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Adventure OTS 7/30-8/6/2016 Review

FLUFFLULA

By FLUFFLULA,
in Royal Caribbean International

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FLUFFLULA

FLUFFLULA

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We enjoyed the Adventure of the Seas cruise and remembered why we liked Royal so much. This was cruise #14 for DH and me, but we’ve been on other lines for our last few cruises. DH’s SIL and BIL went with us. It was their third cruise but their first on RCI. We are all in our early to mid-60’s.

Overall, we were impressed by how great the ship looked and how super the service was in every aspect from food service to the cabins. Although we had read some of the less than great reviews, the ship looked great. Sure there were a few rust spots here and there and the cabin upholstery looked a little worn, but everything that mattered for a great cruise was in great condition. By the end of the cruise, DH said it was one of his favorite ships.

We have a hard time relating to the negative reviews because we loved the ship and found nothing to complain about.

 

We flew to San Juan on Thursday before our cruise on Saturday, July 30 and we stayed at the Sheraton Old San Juan. The hotel was fine and the proximity to Old San Juan made walking around the area easy. It was a very short walk to the CVS for snacks and drinks too. We went to the Raices restaurant the first night based on the taxi driver’s recommendation and the high rating on Trip Advisor. We were very disappointed in the food, the slow service and the two hour wait for our food. The next day we took the white Hop On Hop Off open trolley that went around a different area than the green trolley that we had taken on previous visits to OSJ. It was a great tour that included lots of interesting places around OSJ. Later that day we were hot and tired and happened to walk by Barrachina’s where we got the BEST pina colada I have ever had—and it’s my favorite drink. If you’re there during happy hour, stay downstairs because when we went upstairs for happy hour the pina coladas were NOT the same and were not very good. When we were ready for dinner, we got lucky and found a great restaurant by chance, Fefo’s. The food was great, as was the service and the price. It is family owned and operated and they took pride in providing great food at a reasonable price. The owner even came out as we were leaving to thank us for coming in.

 

We left the hotel at 10:00 AM on Saturday and took a taxi from the hotel to the Pan-Am port for about $30, including the tip, for 4 of us. We arrived at the ship about 10:30 AM and waited in the long line outside until they were ready to begin the security and boarding processes. Once the line started moving, it moved quickly and we were on the ship by noon. You can buy wine duty-free after coming through security and before boarding the ship. Look for it on the left just after clearing security.

 

The food on the ship was very good in the MDR, the Windjammer and Café Promenade. On some ships, I have found that the steaks are tough in the MDR, but that was not the case on this cruise. My BIL and I had steaks several nights and found that they were cooked as we liked them and were not tough at all. My DH and SIL enjoyed lots of the fish and seafood too. We liked all the desserts we had, but the warm chocolate melting cake was fabulous! We had the best waiter that we've ever had, Miguel, who was outstanding! We also had daily contact with our head waiter who wanted to assure that we were satisfied with the MDR food and service. We also enjoyed the variety of food in the Windjammer and the service was great there too. There were officers in the WJ every day talking to guests about their satisfaction with the food and service.

 

Our inside cabin on deck 9 midship (9603) was very convenient for going to either forward or aft locations. It was especially easy to go to the Windjammer from this location because we were just two floors below it and near the stairs that led directly to the Windjammer. The cabin had lots of storage—more than the two of us needed. I agree with other posters that the bed was HARD—not just firm. I asked the steward for an egg crate but only got another blanket added, which made the bed tolerable at least.

 

The Promenade is one of my favorite spots and I realized how much I had missed this area on other ships. There’s always something going on there, plus great food, people watching, and beverages of all types to sample. BIL commented about how easy it was to navigate on the ship from the Promenade too. Since we had 5 ports on this cruise, the only parade was on the last night, but it was a great one with fabulous costumes. I had forgotten how much I enjoy the parades and the Promenade was packed so others must enjoy them too.

 

This cruise included five ports in addition to San Juan so we saw a lot of Caribbean islands that we had never been to before. We did ship excursions in 3 ports and had one scheduled in St. Maarten that was cancelled, and we received OBC for it. In St. Kitts we did the “Scenes of St. Kitts” which was excellent, as was our driver, Winston. It was the last day of Carnival in St. Johns, Antiqua and lots of shops and other businesses were closed. DH and I walked around town and soon went back to the ship. SIL and BIL stayed in town to watch the parade and they enjoyed it a lot. Our favorite excursion was the “Cruise to the Pitons” in St. Lucia. The catamaran was large and in great condition. The crew was excellent and showed us the sites along the way to the Pitons. Our least favorite excursion was the “Coast to Coast Scenic Drive” in Bridgetown, Barbados, although DH liked it more than I did. The driver/guide seemed to be in a great hurry to complete the tour and drove very fast on the many bumpy and narrow roads. The stops were ok, and one was an area with a great view of the ocean with huge boulders near the shore. She told about other areas of the island, though, that we would have liked to see, such as a Botanical Garden.

 

After our excursions, we enjoyed walking around the ship, and especially going to the “peek-a-boo bridge” on deck 11 to watch what was happening on the bridge. This area is marked by a sign near the exit door that you take to go to the bridge. We also enjoyed going to the helipad both in the early evening and at night. At night when the sky is clear, star gazing is super.

 

The last day of the cruise was the only sea day, and we were ready for it! Because we had only one sea day, we missed some of the ship’s usual attractions and activities, and found that by the last day we just wanted to relax. None of us are “sun-worshipers” so we didn’t spend much time at the pools, but both pools were nice and usually there were lots of people enjoying the pool areas. We did enjoy a game of miniature golf and a couple of the evening shows, especially the ice show which was amazing. We also really liked the comedian-ventriloquist, who was the best I have ever seen.

 

The internet on the ship functioned flawlessly and was a great asset to our enjoyment of the cruise. We have had the experience on past cruises of only having a few minutes to get on, say what needs to be said, get off the internet and then worry if we were actually off of it. Being unable to communicate often with family was frustrating for us, so the new internet on Adventure was tremendous!!!! We were able to send and receive messages at any time and we could also send pictures that were received immediately. Our adult children loved knowing what we were doing and that we were having a good time. We also were more relaxed knowing that everyone at home was ok. My husband commented that the new internet makes him want to cruise only on RCI in the future!

 

Debarcation went very smoothly. We usually take our own bags off the ship but the debarcation information said we would need to carry bags down two flights of steps—turned out it was UP two flights of steps! We were glad we decided to put our bags out the night before and only take our carry-on luggage off in the morning. I read on this site that it is helpful to request a porter to help with your bags, even if you don’t think you need the porter, so we decided to try it. The porter helped find our bags and got us quickly thru customs and to the taxi area that would have been hard to find without his help. The porter told us that they work for tips so we were glad for several reasons that we decided to follow the recommendation from this site.

 

Overall, it was a great cruise. We would enjoy going on Adventure again after the refurb in October. Don’t hesitate to take a great cruise on the Adventure of the Seas!

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Sandie

Sandie

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Thank you so much for a very nice review. So glad that all of you had such an enjoyable time. We will be sailing on Adventure after the rehab.

A question for you - on the Oasis class ships, breakfast at Johnnie Rockets is complimentary. Is that true on Adventure?

 

Thanks,

Sandie

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FLUFFLULA

FLUFFLULA

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Thank you so much for a very nice review. So glad that all of you had such an enjoyable time. We will be sailing on Adventure after the rehab.

A question for you - on the Oasis class ships, breakfast at Johnnie Rockets is complimentary. Is that true on Adventure?

 

Thanks,

Sandie

 

Unfortunately, breakfast is not free at Johnny Rockets on AOS :(

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kalliekae

kalliekae

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Thank you for the review. We were considering a cruise on Adventure, but had doubts because of past reviews. I'm glad you posted a nice review. We would like to visit those ports and it sounds like a cruise we would enjoy.

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FLUFFLULA

FLUFFLULA

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We board her on Saturday and also staying at the Sheraton in Old San Juan as of Thursday. The excitement is surely building ...

 

Did they have an "all white" or "Caribbean" themed nights?

 

Thank you

 

No "white" or "Caribbean" nights. There was only one parade on the last night.

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FLUFFLULA

FLUFFLULA

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Great review, I can't wait I'm going in Nov 2016! Any tips for first time cruiser? What to pack, what not to miss in board, anything. . .anybody?

 

Try the "Ask a cruise question" site and search for packing tips. There's lots of info there. If you do a search on the RCI site for "ADventure of the Seas Reviews, lots of tips will be there.

 

Hope you have a great cruise--and be prepared to be "hooked" on cruising!

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