Adventure of the Seas 1/22/06 Review

I've been on about 20 cruises and most of them on Celebrity.

We went on RCCL about 5 years ago on Rhapsody and liked Celebrity better...until Adventure of the Seas. We had a great time.

Arrival.

The cab driver dropped us off at the pier at the end of a huge mass of people. No porters in sight. So we got at the end of the line dragging our bags trying to figure out what was going on. Finally, someone from RCCL came by and said that there were actually two lines and one was for bag drop off with a porter and then you went back in the other line to check in.

Although very confusing and hard to drag all those bags that far, somehow it went really fast. Then once you got inside, that was super fast. As long as you have that Sea Pass, they scan it, give you your cards and off to the ship you go. Very disorganized, but very fast.

Food.

We thought the food was much better than 5 years ago. Not as fancy as Celebrity but very very good. A lot of great comfort food. The dining room service was excellent. Room service was fast. Jonny Rockets was fun and great.

Entertainment

The production shows were very good as well as the comedian. The ice show was something to see. How they don't kill each other on such a small piece of ice is amazing.

The Ship

The ship is beautiful.

I was a little worried about crowds with 3300 other people but it wasn't an issue. The only time it got crowded was after dinner or a show with the elevators. We were with someone who couldn't walk the stairs so that was always a wait. So we walked and she rode. It seems like the elevators get buched up together either all at the bottom or top of the ship. But the wait was never very long.

The Royal Promenade where all the shops are was amazing. Just like being downtown somewhere. Coffee shop open 24 hours. A great place to people watch or meet new people. The casino is also huge.

The biggest difference between Celebrity and Adventure of the Seas was that this was way more laid back. Few got really dressed up for formal night. Maybe 15 men in tuxes. A lot of men with no ties or jackets on formal night. Much more relaxed. And on Celebrity, after the evening show, that's pretty much it. RCCL has something going on until 1am or later. And there are lots of people out past midnight.

Also on this cruise, there were a zillion kids. They did a good job of keeping them busy and out of the adult only areas.

One note about our cabin. We had a balcony on deck 6 aft. The bottom half of the balcony was all steel, not glass. So it was a little bit like sitting in a cell. I would get a higher cabinn next time. Only deck 6 had this as far as I could see.

I also noticed a huge increase in visible security on the ship. And their tolerance for nonsense is about zero. They threw off the ship a couple in St Marten who got into a fight with some other guests over pool chairs.

The weather on this cruise was the worst I've ever seen. It was either raining off and on or winds of about 25-40 mph. One night I actually thought I was going to go flying out of the bed. But I still had a great time. So that says a lot for the ship and it's crew. I loved the itinerary too. San Juan, sea, Aruba, Curaco, sea, St Marten, St Thomas and San Juan.

Overall, RCCL won me back. Very very good time.

johnd737,

What a relief to get this post from a past X cruiser.

My wife and I have cruised with X 14 times. Due to X putting their ships on longer cruises (at least it seems with me) we are going on the AOS in July, with my daughters.

It is nice to get a review from a past X cruiser who is happy with RCCL.

We are just back from the 1/21/06 Serenade and found it the most rough of our 11 cruses. We had an aft corner suite on deck ten. The bed was at an angle so that we did not rock side to side or head to toe, but something in between. DW spent most nights sleeping on the couch to deal with the rocking. Our ship had few kids and was very dressy on formal nights. I would say about 75 percent in tuxes or dark suits and the women were very dressy. We love RCCL and cruise about once a year with them.

Thanks for this great review! We are cruising AOS in March and it will be our first time on a Voyager class ship. I was a bit concerned that the quality of service and food might not be as good as Radiance Class because of the size of ship and amount of people who will be on board, but you've aleviated my fears. Really looking forward to this itinerary and ship!

Glad you had a good time. DH and I sailed AOS on our honeymoon. It was our very first cruise. Since, we have been addicted to cruising - who isn't??....and thought of all the ships we've been on, that AOS is by far the most beautiful! Glad you had a wonderful cruise!

johnd737

We will be on AOS in Feb, do you know if they had the horse racing out by pool side?

johnd737

 

We will be on AOS in Feb, do you know if they had the horse racing out by pool side?

they had horse racing and I think the winner on the last day won around $3000.

Bingo went for about $4000 on the last night.

As Sean said there was horse racing at the pool.

:p Did the security keep the kids out of the adult pool area?

As you can tell by my screen name I work with children every day. I was hoping to have some adult time with no kids.:D

:) Did you hear anybody make comment about staying on deck 10?

;) How was the bar service near the pool?

I hope that you got to use it, even though it sounds as if the weather wasn't ideal.

:p Did the security keep the kids out of the adult pool area?

As you can tell by my screen name I work with children every day. I was hoping to have some adult time with no kids.:D

:) Did you hear anybody make comment about staying on deck 10?

;) How was the bar service near the pool?

I hope that you got to use it, even though it sounds as if the weather wasn't ideal.

the security did a good job of keeping the kids in line and out of the adult area,although when the parents have no regard for the rules then that makes it that much more difficult.

pool bar service was great. especially on sea days.

I didnt hear any negative comments about staying on deck 10

What did you do on the islands?

We were on the Jan 18 sailig of AOS and had an aft cabin on deck ten and we heard people working in the Windjammer a couple of nights nothing that lasted very long. We also had rough seas and rainy weather especially at night. I guess it hasn't cleared up yet.

What did you do on the islands?

With the exception of Curaco, we had been to these Islands before.

The weather was so bad that going to the beach was really not an option.

On St Marten, we took the water taxi to the Dutch side which was nice. We usually go to the French side which is nicer I think but the taxi ride is long.

The ladies at our table took an Island tour each time and enjoyed it. On one Island, I can't remember, they took a tour of local artists homes and were able to see and buy their art. They really liked that tour.

So we didn't do much of anything except relax, enjoy the ship, and try to keep my mother in law happy.

We were also on this sailing and the only thing I can think to add is, in Curaco, we went on a pirate ship tour called "The Bounty" and it was a very enjoyable excursion.

The CD, Mike from "down under", was great also. Very personable and sincere.