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

[LittleMissMagic]

With Kale!

 

 

 

 

[LBumb]

great photos

[LittleMissMagic]

 

 

 

 

That night was our second formal night... and second Captain's Party. We spent it with Derrick and Jennifer's family.

 

We had watched these men walk through the dining room several times. The first night we noticed them, they had capes on. Turns out, they were spending six months on the ship. They were always escorted into the dining room by a crew member - I think their personal butler? They were dressed up very festive for Christmas Eve, so Rachel asked for a photo with them, and they gladly agreed. They had strong accents - I'm not sure where they were from.

 

[LittleMissMagic]

Our tablemates!

 

 

 

 

[LBumb]

six months, now that is a cruise.

[bogs1009]

Great review and pictures, I am heading on the Adventure in less than 2 weeks.

 

I also like to plan ahead on excurisions, I am looking into the Treetops Adventure Zipline, you said it was a bit chaotic but how was the actual ziplining part of it? How were the views? What was the average length of each zip line? I am trying to convince my gf, who is a bit nervous, that zipling will be a lot of fun, and not scary at all. Figure we would add the bike tour or hike at Treetops with the Ziplining. We were orginally going to do an Island Tour with Cosol but figure could be a bit boring having an all day bus/island tour as we both are in our mid/late 20's.

[LittleMissMagic]

Great review and pictures, I am heading on the Adventure in less than 2 weeks.

 

I also like to plan ahead on excurisions, I am looking into the Treetops Adventure Zipline, you said it was a bit chaotic but how was the actual ziplining part of it? How were the views? What was the average length of each zip line? I am trying to convince my gf, who is a bit nervous, that zipling will be a lot of fun, and not scary at all. Figure we would add the bike tour or hike at Treetops with the Ziplining. We were orginally going to do an Island Tour with Cosol but figure could be a bit boring having an all day bus/island tour as we both are in our mid/late 20's.

 

The actual ziplining part was run very well once we got started. The initial wait time to zipline was a bit long because we were at the end of a 30-person group. However, once everyone got going, there was hardly a wait. The course had a mixture of long and short ziplines. I'm no good at length estimation, but I'd say the longest was 100+ yards. There were 17 total ziplines. The views were great - some lines were over trees, and others were over water. It's really not scary because you control the pace that you zip and when you stop.

 

Note that the biking tour is STRENUOUS!!! :eek: Everyone left on bikes, and many people came back walking. Our friends, Derrick and Jennifer, had done the mountain biking tour on their honeymoon and said it was super intense - there were many parts during which people got off their bikes and walked, and some people gave up entirely and took the bus back (it sounded like they were followed the entire time by a van which could carry tired bikers).

[LittleMissMagic]

Final day :(

 

 

It was also our first sea day!

 

Rachel and I started the day on the pool deck. We actually just went to see if we could find chairs - and they were everywhere! We were there for about an hour when Derrick and Jennifer joined us.

 

We watched the ice sculpture being carved and the belly flop competition. The belly floppers on this ship were disappointing - only one big dude, and he didn't win because he made a big scene and then just fell in the pool with little splash.

 

We started to watch the crew v. passenger volleyball game, but it was the worst game ever - probably because they didn't bother to drain the pool. They were treading water and playing volleyball - talk about exhausting. The ball rarely made it over the net.

 

Then Rachel and I went with Derrick and Jennifer to play Michael Jackson trivia. We then decided to go inline skating. That was fun. I think the inline track on the Adventure is larger than the one on the Mariner (at least back in 2008).

 

They had a Christmas ice show. It was a strange hodgepodge of Christmas songs and costumes. Very weird.

 

 

 

[montiemsu]

Thanks for posting pics of Sapphire beach. My husband and I were debating which beach to go to when we are in St. Thomas next week and will definitely be going to check it out!

[mbjboyle]

We were a few cabins down the hall from you (we had the red bows on the doors).

 

One of our Christmas Cruise Trees:

 

Puerto Rico:

 

St. Thomas:

 

Saint Maarten:

 

That awesome rainbow over Barbados:

 

Malibu/Cockspur Beach:

[LittleMissMagic]

Hello, neighbor! Great pictures!!! :)

[midwife1021]

LOVING this review! Thanks so much! Your family seems like a really awesome group to travel with.

[LittleMissMagic]

It was a casual night, but because it was Christmas, we decided to dress up a little...

 

 

Rachel gave me a lovely updo!

 

 

 

[LittleMissMagic]

Rachel got a picture with these guys, again. Too bad she didn't start this sooner! :D

 

 

Rachel and Kale - his parents warned us he was a shy one, but Rachel got him out of his shell!

 

 

See that lipstick on his cheek? He left it there until he went back to his stateroom after dinner! :D

 

[LittleMissMagic]

Can't believe they're 14 (Kale) and 12 (Mattea) - so tall for their age! (Err... and we're a little on the short side! :D)

 

 

Our wonderful wait staff!

 

 

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! :)

 

[juicyglam87]

Great pictures and review!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[RunsWithFlyingDolphins]

Great Review

[Sinppu]

Really wonderful photos!

I have to compliment you two stunning sisters on your taste and class - you dress very accordingly.

Many girls nowadays seem to think flashing all the skin they can is stylish and trendy :eek: but you luckily do not, hence you've both got it spot on!!

 

I hope Kale sees this: he'll be very dashing when a little older ;)

 

Thanks so much for this happy review!

[andsail]

Your review was great!!!! Really enjoyed the photos and seeing a nice family enjoying vacation time together.:)

[LittleMissMagic]

Rachel and I went to bed when we were coming into port...

 

 

[LittleMissMagic]

We had priority disembarkation, though we didn't want it. Our hotel check-in wasn't until 4:00 pm, so no use rushing over there. We took our time getting off of the ship. We actually considered getting off (Dad went to Guest Relations, but they told him that he had to disembark, then wait for everyone to board the ship, then see if there was availability) and asking if there was any availability on the next cruise... or going over to the Princess ship and checking there, since the food would be the same on the Adventure. If it didn't mess up our flight back home, we totally would have! :D Which is what got us thinking - next Christmas, we should do a back-2-back!!! (Thinking about switching cruiselines between cruises to avoid the same entertainment and food.)

 

Rachel had to finish her Key Lime Pie...

 

 

 

 

[LittleMissMagic]

 

[Cupcrazy]

Fantastic review. Thanks so much for posting all the pictures. I really enjoyed all your little stories and your dad seems like a blast. You're a great writer/reviewer. Have you written any reviews for your previous cruises?

Tell dad to book a B2B cruise next year, they are great. I did a 14 day cruise last year and it was fantastic. You'll never want to do a 7 nighter again.

[Teacher_91]

Well count me in as one of your fans! Your review was a GREAT read and I really enjoyed your pictures!

 

Good luck with this semester @ school! :)

[JohninDC]

Great review! :) I'm interested in hearing of your experiences with the SJ airport on your return flight. Thanks again!