A Review: First Time with Royal on the Adventure

Great start to your review. I'm looking forward to reading the rest.

After dinner we walked down to the Pasea de la Princesa. Aside from a few food booths, there were no other vendors open. We did get our first glimpse of the wall and the moon was waxing away, so we walked along with water in the moonlight to return to our hotel.

 

Edited May 7, 2018 by sjmbruce

Our Itinerary:

March 31: San Juan - Depart at 8:30

April 1: Cruising

April 2: Curacao 8am-8pm

April 3: Bonaire 7am-5pm

April 4: Aruba 7am-11pm

April 5: Cruising

April 6: St Maarten 8am-5pm

April 7: Disembark in San Juan

 

DW and I were also on this cruise....as well as the week before, which visited 5 islands. Enjoyed it for the most part, but compared to other RCL ships we've been on I found it to be a bit too many people for my taste. Also, didn't help that I got sick midway through the first week and didn't start to feel better until we sailed back out of San Juan last Saturday. I was determined to do the excursions we had booked for A-B-C and managed to do that, but still felt like I lost 3 days of my B2B for not feeling well and hardly eating anything.

 

Sorry....misread your dates. We were on the April 21 to May 6 sailings. Glad you enjoyed your first experience with RCL!!

Short Story:

 

 

If you're going to stay at the Sheraton, avoid any rooms about the Fortaleza Ballroom.

Long Story:

It was still early in the evening, around 9:00 or so. However, having been up since 4:00 am, we were ready to get some rest in our room. That’s when the music starting blaring. For a moment we thought it might be Senor Frogs, which is right next door. After a few minutes it was obvious that the noise was coming from the hotel. We were on the second floor and above the restaurant, so we assumed the music was coming from there.

We called the front desk to see when the restaurant closed and found out that would be at 10:30. I decided that was manageable and that we would wait to go to bed until then. The music got louder, to the point that we could feel the bass pounding on our floor. Karaoke started and we could hear every drunken word being screamed to the lyrics.

It was now past 11:00 so we called the front desk and asked them when the blaring music would stop. They tried to blame it on Senor Frogs and said they couldn't do anything about music off property. So I went down one floor to investigate. I found that the restaurant was closed for the night, but the Fortaleza ballroom was hosting a crowded and super loud 21st birthday party with a DJ, sound system and karaoke.

The party showed no signs of stopping and it was literally shaking the floor in our room. We called and asked to switch rooms. They said we would need to come to the front desk to accomplish that. So at midnight, having been up almost 24 hours, we went to the front desk in our pajamas. The manager continued to blame Senor Frogs. I told her that we could hear every word of every song and it was obviously the huge birthday party in their ballroom. That's when she finally admitted it was a party in the hotel, but seemed absolutely stunned that we could hear it. They gave us the keys to our new room. No offer to help move our stuff, no apology.

This was the first time I have ever asked to switch rooms at a hotel. We were finally settled into a smaller room and able to get into bed around 1:00 on Thursday morning, with our alarms set for 6:30.

DW and I were also on this cruise....as well as the week before, which visited 5 islands. Enjoyed it for the most part, but compared to other RCL ships we've been on I found it to be a bit too many people for my taste. Also, didn't help that I got sick midway through the first week and didn't start to feel better until we sailed back out of San Juan last Saturday. I was determined to do the excursions we had booked for A-B-C and managed to do that, but still felt like I lost 3 days of my B2B for not feeling well and hardly eating anything.

 

Sorry....misread your dates. We were on the April 21 to May 6 sailings. Glad you enjoyed your first experience with RCL!!

 

Aw I'm sorry you weren't feeling well. What a bummer! While it was a great cruise, it did feel crowded at times and I think it is the biggest ship I'd ever sail on. We met a few people on our cruise that were doing it B2B. What an awesome two weeks.

I'm reliving our cruises on the Adventure as I follow along with your review. I'm looking forward to seeing more!

Although our new room didn't have a balcony, it still had a great view.

 

We wanted to go to Casa Cortes Chocobar for breakfast and explored a little on our way there.

 

Aw I'm sorry you weren't feeling well. What a bummer! While it was a great cruise, it did feel crowded at times and I think it is the biggest ship I'd ever sail on. We met a few people on our cruise that were doing it B2B. What an awesome two weeks.

First week was a nice itinerary too - St. Maarten, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, Barbados, and Antigua. I'm sure it'd be cool to sail on one of the Allure class ships, but after seeing how crowded things can get on Voyager size, not sure I'm that encouraged either to go much bigger. I think there were about 60 people doing B2B - at least that's about how many people were at the consecutive cruisers meeting. Can't believe how many people I saw waltz into the Windjammer and never stopped to use any hand sanitizer or wash. That's how the problems start. That rooftop pool you had at the hotel looks awesome! We stayed a few nights pre-cruise at the La Concha Beach Resort. Last time we did a B2B out of San Juan we only arrived the day of embarkation and were lucky to get on the ship before it sailed. Our flight was delayed over 5 hours and so I think we were the last ones to board. Even the welcome aboard photographers had packed it in for the day. So this time I wasn't going to take any chances.

 

I had promised myself I would order a sensible breakfast, but once I saw the menu I somehow ended up with chocolate waffles and a frozen chocolate drink.

 

 

They have non chocolate related breakfasts as well:

As always, loving your review even though we don't currently have anything planned in the area. You really should put a T Adv review up for the Sheraton OSJ if you haven't already. A warning on the room location I am sure will be helpful to a lot of other people. It also sounds like their management is pretty responsive on the site.

The warning about the party at The Sheraton pushes us more towards El Convento. Your breakfast at ChocoBar isn't just for breakfast anymore. I could live on that. Great pics, BTW. Well done.

Following!

 

I'm sailing on Adventure toward the end of the year for the first time and can't wait to check her out :)

It's a great ship and wonderful itinerary. We've done it twice and look forward to doing it again. Cruising is a fantastic way to travel!

 

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what a great review, I look forward to reading more.

As always, loving your review even though we don't currently have anything planned in the area. You really should put a T Adv review up for the Sheraton OSJ if you haven't already. A warning on the room location I am sure will be helpful to a lot of other people. It also sounds like their management is pretty responsive on the site.

 

Thanks for the TripAdvisor reminder. I definitely want to make sure I put it on there so guests can request a room away from the ballroom or at least see if there will be a party the nights(s) of their reservation.

It's a great ship and wonderful itinerary. We've done it twice and look forward to doing it again. Cruising is a fantastic way to travel!

 

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I'm bummed it won't be on the Adventure, but I'd really like to go back and do the Antigua/St. Lucia itinerary out of Puerto Rico.

I was obsessed with the blue cobblestones and colorful buildings. I took several pictures of both so there will definitely be some of those here and there. I'm glad they stopped paving and started restoring the cobblestone roadways.

Our original plan was to find the gate that leads to the walkway outside of the wall and walk to the El Morro Fort. Unfortunately, the walkway had suffered some damage (I think I read it was due to a storm surge/wave).

Instead, we took the streets through OSJ. We ran into Plaza de Armas,met the resident gatos, and eventually ended up at Basilica de San Juan Bautista near El Convento.

 

 

 

The Cathedral isn't super impressive from the outside, but it is gorgeous on the inside.

 

 

 

 

Following. Sailed on the Adventure almost 2 years ago and will be sailing out of San Juan on the Freedom in 51 days!

We took roughly the same route as you. The paseo was completely closed from massive waves that, we were told, happen every few years and are not related to the hurricanes - kind of a double whammy. So we hiked up the hill. Beautiful views on the way.

 

One thing struck me about the cathedral in contrast to others we've seen in Europe and Mexico. I could visual people actually attending mass there. It looked and felt used if you know what I mean.

Loving your review so far! Can't wait to hear more

As we worked our way towards the fort, we went by Plaza de la Rogativa, with a statue, lizard friends and great views.

 

 

 

And just like that, we were at Castillo San Felipe del Morro. I was in awe looking across the giant green lawn to the looming fort.

 

 

 

 

We spent at least 20 minutes exploring outside the fort. If you really want to pinch pennies, you don't necessarily have to go in, but at $7.00 per person the price is more than worth it. Keep your receipt, the entrance cost also includes San Cristobal. Credit cards were accepted here.

Looking forward to your thoughts on the Adventure. Just booked for NYE 2018.