Our large family adventure on the Adventure of the Seas (6.13.15)

[AtlantaAlly]

The who: No, not the music group, just our big group of 33 family member spread over 9 states

The what: A family reunion!

The where: Adventure of the Seas, Southern Caribbean

The when: June 13-20

The how: who knows how we all survived it!

Warning: Reading this review may make you laugh, may make you cry, and may make you want to stop reading. BUT I promise to give as much information as possible. And if it's too much info, why not skip along just looking at pictures? If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I’ll be happy to answer, if I know the answer. If not, I'll try to make something up that is totally believable!

Topics I’m planning to cover:

Our Stay in PR: Marriott Stellaris, Old San Juan, Oceano, Casa Cortez,

General Travel Stuff: Go Puerto Rico Shuttle, Embarkation, Disembarkation, USAirways

Food/Beverage: Premium Drink Package, Windjammer, Main Dining Room, Giovanni’s, Sports Bar, Duck & Dog, Champagne Bar, Solarium Bar, Pool Bar, Windjammer Bar, General Service

Stateroom: Room Condition, Cleanliness, Steward

Amenities: Spa, Wine/Cheese Package, Kids Package, Simulator Golf, Photographers

Ports/Excursions: St. Croix (Gecko’s Island Adventure, Rainbow Beach, Rhythm’s at Rainbow Beach), St. Maarten (Orient Beach), Antigua (Caribbean Beach Resort, Dickenson Beach), St. Lucia (Real St. Lucia), Barbados (Calabaza Sailing), San Juan Beach Break

 

Up first: The trip & our hotel in San Juan

 

... stay tuned ...

[smwg]

Looking forward to reading about your experience. My family has thought of doing a reunion cruise also.

 

Would you mind sharing with me your planning process and how you went about to get 33 people all "onboard"? Did you have one person finally say, "this is the one" and then have each family fend for themselves on booking or what? Were you the one in charge of getting it all together? That in itself would be a big undertaking, but I think this is going to fall on my shoulders and I'm not sure where to begin.

 

Post lots of pictures! I can't wait to hear all about it. :)

[cincicruisers]

Fantastic! Looking forward to your review.

[AtlantaAlly]

Thanks for following along!

 

As for the planning, we did have one in charge person who reached out to all the family members to determine eligibility. Then we looked at cruises we had already done (Eastern, Western, Bahamas, Bermuda) and they picked the southern Caribbean based on all the combined information. To this day, I claim that person is a saint for putting up with I'm sure hundreds of "oddball" requests (some coming from me :o ) But we love her and appreciate all that she did to make it come together.

 

Now on to the posting!

[AtlantaAlly]

It was a warm June 11th and our flight out of Harrisburg was scheduled for 9am, so we were up at 4:30am to get the day started. As you can see in the picture below, we may have over-packed for the 2.5 of us. But I’m going on the record and saying that I took up a small carryon and my one year old daughter took up a large rolling suitcase and a smaller carry on, as did my husband. (If you want me to send our packing lists, I would be happy to, just leave your e-mail.)

 

 

With a quick stop in Charlotte, we were on our way to San Juan.

 

We hadn’t arranged transportation to our hotel- just planned on taking a taxi. It worked really well, and I had multiple people complement me in the taxi line on my travel binder (pictured below) which contained all of our confirmations, packing lists, budgeted expenses, copies of passports, luggage tags, etc.

 

 

 

During our ride to our hotel, we passed under a bridge and on the side walls, we noticed raised bumps, and some flat circles. Our driver told us that it’s actually the Puerto Rican National Anthem in braille.

 

We drove down the narrow streets of the Condado area of San Juan before getting to our Hotel, Marriott Stellaris Resort and Casino. Pulling up to the hotel was quite a sight for tired eyes. It looked modern and clean- two keys to a good hotel. Getting out of the car, we didn’t have to lift a finger, between the drive and the bellman, our bags were handled, and off we went to check in. There were plenty of people to handle the large number of guests checking in around 4:30. While we waited online, they gave us free rum punches (more on our Caribbean tour of rum punches later). We were up in our room within 15 minutes and our bags were delivered immediately, along with the crib for our daughter. The rooms were gorgeous and we were upgraded to an oceanfront balcony. The pictures below are of the view from our room.

 

 

 

After a day of fun in Old San Juan, we enjoyed the pool, swim up bar and beach. What a great opportunity to use our two free drink vouchers for rum punches, and get a couple of pina coladas!

 

 

We also enjoyed the hotel restaurant. Service was great, and they were very accommodating for our large group (17). I forgot to take pictures here- sorry!! We also got breakfast each morning at their little lobby coffee shop; yogurts, bagels, muffins, and of course, coffee.

 

Check out was a breeze- but be mindful that the hotel lobby is packed on embarkation day. They have staplers ready for those who need to attach cruise luggage tags, and they are happy to help get your luggage together for you.

 

Stay tuned… Castillo San Felipe del Morro

[Virtopia]

Definitely looking forward to this review as I'll be on the Adventure in September!! :)

[AtlantaAlly]

We got up pretty early on Friday morning, so that we could take advantage of our day!

 

Thankfully, there are tons of large cabs flying around San Juan. We were able to quickly get a 10 passenger van for our trip to Old San Juan. At $4 a person, we were there quickly, with no issues, and they didn’t charge for my 1 year old daughter. Strollers fit easily in the back area as well, and all cab drivers were happy to help!

 

We decided to go to Castillo San Felipe del Morro first and then walk down the hill to Old San Juan for lunch. Here is a picture of the walk from the taxi drop off to where you can either walk (like my daughter) or take a little tram car.

 

 

 

The cost for El Morro entrance is $5 a person, and they’re very reluctant to take bills over $10, so much so that we gave them $10, and they weren’t even willing to take the $20 for our brother and sister and give them our $10 back. So bring small bills!

 

The fort has a lot of steps, but there are areas for people with limited mobility (wheel chairs can maybe get up the steep ramps to the highest level, with some strong help, but really can't get down to the lower levels). I had over 30 flights of stairs once I was done seeing the fort. Bring lots of water! And for those who need it, there are bathrooms easily accessed on the main floor of the fort. Here is a picture taken from the upper level, of someone standing on the lower-middle level. There are two levels below her.

 

 

We went up top first and got some of your token views. We found there to be a lot of haze on our days in town, wondering if it’s the time of year for it.

 

We then went all the way down to the bottom and oh what a walk it was, but it was so worth it, to be down right by the water, with some great breezes, and being able to look up at such whole castle from below- amazing.

 

 

There were information placards around the site so I never felt like I was asking “What’s this?”

 

Stay tuned… Old San Juan is next

[chellebell91987]

Love this! Our same itinerary for Sept. Can't wait!

[dividedsky]

I look forward to the rest of your review, can't wait to go on the Adventure in Feb :)

[LuCruise]

Love your sense of humour. And how nice to bring family together from all around Look forward to hearing more.

[bubba83]

Looking forward to more!

[sg1phileshipper]

Anxious to read the rest of it. Keep it coming!

Cindy

 

 

Verzonden vanaf mijn iPad met Tapatalk

[dacsmom]

I love your review so far, I am on the Adventure in October.

[lrc04]

Looking forward to reading while I pass these last 2 days away.

[AtlantaAlly]

No photobucket at work- so I couldn't update... on my way home now and will share Old San Juan, Embarkation, Room stuff, Champagne bar, and probably dinner first night. Will try to squeeze in a bit more if I can!

[AtlantaAlly]

Once we were done in the fort we wound our way down the streets of Old San Juan to the Cathedral. Not so impressive from the outside, but the inside was impressive, seating more than 2,000 on holy days. It was also interesting to see how they were painting/restoring the ceiling rather than sculpting it.

 

 

 

From the cathedral we worked our way to Casa Cortez, the best Chocolate restaurant there is! It was time for lunch so we had to enjoy some delicious food!

 

Here are some pictures of the menu.

 

 

 

I shared two drinks with my sister in law, the Chocolate Martini and the Chocolate Covered Strawberry Shake. Both were phenomenal.

 

 

 

I had the chicken with asparagus sandwich for lunch with the fries with a side of chocolate ketchup. All of it was phenomenal. Our daughter had the chicken fingers with fries- also good for her. Everything was truly delicious.

 

From there we decided to walk down towards the Sheraton to catch a cab back to our hotel so we could enjoy some time in the pool. This process of catching a cab became a little difficult because everyone wanted us to break up into smaller cabs and be charged more per person ($5-$6). I found a “broker” of sorts that offered us the $4 price so I tipped him and told him to tell his friends that he got the tip. Even if he didn’t, it made me feel better about the whole situation.

 

Next up… Dinner at Oceano

[AtlantaAlly]

Missing part of the story: We had professional photos taken on the beach at our hotel for an hour and a half, once we get them I will post a review!

 

WARNING: If you are hungry, or in need of a good strong drink, you may want to skip the next few posts, they are as dangerous as going to the grocery store hungry. No one needs chocolate covered animal crackers, but they just show up in your cart if you’re hungry and they just happen to catch your eye, honest.

 

We were recommended by a friend to go to dinner at Oceano Restaurant in Condado, just two blocks from our hotel. We tried to do dinner for 14 of us, but they said they would only accommodate us with their prix fixe menu (which wasn’t as good, and was much more expense) so some of our group opted not to come and some of our group decided to go at a different time. After walking over we were greeted and offered a table that wasn’t suitable to us. They did thankfully put us outside on the deck, where we had originally requested. See photo below for why we wanted the deck. Always request the deck when making reservations! We all thoroughly enjoyed the meal. They were great with our one year old, offering ideas for things she may enjoy, brining extra napkins, ice to play with, spoons that we dropped, etc. So great with her.

 

 

The drinks were phenomenal, and we all enjoyed them thoroughly.

 

 

I had the Oceano Blue Fire. It was good, similar to a long island iced tea.

 

 

My sister in law had the Nolita. I subsequently ordered one of those after tasting hers because it was delicious. They offer a carafe of it, and I wish we had done one (or two) of those!

 

 

My mother in law tried the Coral de fuego and enjoyed, but said it was a little watered down tasting. Don’t mind the fact that we had already eaten the cherry. It’s just habit to take it right away and then try to tie the stem in a knot with your tongue- tell me I’m not the only one that does this?

 

 

Next up… appetizers

[kwbound]

 

My mother in law tried the Coral de fuego and enjoyed, but said it was a little watered down tasting. Don’t mind the fact that we had already eaten the cherry. It’s just habit to take it right away and then try to tie the stem in a knot with your tongue- tell me I’m not the only one that does this?

 

 

No, you are not the only one who does this! And if you do it successfully on a first date, you might just wind up married for going on 30 years...or so I've heard. ;)

 

Loving your review. We are thinking doing this itinerary next year.

[AtlantaAlly]

Trying to fix pictures

 

The drinks were phenomenal, and we all enjoyed them thoroughly.

 

 

I had the Oceano Blue Fire. It was good, similar to a long island iced tea.

 

 

My sister in law had the Nolita. I subsequently ordered one of those after tasting hers because it was delicious. They offer a carafe of it, and I wish we had done one (or two) of those!

 

 

My mother in law tried the Coral de fuego and enjoyed, but said it was a little watered down tasting. Don’t mind the fact that we had already eaten the cherry. It’s just habit to take it right away and then try to tie the stem in a knot with your tongue- tell me I’m not the only one that does this?

 

[AtlantaAlly]

We tried quite a few of the appetizers… I think all but one? We were hungry, lots of walking around, swimming, drinking- it adds up to wanting to taste everything on the menu. If there isn’t a picture, we ate it before I could snap one.

 

The churrasco eggroll was very flavorful- sorry for the not so great pic, we had already started eating!

 

 

The smoked salmon arugula carpaccio was probably the best item we had, so yummy!

 

 

The mahi mahi chicharrones were on this delicious blackbean and papaya salsa- I NEED MORE!!

 

 

I think our least favorite of the bunch were the dumplings- but they were still excellent. I think it was just the texture of the steamed dumpling that when compared to the rest we ate, made me feel "meh" about it

 

 

Next up… entrees

[AtlantaAlly]

As if the appetizers weren’t enough, we ordered entrees too- rookie mistake! After dinner we could have been rolled back to the hotel with how full (and a little bit tipsy) we were.

 

And then we had our meals. My husband complained that the mofongo was a bit dry- I tasted it and have to agree, but my scallops were phenomenal. And the dry mofongo wouldn’t keep my husband from coming back and having another go.

 

 

 

If you’re a vegetarian, this place has a wonderful (and VERY filling) dish for you. It could have served two with the amount of food you get.

 

 

Our waitress was amazing- so I took a picture with her and told her I would post it and tell everyone to ask for her. Her name is Atabey. Don't mind my sunburn after only a day of walking around San Juan, my nickname has always been "Lobster Ally"

 

 

Next up… trip to the port and embarkation

[AtlantaAlly]

YAY It’s the day we get to go to our ship! YAY YAY YAY!! (This was the song I sang as I did my happy dance when we woke up that morning. I swung open the curtains, enjoyed our balcony for a few more moments, then started stuffing our last few things in our suitcases.

 

As I mentioned previously, at least I think I did, the hotel lobby is BUSY on cruise turn over days. We found our little table, parked ourselves for the next hour or so.

 

We (8 of us) were set to travel with “Go Puerto Rico” shuttle from the hotel to the ship, as were the other 6 members of our group. They were booked at 11:15 and we were booked at 11:30. Sadly, the company decided that we would take turns using the same shuttle, even though this was not acceptable to us. They didn’t know that we were traveling together beforehand, and there was no way they could get one group to the port and get the other group in 15 minutes. I voiced my complaint and they sent another van, which departed with another group for the port, and then they finally sent a new one. Thankfully, we only lost about 30 minutes in this waiting game. But moms of hungry toddlers have to agree, this wasn’t ideal. Good thing I planned ahead and brought snacks.

 

Once we got to the port, we could tell the madness had begun, bags flying, people yelling, kids crying, then there was little ole relaxed me. Here is a hint to all those going out of San Juan and wanting to get on the ship early. As you pull up to the port, there are 2 lines, one for “with bags” and one for “without bags.” If you see that there is no line for “without bags” but a long line for “with bags,” pay a porter to take your bags for you. This means that you must print and attach your luggage tags before you get to the cruise terminal. But for $3/bag, we were able to go on the without bags line and were on the ship in less than 15 minutes from arrival at the pier. And small carry on sized bags can still go through the “without bags” line.

 

The security check was a breeze. I had two left over airplane bottles from the airplane ride down and they were put through the scanner and not questioned. Other people we spoke with easily got alcohol on by just putting it on their person, or having it in an alternate container (water bottle, coconut water bottle, etc) We had the alcohol package so didn’t bring it on to drink it- and I actually brought it all the way home with me- next trip I guess.

 

Once we boarded the ship, we went up to the windjammer for lunch. We were early enough that we were able to easily get some tables for larger groups in the back. I’ll review the food in more detail later, but table service was good, so I opted to leave $3 to the person who was helping us get the babies settled with high chairs, brought over lots of water, and was just friendly from the start. The bar in the Windjammer was beyond terrible. There was one bartender for the main area where people would be eating on embarkation day. On top of that, he was slow and unfriendly. He wouldn’t make drinks as requested, even though the ingredients were all on the bar. I didn’t drink the mudslide he made because 1: no chocolate 2: no baileys 3: no vodka. (all were in plain sight on the bar) Basically he mixed the “vanilla ice” island oasis bottle with a little Kahlua. It was tasteless and we all opted not to drink it. I asked for it to be made the correct way and he said no.

 

Next up… the room & departure gifts

[AtlantaAlly]

We were staying in stateroom 9232. It is a starboard balcony cabin in the forward part of the ship. We felt quite a bit of moving in this location, and I’m still getting used to being on land- surprised it’s still affecting me.

 

I must applaud the luggage crew because all 5 of our bags were at our doors at 2pm when the doors opened to the staterooms. Phenomenal job guys!

 

We were disappointed that our crib wasn’t in our room when we first arrived. 2pm is late for nap time, so I had to call down and request it immediately, and I got the “Housekeeping isn’t working until 4pm.” They did eventually bring it by 2:45 or so.

 

Our room steward was Anthony from Jamaica and he was phenomenal. (We tipped him well at the end of the cruise and then some). He was always around. He helped me decorate my brother and sister-in-law’s door for their anniversary, loaned us a screwdriver when we needed to replace the batteries in our daughter’s sleep sheep, brought us wine glasses for enjoying the wine we took on with us, the list really does go on. I hope we can cross paths again someday. He was polite, friendly, accommodating, hardworking, and very helpful. I don’t care if I have a nice towel animal, I’d rather have great service, and we got both!

 

My mom sent us two gifts for our sail away. A bottle of wine and cheese platter for my husband and I, and a coloring book and markers for our one year old (total life saver at dinner). We were so full from lunch that we couldn’t even finish the cheese plate, but it included a delicious soft brie, gouda, a rich gorgonzola, apples, grapes, strawberries and pears. The wine was a 2012 Mondavi Cab. We cracked that puppy open on the balcony while the kid napped inside. We enjoyed having our first balcony and being able to escape to our own little outside world. One note on the balcony, it shows the ship’s age a little. There were some rust spots that had clearly been painted over, but there was actually a hole or two where I’m sure there wasn’t meant to be.

 

Gift 1

 

Gift 2

 

We setup our room with a shower curtain hanging from magnetic hooks we put on the ceiling. So did our cousin (here are pictures of her setup). It worked really well around the crib so that we could move about the cabin and not worry about waking her up. The magnets were $4 at Walmart and we brought 4, but only needed 3. This was great at keeping her area segregated during naptime, or at night when we wanted to come in, get changed for bed or read a little before bed. If our daughter even slightly woke up and we didn’t have this, she’d be sleeping between us.

 

 

 

Next up… Champagne Bar

[Mommags123]

Really enjoying your review so far! Your daughter looks adorable!

 

We are also from the Harrisburg area and I wanted to do the Southern Caribbean tour but we opted for Eastern with some time at Disney for our vacation next summer... so I am cruising vicariously through you on this one!

[smwg]

Thank you for your feedback on the planning process. I'm looking forward to the rest of your review.

 

The idea with the curtain around the crib is fantastic. I've never seen that before. :)