Our First Royal Cruise - Adventure of the Seas - June 11, 2016

[Hawaii697]

It’s been a minute since I’ve written a review and I’m hoping this one is as informative as some of the ones I’ve read prior to my trip. There are some meals I honestly couldn’t remember what was served, but if I can dig out my Compasses, I’ll let you know.

 

I and a group of 27 family and friends recently sailed the Adventure of the Seas, June 11-18, 2016. A good time was had by all at the ports which were St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Curacao and Aruba.

 

Please note that this review will be based on my experience and will incorporate some of my group member’s thoughts. Since most of my cruises have been on Carnival, I will add some comparisons.

Our flight out of BWI on Wed night was right on time. There were 7 of us with a total of 21 pieces of luggage. :rolleyes:

 

We stayed at the stayed at the Best Western Plus in Condado three days prior to sailing. Although the hotel is in a good spot for restaurants, beach, pharmacies, I found the hotel itself was just okay. A little moldy in the bathroom, sporadic service at the front desk. For my planned meet and greet, the sales manager and the bartender were not on the same page regarding our free drinks. Breakfast was included and it was typical powdered eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits. I do like the fact the hotel provided plenty of fusion water in the lobby.

 

My brother stayed at the Marriott hotel around the corner from us and as an Elite member and secured a free suite with his points. Bonus he was upgraded to a PH Vice Presidential suite. We spent more time at his hotel than our own.

 

On Thursday morning, we took a rainforest tour with Carlos Medina of Charlie's Custom Day tours. He took us on a tour of the rainforest which included an area where the kids would swing of a rope into one of the many water pools in the forest. He greeted us at the hotel at 9:00 am and we returned at 2:30. His air conditioned van was very clean and comfortable. He had refreshments, snacks and towels for us as well. We stopped a local restaurant for lunch. Great Puerto Rican meal. Carlos is happy to do any custom tour you request. I highly recommend him.

 

On Friday, most of the group arrived the evening before, and decided to go to Old San Juan and walk around a bit. Great buys to be had at the Coach outlet. These were not street vendor bags. I purchased 4 bags for $214.00. Two crossbody two medium sized bags. All were clearance and there was also and an additional 50% coupon. We also stopped at Marshalls in Old San Juan. Great prices.

 

Some other family members walked around Old San Juan looking for cigars and ate at the Barrachina. They all enjoyed their meal.

 

We headed back to the hotel where I did a Meet & Greet in the lobby bar of my hotel. I always give out an agency gift and have games for cruise type prizes. It's a great way to break the ice since I had folks from Boston, Atlanta and the DC area sailing on the cruise.

 

After the Meet & Greet, my brother invited everyone up to his suite to watch the Warriors/Cav game. We ordered pizza from a great restaurant across from the Stelleris called Pirilo Pizza Rustica. It was delicious brick oven pizza. The ex-large family size pizza is not listed on the menu, so if needed you have to ask.

 

Saturday morning I did a several loads of laundry at the hotel prior to leaving.

 

The Ship

We arrived at the Pan American port around 11:30. Check-in was a breeze. We were on board around 12:15 and headed to the Windjammer for lunch. The standard lunch was pretty much what we would eaten on Carnival. Most of the group and myself preferred lunch on board Carnival because there are more selection stations, such as the make your pasta, deli's, Mongolian grill, etc. The food on Royal was fine, just lacked other food stations.

 

We were able to enter our rooms around 1:45. I was disappointed to see a plate with old food outside of my cabin when I arrived. :( I asked one of the stewards in the hallway to remove. Quick fix.

 

We were in cabin ocean view/balcony cabin 6372. Dennis was our room steward and he kept the cabin clean and the ice bucket stocked without being asked.

 

Most in my group mentioned that they felt cabin was smaller than their Carnival cabin. I personally didn't notice the difference. Was not a fan of the balcony as I'm used to Plexiglas to see ocean while I'm sitting on balcony and relaxing. Our balcony floor was worn out, but it didn't stop me from sitting on my balcony and reading.

 

Muster Drill . . . longest drill ever . . . people, please get to your station when announced!

 

Our stateroom was in a pretty convenient area. Not too far from the elevators and one floor down from customer service and the promenade. With the exception of couple of wrong turns during the week, it was pretty easy to get around the ship.

We had the 8:30 pm dining (8:45 the first night due to muster drill), and again, found the same type of food that Carnival would service. It was good.

The group pretty much ventured out on their own after dinner. My husband and I decided to explore the ship. Discovered the Café Promenade, casino and Studio B.

 

St. Thomas

One note, each port day, we left the ship at 10:00 because we had two young ladies that are high school graduates. They both played high school and AAU basketball. Hard work paid off as they are both going to attend D1 colleges. This meant they could not slack off during the cruise and had to work out every morning during this trip. It was actually nice not rushing to get off.

 

We went to breakfast in the Windjammer, the usual, same as Carnival meal. Difference, I only saw one omelet station opened at breakfast. I generally came in on the same side everyday so if there was one on the other side, I wouldn’t have known about it. However Royal gets points for better buffet coffee. It was very good.

 

We decided to go to Coki beach. It was a great choice and I would recommend this beach. The large fish were out in full force that day, swimming very close to shore. After Coki, a few of us headed to Kmart for a couple bottles of liquor. Very good prices on the types of vodka I drink.

Made it back in time to grab some lunch at the Windjammer. Tonight was formal night so got some rest before dinner.

 

As I stated, some of us are used to sailing Carnival. Imagine the surprise of no lobster the first formal night. However, dinner was very good. No complaints.

 

Checked out Karaoke and the Comedian who was pretty funny.

 

St. Kitts

Hubby and I ate breakfast in the dining room this morning. We meet some very nice folks from Miami, Minnesota and I believe Atlanta. Royal has an interesting buffet style set up in the dining room, as well as a served breakfast. This include I believe a yogurt and granola station. With the exception of the buffet style set up in dining room, the food reminded me of Carnival.

 

We grabbed a bus and headed to Reggae Beach Bar. Stopped at mountain top that has the split to view the Atlantic and Caribbean oceans. Took pictures with the donkey and monkey. At least others in my group did. The beach was nice. Our bartender was great, the waitress Hazel, not so much. She had an attitude the entire time we were there. There were at least 18 of us in this beach group. Talk about blowing a huge tip!!! I would however recommend this beach.

 

Back at the ship in time for lunch. Also advised as we sat down to lunch, we would need to move as they were preparing for the dinner setup. Huh?? Now I know we were at the tail end of the lunch serving, but really, not a good look Royal. There were at least 10 other tables with guests that were asked to leave as well.

 

My husband and I skipped dinner in the dining room to eat in the Windjammer around 7:30. We wanted to attend the showing of the Warriors vs. Cleveland game in the bar. The bar advertised in the Compass was packed, the game was also shown at the Duck & Pub, and the Concierge Lounge. It was so crowded we ended up watching in our room. A lot of folks mentioned the game should have been shown on the big screen.

 

Sea Day

Breakfast again in the MDR. Did a bit of shopping on the promenade deck hung out with family have some rest.

 

My brother suggested we do the Chef’s table. I was a bit apprehensive because it was $85.00 pp. I ended up enjoying it.

 

We recently did the Chef's table on the Adventure of the Seas June 11th sailing. It was a six course menu with five wines. We had a full table of 12.

 

We were told we are the first to have this menu. Come to find out, not so true, but it was very good. Menu consisted of:

First course, Hearts of Palm Avocado, Tomato, Champagne Vinaigrette, Sauvignon Blanc wine – nice; second course, Sweet Pea Soup, Pinot Grino wine (the soup tasted like frozen peas blended); third course, Braised Short Rib Ravioli, Pinot Noir – delicious; fourth course - Butter Poached Lobster, Chardonnay – delicious; fifth course Prime Beef Tenderloin, Cabernet - very tender; sixth course Chocolate Sabotage Mousse cake - served with a Chocolate Martini - excellent

 

Portions were appropriate. I was stuffed and tipsy. Did not drink the chocolate martini but was told it was very good!

 

After this meal, we went down to visit our family at our regular seating. It was decided that some of us would do Quest. I played Quest on my Disney sailing so I knew what to expect. Only a handful of family made it to the game; my sister who had 4 chocolate martinis (and she’s not much of a drinker) decides to volunteer as co-captain. All I can say is we haven’t laughed at hard in a long time. There were 9 teams and between the language barrier and drinking, it was truly a hilarious time. The other family members were upset to miss the action.

 

Curacao

We decided to get a driver for a two-hour tour of the island and drop off at the beach. This is definitely one of those islands; you need to set up something prior to arriving. We did find someone to take us around, a driver and a guide! We were told the itinerary and the sights we would see. For the price, it seemed like a good deal . . . until the actual tour. It took us one hour to see absolutely . . . nothing. The guide pointed out various, car dealerships, supermarkets, plants . . . smh. Our first real stop was to see the flamingos, which was a half mile away from where the bus stopped. Not a happy camper at that point. Next stop was the Curacao Liquor factory. On the way there, the guide pointed out an oil refinery, a senior citizens building with barbered wire (I didn’t have the heart to ask) and the local KFC (I kid you not).

 

When we arrived at the factory for our much needed free samples, I pulled the guide aside and asked that he take us directly to the beach after the factory visit. I requested Mambo beach because we had two teens going to swim with the dolphins at the Dolphin Academy. After the first hour of the tour, I was afraid of what the beach would be like. Beach of choice was Mambo and I would recommend Mambo Beach, it was beautiful.

 

My daughter received the Dolphin swim as a graduation gift. She ended up doing the swim with her older sister. We toured the Aquarium for a bit, saw a dolphin show and then the swim. The swim was about ½ hour long and the girls really enjoyed themselves. Thankful it was a gift, because the swim itself was a bit pricey.

 

After a quick bite on the ship, some of us headed off and crossed the infamous Queen Emma Pontoon moving bridge. Turns out downtown stores close between 5 and 6 so not much shopping was done. As we headed back to the ship, the bridge was closed . . . they were offering ferry rides to the other side if you walked down further, to your right. We discovered this while having drinks during Happy Hour at an outside bar on the corner that entrance of the bridge returning from downtown (did that make sense??) The bridge was closed for a good 45 minutes. We enjoyed our happy hour, good drinks and ½ priced. We also watched the sunset. This was worth the wait.

 

Ate dinner in the MDR this evening.

 

Aruba

Once again, we leave the ship at 10:00 am. We were greeted by a sign with my name. I was surprised because I didn’t arrange any tour for Aruba. We were so worn out that all we wanted to do was go to the beach. The lady that greeted us was named Jacky and it turns out the tour guide in Curacao arranged for her to pick us up. He did redeem himself because Jacky of Fantasy Tours had a party school bus. As tired as our group was, this was a good time on the way to the beach.

 

We cut up, danced in our seats and sang as loud as we could. A good roundtrip price too. Jacky wanted to give us a tour, but we said next time, just get us to the beach. We ended up at Eagle Beach, highly recommend. The kids ended up tubing and jet skiing. I had quite a few in my group from Boston, when they heard there was a Dunkin Donuts next to the bar, it was a like a scene from Filene’s Basement wedding dress sale. They couldn’t get there quick enough for the Coolatta’s . . . :D!

 

Did a little bit of shopping downtown, headed back to the ship to clean up. Dinner in the main dining room again.

 

Day at Sea

Sighin. . . this is the hardest part about sailing. You know this is your last day and you want it last. Woke up pretty early to start the packing process. Was done by 10:00 so I enjoyed the rest of the day. I literally laid out until lunch time and about 8 of us decided to have lunch in the MDR.

 

The lunch in the MDR has a make your own salad bar, there is someone to build the salad for you. This build your salad was on point. Very, very good. Wish I had discovered this sooner. Lots of fresh ingredients to choose from including chicken and I believe some other meats. Suggestion, they also offered large shrimp in a bowl with cocktail sauce on the side next to the salad table. I added the shrimp to my salad.

 

Disembarkation

With the exception of two 3 day cruises and Disney, it’s always a long wait to get off the ship. We were number 12 to get off, but my son’s cabin was number 18 , so we waited with him. This was actually a bonus, because we didn’t really have to look for our luggage once we disembarked.

 

Some Additional Notes

Check in was a breeze

 

All White Party/Glow Party. On this sailing, there was no information regarding the All white/glow party. I reached out to customer service when we arrived in Curacao since it wasn’t listed in the Compass. I was told, they don’t do it on the Adventure. Well, the Ford Family Group had their own all-white/glow party when we sailed out of Curacao at 11:00 pm. Everyone in the group had on a white outfit. We dressed, took pictures near the Champagne Bar behind the beautiful backdrop hanging in the atrium. I gave out light-up necklaces, I had some extra glow bracelets that I have out to random children at the party and we made our own party at the Curacao sailaway. We had a great time!

 

70’s party was fun!

 

Royal offers very good coffee in the Windjammer.

 

The Solarium hot tubs were hot. Enjoyed them. The Solarium area in general was very nice. I even made it to the sauna one day.

 

Although not a smoker, my husband is and he appreciated the choices for upright and lounging chairs in the smoking area.

 

We had two in our group that purchased the beverage packages. Mutual agreement better bar service in the dining room. They felt that different venues around the ship, were not so responsive once they found out they had the beverage package. Never came back to check to see if they wanted another drink after the first one, unless they went to the bar. Brother thinks it’s because he was not giving an additional tip. The Lido deck was showing the NBA Championship game I believe on Thursday night and a beer cart came around one time, for the entire game. There were quite a few people on the Lido watching the game too! Not good.

 

One sea day, my sister was talking to her room steward about this being our first Royal cruise. I happened to walk into the conversation and let him know my thoughts to include that I was enjoying myself. Unfortunately, this steward is a bit disappointed at being assigned to the Adventure. His exact words to me and my sister, this is a crap ship after coming off the Allure. We were both appalled. Sister did mention he did a great job cleaning the room, but was very unhappy to be on the Adventure.

 

Forgotten Luggage

My nephew left one of his bags at the PanAm port. He didn’t realize it until he got home. He sent an email to the lost and found, I followed up with some phone calls and got a reference number for the lost bag.

 

Nephew mentions he doubts he’ll see again and it was his own fault it was left. Tuesday, Nephew receives a phone call saying they can’t locate bag and most likely it was thrown away. Huh?????

 

I follow up with any phone yesterday only to find out the bag had been shipped to the Royal warehouse in Miami.

 

I’m on the phone with Royal as I’m typing this review and they are in the process of shipping the bag to my nephew (C.O.D). Kudos to Royal.

 

Final Thoughts

No doubt, I enjoyed my Royal cruise, however, I felt it was evenly compared with all my Carnival sailings. My brother noted the casino closed one night around 1:00, with guests still there. This was his first cruise, so he thought it was the norm.

 

With the exception of the Chef’s table and the salad at lunch in the main dining room, there was no difference in food. Props though for Key Lime pie (not on Carnival) and egg salad sandwiches in the Café Promenade. The Pizza, OMG, was absolutely awful.

 

With that being said, my group and I would prefer to sail on Carnival but would definitely book another Royal sailing in the future. Feel free to reach out with any questions you may have.

[Debitoo]

Thank you for the review. We love the AOS!

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

We were on this cruise, and had a great time! The pizza was pretty good at midnite and drunk, lol.

[Hawaii697]

We were on this cruise, and had a great time! The pizza was pretty good at midnite and drunk, lol.

 

Hahaha . . . I gave it two tries on different nights, since it looked different each time. The second time had more cheese! I still couldn't eat it! :rolleyes:

[BillOh]

Thanks for taking the time. I do find some value in all reviews and I am currently reading anything regarding Adventure.

[Hawaii697]

One other thing I wanted to note, I had access to the internet on Friday for airline check-in. I felt the internet ran pretty well considering the amount people using it. The only concern I had with the internet/computer was when I went to do my flight check-in, the computer time was 10 minutes ahead of time. Flying on Southwest, check in was exactly 24 hours in advance, and I had to continuously hit the check in button for approximately 10 minutes.

[Clarea]

One other thing I wanted to note, I had access to the internet on Friday for airline check-in. I felt the internet ran pretty well considering the amount people using it. The only concern I had with the internet/computer was when I went to do my flight check-in, the computer time was 10 minutes ahead of time. Flying on Southwest, check in was exactly 24 hours in advance, and I had to continuously hit the check in button for approximately 10 minutes.

Early Bird.:)