8-Day Christmas Cruise on Adventure of the Seas, Southern Caribbean (lots of pics!)

[terpfan101]

Yes, they had the first welcome back party for all C&A members on the third night in Studio B (ice rink). That's when they showed us their new "The Sea is Calling" promotion. We also received chocolate bars with seashells on them - a new treat! They also recognized three couples for having the most cruise nights onboard and provided them all with a bottle of champagne.

 

The C&A party for Platinum+ guests was held on the 6th night, I believe. It was in the Imperial Lounge. They had a couple dance for us as entertainment (this was the first time I'd been to a C&A party with entertainment).

 

We received a letter in each of our staterooms at the beginning of the week, welcoming us back and highlighting the two parties as C&A events to attend. We also received invitations the night before each party with our cruise compasses which we took with us as a "ticket" to the event.

 

So is there one party for everyone (huge because golds are included) and one for everyone who's higher than gold? Was the gold and above one worth going to? I'm not even sure if they have them on Allure but it'd be nice to go.

Edited February 7, 2012 by terpfan101

[LittleMissMagic]

What evening was the Captains welcome aboard event held and was it on the Promenade deck?

 

The Captain's Welcome Aboard Party was on the second night (first formal night) on the Promenade deck.

 

However, in our case, the captain was unable to attend the party because of a medical emergency which had us turn the ship around and head back to St. Thomas to drop someone off (this did not delay our arrival in St. Maarten). Therefore, they held the party again on the second formal night - free drinks and all!

 

I believe the captain met the guests for pictures at the entrance to the Imperial Lounge after his speech on the Promenade bridge.

[LittleMissMagic]

So is there one party for everyone (huge because golds are included) and one for everyone who's higher than gold? Was the gold and above one worth going to? I'm not even sure if they have them on Allure but it'd be nice to go.

 

Yes, and there is also an event for Diamond and above C&A guests sometime during the week.

 

The party for all C&A members is of course the largest, however ours wasn't very well-attended. This is when they make most of the big C&A announcements... I remember on one cruise they told us about the new Oasis class. However, on this sailing mention of the Sunshine class was done at the Platinum+ party, as they spent the majority of the time at the welcome back party introducing the new "Sea is Calling" promo.

 

We always go because we like free drinks, mingling with other C&A members, and just seeing what's going on.

[davekathy]

The Captain's Welcome Aboard Party was on the second night (first formal night) on the Promenade deck.

 

However, in our case, the captain was unable to attend the party because of a medical emergency which had us turn the ship around and head back to St. Thomas to drop someone off (this did not delay our arrival in St. Maarten). Therefore, they held the party again on the second formal night - free drinks and all!

 

I believe the captain met the guests for pictures at the entrance to the Imperial Lounge after his speech on the Promenade bridge.

 

Thank you...

[PattyG12]

Yes, and there is also an event for Diamond and above C&A guests sometime during the week.

 

The party for all C&A members is of course the largest, however ours wasn't very well-attended. This is when they make most of the big C&A announcements... I remember on one cruise they told us about the new Oasis class. However, on this sailing mention of the Sunshine class was done at the Platinum+ party, as they spent the majority of the time at the welcome back party introducing the new "Sea is Calling" promo.

 

We always go because we like free drinks, mingling with other C&A members, and just seeing what's going on.

 

Did you have a CC Meet and Mingle? We're trying to figure out if it will be on a sea day or if they will fit it in another time. Thanks!

[LittleMissMagic]

Did you have a CC Meet and Mingle? We're trying to figure out if it will be on a sea day or if they will fit it in another time. Thanks!

 

I did not register for the Meet and Mingle, but it was at Monday at 4:30 in the Blue Moon Lounge.

[RedInLove]

This is Cody - Derrick's younger brother. He graduated with a Bachelor's of Art and Architecture (the degree I'm working on), but decided to become a math teacher - it's his first year teaching 11th grade and he loves it! :)

 

 

A-ha, so some architects ARE good at math! :)

[LittleMissMagic]

A-ha, so some architects ARE good at math! :)

 

LOL - It's not a requirement for our major. We just have to go through Calc 1 (which is the equivalent of AP Calculus - no higher math needed). My boyfriend is also a civil engineering major, and he has taken four calculus courses (far beyond what is needed at the high school level). Some schools, like Oklahoma State University, have architecture in the same school as engineering. I believe they have more mathematic requirements. However, most schools have their architecture program in the arts and humanities school.

 

So, to clarify - architects are not bad at math. We just don't have to study as deep of concepts as engineers do. The math we complete in college is equivalent or higher to most all high school math courses.

[cuti]

I love your post. Mainly, I love it because I have 10 year old girls. I cruised as a kid and now we are doing it each year (I'd like more) with them. I could picture them in a decade still wanting to vacation with us after reading your post so it made me smile.

 

We are heading on AOS for Spring Break 1st week in April - the ports are slightly different but it still gave us a good feel for things. And we are getting in early and staying at the Marriott too.

 

My girls are super excited for inline skating, rock wall, and other onboard activities. They also are excited to go swimming, and see the ports. They already started emailing another 10 yr old that will be on the ship - so they may even make a friend or two :)

 

Oh and my twins, especially one of them, are super into sports. We live in Michigan and my husband and I went to Syracuse, so they mostly are SU and U of M fans for college. But I grew up in GA and love southern schools too.

 

I love how you took the Clemson photos everywhere. Maybe I'll have them bring a "Detroit Tigers" banner or something fun. So glad you had a blast. You can see our pics of Oasis and Allure, and see that it is definitely not "too" big in case your dad decides that is a destination for you. We loved it - tons to do - you barely needed to leave the ship.

 

Jodi

[Buffettphan1]

What a great review!!!!

We are sailing on the AOS in April for its TA and cannot wait.

Tell me about Saphire Beach vs Megans Bay.

We went to Megans BAy 20 yrs ago and it was spectacular!!! No corwds, little guy running around with drinks, the whole bit. Is Saphire better?

 

I saw that you are a Buffett phan. As you see, i am too!!!

We love him and have traveled all over to see him. Madison Sq Garden, Miami, Fenway PArk and so on. Havent missed a show since 1999!!!!

We are even in the Fenway DVD!!!

[LittleMissMagic]

What a great review!!!!

We are sailing on the AOS in April for its TA and cannot wait.

Tell me about Saphire Beach vs Megans Bay.

We went to Megans BAy 20 yrs ago and it was spectacular!!! No corwds, little guy running around with drinks, the whole bit. Is Saphire better?

 

I saw that you are a Buffett phan. As you see, i am too!!!

We love him and have traveled all over to see him. Madison Sq Garden, Miami, Fenway PArk and so on. Havent missed a show since 1999!!!!

We are even in the Fenway DVD!!!

 

Magen's Bay is a beautiful beach, but it is very popular with tourists and gets very crowded. Sapphire is also a beautiful beach, but a little more out of the way with less people. Another difference is that at Magen's Bay, after renting beach chairs, we had to lug them to a spot on the beach, while most other beaches (including Sapphire) have attendants who will set them up for you.

 

You really can't go wrong with either beach. We were all set to go back to Magen's Bay, however, I am very glad that we tried Sapphire - we were very impressed and will definitely return there in the future.

 

BTW - we have the Fenway DVD!!! Nothing like the Labor Day Weekend Show! :D

[Buffettphan1]

Magen's Bay is a beautiful beach, but it is very popular with tourists and gets very crowded. Sapphire is also a beautiful beach, but a little more out of the way with less people. Another difference is that at Magen's Bay, after renting beach chairs, we had to lug them to a spot on the beach, while most other beaches (including Sapphire) have attendants who will set them up for you.

 

You really can't go wrong with either beach. We were all set to go back to Magen's Bay, however, I am very glad that we tried Sapphire - we were very impressed and will definitely return there in the future.

 

BTW - we have the Fenway DVD!!! Nothing like the Labor Day Weekend Show! :D

 

 

Thanks for the info!!

 

Aghhh, Labor Day Weekends at Greatwoods, or whatever they call it now. Some good memories with Jimmy!!!!

I sat in a Key West bar all night when he playied in Miami, thinking he would come in, no luck!!

 

On the Fenway DVD< we went both nights. The first night was tough. We were way back in the box seats. Lots of fights, rough stuff.

The second night i scored 4th row center stage. Im the tall goofy guy in the white tee shirt dancing in the isle, with my wife in one clip. It was a great night. Nice to hear the younger gen getting into it through mom and dad as did my kids.

All the best to you

[Davorah]

You did a great job on the review, enjoyed the pictures! I enjoy setting sail out of San Juan as well, it is a trip in itself. . I am booked to set sail on the Adventure of the Seas for December 2012 for the New Year’s Cruise. The three other people I am cruising with have not been yet, so we are going to try to do as much as we can, probably going 3 or 4 days before.

I was just wondering if you have ever done a tour of the El Yunque Rainforest there I was wondering if you have been to St. Croix as this one of the stops on the ship and I have not been there yet and if so could you make any suggestions of what to do there. The other ports I have done on previous cruises (St. Martin, Barbados, St. Lucia, and Antigua). As you mentioned you want to go to Aruba, the Christmas cruise goes there as well as Curacao and the usual ports.

I just sailed on the Oasis for this past new years and I really enjoyed it. We spent about a week before in Florida and did Orlando (Disney), Miami and Fort Lauderdale, it was a fun small road trip before the cruise. This ship is very impressive and a lot of fun, I suggest you try to set sail on the Oasis or the Allure at least once. There is so much to do that you can hardly get it all done in the week. Have fun on your Bahamas cruise.

[LBumb]

awesome review

[LittleMissMagic]

I need to subscribe to my own thread - I apologize for not responding sooner! :o

 

I was just wondering if you have ever done a tour of the El Yunque Rainforest there I was wondering if you have been to St. Croix as this one of the stops on the ship and I have not been there yet and if so could you make any suggestions of what to do there. The other ports I have done on previous cruises (St. Martin, Barbados, St. Lucia, and Antigua). As you mentioned you want to go to Aruba, the Christmas cruise goes there as well as Curacao and the usual ports.

 

I have not done the El Yunque Rainforest tour - that was something on our to-do list that we never got around to. We'll have to hit it on another trip to San Juan.

 

We went to St. Croix on the Serenade. We had gotten too much sun the day before and decided to take the day off from the beach - when we realized there was not much shopping near port. We were going to go back to the ship and call it a day when we were approached by a local offering a Jeep tour, and we went for it (not the safest idea, but we're still alive and well, so obviously it worked out for us). It was a great tour. His wife was a school teacher from Texas, and he was retired - his wife decided to try an exchange program, and they had moved to the island because she was teaching at the schools. So during the day, to occupy himself, he would hang out at the cruise ships and give Jeep tours. He had a full day of tours because he had just dropped a family off when we got in, and as soon as we pulled back up to port, another family asked us how we liked it and got in the cab for a tour!

 

The island is really pretty, but there isn't much in the way of excursions or shopping. If you aren't going to do the beach, I'd suggest an island tour of some sort.... perhaps not as spontaneous as ours! :D

 

 

We're actually becoming increasingly frustrated with Royal Caribbean's customer service. They have been a pain in the butt to work with and have screwed us over on some things with our Monarch trip. Some of the RCI reps are just downright rude. Of course, this Monarch grad cruise is with a bunch of families that we don't even particularly like, so we aren't exactly thrilled about it... just looking forward to the "suite life," lol. The bad thing is, we were planning on telling everyone that we got a free upgrade, but with all of our reservation screw-ups, our stateroom information has been shared with the rest of the group, so we can no longer brag about our "free upgrade." Drat.

 

We're thinking about switching cruiselines... trying out Celebrity (though still under the same branch as Royal) or Princess. Not to mention, we're used to the way that Disney treats us, so we'd like to cruise with them again... if only they had more options!

[KDilly]

awesome review

 

 

Agreed!! This site is so informative!!

 

-KD

[Davorah]

I need to subscribe to my own thread - I apologize for not responding sooner! :o

 

 

 

I have not done the El Yunque Rainforest tour - that was something on our to-do list that we never got around to. We'll have to hit it on another trip to San Juan.

 

We went to St. Croix on the Serenade. We had gotten too much sun the day before and decided to take the day off from the beach - when we realized there was not much shopping near port. We were going to go back to the ship and call it a day when we were approached by a local offering a Jeep tour, and we went for it (not the safest idea, but we're still alive and well, so obviously it worked out for us). It was a great tour. His wife was a school teacher from Texas, and he was retired - his wife decided to try an exchange program, and they had moved to the island because she was teaching at the schools. So during the day, to occupy himself, he would hang out at the cruise ships and give Jeep tours. He had a full day of tours because he had just dropped a family off when we got in, and as soon as we pulled back up to port, another family asked us how we liked it and got in the cab for a tour!

 

The island is really pretty, but there isn't much in the way of excursions or shopping. If you aren't going to do the beach, I'd suggest an island tour of some sort.... perhaps not as spontaneous as ours! :D

 

 

We're actually becoming increasingly frustrated with Royal Caribbean's customer service. They have been a pain in the butt to work with and have screwed us over on some things with our Monarch trip. Some of the RCI reps are just downright rude. Of course, this Monarch grad cruise is with a bunch of families that we don't even particularly like, so we aren't exactly thrilled about it... just looking forward to the "suite life," lol. The bad thing is, we were planning on telling everyone that we got a free upgrade, but with all of our reservation screw-ups, our stateroom information has been shared with the rest of the group, so we can no longer brag about our "free upgrade." Drat.

 

We're thinking about switching cruiselines... trying out Celebrity (though still under the same branch as Royal) or Princess. Not to mention, we're used to the way that Disney treats us, so we'd like to cruise with them again... if only they had more options!

No worries about not responding sooner! My holiday is not for quite a while. Sorry to hear about the frustrating experience with Royal Caribbean. It is disheartening when you receive poor customer service and when their representatives are rude and not easy to work with. Hopefully the families will do their own thing and you will not have to deal with them much, just the graduates will hang out. Thanks for the information about St. Croix, we were thinking of making it a beach day as we will be probably be doing tours of the other islands with some beach time. But the jeep tour sounds good, so we will keep that in mind. I heard that celebrity is good with better food than Royal Caribbean ( but I have also heard that they usually have an older crowd but that could depend on time of year you are going and where). My parents are doing a Scandinavian/Russia cruise this summer with Celebrity so I will see what they think. But I do not think Celebrity is as bad as Holland America in terms of average age of the people on board. I believe we were in Barbados and met this couple from England probably in their 60s and they found the age group on their Holland America cruise too old for them, mentioned there were to many people with walkers. Princess is good too, I have friends that have gone on and a close family friend just went on a Princess cruise in Feb and she really enjoyed it (she has gone on Royal, Norwegian and Princess). I was also looking to do a celebrity cruise (may be for Hawaii, just see which cruise has the best option).

 

Good luck with your Monarch trip and all of the added frustration.

[Teacher_91]

I need to subscribe to my own thread - I apologize for not responding sooner! :o

 

 

 

I have not done the El Yunque Rainforest tour - that was something on our to-do list that we never got around to. We'll have to hit it on another trip to San Juan.

 

We went to St. Croix on the Serenade. We had gotten too much sun the day before and decided to take the day off from the beach - when we realized there was not much shopping near port. We were going to go back to the ship and call it a day when we were approached by a local offering a Jeep tour, and we went for it (not the safest idea, but we're still alive and well, so obviously it worked out for us). It was a great tour. His wife was a school teacher from Texas, and he was retired - his wife decided to try an exchange program, and they had moved to the island because she was teaching at the schools. So during the day, to occupy himself, he would hang out at the cruise ships and give Jeep tours. He had a full day of tours because he had just dropped a family off when we got in, and as soon as we pulled back up to port, another family asked us how we liked it and got in the cab for a tour!

 

The island is really pretty, but there isn't much in the way of excursions or shopping. If you aren't going to do the beach, I'd suggest an island tour of some sort.... perhaps not as spontaneous as ours! :D

 

 

We're actually becoming increasingly frustrated with Royal Caribbean's customer service. They have been a pain in the butt to work with and have screwed us over on some things with our Monarch trip. Some of the RCI reps are just downright rude. Of course, this Monarch grad cruise is with a bunch of families that we don't even particularly like, so we aren't exactly thrilled about it... just looking forward to the "suite life," lol. The bad thing is, we were planning on telling everyone that we got a free upgrade, but with all of our reservation screw-ups, our stateroom information has been shared with the rest of the group, so we can no longer brag about our "free upgrade." Drat.

 

We're thinking about switching cruise lines... trying out Celebrity (though still under the same branch as Royal) or Princess. Not to mention, we're used to the way that Disney treats us, so we'd like to cruise with them again... if only they had more options!

 

 

Girl, I think you need to get yourself some new traveling companions! Nobody should travel with people they 'don't particularly like'. :p

[LittleMissMagic]

Girl, I think you need to get yourself some new traveling companions! Nobody should travel with people they 'don't particularly like'. :p

 

I agree, and it's not exactly my choice. We were kind of roped into it...

[terpfan101]

No worries about not responding sooner! My holiday is not for quite a while. Sorry to hear about the frustrating experience with Royal Caribbean. It is disheartening when you receive poor customer service and when their representatives are rude and not easy to work with. Hopefully the families will do their own thing and you will not have to deal with them much, just the graduates will hang out. Thanks for the information about St. Croix, we were thinking of making it a beach day as we will be probably be doing tours of the other islands with some beach time. But the jeep tour sounds good, so we will keep that in mind. I heard that celebrity is good with better food than Royal Caribbean ( but I have also heard that they usually have an older crowd but that could depend on time of year you are going and where). My parents are doing a Scandinavian/Russia cruise this summer with Celebrity so I will see what they think. But I do not think Celebrity is as bad as Holland America in terms of average age of the people on board. I believe we were in Barbados and met this couple from England probably in their 60s and they found the age group on their Holland America cruise too old for them, mentioned there were to many people with walkers. Princess is good too, I have friends that have gone on and a close family friend just went on a Princess cruise in Feb and she really enjoyed it (she has gone on Royal, Norwegian and Princess). I was also looking to do a celebrity cruise (may be for Hawaii, just see which cruise has the best option).

 

Good luck with your Monarch trip and all of the added frustration.

 

I did the El Yunque rainforest tour with my family when I was 18 back in 2004. It was a cool place but not a rainforest like you'd imagine in South America. There were lots of plants/trees and some wildlife, but no exotic animals or anything like that. If you have plenty of time it'd be worth going to. I remember we did have a very good tour guide.

[EdmondDantes]

Amazing. Thank you for shaking the dust off of memories of Old San Juan and providing enough motivation to book the Adventure of the Seas for the Thanksgiving week of this year.

 

You have set a very high bar for reviews, and you should take it to heart that you may have a future in literature or travel marketing if you dont choose architecture.

 

I look forward to living vicariously through your next adventure!

 

Cheers!

[cruiseclues]

Thanks for your fine review...great to have reviews with Photos. :)

[blondcat]

Loved this review. I think you'll look back on this one day (several decades in the future) and be grateful that you took the time to do it. What a lovely snapshot of happy memories.

 

Plus there is the added benefit of showing future generations that you and your sister were hot! :cool:

[RCCLNYMETS41]

Who was your Cruise director?

(don't know if I missed it in the review)

[LittleMissMagic]

Who was your Cruise director?

(don't know if I missed it in the review)

 

Our cruise director was Dennis (his last name escapes me at the moment). It was our second time with Dennis - we had also had him on our sailing on the Serenade out of Puerto Rico.