Adventure of the Seas post "dry-dock" review 1/14/17

[FirstCruise2017]

Thank you for this review :)

 

We will be on Aruba in a couple of weeks. Was eagle beach less crowded than palm beach? (There will be 3 big ships in port so I'm a bit worried that it might be too crowded)

[nator555]

This review is amazing! Your pics make me feel like I was there lol. Thank you

 

 

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[nator555]

This review is absolutely amazing. I love the pics. Thank you.

 

 

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[khm1]

Thank you for this review :)

 

 

 

We will be on Aruba in a couple of weeks. Was eagle beach less crowded than palm beach? (There will be 3 big ships in port so I'm a bit worried that it might be too crowded)

 

 

 

Yes. Eagle beach was less crowded mostly because it is a low-rise resort area. Also, Palm beach is more narrow, so it fills up more easily. Some people like the action of a busy beach. I do not. If I want to fight for a 5 foot square patch of sand, I can go to the MD and DE beaches close to where I live! Eagle beach is a nice, wide beach. Next time, I will go directly there.

[khm1]

This review is amazing! Your pics make me feel like I was there lol. Thank you

 

 

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Thank you for your kind words!

[bcarney]

One thing I found interesting about the changes to the ship was the gym. There used to be a huge hot tub as you walked in. It is GONE now. I really loved that big hot tub. No one knew it was even there, so it was never crowded. In it's place is a round group exercise area with a wood floor. The exercise room that used to be on the right as you walked in is walled off. I'm not sure what is behind the wall. Here are some photos.

 

New cabins were supposed to go in there during dry dock.

[khm1]

One thing I found interesting about the changes to the ship was the gym. There used to be a huge hot tub as you walked in. It is GONE now. I really loved that big hot tub. No one knew it was even there, so it was never crowded. In it's place is a round group exercise area with a wood floor. The exercise room that used to be on the right as you walked in is walled off. I'm not sure what is behind the wall. Here are some photos.

 

 

 

New cabins were supposed to go in there during dry dock.

 

 

 

Yes. I am aware of those plans. I thought, however, that the planned cabins were to go around the outside of the gym, where there is currently outdoor deck space. The space that I am referring to is inside and is a fairly large space. I remember the former group exercise room from prior cruises on Adventure. I may be a planned hallway or maybe a larger suite type room? I should have asked.

[khm1]

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations:

 

There was some discussion about whether the dining room furniture was changed on Adventure. I can say for sure that the MDR chairs have indeed been changed. I couldn't tell if the carpet had been changed in the MDR or not, but it was in good shape. Here are photos of the new MDR chairs.

 

 

Another change to the MDR is the bread. Instead of coming around and serving each diner bread, the assistant waiter now puts a bread basket on the table after you are seated. I'm not sure about the logic of this change. Maybe it frees up time for the staff.

 

We had good service in the MDR. However, I am considering doing a Windjammer only cruise next time. The quality of the food in the MDR no longer justifies a 1 1/2 to 2 hour dining time IMHO. It would certainly make packing easier for me. I'm not to big on dressing up anyway. I love my shorts and flip flops! Our Windjammer experience on the night we were in Aruba made me reconsider my dining choices. Time is a precious commodity on a cruise. Long dinners sometimes get in the way of other activities.

 

I am not sure if it was just our sailing date, but the ship rarely seemed crowded. We rarely had to search for a poolside chair or entertainment venue seating. I last sailed on Adventure on 7/30/16 and in 2/16 before that. Both of my other recent sailings seemed more crowded somehow. The only difference is that the Diamond lounge was relatively empty in July. I imagine that the time of year is the reason for that particular difference. The Diamond lounge was jammed for this most recent sailing.

Edited January 30, 2017 by khm1

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[coppermouse]

Great Pictures.

[khm1]

Day 7 final sea day and debarkation

 

Sea day 2 was mostly a repeat of sea day one. We spent a lot of time aft at the FlowRider and slides. I had to complete the dreaded task of packing that last day. I got it all done before lunch. I wanted to get it out of the way so that I could enjoy the final moments of my cruise. Again I skipped the loud craziness of the pool deck. Instead I retreated to my balcony to nap and read. I LOVE those wake views!

 

 

I visited NextCruise on our final night. I ended up booking a Celebrity ship for winter of '19. It is for the Summit sailing from SJ. I have never sailed Celebrity before. We get Elite status on Celebrity for being Diamond on RCL. This gives us some benefits that I am not entirely familiar with yet. I feel that I got a good deal since I ended up with $300 on-board credit and free internet. I had a choice of two benefits. The other 2 choices were pre-paid tips or a free drink package. This deal came with booking a concierge class cabin. Aqua class was already sold out 2 years in advance of the sailing date!

 

Our flight for debarkation day was at 2:30. I printed my boarding passes from the ship's computers.

 

Just a note to the gentlemen out there: We witnessed TWO men on two separate occasions get locked out of their cabins in their underwear! [emoji15]They were putting their bags out in the hallway for the night. One poor guy wandered around in his tightly-whities for about 15 minutes before he was rescued. My DH took pity and gave him a towel from our stateroom. The attendant who let him back in made him show his ID and cruise card before he left.

 

Another final thought is the beds. Boy are they hard! Disclaimer: I like a softer bed. I can usually manage and I travel a lot. These beds are just terrible, IMO. I knew this and took 2 pads for DH and I. I used a Klymit camping mattress under our mattress pad. It worked wonders for my comfort level.

 

We did not rush off the ship. We ate as late as we could and waited in the Diamond debarkation area: deck 4 MDR. We left the ship at around 10 am. Most of the crowd had dissipated. It took no time to retrieve outperform luggage and get through customs. We were in a taxi by 10:30 and at the airport before 11.

 

We had our luggage scanned by the FDA and checked our bags for our SouthWest flight very quickly. TSA was much quicker than the last time we were at SJU. We had about 3 hours to wait for our flight once we were at the gate. They have made a lot of improvements to the airport in SJ in the last few years. It used to be pretty sparse and basic.

 

Thanks for reading along! I am happy to answer any questions that you may have. My post cruise depression has been alleviated somewhat by writing this review!

 

[khm1]

Great Pictures.

 

 

 

Thanks! Most of the photos were taken with my phone, a Samsung S7 Edge.

[obnurse]

I really enjoyed your review and pictures. I especially loved a picture of the two girls sitting in the sand on the beach with their backs to the camera......I can see that in black and white, framed on the wall. Really sweet. Anyway, I know your cruise was a little different since you were traveling with children, but do you know if they had any ballroom-type dancing? Again, I really enjoyed your review.

[mollyeilis]

Another change to the MDR is the bread. Instead of coming around and serving each diner bread, the assistant waiter now puts a bread basket on the table after you are seated. I'm not sure about the logic of this change. Maybe it frees up time for the staff.

 

Interesting re-change so soon after our cruise. :)

 

It used to be a basket of bread. Then they changed it. Mid-December on Adventure it still involved the assistant server coming around to offer bread.

[Tagong]

Thanks for your review khm1.

 

If you had to stay all day at one of the three Aruba beaches you visited on your trip which one would you choose and why?

 

I will be there in less than 10 days and Palm and Eagle appeal to us given the amenities available but Baby appeals because the calmness of the water. Eagle and Palm seemed very waving in your photos. Is that typical of these beaches?

 

TIA

[prekteacher]

Thank you for this review. You have sold me on the idea of cruising from San Juan and this ship. Now the hard part is to convince hubby who loves the big ships with all their bells and whistles.

 

Barbara

[mollyeilis]

Thank you for this review. You have sold me on the idea of cruising from San Juan and this ship. Now the hard part is to convince hubby who loves the big ships with all their bells and whistles.

 

Barbara

 

FWIW, it feels like a decent size and there are enough bells and whistles to fill the time. No ifly or zipcord (or whatever it's called), but ice skating, rock wall, minigolf, basketball court, etc etc etc...

[khm1]

Thanks for your review khm1.

 

 

 

If you had to stay all day at one of the three Aruba beaches you visited on your trip which one would you choose and why?

 

 

 

I will be there in less than 10 days and Palm and Eagle appeal to us given the amenities available but Baby appeals because the calmness of the water. Eagle and Palm seemed very waving in your photos. Is that typical of these beaches?

 

 

 

TIA

 

 

 

I would choose Baby beach. It has calm water, snorkeling, and a restaurant with a bar. However, it is about a 40 minute drive (with traffic) from the pier. I prefer less developed, less crowded beaches.

 

I think there was a front coming through the entire Caribbean the week we were there. It was VERY windy! It was the worst in PR and St. Thomas and got a little better as we went south. Since I have traveled to the Caribbean a lot, I have noticed that it can sometimes get this way, especially in January. I think the locals call it a North Swell, but I could be wrong about that. It may be better in a week or two.

 

So, to answer your question, no, it is not typical. Every other time I have been to Aruba it was much calmer.

 

If you were to split the difference, I would probably say that you should try Eagle beach. It is close to the pier, food is just across the road, there were chairs, the beach is wide and comparatively uncrowded. Maybe I was in the wrong spot, but Palm beach seemed packed to me. It didn't help that some German lady yelled at me when we put our stuff down on the sand in a bare spot. She told me that she was planning on moving her chair to that spot and that we couldn't sit there. That was a big turn off. People seemed to be competing for real estate.

[khm1]

Thank you for this review. You have sold me on the idea of cruising from San Juan and this ship. Now the hard part is to convince hubby who loves the big ships with all their bells and whistles.

 

 

 

Barbara

 

 

 

Since the cruises from San Juan are so port intensive, you absolutely would not even have time for the "bells and whistles." Don't worry. The better weather and superior (IMO) ports MORE than make up for the fewer amenities on board. Adventure is a fantastic ship with a wonderful staff. Just go. I don't think you will regret it!

[Peterh]

Thank you for this review :)

 

We will be on Aruba in a couple of weeks. Was eagle beach less crowded than palm beach? (There will be 3 big ships in port so I'm a bit worried that it might be too crowded)

 

We were on the same cruise. Try the beach at Divi Tamarind. You can walk from the cruisepier to that beach. It's about 25 mins. It's a beautiful, big, not crowded beach!

[B&J_Pgh]

What is with the extra Murphy bed looking mattress above the head of your bed? I've never seen anything like it. They didn't have these on the Adventure in 2014. Perhaps it's because of the adjoining door not allowing for a sofa?

[B&J_Pgh]

This excursion only lasts 2 hours. It was just after noon and we still had the rest of the day before us. All my reading on Cruise critic paid off! I knew about Carambola beach club from my port research. We got a cab right from the dolphin place to Carambola.

 

The funny thing is that the weather completely cleared up about an hour after they cancelled our original excursion. It was a gorgeous day! I guess they had to do it due to the uncertainty.

 

It was a gorgeous drive!

 

 

We got to the beach and paid for 2 chairs and an umbrella at the front desk of the restaurant. I believe it was around $30. I think we paid $7 per person for the taxi each way. Our driver met us at the appointed time at the beach club to take us back.

 

The beach is gorgeous!

 

 

We spent an enjoyable 2-3 hours here before we headed back to the ship. Here is a photo of our ship (left) at the pier in St. Kitts.

 

I'm esctatic to have found your review via aubrey1988's. Even more excited to see since I had already decided on Carambola in St. Kitts (I've been researching for our next cruise for 10 days non-stop now) that the first picture appears to show the view I've read about called Timothy Hill.

 

I thought that my beach choice was going to circumvent this view and was constantly wavering on my prefered beach. Is there an overlook or pull off spot that the taxi might have stopped if you'd request?

[khm1]

We were on the same cruise. Try the beach at Divi Tamarind. You can walk from the cruisepier to that beach. It's about 25 mins. It's a beautiful, big, not crowded beach!

 

I might have to try that next time!:)

[khm1]

What is with the extra Murphy bed looking mattress above the head of your bed? I've never seen anything like it. They didn't have these on the Adventure in 2014. Perhaps it's because of the adjoining door not allowing for a sofa?

 

There is no connecting door in this cabin. It is an E class cabin, 7688. The sofa is more of a love seat size. The D class cabins have the full sofa. Not all of the cabins have this type of bed, although I think all RCL ships have cabins almost just like this one. All 3 person E class cabins on Adventure have this configuration. The D class cabins have the upper bed over the sofa (if they have an upper bed). Some D cabins have an upper bed AND an upper berth or just the sofa bed. The bed will completely disappear into a panel on the ceiling when it is not needed. Our daughter slept up there. I slept on one for a cruise I took with my Mom and sister in 2012. They are actually quite comfortable!

[khm1]

I'm esctatic to have found your review via aubrey1988's. Even more excited to see since I had already decided on Carambola in St. Kitts (I've been researching for our next cruise for 10 days non-stop now) that the first picture appears to show the view I've read about called Timothy Hill.

 

I thought that my beach choice was going to circumvent this view and was constantly wavering on my prefered beach. Is there an overlook or pull off spot that the taxi might have stopped if you'd request?

 

Yes! We didn't even have to ask our driver. He just stopped for us. There is a place for the taxi drivers to pull over. I was delighted with Carambola. It was absolutely gorgeous!

 

It is a 15 minute drive from the port area. The views are incredible. When you get to Carambola, be sure to work out a time for your driver to pick you up, although there are taxis there all the time. You go inside the restaurant and pay for your chairs at the front desk. They give you a ticket and you see the beach attendant. The beach service was prompt and the food very good. We did not have anyone pestering us to buy things on the beach. We didn't try to snorkel, but we saw others snorkeling by the rocks to the right side of the beach as you face the water. There are showers and good restroom facilities. I would highly recommend this place!:)