Just off Adventure of the Seas review

[Vacationlover2]

Hi,

 

Me and my bestie took our kids on this cruise.  I had a balcony cabin with my 2 girls and she had an interior with her 3 boys.  

 

The ship is very clean and in great condition.  However, I think they have too many passengers for the venues.  Each day we waited for tables at breakfast.  Only respite was on port days.  First sea day we waited 45 minutes for a table in main dining room for breakfast.  We go there so we don't have to wait in lines to get food.  Staff were telling us we had to go to buffet to get fruits, etc, and they would only get us cooked to order food.  (They have a little buffet in the main dining room set up for breakfast and lunch)  Then after we ordered, they were rushing us and just plain rude.  It was a horrible experience that would carry through whether we were at main dining room or windjammer.  

 

First day lunch at Windjammer had 25 minute waits for a table.  Open the main dining room for lunch the first day!  Once seated, we found picked over food that was not being replenished fast enough.

 

The main dining room dinners were ok.  The servers were nice but there were a lot of missed entrees that they had to go back for.  Just seemed like a mismanaged restaurant.

 

We love trivia and apparently so does the rest of the ship.  Never a seat at trivia.  One day, my friend even got there 30 minutes ahead of the trivia and there was no seating available.  This would hold true with all the events other than the main shows.  They were fine with seating.  

 

Bar staff were friendly and easy to get service.  They should transfer some of the bar staff to the dining venues.  

 

The ports were nice.  

 

For the most part, the management staff seemed very unhappy.  I always smile at people when I pass.  I passed an officer one day and he made eye contact, I smiled, and he looked away as if I didn't exist.  This was pretty typical of the officers.

 

I have been on the Oasis and that was great.  Never again with a smaller Royal ship.  This is the first time in my approximately 25 cruises that I've wanted to get off the ship and go home.  Miserable staff, crowded, not enough seating.  

 

Is this typical for the smaller ships on Royal?  

 

 

[davekathy]

5 minutes ago, Vacationlover2 said:

Hi,

 

Me and my bestie took our kids on this cruise.  I had a balcony cabin with my 2 girls and she had an interior with her 3 boys.  

 

The ship is very clean and in great condition.  However, I think they have too many passengers for the venues.  Each day we waited for tables at breakfast.  Only respite was on port days.  First sea day we waited 45 minutes for a table in main dining room for breakfast.  We go there so we don't have to wait in lines to get food.  Staff were telling us we had to go to buffet to get fruits, etc, and they would only get us cooked to order food.  (They have a little buffet in the main dining room set up for breakfast and lunch)  Then after we ordered, they were rushing us and just plain rude.  It was a horrible experience that would carry through whether we were at main dining room or windjammer.  

 

First day lunch at Windjammer had 25 minute waits for a table.  Open the main dining room for lunch the first day!  Once seated, we found picked over food that was not being replenished fast enough.

 

The main dining room dinners were ok.  The servers were nice but there were a lot of missed entrees that they had to go back for.  Just seemed like a mismanaged restaurant.

 

We love trivia and apparently so does the rest of the ship.  Never a seat at trivia.  One day, my friend even got there 30 minutes ahead of the trivia and there was no seating available.  This would hold true with all the events other than the main shows.  They were fine with seating.  

 

Bar staff were friendly and easy to get service.  They should transfer some of the bar staff to the dining venues.  

 

The ports were nice.  

 

For the most part, the management staff seemed very unhappy.  I always smile at people when I pass.  I passed an officer one day and he made eye contact, I smiled, and he looked away as if I didn't exist.  This was pretty typical of the officers.

 

I have been on the Oasis and that was great.  Never again with a smaller Royal ship.  This is the first time in my approximately 25 cruises that I've wanted to get off the ship and go home.  Miserable staff, crowded, not enough seating.  

 

Is this typical for the smaller ships on Royal?  

 

 

Bummer. We've cruised on the Adventure four times and didn't experience any of your issues. 

[Clarea]

4 minutes ago, Vacationlover2 said:

...

Is this typical for the smaller ships on Royal?  

 

 

 

Not our experience at all.  We find it much more annoying to dodge 6000+ passengers for a week.

[Lady Hudson]

I was on Adventure in May and going back in July.  I didn’t experience anything like the OP and her group (but I was able to use the Diamond/+ breakfast area) in the MDR.  Sometimes trying to seat a large group like the OP had can be an issue as well.  

 

To the OP.  Sorry you had a bad experience on Adventure.  Summer time cruising can sometimes be hectic as is traveling with a larger group.  I would, if I were you, give Adventure another chance in the future..  IMHO Adventure is a great ship.

[GUEST71919]

@Vacationlover2  this is not at all what we experienced on the Grandeur in May - in fact, we found it friendlier overall than Allure as with @Host Clarea thoughts on dodging 6000+ passengers (although we did not see either as a bad experience on the whole ). I don’t recall having a lot of contact with officers, but there was nothing notable in that regard in either the negative or positive direction. I very much hope that your experience was an unfortunate one off situation since we will be onboard with family for our 2019 Thanksgiving holiday.

Edited June 29, 2019 by 2Beeze

[Oxo]

On the ship B2B April to May 2019. Totally difference experience. Dined in MDR every morning for 20 days and never a problem. In fact, one of the better experiences on past 5 RCI cruises. 

Don't know what to say except maybe a overcrowded ?

[wineandbeach]

I also just got off the Adventure - 17th cruise,  seventh RC and 4th Voyager class.  I think what the OP saw was Royal's problem with sailing north.  My first 16 cruise went to warm/hot weather.  This cruise went North and nights and sea days were very cold and windy.  Everyone on the ship was inside. This made all the venues much more crowded than other cruises.  This is the first cruise I ever really felt the crowds everywhere.  Imagine all that outside area not being used at all and I didn't feel Royal had enough activities to make up for this and scatter the people more.

 

As far as the Windjammer on the first day - the OP's estimate of 25 minutes was generous.  When we went the line went outside and stretched down the entire deck.  No idea why but definitely not a great way to start a cruise.  We did eat in Cafe promenade that day which was less crowded but Royal does need to fix this flaw.   We did not eat at the main dining room for lunch on sea days but did see the lines.

 

I am getting my thoughts together for a review of the good the bad and the ugly but besides some minor annoyances most of our experience was great!

[Clarea]

Just now, wineandbeach said:

I also just got off the Adventure - 17th cruise,  seventh RC and 4th Voyager class.  I think what the OP saw was Royal's problem with sailing north.  My first 16 cruise went to warm/hot weather.  This cruise went North and nights and sea days were very cold and windy.  Everyone on the ship was inside. This made all the venues much more crowded than other cruises. ...

 

This is the problem when they use a ship that is not designed for cold weather, like Quantum class.  Even Radiance or Vision would be a little better with the covered Solariums.

[Vacationlover2]

I never thought about the problem being the chillier weather.  Although it was pretty nice and sunny out, I guess many people did not go outside.  They do not have any outside dining venues, though, so that wouldn't have made a difference.  But the trivia, yes, I can see that was why so many people.  I am eager to hear if the Bermuda cruise after mine had the same issues.  And can't wait to hear your review, windandbeach.  

 

However, none of this explains the indifferent and even rude upper management.  Never had a cruise where I wasn't smiled at when walking by an officer.  Very strange.

[LadiDicruiser]

Sailed on Adventure 6/14 thru 6/22....first time on this ship....have over 15 cruises on RCCL....Although an older vessel, the lady was well maintained....we never had a problem getting a table in the Windjammer, nor the MDR for breakfast/lunch)....every staff member we encountered was helpful, agreeable and had an overall nice demeanor.....Trivia in the Schooner bar was crowded, but when they ran 3 or more trivia games back to back, people had been there for a few hours sitting at all the tables....the weather was perfect, fair winds and calm seas.....our Cabin attendant went out of his way to accomondate us, and our waiter/assistant every night for the 2nd. dinner seating were great....had salads out for 3 of our tablemates every night before we arrived....even on sail days there were plenty of loungers around the pool/sun decks....the staff to guest ratio is 1:3, much better than on the larger ships.

[mikenbon]

We didn't find the Adventure of the Seas to be overcrowded in March, and never had trouble finding seats in the a Windjammer at breakfast or lunch, but there were only 2-4 of us. 

 

As for the unfriendly crew - we did experience this. Our previous 7 cruises were with Carnival, snd we were used to all of the crew and officers smiling and saying at least "hello" whenever we passed one. On the Adventure, we found they did not make eye contact, and barely spoke when we tried to be friendly. The most disappointing was the CD, a fellow Canadian, from the same part of Canada as us, and he was only seen when he was on stage introducing entertainment or when he was filming his segments with his assistant cd. When he was in the limelight his ego and persona seemed very staged and not genuine at all. 

 

All in all, we loved the ship and look forward to cruising on her again next spring. 

[Ashland]

I certainly don't consider Adventure a "smaller" ship...the Voyager class is just fine.

[mugtech]

In May I found Adventure trivia to be the best, always crowded in the Schooner Bar.  Not a small ship.  Would sail her again in any direction.  We never sail June July or August because of all the extra kids.  Not because they are kids, but as the OP said, many sailing 3 or 4 in a cabin, prices always higher.

[Ocean Boy]

19 hours ago, Lady Hudson said:

I was on Adventure in May and going back in July.  I didn’t experience anything like the OP and her group (but I was able to use the Diamond/+ breakfast area) in the MDR.  Sometimes trying to seat a large group like the OP had can be an issue as well.  

 

To the OP.  Sorry you had a bad experience on Adventure.  Summer time cruising can sometimes be hectic as is traveling with a larger group.  I would, if I were you, give Adventure another chance in the future..  IMHO Adventure is a great ship.

I understand where you are coming from because I have had some great cruises on Adventure. However, if someone has a poor experience with a ship or cruise line the last thing I would do is advise them to give it another chance. There are many choices available and vacation time for many is in short supply and hard to come by. If I have a bad experience I am moving on not giving a company another chance. My vacation time is way too valuable to me.

[Lady Hudson]

2 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

I understand where you are coming from because I have had some great cruises on Adventure. However, if someone has a poor experience with a ship or cruise line the last thing I would do is advise them to give it another chance. There are many choices available and vacation time for many is in short supply and hard to come by. If I have a bad experience I am moving on not giving a company another chance. My vacation time is way too valuable to me.

I understand your point of view and respect it.  The OP may very well take your advice.  I see her location as Voorhees which may be Voorhees, NJ.  If so, sailing out of Cape Liberty with a bunch of children may be her best bet.  I wish the OP well in her future sailings, wherever they may be.  Katherine

[davekathy]

20 hours ago, Vacationlover2 said:

I never thought about the problem being the chillier weather.  Although it was pretty nice and sunny out, I guess many people did not go outside.  They do not have any outside dining venues, though, so that wouldn't have made a difference.  But the trivia, yes, I can see that was why so many people.  I am eager to hear if the Bermuda cruise after mine had the same issues.  And can't wait to hear your review, windandbeach.  

 

However, none of this explains the indifferent and even rude upper management.  Never had a cruise where I wasn't smiled at when walking by an officer.  Very strange.

Did you mention this or any of your others concerns in your Post Cruise Survey? 

[barbeyg]

Sorry you experienced this. We sailed in May and experienced the opposite on Adventure. No lines, excellent servers, smiles on all faces. 

 

Maybe its its due to summer and more cruising. 

[apc0204]

On 6/29/2019 at 12:38 PM, Lady Hudson said:

I was on Adventure in May and going back in July.  I didn’t experience anything like the OP and her group (but I was able to use the Diamond/+ breakfast area) in the MDR.  Sometimes trying to seat a large group like the OP had can be an issue as well.  

 

To the OP.  Sorry you had a bad experience on Adventure.  Summer time cruising can sometimes be hectic as is traveling with a larger group.  I would, if I were you, give Adventure another chance in the future..  IMHO Adventure is a great ship.

Can you explain the breakfast dining for Diamond + members 

 

thank you

[Clarea]

16 minutes ago, apc0204 said:

Can you explain the breakfast dining for Diamond + members 

 

thank you

 

Exactly the same as everyone else in the MDR for breakfast, with the addition of free specialty coffee.

[Hogbay]

Sorry to hear of your bad cruise. 🙁 

Hey dear me and my besty are thinking of taking the kid's on a cruise , would you like to come ? Naa ,you go sweety , someone gotta look after the dog !!! 🤣🍺🥩🥓

[Lady Hudson]

Yes, the breakfast is the same but

 we have always been told to bypass the line and go directly to the back left of the DR to the diamond area.

[davekathy]

4 hours ago, apc0204 said:

Can you explain the breakfast dining for Diamond + members 

 

thank you

Just a separate area in the MDR for diamond and above. Same MDR menu. 

[Needz2Cruise]

I'm not really one to post reviews, but we were also on the June 22-28 Adventure of the Seas cruise to Canada/NE.  My general opinion is that it was a spectacular cruise...very few complaints and a few comments. I'll try to touch on a few of the comments above too:

- Wow, we hit the jackpot with weather. Anyone going on this cruise should prepare themselves and know you're heading into cooler weather and prepare for it. We actually had it much nicer, and yes warmer, than average. Beautiful weather in all of our ports - embarkation day in Bayonne, Bar Harbor, Saint John and Halifax. Slightly cooler and a little cloudier in Halifax, but we had none of the damp, foggy conditions that can  often happen, especially in Acadia/Bar Harbor. The at sea day coming home was very foggy and cool...definitely not a sitting by the pool day. Otherwise the weather was much nicer than I expected.

- Yes, Windjammer is crowded on embarkation day at lunch. That's been a standard on every cruise I've been on, Royal or not. Other than that, we never had any problems finding seating in Windjammer for any of our meals and never had a problem with the lines. (The key might be to use the lines in the rear of Windjammer...same food as the front, much less crowded).  I will say there was just two of us, so maybe finding seating for two was easier.  We used Windjammer for all breakfast and lunches and one dinner...other than the usual embarkation lunch crowd, never had issues. Windjammer staff was really nice. Since we tended to sit in the same general area, we had a server (not our MDR server) come over to us and gave us hints on some of the ports, etc. Never felt hurried...

- One minor problem...one of the Freestyle machines in Windjammer was broken the entire week, so it was just the one there and the two in the Promenade.  Never had to wait more than a person or two ahead though.

-  Yes, trivia could get crowded. Especially that last at sea day when the weather wasn't the greatest. We did trivia a few times and the Schooner definitely can't handle the crowd, but for the most part, there were areas to stand, etc. Still enjoyed it. Never won those highlighters, but got close a couple times. We did sit a couple times, especially when it was in the Imperial Lounge. Seating in Schooner could be difficult even showing up early, since the venue often had other things going on before trivia. 

- Dinner in the MDR was fine. Nothing spectacular, but certainly adequate. We skipped it one night for Tex Mex night in Windjammer, which was good. Our MDR server was good and our request for a two top table near a window was granted. For those of you going and covered in many threads, if you have a dining request, sending an email to dining services a few weeks before the cruise does the trick.

- For the most part, the live shows were quite good. They had a couple really good comedians, the Can't Stop the Rock show was good and the ice show shouldn't be missed. They did the ice show three times (hint, the first one is the most crowded, so skip that one)...showed up about 15 minutes ahead for the 2nd one and had plenty of seats to pick from.  The 70's throwback show in the Promenade is fun too.  One exception to all this: They started a new show called "Jackpot: Las Vegas tribute" one night. I don't know what they were thinking: awful. There was a 10 minute or so stoppage for technical difficulties, but that isn't what made it bad.  Singers weren't good (with the exception of one woman: Candy, I believe), song arrangements were awful and it all seemed very disjointed. This was surprising, because the singers and dancers with all the other shows were quite good. I know there's a lot of overlap with the performers on the different shows, but there were some new ones on this performance and I'm sorry to say it just didn't work.

- We didn't interact with the officers too much, but found them very friendly when we did.

- Our reaction to getting off the ship was quite different than one of those above: we hated getting off and wished we could have stayed on for the southern swing that followed.

[Jiffymom]

52 minutes ago, Needz2Cruise said:

I'm not really one to post reviews, but we were also on the June 22-28 Adventure of the Seas cruise to Canada/NE.  My general opinion is that it was a spectacular cruise...very few complaints and a few comments. I'll try to touch on a few of the comments above too:

- Wow, we hit the jackpot with weather. Anyone going on this cruise should prepare themselves and know you're heading into cooler weather and prepare for it. We actually had it much nicer, and yes warmer, than average. Beautiful weather in all of our ports - embarkation day in Bayonne, Bar Harbor, Saint John and Halifax. Slightly cooler and a little cloudier in Halifax, but we had none of the damp, foggy conditions that can  often happen, especially in Acadia/Bar Harbor. The at sea day coming home was very foggy and cool...definitely not a sitting by the pool day. Otherwise the weather was much nicer than I expected.

- Yes, Windjammer is crowded on embarkation day at lunch. That's been a standard on every cruise I've been on, Royal or not. Other than that, we never had any problems finding seating in Windjammer for any of our meals and never had a problem with the lines. (The key might be to use the lines in the rear of Windjammer...same food as the front, much less crowded).  I will say there was just two of us, so maybe finding seating for two was easier.  We used Windjammer for all breakfast and lunches and one dinner...other than the usual embarkation lunch crowd, never had issues. Windjammer staff was really nice. Since we tended to sit in the same general area, we had a server (not our MDR server) come over to us and gave us hints on some of the ports, etc. Never felt hurried...

- One minor problem...one of the Freestyle machines in Windjammer was broken the entire week, so it was just the one there and the two in the Promenade.  Never had to wait more than a person or two ahead though.

-  Yes, trivia could get crowded. Especially that last at sea day when the weather wasn't the greatest. We did trivia a few times and the Schooner definitely can't handle the crowd, but for the most part, there were areas to stand, etc. Still enjoyed it. Never won those highlighters, but got close a couple times. We did sit a couple times, especially when it was in the Imperial Lounge. Seating in Schooner could be difficult even showing up early, since the venue often had other things going on before trivia. 

- Dinner in the MDR was fine. Nothing spectacular, but certainly adequate. We skipped it one night for Tex Mex night in Windjammer, which was good. Our MDR server was good and our request for a two top table near a window was granted. For those of you going and covered in many threads, if you have a dining request, sending an email to dining services a few weeks before the cruise does the trick.

- For the most part, the live shows were quite good. They had a couple really good comedians, the Can't Stop the Rock show was good and the ice show shouldn't be missed. They did the ice show three times (hint, the first one is the most crowded, so skip that one)...showed up about 15 minutes ahead for the 2nd one and had plenty of seats to pick from.  The 70's throwback show in the Promenade is fun too.  One exception to all this: They started a new show called "Jackpot: Las Vegas tribute" one night. I don't know what they were thinking: awful. There was a 10 minute or so stoppage for technical difficulties, but that isn't what made it bad.  Singers weren't good (with the exception of one woman: Candy, I believe), song arrangements were awful and it all seemed very disjointed. This was surprising, because the singers and dancers with all the other shows were quite good. I know there's a lot of overlap with the performers on the different shows, but there were some new ones on this performance and I'm sorry to say it just didn't work.

- We didn't interact with the officers too much, but found them very friendly when we did.

- Our reaction to getting off the ship was quite different than one of those above: we hated getting off and wished we could have stayed on for the southern swing that followed.

Thank you for the nice honest review. We will be going oct1. Quebec to Ft Lauderdale.

 

[fuddster]

Just curious.  I've heard that sometimes the ships out of NJ sail by the Statue of Liberty.  Did the Adventure do that this summer?   We're on a sailing later in July and was hoping it would.