers and chicken for the more "faint of heart" eaters. Keisha explained ahead of time what all the specialties included so we would know what to order. We washed it all down with sweet tamarind fruit juice!

 

 

 

 

 

Curried conch and ducana (which is made of coconut and sweet potatoes and is very filling!)

 

 

 

 

 

Curried conch and funge (is a cornmeal based side dish, similar to polenta)

 

[BillOh]

Day 5 Antigua

 

 

I was going to guess you took my Jewel trip advice and didn't do Royal's "Taste of Antiga" tour. Actually I think after a few bad reviews they pulled that one.

[Familygoboston]

Day 5 Antigua

Excursion: Antigua VIP Safari

 

Our next stop was to go to the lookout at Shirley Heights up above the English Harbor. There was a beautiful view from here and Keisha says this is where the locals party on Sundays!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another fork in the road shows another overlook to the other side.

 

 

 

 

 

The dramatic yellow flower you see in the distance is called a century plant, it should be called a quarter century plant since it blooms only once every 25 years and then is just the green spiky green plant you see on the coast there, for the next 24 or so years, until it blossoms again!

 

[Familygoboston]

Day 5 Antigua

Excursion: Antigua VIP Safari

 

Next we made our way along the "rain forest of Antigua", (there wasn't any rain) We noticed that with even the slightest increase in elevation, it cooled down and this part of the island was far more lush. We made a stop or two to see some agricultural plants that were growing along the side of the road.

 

After wending our way along the Fig Tree road (there were no fig trees there!) and past Mt Obama (There was no American President there, and never has been) we ended up at a local beach- the Valley Church Beach (there was no church there- do you think they are trying to confuse us???)

 

Valley Church Beach

 

 

 

 

 

The view out to the Caribbean sea

 

 

 

 

 

You can see what makes the beautiful white sand, it's actually tiny shell bits

 

 

 

 

Posing on the beach...a rare appearance by DH...DD posed us and took the photo, explaining that this is how the celebrities pose for the paparazzi at the beach in the celebrity magazines ...lady looks all super skinny (fat parts hidden in the water) and man looks all manly ("look at me, manly, man holding up my woman!") She told us it's a universally flattering pose. We thought it worked pretty well, until...

 

 

 

 

...we saw this guy running away in horror!

 

[Familygoboston]

Day 5 Antigua

Excursion: Antigua VIP Safari

 

We wrapped our tour with a ride down Market St in St John, we could see all the local folks getting out of school and work, and all the shops and local markets.

 

I highly recommend this tour, we really enjoyed Keisha, she was engaging and put everything we saw in historical and cultural context. She shared stories from her own life about growing up and living on the island. That paired with the light crowds of the day meant we had a wonderful day in Antigua and are anxious to go back!

 

 

Sailaway

 

We boarded and had naps, and snacks from the Wind Jammer, and watched the ship sail back out of St John, with the frigate birds were again hollering at us to get out!

 

 

 

 

 

In the distance you can see the Cathedral in St John which is not currently open because it is sinking! But it dominates the town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We all wanted to go swimming in that cave!! Anyone know who wons the villa? ;)

 

[Familygoboston]

Day 5 Antigua

Formal Night Dinner and Evening Aboard

 

Dinner Day 5 Jasmine Menu

 

(there it is in black and white...lobster tail...we may have had more than one, but I'm not telling)

 

 

Tonight the chefs came out to "take a bow"

 

 

 

Video of the chefs parade:

 

DD had never tried baked Alaska, we warned her that it might not be everything she hoped, since in general we find Royal desserts a tad disappointing. You can see she was less than pleased; after the first bite, she bailed and we went for Ben and Jerry's!

 

 

 

 

 

The headliner was "Clint Holmes" describes as "High Energy and Multi Talented" at 7 and 9 PM. We poked our head into the balcony level and saw it looked a little too "Vegas-y" for our taste and decided to have a long walk on the Promenade.

 

We sat at helipad under a nearly full moon.

 

 

 

 

 

After our walk we attended the Love and Marriage Show where a cop might have incriminated himself. But I'm not telling!

 

We went up to the pool deck for the Latin Dance Party with Eric. Now these folks were dancing, and we might have stood out with our blond heads and erector set hip movements. After a few minutes of tolerance, Eric hopped off the stage to be reunited with his "cruise character" DD, and teach her and her Dear Father how to "move the hips" like the ball and socket joint they are! He had such great energy (and patience) and wanted the party to be inclusive! We had a great time, but it was finally time to call it a night!!

 

Steps: 8410 Floors: 35

 

Up Next: St Martin, "If the Sea is calling, can you tell it to return my sunglasses?"

[Familygoboston]

I was going to guess you took my Jewel trip advice and didn't do Royal's "Taste of Antiga" tour. Actually I think after a few bad reviews they pulled that one.

 

Oh my gosh, I forgot about that review! You really had a clunker there! There are so many beautiful beaches, but I was glad we did the overview of the island since we hadn't been in 20 year! Next time, we would use the same guide, and go to the donkey sanctuary, (they used to run wild, but had to be rounded up to manage the humanely) then Nelsons dockyard for lunch, then spend the afternoon at one of the beaches! It is such a beautiful island! :D

[Familygoboston]

Day 6 St Maarten

 

We arrived in St Maarten and backed into pier with the port side on pier, which meant we might be able to see runners as the day ended! Celebrity Equinox alongside, and the only other ship in port, so it was pretty quiet for SMX, which can be a 4-6 ship free for all in high season!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a chance to take a photo of our cabin in this port, it's the aft cabin on the left, with the big "port hole" design next to the balcony cabins. Ours was the one on top. The bottom one is deck 6, and the balcony cabin on 6 where the other decorative port hole doesn't have access to that space, it's really the "super structure" for the aft of the ship. You can see the deck 9 aft corner has a port hole in the cabin, while the deck 8 aft balcony corner does not!

 

 

 

 

 

We had our breakfast in the WJ, and headed out to the cab stand. There are options for getting to Phillipsburg - Cab for $6 PP RT, walk (flat 1/2 mile or so on sidewalks) or take the water taxi (about $7 for the day, unlimited rides)

 

 

 

 

The cabs are regulated with a set price per passenger. Our cab to Orient Beach was $20 per cab for 2 people, or $8 pp for 3-5 people, $7 pp for a full cab. Generally you won't wait for more than a few minutes for a cab to fill to your destination.

 

[Familygoboston]

Day 6 St Maarten

 

Orient Beach

 

If the Sea is calling, can you ask it to return my sunglasses?

 

We decided to spend the day at the beach rather than do an excursion. We stopped at Le Galion first for an extended family on our van that included a couple of grandmas and toddlers; it's a much gentler beach than Orient, but in the same area (just south of Orient) The mom had done her research...given the damage the sea did to me in one afternoon, as was glad her tots were at Le Galion instead! If you want a gentler water experience, this is a good option.

 

http://www.sint-maarten.net/St-Maarten-Beaches/LeGalion.html

 

 

We went to our favorite beach on St Martin, it's a longer walk down the beach from where the cabs drop off, and its costs more money for a chair and umbrella, but the space and quiet are well worth it!

 

 

 

 

 

We were able to rent a 3 person cabana for $30, and set up a tab for the day. With a delicious sit down lunch and a couple of virgin strawberry daiquiris we spent about $120 for 3 people, but you could just pay your $20 for 2 chairs and an umbrella and call it a day.

 

 

 

 

 

Our first activity was to wade a little into the ocean. I'm a pretty active gal, and if I had planned to swim, I would have dove in and surfed my way to shore, but I was only standing in waist deep water checking it out, when a wave broke over my head and rag dolled me all the way back to the shore. When I finally stood back up, spitting sea water, with a bikini full of seaweed and sand, my sunglasses were long gone!

 

If it had been the only pair of glasses I had lost that week, I might not have cared so much, but I also lost a pair of prescription reading glasses in San Juan. I had called the cab, checked with lost and found at the hotel with no luck. SO for anyone keeping score, I had lost more money in glasses than I spent on board all week!

 

 

 

On our agenda was a Para Sail for DD and DH. It can be easily arranged at one of the watersports kiosks on the beach. We paid $100 for 2 people. You get your PFDs, then head out to the boat on a wave runner with a guide, to board the boat. On the boat you are hooked into the chute, and then they reel you out over the ocean!

 

The water sport kiosk- if you don't like heights, but still want something fun that orange toy in the left of this photo is a blast! We saw it here on the beach a couple years ago, and ordered one for my Uncle's lake house from Amazon for Christmas. It's called the Mabel...there is Big Mable and the Super Mabel and it's like riding a couch being towed in the water, I've done it, and the kids absolutely love it!!

 

 

 

 

DH and DD ready to go!

 

 

 

 

Getting on the wave runner

 

 

 

 

Sailing!

 

Edited May 18, 2015 by Familygoboston

[Familygoboston]

Day 6 St Maarten

 

Orient Beach

 

After all that excitement, it was time for lunch at Coco. I always remark that being French, our lunch on the beach at St Martin is without fail the best meal of the week! ;) The meal at Parrot Club in San Juan came in first this trip, but still, it's better than anything we ate on board!

 

The bar and restaurant at Coco

 

 

 

 

Shrimp

 

 

 

 

Lobster salad

 

[Familygoboston]

Day 6 St Maarten

 

We took the cab back to pier, and after grabbing snacks for the balcony at the Windjammer we waited to watch Celebrity Equinox leave and watch for any runners. There were a few latecomers, but at the risk of encouraging people to arrive late, we noticed that the pier staff offers a ride in a golf cart to those who are tardy. This seems like cheating to me...really, shouldn't they be required to run willy nilly, hats blowing off their heads, sun lotion dropping out of their bag? (Maybe THEY should be losing sunglasses? :rolleyes:) the crowd cheering madly as they pant up to the gangway? Isn't that how it's supposed to work? Now, you watch the fastest person in the party break out of the tourist building at a full run, run down the stairs and jump on the golf cart and wait for the laggards in the party to catch up. Things may have changed, but we all cheered the golf cart anyway:p

 

 

 

 

 

Video of pier in Saint Maarten and Celebrity Equinox alongside!

 

 

 

 

 

[Ocean Boy]

St. Maarten is still one of my most liked Caribbean islands. Whenever we are on a cruise without it on the itinerary I miss it.

[Familygoboston]

Day 6 St Maarten

 

Dinner Day 6: Basil Menu (orecchetti pasta, miso cod, filet mignon and shrimp, chicken cordon bleu, mousakka)

 

We got ready for dinner, picked up our free photos, bought DD another blue mug for her collection and headed up to Giovanni's for a late dinner.

 

The service started out slow (it took a while to get recognized, get water and menus, have our order taken) because it had been very busy until 9:00 PM, but after that we had the waiter to ourselves!

 

The menu was very good. We don't usually pay extra for specialty restaurants, (outside of an ice cream cone) but we were celebrating DD's birthday. (although; another nit pick...we had designated a night to celebrate the "birthday" in the dining room, and it was ignored, I again mentioned it at Giovanni's and again, it was forgotten) We felt the meal was worth the extra money because the ingredients they use are better and the food is cooked in an open kitchen right in the restaurant by separate chefs. For example, the tiramisu was completely different from that served in the MDR. (we liked the Giovanni's version, where as we don't eat the version served in the MDR)

 

[Familygoboston]

Day 6 St Maarten

 

The show tonight, was the Production Show- Invitation To Dance shown at 7 and 9 PM. It was featuring Latin dance champions, Liz and Mark Bruce, but it was not something that interested us.

 

After Giovanni's we hustled down to Quest to try to pick the rowdiest, craziest team (in this, we did not succeed!) they were begging for team captains, and again DD got pressed into service by the cruise staff to do it because she was already a "cruise character". However, we sent her down to the with the message that all clothes were to stay ON at ALL times! (in this, we did succeed!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If I show any more they will have to kill me...but you can see it all on the Cruise in Review, on sale now!

 

 

 

After the Quest, Adventure throws a Glow Party hosted by the cruise staff and featuring the dancers in the beginning. Eventually, it turns Studio B into a dance club (which mostly attracted the tweens and teens on our cruise)

 

Unfortunately, even though they did play fairly current music (the last 5 years as opposed to the stuff from 5 decades ago!) they only play 30 second -1 minute snippets of each song! Oh, well, some was better than none, but usually at a dance party you expect an extended play version, not a shortened one! The good news is the cruise staff on this ship is super high energy and inclusive, encouraging guests and generally making sure everyone is having a good time!

 

 

 

 

 

Click for link with video from the Glow Party:

 

Here we are dancing with the cruise staff!

 

 

 

Steps:11,275 Floors: 18

 

We are off to St Croix, where we have a kayaking tour scheduled. More to come...one last day

[Familygoboston]

Day 7 St Croix

 

Adventure of the Seas in St Croix

 

The dock at St Croix is located right in town and is a very nice port to visit. It's scenic, there is a beach with in walking distance, and a beautiful promenade you can walk along the shore and get nice shots of the ship in port.

 

Now, I make it my business to find out what deserving thing was done by the person that has things named after them in places all over the world. I've found parks named after generous environmentalists, squares named for men who died saving them, so imagine my delight when I googled this name for a marine facility in my own country. What I found did not make me proud. :( I wonder how long it will take to re name this facility after a veteran from the Virgin Islands who died in action? It's just a guess, but they might be more deserving! (google it, it's in TODAY'S news, you'll see why, see if you don't feel the same way! :eek:)

 

 

 

 

Edited May 18, 2015 by Familygoboston

[Familygoboston]

Day 7 St Croix

 

Excursion: Virgin Kayak Tours

 

Well, I haven't cooled off yet, but gee, I just didn't expect to find that today, but now I'm realizing it squares with what I heard about the Salt River Bay National Park during our excursion!

 

Let me back up: We had scheduled a kayaking trip on the historic Salt River Bay National Park. This excursion is run by Virgin Kayak Tours

 

Virgin Kayak Tours: http://www.virginkayaktours.com/

 

Jill, one of the co-owners, was very responsive. She did email us promptly with all the details. It cost us $50 pp (cash) and we had to find our own way by cab to Cane Bay, about 30 minutes away from the pier, where they are located. Jill recommend Rashida taxi, but we just chose to jump on a Cane Bay group taxi and paid about what she told us it would cost; $18 pp round trip. We arrived just in time for our 10AM tour.

 

 

 

 

 

Our guide was co-owner Brian, who is an incredible evangelist for the Salt River National Park. We got geared up and we headed a few miles down the road from their Cane Bay shop to the put in place at the National Park. These are peddle kayaks, which is different from how I normally kayak, but as biker I found it very easy to do! I think for people without experience kayaking this is a very good idea as it is less tiring than paddling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brian's love of this land and body of water goes beyond making a living on it, he is a passionate advocate for preservation of the bay and the history of the native peoples of the islands. Because we live on a great salt pond in the summer, I am well aware that these bays serve as the "baby nursery" for all of our sea life! Additionally, it is one of the few remaining bio-luminescent bays in the world. You may have heard of these, they are bays with little flow that encourage the growth of organisms called dinoflagellates that “glow” as a defense when moved in the water. So as you paddle, the water glows at night when the moon is not out. It’s a beautiful sight we got to see in Puerto Rico (at Farjado, where another bio-luminescent bay exists)

Brian was zealous defender of this bay, he explained that although it gained it’s “fame” from being the place where Christopher Columbus arrived in 1493, but it’s history is much older than that! Unfortunately, he also shared that there is little investment being made in the park, and it showed. The landing spot was polluted with trash and "permanent" campers. Brain shared his concern about this and explained he regularly organized clean ups, but it didn't last long because of lack of enforcement. We learned about potential damaging developments being considered that might irreparably harm the bio luminescent bay.

 

Despite, the challenges in this National Park, it was more than a little thrilling to literally be plying the same waters as the natives and later Columbus in our own little boats! We had a grand total of 7 of us on the tour with Brian and it was spectacular!

 

Our leader, Brian, an evangelist for the National Park.

 

 

 

 

 

 

National Park Visitors center

 

[Familygoboston]

Day 7 St Croix

 

Excursion: Salt River Bay Kayak

 

Peddle kayaking out toward the reef just to see it, before heading to the bay.

 

 

 

 

A pelican

 

 

 

 

Single ponton boat, built by a local to get to St Thomas the cheapest possible way!

 

 

 

 

Next we headed into the mangroves and saw quite a bit of wildlife.

 

 

 

 

Iguana

 

 

 

 

Heron

 

[Familygoboston]

Day 7 St Croix

 

Cane Bay Beach

 

 

The Beach at Cane Bay, is a nice quiet place, it's a little bit of a cab ride to ($18 RT) to get there, but it's very reliable, you get a plastic "boarding pass" for your return trip, and the cabs showed up right on time! The beach itself and the snorkeling is pretty good and you can pay to rent a little lounger, but it's really not well organized, it's more like a few enterprising individuals renting a chair.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a restaurant there but everyone said the service was exceedingly slow. One couple, after waiting over an hour to be served food after ordering, ended up eating in the cab. There is also a snorkel/dive shop for rentals or dive tours of the reef.

 

 

[Familygoboston]

Day 7 St Croix

 

We returned to Frederiksted, by the same cab who arrived right on time to get our group. Our daughter was done, and went back to the cabin for a snack and rest. We had just enough time to do a walk about town for photos and to see what was what before all aboard at 4:30 pm. The pier area was refreshingly devoid of giant diamond stores, and the colonial architecture was very pretty as was the sea side walkway installed along the harbor.

 

The main road along the shore:

 

 

 

 

 

Some of the restored colonial architecture on Strand St:

 

 

 

 

 

Adventure in port, across Strand St with the walkway along the shore.

 

 

 

 

 

A lovely courtyard with shops and cafes.

 

 

 

 

 

The old Fort Frederik by the shore, it was not open when we went by, but you can tour it for free.

 

 

 

 

There is a little craft market in the square (called Emancipation Park) adjacent to the pier and the fort, but most of the vendors were packing things up around 4 PM.

Edited May 19, 2015 by Familygoboston

[Familygoboston]

Day 7 St Croix

 

Adjacent to the pier, just past the fort, there is a nice beach you can easily walk to. We didn't get all the way down there, but I quizzed several people returning, and they said it was a nice place where you could rent chairs and an umbrella if you wanted or just toss your towel in the sand. There was a bar and place to get snacks.

 

 

 

 

 

[Familygoboston]

Day 7 St Croix

 

After returning to Adventure, we enjoyed sun set sail away on our balcony

 

 

 

 

 

And then went to the Farewell Show which was held at 7:45 PM before dinner

 

 

 

 

 

Of course there was a cruise in review and despite DD being a "cruise character", she was blessedly absent in the video, hopefully preserving her ability to get scholarships and jobs in the future!

 

One of my favorite parts of the Farewell Show is that the band gets to do a showcase number before the show! I think the Royal Caribbean bands are always excellent and I love this "swan song" they do on most cruises.

 

 

 

 

 

The featured act was Kirk Marsh "This High Energy Show is Full of Laughs and Surprises"; which we found to be true, but then we enjoy vaudeville!

 

 

 

 

 

And of course speaking of swan songs, Bobby invited the usual assortment of officers and towel animal toting crew up for their bows. On this ship, we felt they were well deserved...the lively, energetic and efficient crew really helped make this one of our best Royal Caribbean cruises yet!

 

[Familygoboston]

Day 7 St Croix

 

Dinner Day 7: Pomodoro Menu

 

 

 

 

 

Farewell Parade on the Royal Promenade

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We went off to Johnny rockets and Ben & Jerry's for our last treats (everyone had their favorite, so we had to do both!) We spent a few minutes in the Schooner Bar but it was just too smokey to enjoy. There was a late night, adult comedy show with Dave Williamson, who did something a little different than the usual cruise toilet humor, which was refreshing! It was late, but since we had packed in the afternoon, we could go up to the at Blue Moon to hear the Royal Caribbean singers do a jazz set with some of the band.

 

 

 

 

 

Of course when we got back to our cabin, we knew we had to deal with this:

 

 

 

 

We all had the same question as this little fella-

"Do I have to go?"

 

 

 

 

Towel creature said, "yes, you must leave...someone else is waiting to spend a great week on Adventure!!" Maybe it's you?

 

Steps: 10,969 Flights: 34

 

Tomorrow, I'll post a little about disembarking and our farewell lunch in San Juan, and a little more walking around town before our flight home

[perfect match]

Thank you for another great review! I have really been enjoying following along.

 

I do have one question about your kayak tour in St Croix. Did you know in advance that you would be using pedal kayaks as opposed to the traditional paddle ones? The reason I'm asking is that I have knee issues, so paddling would be far preferable to peddling for me until I get the knees fixed. I should probably keep in mind to ask that question of any kayak tour operator I might decide to book with for now.

[BillOh]

Always appreciated. Watch for my take in 2017 ;)

[Familygoboston]

St. Maarten is still one of my most liked Caribbean islands. Whenever we are on a cruise without it on the itinerary I miss it.

Us too!! We are considering a late fall, last minute trip (once the long range shows it's clear of hurricanes!) It's a very relaxing place and the food is good!

 

Thank you for another great review! I have really been enjoying following along.

 

I do have one question about your kayak tour in St Croix. Did you know in advance that you would be using pedal kayaks as opposed to the traditional paddle ones? The reason I'm asking is that I have knee issues, so paddling would be far preferable to peddling for me until I get the knees fixed. I should probably keep in mind to ask that question of any kayak tour operator I might decide to book with for now.

 

There were paddles on board each kayak, you'd need them if the pedals ever get fouled with weeds, fishing line etc (that didn't happen during our trip, but you'd need the paddle as safety equipment anyway to be prepared for that!) One man got tired of peddling (or wanted to mix it up) and paddled for a while! It's fine either way! Don't let it discourage you, it was one of our better excursions, so long as you don't mind a lot of history and context included in the paddle (we actually really appreciate that, but some people just want a "workout"- maybe just rent in that case rather than a guided tour!!) Luckily everyone on our trip appreciated the stories and history and we learned a lot about the place, which was great!