Brief Review - Adventure of The Seas - July 2-7

[cruizzing]

Brief Review of Adventure of The Seas 5 night Bermuda cruise. Traveling with 2 kids under 10.

 

Heard ship was at capacity, though didn't inquire/hear numbers. Lots of kids. 

 

Bermuda Authorization- Completed documents and paid the $40 fee about 3 weeks out. Received approval about 5 days out. It was required to show at boarding and not again. 

 

FOOD:

Breakfast - did room service most mornings and was good. WJ once for breakfast and it was also good - no complaints, though fresh squeezed OJ never showed up. Didn't check to see if they used a voucher for it. 

 

Lunch - lunch on sea days in WJ and it was fine. They did have a station for hot dogs, hamburgers, and fixings on the pool deck. Luke warm, but very convenient. Very windy (like move the pool deck chairs windy), so may have contributed to food temps.

 

Had MDR early seating and dinner was good. No complaints whatsoever. Our dining staff was among the best we've ever had. In and out quickly.  Lines for MTD were very long - both sides. Talked to someone who had MTD and they said they ate many dinners in WJ. Didn't do any specialty restaurants. 

 

ENTERTAINMENT- Shows we saw were good - didn't do them all.

 

ACTIVITIES- 

Ice Skating- arrive early. Long line. Kids 5 and under must have an adult on the ice (on skates).  Socks and long pants req'd. Did not have the skating trainer "thing" to help new skaters, but didn't expect it. 

 

Flow Rider had 2 sides going which helped the long line.

 

Water slides were running and fun for the kids.

 

Outdoor movies on big screen - Clifford, Top Gun (Original), Encanto,  Mulan (not kids one) and others I can't remember.  Hot tubs were crowded most times (pools were cold) and one randomly pumped a little cold water which was annoying, but tolerable.

 

Mini-golf was fun - DS loved the hole that got the ball from the one deck to the other. 

 

Adventure Ocean - Used 6-8 yrs old room most nights for the evening session (after 7). Never encountered capacity issues.  

A staffer in 3-5's room offered to let DS go with sibling which was great to have them together. Didn't offer cell phones except for special needs or after 10:00pm (Odyssey just handed me one without even inquiring). 

 

Arcade - AO is inside the arcade. Some games were down, many were working.  They had 2 air hockeys - 1 with a curved tabletop, and another that was what I call "crazy", which at 1 point drops about 15-20 pucks at the same time. A lot of fun. We played a few games some nights and prize points were loaded onto sea pass card which could be used at the automatic prize station. After the first night, DD really just wanted to get into AO and see her "friends". 

 

Photos - pre-purchased both a private session with 5 digital (private session) and the 50 prints or digitals.

50 prints/digitals - Had about 36 different pix/poses to choose from. I wanted the prints, so could print more than 1 of any photo, but the kiosk wasn't as easy to use as Odyssey where you could see/select the number of prints. It was easy to lose track of the number that was printed. You could tell that it was printed before, but not how many were printed, so had to remember how many times you pushed print. 

 

Private photo session - Photographer was great and was a 30 minute session. We got great photos, and for us is just easier to do on the ship than trying to do it at home. I thought the photographer was kidding me when I asked how much it would be to buy 1 extra digital. See price list below. 

 

Bermuda - Cleared to disembark around 10am on first day. We did a private tour and fed some turtles, another spot to feed some fish, snapped pix at the lighthouse and fort, shopping in Hamilton, and Clearwater Beach. Good beach for kids. Had umbrella and chairs and a food truck and outside covered bar. Inside restrooms and outside footwash station. Heard food was a new vendor and they are still working out kinks which was apparent. Some said they waited over an hour for food. Ours was a little long, but not an hour. They were trying hard, but a tour had come through and they were just trying to keep up. Hot dogs, fries, hamburgers, grilled cheese, etc... From memory, hot dog was $11 and bottle water was $2. A fun day. Got back late and missed lobster night dinner. Quick dinner in WJ. Tried room service late night and was told it was 2 hours. Passed. 

 

Day 2 Bermuda - Took a taxi to Horseshoe Bay Beach about $32/one way. Chairs were $15 each, and by the time we arrived around 11, umbrellas were sold out. Nice kids put chairs where you wanted. Beach was nice but despite the lifeguards' best efforts to scoop the man-o-wars with her hand-held net, there were too many (and a few people were stung), and they told everyone out of the water. It was about time for us to head back for all aboard anyway. Minimal impact, but something to keep in mind. Walked around port area for some last minute souvenirs. A photo ID was checked both times by Bermuda authorities going back on ship. A photo of ID was accepted,  though YMMV. 2 people didn't have it and were pulled aside on the phone.

 

4th of July - Had a nice tribute to Veterans and invited them to the promenade bridge, some patriotic songs, a balloon drop, and a large flag cake (was on display in WJ)  served by walk around waiters. 

 

Coke cups were old version. 

Muster stations were open when we boarded - our boarding time was 10:30.

 

Peek-a-boo bridge -  Our sea days were pretty windy, so was roped off. The blinds were closed when we tried on port day which we heard is standard. 

 

Disembarkment - Was in last group off and easy off ship. 

 

Overall, a great cruise! 

 

 

 

 

 

[John&LaLa]

We about choked on the cost as well, but I went back and bought them. To good not to get them. 😁

 

We were able to get 10 pictures for $500 as I recall. Prints plus digital stick

 

Ended up printing 1 on aluminum after we got home

Edited July 8, 2022 by John&LaLa

[Surfguyxxx]

Thanks for your insights. 

 

[edrussell]

Your thoughts pretty much echo what we experienced on the same itinerary back in late May, minus the man-o-war.  Thanks for the review.

 

[kitkat343]

Thanks so much.  Could you tell us the name of your private tour operator for Bermuda, and where did you feed the turtles?

[Jimbo]

For those prices for pictures, I sure hope the photographers are paid well for their services by Royal. No need to charge that much for pictures in less they are sharing those fees with their employees doing the work.

[cruizzing]

5 hours ago, kitkat343 said:

Thanks so much.  Could you tell us the name of your private tour operator for Bermuda, and where did you feed the turtles?

I don't know that we're allowed to post operators here, but I can send you an email with name/email if you want to provide ur email.  

 

The turtles weren't Ocean turtles, but were in a reserve that the guide knew of. Off the beaten path kind of place. 

[cruizzing]

4 hours ago, Jimbo said:

For those prices for pictures, I sure hope the photographers are paid well for their services by Royal. No need to charge that much for pictures in less they are sharing those fees with their employees doing the work.

I hope they're paid well too. They were great photos and I thought the photographer was particularly good, especially with kids. He had music, and it was a very enjoyable experience. I was shocked at the price because I think I paid less than/or similar price in cruise planner for all 5 photos and the "sitting fee".  I am very happy with the quality and professionalism. 

[kitkat343]

 

45 minutes ago, cruizzing said:

I don't know that we're allowed to post operators here, but I can send you an email with name/email if you want to provide ur email.  

 

The turtles weren't Ocean turtles, but were in a reserve that the guide knew of. Off the beaten path kind of place. 

hi its kit.kat343@yahoo.com

[cruizinmimi]

Did you happen to go into the lounge and listen to the  entertainment - the group band???

[cruizzing]

6 hours ago, cruizinmimi said:

Did you happen to go into the lounge and listen to the  entertainment - the group band???

Sorry, we didn't.  

[Jingerwoppy]

We got a private photo session and they said it was for our anniversary. The shoot was interesting but then as stated above the costs were very high especially since we they implied it was complementary (should have known it wasn't when the biggest thing we ever win is a keychain).

 

I take pretty good pictures and can do all that here plus get them special printed a lot cheaper. 

[USERBOYD66]

 Could you tell me the name of your private tour operator for Bermuda, and where did you feed the turtles?  

[cruizzing]

1 hour ago, USERBOYD66 said:

 Could you tell me the name of your private tour operator for Bermuda, and where did you feed the turtles?  

Email me at cruizzing at gmail

[cruizzing]

2 hours ago, Jingerwoppy said:

We got a private photo session and they said it was for our anniversary. The shoot was interesting but then as stated above the costs were very high especially since we they implied it was complementary (should have known it wasn't when the biggest thing we ever win is a keychain).

 

I take pretty good pictures and can do all that here plus get them special printed a lot cheaper. 

Sounds like you're very talented!

[lovelife]

10 hours ago, cruizinmimi said:

Did you happen to go into the lounge and listen to the  entertainment - the group band???

We were on the week before and did hear The Cool Band in the Imperial Lounge - pretty good.

[Jingerwoppy]

On 7/11/2022 at 10:02 PM, cruizzing said:

Sounds like you're very talented!

Only on a few things. Mostly I just plod along.