Adventure out of San Juan-Southern

Anyone done this cruise before? It goes to St. Maarten, St. Kitts, St. Johns, St. Lucia, and Barbados. This is a very port intensive cruise and I'm more of a sea day kind of guy so I'm on the fence but my wife and kids want to do this one. In my thoughts I just see us going into these ports and the ship basically being "shut down" for the most part until 5 or 6 in the evening each day. Then by the time dinner is over we only have a short time each night to really enjoy the ship and all it has to offer. I can honestly say I've never stayed on a ship while in a port before so I really do not know what it's like.

So I guess what I want to know from someone who has done this one or something similar is does the ship close everything in all of these ports or do they leave more things open like the casino and shops because this one is so port intensive? Did you come away the feeling of having been on a nice cruise or were you wore out from being in all the ports and doing activities?

I appreciate any thoughts!!

I haven't done this cruise but I'm betting you will hear from Bob (clarea) as I think he just returned from this ship and itinerary. :)

Anyone done this cruise before? It goes to St. Maarten, St. Kitts, St. Johns, St. Lucia, and Barbados. This is a very port intensive cruise and I'm more of a sea day kind of guy so I'm on the fence but my wife and kids want to do this one. In my thoughts I just see us going into these ports and the ship basically being "shut down" for the most part until 5 or 6 in the evening each day. Then by the time dinner is over we only have a short time each night to really enjoy the ship and all it has to offer. I can honestly say I've never stayed on a ship while in a port before so I really do not know what it's like.

 

So I guess what I want to know from someone who has done this one or something similar is does the ship close everything in all of these ports or do they leave more things open like the casino and shops because this one is so port intensive? Did you come away the feeling of having been on a nice cruise or were you wore out from being in all the ports and doing activities?

 

I appreciate any thoughts!!

Great itinerary and ship. We've done it and are doing it again. I say go for it. The on board shops and casino will be closed while the ship is docked at each port. The Royal Promenade deck restaurants and bars will be open the entire time. The pool deck won’t be as crowed but the bars will be open and the servers out and about. You can always go ashore for a while, come back to the ship early and still relax as you would on a sea day.

We stayed on board in one of the ports two weeks ago. All the pool area bars were open, it was easy to get a lounger in the Solarium, Windjammer and Cafe Promenade were open for food. The main dining room is closed for lunch on port days.

The southern islands are beatiful. My recommendation would be to take advantage of the itinerary and visit the ports of call. As for the ship, that has been covered in above posts. We have sailed Adventure and its itineraries several times. I love the southern Caribbean.

We stayed on board in one of the ports two weeks ago. All the pool area bars were open, it was easy to get a lounger in the Solarium, Windjammer and Cafe Promenade were open for food. The main dining room is closed for lunch on port days.

Which island did you skip visiting?

I went on this same cruise April 2013. I loved all the islands except St. Lucia. We encounter some very sketchy cab drivers while in port. Something didn’t feel right about that place. My favorite island in all of the Caribbean is St. John Antigua. By far, the most beautiful island I have been to. You will not be disappointed with this island!

To answer some of your questions:

The casino and shops do close while docked in port. If we got back to the ship early, we ended up around the pool. It’s less crowded and service is much better. Adventure is a little more laid back and relaxed than the past Oasis/Allure cruises I have been on. The food was on-par with any other Royal ship.

After the conclusion of our trip, I felt it was a nice cruise. IMO the Southern Caribbean is much nicer than the East/West. It was a little port intensive but you can always take it at your own pace.

I was meaning to write a CC review on the Adventure S.Caribbean Itinerary but the time has long past. Here are

some pictures of my trip if you want to see some of the gorgeous beaches it has to offer. https://flic.kr/s/aHsjJhSb4M

Which island did you skip visiting?

I believe it was St. Lucia. We had 9 ports in 14 days, so I could be confused. We've been there several times before.

The port intensive but does make it feel a bit different but you don't have to get off at each. Nice thing is it makes it a little easier to decide on a bev package since you could potentially be sleeping/off the ship for almost 100 hours of the cruise.

If you can live without a casino it won't seem to different onboard during the day, just quieter.

I'm doing the alternate route on that ship next month and can't wait; love the southern ports just to change things up (plus they are plenty warm even now).

Sorry about the hijack but...Bob how were the wi fi speeds? Is the speed ok enough to make an unlimited package worth buying? Thanks

Sorry about the hijack but...Bob how were the wi fi speeds? Is the speed ok enough to make an unlimited package worth buying? Thanks

I think the speed is still slow, but in my opinion, that makes the unlimited package even more useful. In other words, with the unlimited package, I did not get frustrated that it took several minutes to log in to my email. I could start my email syncing, go take a shower, and the syncing would be complete by the time I finished. The downside is that if someone in your stateroom uses Facebook, then you will find competition for the single device plan.

We are doing this same trip in May and I can't wait. I have a slight concern about the port intensive side of it making us tired, but like pp said, we can take it at our own pace.

I agree also with pp that Southern Caribbean itineraries are amazing!

I think the speed is still slow, but in my opinion, that makes the unlimited package even more useful. In other words, with the unlimited package, I did not get frustrated that it took several minutes to log in to my email. I could start my email syncing, go take a shower, and the syncing would be complete by the time I finished. The downside is that if someone in your stateroom uses Facebook, then you will find competition for the single device plan.

Thanks. Internet use will be more business than pleasure.

Anyone done this cruise before? It goes to St. Maarten, St. Kitts, St. Johns, St. Lucia, and Barbados. This is a very port intensive cruise and I'm more of a sea day kind of guy so I'm on the fence but my wife and kids want to do this one. In my thoughts I just see us going into these ports and the ship basically being "shut down" for the most part until 5 or 6 in the evening each day. Then by the time dinner is over we only have a short time each night to really enjoy the ship and all it has to offer. I can honestly say I've never stayed on a ship while in a port before so I really do not know what it's like.

 

So I guess what I want to know from someone who has done this one or something similar is does the ship close everything in all of these ports or do they leave more things open like the casino and shops because this one is so port intensive? Did you come away the feeling of having been on a nice cruise or were you wore out from being in all the ports and doing activities?

 

I appreciate any thoughts!!

Have done this itinerary many times on various ships out of SJU. We love this itinerary. All of the islands are fantastic. You can do all day excursions or just short excursions and then come back to the ship. Most of these have "action" tours if you wish and they all have beaches you can just go hang out at if you are wanting a "do-nothing" day. To the poster that said St. Lucia was scary....I am so sorry. We love St L. However, we usually just go play golf. I have done "island tour" type excursions and they are fabulous. Pre-arrange an independent tour with a driver and you will have a great time. We pre-arranged an excursion on ST L in December and it was one of the best excursions we have ever done.

As far as staying on the ship in port, it is a fun day also. However, over the years more and more folks are staying onboard so it will be a little more crowded than you might expect. However, as others said...choice of lounger by the pool or solarium. MDR is not open for lunch and JR doesn't open until 2:00 or so...Windjammer is the lunch place on port days. However, you can sleep in and have a late breakfast in WJ and then hit the pool without fighting the chair hogs and then have a leisurely WJ lunch or do JR when they open. About 2:00 or so the activities staff starts with some poolside activities and the pool band starts playing about mid afternoon. I know there is a thread on here that has the recent compasses from this (or a very similar) itinerary on this ship...so you could get an idea of what happens and is open while in port. (Of course, all activities, etc subject to change if it happens to be a different CD, etc.)

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2133439&highlight=adventure+compass

We did a b2b Feb. 2014 on the Jewel of the Seas. itinerary similar to the Adventure.

We got off at all the ports took a tour about 3 or 4 hrs. & then relaxed on the ship. We loved this cruise & I could cruise the same itinerary every yr.

I choose the Jewel for 3 reasons, (1) a smaller ship (2) last day was a sea day

(3) Jewel alternates it itinerary every other week.

We are thinking about cruising on the Adventure for 2016. Looks like RCI is swapping itineraries for the Jewel & Adventure.

We did a b2b Feb. 2014 on the Jewel of the Seas. itinerary similar to the Adventure.

 

We got off at all the ports took a tour about 3 or 4 hrs. & then relaxed on the ship. We loved this cruise & I could cruise the same itinerary every yr.

 

I choose the Jewel for 3 reasons, (1) a smaller ship (2) last day was a sea day

(3) Jewel alternates it itinerary every other week.

 

We are thinking about cruising on the Adventure for 2016. Looks like RCI is swapping itineraries for the Jewel & Adventure.

Our March/April 2012 Adventure B2B Cruise had alternating itineraries every other week. We’ll be back on the Adventure for our March/April 2015 B2B Cruise. Again with alternating itineraries as before. That's the main reason we do B2B Cruises. We are looking forward to the Jewel for our September 2015 Canada/USA West Coast Cruise.

Did this itenerary on Serenade except we went to Antigua rather than St. Kitts! We loved it. We are tour the islands type of people and each island was great. Sure it is port intensive but we didn't really tire ourselves out from the touring but we would be beat from being in that hot sun all day! When I am cruising I am up early and ready to go and stay up late.. I catch up sleep and rest when I get back home!

We will be on Adventure in October but will be doing the Aruba Route this time.....Can't Wait! :cool:

Anyone done this cruise before? It goes to St. Maarten, St. Kitts, St. Johns, St. Lucia, and Barbados. This is a very port intensive cruise and I'm more of a sea day kind of guy so I'm on the fence but my wife and kids want to do this one. In my thoughts I just see us going into these ports and the ship basically being "shut down" for the most part until 5 or 6 in the evening each day. Then by the time dinner is over we only have a short time each night to really enjoy the ship and all it has to offer. I can honestly say I've never stayed on a ship while in a port before so I really do not know what it's like.

 

So I guess what I want to know from someone who has done this one or something similar is does the ship close everything in all of these ports or do they leave more things open like the casino and shops because this one is so port intensive? Did you come away the feeling of having been on a nice cruise or were you wore out from being in all the ports and doing activities?

 

I appreciate any thoughts!!

We just got back from this same cruise (except Antigua instead of St. Kitts) on Jewel. I have to say I absolutely loved every island except St. Lucia. While it was beautiful we had an absolutely horrible experience with the Taxi tour we took and the downtown area definitely did not feel safe. Our personal favorites were Antigua and also Barbardos. I would go back to these in a second! The boat on days we chilled on board (St. Lucia because we had to ask the tour driver to bring us back home...that's how BAD that experience was) was more than relaxing but happening. They had events by the pool all day but it was bearable because you could find a chair. Also, the plus side was that you had a beautiful backdrop than just the ocean to see while at port. I absolutely love it. The internet on the Jewel meanwhile was HORRIBLE!!!! This should not be shocking though.

Did this itenerary on Serenade except we went to Antigua rather than St. Kitts! We loved it. We are tour the islands type of people and each island was great. Sure it is port intensive but we didn't really tire ourselves out from the touring but we would be beat from being in that hot sun all day! When I am cruising I am up early and ready to go and stay up late.. I catch up sleep and rest when I get back home!

We will be on Adventure in October but will be doing the Aruba Route this time.....Can't Wait! :cool:

I really like the Aruba itinerary. I just wish it still had St. Maarten on it instead of St. Croix as it did the last time that we did it.

I've got the Aruba/Curacao route on my May sailing...and I'm just thrilled! I'm one those folks who HAS to have a couple of at sea days, to break up the port stops and tours. It's great to have a day to sit on my balcony and read a good book or order room service.

The southern Caribbean on the Adventure is a wonderful family cruise as others have pointed out.

If you personally are trying to get some casino time in during the day it is possible at St. Maarten & St. John's, Antigua.

At St. Maarten you and the family can walk the 2 main streets for shopping, they can go the beach, which is right there, while you can go in one of the casinos you passed on your "walk".

On St. John's, Antigua there is a casino in walking distance of the ship, but the rest of the family will be on their own while taking an excursion or enjoy going to a beach.

As others have stated you can just stay on the ship and enjoy the hot tubs or pools, without the crowds. The WJ for lunch or the Café Promenade are also less crowded than on a normal sea day.

Could be the best of both world's for you and the family ........... just depends on how you plan it out.

Enjoy your cruise on my favorite ship.

Thanks everyone for all the great information and opinions! Definitely some food for thought. We've got our choices narrowed down to this ship/itinerary and the Independence Eastern, both in June this year. I'm sure we'll have a great time on either! :D

San Juan is our favorite departure port, on either itinerary. Since Princess isn't doing these any more our next B2B is on Adventure. Yes, these are VERY port intensive. First time out we tried snorkeling trips on each stop. Bad idea - after three ports we cancelled some tours.

Make sure you look at the San Juan board for information on sailing from there and the different island boards for ideas on what you might want to do.

Cabs are fixed price from ship back to airport, with a dispatcher filling out a paper for the driver. Around $22+tip to airport plus a couple of bucks for extra bags. The one difference from flying out of US mainland ports is that you must put all your luggage and usually carry-ons through the agricultural scanners before you get in line to check in for a flight back home. They won't let you check in without the ag stickers. These scanners are adjacent to the entrances to the terminals.

You won't want to use the beach in Philipsburg St Maarten - nails, glass and dog droppings. Other beaches are fine, but this one is even risky to walk on.

Did Jewel in Nov after having done Allure and Oasis and it was the most relaxing cruise yet. Ironic since it was port intensive but we went at our own pace. Dominica was our only excursion and that was only 3 hours. We left the ship around 9:30-10 each day , went to a beach and were back to the ship around 2 after some shopping at the port. The rest of the afternoon we relaxed at the pool and waited for sunset. Did not like the 3 sea days on Oasis and Allure. Too many days at sea. We liked it so much we are on AOS Sept 12

We are doing this same trip in May and I can't wait. I have a slight concern about the port intensive side of it making us tired, but like pp said, we can take it at our own pace.

 

I agree also with pp that Southern Caribbean itineraries are amazing!

My wife and I as well. We are worried but we know there is going to be one port of call we are going to take it easy. thats for sure.

OP:

You just have to go in to this cruise knowing you are going to be seeing more places, and make time to relax. Plan ahead that is my only advice as I am doing this one in May, and I had the same worries as you