Adventure of the Seas

[bayjoens]

We just got home from the Southern Caribbean on the Adventure of the Seas. Our itin was San Juan, St Thomas, St Maarten, Antigua, St Lucia, Barbados and San Juan. We had 6 kids and 6 adults with us, including very experienced cruisers and first-timers. All in all, it was a good cruise. The food was good and plentiful, although not fabulous. For the first-timers though, it was great. The service was great, although we found that our room steward was inconsistent in that we had great service from him but our friends about 3 cabins down did not have good service from him. Our waiter and assistant waiter and the waiters and waitresses in the Blue Moon lounge was wonderful. The ship itself, although only three years old, seems a bit tired, with lots of little things worn out. The tvs in all three of our cabins didn't work well. One of the clocks by the pool was missing its hands. On all our safes, the buttons were worn out so that you had to guess which was open, close and reset. There was nothing major but it is a little sad to see so many little things in bad shape already.

 

The entertainment was fine, with the ice show definitely being the highlight. We like to dance but there weren't many lounges with dance music and that music wasn't always that great. Jesters, the disco, was too loud and "young" for us, with the strobe lights and jam-packed dance floor.

 

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I still have all my compasses and hope I can help. I have gotten so much help and information from this board that I feel like it is my turn to give back.

[CTKath]

Hi! Thanks for the heads up. I leave on Sunday for this itinerary.

 

I have a question - is there a movie theater on board and if so, what are the movies they're showing?

 

Thanks.

[kenandlaura06]

Thanks for the info!

[gabucewicz67]

Where was your cabin and what type? Any more details you could give would be great, leaving on the same trip on 8/28

[bayjoens]

Yes, there is a small movie theater on board. They showed Vanity Fair on Sun, Sharktale on Mon, King Arthur on Tues, Princess Dairies 2 on Wed, and Wimbledon on Thur, Anchorman on Fri, Ladder 49 on Sat. These movies also showed on the in-room televisions but I don't remember if it was on the same day they were showing in the theater.

 

Our room was an inside quad, 6655, not sure which category.

 

Sorry, it is much easier to answer question than load up the details. I could practically just type in the cruise compasses.

[ImAFirsttimer]

I am going on the same itinerary on 9/11..thanks for the info! I have a few questions...

 

We want to try Portofino one night. Is there one night in the dining room you would suggest missing as oppose to other nights?

 

Did you do any excursions? What island did you like the best and why?

 

Any tips you can give a first timer would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[bayjoens]

Firsty, although we didn't go to Portofino's, we heard that it was fabulous. I have in my notes that Wed is the best night to skip the dining room. I remember that Friday night is the lobster/prime rib night though.

 

We did our own excursions: Monday in St Thomas was with Sunny Liston and Snuba at Coral World; Tuesday was shopping in St Maarten and then back to the boat early; Wednesday was Eli's Eco-Tour in Antigua; Thursday was Rodney Beach in St Lucia; Friday was Harrison's Cave on our own in the morning and the Thriller turtle swim and snorkel with Stephen and John. The highlights were definitely the snuba, the Eco-Tour and the Thriller turtle swim and snorkel. Although my kids say that their highlight was sitting on Sunny Liston's truck, singing with him to Caribbean music while he drove through the mountains. You can find more about all of this if you go to the specific port folder.

 

If I needed a day off, just to hang out on the ship and have a quiet day, I would have probably skipped either shopping in St Maarten or St Lucia, depending on how much you like to shop or spend time on the beach.

 

Have a great time! You will be hooked, I'm sure.

[billiebob]

Thank you for all the information. We are going on the AOS on October 9th and are really looking forward to our first "big" cruise. We were on the Big Red Boat with our two boys way back in 1994. haha

Glad to hear that your cruise was a lot of fun!

:)

[cheeseburgers in paradise]

WE leave a week from Sunday, This will be our 4th. on voyager class ships, our first out of San Juan. Anything about San Juan that is good to Know? Who is the Cruise Director, hope its Richard Spacey, had him on another ship he was great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[cruisinsuz]

You guys are going to love AOS. San Juan has a bit to be desired, IMHO.

We were on the July 17 sailing and our CD was a woman (sorry, can't remember her name). She seemed to be very good at what she does.

 

If I were to skip a port, Antigua would probably get my vote. Not because it doesn't have anything to offer, but out of all of those islands, it is my least favorite. Our favorite, on the other hand was St. Lucia because it is simply beautiful, luscious and tropical. Most of the other islands are much drier and have less vegetation.

 

We did the Rumbaba day sail in St. Thomas (fabulous), America's Cup Regatta in St. Martin (recommend highly), SCUBA in Antigua and St. Lucia, and Silver Moon Catamaran sail in Barbados.

 

AOS is beautiful, food is devine and service was very good, especially in the dining room.

 

Go and have a great time!!!

[bayjoens]

Cheeseburgers, Richard Spacey was indeed our cruise director last week. He was a lot of fun and full of energy.

 

The adults in our group found our favorite gathering spot to be the Blue Moon Lounge on the 14th floor. They have live music every night and the service was great. If you end up there, say hi to Maria for us. She was great, remembered our names, drinks and general preferences from the beginning. We also had great service from Ahmed up there but he was on the first leg of our flight home from San Juan to DC on his way back to Istanbul for his time off.

 

We also found our dining room staff to be great. Our waiter was Jerrich and Monica was his assistant. We had six adults at one table and all six of our kids, three 15-yo girls and three 11-yo boys, at the table next to us. They took care of both groups graciously and carefully. They let us know when my son ordered only a salad for dinner or when he ordered something that might be too spicy for him. (It was fine because he doesn't eat much and loves spicy food.) And he had a new different game/puzzle for the kids every night and taught them how to fold the napkins in different and fun ways.

 

We were only in San Juan for a night before embarkation and an afternoon after disembarkation. We (me, dh, 15-yo dd, and 11-yo ds) had a very good, but not cheap, dinner at the Parrot Club and a fun local breakfast at La Bombonera. Both are in Old San Juan. (There is also a Starbucks there if needed.) If you are spending any time in OSJ, everything is within walking distance. It is picturesque but the shopping, again, is pretty much the same old stuff.

 

From reading other posts, it sounds to me as if the favorite islands are connected with the fun excursions. If you don't do any kind of snorkel or water excursion that you enjoy, the shopping and sightseeing can get pretty hot and tiring quickly. To tell the truth, the shopping was the same (same stores) at every port and the islands, by land, start to feel similar as well, green and humid. So my advice to you all on this itinerary is to book fun water excursions or plan beach time with only a day of shopping and a day of sightseeing at the most. Everyone who has been on this itin seems to look back on those snorkel/snuba/swim days as the highlights.

 

Have fun!

[jillba]

I was on the same cruise in a promande room and I have nothing but excellent things to say about AOS. I did not see "tired" at all, in fact they were laying brand new carpet all over the ship during the entire cruise. As well as painting & other maint. My room was in perfect condition.

[daveky]

Glad to hear the nice reports on the AOS as we sail September 4th. Haven't been on her in acouple of years. I know there can be some bad threads on her from time to time on several cruises from on the ship. I believe it's where they can't fill the ship every once in awhile and drop fairs and have issues with passengers on that cruise not being courtious.

Really like the ship and internary and looking forward to our sailing.

Agree with above posts, except for St Thomas, no big savings in shopping.

What is great about this intenary are the islands, beaches, snorkeling, etc.

Looking forward to a great time, stay cool, go with the flow and enjoy another great RCCL cruise.

 

Dave

[CruisinRoxy]

Previous reviews were right on. Every time we were in port, some guys would whip out their carpet ripper-out-ers and start replacing some carpet, although, magically never really in the way. It is a beautiful ship. We had Ashley Kerr as a CD - classy and cool. Our favorite 2 islands were Barbados (4x4 jeep tour, lots of fun) and St. Lucia ,the Brig Unicorn pirate ship ( also lots of fun). But you have to go with a good attitude, not to find fault. We also did a great Antigua Paddles tour - eco kayaking and snorkeling - very nice. Went to Divi little Bay Beach on St. Maarten, with our young son but the 2 teens did that crazy tree-swinging thing (count me out -no way but they loved it. I'd rather bob and float). St. Thomas is great for shopping but only a half day or so, then you can easily grab a cab and get to a nearby beach for the other half a day.Have a great time - wish I could go again!

[Trainacomin]

I am considering the AOS next fall. I notice it leaves at 10pm. How early can you get on the ship. If you can get on early can you drop off your luggage and go sightseeing in SJ?

 

Clint

[billiebob]

jillba -

We are on the AOS in October and were wondering about the PR (we're on Deck 6). Did you find it noisy at all? There is no way of knowing if we have a good view of the Royal Promenade, but are hoping to be able to watch the Sail-Away Parade from our cabin. Any help would be great! :)

[jillba]

jillba -

We are on the AOS in October and were wondering about the PR (we're on Deck 6). Did you find it noisy at all? There is no way of knowing if we have a good view of the Royal Promenade, but are hoping to be able to watch the Sail-Away Parade from our cabin. Any help would be great! :)

 

We LOVED our PR room! We didn't hear a thing and we were directly above Cafe Promenade where everyone seems to gather. We watched the parade from our room and had a GREAT view (i can email you pictures of the parade view if you want) but we couldn't hear it all. Our room was on Deck 8

[nanfromatlanta]

We were on this ship in May and thoroughly enjoyed the cruise and the ship. Glad you had a good time.

[bayjoens]

Train, we were on the ship about 12noon, got into our rooms at 2pm and received our luggage by 3pm. We did do the online sail-away thing and that seemed to help expedite us. We got to the pier around 11:30 and had to wait in the heat for about half an hour until they opened the desks. Once we started moving, though, we kept moving until we got to the Windjammer and sat down for lunch. There wasn't any waiting inside the terminal, which was very nice.

 

You can check your luggage and go explore San Juan, but it was so hot and humid outside and so pleasant on the ship that we didn't even think of it. Also, our kids are usually so excited to be on board, after months and months of anticipation, they don't want to do anything but wander around and identify all the places they can use their soda cards.

 

Jill, not to find fault but to be honest, although the replacing of the carpet was not much of an inconvenience, I was bothered by the fumes. I am very sensitive to chemical smells and, at one point, the fumes were coming into the dining room and bothering me during the dinner. The staff was very accomodating and closed the doors nearest our tables and that was the end of that.

 

Yes, I have also read some posts, complaining about the demographics on board, but we found our fellow passengers to be pleasant, nice and courteous.

[Islandthym]

BAYJOENS: Who was your cruise driector. I think I just saw on another thread it is Richard Spacey, but then above saw that there was a lady CD... So is it Richard or someone else.... THANKS!

[hardingk]

Glad to hear the nice reports on the AOS as we sail September 4th. Haven't been on her in acouple of years. I know there can be some bad threads on her from time to time on several cruises from on the ship. I believe it's where they can't fill the ship every once in awhile and drop fairs and have issues with passengers on that cruise not being courtious.

Really like the ship and internary and looking forward to our sailing.

Agree with above posts, except for St Thomas, no big savings in shopping.

What is great about this intenary are the islands, beaches, snorkeling, etc.

Looking forward to a great time, stay cool, go with the flow and enjoy another great RCCL cruise.

 

Dave

Hi Dave!

We are sailing with you! Have you signed up for the M&M? So far we only have 10 people :( need another 15! There are a few excursions that some of us are doing if you are interested. Here is the link to our roll call!

Adventure of the Seas 9/4/05

 

Talk to you over there!

[cruzfiend]

Could you please tell me if the "Duty Free" shop is still in the terminal, and if so, did you see anyone having their purchase taken away from them??

[bayjoens]

Yes, Richard Spacey was the cd.

 

Yes, there is still a duty-free shop in the terminal in San Juan. No, didin't see anyone hassled at all.

[billiebob]

Thanks, Jillba.

I would love to see pictures of the parade if you don't mind sending them to me (bobbie913@yahoo.com). I think our room might possibly be over the Cafe Promenade as well. We will be in Room 6277. :)

[Bongo]

It's great to hear so many postive reviews. We're sailing on 10/9th and I just can't wait! Does anyone remember what nights were formal nights on AOS? We're doing the Southern Itinerary if it matters (St. Thomas, St. M, St. J, St. L, & Barbados) and don't want to book Portofino's for a formal night.

 

Thanks!

Pam