Adventure of the Seas Review...11-18 June 2016!

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

So…. allow me to preface this with saying that this was my first cruise. Maybe I saw everything through rose-colored glasses, so take what I write with a grain of salt. But, the truth is, I had a helluva lot of fun. This was my GF’s 4th cruise, and she had as much fun as me, so…maybe there’s something to all of this.

Friday

We flew on Southworst to San Juan the day before our embarkation, just to be sure. We booked a corner room at the San Juan Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino. The place was very nice. The rooms, maybe a bit dated, but very clean and spacious.

 

 

 

 

We had a corner Ocean View King room, with two balconies. The rest of the place was gorgeous, especially the outdoor pools and private beach. The lobby had live salsa music in the evening, which made for a very lively party atmosphere! Yay!!

 

 

 

 

 

The surf was very vigorous – not rough, per se – but very active. The water was warm like a bath! The hotel has a private beachfront, and their attendants will set you up with an umbrella and a nice lounger. The afternoon was spent lounging on the beach, having cocktails. Here’s a tip; go to the CVS next door, and get a bottle of whatever you want to drink, and take it to the beach. The bartender will happily provide you with cups of ice for the asking. MUCH cheaper this way!

 

 

 

 

We decided that after some lunch and cocktails at the pool bar was expensive, we’d eat dinner outside the hotel.

After dark, we took a short, 10-minute walk to Condal, a tapas restaurant nearby….

 

 

 

Our dinner was fantastic, although the service was a bit off. It was fine until a BMW 7 Series pulled up onto the sidewalk out front, and a couple of mob-looking guys got out and came to the bar. Then our waiter was all about them. I can’t say that I blame him, but I really don’t care. I had the Pechuga de Pollo a la Parilla con setas y Cebollas. It was excellent. My partner had the Camarones Condal/Shrimp Condal Style, and she loved it as well. I will point out that the walk was through a sketchy area, with many homeless, a toothless female meth addict zombie on a bench (trust me), and turds on the side walk. I keep telling myself it was from a big dog….

 

 

 

I never felt unsafe, though. It’s all good…Pre-Adventure adventure lol! (Condal was recommended by the hotel concierge, btw.)

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

Some more views of the hotel & beach at San Juan Marriott Resort and Stellaris Casino...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

Saturday

The next morning, after sleeping in, we went across the street from the hotel, and a ½ block down the sidewalk to Crepe Maker. What a great place!! Everyone was upbeat and attentive, and the food was fantastic. Super-good eggs and bacon crepe for breakfast, with delish Peurto Rican coffee! Yum!! It was a different breakfast experience from anything we’d experienced prior to this, and we loved it. The staff was awesome!

 

 

A funny thing…la Policia insisted on escorting us down the hotel driveway. We couldn’t figure out why, until we looked up. There, unsecured, was a crusty old dude 75-100 feet up in a palm tree, kicking off the chaff! If it weren’t for the cop, we’d have been bombarded with dead palm chaff being cleared out of the tall tree. This guy was working without a net for sure, and I’ve never seen anything like it in my entire life!

 

After breakfast, we headed back to the room to pack up. We checked out of the Marriott, hailed a cab, and headed to the embarkation point. We arrived at 1045, and the line seemed daunting.

 

No worries, the baggage line moved quickly, then we jumped through the suites queue and found ourselves in the giant hangar. We found the Gold C&A line (high rollers lol) and we were checked in within minutes. Up the ladders and ramps, and we were aboard Adventure of the Seas in about 30 minutes. We took our carry-on bags to the Windjammer, and had a nice lunch.

The food in the Windjammer was OK. Lots to choose from, always hot, but, really…nothing to write home about. The bacon & eggs were always good, as were the morning potatoes. They always had a taco station, omelet station at breakfast, carving station for lunch and dinner, etc. The WJ was always crowded, but the lines moved along fairly reasonably.

The mandatory safety drill/muster was at 1745, and as I am learning is the norm, a lot of people were late. And wouldn’t shut up. Packed onto a sweltering hot deckspace without much air movement, and was unpleasant to say the least. It seems there would be a better way?

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

Not as bad as it looks....

 

 

Lunchtime!!

 

 

 

 

Muster is over, and nobody passed out!!

[leosmom08]

Great review! Can't wait to hear more!

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

Sunday

Our cabin (7378), was very nice. Superior Ocean View Balcony cabin. Clean, with more than enough space. We enjoyed room service coffee, pastries, and fruit plates each morning on the balcony. This was especially nice on the days we’d sail into a new port and new adventure! Marley, our cabin attendant, was outstanding in every way. The first night (Saturday), we had some issues with the people in the cabin next to us.

Screaming, yelling, bumping against the bulkhead, you name it. Sounded like a knock-down drag out fight at 0100-0300. Obviously, it woke us up and kept us up. The next day, we decided to take a nap around 1630, and they went at it again! This time, I called Guest Services, and asked for security to come around. At 2330 that same (Sunday) night, they were brawling yet again! I immediately called security again, and we waited in the passageway for the 2 guys to arrive. They came by pretty quickly, and we recapped the past two days’ worth of shenanigans. I don’t know what they told these women…but we never saw or heard from them again.

Maybe they moved them to another stateroom, maybe they made them walk the plank…. I dunno. We found out (from Marley) that that cabin, and the one adjoining it on the other side, was a mother and 3 adult daughters. The also had some cousins down the hallway in two other adjoining cabins. Some people shouldn’t be allowed in public….

When we came back aboard the second day, there was a plate of chocolate covered strawberries waiting in our cabin, from Guest Services. They also followed up with two separate phone calls to make sure the issue was resolved. Kudos to them….

Anyways, Sunday was spent in St. Thomas. We really enjoyed the port. After some shopping, we took a cab up to the Mountaintop. That was interesting…Our taxi (Safari Truck) driver had a full load, but was dicking around in the parking lot.

People got frustrated and left to another truck, and his supervisor started screaming at him. Large argument ensued, lol. We finally left the taxi stand with another couple aboard, who got dropped off downtown. While at that stop, one of our driver’s buddies approached our truck, and the driver handed him a half-empty bottle of wine out of the window!!! ***?? The trip to the Mountain top was like Death Race 2000, made doubly exciting by the knowledge our driver was probably already half in the bag.

At the top, we had a couple of their “famous” banana daiquiris, which were quite good. Otherwise, it’s just a giant T-Shirt/souvenir trap.

 

Our ride back down was with a different driver, who was completely sober, and actually stopped us off at Drake’s Seat for a history lesson and photo op. Very cool experience.

 

Then he dropped us off at Magens Bay, where we spent the afternoon. Gorgeous beach, great experience. Very calm waters, and a pair of beach loungers for $16. We spent about 3 hours here, before heading back to the ship and getting cleaned up for dinner.

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

More from St. Thomas!

 

 

A pirate's life for her....and some guy selling spray-menthol "pain relief". What??

 

 

Hey, hey, hey....! That's my wench!!

 

 

 

 

[Clarea]

I'm enjoying this, very entertaining.:)

[JustUs275]

I'm enjoying the review - thanks! We will be onboard Adventure in February.

[TishGiggle]

My fam and I were on Adventure last September...this is like a visit down memory lane. Thanks!

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

So....Sunday night, en-route from St. Thomas to St. Kitts, we thought "Motown Night" at 2200 hours in the Jesters Disco sounded like fun. We arrived at 2155, and we found:

 

A very drunk husband and wife, flirting with 2 drunker guys all over the wife.

 

And 3 African-American women waiting for the show.

 

Since the first group we saw seemed kinda rapey, we asked if we could sit with the Soul Sistas....

 

"Sure, but we're leaving!" Then they did.

We were right behind them...

 

There never was a Motown night at Jesters that evening, and I found this to be a spectacular failure on the part of Activities Direction. Don't publish something in the Cruise Compass if you have no intention of executing it. I have no idea what happened with the drunken swangers (Hey, I'm not judging), but I'm guessing it happened on the sticky dancefloor. Ew. New cruise director "HelloChloe" needs to spend less time on the CCTV stations, and get out and make sure things are getting done.

 

Also, Jesters is the creepiest rape dungeon possibly imaginable. I hope they gut it during the refurb, and put in a place where you can hug puppies. (I'm not a prude...I've seen some ****. But, this place had bad vibes.)

 

Hey, look, Peter Max!!! The first 3 nights, a guy on the Promenade deck was taking guesses for what this Peter Max original was valued at. If you guessed it, you would win free art! But not from Peter Max! Regardless, this is one of my favorites from him, so here it is:

 

 

I don't think anybody guessed it correctly, because we never saw any announcements to that effect. Anyhow, the art gallery on the third deck had a nice selection of Max's artwork.

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

 

Do you know why he's covering his ears? He can no longer take the screams of the innocent. And not innocent. Yikes.

 

 

Mint chocolate martinis made it all better. I didn't feel a thing...

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

We each had the Premium drink package. If you're going to enjoy 5 drinks/day, it's worth it. Our favorite onboard bars were the Champagne Bar, and the Schooner Bar. At the Champagne Bar, Claudia was the most outstanding bartender/server ever.

 

 

 

On formal nights, she delivered us Hors d'oeuvres with our drinks, knowing we were heading into the MDR. She was always smiling and cheerful, and after the first night, knew our drinks and would bring them to us upon arrival. This is also a great place to sit and watch people walk by on the Promenade, which is always highly entertaining.

 

The Schooner Bar was our after dinner spot, despite the frequent Karaoke and Trivia contests that took place there. Amar was always our server there, and he rivaled Claudia in every aspect. He was also cheerful and upbeat, and it seemed like he was always trying to go the extra mile. He was a lot of fun to hang out with, and was exceptionally good at his job.

 

 

 

 

 

[britty1]

Nice review, waiting for more.

[grandmarnnurse]

On my last cruise with Royal, on the Oasis, I had a fly in my glass of chardonaay. When I pointed it out, they quickly brought me another, apologizing profusely, and never charged me for it. Later that evening, chocolate covered strawberries were sent to our cabin, also. I think Royal wants happy cruisers. Having the problem you had with people in next cabin would have driven me nuts! So glad you got action from Royal, and finally, peace and quiet! [emoji4]

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[birdlord]

Love the review so far. Keep it coming. I think I saw Jesters is being axed on the refurb. Thankfully, that review is pretty scary.

[Hawaii697]

So....Sunday night, en-route from St. Thomas to St. Kitts, we thought "Motown Night" at 2200 hours in the Jesters Disco sounded like fun. We arrived at 2155, and we found:

 

A very drunk husband and wife, flirting with 2 drunker guys all over the wife.

 

And 3 African-American women waiting for the show.

 

Since the first group we saw seemed kinda rapey, we asked if we could sit with the Soul Sistas....

 

"Sure, but we're leaving!" Then they did.

We were right behind them...

 

There never was a Motown night at Jesters that evening, and I found this to be a spectacular failure on the part of Activities Direction. Don't publish something in the Cruise Compass if you have no intention of executing it. I have no idea what happened with the drunken swangers (Hey, I'm not judging), but I'm guessing it happened on the sticky dancefloor. Ew. New cruise director "HelloChloe" needs to spend less time on the CCTV stations, and get out and make sure things are getting done.

 

Also, Jesters is the creepiest rape dungeon possibly imaginable. I hope they gut it during the refurb, and put in a place where you can hug puppies. (I'm not a prude...I've seen some ****. But, this place had bad vibes.)

 

 

 

I don't think anybody guessed it correctly, because we never saw any announcements to that effect. Anyhow, the art gallery on the third deck had a nice selection of Max's artwork.

 

Great description of Jesters. I was on your sailing and was a bit puzzled at the club. It seemed so confining. I had several young adults with us. They had a good time dancing but, they didn't like the set up.

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

Monday

 

We ported at Basseterre/St.Kitts....

 

 

 

 

Online research showed that there was not much here that would interest us. Therefore, our P.O.D. (Plan of the Day) was to shop in the morning, and spend the afternoon on the ship. Turns out, that was a good plan.

 

We found a Harley-Davidson apparel store, which we got a few shirts in (we collect them). Lots of the same stores you see in every port. Then we went back to the ship, took a nap, then hung out by the pool. I'm not sure I've figured out what kind of deal RCI gets from St. Kitts, but from everything I've read, it's not fantastic. Very happy we made this a pool day. Lots of banana daiquiris poolside!

 

Lunch at the Windjammer, and dinner at the MDR.

 

 

Those are the strawberries we got for being Straight Outta Compton...

 

Another towel animal...yay!

 

 

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

[nekzaadvakil]

Excellent pictures and an amazing review. I love your writing style, its pretty funny. I love the Adventure OTS, its the ship that got me hooked onto cruising and its special since DW and I traveled on it during our honeymoon.

 

Waiting for more! :-)

[khm1]

Great review! I leave in 4 weeks for my cruise on Adventure!

 

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

[nessy48]

Love reading this because we just got off the Adventure on April 30! Sounds like you have a different cruise director than we had. We had "Dan Dan" and he was awesome! Jesters is getting cut in the dry dock, so that is good news!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bigque]

Great Review! We were on Adventure last October on the same itinerary and I am always interested in others review of the same cruise to compare experiences as I wrote one after this cruise also! Looking forward to reading more. :cool:

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

Tuesday : At Sea Day

 

So...Departing St. Kitts, and headed to Curacao, we experienced the cruise's first "At Sea" day. We slept in, had a leisurely pre-breakfast on the balcony, then after showering, heading to the MDR for breakfast. My girlfriend wanted to sit down and be served, and so she shall.

 

We didn't have to wait long to be seated, and we were placed at an eight-seat table. Everybody was nice. The breakfast was average, and took a fairly long time to receive. It all just seemed like way too much dog and pony show to get an omelette and some potatoes. We agreed, that from this point on, we'd just eat our breakfast and lunch in the WJ. BTW, the MDR was packed.

 

After breakfast, we took a few hours to walk around the ship exploring. That was fun! We found the helipad, the peekaboo bridge, the miniature golf course, and sports deck. Pretty spirited basketball game going on, which was nice to see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Something for everybody. Then, we decided to find a seat at the pool...

 

We actually got lucky, and found 2 chairs together in the semi-shade. I've heard tale of the legendary RCI Chair Patrol, but they were nowhere to be found. Lots of chair hogs with their gear holding spots. Very poor form if you ask me, and don't get me started on how "A" group people on Southworst hold seats for their less-fortunate "C" group family members. Grrrr.... Anyways, we had decent seats. We watched the belly flop contest and a couple other things that "HelloChloe" loudly emceed. I think we spent maybe 2.5 hours there, before the heat really set in. We didn't actually get in the water, because on At Sea days, it's literally a human stew. Ew. I will say this...the pool bar makes killer banana daiquiris. Like, so good... Yay, Cruzan rum!! We decided it was time to go back to the cabin for a nap.

 

 

 

Dinner in the MDR was very good again, and Ligorio and Carmen took good care of us. After dark, we went back up to the heliport to look at the stars. Damn right, I'm romantic.

 

Then, back down to the Promenade for more drinks, and people watching. We strolled in and out of all the shops, which was fun. Spent some time in the Champagne and Schooner bars, then called it a night.

 

Next stop: Curacao!

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]