Review: Adventure of the Seas - "Because this will NEVER happen again"

[RCCL Fan]

Introductions!

 

 

My family and I couldn't wait to be a part of "The Royal Comeback"

 

I've been sailing Royal since I was a kid, and got my wife hooked on cruising too.  She jokes she only married me for her fast track to diamond status. 🙂

 

We have two amazing daughters (7 and 12) and live in the Dallas/ Fort Worth area.

 

 

 

 

When Royal announced sailings from Nassau, Bermuda, and St. Maarten (celeb)  we knew we had to be on one of those ships.

 

We knew the kids needed a Royal ship and after two vision class sailings right before Covid.  I knew Adventure was our choice.  I've sailed Navigator and Mariner in my single days, but never one of the "original 3" voyager class ships.

 

I love the big boys (oasis class);  my wife likes the smaller ships (serenade and vision)  so I really thought her and the kids' first time on a voyager class might be the sweet spot for our family.

 

 We were nervous the first one might not happen, or would be tough, we decided to go with the 3rd, and give them 2 weeks to get the kinks out.

 

So June 26th sailing was booked and we began the planning to make it happen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have some amazing friends from our time living in Tennessee.  Their daughter and our oldest were in the same class in kindergarten.  They lived around the corner from us and we've all stayed great friends over the years.

 

 

They have only sailed Carnival, and were big fans and for years we've begged them to try Royal with us.  The pandemic withdrawals were enough to make them cross over and book this sailing for their first royal cruise.

 

They were in good company. Our ship had many first timers.... and it was interesting to hear them compare royal to Carnival and Disney.

 

If you're new to my reviews, they're photo heavy,  "semi-live"  . I break things up day by day and aim to post a new day,each day.

 

Hope you'll follow along and enjoy the week in review!

 

Next Post.... Airport Day!

 

 

 

 

 

[karena1]

more please!

 

[Sea Dog]

Looking forward to your review. Thanks for taking us along on your journey.

[Jenjer]

so happy to see this!!! Yay a live or semi live

[FionaMG]

I'm definitely following along with you and your lovely family. Thanks for taking the time to share your cruise with us. Have a fabulous time! 😊

[Lido deck main]

Thanks for posting.  Following.

[FPP777]

This post makes every other post seem insignificant.. Have  a great time neighbor (from Keller), looking forward to hearing about your adventure.

[Tree_skier]

42 minutes ago, RCCL Fan said:

Introductions!

 

 

My family and I couldn't wait to be a part of "The Royal Comeback"

 

I've been sailing Royal since I was a kid, and got my wife hooked on cruising too.  She jokes she only married me for her fast track to diamond status. 🙂

 

We have two amazing daughters (7 and 12) and live in the Dallas/ Fort Worth area.

 

 

 

 

When Royal announced sailings from Nassau, Bermuda, and St. Maarten (celeb)  we knew we had to be on one of those ships.

 

We knew the kids needed a Royal ship and after two vision class sailings right before Covid.  I knew Adventure was our choice.  I've sailed Navigator and Mariner in my single days, but never one of the "original 3" voyager class ships.

 

I love the big boys (oasis class);  my wife likes the smaller ships (serenade and vision)  so I really thought her and the kids' first time on a voyager class might be the sweet spot for our family.

 

 We were nervous the first one might not happen, or would be tough, we decided to go with the 3rd, and give them 2 weeks to get the kinks out.

 

So June 26th sailing was booked and we began the planning to make it happen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have some amazing friends from our time living in Tennessee.  Their daughter and our oldest were in the same class in kindergarten.  They lived around the corner from us and we've all stayed great friends over the years.

 

 

They have only sailed Carnival, and were big fans and for years we've begged them to try Royal with us.  The pandemic withdrawals were enough to make them cross over and book this sailing for their first royal cruise.

 

They were in good company. Our ship had many first timers.... and it was interesting to hear them compare royal to Carnival and Disney.

 

If you're new to my reviews, they're photo heavy,  "semi-live"  . I break things up day by day and aim to post a new day,each day.

 

Hope you'll follow along and enjoy the week in review!

 

Next Post.... Airport Day!

 

 

 

 

 

Will definitely be following. 

[la_croisiere_s'amuse]

This is fantastic, thank you so much! Eagerly awaiting the continuation. 😊

[Booking It]

I love this already! Keep going! 😁

[3kidsncats]

Very much looking forward to following along with you and your beautiful family

[Missusdubbya]

Bon Voyage! Thanks for taking us with you 

[retiredgram]

Take us along.  Can't wait to see what's up next.

[dani negreanu]

Thank you !!

 

Following as usual.... glad to see you back 😁

 

[CruisinNole]

I love your reviews. And I love to see "Colleyville"! We lived there for 15 years. 

[Sunshine3601]

You have a beautiful family!  That's great you convinced your friends to join you.  I'm sure you will have an amazing trip.  Really looking forward to your review.

Bon voyage🧜‍♀️🎆

[grapau27]

You have a lovely family and I will certainly be following along and looking forward to lots of photos.

I hope you all have a fantastic time.

Graham.

[CTSandy]

Love reading the day by day cruise - we’ll be on Adventure on August 7.  Thanks for sharing and looking forward to more!

[barbeyg]

Thanks for the cruise fix! Following along as well. Looks like one happy family there! 😁  Hope y’all had a great time! 

Edited July 4, 2021 by barbeyg

[GadgetCat72]

Following, have a great time with your family!

[GadgetCat72]

Just now, GadgetCat72 said:

Following, have a great time with your family!

 

[RCCL Fan]

Day 0 -- Headed to Nassau

 

 

We knew this trip would be different in many ways.... one of the hardest parts though was the fact that things were so up in the air.

 

Royal had promised guidelines 30 days out from the cruise but that deadline came and went and they kept asking us to bare with them.... before we finally got word.  No masks on board if vaccinated.  PCR test for everyone required 5 days out,  private tours allowed on the island. 

 

Our oldest daughter we rushed to get the vaccine day 2 after they became available. Our youngest isn't able to take it.  So she would have to wear masks onboard.

 

 

 

We decided to self quarantine her two weeks pre cruise.  No friends over, parties, nothing. She spent time in the pool "practicing" for the cruise. 🙂   Five days out we got a required PCR test and OMG  us and almost everyone our our social media page for the cruise was freaking out as some got results within a few hours, and others had nothing more than a day and a half later.

 

 

There were reports of log jams in testing centers, and results taking longer.  We started to panic, what happens if we don't get the results back in time, especially since flying in early.

 

We had same day backup tests planned at $200 per person, worried CVS had lost our swabs.... but finally the email came and we were cleared.

 

 

Getting ready for this trip was a mess of paperwork.

 

American Airlines sent an email requesting we download an app called Verifly, and upload all our documentation there.  Passports, health visa, covid vaccine records and that by using this app it would streamline the process. 

 

I had to take photos, upload a ton of crap and got it done.

 

American also sent an email about another app "Airside" which would allow me to do touchless bag drop at the airport. 

 

Basically check in online on the AA app,  have documents approved via verifly, and drop off the bags at the kiosk, using airside.  Skip all the lines and have a touchless experience.... avoiding all the 2+ hour lines at the airport.

 

People on our social media page for the cruise were talking about checking in the night before because international terminals lines were so long.

 

So even though I'm not a tech person, I downloaded and did all the apps to be prepared.  Yeah.....  waste of time.

 

 

24 hours before our flight the AA app asked me to check in online.  Tried to... nope, it wouldn't allow us to check in because "We hadn't downloaded and completed documents on verifly"  But we had.   Went back triple checked everything, Verifly said we were "completed and ready to board"

 

AA app says we weren't.

 

Called... "oh that happens a lot, just check in at the airport"

 

yeah well I heard horror stories at the airport.

 

 

 

I live about 10 minutes from the airport, so I just ran over there the night before...  agent said, "you don't need that verifly app, i'll just check you in"

 

So he checked me in, handed us boarding passes, and said,  just go to the kiosk in the morning and print luggage tags and I'll be good.

 

 

 

Well....  next morning we got to a very busy airport, fought to find parking, and wait for the shuttle bus (remote lot north DFW was a zoo) and went to the kiosk, only to be told, by agents, "Nassau can't print bags in the kiosk, have to wait in line for full service check in"  

 

So.... that trip the night before was pointless. 

 

 

Wait wasn't too bad.  My wife and kids zipped through pre-check,  I did the regular line, (my approval didn't come in before the trip, still hasn't.... my wife went 2 days after me and got hers in a day)  

 

We got to the gate just in time to sit and hear.... GATE CHANGE.

 

lol

 

 

 

hopped the train to a new terminal and got lunch.... which had finely chopped red onions in it, which were not listed on the menu.  I'm allergic to red onions and instantly felt a reaction coming.

 

Oh no!  Not missing this trip.

 

I bought some benadryl and downed that as we boarded the flight and hoped for the best.

 

 

 

Flight left on time, was uneventful, except for American's new thin seats which well... WOW, super uncomfortable.  I was leaning forward and rubbing my back after about 2 hours. My daughter came back from the bathroom and was like, "Dad I don't think you can fit in there, it's so tiny. I barely fit"   Ah the changes to air travel.

 

 

My oldest daughter and I sat in one row and my wife and youngest daughter were behind us.  There was lots of hand reaching between the seats and tapping on my shoulder during the flight.   By the time we were landing in the Bahamas, I was a bit annoyed and was like "Yes what now?" lol

 

I was so glad I got that tap, "Is that our ship?"    Looked out the window and there was Coco Cay right below us.  Adventure was docked and a second ship was hovering right off the pier.    Turns out Freedom was letting off a sick crew member to the employee housing on the island.

 

 

Caught a great shot, and was so excited to see the ship,  this was getting real!

 

Landed uneventfully. 

 

Protip:  Don't stop at the restroom! We were in the very front of the plane, and got to immigration just in time as 3 other planes landed with us and the line got super super long.  Rush to get there first.

 

We claimed bags,  went through customs  (yes immigration, bags, then customs)  and emerged to find our driver from First Choice Limo's waiting for us outside with a sign.

 

 

He was quiet, but got us safely and securely to the Hilton British Colonial.

 

We chose this hotel because it was where Royal was doing check in and figured it would be easiest to stay here.

 

 

Check in was long but smooth.   The hotel is old and there are signs of the age... rust here and there, and a door which wouldn't close. But staff couldn't have been nicer, and that made up for the property's age.

 

 

We had a large corner room with a great oceanview and windows on two sides.  Unfortunately the location made it tough to see the ships docked, so when we woke up Adventure was not in view.  But....

 

 

 

Crystal Serenity surprised us and sailed into port that morning for a technical stop.  We had a great view of her entering the harbor.

 

 

 

Protip:  Food at the Hilton was a bit pricey. My wife made my youngest day and declared we'd be having breakfast the the McDonald's directly across from the Hilton the next morning. 

 

We had a low key night at the hotel, watching the news coverage of the condo collapse in Miami  (streaming sites didn't work in the hotel... as it was a non US  connection)

 

It was a long day... and our youngest threw in the towel early.... Tomorrow  we get to check out the crazy check in at the hotel and finally get onboard our ship!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ozark_Kid]

Wow, what a day.  That would be a hard one for me to handle. Thankful you made it there safely!  I bet by this time tomorrow you will be past the stress events and lovin the cruise.  Thanks for the updates!

[RCCL Fan]

2 minutes ago, Ozark_Kid said:

Wow, what a day.  That would be a hard one for me to handle. Thankful you made it there safely!  I bet by this time tomorrow you will be past the stress events and lovin the cruise.  Thanks for the updates!

 

We sailed last week,  I'm home now.    flew back last night.

 

Customary for me when i get home is to go back day by day and post a review.

 

Fun way to review the week when you get home. 

 

It's too detailed to do all at once,  so each day after work, i go through pics and write up my summary of the day. 

[Ozark_Kid]

Cool.  I can’t wait to see the rest.  Can I have a sneak preview…… Did it get less stressful once you got on the ship?