Review: Adventure of the Seas, June 20-27

[mit01]

Wednesday, June 24. St. Lucia

 

We were up early for a Windjammer breakfast since this was our only excursion day. We booked the ship’s boat trip to the Pitons. The excursion cost $69.50/person, and was scheduled for four hours. Everyone gathered in Studio B at 8:00 and then we headed to the boat at 8:30. It was a catamaran, and the cost included beverages and snacks. There was plenty of seating under cover, as well as being able to sit on benches at the stern or chairs at the bow. There were also a few tables in the shade.

 

The crew pointed out various points of interest as we cruised along, and after about 45 minutes we stopped at a small beach to go for a swim. The only way to get off the boat was to wade through two or three feet of water to shore, so if one didn’t want to get wet then they just stayed on the boat, which is what we elected to do. There were locals in boats who paddled around selling trinkets and tropical fruits. We stayed at the beach for 30-45 minutes then continued on to the Pitons.

 

Once we left the beach, the crew offered rum punch and beer, as well as the water and soda. The beer cost extra. I didn’t buy any, so I don’t know the cost. The included snacks offered were bananas and small cheese or tuna sandwiches. The sandwiches were more bread than filling. There were also some packaged chips for sale.

 

The boat ride was quite nice. The weather was good, the waters calm. We cruised to two villages and then to the Pitons. They were quite majestic to see. After we left the Pitons and started heading back, the crew cranked up the music and the party began. Everyone seemed to be having a grand old time singing and dancing.

 

We got back to the dock around 12:45. We had lunch in the Windjammer then hung out at the pool for the rest of the day. After that it was dinner and the Schooner.

 

Final port day tomorrow. Barbados.

[luv4trvl]

Enjoyed the review, I was going to ask age of daughters but you mentioned it. I have a 17 yr old going when we go in Oct., did she by chance get any of the teen activity compasses? Unfortunately, her brother is only 3 so I'm hoping there's some things that she can do to meet some people. Although, since this will be the first cruise with brother she may opt to stay around with us some this time as she loves her brother, most of the time.

[wants2cruise2]

Alaska, right? Sadly, we can't do September. Gotta vaco around school schedules.

 

No we did Alaska few years back, THE BEST cruise ever. Go if you haven't yet. It's Hawaii next year. Can not wait.

[mit01]

Enjoyed the review, I was going to ask age of daughters but you mentioned it. I have a 17 yr old going when we go in Oct., did she by chance get any of the teen activity compasses? Unfortunately, her brother is only 3 so I'm hoping there's some things that she can do to meet some people. Although, since this will be the first cruise with brother she may opt to stay around with us some this time as she loves her brother, most of the time.

 

She stopped doing the kids club two cruises ago. She reached a point where she wanted to hang out with us and her older sister. My 20 year old also stopped at 17. I don't think they even looked at the teen compasses.

[mit01]

Thursday, June 25, Barbados.

 

This was probably the best day of the entire cruise! We had decided that we would spend the day at The Boatyard, a beach with a restaurant and bar.

The walk down the pier from the ship was actually a bit long. There were shuttle busses taking passengers to the terminal area. There was no cost for the busses, but the drivers expected a tip. The walk would probably be a solid seven or eight minutes. The terminal was filled with various duty free shops. Right outside the terminal was where folks got cabs or had the opportunity to book private excursions. There were plenty of helpful people to point us to the cab stand.

 

The cab cost $5.00/person to the Boatyard. The Boatyard cost was $15.00/person and included one beverage, a chaise lounge, umbrella for two, and the cab ride back to the ship. There was a water trampoline, a floating ice berg to climb on, a high dive and a rope swing. The beach was really, really nice. And, since we were the only ship in port, it was not too crowded.

 

The complimentary drinks were limited to a couple of rum punches, soda or juice. There was a full bar and menu. Sandwiches started at around $13.00 and included a good size serving of fries. We had two club sandwiches to split between the four of us, and with the fries we were fine.

 

The bar offered up a happy hour between 11:00 and 12:00 and later from 2:00-3:00, where they offered two-for-one rum drinks. They also announced free shots for those 17 and over. No glasses. With music blasting, people would just open their mouth and a bartender standing on a chair poured in rum and a mixer. It’s kind of like being at Senor Frogs!

 

We really had a good time at the Boatyard. After we got back to the port, we hit a couple of the stores then went to the ship and spent some time on the balcony with a cheese plate from room service and a couple of beers. Then, it was time for the second formal night. Lobster tail!!

 

After dinner it was trivia, karaoke, the shops and then to bed.

 

Next up, sea day!

[mit01]

Friday, June 26. Last day and a sea day!

 

This day started with some solo quiet time. The ladies slept in, so I parked myself outside the Windjammer on pool deck with coffee, a plate of fresh fruit and a book.

 

After about 90 minutes my wife and one of my daughters met me and we went to the main dining room for breakfast. FYI, the dining room on deck four is reserved for Diamond and above for breakfast. Everyone else heads to deck three. We all had eggs benedict, though mine was on a crab cake instead of an English muffin. They were tasty, but all of our eggs were over cooked. The service for the hot food was also a bit slow. The breads, pastries and beverages were fast, and there were plenty of offers for refills.

 

We hung out at the pool for the rest of the day. There was a barbecue on the pool deck for lunch. The cooks were grilling chicken, burgers and sausages, along with serving up various side dishes. We didn’t want to wait in the long line so we headed in to the Windjammer for lunch.

 

After lunch we went to see about booking a cruise for next summer. The prices were CRAZY! We decided we would have to do more research and wait for a sale. We might even have to change cruise lines if we can’t find something affordable. :eek: After that we went to the cabin to start packing.

 

Nobody felt like going to the dining room for dinner, so we went to the Windjammer. We were really pleasantly surprised with dinner there! They had sushi, a cooked-to-order pasta station, a Mongolian grill, steaks cooked-to-order, as well as most of the offerings on the MDR menu. They also had a big cupcake display. We are actually rethinking the whole eat in the dining room every night thing.

 

After dinner we went to the show. It was called Can’t Stop the Rock, and featured music from films. It was pretty good. After that it was back to the cabin to get the bags out.

 

Saturday, June 27. Debarkation.

 

After a final Windjammer breakfast, we checked the room one last time and headed to the dining room on deck four, our scheduled waiting area. We were in group 15, and our scheduled departure time was 9:45. We got to the dining room at 8:45, and the first 14 groups had already been called. We figured it wouldn’t be too much longer, but we ended up sitting and waiting until the scheduled time.

 

We breezed right through to the baggage area, and there were many aggressive porters wanting to grab bags. We had heard that the porters get people through customs more quickly, so we hired one. There was a separate customs line for porters, and it was much shorter than the other lines. The porter took our bags right to the cab, and we were on the way to the airport at 10:05. We tipped the porter $20.00 for the six bags we had.

 

We were at the gate at 11:15, and the flight took off a little earlier than its scheduled time. One thing to remember about the airport in San Juan. You have to have all your bags scanned at the agriculture scanner and get a sticker before checking your bags.

 

Our flight was fine up until landing time. We were due land at 5:00 in Baltimore, but there was a storm over the city. After circling for a while, we had to land at Dulles to refuel. We left Dulles at 7:00 and got the gate at BWI at 7:45.

 

That’s it! All in all, it was a very nice cruise, though I have to say, we really like the nine nighters better than the seven!! Any questions, feel free to fire away!

Steve

[dacsmom]

I really enjoyed your review. I am at the Embassy Suites in October and it is good to know about the lines for the evening reception.

[golf43]

We were on the AOS at the end of April. We also stayed at The Embassy Suites. Very nice hotel. If you don't want to wait in line for the managers reception just wait awhile and the line will go down. I got there at a good time. No one in line. I waited about an hour after it started. Went down and ended up getting 2 drinks at once for me. Then for breakfast we were so excited that we woke up early. Went down for breakfast and did not have to wait long at all. The long lines started shortly after we got our breakfast.

[wants2cruise2]

Thanks Steve, great review, helpful info.

Might just do Darkwood in Antigua and for sure the Boatyard in Barbados .

Working on others, but I like not cementing to much as I don't like beach days or excursions in rain. I like to have lots of adjustable plans.

Talk soon.

[ptf2009]

Tuesday, June 23, St. John, Antigua

 

We decided to spend this day at Darkwood Beach. When we got to the pier there were cabbies everywhere, all aggressively trying to get customers. There may have been so many because we were the only ship in port. (Actually, we were the only ship in port at every stop this week.) The cab cost $8.00/person each way. That felt a bit steep. And the ride was a bit of an adventure. We were in a six person SUV, and my wife and daughters banged their heads on the roof more than once as the driver zipped through town. The driver also picked us up at a pre-arranged time.

 

Darkwood charged us $5.00/chaise lounge, and we had the choice of setting them up near the building in the shade or out in the sun. We chose to sit in the shade and just pulled the chairs a couple of feet to get sun when we wanted. They were also offering two chaise lounges and six beverages, beer, water or soda, for $35.00. The beach was really quiet and the sand very nice. We had brought some snacks with us so we did not order any food. We stayed until 3:00 and then headed back to the ship. There were some nice shops at the drop off point, so we looked around a bit and then headed in.

 

Dinner was again in the dining room and then back to the Schooner. My 17 year old and I decided to go to the ice show. The doors supposedly opened at 8:30 for the 9:00 show. We got to Studio B at 8:40, and it was already too late to get two decent seats together. We decided to head back to the Schooner for a little while and then went to the theater for the Love and Marriage Show. My wife and 20 year old opted out of the show and headed to the cabin. The show was as funny as it always is.

 

That evening the sea got quite rocky. At 9:30, the captain asked everyone to stay off the pool deck. There was a pool party and midnight buffet planned for that evening, so the ice show was canceled and the festivities moved to Studio B.

 

Tomorrow, St. Lucia.

Thanks for your great review. We are going to be on AOS Oct. 31 with a different itinerary. I was surprised to read that a pool party/midnight buffet was planned. I thought RCL dtopped all midnight buffets.

 

We are planning to stay at the Condado Plaza Hilton. Does anyone know anything about this hotel?

[jimsohio]

Thanks for your great review. We are going to be on AOS Oct. 31 with a different itinerary. I was surprised to read that a pool party/midnight buffet was planned. I thought RCL dtopped all midnight buffets.

 

In another thread, the Compasses for May 30 to June 6 were posted and there was no mention of a midnight buffet. I was rather disappointed because this was quite the spectacle.

 

Better for the waistline, I suppose.

[mit01]

Thanks for your great review. We are going to be on AOS Oct. 31 with a different itinerary. I was surprised to read that a pool party/midnight buffet was planned. I thought RCL dtopped all midnight buffets.

 

We are planning to stay at the Condado Plaza Hilton. Does anyone know anything about this hotel?

 

They offered the late night buffet just the one night.

[SeaCrafter]

Enjoyed meeting the few who attended the M&M. Sorry folks I won the wine AGAIN. I also won on my last cruise. Booked the Transatlantic to Ireland and beyond for the end of April. It sounded like a good deal. Let me know if any of you plan on that one.