Is the post-partial-refurb Adventure of the Seas really that "bad?"

[BHannis]

Hi All,

The wife and I have been debating on which cruise to take here in a few months- we like the southern option as we could go to 4-5 new ports, but as I've been reading reviews and comments- especially those made after the partial refurbishment- we're getting nervous about booking and considering doing one on the Harmony/Oasis instead.

 

Is the condition of the ship really as "bad" as some people are making it out to be? Normal wear & tear is fine, but some make it sound like it's much worse- Seems like the hope was that the refurb would help, but since that didn't fully occur, what's the current status?

 

How much of the ship will be closed off/under construction if we sail in April/May/June?

 

 

Thanks everyone!

[Biker19]

If you read enough reviews around here, the great majority of folks who were scared of issues on a ship based on threads here, found no real issues. If the price and itinerary interest you, book it.

[jticarruthers]

I am probably one of the more vocal "negative" voices of the post refurb era, but I have tried to characterize it as disappointing not bad.

 

The ship didn't sink, most things worked about right, etc.

 

If you have specific things that would upset you, I can comment but in general as long as you go onboard expecting a ship that is in well used condition you wont have a problem.

 

I would not expect there to be any "construction" activities in the timeframe you are talking about.

[DeadPhish]

The Adventure is a great ship, it can only be better post-refurb. And you cant beat the ports of the Southern Caribbean itinerary. Dont listen to people who say otherwise.

[BillOh]

Hi All,

The wife and I have been debating on which cruise to take here in a few months- we like the southern option as we could go to 4-5 new ports, but as I've been reading reviews and comments- especially those made after the partial refurbishment- we're getting nervous about booking and considering doing one on the Harmony/Oasis instead.

 

Is the condition of the ship really as "bad" as some people are making it out to be? Normal wear & tear is fine, but some make it sound like it's much worse- Seems like the hope was that the refurb would help, but since that didn't fully occur, what's the current status?

 

How much of the ship will be closed off/under construction if we sail in April/May/June?

 

 

 

Thanks everyone!

 

If you look at my signature, you can see why I have been following this. If you didn't know, much of the work didn't get done because of Hurricane Matthew. Somethings were shelved, but the rest is reportedly to be finished this month.

 

Your welcome to join us on our cruise 4/29, it will be 3 new islands for us.

 

Now off to read your replies.

[BillOh]

If you read enough reviews around here, the great majority of folks who were scared of issues on a ship based on threads here, found no real issues. If the price and itinerary interest you, book it.

 

A generic response, but there are issues specific to Adventure that make the question worth asking.

[BillOh]

I am probably one of the more vocal "negative" voices of the post refurb era, but I have tried to characterize it as disappointing not bad.

 

The ship didn't sink, most things worked about right, etc.

 

If you have specific things that would upset you, I can comment but in general as long as you go onboard expecting a ship that is in well used condition you wont have a problem.

 

I would not expect there to be any "construction" activities in the timeframe you are talking about.

 

Thank you for a relevant post with some specific experience. i see you were on one of the first post-update cruises. I am not a cheerleader or a pessimist. i'll have a good time, but I appreciate the OP's question.

[RCKYMTN]

We were on Adventure, 3-10 December 2016, and found the ship to be great. Yes, they were still working on some projects, but it did not impede any activities on the ship. We hear the new water slides are open now and she will on get better when they finish Chops later this year. The itinerary was awesome and we found the crew to be great. We would go again tomorrow, and may consider it since we just received our 25% off our next cruise due to being on Adventure shortly after her dry dock and not having everything completed.

[#1packerfan]

We will be going on Adventure in a few weeks. Since we do not do specialty dining, not having Chops finished is not a big deal to us. From what I understand the water slides are now open though, so hopefully not too much construction any more.

 

I will be doing a review once we get home and am going to try to add pictures for the first time ever in my review--not sure I will be successful, but will try. I won't nit-pick the ship though as I am totally not a picky person when it comes to that. I don't care if there is a bit of rust or a little bit of worn out carpeting, as long as it's clean and I have decent service. I go on vacation to relax, not sweat the small stuff.

 

So, for anyone that is sailing after Feb 25th, I will let you know what the condition is like after we get home.

[skiiergirl]

AD is still our choice for several future cruises. We have spent 4 weeks on her post-dry-dock and think she is fine. While we love the OA class for the food and entertainment variety we still prefer AD or JW for the itineraries out of SJU! The officers, staff, and crew on AD are some of the best in the fleet! Yes, there are areas of AD that show wear and tear and were scheduled to be replaced. Overall, the ship is in great shape and super clean!!!!! If you are cruising just for "new furnishings" then you might want a different ship but if you are cruising for excellent ports/itinerary and a clean (but "worn") ship then AD should please you.

[#1packerfan]

AD is still our choice for several future cruises. We have spent 4 weeks on her post-dry-dock and think she is fine. While we love the OA class for the food and entertainment variety we still prefer AD or JW for the itineraries out of SJU! The officers, staff, and crew on AD are some of the best in the fleet! Yes, there are areas of AD that show wear and tear and were scheduled to be replaced. Overall, the ship is in great shape and super clean!!!!! If you are cruising just for "new furnishings" then you might want a different ship but if you are cruising for excellent ports/itinerary and a clean (but "worn") ship then AD should please you.

 

I agree, we love the southern route for the ports, don't really care which ship we are on. We love San Juan, our absolute favorite port to sail from so far. This is our first time on Adventure, been on many other ships out of SJ though. Very much looking forward to it.

[alfaeric]

We just got off the Adventure Saturday- the only thing that we could see that was obvious was Chops- which had a sign saying it was soon to open.

 

The Flowrider and water slides were all operating properly (and were really fun, too!).

 

Minor details that you will notice- on some signs, the Suite Lounge tag is covered. And this is where the Concierge Lounge moves from deck 9 to deck 14- taking the location of the current Diamond Lounge. And the DL moves from the starboard side to the port side- same location. Takes out the card rooms (which are barely used).

 

There are supposed to be more cabins added, but other than a hint at a wet dock, not sure when this will happen.

 

We were also told that some of the containers got damaged in Freeport- not just that containers didn't make it.

 

The ship doesn't look any worse than any other ship- every ship has some rust and wear- even the Anthem.

 

Edit- we are scheduled to return to her in June for a week.

Edited January 9, 2017 by alfaeric

[SandyToes2000]

We also just got off Adventure on Saturday, and can say that there was no construction impediments at all and the new water features were wonderful, and all working. Our cabin was ready for a refresher, and that will be happening soon, I gather.

 

I hope to do a quick review of the cruise, but can say now that the staff and ports are wonderful! We enjoyed the entertainment very much. There were several things not to our liking, but most were subjective, and nothing was terrible. We did not book onboard, and we are not loyal to any cruise line, but we loved the ports so much, we will definitely return for the itinerary!!

 

You will have a great time!

[39august]

alfaeric-Did you hear of a time frame for completion of the Suite Lounge/Diamond Lounge situation? I think using the larger, port side area for the D lounge and the slightly smaller current D lounge converting to a suite lounge is a good idea, since it is the D lounges that usually are so crowded on other ships.

[ckrobyn]

Have the cabins been refurbished? We sailed February 2016 and they were definitely due for a refresh....

[Clarea]

Have the cabins been refurbished? We sailed February 2016 and they were definitely due for a refresh....

Not that has been reported.

[skiiergirl]

We just got off the Adventure Saturday- the only thing that we could see that was obvious was Chops- which had a sign saying it was soon to open.

 

The Flowrider and water slides were all operating properly (and were really fun, too!).

 

Minor details that you will notice- on some signs, the Suite Lounge tag is covered. And this is where the Concierge Lounge moves from deck 9 to deck 14- taking the location of the current Diamond Lounge. And the DL moves from the starboard side to the port side- same location. Takes out the card rooms (which are barely used).

 

There are supposed to be more cabins added, but other than a hint at a wet dock, not sure when this will happen.

 

We were also told that some of the containers got damaged in Freeport- not just that containers didn't make it.

 

The ship doesn't look any worse than any other ship- every ship has some rust and wear- even the Anthem.

 

Edit- we are scheduled to return to her in June for a week.

 

alfaeric-Did you hear of a time frame for completion of the Suite Lounge/Diamond Lounge situation? I think using the larger, port side area for the D lounge and the slightly smaller current D lounge converting to a suite lounge is a good idea, since it is the D lounges that usually are so crowded on other ships.

 

Interesting to read this as when we were there in Dec we were told that the CL would remain the CL and the SL would not happen. Had never heard that the DL was supposed to move to the card room and the current DL would become the SL. That is "new" "news".

 

We were told the "additional" staterooms would not be added. They were "scrapped" from the plans as some of these rooms were part of the "mangled" materials during the hurricane.

[skiiergirl]

Have the cabins been refurbished? We sailed February 2016 and they were definitely due for a refresh....

 

Not that has been reported.

 

We had been told that none of the cabins were "revitalized". However, when we were on-board in Dec a few folks told us they did have new furnishings. A few people also reported new mattresses. We were told the "stateroom revitalization" would be done during a "wet-dock" to be scheduled in late 2017 or early 2018. (One person told us "late 2017" and another "early 2018" and BOTH should have had "accurate" info....so not really sure if either is accurate. I am sure they were giving "accurate" info that they had been given at that particular moment.) A few weeks ago though I read (can't remember which thread) that someone on-board said a stateroom down the hall from them was getting new furnishings. (They did not elaborate so I don't know what new furnishings or what they saw.)

[alfaeric]

Interesting to read this as when we were there in Dec we were told that the CL would remain the CL and the SL would not happen. Had never heard that the DL was supposed to move to the card room and the current DL would become the SL. That is "new" "news".

 

We were told the "additional" staterooms would not be added. They were "scrapped" from the plans as some of these rooms were part of the "mangled" materials during the hurricane.

 

Goes to show us that people have different information on board.

 

No idea who is right- as the idea of a wet dock doesn't make sense, since it would mean a break. But we were told the additional cabins were already sold, so they have to put them in. Given 109 of them, someone here has to have gotten one.

 

 

I thought the moves of the lounges made a lot of sense. The same person who told us about the 109 rooms mentioned the large amount of space that isn't used- such as the card room. The current CL is probably 10 or more cabins in space.

 

If nothing changes, I'm fine with that, too. It's a great ship.

 

I would bet that some of the furniture will be swapped out, too.

 

BTW, did you think that most of the MDR was new? It looked that way to us.

[Ashland]

We did a B2B on Adventure last May (pre-drydock) looking forward to bookings opening up for May 2018...What was done or not done makes no difference to us at all.

[skiiergirl]

Goes to show us that people have different information on board.

 

No idea who is right- as the idea of a wet dock doesn't make sense, since it would mean a break. But we were told the additional cabins were already sold, so they have to put them in. Given 109 of them, someone here has to have gotten one.

 

 

I thought the moves of the lounges made a lot of sense. The same person who told us about the 109 rooms mentioned the large amount of space that isn't used- such as the card room. The current CL is probably 10 or more cabins in space.

 

If nothing changes, I'm fine with that, too. It's a great ship.

 

I would bet that some of the furniture will be swapped out, too.

 

BTW, did you think that most of the MDR was new? It looked that way to us.

 

All of the chairs in the MDR were sanded, repainted, and reupholstered.

[khm1]

I was on Adventure one July of '16. I will be on board again this coming Saturday 1/14/17. I am Diamond. I plan on asking the concierge (or any other staff that knows the plans) what plans are in store for her. I will come back and reveal what I learned. I certainly have very recent memory of what the ship looked like pre dry dock. I will definitely know if our furnishings were replaced. I had 1688 in July. This time I will be in 7688, so no matter what, it should be a great sailing for us!

[mollyeilis]

We sailed 12/17 and it was just fine. I'd love to know the issues the OP has in mind so they could be specifically addressed.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BHannis]

Hi all,

Thanks for the many comments- some of you asked what concerns I had specifically, and while I don't have any specific ones my concerns mainly arose from reading some recent reviews (both here & elsewhere) from Diamond & other frequent cruisers who comment that their last sailing on the Adventure was disappointing and unbecoming of a 'typical' Royal Caribbean cruise experience in general. There's always criticism on this and that for each ship that you have to filter through, but it was the recent comments from the well-seasoned cruisers that concerned me.

 

 

One of the best comments I read after originally posting this called the whole thing "Refurbus Interruptus", but noted many of the issues seem to have been resolved recently.. I appreciate all of your comments so far, it's really helped me read between the lines of some of the recent reviews out there. Hopefully this thread can help others who run into the same.

 

 

In any case, I went ahead and booked us on the May 27th sailing because we didn't want to miss the opportunity to see the southern ports- I know we'll still have an incredible time, it's almost impossible not to!

Edited January 10, 2017 by BHannis

[SonicShip]

I was on the Adventure the week of Thanksgiving which was the 5th of 2016. I was disappointed that somethings weren't completed but the ship was great and I enjoyed the cruise. I was on the Liberty in Sept 2016 and I noticed more working going on there than the Adventure.

 

Enjoy your cruise.