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Matt & Mary's Great Adenture Review

maryjaden

By maryjaden,
in Royal Caribbean International

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skiiergirl

skiiergirl

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Ok, sorry I didn't get to post yesterday. I had it mostly complete and I hit a wrong key and lost it some how.......exercise in futility (or it may have had something to do with the wine).

 

Ok embarkation day. We took a taxi to the pier at 11 am. It took about 15 minutes. We pulled up and the lines were really long. No one was collecting luggage or giving any direction. Carol went up and found the Suite line so we went to that. Then we were instructed that we had to go back in the long line and drop luggage first. We are still outside the terminal. Another RCL employee told us to stay in the Suite line. The port staff finally started taking luggage at 12:00.

 

One thing to note, there was a juggler and a clown entertaining outside the terminal. There was also water and ice cream for purchase.

 

They took our luggage, then we went in the terminal and there was one woman handing out health forms (no pens anywhere). If she had to explain the form it created quite a back up. We filled the forms out at the check in counter. All of that went smoothly and soon we had our cards in hand and headed to the Ship. All in all it actually only took about an hour, so not too bad.

 

As we heard that wonderful ding, they were also handing out free fruity cocktails. I kept waiting for someone to ask for my card. We were told rooms would be open by 2 pm. We explored the Ship a bit decided to see if we could get into our cabin. The hallway door was open so we went.

 

As I suspected, the GS or OS would be a better fit for two people than the RFS, but what an awesome balcony, table for four, two additional chairs and two lounges. The cabin was not refurbished. Furniture and carpet shows wear but the bed is comfortable. So it's possible that it is new. We have had a few bathroom issues. Lights not working, toilets not flushing or just randomly flushing. I called our room steward and this was taken care of promptly.

 

Good news for the flowrider fans, it is open and operational. The two water slides are not, but are expected to open soon. The new children's water area is also done. Suite guests were being allowed to use the diamond Lounge next to Viking Crown lounge unofficially because the Suite Lounge is not complete. I have not, mainly because we don't utilize the Concierge or suite lounge much other than to grab a drink and go.

 

I am kind of jumping around here, but after we checked out the cabin we went to the Windjammer. The food was good and hot. There was plenty of seating. After lunch we went back to the cabin. We had two suitcases, two small bags and a bag with water and soda. One large suitcase and both small bags were delivered rather quickly. Waited quite a while for the other suitcase and the bag with the contraband in it. I thought maybe I was going to be summoned to the naughty room, but it did finally show up. One of the water bottles and one of the soda cans had leaked.

 

I am going to post this now as I am starting to get messages and don't want to have to redo it. With any luck i will continue this soon.

 

I will check with Ryno today to find out when it's opening?

 

Thanks so much for the info. Is the old Concierge Lounge still available also or is it gone and Diamonds/Suites all share just the Diamond Lounge?

 

Thanks!

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divaofdisney

divaofdisney

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Awesome review so far, thanks so much for doing this. I wonder if you could ask to see if they will be fazing in the new stateroom decor bedding etc or if this was scratched too? I will be in OS with my hubby next December and hoping they do it before then. thanks again for your update its awesome!

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cloud_nine

cloud_nine

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Great review so far! We're on Adventure on Saturday so reading your experience of the ship is great! Do you know whether the MDR menus are the same as they have been or are they the new ones that were being introduced to Oasis etc. I know someone mentioned a while back that Adventure was supposed to be getting new menus but thought it might not happen with all the other stuff going on.

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maryjaden

maryjaden

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Great review so far! We're on Adventure on Saturday so reading your experience of the ship is great! Do you know whether the MDR menus are the same as they have been or are they the new ones that were being introduced to Oasis etc. I know someone mentioned a while back that Adventure was supposed to be getting new menus but thought it might not happen with all the other stuff going on.

 

I am not sure exactly what was on the old menus, but according to one of our table mates, these are different.

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maryjaden

maryjaden

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So today we are in Barbados. We took our time getting off the ship because our ship tour to the George Washington house and garrison tunnels was cancelled last night. So we decided to wing it. Grabbed a taxi at the pier and did an island tour with a very nice driver named Dale. I had researched earlier about the George Washington house and knew they were open all day, so I had the driver take us there. We could not get into the Garrison Tunnels because there was a heavy rainfall and the tunnels were flooded. The tour lasted about 4 hours and was very nice. It went up the west side of the island and then down the east and back to the port.

 

We arrived back at the Ship about 1:45 and were starving. The Windjammer was packed so we went to Johnny Rockets. Our shake and fries came right away, however 45 minutes later we are still waiting for the burgers. We were getting ready to cancel it and leave when the waiter went to speak to his supervisor. Our burgers then came in 5 minutes. They did comp the meal, which was nice. The couple sitting next to us had a similar experience, they got one of their burgers then 30 minutes later received the other one.

 

I do have to say that the staff (waiters, bartenders, stewards, etc.) have been excellent. Always a smile and very helpful. Also I think the fellow passengers (mostly Puerto Rican) have been great. It seems like there are a lot of large family groups on board. I believe they like to have a good time, because mornings are very quite. I have not met any rude cruisers yet on this trip.

 

A note about the casino.... I will pretext this with the fact I am a smoker..... I thought the casino was smoky, it didn't look smoky, but it really dried my eyes out. So if it bothered me, it will really bother a non smoker. On a good note, I will tell you my casino story. I set a daily "budget". When I have spent it, I am done. It's a form of relaxation/entertainment for me. But i have been a little dismayed because I hadn't done well. My ritual is on my way out for the night,I put $20 in a $5 machine and spin. This was a wheel of fortune machine. On the third spin I hit the bonus wheel. I'm thinking, well...ok...at least I will get $40. It ended up on $1000! For a moment I Just sat there, not quite sure it was right, but my winnings kept going up! So I promptly cashed out and wisely left.

 

Tonight we are eating in the MDR and will hit one the the Ship shows. Tomorrow is St. Lucia.

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khm1

khm1

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Thank you for taking the time to do this review. We are on Adventure on January 14th. I've been eagerly awaiting news of the renovations (or lack there of). Do you think the furniture and cabinetry has been replaced in the cabins?

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maryjaden

maryjaden

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Thank you for taking the time to do this review. We are on Adventure on January 14th. I've been eagerly awaiting news of the renovations (or lack there of). Do you think the furniture and cabinetry has been replaced in the cabins?

 

I was told some cabins have been refurbished and are on going. They are hoping to have cabins completely refurbished by the end of the first quarter.

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maryjaden

maryjaden

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Thanks for the update! Can you find out when is the suite lounge opening? :):) I'll appreciate the info.

 

They have updated the flooring and carpet in the current Concierge Lounge. The plans to move it and change it to the Suite Lounge are currently on hold with no expected date for completion.

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maryjaden

maryjaden

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Did the $85 include the tips?

 

I was given a hand written receipt with our folio and cabin number. It has not yet posted to our account. I will check tomorrow. When I used it at dinner, we were not given any slip to sign. They just landed the card back with the numbers punched.

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drarill

drarill

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They have updated the flooring and carpet in the current Concierge Lounge. The plans to move it and change it to the Suite Lounge are currently on hold with no expected date for completion.

 

Thanks for taking the time to do this review. This is a little disappointing. The problem with the old concierge lounge is the size and location. It is too small for all the suite guests, D+ and Pinacles. We are cruising on the Adventure on NYE and also in June. Hope everything is done for our summer cruise.

Happy cruising and congratulations on your win at the casino!

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SandyToes2000

SandyToes2000

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Thank you for all the updates! You are very popular! If you could keep an eye on the menus and let us know if they have names like mojo, saffron etc... It will tell us if the menus are new. How are you enjoying the shows? We set sail NYE. Congrats on the winnings too!

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maryjaden

maryjaden

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The shows have all been very good. They generally last about an hour.

 

St. Lucia is gorgeous. There were 6 of us that did Cosol Tours. The regular price, I believe, is $75 per person. There are 12 people in a van. We did the private tour for $95 per person. I think this is well worth the extra. We started on 8:30 and ended at 3:45. A great tour of the island, lots of food, beverages, a beach, mud bath and waterfall.

 

I will post more in the morning.

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maryjaden

maryjaden

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A note about the food.

We ate dinner in the main dining room each night except the night we went to Giovanni's. We requested to be assigned to a large table. We normally have enough sailing with us to fill a table so this was a new experience for us.

 

We were seated with two other couples, one from Ohio and one from New York. We had a wonderful time. As it turned out the couple from Ohio ended up on the same flight back and seated right in front of us. All of us exchanged contact information so hopefully we can stay in touch.

 

The food in the MDR was very good. Portions were a good size. The service was great. I wouldn't say 5 star in quality, but we had no complaints what so ever. We had 3 birthdays at the table and there was birthday cake for two of the nights. If we did not order the suggested appetizer, our waiter brought one out anyway for us to share. They were usually something I did not think I would like, but I have to admit they were very good. I guess I need to get outside my box a little more.

 

We ordered room service for breakfast on three of the mornings. I like to use it as a wake up call also. They would call about 20 minutes before delivery. We had requested times that were different each day. It also arrived within the time period we had ordered, it arrived warm (not hot), but it was good.

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