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Adventurer of the Seas 1/06/13 first review!

plowboy920

By plowboy920,
in Royal Caribbean International

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plowboy920

plowboy920

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This is my first review and I am not a writer so please bear with me. A little about us, my wife and I have sailed on all the Voyager class ships, 3 Radiance class and just became Diamond on this cruise. We have also sailed out of San Juan before on the Serenade so we thought we knew what to expect. My wife’s cousin and his wife traveled with us, they have sailed before but not on RCI.

 

We left Milwaukee WI on Saturday, flying through Orlando to San Juan, everything went well, had our bags in about 25 minutes, and went out to get a cab. I was told at the taxi stand the rate to the Radisson Ambassador was $17 + $1 per bag when we arrived about 20 minutes later, the driver confirmed the price, but I think she counted the bags under our eyes as well (we didn’t have 12 bags with us) oh well I had $30 out so she cut her own tip. The Radisson was a very clean, nice hotel check in was quick, and then we went to the bar to watch the Packer game and grab a bite to eat. The food was great at a reasonable price and very convenient, I would recommend the Radisson pre cruise.

 

Sunday morning we grabbed a taxi to the port around 11, fare was around $20. Check in was very quick and smooth (from the Platinum and above line). We were seated in the C&A area and went on the ship at noon. The rooms were not ready until 2:00, but the beer was really cold in the Duck & Dog! At 2:00 the rooms were ready and luggage was delivered around 3:30. In the meantime I went to check out our table for 4 at the late diner seating, much to my surprise we were at a table for 12, after talking to the head waiter on duty he changed our table and everything was perfect from here on (as far as diner was concerned). Muster drill was normal, late diner was excellent, our waiter and assistant waiter were great, now we went back to the room around 10:30 and missed the late night welcome aboard show. The reason I mention this is because we never caught the name of the cruise director, he was not the one listed on the “names behind the faces” sheet left in our room. He spoke very fluent Spanish and his gig was “did you enjoy the show Yes or YES” I’m sure someone else will post his name. We went up to bed and heard quite a few kids running and screaming in the hallway, I thought ok here we go but it didn’t last long.

 

Moving on quickly, St Thomas was very nice, the weather was perfect, AOS was changing the carpeting on the staircases and it was formal night. The captains’ reception was normal, pictures in front of the Imperial Lounge, and free Champaign in the lounge and in the promenade. The Las Vegas production show was very nice. We noticed a lot of Spanish girls wearing Quinceanera saches provided by RC. When you ran into these girls you had better get out of their way as they were running down the halls and stairways not caring who was in their way.

 

St Kitts was hot, sunny, and windy. Very nice port! Tonight was the welcome back party, all I can say is WOW! They served a lot of choices for drinks and served wonderful appetizers. We had 776 invited to the welcome back party, 596 of them being gold members. The headliner show was a tribute to the Temptations, it was very entertaining.

 

Now the first sea day, there were young Spanish girls everywhere wearing beautiful white dresses and their entire family was dressed like it was formal night on steroids, yet it was only noon! Lots of pictures being taken, they did block a few staircases but no big deal. Tonight seemed to be a party, lots of noise in the hallways, stairs blocked, and elevators held up for pictures. When we went to get an elevator nobody was around, when it arrived we were pushed aside and had to wait for another, and another until we took the stairs up 5 floors. The ice show “Cool Art Hot Ice” was nothing short of spectacular, but get tickets early on day 2, they were all gone by noon people hoarded them for multiple shows. Tonight’s production show was Invitation to Dance, it was entertaining, but done in Spanish so we didn’t understand what was going on.

 

Day 5 Aruba, we did the Best of Aruba tour, it was awesome, went to the Aloe Factory, California Lighthouse and saw the windward side of the island, this may be our favorite island to date! Escargot returned today after a 6 week absence, and we realized the new menus have a few slight differences between ships JOS in Oct. had a few different items than this menu. Tonight was the Love & Marriage game show, we watched it later on tv and it was entertaining.

 

Day 6 Curacao, we had a tour booked, when we got off the ship it was pouring cats & Dogs sideways, they were quick to cancel the tour and refund our money, unfortunately ½ hour later it quit and was pretty nice, a few very short showers. This is a very nice port, and easily walk able. Tonight was formal night, the show was a comedian, and the top tier event. The top tier C&A event left a lasting impression. Almost any cocktail you could ask for was available, I asked if our server had a Manhattan, he went back and mixed one for me. They had a chef carving watermelons, room steward folding towel animals and more food than you could imagine from caviar to sushi, petite fours to chicken wings, this was the most impressive C&A event I have seen yet!

 

The last sea day, we had a very light breakfast, went to check out our pictures (some were missing), hit the casino (it was paying well) and went up to the pool deck. Here is when I noticed something strange, the announcement bell went off and they said “this announcement is for our Spanish speaking guests only” I still have no idea what they said or why it didn’t pertain to us? Later we went down to the café promenade for a slice of pizza, after asking if this was the end of the line (with no response) we waited 10 minutes. When we reached the front of the line they brought out 2 fresh pizzas, to my surprise the 2 ladies in front of us took it ALL, they left with mini plates piled so high I can’t believe they made it to where ever they were going! We waited 5 more minutes for some nice fresh pizza. The Farewell show was done well, Diner was again excellent, after leaving our gratuities and final goodbyes we went to watch the Packer game (ok not a very good outcome) and had a great time with lots of fans from both sides.

 

Debarkation day, we went to the Windjammer for the first time, the lines seemed to be perpendicular people jumping in and out, getting in between us and not patiently waiting to follow the line. Debarkation in the theater was unusual, again they were only speaking in Spanish, I simply asked the lady from RCI what she said and felt like she was scolding me for not speaking Spanish. We had luggage tag 10, 8:40 meeting time, at 9:02 they called us, picked up luggage, through customs, and in a taxi at 9:20. We knew to go to agriculture inspection first so the airport was a breeze.

 

Final thoughts, the Adventurer of the Seas is in great shape, the crew outstanding, the C&A events even better, and the ports breathtaking. Our relatives signed up for C&A and purchased a “Next Cruise” On the down side, if you only speak English, and don’t care for a pushy crowd there are cruises out of different ports that may be fit your needs better.

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plowboy920

plowboy920

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When we were on the explorer we could not go in their pub because it was so smokey from the smokers. I am very allergic to smoke.

 

Can you tell me if it was the same on the adventure? We leave next week.

 

Thanks so much

 

there were more indoor smoking areas than I remember recently on RC. Let me check a cruise compass, I know smoking was allowed in the Blue Moon at the bar and the 19th hole, I'll get back to you:)

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