October 24, 2015 Adventure of the Seas review

[racinbandit95]

Good morning everyone! I'm a little late posting but better late than never.

This trip saw myself and 3 girlfriends getting away for a week of sun and fun. We are from Central PA, so we decided to fly out on Southwest from Baltimore. WHAT a difference from Philly. It was so relaxed at this airport. I don't know if it was the time of day or the fact it's smaller, but we LOVED it! Our flights were good, I'm a sleeper so I took a Xanax and I woke up about 25 minutes before landing.

Arrival in San Juan was easy in the airport. We grabbed our bags and met up with the Royal Caribbean rep for our transfers. Hindsight, I should've used a porter. Those folks got a faster transfer to the airport.

 

The pier. It seems everyone got to the port at the same time....OMG it was intense. People everywhere, no one with a great sense of direction and long lines. Thankfully we upgraded to the FS - Family Suite option and we didn't have to wait in the extremely long line and 90 degree heat. Once inside the terminal, they were mixing general passengers with the suite guests lines, that was IRRITATING. I didn't dwell on it but if I weren't so laid back, it could've gotten ugly since we were all up since 3 a.m.

Check in was quick and away we went to the ship. The walk is a pretty good poke, anyone with mobility issues, ask for assistance. Thankfully my cortisone shot in my foot had me feeling like I could run a marathon.

 

Once on-board, we were able to go directly to our stateroom. I had requested green apples be placed in our room for my first time cruisers but thankfully no one needed them. It seemed as though we got fruit everyday in some form. Needless to say, we felt bad because we didn't eat it all. I wanted to walk around Old San Juan but the weather was threatening and we were on the opposite side of the port, so we didn't traverse out.

 

Our room - 8394 - OMG the space was WONDERFUL! I've staying in everything from an interior, to handicapped, to ocean view to balcony and the space was amazing. Through the small hall to the left was a bedroom that could accommodate 4 with two down, two up for bedding. To the right was a small closet and full bathroom with shower only. There was another door that led to bedroom I stayed in. That room had a large window and you could either have it king or 2 twins. Lots of cabinet space and another full bathroom with tub. First off, the shower/tub made the room. My friend kept commenting on the bathroom she used like it was a bank tube for people...LOL. We also had a common living room and balcony to DIE for! It had two chaise loungers and a table with chairs. The table only had 3 chairs though ?!? Plenty of room for the 4 of us to have our own space.

 

The ship itself was fantastic. They did some work on the adults only pool throughout the week but to me it wasn't a hindrance because we were off the ship every day in port. Some people note it's old and tired, I didn't really notice much of anything that needed work.

 

St. Maarten we use Island Routes for a beach day. They took us to the Divi Little Bay Beach Resort. We had use of the beach and non-motorized equipment such as snorkels or mats. We didn't use much other than our chairs and the water. We were all about relaxing. Though it looked threatening with rain, it never rained where we were. The resort had a beachfront bar area for lunch and we took full advantage for a fresh cocktail and pizza it wasn't terribly awful priced. They had a big section of the beach taped off because of sea turtle nests. We got to watch football while we chilled out and got back to the ship with plenty of time to spare. Funny thing while in line waiting to get back on the ship, many people noted they couldn't find a beach bar with any games on...haha, there were 6 tvs with multiple cames on.

 

St. Kitts - we took a RCCL tour of the island. We wanted the full day catamaran but it sold out. The port had lots of shops to check out but I'm a purposeful shopper or here's your T-shirt person. The island tour Island Safari and Beach was really cool. They take you in a modified larger jeep that seating about 16 people. We saw beautiful views through the valleys and mountains of the island. The rum punch if you chose to try it was great as well. Driving along they told us about the flora & fauna on the island. We had an hour at the beach just relaxing. Upon leaving we saw some wild monkeys in the trees. For $5 in the port they'll take your pictures with little monkeys in diapers.

 

Antigua - This was an early morning as we signed up for the Sting Ray City tour and then went to Sandals for the afternoon. On the way out to the sandbar we hit a rainy patch and all scurried to cover our belongings since it was like a small flat bottom boat. Swimming with the sting rays was really cool. For small children, I don't recommend it if they get scared easily. My friend fed them and she said it felt like a really strong vacuum cleaner sucking the food out of her hand. There's also a reef as well and I swam around that. At one point the current pushed me into the reef and I had cut my hand on the coral. No biggie, the saltwater cleaned it out. What play with no work. We took the afternoon to visit Sandals Antigua. What a beautiful property. I enjoyed meeting the staff and learning more of the product to sell to my clients. We then had lunch and enjoyed their beach until it was time to head back to the ship.We had an awesome driver who actually just chilled out while we were there. He said their wasn't much going on at the pier so he'd just wait for us.

 

St. Lucia - Since I've been to St. Lucia before I decided to treat my BFF to a day at Sandals Grande St. Lucia. She now knows when I go on work trips, what I actually do on a site inspection. We walked the entire property and saw most of the rooms. The last time I was there was just as Sandals took over the Grand Hyatt. Really beautiful improvements. One of my favorite properties. We really enjoyed the beach and then a nice lunch before we headed back to the ship. St. Lucia is a really awesome island to stay at for a romantic getaway.

 

Barbados - The highlight to my traveling companions trip was our Catamaran cruise. We did the Five Star Tiami Catamaran and it didn't disappoint. I went with them when I first started in travel on a work trip and went again this year. Fantastic. The staff was so accommodating and friendly. We had one younger family on the cruise but otherwise everyone else was pretty much 21+. The sea turtles are just so majestic. Then we did a reef and pulled up to a beach for another hour. The lunch was okay but I preferred the rum punch. If you got the younger guys, they'd give you a double shot. LOL. At the beach area if you want to do the banana boat ride, you can but it's at your own risk. They had one that was a couch and our new line of vacation is, It's a big, inflatable couch, what could go wrong? Needless to say, I didn't take the ride. We found multiple starfish in the waters by the beach.

 

I used the spa on the ship for accupuncture and it was cool. I was sore the next day but it was fantastic afterwards. Usually I do a massage but I didn't want my back to hurt more than it already did.

 

Our dining room team of Sylvester and Ezra were marvelous. They were fun, engaging and catered to our every needs. Ezra was on his last week of his contract and heading back to St. Vincent. The main dining room was great. If something was wrong with your meal or you didn't like something, they were happy to bring something else. We also did the Mystery Dinner, it was funny.

 

I also did the Backstage Tour of the ship. It was really cool to see what the insides of the ship were like. The bridge was really cool and they are fans of the Minions on this ship! The main area that was under lock and key was the ice cream freezer. I would've thought the liquor cooler but ice cream makes sense since most of the crew cabins were just down the hall.

The ice show was great and we really loved the QUEST...that was a fun and eye opening experience for all of us.

 

Our room attendant Maria was WONDERFUL, she couldn't do enough for us. We really loved her and wish her the best.

Can't wait until next year's trip on the Harmony!

[krazy4kruisin]

Thank you for the nice review. I will be on AOS in 4 most. My first time to the southern caribbean.

[lag9122]

Great review ! Looking forward to a awesome cruise . we have 1694 so I hope our room is as big as yours.

[rookie85]

Thanks for the review, I was getting worried because so many reviews have been so negative. This is our first time on RC, we have been on Celebrity, HA, Princesss, and Carnival. I was really looking forward to this cruise until I started to read so many neg reviews. We leave March 5th.

[SilkySal]

Thanks for the review, I was getting worried because so many reviews have been so negative. This is our first time on RC, we have been on Celebrity, HA, Princesss, and Carnival. I was really looking forward to this cruise until I started to read so many neg reviews. We leave March 5th.

 

I see you are on the March 5th Adventure cruise! There are a bunch of us cruising that week, so join us to chat on the attached thread!!;)

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2021410

[cincicruisers]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review. Sounds like your group had a great trip.

[Clarea]

Thanks for the review. Always nice to hear about one of our favorite ships.:)

[cajuncowgirl13]

What side of the ship is good to see the islands when docking? What speciality restaurants do they have?

 

 

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[Clarea]

What side of the ship is good to see the islands when docking? What speciality restaurants do they have?

Giovanni's is currently the only specialty restaurant. Which side of the ship will have the best view is unpredicable.

[cruiseapril]

Very interesting port reviews.

 

Can cruisers go to Sandals for a half day?