Thoughts on the Adventure 7/26 sailing

[Don'tNeedAName]

If anyone's interested, here are my $0.02 on the 7/26 - 8/3 Adventure sailing out of Cape Liberty (NJ) to Bermuda, Nassau, and Coco Cay.  It was my wife, two sons (3.5y/o & 1.5y/o), and I were in GS 1248 (Deck 10, forward) for our first real vacation as a whole family.

 

Pre-cruise

We drove from Ohio to NJ--just found that easier than dealing with the kids flying.  We drove most of the way, then stayed about 45 min away from the port at the 

TownePlace Suites Bridgewater Branchburg.  Being an extended stay hotel, it was easy to book a room with an actual separate bedroom, which is a plus traveling with the whole family.  We found a nice rate, and figured 45 min to port in the morning was just fine, as we wanted to park at the port anyway.  When we cruised out of NJ in 2017, we were too late to the port to get a spot in the garage, and planned on getting there earlier this time.  Of course, "best laid plans" and all that.  Getting moving took longer than expected Friday morning, and we ended up stuck in a ton of traffic right around 11:15 at the port.

 

Thinking we may have missed the figurative boat on the garage, we figured we'd rather just get to the literal boat faster and skipped a bunch of the line just by turning on 12th street and heading straight for the open lot (red line below) as opposed to going by the luggage dropoff area (blue line below).  This may be simpler and quicker for some if you're not toting too much luggage and you're fine parking in the open lot to avoid the line of cars.  After that, I carried our one large bag over to the porters, and we walked in with a couple carry-ons.  Check-in was fast and easy.

 

The Room

As noted above, we were in 1248.  It's right by the forward stairs/elevators on Deck 10.  The room was refreshed as part of the work done in early 2018, and it looked great!  I thought the location was nice, since it was the farthest forward GS.  We were just under the edge of the Solarium, where the sliding doors lead into the elevators.  Thus, we really did not get much noise from above, but did hear the occasional "call of the wild deck chair."

 

The suite perks were fine, but we didn't really take full advantage with the kids.  Only hit up the suite lounge once (view was great!) and just did breakfast in the WJ every day, as opposed to G's Table, for instance.  We did make use of the suite seating areas for a couple of the shows, and by the pool as well.  We never really use the pool chairs too long, so the fact that they're all sun doesn't bother us much.  Being escorted off the boat at the end of the cruise was probably the nicest aspect of it all... VERY quick.  Although I hate having the cruise end, I hate waiting in line even more.

 

Back to the room itself--couldn't beat the sunset views on the way down south:

 

Ports of Call

Bermuda--loved it.  Easy mini-bus ride to Horseshoe Beach.  We got off early and beat the long line to the rental stand.  I'm especially glad we got an umbrella since it rained pretty heavily for about 20 min.  Those beach umbrellas aren't perfect for rain, but did the trick anyway.

 

Just another reminder NOT to book a Horseshoe Beach excursion through the ship.  I am not completely anti-ship excursions, but for the comparative cheapness of this activity, the Horseshoe Beach excursion may be the worst deal RCI offers.  It's so easy to get a mini-bus whenever you are ready, for $7p/p each way.  In addition, for the little ones, they have never charged us on 4 separate legs for having the 1.5 y/o on our lap (so 2 years ago, just paid for my wife and I; this year, just for us and the 3.5 y/o).  Don't pay the $35 p/p or whatever that RCI charges and be locked into their timing too.

 

We had a visitor come in while we were in port as well:

 

Nassau--it is what it is.  There is a lot to do, but we just stuck close by and walked to Junkanoo beach.  It's free and easy.  Plus, we didn't call until noon, and by the time we decided to get off the ship around 3:30, all the other ships in port were about to leave, so the beach was relatively empty.

 

We were the last ones in port for the night (departed at midnight):

 

Coco Cay-- They have definitely made an effort to make the experience something special (admittedly, not for everyone).  I have to be honest, I'm buying into it after one visit, and we didn't even take full advantage.  Super easy to find beach chairs and umbrellas (although we were the only ship calling that day).  Splashaway Bay is great free fun for the kids.  Also, we did the helium balloon, and WOW!  It was well worth it, especially for us with both kids free for being under 4y/o.

 

What a view!

 

Odds and Ends

Wifi- surf and stream was reliable, although slow as expected.  As some may find it useful info, I was able to connect without issue to my work's network via Cisco AnyConnect VPN.

 

Main Dining Room- two things.  First, my wife is a vegan, and we mentioned this to the suite concierge in an email a couple weeks prior to cruising.  When we got to dinner the first night, the MDR seemed to have no knowledge of the request.  She is not picky at all, and said anything would be fine.  We were sitting down for 90 min before any food was brought out.  It's bad enough as it is, but was made worse by having the little ones there.  Surprisingly, they did pretty well for what ended up being a 2.5 hour dinner.  Woof.  The staff were apologetic, and they were amazing the rest of the cruise, especially with the kids.  I find that many of the service staff have children of similar ages, and they seem to get genuine enjoyment out of interacting with our kids as well.

 

Second... dear God, do not let this turn into a dress code thread, but I'm making mention of it anyway.  I heard a man (approx 45 y/o if I had to guess) talking two tables away that he was angry because they would not allow him in the MDR with a basketball jersey on.  This did not happen on a formal night, and I note there were plenty of shorts and t-shirts every evening.  While I am firmly in the "wear what you want" camp, it gave me a bit of a chuckle nonetheless.

 

Pizza- I have to agree with some other reports, it seemed better this go around.  I have always been fine with it either way, as I generally agree with the idea that there's no such thing as bad pizza.  Either way, it seemed better both on the Promenade, and in WJ.  However, the kids got it most evenings in the MDR, and it was not as good there.  I think it just sits longer, and freshness makes a huge difference with this pizza especially.

 

Kids Pool Areas- our 3.5 y/o enjoyed the little splash area for older kids, but was still just a little short for the slide there; he preferred swimming in the main pool(s) as opposed to the splash area.  The splash area for kids in swim diapers is sufficient as well.  Not much going on, but a little fountain and a small slide-- it was enough to keep the attention of our 1.5 y/o anyway!

 

Casino- spent a couple nights there.  Smoke was definitely noticeable, but I didn't think it was quite as bad as I had remembered.  I especially thought it would seem worse since we were on Empress last summer with no smoking in the casino.

 

Shows- we went to the ice show (twice, since our older son wouldn't stop talking about it) and one of the production shows (Jackpot, the Vegas showtune production).  They kept us entertained.  We did not see any of the headliner shows. 

 

Other Kid-related Topics- we took our older son to Adventure Ocean on Day 1 for an intro, then for an hour or two each on days 2 and 4 (both sea days).  He did ok, and seemed to have a good time, but he told us that he didn't want to go back.  It's his vacation too, so that was that.  The staff there seem really great though from our limited experience.  The heli-pad and peek-a-boo bridge overlook were huge hits with the kids (and with us too!).

 

Closing Thoughts

We spent a lot more time in our room this cruise between naps and early bed times, so the suite was definitely a huge plus.  Love the ease of cruising out of NJ, and I also really like sea days, so making the long trip to Bermuda and then all the way up from the Bahamas was excellent.

 

If you have any questions, go ahead and shoot, and I'll try.  I may not be the best source of information, since we didn't get around as much as usual.  Maybe if others that were on this sailing see the post, they could fill in the gaps!

 

[dcblack&gold]

Thanks for the informative review, Don't!  I am on the same sailing this Friday.

Can you give me a sense about how bad (or not) the traffic getting into Cape Liberty was for you?

We will be driving up from Baltimore on Friday morning.  Planning on leaving at 7:00 and hoping

to get to Cape Liberty by 10:30.  What can we expect to see traffic wise around the port?  Thanks.

[npb1894]

Thanks for the information! We are headed on the same cruise Friday! Looking forward to a great Adventure!!

[Don'tNeedAName]

12 hours ago, dcblack&gold said:

Thanks for the informative review, Don't!  I am on the same sailing this Friday.

Can you give me a sense about how bad (or not) the traffic getting into Cape Liberty was for you?

We will be driving up from Baltimore on Friday morning.  Planning on leaving at 7:00 and hoping

to get to Cape Liberty by 10:30.  What can we expect to see traffic wise around the port?  Thanks.

 

I think that 10:30 timing should be perfect, and was what we were aiming for.

 

We hit the entrance to the port around 11:30.  We had no problems with traffic on the drive in, but once we were at the port, it was a long, very slow line of cars that started to the left of where my first picture above cuts off.  That's ultimately why we decided to just skip the drive around to the luggage dropoff and just short-cut to the outdoor lot.

 

But yeah, from my understanding when I was originally planning, 10:30 should be great.  Have an awesome cruise!

[Don'tNeedAName]

11 hours ago, npb1894 said:

Thanks for the information! We are headed on the same cruise Friday! Looking forward to a great Adventure!!

 

Nice, have a great cruise!  The ship was in great shape, and we really loved the amount of sea days (the stops were great too!).  Plus, getting that 8th night to push you past a full week on board really makes a huge difference.

[Russ Lomas]

Thanks for the review.  We sail on the Adventure in March and are looking forward to it.

 

You may not have seen the link I will post below regarding Vegan options in the MDR.  But take solace in your experience with the issues you had about vegan options in the MDR.  Maybe YOU were the ones who finally made the following decision for RCCL.

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/4313/

 

[Don'tNeedAName]

5 hours ago, Russ Lomas said:

Thanks for the review.  We sail on the Adventure in March and are looking forward to it.

 

You may not have seen the link I will post below regarding Vegan options in the MDR.  But take solace in your experience with the issues you had about vegan options in the MDR.  Maybe YOU were the ones who finally made the following decision for RCCL.

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/4313/

 

 

That's great news, and just too bad we barely missed the changeover.  It's funny, because I did think that the MDR staff were way more apologetic than they needed to be after that first night.  The headwaiter came over at least twice during each remaining dinner to make sure we were happy, even bringing the chef over to our table on night two.  I didn't think we gave off a vibe of really being angry at all that first night, and we assured them that everything was fine.

 

But yes, based on the date of all this, we'll go ahead and take credit that our specific issue is what pushed them over the edge and made them implement this change, ha!

 

Anyway, thanks again for the head's up on this--wife was really happy to see it when I sent it along.  Enjoy your time on Adventure!

[crosbystreet]

I am sailing on Adventure on Saturday! Our first real vacation with our 3 year old. He’s super excited. 

 

Many new tips of things that were good for the little kids? Did you pack special stuff they liked?

 

We have an aft cabin with larger balcony as we expect to be spending much more time in the room than before kids. 

[Don'tNeedAName]

Awesome, @crosbystreet!  Have a great time!

 

Above all (as you already kind of recognized by getting the larger balcony), remember that this cruise will be SO DIFFERENT from all those cruises without a toddler.  But it's still a great vacation!

 

One thing we always enjoyed around naptime was that while one of us was putting him down, the other would go bring a plate and drink back from the buffet, then the other would go get their plate, and we'd sit out on the balcony, eat, drink, and take our own naps!

• A point to this, if you have an easily packable video monitor, bring it with you.  The reception through metal walls of the ship suck, but it is good enough to use while you sit out on the balcony.

 

My general thoughts for this age...

 

Adventure Ocean

• Even if you don't think he will like Adventure Ocean, make sure you go the first day.
• They have a couple different "open-house" times that you can get him signed up, meet some of the staff, and you can be in the little play area with him for a little bit.  This seemed to do a better job of easing ours into the setting.
• Note, ours just started daycare within the past few months, whereas he had previously been with grandparents during the workday, so he ultimately only went a few times to AO and said he did not want to go back after spending a couple hours there over the course of the next few days.  As noted above, it's his vacation too, so we didn't force it.

Activities around the ship

• Seriously, our 3 y/o loved the ice show.  We saw it twice, and he will not stop talking about it and saying he is an ice skater... even though when we went to an open skate time, he cried the entire one lap I managed to get him to do, lol!
• Peek-a-boo bridge... deck 11 forward, go out from the port side, and walk all the way to the front of the ship, and you can look down at the bridge.  Ours loved going up there just about every day and watching them for a while.
• Helicopter pad.  Easiest to access from outside on deck 4, and keep walking forward and upstairs.  Our 3 y/o wanted to go every single day.
• Pools... our 3 y/o preferred the main pool to the children's splash area, but we did spend some time in the splash area, and it was nice.  The 1.5 y/o was relegated to the even smaller area for those still in swim diapers, but he had a great time.

Packing

• Our kids aren't generally picky eaters when it comes to meal times, but they have a few particular snacks that they really like.  Since restaurant times aren't always most convenient on board when a toddler wants a snack, we did make sure to pack some extras of their favorite snacks for the room.
• We bought this foldable potty seat off Amazon that was easy to pack and great for him to use on board.
• We brought along inflatable bed rails.  Our 3 y/o rolls around a TON.  People have mentioned that the cabin steward will create makeshift rails out of bedding/towels, and I'm sure that would be just as useful (and free of course)... however, we really liked these and would recommend them.  Note, if you just get the bed rails, I don't think it comes with an inflator.  However, any air mattress inflator will do the trick.
• We have been using these sunblock sticks, and our 3 y/o loves using it on his own.  We go back over and make sure he's covered, but he likes feeling self-sufficient using it.
• As far as toys, hot wheels are a huge hit with our sons... they play with them non-stop, and don't take up that much room.  We bought a cheap zipper pencil bag to throw a bunch of cars in before we left.  We also decided to get some new books and small toys to up the excitement factor a little... however, don't go overboard--there is plenty to keep them entertained!

[Don'tNeedAName]

Oh also, real quick as far as ports... as mentioned above, the helium balloon ride at Coco Cay is free for kids under 4.  Highly recommended!  Not sure whether 3 year olds even have the capacity to be afraid of heights--didn't bother ours at all.

 

On Bermuda, if you are taking any of the mini-buses around the island... you might find a mini-bus driver that won't charge you for the 3 y/o if he can sit on your lap.  We have a 1.5 y/o that we already weren't being charged for, so we didn't push it and just paid for the 3 y/o (although he did sit on my lap the way there, he didn't on the return).

[crosbystreet]

On 8/12/2019 at 4:04 PM, Don'tNeedAName said:

Awesome, @crosbystreet!  Have a great time!

 

Above all (as you already kind of recognized by getting the larger balcony), remember that this cruise will be SO DIFFERENT from all those cruises without a toddler.  But it's still a great vacation!

 

One thing we always enjoyed around naptime was that while one of us was putting him down, the other would go bring a plate and drink back from the buffet, then the other would go get their plate, and we'd sit out on the balcony, eat, drink, and take our own naps!

• A point to this, if you have an easily packable video monitor, bring it with you.  The reception through metal walls of the ship suck, but it is good enough to use while you sit out on the balcony.

 

My general thoughts for this age...

 

Adventure Ocean

• Even if you don't think he will like Adventure Ocean, make sure you go the first day.
• They have a couple different "open-house" times that you can get him signed up, meet some of the staff, and you can be in the little play area with him for a little bit.  This seemed to do a better job of easing ours into the setting.
• Note, ours just started daycare within the past few months, whereas he had previously been with grandparents during the workday, so he ultimately only went a few times to AO and said he did not want to go back after spending a couple hours there over the course of the next few days.  As noted above, it's his vacation too, so we didn't force it.

Activities around the ship

• Seriously, our 3 y/o loved the ice show.  We saw it twice, and he will not stop talking about it and saying he is an ice skater... even though when we went to an open skate time, he cried the entire one lap I managed to get him to do, lol!
• Peek-a-boo bridge... deck 11 forward, go out from the port side, and walk all the way to the front of the ship, and you can look down at the bridge.  Ours loved going up there just about every day and watching them for a while.
• Helicopter pad.  Easiest to access from outside on deck 4, and keep walking forward and upstairs.  Our 3 y/o wanted to go every single day.
• Pools... our 3 y/o preferred the main pool to the children's splash area, but we did spend some time in the splash area, and it was nice.  The 1.5 y/o was relegated to the even smaller area for those still in swim diapers, but he had a great time.

Packing

• Our kids aren't generally picky eaters when it comes to meal times, but they have a few particular snacks that they really like.  Since restaurant times aren't always most convenient on board when a toddler wants a snack, we did make sure to pack some extras of their favorite snacks for the room.
• We bought this foldable potty seat off Amazon that was easy to pack and great for him to use on board.
• We brought along inflatable bed rails.  Our 3 y/o rolls around a TON.  People have mentioned that the cabin steward will create makeshift rails out of bedding/towels, and I'm sure that would be just as useful (and free of course)... however, we really liked these and would recommend them.  Note, if you just get the bed rails, I don't think it comes with an inflator.  However, any air mattress inflator will do the trick.
• We have been using these sunblock sticks, and our 3 y/o loves using it on his own.  We go back over and make sure he's covered, but he likes feeling self-sufficient using it.
• As far as toys, hot wheels are a huge hit with our sons... they play with them non-stop, and don't take up that much room.  We bought a cheap zipper pencil bag to throw a bunch of cars in before we left.  We also decided to get some new books and small toys to up the excitement factor a little... however, don't go overboard--there is plenty to keep them entertained!

Hey we leave tomorrow - I wanted to jump back in here quick and say how helpful this advice is. Three year old boys are a particular kind of traveler and this advice has been so helpful. I can’t wait for him to see the ship tomorrow.