Just off Adventure of the Seas review

[Biker19]

8 hours ago, fuddster said:

  I've heard that sometimes the ships out of NJ sail by the Statue of Liberty. 

That's very rare and typically up to the Captain.

[wineandbeach]

9 hours ago, fuddster said:

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. 

We don't sail directly past it but you can see it very well all day while you are at port and sailing out.   Go up to deck 11 and there she is looking beautiful with the skyline in the back.  Also, I suggest you go up to the front and up as high as you can ( I think it is 12 in the front) while you go under the bridge on sailaway.  I have done it a few times and am still in awe as we go under.  The ship just barely fits and it is amazing to watch.  My sister got some amazing sunrise pictures coming into to port on the last day as we came under the bridge.

[kscaf1]

9 hours ago, fuddster said:

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. 

 

Same cruise and we were docked right across from it!

[pcur]

On 6/29/2019 at 12:10 PM, 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?  

 

 

 

I am not arguing with you about your experience:  I'm baffled by it.  We were on the Adventure for 34 days in April and May, and never experienced the wait times for a table in the Windjammer.  Yes, it would be crowded sometimes, but we always managed to find a table within 5 minutes.  All I can think is the Windjammer management changed for the summer season.

 

Missed entrees in the main dining room make me think there was a change of staff there, too.  Most likely new crew members coming on board.

 

I'm sorry you had these problems.  In our experience on the Allure and the Oasis, what you are describing is what happened to us on the BIG ships.  

[molsonschooner]

On 6/30/2019 at 1:29 AM, Ashland said:

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

it is much smaller than a Freedom, Quantum or Oasis class. 

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, kscaf1 said:

Same cruise and we were docked right across from it!

Not sure that most would consider 3 miles away as "right across from it".

[twincheryl]

We also just returned from our 2nd time on Adventure... sailed 6/22-6/28 Canada-NE and OP is totally on point. (Had none of these issues on previous sailing.)  The Windjammer was a disaster mostly every day at opening times and on day one the line was out to the elevators for most of the lunch time period.  We went to Johnny Rockets on embark day and there was even a wait there. 

 

Many days they only opened one side of the buffet line until at least an hour hour after opening (all meal times) and the lines were awful.  Maybe having 780 kids onboard had some impact on how many people dined there.  We just watched for tables and asked someone to clean them, so didn't have an issue with seating, but there were only 3 of us.  There were a LOT of really big family groups on this cruise - like 12-15 people trying to sit near each other.

 

The large family groups also seemed to impact Schooner Bar and trivia.  We remarked many times that they should move trivia to a larger lounge like Imperial Lounge... there was rarely anything going on there at the same time as trivia.  People standing in the hallway made it difficult to walk through and this is a main hallway to the casino.  

 

While not impacting our cruise in any way, Adventure is showing her age.  Quite a bit of rust on the balcony and wear/tear in the cabin bathroom.  Outside of ripping out the shower and other fixtures, not sure what they can do about it.  Steward kept our room very clean at all times.

 

We did experience a few staff members who were not the happiest, but many who went out of their way to provide amazing service and make conversation.  

 

It seems that most ships have an issue if the weather is not good for pool activities, and Adventure is not exception.  Way too many people to be inside all day.  We're diamond and always forget to go to the Diamond lounge during the day... finally remembered on the last day (sea) and we were the only people in there for at least 2 hours!

 

[vickiw0318]

When I sailed on the Celebrity Summit out of Bayonne a few years back,  the Statue of Liberty was clearly visible from our seats at lunch in the buffet.  I didn't really notice her on our way out - too busy looking to see if we were going to clear that bridge on the way out!

[Ocean Boy]

21 hours ago, molsonschooner said:

it is much smaller than a Freedom, Quantum or Oasis class. 

Much smaller than freedom class? I don't think so.

[mugtech]

6 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Much smaller than freedom class? I don't think so.

Freedom class listed at 154k tons, Voyager class 138k tons.  16k tons difference and a few hundred more pax is not much difference, less than a 12% increase by tonage.  Or the other way, the Voyager class is about 90% of the tonnage of Freedom class.

[bigtony777]

Thanks for the review

[JTBCruiser]

I appreciate the recent comments on the Adventure.  We sail on her in Nov and will stay up to speed on current reviews.  We only sailed on her once but overall it was a fun time for us.

[snoopy5386]

We are sailing on Adventure on the Canada itinerary in two weeks! Couple of questions - how cold was it out on deck most of the trip? My kids are very excited to use the pools and water park area, will this be possible outside the first and last day? Are the pools heated? Should we bring light blankets with us to sit out on the balcony with in the evening?

What time did you cross under the bridge? Did you pass by the Statue of Liberty?

How did you dress for most of the cruise? Jeans and t-shirts? Long sleeves? Will a hoodie suffice or should we plan on fleece jackets? We cruised Alaska a few years ago so I'm familiar with dressing in layers. What's the dining room dress like in the evenings? Can we get away with jeans or should we pack khakis? What about kids? Do they need dresses or are leggings and t-shirts ok? 

We currently have late dining, but I'm planning to switch to my time dining on board and make a reservation for each night, is that a good plan? Thanks!

[Clarea]

1 minute ago, snoopy5386 said:

We are sailing on Adventure on the Canada itinerary in two weeks! Couple of questions - how cold was it out on deck most of the trip? My kids are very excited to use the pools and water park area, will this be possible outside the first and last day? Are the pools heated?  ...

 

Pools are not heated, only hot tubs are heated.

[snoopy5386]

Would love to see any copies of the Compass you may have as well!

[snoopy5386]

And what time were you able to board?

[Biker19]

15 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

Pools are not heated, only hot tubs are heated.

The Flowrider water is sometimes heated.

[Cruise a holic]

We cruised on the Adventure last summer and we also were very disappointed and we were in a suite.  We found the ship lacking in many areas and not nearly as nice as the Harmony or any other Oasis class ships.  We also much prefer the Freedom class also.  

 

The ship was very crowded and lacks a choice of activities and special restaurants.  We have previously sailed and on the Summit and it was so much better.  Next year the Oasis is coming to NJ and we are booked and looking forward to it!

Edited July 4, 2019 by Cruise a holic

[wineandbeach]

2 hours ago, snoopy5386 said:

We are sailing on Adventure on the Canada itinerary in two weeks! Couple of questions - how cold was it out on deck most of the trip? My kids are very excited to use the pools and water park area, will this be possible outside the first and last day? Are the pools heated? Should we bring light blankets with us to sit out on the balcony with in the evening?
 

It was cold nights and both sea days for us but the good news is Summer does come to the NorthEast and hopefully by the time you go it will be there.  Lifeguards were in long pants and jackets.  Nights were cold and windy- they had movies but no one watching them.  Some nights there were people in the hot tubs.  On the last sea day, I think the temp hit 66 (There were snow flurries all morning) and a few people used the slides and flowrider.  Ports were very nice for sight seeing - It was sunny and low 70 in Bar Harbor and St John.  Halifax was cooler.  You will have warmer weather!