Adventure of the Seas review January 16-23

This is the first trip report I’ve done, so please go easy on me:). I’d like to “give back” as I’ve gotten so much information from these boards. I don’t post much – but I use the search feature A LOT! I hope to post photos – if I don’t it’s because I haven’t figured out how. I will try to give information I feel is helpful, but please ask questions if I’ve omitted something. Also, I tend to go off on a tangent sometimes. Sorry in advance.

My husband, Scott and I like to cruise every winter, usually in January. It’s sort of a pick-me-up during the New Hampshire winter season.

We booked the Adventure of the Seas out of San Juan to St. Croix, St. Kitts, St. Maarten, Martinique, and Barbados, January 16-23. We flew in a day early because, well, everyone knows why.

Flight to San Juan: We (well, I – Scott does none of the planning, and I love to plan almost as much as I love to vacation!) booked Jet Blue from Boston to San Juan. It was $478 each round trip. Usually we fly Southwest out of Manchester, but wanted a nonstop (and the prices were better also). We took Boston Express bus out of Nashua to the Boston airport ($30 round trip each). Very easy- I certainly recommend it if you live in the Nashua area. I really liked JetBlue- roomier than Southwest, and I do like that you can pick your seats. The flight was uneventful and we arrived in San Juan around 6:15pm.

Hotel: We took a taxi ($21 plus tip) from the airport to the Comfort Inn in Condado. Before I say anything about the hotel, I’ll let you know we really use a hotel just to sleep, and will usually book based on price ($165 for the night) and location (walking distance to dinner and a place to buy soda.)

I almost cancelled our booking after staying here last March (the room we had was not very clean, the smoke detector had been removed, only one outlet worked. I did fill out a survey when we returned home, and a manager responded that renovations are in process and the new smoke alarm system would be in place for our stay this year -I had already booked the room for this cruise). This trip it was great – for us. Renovations are on-going, but we got a room on the 6th floor that was very nice. There is free wifi here, and it does work. They have a breakfast included, and the staff is very friendly. The renovations are not done, so I’m sure others’ experience may be like ours was last year.

After checking in, we found a place to get a burger; walked to Walgreens to get an 8-pack of soda (I put it in checked baggage with no problem. Last March I had to go to the “naughty room” –all was fine when they found it was soda. I think they may have been stricter last time because it was spring break).

Xenia

January 16th: Boarding the Adventure was easy. Scott wanted to leave before the rush (there is no lobby to wait in at the hotel because of renovations), so we left early. The hotel called a taxi for us (it was about 9:00?), it was there in minutes and a short drive to the port ($24 plus tip). We left the bags and waited around the check in area. We waited a couple hours. Not really sure when boarding started.

We went to the Windjammer for lunch, not crowded. In fact, throughout the cruise we didn’t find it crowded (we had breakfast there every morning and lunch once or twice).

Cabin: We booked a balcony, 9288. This room has a sofa, plenty of room. Our room steward was Susanna – she’s great!! I asked for a mattress topper, ice, and an extra towel, all delivered that day. We did have an issue with the toilet overflowing -the water slowly (very slowly) filled and then onto the floor. The hole in the floor used to drain water had been plugged with a cork –on purpose. Apparently there is a foul odor and this is how that problem was fixed by maintenance (we thought some partiers on a previous cruise thought they’d have fun…). Maintenance did fix the water problem. We were told the ship needs refurbishment, this type of thing keeps happening.

Muster drill was at 5:45; very quick.

Dinner tonight was at 6:30. We have early seating (6:00 all other nights). Ljubica was the server and Nazarii the assistant server. Both were excellent – Ljubica is very personable.

The welcome aboard show was at 10:30 and featured Chris Bliss, very funny, we both enjoyed the show.

Cruise director: Mercedes Lafuente - very personable

Menus (order): Mojo; Saffron; Pimiento; Basil; Sage; Jasmine; Pomodoro

Days 2&6 are formal and Day 3 70’s, Day 4 Caribbean, Day 5 White

Welcome Back Party: Day 3, Studio B- missed it. I think we were still at dinner.

Photos: This is the second time I’ve been told that Diamond members have the opportunity to buy any 5 photos for $50 (last time was November on the Brilliance). It wasn’t mentioned in our Benefit list, but is a nice benefit (I didn’t use it – meant to on the Brilliance, but forgot).

Ornaments: I like to get the ship ornament from each cruise. Adventure didn’t have the small ship replica – I was disappointed (I have twelve, and wanted to stay with the same ornament), so I asked about it. The employee told me they are redesigning them to make them better. Maybe they’ll have one when we go back in September.

Looking forward to the rest of your review.

Following. You're doing great so far! We're cruising on the Adventure in October so we're looking forward to learning some things!

We are on this same itinerary in 9 weeks. Thanks for doing this, looking forward to the rest of your review.

Thanks for your review! I will be on board Adventure in exactly one week, on the same itinerary. I can't wait to read the rest of your review!

Im so excited to see the rest of your review. going on the same ship/different itinerary in 2 weeks.

Thanks for the review.

I realize it's a bunch of work to scan the compasses, but you should know that it is difficult to read them in their current size.

Enjoying your report.

Keith

We are on this same itinerary in 9 weeks. Thanks for doing this, looking forward to the rest of your review.

Likewise...following this review closely.

Great information so far!

Wondering if you get the chance...curious as to exactly when does Mercedes (CD) term end (supposedly mid-March), and does she know who will take over as Cruise Director thereafter?

Thanks for the report!

Thanks for the review.

 

I realize it's a bunch of work to scan the compasses, but you should know that it is difficult to read them in their current size.

I have scanned Day 1&2 individually in PDFs this morning (noticed last night the same thing - hard to read), but I have no idea how to attach the PDFs. Any suggestions? Thank you!

I have scanned Day 1&2 individually in PDFs this morning (noticed last night the same thing - hard to read), but I have no idea how to attach the PDFs. Any suggestions? Thank you!

You can attach PDF files up to 976MB in size by clicking on the paper clip icon.

If your files are larger, then you would have to post them on some file sharing site, like Dropbox, and post the link here.

Thank you for the encouragement!

I don't know the answer to who will be taking over for Mercedes. Sorry!

January 17th: St. Croix- Breakfast in the Windjammer. I thought I would get a cappuccino in the Diamond Lounge – the machine was broken most if not all week. Not a big deal. They had coffee as well a small spread of pastries, breads, toaster set up.

We wanted to get off the ship early to make our excursion. I booked an eco-kayak tour with Virgin Kayak ($50 per person). It was a nice tour, and the Hobie kayaks that you peddle instead of paddle were great-not only was it less strenuous, but allowed me to take photos! We took a cab to Salt River Marina ($18 per person, round trip), which was no problem at all. Make sure you get out there quickly because it is about a 20-30 minute drive, and they wait for the bus to be full. If you are going to this area, let the bus driver know a time to pick you up, and make sure you are there. Virgin Kayak does supply dry bags for your cameras, keys, ect. The tour was from 10:00am – 12:30pm.

When we got back, we walked around Fredericksted and stopped at S&R Liquors (I think this was the name of the place), purchased a soda and got the free wifi, which actually worked. Very friendly and helpful people, even though we only made a small purchase.

The first time we went to St. Croix, we headed to Christiansted, just to walk around (one of the walking tours I got online) and go to a restaurant my sister’s friends owned. The taxi transportation there ran all day ($18 pp round trip). The last time there we rented paddle boards at Freedom City Surf, which was an easy walk.

When I plan port excursions, I usually narrow it down to three - the "first choice", "second choice", and third, which is as close to free as it gets. Helps with budgeting, especially when there's 5 ports! Mostly because I'm a little OCD with planning, but also I find it's easier on us if we know what we're doing when we get there.

The meet and mingle was at 5:00, so we headed up to deck 14. It was nice to see some of the people who had been posting all these months. We sat with Nancy and Neil, it really is nice to meet everyone. Scott won a bottle of wine. This is the 2nd time he's won something (I haven't won anything yet I do the planning and participating!)

Scott and I are both introverts, much better with a few people rather than many. We usually sit alone, but love to talk with people. We are trying to get better about reaching out to others though!!!

You can attach PDF files up to 976MB in size by clicking on the paper clip icon.

 

If your files are larger, then you would have to post them on some file sharing site, like Dropbox, and post the link here.

I'll keep trying. I downloaded CutePdf and saved them since the original files were too large. However, it still won't upload. It just says it failed.

Thank you for the help.

Great review!! looking forward to the rest! Already booked for NYE on the Adventure... after refurbishment:)

AnnieC623... That's so interesting that you got a mattress topper. Was it an egg crate or just a layer of blankets? We cruised the same ship the following week and I asked about a mattress topper and was told that they were not allowing them anymore. Another passenger we met was given 5 or 6 bedspreads/quilts to put on top of their sheet.

I'll keep trying. I downloaded CutePdf and saved them since the original files were too large. However, it still won't upload. It just says it failed.

Thank you for the help.

I know this is a real pain, but you can probably beat the size limit here if you scan one page at a time.

Im so excited to see the rest of your review. going on the same ship/different itinerary in 2 weeks.

See you in 12 days! :)

AnnieC623... That's so interesting that you got a mattress topper. Was it an egg crate or just a layer of blankets? We cruised the same ship the following week and I asked about a mattress topper and was told that they were not allowing them anymore. Another passenger we met was given 5 or 6 bedspreads/quilts to put on top of their sheet.

I honestly don't know - I didn't check, but it felt like the foam topper. Whatever it was, I slept great.

Xenia

I know this is a real pain, but you can probably beat the size limit here if you scan one page at a time.

I did scan each page individually - I've only done two days (spending my time trying to figure out how to upload). The files I've scanned are between 1.4 and 2 MB, so I guess that's the problem. I'll keep working on it:)

I did scan each page individually - I've only done two days (spending my time trying to figure out how to upload). The files I've scanned are between 1.4 and 2 MB, so I guess that's the problem. I'll keep working on it:)

Try cutting the resolution (dpi) of the scan in half.

We were on the same itinerary in December over Christmas week. We have actually cruised on the AOS twice on different itineraries. The AOS is a great ship.

I'm looking forward to the rest of your review.