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

[LittleMissMagic]

 

 

 

[LittleMissMagic]

 

 

 

 

 

[LittleMissMagic]

 

 

 

 

[05mak05]

So refreshing to see such a happy family! Your pictures are great and so is your commentary. I'm glad you said your family "winged it" as I was wondering about that. I gather your Dad is a free spirit and goes with the flow?

[dz9yvr]

Can you explain the hair nets for the zipline?

[LittleMissMagic]

So refreshing to see such a happy family! Your pictures are great and so is your commentary. I'm glad you said your family "winged it" as I was wondering about that. I gather your Dad is a free spirit and goes with the flow?

 

Yes, that's my dad! When we were younger, he used to plan things out much more. He'd book an excursion for every port because he wanted to keep us entertained and away from bad areas. But now that we're all adults, we just go with the flow. I kept up with our rather inactive roll call, we talk to other people onboard to see what they're doing, we talk to crew members to see what they like to do, and of course, we talk to cab drivers and other people trying to sell us on last-minute excursions. Yes, it can be a hassel, but when planning activities once in port, you have the advantage of being able to get them to come down on prices.

 

I think as soon as I am on my own (how sad! :(), I will revert to my plan-in-advance ways. See, I am the Disney freak of the family. Our vacations are typically cruising, Disney, or skiing. We've been doing Disney the longest, though. I serve as the TA for the family, booking our dining reservations and deciding what parks to do what days. I also have like a ten-year plan of my life (okay, a bit of an exaggeration). But everyone else in my family lives on island time! :D And that's why you'll never see them here on CC!

[LittleMissMagic]

Can you explain the hair nets for the zipline?

 

Sanitation purposes? When I've ziplined before, I never had to wear a hair net. I actually think it could have something to do with bugs in the treetops because the bikers didn't have to wear them with their helmets. They put it on my head, and I didn't ask questions! :D

[NeuroQueen]

You all are just too damn cute. Your dad looks like a hoot. I guess he would have to be to live with three women, right? I must say your fashion is right off of the red carpet and takes the cruise critic prize for most stylish. You have a great looking, fun-loving looking family, and with an architect and civil engineer, smart, too! Keep cruising and writing reviews!!! Loving it!!!

[LittleMissMagic]

You all are just too damn cute. Your dad looks like a hoot. I guess he would have to be to live with three women, right? I must say your fashion is right off of the red carpet and takes the cruise critic prize for most stylish. You have a great looking, fun-loving looking family, and with an architect and civil engineer, smart, too! Keep cruising and writing reviews!!! Loving it!!!

 

Aww, thank you! :)

 

Poor Dad living with all girls! It's a tough job, but I'm pretty sure he loves it! :D His dog is actually a girl, too - a little Lhasa Apso who is right behind him wherever he goes as soon as he comes home.

 

I'm not sure if I've mentioned that Rachel actually works at a pageant store that dresses girls for the Miss America and Miss USA pageants, so we have the hook-up on dresses! She actually designed the ivory dress she wore on the first formal night herself.

[05mak05]

The personal details are just too interesting. We also did a Christmas cruise - our first including our children and 6 & 7 year old grandchildren. We were lucky and had glorious beach days with warm sunshine and not one drop of rain. Such a relief as rain & thunderstorms were predicted for the entire 7 days. I thought rainy season in the tropics ended 12/1 and did not realize it continued into the last part of December. And, here I did SO much research, asked so many questions. Maybe winging it is the way to go!

[LBumb]

so many great photos

thanks for posting

[nikita]

First of all thanks so much for posting photos of what you're wearing. We have cruised for years and the funnest thing for me is shopping before hand and dressing up every night! I enjoy it so much - so enjoy your photos so much! Also thanks for sharing your experiences. We are cruising the southern route in March so this is making me much more excited about our upcoming cruise!! Can't wait for more!! You are a lovely family!

[cynt]

I think as soon as I am on my own (how sad! :(), I will revert to my plan-in-advance ways. See, I am the Disney freak of the family. Our vacations are typically cruising, Disney, or skiing. We've been doing Disney the longest, though. I serve as the TA for the family, booking our dining reservations and deciding what parks to do what days. I also have like a ten-year plan of my life (okay, a bit of an exaggeration). But everyone else in my family lives on island time! :D And that's why you'll never see them here on CC!

 

I knew there was a reason I've been enjoying your review. Hey Dis'er!! It takes one to know one!!! Loving your review. We're planning a huge Disney trip 2013 - Grandparents, 7 siblings and nieces and nephews! It's going to be a hoot!! I'm the super extraordinaire planner. I've already started planning. :D

 

Enjoying your review!!

[setsail]

I see the lizard on your dads T. Is he a parrothead? Nice review:)

[LittleMissMagic]

I knew there was a reason I've been enjoying your review. Hey Dis'er!! It takes one to know one!!! Loving your review. We're planning a huge Disney trip 2013 - Grandparents, 7 siblings and nieces and nephews! It's going to be a hoot!! I'm the super extraordinaire planner. I've already started planning. :D

 

Enjoying your review!!

 

Another Disney fan! I almost mentioned in the introduction that this was my first time writing a cruise review, but I had a bit of practice with my Disney trip reports! :D

[LittleMissMagic]

I see the lizard on your dads T. Is he a parrothead? Nice review:)

 

Yes, he is! My mom is actually the biggest parrothead - we just threw her a surprise Margaritaville 50th birthday. Rachel and I grew up little parrakeets, listening to every Jimmy Buffett album in the car on road trips. You might recognize my username as a Buffett song title. :)

[05mak05]

This is our very favorite cruise song ...

[LittleMissMagic]

This is our very favorite cruise song ...

 

That's my all-time favorite ballad!!!

[setsail]

My son /dil were just at the meeting of the minds in key west(november). JB showed up for this one. :D

[amapola]

Okay, I took a picture of the sign so I would remember of the name.... but can anyone read this??? :D My dad might still have the name scribbled on the piece of paper he carried around with restuarant recommendations from bellhops and doormen.

 

 

Great review and pics! thanks for taking the time to put it all together.

In case you're still wondering, the name of the restaurant is Cielito Lindo :)

[LittleMissMagic]

Great review and pics! thanks for taking the time to put it all together.

In case you're still wondering, the name of the restaurant is Cielito Lindo :)

 

Thank you!!! :)

[LittleMissMagic]

Treetop Adventure Park was a little chaotic. We realized that because of the way we got there (by hitch-hiking with a pre-paid tour group), we could have easily left without paying. The ziplines were fun, and it was different than when we had ziplined in Honduras because we were unhooked from the line and walked to the next station, while in Honduras we went from one line to the next, waiting on high platforms. The staff was friendly, but they were really trying to get people through the course quickly. I think it would have been better to go first thing in the morning. In the future, we would either book an excursion or try to get a group of people together from our roll call (err... I would do that, lol!) to share a cab.

 

 

 

 

 

[LittleMissMagic]

 

I quickly snapped a photo of the governor's mansion...

 

 

 

 

 

[LittleMissMagic]

 

 

We did a little souvenir shopping at the port. Rachel collects shot glasses from every place we visit, so she had to find a shot glass. I found a plate with a map of the Caribbean for mom. We have a Caribbean/Jimmy Buffett/Disney basement. It sounds all over the place, but it actually all goes together nicely.

 

Then, Dad had to try the local beer.

 

Mom was on the balcony! (Note, we are docked on the starboard side - I guess we couldn't turn around?)

 

 

First time we could see our flag!

 

 

We typically choose our rooms on the port side of the ship, but you're really limited with adjoining rooms - they go quickly.

Edited January 16, 2012 by LittleMissMagic

[LittleMissMagic]

After reboarding the ship and having a "Jam Session," Rachel and I decided to go inline skating... but they were closed. However, we saw our tablemate, Kale, on the basketball court playing volleyball, so Rachel decided to go embarass him. "GOOOOO KALEEE!!! YOU SERVE THAT BALL!!!!" He surprisingly wasn't very embarassed. (Rachel had been teasing him about girls all week.) So we hung out with him on the sports deck, then we went to watch the parade in the Promenade because I like parades.

 

I didn't have my camera with me, but this parade hardly counted as a parade. It was more like a show with a very long, narrow stage and funky dressed crew members. It really bothered me that their shoes didn't all match and that some of them were wearing watches. The costumes were pretty good, but they didn't have a uniform look. Just a reminder that it wasn't Disney! :D

 

Goodbye, St. Lucia...