Adventure of the Seas June 4th mini review

[UNCFanatik]

Just as a caveat and full disclosure up front. This was my first cruise in several years as I am usually not a fan of cruising but the port intensive itinerary and just one day at sea was a selling point with the intent of seeing different islands that i could possibly return to one day to vacation on without a cruise.

 

This cruise consisted of Me, my wife, and 20 year old daughter As an aside, it is comical that my daughter could drink in the ports but not on the ship.

 

We just booked a standard outside cabin with a window on deck 2 because of the port intensive schedule. It turned out to be nice when coming back onto the ship after being in port just to have to go up one flight of stairs instead of fighting with trying to get on an elevator at a time when several people were trying to get on an elevator.

 

Quick rabbit trail about elevators. 1. Pressing an elevator button after it has already been pressed does not make an elevator go any faster. Why do people do this? 2. Please let me get OFF the elevator before you get on the elevator. 3. Kids pressing all the floor buttons. UGGH. 4. And maybe this is just a Southern thing, but if men could be gentlemen and let women and children off the elevator first, that would be great!

 

Back to our cabin, yes, it was kind of cramped for 3 of us but we were able to find places in our room to get everything put away but we were not in the cabin much. Room steward was from Brazil and her name was Andreana I believe. Very good and friendly

 

Food. Food was plentiful and i came to appreciate the Promenade Cafe to grab a piece of pizza, sandwich, or just a cookie. And it was great stop in the morning to grab some coffee. Sitting on the "street" along the promenade was nice and good for people watching.

 

Windjammer. Ate b-fast every day there. Edible and plentiful. Nothing really stood out. Average buffet food. Service was often non-existence when trying to have someone bring or refill drinks

 

MDR. Here is where i was most disappointed. Service was VERY slow on formal nights. We had an 830 seating. Food quality was hit and miss. Instant mashed potatoes? uggh. Better food quality of course than WJ but no dish really made me want a second portion and some dishes were just bad. Disappointed in the overall experience in the MDR.

 

Shows The best show was the ice skating show and like others have said tickets were not required on this cruise but i would advise getting there at least 30 minutes early.

 

My wife and daughter went to the 3 Tenors Show and really enjoyed it.

 

The musical impressionist show had its funny moments but his act is in a severe need for updated material with current musicians. Enjoyable show overall but had its dull and cheesy moments.

 

The opening night and closing night comedians were both good.

 

The variety shows with the RC dancers and singers were the worst shows of the bunch. The orchestra was great but the shows were just not that great.

 

The Quest. Fun time watching this show. But parents when they say that this is not for kids, please dont bring them! What is wrong with you??!!

 

Other Activities We did go to several trivia sessions and other game shows that were ran by the activities crew. They were all very well run with the exception of one scheduled trivia sessions where no one showed up to run it. that was unacceptable.

 

Service Overall, the level of service was good outside of the MDR and WJ. Everyone was friendly and helpful.

 

Overall, i found the ship to be in good general shape but do see the need for the scheduled dry dock. Worn carpet. Outdated decor and furniture.

 

The day at sea was as expected my worse time. So crowded but it was to be expected. hard to find a quiet place to relax but i did find the library on deck 7 was usually a quiet place until they ran some type of scavenger hunt and groups of noisy teens came through the library looking for clues.

 

I did find it somewhat annoying navigating the ship that certain areas of the ship could not be accessed but through forward or aft elevators as some floors you could not walk all the way thru. You just had to keep this in mind when going to Studio B for instance.

 

Overall, this just confirmed why i have avoided cruising for so many years. The ports were great for the most part. See my next thread. But i just disliked the amount of time i found myself standing in lines and feeling being hearded along like cattle.

 

Getting off the ship was horrible. we were off the ship by 9am and then found our luggage and waited in the hour long customs line. Why do they have two lines merging into one line? Who came up with this idea? Terrible experience standing in a humid warehouse with no AC and slow moving line.

 

Getting on the ship was just as bad. We stayed in Old San Juan at the Sheraton and we left the hotel at 1015 and it took until 11:00 to get to the point where we were dropped off. Long line of cars getting into the port area. Bad traffic control. But the lines for dropping off luggage and getting into checkin area were very manageable. We got checkin and were directed to a seating area to wait for the doors to open. As we were waiting, this man refused to sit down because he said he was not about to crawl over people to have a seat and just stood in the aisle after multiple employees asked him to have a seat and he kept loudly refusing. He was being a jerk and they should have just introduced him to security and be done with it.

[UNCFanatik]

Ports of call

 

Here was my favorite part of the cruise! Getting off the ship! It was very nice being the only ship in port at all of our stops.

 

St Martin

 

Rented a car from Hertz. Toyota Corolla. It was $70 upfront and I ended up paying an extra $20 for gas because i didnt fill it up with gas before returning it.

 

Driving in St Martin was not bad overall. They drive on the right side of the road. There are A LOT of round abouts so just make sure to look for your exit going in. Like people have said. Do not leave anything in your car when you park it

 

We just took the day and toured the island. Went to Dawn Beach, Guana Beach and then headed over to Marigot on the French side. We liked walking around Marigot and then we headed up to the Fort Louis overlook and that was a spectacular view! There was only 2 other people up there.

 

Next we had lunch in Grand Case at one of the "Lolo" restaurants, Talk of the Town" Great experience. They grill the food to order and give ample portions and prices are very reasonable and even though its on the French side and the Menu prices are in Euros, they offer a one to one rate with the american dollar. Wife had grilled shrimp, daughter had ribs, and i had chicken with rice and beans everything was delicious including the various cocktails. Great place popular with locals as well. one of our best meals of the trip.

 

Last stop was Maho Beach. This place was very crowded but it was fund watching the planes come in over the beach

 

Really enjoyed St Martin and could see coming back for a stay on the island and to neighboring Anguilla

 

 

St Kitts

 

We used Island Paradise tours: http://www.stkittsislandparadisetours.com/

 

We did the best of St Kitts tour with Mr Burt as our driver. He was a great tour guide with tons of knowledge about the flora and fauna of the island along with their medicinal uses.

 

We toured Basseterre and then onto Brimstone fort and lastly Timothy Hill. He offered to take us to a beach and return to pick us up but no one i nour group was interested

 

Very good tour and i would recommend them but overall wasnt as impressed with St Kitts as much as the other stops

 

Antigua

 

We had booked the Xtreme Circumnavigation tour with Adventure Antigua. When we got off of the ship it was drizzling rain as we made our way to where the speed boat was. We all got into the boat and it started raining harder. After about 30 minutes, they cancelled the tour. UGGHH. We were really looking forward to this one. They said that was there first rain in several weeks, i believe. We felt bad because of the money lost for the tour operators

 

We went back to the ship and waited to see if the rain would let up and i researched what next. We chose to go to Darkwood Beach and got a taxi and was there from 1-3. Good food from the restaurant there and we were able to rent chairs for $5 a piece. Was a nice beach and we did enjoy just relaxing on the beach for a few hours.

 

St Lucia

 

We used Spencer Ambrose Tours and we couldnt have been more pleased with the service and quality of this tour.

 

We started off with a beautiful and exciting powerboat ride to Soufries

 

There we boarded vans and headed to see the volcano and waterfall. Instead of seeing the volcano, people could chose to do a mud bath which 2 people in our party did.

 

After that, we had lunch at a local restaurant and enjoyed local cuisine. Very good.

 

And it was great. We had Spencer in our van and he made several stops. One stop the driver bought local bananas for all of us to try. YUM! He also stopped to buy fresh roasted cashews. And after we saw the waterfall, Spencer and the driver had a spread of Mangos and the loal soursop fruit for us all to try. Awesome!!

 

Then we headed back to the boats for two hours at Sugar Beach, Joulaise?

Where we snorkeled and just kicked back and relaxed drinking some awesome rum punch!

 

Highly Recommend this tour!!! Great service!!!

 

Barbabos

 

We opted just for relaxation this day and we booked the Calabaza Catamaran tour. We made two snorkel stops, one with seas turtles and the other a reef.

 

So nice. Beautiful day and weather. The water was so beautiful as well!

 

So nice that they limit this tour to about 20 people per sailboat (they own two) instead of being on a catamaran with 50-75 people

 

They had breakfast, lunch and snacks for us throughout the day and everything was delicious. Unlimited drinks as well and their Rum Punch was the best i had on the whole trip of the 4 types i tried

 

Awesome Day and i would consider returning to Barbados for vacation

 

We didnt have a bad tour in the bunch! only disappointment was the cancelled tour in Antigua but you cannot fight mother nature!

 

My only complaint was our docking in Barbados. After we departed the ship we had to get on Buses to the main terminal. Uggh. more time standing in line!

 

Loved the ports on this cruise!

[MikeBayAreaCa]

I guess everyone has different outlooks on cruising. I live being on any ship and love sea days. Sitting on her balcony with a good book and a glass of wine is my reason for cruising.

 

It is nice to see new places, but relaxing in the ship is why I cruise.

[SandyToes2000]

Thank you so much for your detailed review. I too love the ports most of all, and I think a lot of people are drawn to this itinerary for the many port stops.

 

We are going to the same ports as you, so I took some notes down. We have one tour booked already and that is Calabaza in Barbados! So looking forward to that one!

 

Can you tell me, are all the ports in the same time zone as San Juan? Do you remember having to change your clocks or worry about island time vs ship time? I believe we stay in the same time zone, correct?

[slvrbllt]

We were on the same cruise and never changed clocks once we got to San Juan.

[cb at sea]

I have to agree that sea days are over-rated....too crowded and since I'm not really into the "activities", it makes for a long day. I do enjoy a port day on the ship, if it's a port that doesn't thrill me!