Review - Adventure of the Seas

[Palla]

This was a gift cruise from my fabulous mother-in-law for her 3 sons & spouses. It was our 3rd time on Adventure of the Seas, in the same cabins. I’ll write a summary of our trip, and answer questions if you have any.

 

Pre-Cruise in San Juan: Holiday Inn Express. Arrived Friday. This is not a fabulous place, but they have upgraded the rooms. They had all new bedding (like they’re putting on the ships). It is easy to maneuver from. We always walk to this little Mexican restaurant, walk to casino(s), and cab to Old San Juan. We like it and the price is right.

 

Embarkation was painless and quick. We arrived at the pier around 10:30 a.m. and were on quickly by 11:00-11:15. Very quick process. Went directly to the Windjammer (as cabins not ready), ate lunch and by that time cabins ready. We dropped off our carry-ons. DH changed went to Solarium w/his brothers and I went off to see the ship (again).

 

Weather, for the first time in 4 years, was not the best. It was showering when we arrived at the ship, and showered off and on for the first couple of days. It did not hinder us, but might have some others.

 

Food – we thought the food was outstanding this trip. The deserts in the Windjammer, however, left something to be desired (in our opinion). We ate in the dining room each night except Aruba night (had to do Carlos & Charlie’s). Our waiter, Cyrus (Table 270) was absolutely fabulous! Anything we wanted, Cyrus made happen, whether on the menu or not. He was the best. The food in the Windjammer was good each day – a nice variety and very tasty. Johnny Rockets is always good, if you want a great burger, hot dog, fries or onion rings.

 

Cabin – we had balcony cabin #8532. Stacy, our attendant, was a jewel. The new bedding, which I believe has been completed on the ship, was very nice. I will say, however, that the bedding is a real inconvenience for the room stewards. A lot of extra work taking the pillow(s) and “sham” thing off and storing in a bag each night and putting back on the next morning. The duvet’s are extremely heavy and hard to manipulate. I feel sorry for the stewards…much extra work.

 

Casino – is what it is. I won some and lost more, but had a good time doing so!

 

Connoisseur Club – DH & brothers used the club. If you have never seen it, it is a beautiful room and never smells of smoke. Leather furniture, very nice.

 

Disembarkation – we were in early disembarkation. We were off the ship by 7:30 and on our way to the airport. Painless.

 

Summary – ship in great shape. Workers constantly varnishing, painting, fixing, etc. There were young people aboard, but no issues at all. Never a problem getting chairs either by the pool or in the solarium. Only saw the ice show, and it was great, as usual. Bingo…..played each time but never won.

 

If you have any questions, I’ll be glad to try and answer them. We only went to one beach (Coki in St. Thomas). We really like Coki beach. Have been to St. Johns, but prefer the closeness of Coki.

 

Palla

[boingy300]

We'll be on AOS in less than 2 weeks. I do have a question - was the Windjammer open before noon?

I have waited 2 years for this cruise and now the time is flying by!

Karen

[Annefran]

Hi Palla,

 

Glad you enjoyed your cruise as usual. I miss AOS already, we got off on 15 April!!! I have to agree about your comment concerning the bedding. It very comfy but feel bad for stewards. I miss roaming the promenade and having my cookie with hot tea every night :rolleyes: .

[magnumcoog]

You stated you were off the ship by 730 a.m. What time did you get to the airport? What time were your flights? I am looking at the possibility of booking a 10 a.m. flight. Thanks in advance.

[EggDropErin]

Thanks of the review! We also enjoyed Adventure when we sailed on her for our honeymoon. We didn't do the Aruba route though, and I would love to go that route sometime in the future.

[MariTenor1]

We have some friends sailing her in a few weeks on their first cruise (they got tired of hearing about ours!)

 

Who is the current CD and what did you think of him/her? Can you tell me who some of your favorite CD's are so I can compare?

 

Thanks!

[Palla]

Karen - the Windjammer was open when we boarded (11'ish). We went straight there prior anything else.

 

I can't remember who the current CD is. Never really came in contact with him.

 

Booking a 10:00 a.m. flight is dooable. Be sure to fill out your departure flight time and the night prior to departure you might want to go by Guest Relations to ensure you will be in the first group off. As I said, we were in the Imperial Lounge at 7:00 a.m. and off the ship by 7:30, caught a cab and at the airport by 8:00 a.m.

[stogeycruiser]

We too were on the AOS. I would have to agree with Palla, with one exception. The RCCL could have informed the whole ship that Carnivale was going on in St. Thomas and the main shopping district would be closed. It made for a very anti-climatic last port day. Other than that it was a wonderful cruise.

 

We were on by 12:15p after arriving at 11:45a, no problems at all.

 

We also were off the ship at 8:15a and thru customs and at the airport by 8:40a, so making a 10:00a flight should be no problem, need to make them aware of your early flight at embarkation. If your flight leaves after 11:00a I would use the on ship luggage transfer and boarding pass option. It's $10pp, but they take your checked luggage to the airport right to the plane and you get your boarding passes the night before. Note: If you need to change flights use the on board computer and internet to check flights, make changes and then use the ships services. Those services are for American, US Air, Continental and United.

We used them and they were wonderful. Left our luggage at the pier and picked it up at our home airport. No problems.

 

A couple of other thoughts. Coffee - too strong, better at the Promeade.

 

Sixth floor bedding was not changed. Beds were horrible. According to our steward they should be changed this week.

[windsbud]

I was also on this cruise this past week. I was hoping the bedding would be changed as we were also on deck 6. Wasn't too awful though.

I have to disagree about the Windjammer, especially at breakfast. I found the waffles, pancakes and frenchtoast all soggy or under cooked, and usually cold by the time we got to eat it. The fruit was not ripe enough. We did however have a good experience the one night we ate there.

 

The rest of the cruise was great. I did hear about St Thomas early on. I am surprised it wasnt made public.

Cant wait to go back.

[Palla]

Stogeycruiser - you're right about Carnivale in St. Thomas :( , I'd forgotten. We heard that Carnival & another ship chose to do something else due to Carnivale going on in St. Thomas. We hadn't planned to shop in St. Thomas, so it didn't affect us, however many people do shop there and I hate this happened for them.

 

Regarding the bedding....I thought it was complete, my apologies for the error.

 

We found the coffee better in the coffee shop/snack area (forget name) on the Promanade (Seattle's Best). Strange - the first part of the week the paper cups they had there were too small for the sleeves but around Wed. they had larger cups that the sleeves fit...go figure. ?Misorder?

 

Sometimes I wish they would quit putting so many sale/display tables in the Promanade in the evenings. Wed. or Thurs. it was an absolute MADhouse trying to walk down the Promanade; you couldn't make your way through due to the tables and the people looking!

[Gotta Love Cruisin !]

I was on the AOS sailing 4/8-15... Mike Hunnerup was the CD if I spelled that right! He was OK... Seen better. We really enjoyed AOS and the itinerary is one of the best out there

[allthatjazz]

It's great to read your review. We will be on AOS in February and can't wait!!! Thanks!

Sandy :)

[estreetbandfan523]

i see you had cryus as your waitor, we had him last august and you were right he is the best waitor and he was able to get us whatever we want and was extremely funny

[magnumcoog]

One last question. If you book an excursion for San Juan on Sunday, what time do you have to be off the ship? Reason I ask this, is if we have to be off early to catch the excursion, then I might as well book the 10:00 a.m. flight.