soccer2010

Since you seem to have level-headed feedback, can you tell much about the MDR service and how long dinner tended to take? Also any info on the Dinner Buffet would be appreciated.

Any details on dinner buffet of all the items available? Pictures if you have would be appreciated.

I am mainly interested in hearing about the food quality and variety for the Seaside Dinner buffet. I am reading conflicting reports on various blogs. Pictures certainly would make it more clear. All input welcome.

Also interested in hearing the length of dining time in the MDR. We may eat some nights in each the MDR and buffet.

Any details (when can I purchase and how much) for the cabin package for bowling, flight simulator, etc? What is all included? Is zipline an extra cost?

Here's your answers. We were just there 2-3 weeks ago and it was great and relaxing. Only bad thing is that around noon, power on the island went out so no blender for smoothie type drinks. It is very relaxing there and not a big crowd.

Hi..can anyone/ArubaLisa answer some questions about Reflexions?

How much are rentals for two chairs and an umbrella? $18 for 2 chairs and an umbrella

What is current rate for taxi to and from cruise pier? $7 (most hold 4 people)

When you get there, do you just cut through the restaurant to access the beach? Just go to the right side of the building thru the side parking lot.

Is there a food/drink minimum to use beach? No minimum, no pressure.

Is it easy to get taxi when leaving the beach (are they lined up outside or do you have to have someone call one for you)? I just had the bar people call and taxi was there in about 5 minutes.

I will take southern Caribbean ports over any ship doing eastern or western Caribbean. I do miss sleeping with the balcony door open but with the ports out of San Juan, it's a no brained for me.

Who is the Cruise Director and Activities Manager on Adventure right now? Any comments about them?

Last August we visited Curacao for the second time. First time we did the dolphin thing, found a beachside restaurant to eat at, and we walked the city area. This time, we had the inlaws with us (limited mobility) and wanted to see a bit of the island on the cheap. My mother in law didn't want to do the longer tour, but I did. She won. LOL.

 

I'd rate the east side tour 3 stars out of 5. Yes, the bus is a bit beat up on the inside (torn seats and even a hole in the floor in the back of the bus). I liked the open air concept. The employees were fun and friendly. One crabby lady screamed at the driver 30 mins into the tour saying to shut the music off. She didn't want to be forced to listen to music she didn't like. Can we say awkward!? What I didn't like was that I felt parts of the tour were a little long and unnecessary and I didn't like the beach we stopped at. It was super crowded and the price of loungers/food was overpriced and just average in quality. It felt touristy and that's not my thing. We made the best of it, but I wouldn't do it again. We paid a lot of money for private tours on other islands so I did appreciate the cheap Irie fare. But obviously it came with a compromise.

Which beach did you stop at? They always stopped at the Aquarium Beach on out tour and it was a very nice beach. We don't typically eat at the beach at any port stop.

I am wondering how the Room Service Royal Burger is??? I've heard mixed reviews on the Philly Cheese Streak. Thanks for any and all feedback.

I will share my opinion and post it once, not 3 times and counting. We have been on the Irie Eastside tour twice and thought it was very good and definitely great value. We will be going to Curacao again very soon with 2 other first time couples and we're taking them on the Eastside tour. $25/pp includes admission to the Aquarium Beach and all the beer, soda and water that you want. Tour guides are always very nice.

We have been to Reflections both times in Aruba. It was a long walk and this next time, we'll take a taxi. Very laid back and friendly staff, reasonable priced chairs and drinks and very few people. The beach is nice. We'll have 6 people, how much for taxi for all?

Its sad, that all Royal is doing is to convince me to try more upscale/inclusive lines such as Windstar, Cunard, Holland America.I remember Princess & Disney as being much more inclusive, so really I need to start looking elsewhere.

 

You know with MSC, you can pay for the Fantasia Cabin Level and both room service & 12 drink coupons are included. Did I mention, that MSC is much less (even with the upgraded fare) that Royal and the Seaside is coming to Miami late this year!

I booked MSC (Fantasia Cabin) on Seaside for next year for a few reasons ... Cruises at the time we can go are about $300 higher next year and Adventure is moving from San Juan. The way that I understand MSC Fantasia is that the room service delivery is free but the room service food is not.

On another note, we just got off Anthem and the food was better than last year on Adventure.

No, it was as the thread title suggests - enough feedback (whiners) made RCI change their mind.

This thread is way too long … who's whining and whining now?

Any feedback on The Royal (Angus) Burger?

I am looking on opinions on the new room service. How are the new options; can you rate what you tried on a scale of 1-10 (10 being best)? How timely was the service? Please no feedback on the $7.95 fee as there already is a thread on that (79 pages and counting).

My email to the CEO regarded quite a few items such as:

* new room service fees

* constant up selling

* drink package price increases (and reported decreased quality of booze)

* decreased MDR food quality with an emphasis on speciality dinners

* fake sale prices

In closing, I wrote that prices on 2018 RCCL cruises were much higher than the past few years at least for the time frame that we cruise and that I had booked a cruise on the new MSC ship for May 2018 due the great pricing.

After RCCL called me to follow up, I understood the room service fees as long as it delivers what RCCL is saying: better food options/quality and better service (fewer people will order so food will hopefully be on time). I am starting a new thread on Room Service specifically to get opinions on the new menu.

If anyone has other questions, I'll try to answer.

We booked a Guaranteed Balcony late 2016 due to a great price and the fact we could drive less than 10 hours to get to the port. This will be a brief review of our likes and dislikes especially when compared to our typical cruise on Adventure of the Seas.

Bayonne Port:

Got there early and minimal lines. Check-in was delayed as they has to go get someone specific to check us in. It appears that my email to RCCL CEO and follow-up phone call to one of his executive service people called for special service. There was an email that they had that said "this couple MUST receive expedited boarding. After check-in we sat in the Suite area check in. A few minutes later, the departing and the newly arriving Hotel Directors come down to say hi to us and chit-chat about our concerns. Right after they boarded Suites, we were immediately boarded.

Sailing out of Bayonne:

Probably never again especially if not the summer. It just doesn't seem right to leave or return to a port that is not HOT.

Our Room:

The Guarantee Balcony was great. Deck 11 with a great view and plenty of room for storage. As always (IMO), beds are firm not hard and much to our liking. Each day we received a special treat including. Over the week we receive: (3) baskets of fruit, (2) plates of chocolate dipped strawberries, cut plate of fruit, cheese plate and a bottle of champagne. We guessed this was due to the email to the CEO. We didn't each much of this as there is plenty of food on the ship already.

Up-selling:

We found that the up-selling was very low key on this cruise compared to previous cruises. RCCL people had booths set-up but generally didn't bother you. We did get asked about speciality dining a few times around the pool but a quick no thanks or we've already booked worked.

Ports:

Port Canaveral delayed from Tuesday to Friday due to propulsion engine issues. This really sucked as we didn't plan to get off of the ship here and customs made everyone get off. This took 2.5 hours of our day sitting outside on the concrete with no water or other refreshments.

Nassau on Wednesday was an Okay port. We walked around some and that was it.

Cococay on Thursday was great. RCCL has built this up since our last visit over 10 years ago. The beach is great and the BBQ cookout was very good. The lines were a bit disorganized but the food was excellent.

Entertainment: We really liked the shows as they are better than Adventure although we miss not having an Ice Show. Resurrection, the Journey Tribute Band, was excellent and I'm not a huge Journey fan. Dru and his staff are fine but not completely to our liking. I think it's the interaction differences between one of the big ships and a smaller ship. Quest was good as always but certainly different having it in 270. I preferred Quest on Adventure, due mainly to the Activities Staff participation.

MDR:

For the 1st time, we had a table to ourselves. It was fine, but I prefer to meet other people and we've always had good luck getting interesting and friendly table mates. We did not like the dining rooms being (4) separate rooms with low ceilings. I would not have thought this would make much of a difference but it made for a closed in feeling and not a Wow feeling that we get on the Adventure. Service was very good although less engaging staff than we are used to. The food ratings (1 -10 with 10 being best). Note that we aren't expecting 5-Star dining on a cruise:

Pork Shank: 9

Lobster Bisque: 1

Vegetable Pot Pie: 4

Arancici (spelling?): 8+

Prime Rib: 8

Grilled Shrimp: 9

Hazel Nut Chocolate: 8+

Apple Pie Alamode: 5

Dark Chocolate Brownie: 10

Cilantro Cod: 7

Cream of Cauliflower: 8

4-Cheese Ravioli: 8

Beef Duo: 9

Asian Pork Tacos: 7+

Chicken Parmesan: 7

Windjammer:

Many options for Breakfast and Lunch. Food good for a buffet especially for Breakfast.

Other ship food:

Kummelweck: 10

Tuna Wrap: 10

Johnny Rockets: 8

Promenade Cafe: 7 (good for a quick snack, pizza is Okay a maybe a little better than on Adventure)

Jamie's Italien:

This was free from our TA. Food was very good but I would not pay for this. The lamb chops were great as was dessert, The rest was good.

Cookout Ratings:

St Louis Ribs: 8+

Gyro: 9

Cola Chicken: 9

Promenade Area:

This was a bit closed in compared to Adventure. We really like the open feeling on Adventure.

Activities:

We did not do I-Fly,

North Star was good but nothing spectacular.

Bumper Cars were a lot of fun.

Escape Room was fun.

Summary compared to Adventure:

Food is a little better than Adventure and we like the additional complimentary options.

Entertainment is better than Adventure.

The feel of the ship (MDR and Promanade) is much better on the Adventure

Cruise staff is equivalent on both although we prefer Adventure Activities Staff

Ports: Adventure has this hands down.

Weather: Adventure wins here.

Activities: Since we don't have kids, only a little better on Anthem.

Pool: Equivalent. Anthem has an additional indoor pool but with the cold weather and more people this just evens it out. Pool closed 1 day due to waves.

For what's important to us, Adventure out of San Juan is the clear winner. We had fun on Anthem just not as much as Adventure. I am anxious to see what replaces Adventure in San Juan.

I wouldn't say that I like it, but I do find it interesting is to see/read about people paying good money and then complaining about the cruise so much. It's even more interesting when people write that they've done it multiple times. I haven't had a bad cruise yet … some are better than others and I plan to cruise until I have my first bad cruise.

Congrats on your first post. Welcome to cruise critic.

Two weeks ago, I had the braised beef duo in the Anthem MDR and it was wonderful.

We're going on our 3rd Adventure cruise out of San Juan in a few months. Yes the cruise is more diverse culturally but I would say no more and no less rude people than other cruises. We have never been on your itinerary but we have found the Southern Caribbean Islands wonderful, especially the ABC Islands.

Myself, I would use Uber.

I wonder how much internet forum based CEOs and marketeers make?

I wish I had a job like that. I'll be on the Anthem in a week (8 days) and then the Adventure at the end of May. I'm going to enjoy both despite the No DD Whiners and No Free Room Service Whiners. Hopefully the Adventure will have the pay Room Service and I'll quickly see if the service is better (quicker) and the food is better … if not, then I'll only get it once.

Good post Paulxyz2004. We have rarely used room service as we found it to be slow and the food only okay. I will be more inclined to buy now if the service is indeed quicker and the food is better. If not, I don't think that I will have any trouble finding plenty of food on board.