Had an amazing cruise on Adventure of the Seas July 16 - 23

[JaniceB]

Thanks for letting us know about the food. Cold eggs are such a big turn off.

[fitzy123]

Did you ever find out what the cause of the odor was?

 

Patiently waiting for more.

 

No, we never determined the source of the smell. I guess it had something to do with the carpet though, since it went away once it was shampooed. But I'm pretty sure it smelled again for the next person in our room since it was starting to smell again as the week went on.

[fitzy123]

We had the same wait staff at the 6:00 seating on the same exact cruise. I will definitely post a review of our trip under a new thread. Looking forward to reading more of your review.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Did you love them? We had so much fun with them. I really thought they were great!

[Uri1961]

I have been on the Adventure of the Seas 2 times and loved it. I have another cruised booked for 2018.

[cincicruisers]

Following...

[riclop]

Glad you enjoyed it.

[fitzy123]

Saturday night after dinner we went to the Welcome Aboard show. Our cruise director was Hello Chloe and she was very funny and interacted with the audience really well. There was also a comedian who was pretty funny too, although I thought some if his jokes were a little mean spirited. This was actually the only show we went to so can’t comment much about the entertainment.

 

Sunday morning after breakfast in the Windjammer we got off the ship in St. Maarten at about 9:30 and grabbed a cab to Orient Beach. We had been to the Dutch side of St. Maarten twice already so decided to see the French side this time. The cab was $7/pp because of the size of our group (Would have been $20 for 2 passengers). It was a longer drive to Orient but we saw quite a bit of the island on the way. I think we paid $25 for 4 chairs and 2 umbrellas and it came with 4 free drinks. The free drinks were small Dixie size cups of rum punch. Three of the teens went parasailing for $120 ($40pp). They were in the air for about 20 minutes and loved it. We had inquired about jets skis ($50 for half hour), but since none of them had ever been on one before we were a little nervous about letting them take off on one for a half hour. Orient was a little crowded but it is a beautiful beach. There is definitely a lot more nudity on the French side, something to keep in mind if that bothers you. Also the vendors on the beach were a little overwhelming and I don’t remember it being that bad on the Dutch side. We were asked every 5-10 minutes to have our hair braided, get a massage or look at something someone was selling. Most would walk away after a polite “No, thank you”, but some were relentless and wouldn’t leave us alone. After a few hours on the beach and in the water, we had a few drinks at the bar and headed back to the ship about 3:00. We had to be back on by 4:30. We shopped a little at the port and then got back on the ship and headed to the Windjammer.

[Merion_Mom]

Saturday night after dinner we went to the Welcome Aboard show. Our cruise director was Hello Chloe and she was very funny and interacted with the audience really well. There was also a comedian who was pretty funny too, although I thought some if his jokes were a little mean spirited. This was actually the only show we went to so can’t comment much about the entertainment.

 

Sunday morning after breakfast in the Windjammer we got off the ship in St. Maarten at about 9:30 and grabbed a cab to Orient Beach. We had been to the Dutch side of St. Maarten twice already so decided to see the French side this time. The cab was $7/pp because of the size of our group (Would have been $20 for 2 passengers). It was a longer drive to Orient but we saw quite a bit of the island on the way. I think we paid $25 for 4 chairs and 2 umbrellas and it came with 4 free drinks. The free drinks were small Dixie size cups of rum punch. Three of the teens went parasailing for $120 ($40pp). They were in the air for about 20 minutes and loved it. We had inquired about jets skis ($50 for half hour), but since none of them had ever been on one before we were a little nervous about letting them take off on one for a half hour. Orient was a little crowded but it is a beautiful beach. There is definitely a lot more nudity on the French side, something to keep in mind if that bothers you. Also the vendors on the beach were a little overwhelming and I don’t remember it being that bad on the Dutch side. We were asked every 5-10 minutes to have our hair braided, get a massage or look at something someone was selling. Most would walk away after a polite “No, thank you”, but some were relentless and wouldn’t leave us alone. After a few hours on the beach and in the water, we had a few drinks at the bar and headed back to the ship about 3:00. We had to be back on by 4:30. We shopped a little at the port and then got back on the ship and headed to the Windjammer.

 

Clo. :)

[BillOh]

Time to go to work...Will write more later.

 

I'll start by saying thanks for making the effort. I know I intended to complete my last review in 2-3 days, but life seems to get in the way when you get back! I'm reading every Adventure review between now and next April, but I'm sure I'll find a lot of valuable information.

[JaniceB]

Orient Beach seems to get more crowded every time we visit and had a deep drop off last time.

[BillOh]

Saturday, San Juan Cont’d – On previous cruises we always tried to get on the ship as early as they would let us. This time, since we were staying in a beautiful hotel, had asked for a late check-out (1:30) and the ship wasn’t leaving until 8:00, we decided to take our time. .....

 

Thanks for sharing that experience.

[BillOh]

No, we never determined the source of the smell. I guess it had something to do with the carpet though, since it went away once it was shampooed. But I'm pretty sure it smelled again for the next person in our room since it was starting to smell again as the week went on.

 

I liked the opened minded way you brought up this subject and reported on how it was remedied. We had a similar situation on deck 9 of majesty back in 2010, that turned out that a leak that was thought to be only in a storage area actually soaked into the carpet outside our cabin and when they shampoo'd that passageway, it was gone.

 

I am really enjoying this so far, IMO don't worry about giving too much detail. In the manner you are reporting it, its easy to skip over things that don't interest me in particular. Keep up the good work.

[BillOh]

Orient Beach seems to get more crowded every time we visit and had a deep drop off last time.

 

The OP is doing a good job and seems pretty factually sound, but I will add that my last two visits to Orient have been great! Perfect in every way and no body bothering us for anything. Of course we were there in the first week of May and at the far south end of the beach both times, that may be a factor.

[ReneeFLL]

Thanks for the review. Lots of good info.

[fitzy123]

I liked the opened minded way you brought up this subject and reported on how it was remedied. We had a similar situation on deck 9 of majesty back in 2010, that turned out that a leak that was thought to be only in a storage area actually soaked into the carpet outside our cabin and when they shampoo'd that passageway, it was gone.

 

I am really enjoying this so far, IMO don't worry about giving too much detail. In the manner you are reporting it, its easy to skip over things that don't interest me in particular. Keep up the good work.

 

Thank you for the feedback. I would never let this ruin my vacation, and it was addressed right away. I don't like to focus on the negative, but think its best to just report the good and the bad and let people decided whether or not it would be an issue for them.

[Familfof4]

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this. I know life can get hectic once back from a vacation. We are going at the end of August and have the same stops as you. Did they have designated "wear white" or "Caribbean" theme nights. My teen daughter is starting to get her outfits together. Thanks a bunch.

[jlszarejko]

We are going end of February!! Looking forward to more of your review!!

[murphy4]

following along!

[JaniceB]

The OP is doing a good job and seems pretty factually sound, but I will add that my last two visits to Orient have been great! Perfect in every way and no body bothering us for anything. Of course we were there in the first week of May and at the far south end of the beach both times, that may be a factor.

 

We went on a tour the last time and they took us to a more crowded place than we have ever been before.

[fitzy123]

When cruising from St. Maarten to St. Kitts Sunday night the ship was moving so slowly we seemed to be staying still in the water. I guess some of these islands are so close to one another they really don’t even need the number of hours they have to get there. Not sure why they don't allow for a longer day at port. Maybe that would interfere with the 1st dinner seating? When we woke Monday morning, we were already docked in St. Kitts. We had an excursion today so had to wake everyone to be off the ship by 9:15. We booked the Fantasea Catamaran to Nevis excursion through the ship. We looked to do this privately, but could not find this type of excursion anywhere else so we booked it through the ship. It was a little pricier than the other excursions we booked, but it was a great day. We walked off the ship and looked for the signs for our tour at the end of the dock. We waited about 15 minutes for everyone to arrive and then they walked us to the catamaran. They took our shoes before we got on board. My only criticism of this tour is that they packed this boat (60-70 people?) so it felt a little crowded. When we first boarded all the seats at the tables were taken and they announced that the nets on the front of the boat could only hold 10 people each so we sat along the sides of the catamaran. About 10 minutes after we left the dock, it started to rain so everyone tried to crowd into the only covered area where the tables were. We were starting to worry that the day was going to be a wash out, but luckily by the time we arrived at the first snorkeling stop, the skies had completely cleared and it was beautiful for the rest of the day. The crew handed out snorkeling equipment, gave instructions for those who needed it and we snorkeled near a ship wreck in ****ten Bay (yes, that’s really the name) until they called us back to the boat. When we got back on board, they served lunch, beer and rum punch as we continued on to Nevis. The lunch was a pasta salad, some really tasty chicken/potato salad, a tossed salad and banana bread. When we got to Nevis we walked through water that was about 2 feet deep to get onto the beach. The beach was beautiful and seemed as if it might have been pretty quiet until our tour arrived. There were beach chairs available for us to use and they brought the bar to the beach and kept the drinks flowing. We stayed there for I think about 2 hours (did I mention the drinks were flowing) then got back on board to head back. Once we got underway, they cranked up the music and had a dance party. Although the tour price ($119 per person) was a little more than we wanted to spend, we really had a great day. The crew was very attentive and did everything to make sure everyone was having a great time. When we got back to St. Kitts, we looked in some of the shops near the port, bought a few souvenirs and even got suckered into having our pictures taken with a monkey before getting back on the ship.

[fitzy123]

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this. I know life can get hectic once back from a vacation. We are going at the end of August and have the same stops as you. Did they have designated "wear white" or "Caribbean" theme nights. My teen daughter is starting to get her outfits together. Thanks a bunch.

 

There was a Caribbean theme one night, but I don't believe there was a white night. It was listed in the Compass along with the suggested casual or formal attire. I will see if I still have the compasses when I get home and can tell you what was suggested each night. I did notice that a large party (three tables) sitting near us at dinner one night all came dressed in white, but it seemed like something they had coordinated with their group.

[fitzy123]

There was a Caribbean theme one night, but I don't believe there was a white night. It was listed in the Compass along with the suggested casual or formal attire. I will see if I still have the compasses when I get home and can tell you what was suggested each night. I did notice that a large party (three tables) sitting near us at dinner one night all came dressed in white, but it seemed like something they had coordinated with their group.

 

I checked the Compasses and here are the dinner attire suggestions:

 

Day 1, 5 and 7 - Casual

Day 2 and 6 - Formal

Day 4 - Casual/Caribbean

 

I am missing the compass for Day 3 and I think there was a theme of some kind that night, but I can't remember what it was. Maybe someone else on here knows?

[fitzy123]

The next day in Antigua we had no excursion planned and wanted to go to the beach. We had planned on going to Dickenson Bay but when we got in a cab, the driver talked us out of it. He said Dickenson would be very crowded and Valley Church beach is the most beautiful beach in Antigua. The fare to Dickenson was $4 pp and it was $8 pp to Valley Church. Not sure if the driver was just looking for a longer ride to make more money. Valley Church was very nice, but also a little crowded and since we never saw Dickenson Bay, I guess we’ll never know if he had an ulterior motive. We rented chairs and umbrellas (Chairs were $5 each, umbrellas $10) and stayed on the beach and in the water all day. We were sitting very close to where the jet ski rentals were though which was probably not the best choice. There was a lot of activity in the water right near us as people were getting on and off of the jet skis and since they were busy all day, there were people standing around waiting for their turn. After the beach we went back to the port to do some shopping. We were dropped off near some small straw market type shops and had to ask around a bit to find the higher end stores because DS wanted to look at Ray Bans. We were directed to Heritage Quay which is down a boardwalk to the left if you are just walking off the ship. For the most part, this was a very relaxing, uneventful day.

[Merion_Mom]

Thank you for the feedback. I would never let this ruin my vacation, and it was addressed right away. I don't like to focus on the negative, but think its best to just report the good and the bad and let people decided whether or not it would be an issue for them.

 

So very well said! :)

[JaniceB]

Were there any sights to see on your way to the beach in Antiqua? On the beach was their food and drinks available?