lauraodonnell86

Thank you for doing this! Enjoying your review so far and looking forward to the rest - much appreciated! :) My husband and I were on the Adventure for our honeymoon/first cruise 8 years ago and we can't wait to sail her again on April 29th!

Exciting!! I will be jealous of you! We love Adventure of the Seas and don't mind sailing her year after year :)

Up next: St. Kitts!!

This year we started doing something new with regards to beer. We took a small soft sided cooler and filled it with ice from our room. When we got off the ship, we would buy 6 beers at a place right on the pier. Usually you can find them for 6 for $10 or $12. MUCH cheaper than on the beaches usually! Depending on where you are, they tend to be $2.50-$4 per beer. Just a way to save a little $$.

We took a taxi to Carambola Beach Club. The taxi was $8 for two of us to get there. Same on the way back. It's only about 10-15 min drive and it's a beautiful drive at that!

I'm going to have to double check my notes at home but I believe 2 chairs and an umbrella was $20. Possibly $25. You don't have to get a chair though. There is a bar/restaurant on the beach. Beautiful snorkeling out by the rocks.

We love Carambola and probably will not ever go anywhere else while we are there!

We own our business so have to keep in touch. But its fun.

No worries on being slow. It takes time.

I saw the first pic. Beautiful water. I can't wait.

Thanks so much for doing this :)

No problem! Even though it's time consuming, I hope that it'll help people with their planning. Since we've been to these islands several times, I'm finally getting the hang of things and learning tips and tricks! :rolleyes:

Since we'd been on Adventure of the Seas several times in the past, we weren't as worried about getting there early. We stepped on the ship at about 3 that afternoon. There was absolutely no line at the terminal and we were on the ship within about 10 mins! It was fun to walk around the see the new additions. My husband and I immediately changed into our swimming suits and gave the new slides a try! They were so fun! Muster was at 5:45 and went smoothly.

We were in a Promenade stateroom for this cruise. Usually we do a balcony but wanted to save a little money this time. It was quite a bit smaller than what we were used to in the balcony room. We heard some people complaining about the noise from the Promenade but we never had a problem with that. We were very aft though, almost not even on the Promenade.

First stop is St. Maarten. We did our annual Orient Beach and Maho excursion.

Orient Beach - FYI, Where they drop you off is clothing optional and down a little ways is a nude beach.

Maho Beach - A must do if you've never been!

That night was the Captain's Welcome Aboard Reception. They hand out champagne and the Captain introduces all of the officers on board. Captain Shawn Mcduff was so great and very entertaining.

We will be on the Adventure March 29th for 10 day.

How was the internet? Says it has Voom.

What did you do on

Antigua

St Lucia

Barbados

Bonaire

Curacao

Aruba

We haven't been to these stops. We enjoy a good beach day. Thanks for your review.

Sorry I don't know about the Voom as we do not get internet. We lock our phones in the safe and disconnect. I know not everyone can do that with family and jobs but we are lucky.

I will be addressing each island that we went to. Sorry I'm a little slow. I'm still trying to 100% the pictures :D

Testing a picture of Isla Verde Beach in San Juan

Hello all!

I thought I would write a small review on our B2B on Adventure recently. I have been helped out by so many people on Cruise Critic and would like to help people in return. This is my first review so be patient with me :) Let me know if there are any questions I can answer for you.

First - the Itinerary

Week 1

San Juan

St. Maarten

St. Kitts

Antigua

St. Lucia

Barbados

At Sea

Week 2

San Juan

St. Maarten

At Sea

Bonaire

Aruba

Curacao

At Sea

We went in a day early and stayed at Hampton Inn near Isla Verde in San Juan. It was a nice hotel and the staff was wonderful. They have a small reception from 5-7 with free drinks and snacks. The burgers at the pool bar are SOOOO good! :D The room was $250. I think it was a little steep because of the San Sebastian festival that weekend.

It was about 5 minutes walk to Isla Verde beach. We walked there Friday night and then again on Saturday to swim before heading to the ship!

Side note: I'd like to add some pictures along the way but seem to be having trouble. The photos are jpg but it's saying there are upload errors. Can someone help me out?

Thanks for reporting back. I booked my Adventure cruise 700 days ago when it first came out the prices were ridiculously low. We got a Junior Suite for about 60% of what we paid for a D class balcony on Oasis last year. The price has since more than doubled, so we are very anxious to be on board.

While on board, we decided to hold several weeks and then when the new schedule comes out in March, book for 2019. We've never heard of that before meeting some new friends on this last cruise. They said they are cheapest when they first come out. We'd love to do a Jr Suite as we only need a couple weeks before Diamond! :eek:

Great to hear!! What kind of room did you have?

We have always done a balcony in the past but the price had jumped up last year (for 2017) so we decided to try a Promenade stateroom to save a little $$. We REALLY missed our balcony! But I can't complain. We were in the Caribbean after all! It was in a GREAT place though. First room off the aft elevators. So easy to get to many places! Booked a balcony next year :)

I knew I'd forgotten something.

 

dual level mini golf.

Just got off the ship on Saturday and she was beautiful as always! The dining room chairs are new and there is also new carpet in different places throughout the ship. The slides are so fun! I was too scared to try the Flow Rider. We had a wonderful time and already booked for next January. Hoping the rooms will be refreshed by then but there was absolutely nothing wrong with ours how it was :)

Following along! Great review so far! I was on the cruise with you and the week after. I don't know if I have the patience to sit down and write a review. But I might because I want to give back to all the people who have helped me in the past!

Wanted to thank you all for the tips!! Just returned home and had an amazing time of course.

In Bonaire, we did a snorkel trip with Renee. If you google her, you will easily find it. She is a marine biologist and the snorkeling was amazing! Best we've done.

In Aruba, we visited Eagle Beach. We took the city bus which was $5 per person round trip. Great beach! Chairs and umbrellas are expensive though around $30.

Curacao was by far our favorite. It is SUCH a neat town. We took the city bus to Mambo beach for $2 a person round trip. It was about 20 to 25 min to get to the bus stop across the floating bridge and through the town a bit. But worth it when a taxi was going to be $40! Only had to pay $7 a person for chairs at the beach and it came with a free water or soda!

At night, we walked to the Waterfront Arches and ate at Perla Del Mar. I would 100% recommend this restaurant! Great food right on the water while the waves are crashing in!

Happy cruising!! We hop on in a week!! :D:D

6!!!!!!!! Adventure of the Seas! :D

Bump! :D

Great place to sit, have a drink and people watch ;)

Favorite thing to do!!

We are headed here on a cruise in about 3 weeks! I'm looking for a couple of things from my fellow cruise critic friends.

First of all, we are looking for the BEST beach to visit on the island during the day. We love hanging out in the water and on the beach and drinking a few beers. Have seen good things about Cabana Beach and Mambo Beach. Anyone been to these?

Secondly, we are going to be in port until 11pm. Is there a great restaurant on the beach or with a beautiful view that isn't too pricey?

Done a little bit of looking around but haven't found much. Thanks for any tips!

Following along as we will be visiting these islands in a couple of weeks!

Thanks for the review! Love hearing positive comments about our favorite ship. :)

Following along! We leave in 2 weeks from today on AOS! :D

It really depends on what you like to do! Our favorite beach port is Barbados. We are beach people and the sand is white and soooo soft. The beaches are flat and so beautiful. We love going to Boatyard beach. Can't beat the entry fee for what you get! Also, it's always super hot there because it's so far south! We love the heat, especially in January!

For shopping, we love St Maarten. We don't usually do too much shopping but they have a great little area right outside of the ship.

For tours, we enjoy St. Lucia. Ziplining at Treetop Adventure Park was the best tour we've ever done. That was about 3 years ago. It's gone up in price a tad but still not bad for what you get!

For whatever reason I am trying to find pics or a review of the Adventure as it got its makeover after its last trip that I was in which was 10/1 - 10/8 in 2016.

 

 

Does anyone have pics or a thread? I will be sailing on Adventure May 2017. I cannot wait to see the crew again... Hopefully I'll run into the same crew members!

Here are a couple photos of the waterslides. I haven't seen many more recent pics! I'd like to though since we leave in 2 weeks!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2430636&highlight=adventure

Here's also a video I found from December 2016.

My wife and I are considering the southern Caribbean itinerary (7night) out of San Juan on RC adventure OS in Feb. 2018. We have always departed from a port in FL in the past so this would be a new experience for us. Anyone with recent experience embarking in San Juan? How was it? It looks like the airport is not too far. Any advice/tips? Good hotel for pre cruise 1 night stay?

Also, I've read AOS didn't quite get its renovation completed due to the hurricane while in dry dock. Specifically Chops Grille isn't finished? Thanks for any info you can provide!! Mark

 

 

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Hello! As you can see in my signature, I am pretty familiar with sailing out of San Juan. In my opinion, it's the best! The airport is only about 20-30 mins from the port. We always go in a day before because we cruise in January and the likelihood of getting stranded in Kansas City is high!

We loved staying at Embassy Suites last year. It's only a couple minute walk from a gorgeous beach (Isla Verde). It was booked this year so we're staying at Hampton Inn in the same area. We've also stayed at Hilton Caribe which was awesome but a little more $$$.

I believe you are correct about Chops Grille but I think it will be done by the time you cruise. We don't use specialty dining so that's not a big deal to us. We love Adventure of the Seas. We leave in 2 weeks for our back to back cruise so we will soon find out what got done and what didn't on the ship. But in our opinion, the ship was perfectly fine before the refurbishment!

I hope this helps you a little bit!

Nice..we have celebrity booked for March 2018.

 

We were looking at the Boatyard in Barbados, the Tiki Bar is better?

Also, any more info on Carambola? Taxi there? Googled it but looks more like an upscale restaurant....maybe I read wrong? lol

Any more info you can give me would be great. Thanks

We went to Carambola last year and absolutely loved it!! It's a resort but you can just hang out on the beach. You don't have to rent a chair but you can. It's a beautiful place!

We go to Boatyard in Barbados every year and it's amazing as well. Very fun atmosphere and only $20 for a 2 chairs, umbrella, welcome drink, access to a couple fun water items, and a taxi ride back to the ship!

Adventure of the Seas all the way! We love the Adventure. But I'm sure Jewel is nice as well. We were on Serenade which is her sister. Either way, you can't go wrong!! :D Yay for cruising every year! My hubby and I decided that we were going to cruise every January while on the beach in St. Kitts last year :D Might as well just add it as a line item on the budget!!