Adventure of the Seas: 8th - 12th Dec (Galveston to Cozumel)

[Btank]

INTRODUCTION

Hello, folks!  I wanted to throw a few quick impressions of this Adventure sailing down for people to consume & regurgitate as needed.

 

I booked this cruise back in September.  We did a 7-day last December on Liberty; when I saw the very attractive price on this 4-day sailing, I knew I couldn't pass it up.  I cruise with my older mentally-disabled brother; as his caregiver, taking breaks like this is important for my well-being. 😁  So, off we go!

 

PRE-DEPARTURE LOGISTICS

Our first stop in the morning was the Mart of Pets to drop the girls off in their hotel and spa.  The PetSmart staff was very good at sending me pictures every day about how much they were enjoying life without us:

While we did miss them, I wasn't all that bothered by a vacation from them. 😀  So, knowing they were safe and spending Daddy's money... we headed down to Galveston.

 

THE DRIVE

So, we're pretty lucky - we live about 80 miles away from the port.  Even so, the drive took a good two hours.  People driving in on the morning of the cruise - or flying in to George Bush Intercontinental Airport - need to keep traffic in mind with regard to travel times.  Hobby Airport is a little better, since it's on the south side - but you will still run into the (endless) construction on I-45 between Houston and Galveston.  That was a little better this time, but you have been warned!  For anyone traveling in from out of state and not taking the RCL transfer, I'd really recommend flying in the day before and staying in one of the hotels just outside of Galveston.  If you're flying in, you can stay & turn in an Avis or Enterprise car in La Marque / Texas City.  There are numerous options for transportation from there to Galveston the next day.

 

       --bruce T.

 

 

 

[Btank]

THE PORT

We arrived about 10:15 am for a 10:30 - 11 boarding slot.

 

After dropping off our bags in front of the terminal, we headed for the parking lot.  We had paid for port parking - North Premium Lot, Covered Parking.  Yeah, it was a little more expensive than our past port parking - $88 with our coupon.  But, when you can step out of your car and see this from your front bumper... well, life is good:

A short walk from the car and we were inside!

 

[Btank]

CHECK-IN

I had already checked in and uploaded copies of our documents and pictures online, so I expected that things would be like they were last December - we'd have a quick stop at the desk to show our passports and paperwork, let 'em swipe my CC, etc.  So, you can imagine my amazement when we were met at the top of the elevator with a friendly port rep who took a picture of our passport pages and scanned our (printed) sea passes... then told us that we could board immediately, and have a great vacation.  Total time spent: less than 5 minutes.

 

No bovine excrement - I was waiting for something to go wrong.  I mean, it can't be this easy, right?  Well, it was... and we found ourselves taking a short walk through the waiting area.  Total time from walking in the terminal to boarding the ship: 15 minutes (including the stop top take a few pictures and put paperwork & passports away).

 

 

 

[footzz]

Did I miss the part where you went through the Security Checkpoint?

[Btank]

EMBARKATION AND LUNCH

Content warning: The Key will be discussed here.  It works well for us as far as logistics with my brother - for example, getting him on early and out of the embarkation crush of people.  Your mileage may vary; strong opinions telling us what a waste of money the key is will be cheerfully scrolled past.

We walked onto the ship - still in a daze - and as Key purchasers, headed off to drop our carry-on bags.  We were a little early for our "Exclusive welcome lunch in the Main Dining Room featuring the Chops Grille® menu", so we wandered around until heading for the MDR for an 11:30 seating.

 

It was here that the wheels became a little loose on the bus (albeit they didn't fall off).  We were seated almost 20 minutes late; I could see many looks of consternation among the restaurant managers, with a bunch of servers standing there waiting.  Eventually, we were let in and taken to a nice table.  Well, sort of nice:

What could it be?  A wayward cigar ash from the previous diner?  Grease from the engineering spaces?  Damfino, but I wasn't gonna do a scratch and sniff to find out.  It was pretty minor in the scheme of things, so I ordered - a Caesar's salad for me with mac & cheese, and a dry-aged burger with mac & cheese for my brother.  The drink order was a virgin pina colada for him and a Diet Coke for me.

 

After about 20 minutes, the appetizers came out.  He had the soup (very good), and I had my salad.  The dressing was so watery that I could swirl it around the bottom of the salad bow; no exaggeration, drops of it it actually splattered while I was eating.

 

We still had no drinks - only water, and we were out of that - so I asked the next server (our waiter had disappeared) for our drink order.  I received this:

Yep, that's an honest-to-God can of Diet Coke - delivered to me with a glass of ice.

To be clear: I had never seen cans of Diet Coke on a ship before, and I certainly wouldn't have expected one at an "Exclusive welcome lunch in the Main Dining Room featuring the Chops Grille® menu".

 

But, I was not gonna let this get in the way of enjoying my cruise!  Clearly, they were having some service issues... but it was gonna get better.  After finishing our appetizers and another 20 minutes of waiting, no main course had arrived.  I grabbed another server and asked them for a bread bowl.  I mean, Chops has freaking great bread... that should hold us, right?  The family at the next table agreed, and we both awaited our freshly-baked goodness:

The bread came with a side order of apology.  "I'm sorry, we have no butter... it is still being loaded."

And thus started another 15 minute wait.  The family at the next table gave up - I think they felt bad about seeing their child gnaw on a dry roll, and I think they headed to the Windjammer.  Us?  We're hard core... and now it was the principle of the thing!

 

So after our main courses arrived - another watery salad arrived with a small portion of cold mac & cheese, we decided to cut our losses and skip desert.  By this time the cabins had been announced as available - yes, that's how long it took!

 

A side note: I was so amused by this that I posted it on the Facebook group for Royal Caribbean Galveston.  And thus, the krakken were released:

• "Not uncommon on ships Minimal butter at breakfast this morning. Stuff happens."  Uh yeah, but this is branded as Chops?
• "OMG Life threatening issue Better ask for a refund"  Ummmm, no.
• "have you never run out of something? Between product limitations, delivery, etc. no business plans to disappoint customers. Things happen. Where has patience and understanding gone? This is not a life threatening issue."  Ummmmm, it wasn't.
• "I hear Carnival is nice this time of year. Perhaps they’ll take your key? And not only do they have butter, but they serve real butter croissants not the margarine ones that Royal serves. And they serve real crab meat in the crab cakes in the main dining room. Royal has begun serving imitation crab in Chops...(many more words followed)"  This person seamed tense.
• "It figures the most cruisers like you don’t understand that the Cruise Line has to restock its entire inventory of food and supplies after every trip! This is when they Off Load the Cruise Passengers and On Load the Next Cruise Passengers in a 8-10 Hour period! If you wanted bread and butter you should have ate before you got on board the cruise ship! Now I see the uppity side of the privileged cruisers on RC!"  When others pointed out to this gentleman that he was being a bit rude, he responded with "Then get the F off the ship and don’t take the Cruise."  Children, children...

 

The moral of the story? Some will go with brand loyalty over questioning service quality.  As for me, I had 3.9 days of cruising left - nothing was gonna keep me from enjoying it.

[Btank]

19 minutes ago, footzz said:

Did I miss the part where you went through the Security Checkpoint?

No, but it was so smooth it didn't warrant any mention.  You can see the magnetometer and x-ray stations way in the back of the lobby picture (it's a wide-angle lens so it looks further away than it was).  Interestingly, my brother always sets the scanner off at airports - it didn't happen here.

 

thx...      --bruce T.

 

[Btank]

CABINS

We had 8581 and 8583 - port side Interior Promenade View cabins.  We had Interior Promenade View on Freedom, and we had no issues with 'em - and the price was much better than Balconies or Ocean View.  In these pictures, you can see 8581.  The cabin door is port side, the bed & bathroom are on the aft wall, and the vanity & closet are on the fore wall:

Note that the thermostat is the traditional Royal Caribbean Random Temperature Generator. 🤨

 

The window is starboard:

What was interesting to me is that the window seems to be cantilevered out a bit more than I remember from Freedom.  This is a nice effect - the bay window at the end really feels like a large amount of space.  The view from the window wasn't bad at all:

You're looking at (L to R) seating for the pub, the stairway to the casino, and Izumi.

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: Folks, those windows have curtains for a reason.  They figured it out at some point, but... damn.

 

My Brother's cabin was 8583 - just aft of me, it was the mirror-image of mine.  Just aft of him was the cabin steward galley area.  Why did I book that room for him?  Consider:

1. He snores.  LOUD.  I mean, we're talking some serious chainsaw action here.
2. He can sleep through a hurricane (and has done so in the past).  Noise from the galley wouldn't be an issue, and I wouldn't want to inflict his snoring on anyone but me. 😐

 

 

[Btank]

CABIN ATTENDANT

I wanted to take a moment to call this guy out separately.  A. Joseph (he goes by his last name) was simply outstanding.  For those of you that sail with special needs family members, you know how important a good cabin attendant is.  Joseph was the perfect mix of helpfulness, friendliness, and reassurance for my brother.  Our rooms were made up twice a day; I know Royal is experimenting with once a day on some ships, and I hope that doesn't become the new standard.

 

And yes, I tipped Joseph well - maybe a little too well by some standards - but I can assure you that my brother's room was "maintenance intensive".  I split his tip across the beginning and end of the cruise (another standards violation for some).  I also brought several bags of Reese's Peanut Butter Christmas Trees aboard and made sure he had a couple each morning. 

[Btank]

DAY 1 ACTIVITIES AND ENTERTAINMENT

The first day and night were dedicated to eating, exploring, unpacking, and more eating. 🙃  I did go by the spa for the 4:15 raffle... and for the first time ever, I won something!

It was a beautiful thing - a $75 spa credit.  I'm not expecting to win another raffle for 8 more years and/or 6 more cruises. 😁

 

After Mark settled in for the night (it was an early wake-up for him), I went down to the ice show in Studio B.  The story premise was a little hard to follow, but the performers more than made up for it.

 

[Btank]

DAY 1 DINING

Dinner for us was in the MDR.  We had the early seating - our waiter was Eduardo (The Philippines), and our assistant waiter was Gede (I believe he was from Maylasia).  I started with the Fench onion soup, which is almost always a religious experience for me - and Mark had the crab cakes.  We both had the Chops filet (really good), and I went for the key lime pie for desert while Mark had both creme brulee and an apple blossom.  To drink, he had two virgin pina coladas and I had a glass of Kendall Jackson cabernet.

 

All in all, Day 1 was a success!

[Btank]

DAY 2 - CRUISING

Gooooooooooooood morning' ever'bodeh!  After getting a much needed coffee from Cafe Promenade, I went up to the heliport for this:

Yeah, I can dig it!  After my coffee, it was back to the cabins to collect Mark for breakfast.

 

DAY 2 BREAKFAST

We headed off to the MDR for breakfast.  Again, I saw a few minor service quality issues creeping in here.  For example, my menu:

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Some personal background on me... before retiring, I spent the better part of 32 years as an engineer and program manager in product and service development & quality assurance for an (ahem) "large personal computer manufacturer".  I realize that many people won't notice things like this - I'm just more likely to!  And it's not a big deal for me when something like this occurs - I'm not gonna go Full Metal Karen and request a new menu.  But the lesson for Royal (or any service organization) is that things like this will be noticed... and the effect of such "observations" (I'm old enough to remember when we called 'em "defects") is cumulative.  Why take a chance of having someone's perception of a meal tainted by something like this?  It's better to spend 2-3 seconds verifying that the menu isn't stained, then grabbing another one if needed.

 

Anyhow, back to breakfast: Strangely, I find myself eating healthier on cruises... as in light breakfasts, lean meats, etc.  I went with 2 pieces of french toast (no powdered sugar / whipped cream / berry compote) and a fruit cup.  Mark went with his favorite - banana pancakes, plus some hash browns.  No surprises in that breakfast was what I expected - good, not nothing memorable.  What was unusual was that our waiter (a nice guy that I won't name here) could only bring us two glasses of orange juice.  I tried to explain to him that I wanted an extra glass for Mark so he could take his medicine; he apologized and told me that it was "company policy" that he could only bring another glass after 5 minutes.

So, Mark got both glasses and I stuck with water & coffee for the requisite 5 minutes.  Things that make you go hmmmm...

(too subtle?)

 

 

[Btank]

DAY 2 LUNCH

This was our only Windjammer lunch for the cruise.  I thought it was good, but it seems like the selection was slightly less - for example, there definitely seemed to be fewer entre selections and desserts.  I don't know whether this was a function of the smaller ship, the different ship, or of time passed since my last cruise.  Whatever it was, hot food was hot and cold food was gold, and everything seemed reasonably fresh.

 

After lunch, Mark (who also serves as my social director) decided that we needed some post-lunch provisions - so we headed to Cafe Promenade.  This is where we felt the smaller ship the most - the lack of a dedicated Sorentos for pizza.  Don't get me wrong - the pizza was good, and in our experience was always fresh & hot!  But, the selection was pretty limited - and yes, there were lines to get it.

[Btank]

DAY 2 DINNER

Dinner that night was at Giovanni's Table.  Let me be very clear here: the filet you will get here is better than any other on the ship.  Better than Chops... and better than the MDR chops option.  We split an order of Mozarella di Bufala for our starter, and I had the arugula salad with that.  For the main course, I went with the filet while my brother went with the eggplant parm - and for both of us, we went with a half order of the daily pasta (spaghetti in a pink sauce).  The meal was outstanding!  It was accompanied by my Kendal Jackson (our server "Big Red" - a great name, I think he was from Indonesia - gave me a generous pour for 50% off) and Mark's two virgin pina coladas.  The quality of the food here may start pushing me into unlimited dining for my next 7-day cruise - with their menu variety I could easily eat there 3x over 7 days.  I'll have to see what the prices are next time...

[Btank]

DAY 2 ACTIVITIES

One of my first stops was the Next Cruise desk.  I had stopped by the night before and the manager (Alona) had offered to help me out then, but I told her that I had all of the details in my cabin and that I would stop by the next day.  Imagine her surprise when I did!  I had the cruise ship, day and date, cabin numbers, and C&A numbers ready to go - all she had to do was type 'em in.  We'll be on a 7-day on Harmony next December.  The itinerary isn't great: Roatan, Costa Maya (which in the Mayan tongue translates into Overpriced Taco), and Cozumel (which we only stay in long enough to take the ferry to Playa del Carmen anyway).  But the best part: we picked up at least one straggler for this cruise, and I hope to get a couple of more friends to tag along!

 

The rest of the day was pretty low-key.  I cashed in my spa raffle credit on a massage, and spent some time walking and exploring some more on the ship.  In the evening, Mark stayed in his cabin to watch movies and I stopped by the Casino... my first night wasn't so good, and I had to make up for it.  Well, I did!

Every time I go to a casino, I have one $20 bill with a good friend's initials written on it in pencil.  We split the net of whatever I win playing for her.  Her share was $44.68 - I sent it to her from the ship via Zelle.  Technology is a beautiful thing!

 

From the Casino I went to the show:

Like the ice show, there wasn't much (if any) of a story or plot - it was just a bunch of vignettes coupled with snippets of songs from movies.  It was more confusing in that it wasn't all "rock" - for example, it featured music from All That Jazz and Shaft.  Still, what it lacked in writing was more than made up for by the talent.  These folks had some vocal shops, and they were moving - almost constantly except for a couple of solo & ensemble performances.  It definitely was a good use of my time.

 

At this show, I finally "met" the Cruise Director - "Tornado" Tanya:

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Tanya, sorry for the absolutely awful picture!

As her name implies, Tanya is definitely high-energy.  I was ok with it, but I can't say I was a fan.  Others were not as kind.

 

From the show, it was off to Cafe Promenade to get some cookies and back to the cabins.  An early wakeup in the morning for Cozumel!

[Btank]

DAY 3 - COZUMEL

Gooooooooooooood mornin' ever'bodeh!  I was up early to get coffee before we docked in Cozumel.  Why no pictures?  Well, I've been there a bunch of times.  And chances are, a lot of people reading this have been there a bunch of times.  So, what is there to take pictures of... especially when we don't stay in Cozumel anyway? (more on that below)

 

Of course, PetSmart was happy to remind me that the girls were doing well without me:

 

 

DAY 3 BREAKFAST

Breakfast this morning was in the Windjammer at about 7:45.  We wanted to get in and out quickly, and the MDR just wasn't gonna cut it.  Plus, we were gonna eat a light breakfast because we were going to eat an early lunch ashore.  Why early?  Well, on the 4-days cruises we stay on ship's time - not Cozumel time (an hour later).  Let me repeat that for the folks in the back of the room: STAY ON SHIP'S TIME!  It was amazing how many times this was announced - by the captain, by Tanya, etc. - and people were still confused about it.

 

DAY 3 EXCURSION

So, we left the ship at about 8am (or 9am Cozumel time).  After running the gauntlet of shops, we took a taxi to the downtown pier to catch the Ultramar ferry.  The taxi cost is $8 per cab, but it's a little cheaper if you pay in pesos like we did.  Don't let them tell you there's a per-person charge, and don't let them put another party in your vehicle if you don't want them to!  Here's a complete list of taxi fares in dollars from September:

(image source: Cruzely)

 

There are two ferry services operating - Ultramar (blue & yellow livery) and Winjet (Orange).  Both services run the same route, but alternate each hour.  We prefer Ultramar because we've been taking them back and forth to Playa del Carmen and Isla Mujeres for years:

(image source: Ultramar)

The Ultramar ferry will cost $250 pesos one way (they will accept dollars at a slightly higher cost).  Buy the one-way ticket!  Why? Remember that they alternate service on the hour... if you buy a round trip, you may be locked into staying an extra hour!  Also, buy your ticket from the official Ultramar or Winjet booth at the terminal... don't buy it from street hawkers!

 

The ferry ride is about 40 minutes.  It can be a little choppy.  OK, sometimes it can be a little choppier.  Hell, sometimes it's a real roller coaster!  But you're on a large, safe boat... and 40 minutes later, you're in Playa del Carmen.  For us, it's pretty straightforward:

1. Get off the boat and walk up to 5th Avenue. Avoid the hawkers.
2. Go eat lunch at Karen's. Avoid the hawkers.
3. Take a walk down 5th Avenue and stop in any shops we find interesting.  Avoid the hawkers.

 

Karen's is a tradition for us - we've been going there for more than 10 years.  A small family-owned place with reasonable prices (they have gone up) and... wait for it... an air-conditioned area!  It's easy to find - a couple of hundred feet past the bus station (ADO) on the left:

(image source: Tripadvisor)

Fair warning: more often than not, the air-conditioned area will have futbol on the big screen.  What I thought was funny on this trip is that it was too early for the UK - France World Cup match... so they had the US NCAA Men's Cup on.  Pure soccer fans down there!

 

After we ate, we strolled down 5th Avenue and did some Christmas shopping:

Stores range from very high-end jewelry and fashion to small souvenir stands, and everything in between.  Negotiate, negotiate, negotiate!  It's amazing what a polite "No thank you, that's too much and a turn towards the door can do for your price. 🤣

 

There are also plenty of additional restaurants and bars available.  If you want to do some shopping for legal pharmaceuticals, you'll get better prices at the drug stores here than in Cozumel... but do some comparison shopping.  And the obvious: don't take a chance on buying any illegal drugs.

 

Massages are available here at much cheaper rates than on the ship.  Just be careful and watch your belongings at all times (sometimes difficult on a massage bed).  And unless it's your cup of tea, avoid the massage places promising "happy endings."

 

After shopping for a little more than an hour, Mark was getting tired.  We took the 2pm Ultramar ferry back, then grabbed a cab back to the International Pier (where Royal Caribbean and Celebrity dock along with Carnival).

 

Edited December 14, 2022 by Btank

[Btank]

DAY 3 DINNER

Dinner was in the MDR.  I'm ashamed to say that I can't remember what Mark had... I had a Ceasar's salad, brazed short-rib (outstanding), and cheesecake along with my Kendall Jackson.  A great dinner leading into...

 

MOVIE AND SNACKS

This was an unusual night - one that featured a 7pm movie in the theatre.  We had tried to watch a movie the previous night, but it was just too windy on the pool deck.  The movie was "Elf", and was pilled as a pajama party night - show up in your pajamas and enjoy hot chocolate & cookies while watching the movie.  We never found the hot chocolate & cookies, and we didn't wear our pajamas - but it was a nice break regardless.

 

After the movie, we returned to Cafe Promenade for a couple of slices of pizza (Mark) and a cookie & jello (me), then called it a night.

 

[Btank]

DAY 4 - CRUISING

Gooooooooooooooooood mornin' ever'bodeh!  Our last day at sea... I had my usual early morning wakeup, coffee, & walk.  For some reason, I didn't take my usual picture of the sea day sunrise.  But I had the latest pictures of our girls waiting for me:

 

EDITORIAL COMMENT: How rude! 🤣

 

DAY 4 BREAKFAST

Back to the MDR for us.  nothing exciting... a repeat of the previous MDR breakfast orders.

 

DAY 4 ACTIVITIES

Today was very low-key.  One of the things I promised myself is that I would not be "panic packing" at 7:30pm... so I actually got things organized and packed all but our essentials plus the next day's clothes.  It was great getting that done by lunch and not having to worry about it!

 

DAY 4 LUNCH

Lunch was at Chops Grille, courtesy of my awesome travel agent who shall not be named to keep the Cruise Critic modmins happy. 🙃 Unlike tthe "Exclusive welcome lunch in the Main Dining Room featuring the Chops Grille® menu", this service experience was top-notch - waiter Rose Ann really took great care of us!  I started with the Ceasar's salad and then had the filet (closer to medium well than medium), and Mark has his mushroom soup and burger.  For dessert, I went with the key lime pie and Mark went with the red velvet cake).  The only problem with this kind of lunch is that it's nap time afterwards...

 

DAY 4 DINNER

Back to the MDR for our final night.  As always, Eduardo and Gede took great care of us.  I wanted to ear light, so I had the lentil soup and the cheese tortelloni; Mark started with the seafood cakes and then had fish & chips.  For desert, I had the chocolate cake and a scoop of vanilla ice cream; Mark went back to his apple blossom.  If there was one regret of only being on a 4-day cruise, it was not seeing more of Eduardo and Gede - they were that pleasant.

 

One interesting story from dinner: the head waiter Louis got into a discussion with the table next to us on Day 3.  One of the wives told Louis how much she liked to cook, and they all commented on how much they enjoyed eating Indian food.  Louis offered to feed them a traditional dinner the next night, and did he ever!  Served family style, it included a chicken dish, chickpeas, lentils basmati rice, and naan.  Heads turned from all of the surrounding tables when they smelled it - it smelled that good!  That was a great personal touch from Louis, and they really appreciated it.

 

After dinner, we made a quick stop by the casino and Cafe Promenade for a late night snack, then it was off to bed to get ready for disembarking in the morning.

[footzz]

13 hours ago, Btank said:

No, but it was so smooth it didn't warrant any mention.  You can see the magnetometer and x-ray stations way in the back of the lobby picture (it's a wide-angle lens so it looks further away than it was).  Interestingly, my brother always sets the scanner off at airports - it didn't happen here.

 

thx...      --bruce T.

 

That's good to hear. Thanks!

[Kathscof]

12 hours ago, Btank said:

DAY 2 DINNER

Dinner that night was at Giovanni's Table.  Let me be very clear here: the filet you will get here is better than any other on the ship.  Better than Chops... and better than the MDR chops option.  We split an order of Mozarella di Bufala for our starter, and I had the arugula salad with that.  For the main course, I went with the filet while my brother went with the eggplant parm - and for both of us, we went with a half order of the daily pasta (spaghetti in a pink sauce).  The meal was outstanding!  It was accompanied by my Kendal Jackson (our server "Big Red" - a great name, I think he was from Indonesia - gave me a generous pour for 50% off) and Mark's two virgin pina coladas.  The quality of the food here may start pushing me into unlimited dining for my next 7-day cruise - with their menu variety I could easily eat there 3x over 7 days.  I'll have to see what the prices are next time...

What is this exotic “pink sauce” you speak of?

 

great review, enjoyed reading it! 

[Jam0610]

Great review. We have Adventure booked for Feb 11, 2023. It will be our first time on this ship.

[LuCruise]

Loving your review and hearing about your wonderful cruise with your brother.  We were on Adventure December before the shut down.  Quite enjoyed the ship.

[Kellie in Texas]

Love your review, your sense of humor, and your dogs.  🙂  We are on Adventure in a couple of weeks. 

[TX Cruise Girl]

Thanks for the review!  We'll be on this same itinerary for Christmas next week.

[graciekelli]

21 hours ago, Btank said:

EMBARKATION AND LUNCH

Content warning: The Key will be discussed here.  It works well for us as far as logistics with my brother - for example, getting him on early and out of the embarkation crush of people.  Your mileage may vary; strong opinions telling us what a waste of money the key is will be cheerfully scrolled past.

We walked onto the ship - still in a daze - and as Key purchasers, headed off to drop our carry-on bags.  We were a little early for our "Exclusive welcome lunch in the Main Dining Room featuring the Chops Grille® menu", so we wandered around until heading for the MDR for an 11:30 seating.

 

It was here that the wheels became a little loose on the bus (albeit they didn't fall off).  We were seated almost 20 minutes late; I could see many looks of consternation among the restaurant managers, with a bunch of servers standing there waiting.  Eventually, we were let in and taken to a nice table.  Well, sort of nice:

What could it be?  A wayward cigar ash from the previous diner?  Grease from the engineering spaces?  Damfino, but I wasn't gonna do a scratch and sniff to find out.  It was pretty minor in the scheme of things, so I ordered - a Caesar's salad for me with mac & cheese, and a dry-aged burger with mac & cheese for my brother.  The drink order was a virgin pina colada for him and a Diet Coke for me.

 

After about 20 minutes, the appetizers came out.  He had the soup (very good), and I had my salad.  The dressing was so watery that I could swirl it around the bottom of the salad bow; no exaggeration, drops of it it actually splattered while I was eating.

 

We still had no drinks - only water, and we were out of that - so I asked the next server (our waiter had disappeared) for our drink order.  I received this:

Yep, that's an honest-to-God can of Diet Coke - delivered to me with a glass of ice.

To be clear: I had never seen cans of Diet Coke on a ship before, and I certainly wouldn't have expected one at an "Exclusive welcome lunch in the Main Dining Room featuring the Chops Grille® menu".

 

But, I was not gonna let this get in the way of enjoying my cruise!  Clearly, they were having some service issues... but it was gonna get better.  After finishing our appetizers and another 20 minutes of waiting, no main course had arrived.  I grabbed another server and asked them for a bread bowl.  I mean, Chops has freaking great bread... that should hold us, right?  The family at the next table agreed, and we both awaited our freshly-baked goodness:

The bread came with a side order of apology.  "I'm sorry, we have no butter... it is still being loaded."

And thus started another 15 minute wait.  The family at the next table gave up - I think they felt bad about seeing their child gnaw on a dry roll, and I think they headed to the Windjammer.  Us?  We're hard core... and now it was the principle of the thing!

 

So after our main courses arrived - another watery salad arrived with a small portion of cold mac & cheese, we decided to cut our losses and skip desert.  By this time the cabins had been announced as available - yes, that's how long it took!

 

A side note: I was so amused by this that I posted it on the Facebook group for Royal Caribbean Galveston.  And thus, the krakken were released:

• "Not uncommon on ships Minimal butter at breakfast this morning. Stuff happens."  Uh yeah, but this is branded as Chops?
• "OMG Life threatening issue Better ask for a refund"  Ummmm, no.
• "have you never run out of something? Between product limitations, delivery, etc. no business plans to disappoint customers. Things happen. Where has patience and understanding gone? This is not a life threatening issue."  Ummmmm, it wasn't.
• "I hear Carnival is nice this time of year. Perhaps they’ll take your key? And not only do they have butter, but they serve real butter croissants not the margarine ones that Royal serves. And they serve real crab meat in the crab cakes in the main dining room. Royal has begun serving imitation crab in Chops...(many more words followed)"  This person seamed tense.
• "It figures the most cruisers like you don’t understand that the Cruise Line has to restock its entire inventory of food and supplies after every trip! This is when they Off Load the Cruise Passengers and On Load the Next Cruise Passengers in a 8-10 Hour period! If you wanted bread and butter you should have ate before you got on board the cruise ship! Now I see the uppity side of the privileged cruisers on RC!"  When others pointed out to this gentleman that he was being a bit rude, he responded with "Then get the F off the ship and don’t take the Cruise."  Children, children...

 

The moral of the story? Some will go with brand loyalty over questioning service quality.  As for me, I had 3.9 days of cruising left - nothing was gonna keep me from enjoying it.

Hi Btank,

I can't believe how critical people like to be about something that happened.  I just wanted you to know that I really appreciate you sharing your experience - the good, the bad and the ugly.  Also, thank you for taking the time to post.  I am enjoying hearing about your trip.

[CruiseMomTX]

Thanks for the review!  We board the Adventure for the first time on a b2b Jan 5th & 9th.  In our cruise planner it shows chops +1 for $83.99/pp do you or anyone know if they will offer a better deal once onboard?  The traditional Indian dinner sounds delicious.