Adventure of the Seas New Years Eve - No Pins, change of mind, and the making friends

[Got Out There]

Sailed the 12/30-1/5 New Years Eve cruise on the Adventure of the Seas - very nice trip overall.  We pre-purchased the DDP and the UDP.  Drink package was $339.84 each and the unlimited dining plan was $144 each, both included gratuity.  Somewhat surprised about the dining plan being offer, in the past this package has not been offered on holiday sailings.

 

As usual we booked last minute (less than two weeks out) and somewhat settled for this cruise due to timing, airfare, and cruise pricing.  Since we booked on short notice there was very limited availability.  We ended up booking an inside guarantee, the cabin assigned was deck 10 mid-ship - great location.  We use to book primarily suites but due to the nature of our work schedules it is very difficult for us to commit to a cruise more than two or three weeks in advance.  Over the past few years we have noticed that suites are rarely available this late in the booking process or are extremely expensive.  In the past availability and pricing on last minute cruises was the other way around.  Having said all of this we tend to spend very little time in the stateroom so the inside worked fine for us on this trip.

 

We sailed on NYE last year on Oasis of the Seas and learned to start enjoying are cruise from the moment we got on board (change of cloths and straight to the pool deck).  We did the same this year, arrived at terminal 11:30 and were sitting by the pool 11:50.  Check in was very fast (no lines anywhere), they do not have the expedited check in process at pier 29, you still need to go to a check in counter.  The pictures that we uploaded were not accepted so they took new ones, checked our credit card, looked at our passports and we went straight on the ship! 

 

Dinning

New years eve they offered a few specials; Chops or Giovanni's table $79, and a small section of reserved seating outside of the pub for the balloon drop.  When we tried to book on board we were told the both of these dining venues were sold out, surprising since last year on the Oasis they were empty on NYE.  We ended up eating in the dining room NYE, the only time we ate there.  The meal was fantastic!  The beef wellington would have made Gordon Ramsey proud and the rack of lamb was nearly as good as the same in Chops.  We ate at Cops twice, very good food and service.  Giovanni's table once, food was very good, service was lacking.  Which was odd since the restaurant was half full.  We also ate at Izumi's one night and thought is was excellent.  Ate at the Chef's table one night after being offered a significant discount as we left the Windjammer one lunch.  Chef's table on this ship is located in the main dinning room on the landing between deck four and five (where piano used to be located).  At first we thought it was an odd location but we quickly settled in after some surprisingly nice wine parings.  The highlight was the Caymus Cabernet with the main entre.....by chance we had a bottle of this same wine the night before with dinner.  As usual the dinner was very good and the presentation from the waiter and chef was spot on.  They did mention that they were moving the location of the chefs table to what is now the card room (formerly the cigar lounge).  All other meals were in the Windjammer.  Same as usual, just barely good enough but enjoy the ability to get in and out quickly for breakfast and lunch.

 

Fellow Passengers

Pretty good mix of old and young, families, couples.....large percentage was from Central and South America adding a nice diversity.  Interesting enough at the top tier event there were No Pins, the top cruisers were around 680 points.  I think they said there were about 100 diamond and 100 diamond plus on board.  We have noticed this on other holiday cruises (lower number of top tier C&A)....guessing it is one of two things; higher fares and/or more children on these sailings.  Went to Viking Crown for drinks before dinner and enjoyed a quick snack from the diamond lounge which was never full.  Since we had the drink package we sat at the bar and ordered our preferred drinks. 

 

Pool Deck/Ports

When it is just the two of us travelling we typically spend the entire day at the pool area...this cruise was no exception.  In fact we did no get off in Grand Cayman on new years day since we were only in port from 7-3...we slept in since we were up well past midnight and then went to the pool.  We did the same in Cozumel, it looked like it might rain so we just went to the pool on the ship.  We did get off in Costa Maya and spent the entire day at the beach in town with excellent drink and food service.  I hear some passengers complain about Costa Maya, but we love the simple and rustic beach area downtown.  They are experiencing a good deal of Sargassum (sp?) sea grass on the beach.  Watched them clear the beach in front of us and within four hours it was just as bad.  Not a real big issue, still a great day at the beach.  Pool deck area is nice but seems to need a good cleaning.  We sat in the same spot each day and noticed where a drink had been spilled on day two and was never cleaned, the stain remained the entire cruise.  On the two sea days chairs are pretty much taken (filled or saved) by 9:30.....we are generally at the pool very early (8am) and remain for the entire day.  Chair hogs were plenty and it was not patrolled by RCCL.  On the last sea day I found a new way of making friends.  We were at the pool around 8am and stayed there all day in our chairs, occasionally leaving them for a quick dip in the pool.  Around 2pm whiling sitting in the deck chair I was confronted by a couple claiming that I took their chair.  I explained that I was there all day since 8am and they quick told me I was lying and that others told them it was me that took their chair.  I tried to reason with them but they would not have it and demanded that I give them the chair that I was sitting on.  The entire time this is going on they are essentially yelling at me....I remained calm and did not engage with them.  I acknowledge they were upset and suggested a number of times that they have the wrong person and perhaps should go back to who told them I took their chair and verify who they were referring too....... After a good five minutes they left still yelling now at no one.  A few minutes later I see they are at it again about 5 or 6 chairs down from me....they quickly retrieved the chair from this other individual.  All along I thought that they would come back over to me at some point realizing their mistake....they did not.  I was actually embarrassed for them...what is this good old world coming too???

 

Entertainment

We only attended two shows, a comedian and a hypnotist.  Comedian was funny and we enjoyed his show very much.....the hypnotist not so much.  Both my wife and I regretted afterwards not getting up and leaving the show.  The piano bar was fun as was the pub entertainer.  We were both not a big fan of the CD Mercedes.  Generally we really don't care who the CD is unless they are outstanding or the other end of the scale.  We could not pinpoint what it was about Mercedes, although we both felt she was not very genuine, both in kicking off or hosting events and two limited interactions with her.  Not a big deal, like I said we typically could careless who the CD is on the ship.

 

Overall

We enjoyed out trip very much the weather was outstanding all week.  As for the ship it has been several years since we have been on a Voyager class ship and it was okay.  Nothing special, nothing bad just seemed to be a little more dated then we remember.....last year on the Oasis for NYE, our thoughts were we would likely never sail that class of ship again unless we were traveling with our children.......A Change of Mind ...we both commented towards the end of the cruise that we wished we would have taken the Oasis again like last year for NYE.  The overall feel of that ship and far more options of things to do or see, turned out we both missed this in the Oasis.  Again, glad we did the Adventure of the Seas, we had a great time.  We did express departure and essentially walked right off around 7am and at the airport for an early flight at 7:40.

 

Sorry about all of the typos, just thought I would put our thoughts on this trip out there to share with others......feel free to ask any questions.

 

[WinksCruises]

Great report. As for the pool friends, it might be a scam they run. Intimidating sunbathers with prime pool spots with the "you took my chair" routine until, unlike you, someone caves!

[Got Out There]

17 minutes ago, WinksCruises said:

Great report. As for the pool friends, it might be a scam they run. Intimidating sunbathers with prime pool spots with the "you took my chair" routine until, unlike you, someone caves!

The second man they confronted, who gave up his chair, did stop at my chair about an hour later and he apologized to me.  He said that he did apparently take their chair after he removed the towel and a personal item, placing them both on the adjacent empty chair.  He said he felt bad that while they were confronting me all along he knew that he took their chair.

[gerif]

14 minutes ago, Got Out There said:

The second man they confronted, who gave up his chair, did stop at my chair about an hour later and he apologized to me.  He said that he did apparently take their chair after he removed the towel and a personal item, placing them both on the adjacent empty chair.  He said he felt bad that while they were confronting me all along he knew that he took their chair.

I would have been inclined to confront the pair and tell them I’d be inclined to accept their apology if they were human beings enough to offer one. But, then again, I’m a Jersey girl. 

[dreadpirate3]

I like your summary of your trip.

 

I have to agree with you about Giovanni's. I will never book the dining plan on a ship that has it, we did not have an enjoyable experience on Freedom there.

 

CD Mercedes has left and now it is Ken.

[Got Out There]

10 minutes ago, gerif said:

I would have been inclined to confront the pair and tell them I’d be inclined to accept their apology if they were human beings enough to offer one. But, then again, I’m a Jersey girl. 

Actually I did say to my wife that I was thinking about walking over to them and asking if they were doing okay now that they found their chair, my wife who is very wise and had half the amount of rum in her that I did, offered the she did not think that would be a good idea....... just wasn't worth engaging.  Ended up drinking more rum and something....life is good!

[Got Out There]

7 minutes ago, dreadpirate3 said:

I have to agree with you about Giovanni's. I will never book the dining plan on a ship that has it, we did not have an enjoyable experience on Freedom there.

I actually like the food there, my wife likes Portofino's better, the service was just no there....perhaps I am a little better with change than my wife, I do not compare it to Portofino's.

7 minutes ago, dreadpirate3 said:

 

CD Mercedes has left and now it is Ken.

Did not know she was at the end of her contract, perhaps that was what we were seeing......at some point in their contracts it has got to get much more difficult to put that CD smile on 24/7.

[The Fun Researcher]

Not surprised by the low number of Pins and D+'s.  They tend to choose low cost cruises, which makes total sense with how much they cruise.  I wouldn't want to pay top dollar for every cruise either if I sailed that much.

 

Dan

[Got Out There]

50 minutes ago, The Fun Researcher said:

Not surprised by the low number of Pins and D+'s.  They tend to choose low cost cruises, which makes total sense with how much they cruise.  I wouldn't want to pay top dollar for every cruise either if I sailed that much.

 

Dan

Guessing most of the Pins are probably retired which helps with flexibility.  If our schedule was more flexible we would definitely cruise on lower cost cruises and those without a large number of children (avoid school breaks).  Not that we don't like children, just tends to be a little more relaxing when there are not 1,000 on board.  On a Christmas cruise a few years ago with our family, we ended up being the top cruisers.....we were very surprised when the Loyalty Ambassador reached out to us to let us know and asked that we please attend the top tier party.