Adventure of the Seas Aug 12-19

This was my 4th cruise (been on Carnival, Celebrity, and Norwegian), yet this is my first review -- wanted to share my experience with others before they set sail or, better yet, start booking!

Here goes:

The Good:

Itinerary -- You can't beat the Southern Caribbean. AOS went to St. Thomas (we also did an excursion to St. John - INCREDIBLE island that you don't want to miss), Curacao, Aruba, and St. Kitts.

Stateroom -- This was the first time we did an interior, which I was dreading, but it wasn't bad at all. Our attendant was wonderful, always checking in, air temp and quality felt comfortable and the room was kept very clean.

Food at Chops Grill -- this specialty restaurant was the ONLY positive dining experience of the entire week, aside from the fish tacos made in a shack on the beach in St. John.

The Staff -- Friendly and pleasant. We did, however, have one waiter in Chops who almost refused to serve us extra sides because he thought we would be too full to finish them. It was an awkward, unnecessary, and unprofessional exchange.

Fitness center -- Lots of cardio and weights/machines with a great view. Nice track for running outdoors as well -- if you're into that sort of thing in the Caribbean sun and heat. (I am not.)

The Bad:

Windjammer and the Main Dining Room -- WJ Buffet was a giant lineup of tasteless, greasy, borderline stale food. The MDR, Sapphire, was equally bad in both taste and presentation and tasted like WJ food at times. I ordered sliders one night (I know, who orders sliders in a dining room for dinner unless they're five), and they were so dry they were barely chewable. The fish was very fishy. MDR breakfast was slightly better than dinners.

Entertainment -- Family members thought they were decent, I found them lacking variety and got bored quickly.

The Drinks -- For the first time in cruising history, my whole family purchased the drink package, mainly for poolside drinks, specialty coffee, and bottled water. Alcoholic bevs were beyond weak (coming from a 'lightweight', that's saying a lot), and the bottled water tasted like bottled sea water. By day 5 I had fantasized about wrapping my hands around a cold bottle of Dasani. The Starbucks was good.

Johnny Rockets -- cute place, yummy food, but I think it made me sick. Not confirmed, but a good possibility just by process of elimination. No pun intended. (Actually, pun sort of intended.)

The Ugly:

Muster Drill -- Packed like sardines onto an 85-degree, 10000% humidity deck for a half hour. RCL, take some notes from NCL and do this in an AIR CONDITIONED auditorium before someone passes out.

Coiffed potatoes -- Found a short black hair in the mashed potatoes at Giovanni's, one of the specialty restaurants. The staff offered to bring a replacment plate, but wasn't apologetic and didn't offer a refund of any sort. (Meal was already paid for in the specialty dining package we purchased.)

The smells -- After around day 3, the public restrooms began to smell like urine/sewage. If anyone lives in, or has visited NYC, the smell was very reminiscent of our subway stations. On the last night, the WJ Buffet smelled so unpleasant and rotten I didn't even make it past the Purell stations at the front door before turning around and leaving.

The pizza -- RCL must think very highly of their pizza, which they serve on the promenade practically 24 hours a day. People line up and gather like cattle to eat this "pizza". Are they bored? (Probably) Do they actually like this Ellio's tasting trash? (Maybe) Look, I don't want to hate on the pizza, or its 3,000 fans. I'm probably just resentful that the dining options were so limited and if you got hungry and didn't want Windjammer or MDR sludge, you had to have this defrosted, sauceless mess.

Bottom line? This was my first RCL cruise, but not necessarily my last -- I just have to do a lot of research before booking another. For my next cruise, I'm definitely going to explore other lines.

Welcome to Cruise Critic. Thanks for the report.

Thanks for sharing. Sounds like if you had skipped eating and drinking you would have had a good cruise. ;):D

I grew up on Ellios Pizza, if they served it I would be lined up every day. I can still find it in certain stores. those three pieces stuck together that you have to snap apart......oh the memories. Sorry you did not have a great cruise. Try another ship and you may have a better experience. I have never had a bad cruise, I can find a happy place anywhere. I have to say the Adventure was not my favorite ship, though many people love her.

Thanks for your feedback!

Sorry it was so bad for you. I leave Sunday for our Southern Caribbean experience. I'm hoping they've read your review and will change everything before I embark :eek:

Were there Freestyle Coke machines on Adventure? And if so, were they in working order?

thanks.

Just a note: The newer RCI ships do hold the muster drill indoors

Anxiously awaiting the rest of your review. We sail on Adventure and love all reviews ..Thanks for posting.

Were there Freestyle Coke machines on Adventure? And if so, were they in working order?

 

thanks.

Yes, and yes.

Were there Freestyle Coke machines on Adventure? And if so, were they in working order?

 

 

 

thanks.

Currently on Adventure and there is 1 machine in the royal promenade that is "out of service" other than that, the other ones seem to be working.

Oh and they must have fixed the "smell" problem near the windjammer. It's Day 3 and haven't experienced anything smelling rotten.

I was on the Adventure this past July. Our muster drill was in the MDR. Guess we were lucky.

I posted a review in the review section.

We've been on over 20 cruises. The only time I really disliked a ship was on Adventure of the Seas. That was quite a few years ago. I think AOS has been through a refit since and I would have guessed things would have improved. Sorry to hear this. My own experience is that other RCI ships are not at all like AOS.

This was my 4th cruise (been on Carnival, Celebrity, and Norwegian), yet this is my first review -- wanted to share my experience with others before they set sail or, better yet, start booking!

 

Here goes:

 

The Good:

Itinerary -- You can't beat the Southern Caribbean. AOS went to St. Thomas (we also did an excursion to St. John - INCREDIBLE island that you don't want to miss), Curacao, Aruba, and St. Kitts.

Stateroom -- This was the first time we did an interior, which I was dreading, but it wasn't bad at all. Our attendant was wonderful, always checking in, air temp and quality felt comfortable and the room was kept very clean.

Food at Chops Grill -- this specialty restaurant was the ONLY positive dining experience of the entire week, aside from the fish tacos made in a shack on the beach in St. John.

The Staff -- Friendly and pleasant. We did, however, have one waiter in Chops who almost refused to serve us extra sides because he thought we would be too full to finish them. It was an awkward, unnecessary, and unprofessional exchange.

Fitness center -- Lots of cardio and weights/machines with a great view. Nice track for running outdoors as well -- if you're into that sort of thing in the Caribbean sun and heat. (I am not.)

 

The Bad:

Windjammer and the Main Dining Room -- WJ Buffet was a giant lineup of tasteless, greasy, borderline stale food. The MDR, Sapphire, was equally bad in both taste and presentation and tasted like WJ food at times. I ordered sliders one night (I know, who orders sliders in a dining room for dinner unless they're five), and they were so dry they were barely chewable. The fish was very fishy. MDR breakfast was slightly better than dinners.

Entertainment -- Family members thought they were decent, I found them lacking variety and got bored quickly.

The Drinks -- For the first time in cruising history, my whole family purchased the drink package, mainly for poolside drinks, specialty coffee, and bottled water. Alcoholic bevs were beyond weak (coming from a 'lightweight', that's saying a lot), and the bottled water tasted like bottled sea water. By day 5 I had fantasized about wrapping my hands around a cold bottle of Dasani. The Starbucks was good.

Johnny Rockets -- cute place, yummy food, but I think it made me sick. Not confirmed, but a good possibility just by process of elimination. No pun intended. (Actually, pun sort of intended.)

 

The Ugly:

Muster Drill -- Packed like sardines onto an 85-degree, 10000% humidity deck for a half hour. RCL, take some notes from NCL and do this in an AIR CONDITIONED auditorium before someone passes out.

Coiffed potatoes -- Found a short black hair in the mashed potatoes at Giovanni's, one of the specialty restaurants. The staff offered to bring a replacment plate, but wasn't apologetic and didn't offer a refund of any sort. (Meal was already paid for in the specialty dining package we purchased.)

The smells -- After around day 3, the public restrooms began to smell like urine/sewage. If anyone lives in, or has visited NYC, the smell was very reminiscent of our subway stations. On the last night, the WJ Buffet smelled so unpleasant and rotten I didn't even make it past the Purell stations at the front door before turning around and leaving.

The pizza -- RCL must think very highly of their pizza, which they serve on the promenade practically 24 hours a day. People line up and gather like cattle to eat this "pizza". Are they bored? (Probably) Do they actually like this Ellio's tasting trash? (Maybe) Look, I don't want to hate on the pizza, or its 3,000 fans. I'm probably just resentful that the dining options were so limited and if you got hungry and didn't want Windjammer or MDR sludge, you had to have this defrosted, sauceless mess.

 

Bottom line? This was my first RCL cruise, but not necessarily my last -- I just have to do a lot of research before booking another. For my next cruise, I'm definitely going to explore other lines.

Wow. I had the opposite from your review when I was on the AOTS. Sorry about your experiences.