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

[AtlantaAlly]

WARNING: If looking at alcohol offends you, you probably shouldn’t go on a cruise, and you definitely shouldn’t read this post! For the rest, drink up!

 

Note: We traveled with family and if I talk about drinking escapades, I want everyone to know that we had our one year old’s grandparents, aunts, uncles, great aunts, and great uncles around and made sure someone was responsible before having our first sip…

 

After naptime but before muster drill, about 15-20 of us went to the champagne bar. There was a fun and exciting drink menu to try and so we ordered one, and then another, and then quite a few more.

 

 

I tried the Raspberry Peach Bellini- absolutely delicious. I had 2.

 

Here is a picture of the chocolate clear martini that my cousin ordered before getting the drink package. It was $18 (inclusive) so she walked over to the sign up desk and ordered the drink package for the remainder of the trip. So very yummy though!

 

 

Then we ordered a round of the spicy cucumber and basil martini. The drink part was good, but the spiced rim was too much for me, so my uncle (also with the drink package) finished it for the two of us.

 

 

The best drink I had on the ship was the Key lime Pie Martini. I may or may not have had quite a few throughout the week, starting with 2 before muster and one during muster. It had the Key Lime flavor, then at the end it had a gram cracker taste. So so good. My brother-in-law (ex-bartender) is charged with figuring this out for our next family get together. He better nail it or there will be lots of disappointed folks.

 

 

Stay tuned… mouthwatering food photos are next

[AtlantaAlly]

Before heading into the dining room (it wasn't open quite yet) we hung out on deck 4. It was that beautiful time of day when it wasn't too hot, the sun was setting and not as harsh. DH was asking our daughter where we were going and she responded it her "I don't know"

 

 

WARNING: You shouldn’t attempt to eat your computer screen, it’s not healthy, and neither is the food we ate…

 

We had seats on the 4th floor so the middle level of the dining room. We had nice views outside- although it was weird when people walked on the small deck around and put their head in their hands to peek into the window, we could clearly see them, but they wanted to look in on us- just say no to looking crazy to a dining room full of people!

 

The first night in the dining room was the Mojo menu. There was a good variety for everyone and to my husband’s pleasure, they had escargot. He ordered it and enjoyed it every night. I just did a Caesar salad because I wasn’t too hungry.

 

 

For dinner, half of us had the Mojo marinated grilled pork chop. A little fatty for the cut, but very tender and juicy meat.

 

 

The other half had the salmon- also delicious!

 

 

I didn’t take a picture but I had the BBB Crème Brulee, and I have to say it was horrible. Not the flavor, but the technique. It was runny on top of the sugar, the banana was mushy, the temperature was in the “danger zone” of 40-140, I’m sure. It was not good at all.

 

Good thing there is chocolate!

 

 

Drink service was non-existent on night one He came and offered drinks after appetizers (and we flagged him down) and the drinks arrive just before desserts. So why, you ask, did we leave him one of the best tips we left all week? Because he apologized, and from then on, he knew our names, knew our drinks, was friendly, told jokes, and really made our dining experience more enjoyable. Thanks Francis!! Hope you get to go see your kids soon!

 

Next up… Come sail away, come sail away with meeee….

[Fizzlewicket]

Now this is my kind of review ... Humor, stories and pictures. Loving it so far.

[BillOh]

Atlanta,

 

Thanks in advance, the Adventure is on my long distance radar, but I'll be watching all reviews between now and 2017. May I ask what part of PA you are from?

[AtlantaAlly]

Atlanta,

 

Thanks in advance, the Adventure is on my long distance radar, but I'll be watching all reviews between now and 2017. May I ask what part of PA you are from?

 

 

Thanks for following along :)

 

Dad's family is in the Nanticoke (Wilkes Barre) area, and we currently live in Lewisburg.

Edited June 25, 2015 by AtlantaAlly
typo

[dividedsky]

I know it's only 11am but I want one of those martini's STAT!

[searoses]

I don't even drink and I want one too!!

[Jan_In_Maine]

Thanks for taking us along - we cruise in 51 days with the same itinerary - I am so looking forward to the drinks and love looking at the menus and planning on what to have for dinners :D Jan

[sg1phileshipper]

I really love your style and I am really enjoying your review. You daughter is so cute :)

Cindy

 

 

Verzonden vanaf mijn iPad met Tapatalk

[AtlantaAlly]

You daughter is so cute :)

 

Thanks Cindy! She takes after her mother :o:D

[sg1phileshipper]

Thanks Cindy! She takes after her mother :o:D

 

 

:D

 

 

 

Verzonden vanaf mijn iPad met Tapatalk

[Hawaii697]

Fun review so far . . . we sail on her June 11th of next year. Looking forward to it. Looks like my favorite bar will be the Champagne Bar!! :D

[Allie622]

absolutely loving your review! It is getting me so excited. We go on the Adventure in October and are flying into SJ a day early.

[hotweathergirl]

Which drink package did you have? We had the key lime martini in key west and they are yummy. We sail her in October

[AtlantaAlly]

Which drink package did you have? We had the key lime martini in key west and they are yummy. We sail her in October

 

We had the Premium Package. Just a hint on the sticker- go to guest services and ask them to put a strip of scotch tape over it, that way you don't have to keep going back for new stickers. Also- bartenders don't ask if you went "P.P." at the bar, what a fun bunch and other guests got a hoot out of it!

[AtlantaAlly]

It was raining during our sail away and VERY humid. My camera took a bit of adjusting to the humidity but we were up on Deck 12 just outside of Johnny Rockets for sail away. It is a nice place to do it because they have the plexi-glass shields to protect you from the wind that’s picking up. It was also a bit quieter back there. It got LOUD over by the pool deck and we ran as far and as quickly away as possible.

 

 

It was beautiful watching Old San Juan pass us by. I did miss waving though- at least during the day, you can see a few people wave back, I don’t think I saw anyone waving. We still waved anyway!

 

 

Our daughter was up way past bedtime- whoops! It’s vacation right? Roll with the punches kiddo!

 

 

The headliner tonight was Kivi the comedian. He was hilarious. I don’t think a single group was left untouched by one of his quick, witty jokes. We were roaring, and I’m still trying to tell his jokes to friends now that I’ve returned to “real life”

 

One thing to note from night one. A group from our family (maybe 8 of them?) were in the hot tub and they closed all the pool bars by 10/10:30, even with plenty of people on the decks. So to get another drink they had to go back down to the sportsbar as the only thing they found open were promenade bars. Just something to keep in mind as you walk up on deck at night- grab a drink (or two!) first.

 

Next I’ll be taking you to St. Croix…

[AtlantaAlly]

It was a beautiful day in St. Croix as we pulled up that morning. I found that I was up around 7 every morning and most mornings I decided to go out on our balcony and watch us pull into port. I would suggest getting a Port side balcony, as the starboard really doesn’t see much for these islands- still pretty though, just would have preferred port side.

 

Here is the picture that I feel everyone just has to have. (or 10, stay tuned for more toes!)

 

 

Breakfast was in the Windjammer. It was ok. There were some things that were great- the omelette chefs were superb, funny, friendly and entertaining. For some reason one side had two pans and the other had 3. If you notice this, go for the side with 3, they move much faster. The bacon was always super greasy, not patted at all with a towel or even strained, I think just thrown in the serving dish. It was also very inconsistent- very flimsy and nearly undercooked one day, then burnt to a crisp where I only got chunks that should be in an omelette the next day. Tatertots are ALWAYS good for a hangover, trust me. Just pop a few in your mouth before you head off the ship again. It’s worth the calories. They have a wide selection of yogurt but it was annoying at times. They would have strawberry in one area, peach in another, blueberry in another, raspberry in another and plain in yet another. It would have been nice to have them all at each station so I didn’t have to wander for 10 minutes to find the one my daughter would eat. There was a good variety of cereals available- we always took extra boxes to take off the ship (usually pops or fruit loops because if the kid started going crazy, we had a lovely distractor). They don’t display everything. On morning 2 we didn’t see our favorite smoked salmon, bagels and cream cheese. Come to find out, they don’t put it out anymore (per the woman I asked “for food safety reasons”) so she prepared a plate of it for me. Great! You probably also guessed it, the last 2 days, it was on display. Odd and annoying. I think the scrambled eggs are powdered, because they had a funny texture that was not “fluffy” and more like tofu. On a side note, we did not eat lunch or dinner in the windjammer, but the afternoon nachos were excellent. Hit the spot after a day in the sun- the perfect pre-dinner snack while drinking around the pool!

 

Getting off the ship was pretty easy, picked up some water in the coffee café/bar in the promenade on our way out. Then got our towels as we got off the ship, on our way to our Gecko’s Island ATV Adventure.

 

We went for a short amount of time to the beach right there in Fredriksted and put our feet in the water for a little bit. I think I would recommend this beach over rainbow beach due to the rocks at Rainbow, this one had more sandy areas.

 

 

[AtlantaAlly]

We had contacted Gina a few months ahead to book with Gecko’s Island Adventure. Another family member wanted to add on, but the tour was full. They e-mailed her and asked, she said yes. They got an e-mail from her the day before saying that there wasn’t a 5th ATV for them to use, so they wouldn’t be able to join us. We had 8 of us on 4 ATVs and it was a lot of fun. It hasn’t been as rainy, so no mud really- lots of dust. Bring something to put over your nose and mouth so that you don’t breathe in too much dust and so that you don’t end up with dirt/mud in your teeth.

 

 

First we went up through the mountains to some beautiful overlooks.

 

 

They gave us a good amount of information about the agriculture on the island, pointing out different aspects along the way.

 

We also had the opportunity to go through the Sub-Tropical Rain Forest. Some interesting trees and hanging vines, but no new animals.

 

I just want to note: It was recommended by Gina that we take the “easy, shorter walk back from rainbow on the beach.” My husband was walking along and it really isn’t a safe route without sufficient shoes. It has some very sharp rocks/coral. You should walk the road back or take the $3/pp taxi. He cut his foot badly and was limping the rest of the trip. But it helped me get the “medical bay” square on my cruise ship bingo (no, I didn’t really play this, but we had to make it seem like a fun reason for going down there!) Here is a picture of that “easy” beach.

 

 

Next up… our afternoon at rainbow beach (and where we all went wrong, or maybe oh so right?)

 

[AtlantaAlly]

It was a beautiful June 14th, 2015. The sun was shining, the bids were chirping, the waves were gently crashing on the beach… then Day One of the “Tour de Rum Punch” began. If someone ever offers to serve you a drink in a bucket, it is probably a bad bad bad idea. It’s probably even worse to have two buckets. There were quite a few of us (20 maybe) on Rainbow beach that afternoon. We went to the bar to get a drink. Someone next to us ordered a bucket. If only we had been oblivious to it. We weren’t. We all started saying “I want a bucket of rum punch.” And after a count off, we ordered 13 buckets. The bartender gave us the buy 12, get 1 free discount. (made it up on the spot). Then he started pouring. In those 13 drinks, 4 unopened bottles of rum, gone. Oh boy. We were smart and ordered some food- pretzels were good, the nachos were good, and so were the wings. Back in the water we go, 13 little fishies floating with their buckets. Slowly, we began to get out of the water and were thirsty- you know what the sun, and salty water do to you! Another round of buckets!

Here is the graveyard…

 

 

Overall, the beach quite rocky, a little uncomfortable getting in the water at first, but then you just float. There were quite a few catamarans that pulled up into the area and let hordes of people off. Additionally, there are jetskis and these crazy foot water guns that let people fly… It was a busy beach. Much busier than our family remembers it being back in 2012.

 

I will end the story with saying that everyone got back on the ship. Not everyone remembers how, but it happened. I also can’t really post words about dinner that night because… I er, um, forgot? It was formal night, I remember that. My daughter and I were all glitzed up.

 

 

 

 

If you have questions about this day, I may or may not be able to remember the answer…

[luv4trvl]

AtlantaAlly i am going on this cruise in October and taking my 3 yr old and 17 yr old kids. I would love a copy of your packing list. SParksTN@comcast.net. Can't wait! I just realized it's been 9 yrs since we took a cruise and that was our honeymoon.

[luv4trvl]

I also noticed there were several saying they are going in October. We're on the cruise Oct. 3rd any others that aren't already on that Roll Call thread?

[WendyVF]

I think I found something to do in St. Croix! Question about the walk...was this after the tour on the way to the beach or on the way back to the ship?

[AtlantaAlly]

I think I found something to do in St. Croix! Question about the walk...was this after the tour on the way to the beach or on the way back to the ship?

 

The tour starts at their small shop just off the pier. They then fit you with helmets and send you in a taxi down to rainbow beach, where the tour starts. They have a shed that they lock with all of your belongings. (I still hung onto camera and seapass cards). You do the tour and they drop you back off on Rainbow beach. They also offer a taxi back to the pier if you want it. He cut his foot walking from the beach to the pier at the end of the day. Instead of walking along the beach, he should have walked the road. Maybe a quarter mile longer? But much better conditions.

[AtlantaAlly]

Moving right along!

 

Off to Orient Beach for the day. It was lovely. We pulled up and were dropped off at the main area where they charge $0.75 to use the bathroom. Odd that it’s not $1 (maybe during “high” season?) If you go on a RCI tour, they will give you a password to use the bathrooms for free.

 

It was a beautiful day. I don’t think I should share too much about it because it’s all about to change. Many shops were damaged by a recent hurricane. According to multiple shop owners, they are tearing all of the shops down, moving back about 30 yards and putting in a boardwalk. It will really change the feel of the beach, and I’m just not sure how I feel about it. They said they would be starting in July- so interested to see what people think in the coming months.

 

The beach itself is fairly rocky (Large shelves of rock). Moving down to the middle of the bay is a better idea, mainly sand and a few big rocks.

 

 

We went to Leandra’s for lunch (little orange/yellow roof) and had the nachos and coconut shrimp. I want the coconut shrimp recipe!! Absolutely delicious.

 

By the way, we said no to rum punch on this island. It was just too soon… thank God for tater tots.

 

As we got to the ship, we had a new experience with security. There were 2 ways to get on the ship, forward and midship. We were selected for forward with our daughter sleeping in the stroller. We were required to get her out of the stroller and walk her through. No big deal, except she was sleeping and I learned that the other line didn’t have to have their bags scanned. We were selected for the higher security with our sleeping one year old. When discussing this with security, I was told (And this is a direct quote) “Ma’am, the Caribbean Islands we are visiting are EXTREMELY dangerous with murderous weapons and deadly drugs, we have to keep our passengers safe” my response “You drop thousands of passengers a day on islands that are extremely dangerous?” oy. Just frustrating. I don’t think I would have been quite as upset about it if the next issue with security happened. We were boarding after Antigua and there were two walking lanes, one going on either side of the xray belt. People were lined up in 2 lines, waiting to put their belongings on the belt, they were slow to screen the items, so it was taking a while. We were being SCREAMED at “TWO LINES! CAN YOU NOT SEE TWO LINES?” It was beyond rude. Also- technically, your rate limiting step is the xray, so if you’re so concerned about speeding it up, get another xray machine. C’mon man!

 

Next up: dining room experience

[LuCruise]

So sorry for your frustration getting back on the ship. It's annoying when these little things put a sour notes on your vacation experience.

 

Can I ask how Orient beach was? The water looks calm enough for little ones. Were there many people topless? That is one reason I am hesitating going there as we'll have kids (and I'll be uncomfortable myself)...but also thinking of the Bernard Tours that people talk about and that's the beach they stop at.