One Adventure After Another, Live Rolling Review Aug 14, 21 and 28

[exm]

I am on my way home, typing this from my NAS-JFK flight. Internet was only $5, not too bad. Some thoughts:

- NAS airport around 2pm wasn’t too bad. I arrived 3 hours in advance and had plenty of time to eat. Good food options, too.

- Used my Thursday Covid test to board my flight Sunday

- Couldn’t see Adventure leave (had dinner at that time), but took a picture of Mariner of the Seas which looked nearly identical 

- I can’t stress how nice Margaritaville is, located near the Hilton. They do day passes also ($35 child, $74 adult). The hotel is brand new and rooms are absolutely gorgeous.

- My cruise, in fact the entire trip, was fantastic.

- Please keep on posting about the 8/28 cruise, I am following these with envy

 

[brookmill18]

Sorry to ask bc I feel like this has been answered but I can't find it...are vaccinated adults sailing with unvaccinated under 12's allowed into the vaccinated only areas like the indoor bars? Thank you!

[dswallow]

19 minutes ago, brookmill18 said:

Sorry to ask bc I feel like this has been answered but I can't find it...are vaccinated adults sailing with unvaccinated under 12's allowed into the vaccinated only areas like the indoor bars? Thank you!

 

Vaccinated-only areas of the ship truly mean vaccinated-only.

[brookmill18]

2 hours ago, dswallow said:

 

Vaccinated-only areas of the ship truly mean vaccinated-only.

I meant if the parent is not with the children. If a parent is alone, are they able to enter a vaccinated area (like Schooner's Bar)  even though their traveling party is not vaccinated.

[dswallow]

31 minutes ago, brookmill18 said:

I meant if the parent is not with the children. If a parent is alone, are they able to enter a vaccinated area (like Schooner's Bar)  even though their traveling party is not vaccinated.

 

Yes, there is no different restriction on the vaccinated parent just because they are traveling with an unvaccinated child. The vaccinated parent can enter any area that is limited to vaccinated-only passengers. The restrictions are based on what you do when you have the unvaccinated child with you, including things like leaving the ship. If for the port Royal Caribbean requires excursions unvaccinated people be on ship-sponsored excursions only, but unvaccinated people can move freely around the port, you cannot take the unvaccinated child with you and freely move around the port.

[luvcruzing]

14 minutes ago, dswallow said:

but unvaccinated people can move freely around the port, you cannot take the unvaccinated child with you and freely move around the port.

I think you meant vaccinated people can move freely around the port.

[3kidsncats]

Yesterday was all about sleeping in, pool side lounging and catching up with peoole we met pre cruise online.  It's a interesting vibe seeing all the new arrivals trying to find their way around when for a change we actually know.  

 

Today we are having a thrillibg water park day -mostly the wave pool for me.  Later we will have lunch over at the Chill venue (our favorite Mahmudi is there today) and finish up with Oasis Lagoon

 

 

[brookmill18]

51 minutes ago, 3kidsncats said:

Today we are having a thrillibg water park day -mostly the wave pool for me.  Later we will have lunch over at the Chill venue (our favorite Mahmudi is there today) and finish up with Oasis Lagoon

 

 

 

 

Sounds like you'll have experienced most areas of Coco Cay. If you can, I'd love to hear what you'd do again if you go back...did you think the extra pay areas far exceeded the complimentary areas on the island, would you only do pay areas again if a small uncharge, etc. I know it's hard bc it's so subjective, but just curious what you think at the end of your trip. Thank you!

[DCCanuck]

Hey everyone who's been on Coco Cay recently!

 

My wife and I will be spending back to back days there on the Adventure next week... I'm still seeing the "Pre-Cruise" pricing for the Waterpark of $93.99 pp, can anyone share what the on-board price is?

 

Also, is the Coco Beach Club worth it at $169.99 pp?

 

Thanks!

[Sunshine3601]

5 hours ago, 3kidsncats said:

Yesterday was all about sleeping in, pool side lounging and catching up with peoole we met pre cruise online.  It's a interesting vibe seeing all the new arrivals trying to find their way around when for a change we actually know.  

That is one of the things I like with b2b's I always enjoy watching the new passengers board.     

[Sunshine3601]

27 minutes ago, DCCanuck said:

Hey everyone who's been on Coco Cay recently!

 

My wife and I will be spending back to back days there on the Adventure next week... I'm still seeing the "Pre-Cruise" pricing for the Waterpark of $93.99 pp, can anyone share what the on-board price is?

 

Also, is the Coco Beach Club worth it at $169.99 pp?

 

Thanks!

The beach club is a beautiful relaxing area with a nice lunch but IMO I wouldn't pay $170 pp.    I have a couple future sailings going to coco cay and I would love to go back to the beach club but will wait and see if the price goes back under $100 pp    In Jan/Feb 2020 I paid under $50 pp and that was a perfect price

[lazydayz]

1 hour ago, Sunshine3601 said:

The beach club is a beautiful relaxing area with a nice lunch but IMO I wouldn't pay $170 pp.    I have a couple future sailings going to coco cay and I would love to go back to the beach club but will wait and see if the price goes back under $100 pp    In Jan/Feb 2020 I paid under $50 pp and that was a perfect price

 

I agree the sweet spot is around $60, and would likely pay up to $100 per person.  But I would not go over that.  It is beautiful, the lunch is great, but with so many included options, I could make do without the beach club.   

[PaulS]

3Kidsncats posted that her favorite Mahmudi was working at the Chill venue today. We were on the Adventure the week of July 10, and Mahmudi was our assistant waiter in the dining room all week. I can see why he is her favorite. Hope he has been promoted to a waiter rather than an assistant. He deserves it!

[DCCanuck]

Thank you @Sunshine3601 and @lazydayz!

 

Any one been able to see the waterpark prices? That's really the major one I'm interested in doing... 😅

[dswallow]

1 hour ago, DCCanuck said:

Thank you @Sunshine3601 and @lazydayz!

 

Any one been able to see the waterpark prices? That's really the major one I'm interested in doing... 😅

 

From the last sale in the Cruise Planner, Thrill Water Park Full Day Pass was $88.99 and identified as 10% off the onboard price, so that would put it at $98.88 onboard. Probably something like $98.99 the way Royal Caribbean prices things.

 

The current pre-cruise price is a 5% discount. And it's at $93.99 which would make the onboard price $98.94, so again, probably $98.99 onboard.

 

Almost never will a price be cheaper onboard than offered in advance.

There will not be another sale for the 9/4 sailing, but the sale that begins on 9/3 will be available for the 9/11 sailing purchases.

[jentravelrn]

Sailing on Adventure this upcoming Saturday. What are the chances that we'll be able to catch the Georgia v. Clemson game? Any venues showing sporting events?

 

Thanks!

[WVHillbilly]

Now that I'm back and experiencing the post cruise blues, I thought I'd post a summary of our trip.  I had tried posting while on ship but posting from my phone using ships internet was to slow for my patience.

 

Day 1-Embarkation Day:  Check-in at the British Colonial Hilton went quickly and smoothly and we were on the first shuttle to the ship.  Drinks, specialty dining reservations and lunch at the Windjammer.  Rooms opened up between 1:15-1:30.  Dinner at night 1 was at Izumi's; with the 3-night dining package you were allowed to pick 1 small plate and 2 large plates plus desert.  The sushi was fantastic but we could only eat less than half of the order.  In hindsight i will eat at Izumi again but will just purchase it ala carte.  

 

Day 2-CoCo Kay:  The plan for today was Oasis Lagoon, we were joined today by Freedom of the Seas 1500 or so guest to the Adventures 637.  The swim up bar at Oasis Lagoon was hopping that day but there was still plenty of room to spread out in a lounger and soak in the Lagoon.  Didn't have lunch today as we were still full from the days before meal plus we had Chops for tonight.  DW had the petite fillet and I had the NY Strip both were cooked to perfection.  Partaking of the drink package continued and listened to the Culture Band and Switched on Band.

 

Day 3-CoCo Kay (part du):  Walked around the beaches and once again decided on Oasis Lagoon.  The pool was refreshing and the service at the swim up bar and at the loungers was outstanding, even danced to a few songs from the DJ.  The island felt empty, had lunch at Chill Grill.  Was a good selection of foods available we settled on pork and chicken tacos.  Tonight was the first Formal night so we got dressed up and headed to our first meal in the MDR.  The service was exemplary and the food was pretty good.  The evening was taken up with partaking of the drink package, bar hopping and dancing.

 

Day 4-Sea Day:  Today was our anniversary so a relaxing sea day was a perfect way to spend it.  Solarium loungers was the order of the day; we had booked the "Sushi and Saki" lunch at Izumi's.  If you like sushi this is a great meal you sampled 5 different sushi, beef fried rice and Mochi ice cream.  Each course was paired with a different saki.  Took in the ice show "Cool Art Hot Ice" and iy was amazing, such talented skaters that obviously love what they do.  Dinner was at Giovanni's and the service and food was outstanding.  More bar hopping, dancing and listening to the bands ended the evening.

 

Day 5-Cozumel:  Up early and hit the town, grabbed a taxi downtown and wandered around the park, had a drink at Fat Tuesday's and made a purchase of Vanilla for the kids back home.  The heat and humidity was oppressive so we decided to grab a taxi back to the ship and cool off in the pool.

 

Day 6-Sea Day:  Just another relaxing sea day and then the second Formal night in the MDR with lobster.

 

Day 7-Freeport:  Freeport is my least favorite port of call, there is nothing in the excursions that interest me here.  I really wish they would come up with some interesting excursions.  So it was another day filled with sea day activities.

 

Day 8-Nassau:  This was my least favorite day of the cruise, breakfast at Windjammer then waited in our room to be kicked off the ship.  The transfer to the airport went well and was very easy; don't sit in the last row, as we took off water from the AC came pouring down the wife's back fortunately there were two single seats that we were able to move to.  Airport went pretty smoothly the only hold up was the security scanners; it was a bit disorganized as we were moved from a working scanner to an unmanned scanner, the operator arrived and had to wait for a supervisor to turn it on.  After to long flights we were back home after midnight.

 

It was a great cruise with a super fantastic and energized crew, I only wish I had the forethought to do a B2B.

 

[exm]

On 8/30/2021 at 4:25 PM, DCCanuck said:

Hey everyone who's been on Coco Cay recently!

 

My wife and I will be spending back to back days there on the Adventure next week... I'm still seeing the "Pre-Cruise" pricing for the Waterpark of $93.99 pp, can anyone share what the on-board price is?

 

Also, is the Coco Beach Club worth it at $169.99 pp?

 

Thanks!

The Beach club is worth $70 or so at most. However, get one of those water cabanas…

 

And I agree Freeport is a terrible port.

[exm]

Hi all, I wonder about any final thoughts from the 8/28 passengers? I am glad we sailed when we did with the new incoming protocols for September.

 

Already missing this:

 

 

[3kidsncats]

On 8/30/2021 at 9:15 AM, brookmill18 said:

Sounds like you'll have experienced most areas of Coco Cay. If you can, I'd love to hear what you'd do again if you go back...did you think the extra pay areas far exceeded the complimentary areas on the island, would you only do pay areas again if a small uncharge, etc. I know it's hard bc it's so subjective, but just curious what you think at the end of your trip. Thank you!

With reduced capacity I think the pay areas are not necessary, although we particularly enjoyed the club food over the complimentary options.  The water cabana was utterly amazing — doubt we will ever be able to do it again, but so glad we managed it once.  
 

At the Oasis Lagoon, we preferred the little circular water seating coves over the swim up bar — definitely our favorite included venue

[3kidsncats]

On 8/30/2021 at 4:43 PM, PaulS said:

3Kidsncats posted that her favorite Mahmudi was working at the Chill venue today. We were on the Adventure the week of July 10, and Mahmudi was our assistant waiter in the dining room all week. I can see why he is her favorite. Hope he has been promoted to a waiter rather than an assistant. He deserves it!

He has been promoted!  He will get his first official table section after dry dock!  We are so happy for him.  He and Jose were so wonderful and we were delighted to be assigned to them for both weeks. Mahmudi started showering me with the cutest napkin animals and after I get home and sleep for a day, I will share some of his creations here.  We actually took our birdie pair home with us, and they are continuing to have Adventures with us.

[3kidsncats]

On 9/3/2021 at 3:51 PM, exm said:

Hi all, I wonder about any final thoughts from the 8/28 passengers? I am glad we sailed when we did with the new incoming protocols for September.

 

Already missing this:

 

 

I will be adding a few post trip photos and “review” comments in a day or so — we won’t be home until this evening and I’m feeling the drain of being awake 24 hours straight yesterday.  Currently vegging in our airport hotel with a lovely late check out but too tired to go thru photos for posting

[PaulS]

Thanks for the update on Mahmudi. Glad to hear he has been promoted.

[3kidsncats]

2 hours ago, PaulS said:

Thanks for the update on Mahmudi. Glad to hear he has been promoted.

 

[3kidsncats]

A quick “finish” to our 3rd day in CocoCay — shortly after we arrived in the water park, my husband got a minor (but bleeding) scrape on his knee in the wave pool.  I made him visit the first aid station and they recommended he stay out of the water, so no more water park for us 😜.  He did go down the big slide late in the day, before we got back onboard, since he wasn’t bleeding by then.  

 

Instead we wandered around a bit, grabbed lunch over at the dining in Chill Beach where we were able to say hi to Mahmudi and have lunch with someone we had met onboard.  Then we went over to the Oasis Lagoon, enjoyed one of the little cove seating areas for a while.  I have a bunch photos, that I’ll pop into a few posts to reduce the size of this one.

 

One “issue” we had for the two days at CocoCay on this second leg was it was SOOOOO dang hot, we had to go back on board a bit early (I have a thyroid issue that affects my body’s ability to regulate my temperature, so extremes of hot or cold can be difficult).  So that really did affect our level of engagement during our time there.  Plus my husband’s knee limited him (you don’t want to add bacteria to the water, or find some to enter your wound, so he didn’t go in the water at all at Oasis, other than his feet).