Adventure of the Seas - 6 Night Cruise Review

[maryjaden]

Adventure of the Seas.  A review of the 6 day cruise to Grand Cayman, Costa Maya and Cozumel. December 1-7, 2019. This is lengthy......

Background: Four 53 year old women (friends from high school) I have been on multiple cruises, 1 was on a cruise 20 years ago, 2 first time cruisers.

Hotel:  We stayed at Econo Lodge, Hollywood.  This is in a kind if sketchy neighborhood, but if you are only going to be there overnight, it works fine. It is also cheap. I think we paid $106 per night. I wouldn't venture out after dark but fine to walk around during the day.  They have a continental breakfast in the morning.  You have to Uber for other Dining options.  The hotel has a small pool, the rooms are clean and the staff was nice. I would note that the doors open to outside and there is only stair access to the second floor. They have a shuttle from FLL. They also offer a shuttle to the cruise port for $10 pp.  This shuttle was over an hour late from our scheduled time.  I do believe this was a mix up on the shuttle company, not the hotel.

Key Package:  We had the Key so we walked right in.  Check in was easy and fast.  On board we went to the dining room which was where we dropped off our carry on bags (great benefit as we had a total of 4 bottles of wine and a 12 pack of Mt.Dew). We then had the Key lunch. It was very good and was wonderful not having to fight the crowd in the Windjammer.  There were several allotted times for flowrider, ice skating and rock wall. We did not do any of these. The reserved seating for the shows was in the same area as the suites and pinnacles. We only sat there once as we found plenty of Open seats. Each of us had the internet with the Key and we used Facebook messenger throughout the cruise to contact each other. The morning of disembarking we went to the Key breakfast in the MDR and was escorted off the ship.  Though this was a bit of a mess because our escort didn't wait for the whole group (about 15) so some got separated.  However the luggage was in the same area as the suites and pinnacles. I do believe this was still faster than getting off by ourselves. As to whether the Key was worth it.... I would say personal preference.  I usually get a suite so it was nice to have some of the same benefits.  Having the internet and carry on drop off is probably the deciding factor for me. In my opinion, it is probably worth more on the bigger ships. We purchased it for 24.99 per day.

Stateroom: We had two balcony cabins right beside each other on deck 8. They were the standard cabin.  Plenty of storage. We had an excellent steward.  I knew this prior to the cruise but the balcony dividers do not open on this ship.

Ship:  I was surprised to see some areas that needed minor maintenance. Railings rusting, worn furniture, etc.  Nothing major. 

Service and staff:  Excellent. The only exception was some of the bartenders seem not happy to be there.

Food:  I realize this is very subjective.  We ate in the MDR, My Time Dining, each evening except once.  We had reservations at 6 pm.  We only waited one night about 5 minutes.  We had very good food and excellent service the entire week.  After the first night when we went there, we were told to go right to our table. We had the same waiters all week, Igusti and Nicolas, exceptional. They did have lobster the 5th night.  I will note this was the first cruise that I was charged additional for my wine (which was over the $13 package limit). We did the Chef's Table.  This was phenomenal. I have done it before and recommend trying it. I did not book in advance because you can usually get a discount on the ship if you ask.  We paid $65 pp.  Well worth the money.   We usually ate breakfast and lunch in the Windjammer.  As expected, really busy at peak times. The food was standard buffet dining.  We did each lunch one day in the MDR and it was good.   The Tutti salad is great.

Shows in the Lyric Theatre:  1. The RCI Singers and Dancers performed "Can't Stop the Rock".  2. A tribute to Adele by Amy Jo.  3. Comedians - there were 2 late night adult comedy shows with 2 different comedians, David Naster and Alvin Williams.  4. A hypnotist – Marc Savard, one of our group was on stage – Hilarious.  All of these were very good. I was not disappointed in the entertainment.  Each show lasted 45 min - 1 hour.  We did not make it to the Ice Show.

Other entertainment: We went to the Battle of the Sexes and the Quest.  Both of these were hilarious.  Unfortunately, the men won the Battle of the Sexes..... However, they really deserved to win. We also did the Martini Class.  It was held in the Champagne Bar.  This was really fun.  Andrei did an excellent job.  There is a charge of $25.

Ports - We did not do excursions.  For the most part went to the beach or just shopped.  We did rent a cabana at Royal Palms in Grand Cayman.  It was wonderful.

Diamond Lounge: the DL is by the Blue Moon.  It is a nice area and had the Blue Moon for the overflow each night.  I did not utilize this as the other people i was cruising with were not Diamond.

Beverage Packages: Again, this is subjective.  Three of us had the Deluxe package and 1 had the Refreshment package.   When you add up bottled water, specialty coffee and drinks, we were ahead. We paid $48 per day for the Deluxe and $20 for the Refreshment. 

Final Thoughts: This was my 3rd time on the Adventure.  I enjoy this class of ships.  The food and service were excellent and would recommend this to friends and family. It's a nice ship for first time cruisers. Not too big or too small.  One of our group is already looking for future cruises.

[maryjaden]

Cruise Compass below for the Adventure of the Seas - 6 Nights - December 1 - 7, 2109

6 Nt Day 1 Compass 12-01-19.PDF 6 Nt Day 2 Compass 12-02-19.PDF 6 Nt Day 3 Compass 12-03-19.PDF 6 Nt Day 4 Compass 12-04-19.PDF 6 Nt Day 5 Compass 12-05-19.PDF 6 Nt Day 6 Compass 12-06-19.PDF

[maryjaden]

Information I received for Chef's Table (menu), Diamond, Key and Departure.

6 Nt Chefs Table Menu Dec 19.PDF 6 Nt Departure Information Dec 19.PDF 6 Nt Diamond Information Dec 19.PDF 6 Nt Key Information Dec 19.PDF

[Eddie Wilson]

Did you happen to see the Switched On Band?  They were on our cruise last Feb and were one of the best nightly music bands.

 

Eddie

[maryjaden]

10 hours ago, Eddie Wilson said:

Did you happen to see the Switched On Band?  They were on our cruise last Feb and were one of the best nightly music bands.

 

Eddie

No we did not see them on board. 

[qwaszx]

Only one formal night? 

[Tree_skier]

We were on the same cruise and had a great time. Service was outstanding everywhere on the ship for us.  I thought the food in the MDR was the best we have experienced in several cruises. We enjoyed every meal. 

 

My main hangout during the day was the Sky Bar every evening was Bolero's and service was always good.  I never ran into the less than stellar service at a bar like @maryjaden did although there were a couple of bars I never got to while onboard.  

 

I concur with @maryjaden that this is a great ship for first timers.  While it wasn't a first time for us, we were traveling with DD, her husband and kids and they were all first time cruisers.  For them it was an utterly epic experience.

[Tree_skier]

On 12/10/2019 at 8:19 AM, Eddie Wilson said:

Did you happen to see the Switched On Band?  They were on our cruise last Feb and were one of the best nightly music bands.

 

Eddie

I did... I made a point in trying to catch them several times over the course of the cruise.  Great high energy band that got the crowd on their feet every set.  By their last show Friday night Bolero's was jam packed, standing room only, with the crowd calling for an encore after the final song.  They were definitely one of the highlights for me.

Edited December 12, 2019 by Tree_skier

[GalwayGirl03]

We were on this cruise too and it was excellent..so bummed i missed the martini class I forgot all about wanting to do it once i was on board!  We saw the Switch Band on the formal night and Friday night. I guess we were lucky and got a seat on their second set!!! They were amazing..Hypnotist  was hilarious..we were at the 9pm show...Our junior suite on deck 11 was AMAZING...can't beat the location of being 10 steps to the solarium! 

Edited December 12, 2019 by GalwayGirl03

[maryjaden]

On 12/11/2019 at 4:00 AM, qwaszx said:

Only one formal night? 

There was only one formal night.  It was the second night.