Adventure of the Seas Review-Aug. 8-15

[karadsheh]

Just returned from a wonderful week on the Adventure, so I thought I'd share a few comments.

 

Embarkation-Arrived at the port at 3pm and the lines were very long. We just gained Platinum status, so we were able to bypass the long lines and walk directly into the building and check-in within 10 minutes. Fast and painless.

 

Cabins-Cabins 8620 & 8618 on "the hump" and 8610 just 4 cabins away. The location on "the hump" was fantastic, but the noise was another factor. It wasn't the noise from people getting off the elevators, it was the kids hanging out in the computer area most of the night which was directly across from my room. I still wouldn't hesitate to book that particular cabin again, though. I also noticed the complete lack of motion in our cabin. Must be due to being right in the middle of the ship.

 

Stateroom Attendants-When we entered our cabin, there was a picture of our attendant and his assistant on our desk. Our steward introduced himself, but never mentioned his assistant. Throughout our week we never saw an assistant except for the morning of our departure. Our steward, Stefan, was always prompt and efficient--no complaints. Cabins seem to be in excellent condition.

 

Food-Not great, not bad. I don't cruise because of the food, so I guess this was really a non-issue for me. The food in the Windjammer really does seem to have slipped, though. I had seafood in the main dining room every night and it was always good, except for the salmon. We had main seating and I was shocked at the number of tables which were empty in our section every evening. Many evenings the people came very late (after 6:30), or just never showed. Our waiter, Billy, was upset at the lack of attendance. I guess that people feel they don't have to tip as much if they don't go to the main dining room each night.

 

Shows-Excellent, especially comedian Bobby Collins and El Gaucho.

 

Ports-We did the Aurba/Curacao itinerary. We did the Jeep 4x4 off road excursion which was fun. It included a trip to DePalm Island for lunch and snorkeling and that, too, was great. Be prepared to be totally covered with dirt after this excursion! Surprisingly, this was my least favorite island....not tropical enough for me! Curacao was great! We took a short city tour on our own and had the driver drop us off at the beach next to the Seaquarium. It was called Mambo Beach and I highly recommend it....beautiful water and scenery. I talked to the locals later in the day, and they say the beaches on the other side of the island (west side?) are 10 times as beautiful. We also went across the floating bridge and ate outside along the canal and strolled through the many stores. Great fun! In St. Maarten we sent our boys on the Americas Cup sailing regatta while we went shopping. The boys loved the sailing and we loved the shopping....much better prices than in St. Thomas. We then went to Orient Beach for the afternoon and the kids are still trying to recover from the nudity they saw! The boys thought they might see "hot" young girls, so you can imagine their dissapointment in seeing so many "old" folks letting it all hang out! They think they may never recover from the sight! In St. Thomas we came across the most wonderful cab driver, Darnell Luke. He gave us a city tour at no extra charge because we had just missed the boat to take us to St. John. I highly recommend him to anyone. You can phone him at 340-774-7457. He gave me his business card and it reads: Darnell Luke TP-375. We did finally get to St. John and spent a short time at Trunk Bay. It was beautiful, but we didn't really have enough time.

 

Debarkation-We booked the Old and New San Juan City tour since our flight to Detroit didn't leave until 2:50pm. We were able to get off the ship at 8:45am and get right on the tour bus. The tour took us to a fort for 40 minutes, to Old San Juan for free time for about 45 minutes, then a drive through New San Juan on the way to the airport. We had a great driver, so it was very enjoyable. We arrived at the airport at 1pm and walked right up the the Northwest Airlines ticket counter!! If you've ever been to San Juan's airport on a Sunday you can appreciate how amazing that is. It was definately worth the $25 p/p just to avoid the crowds at the airport.

 

In conclusion, it was a fantastic vacation. The weather was great....not any warmer than I've ever noticed in the spring. Seas were calm the whole trip.

Ask away if you have any questions!

[Nancy_Hawks]

I'm leaving tomorrow for San Juan for the same cruise leaving on 8/22. It just made me want to go NOW.

[JanetM]

Thanks for the review. We're sailing the St. Martin/Antigua route on August 29th. I'd really like to visit the fort in Old San Juan and wasn't certain if we'd have the time. Since our flight departs even later than yours did (3:15 p.m.), it appears we will have the time. Did you schedule your San Juan excursion while you were on board or did you schedule on-line?

[karadsheh]

We booked our San Juan tour the night before we got off the ship. The excursion desk was closed, so we just booked it at the guest relations counter. You'll have plenty of time to take the cruise and still get to the airport in time. Have fun!!

[bobbyd6363]

karadsheh!

Thanks for the review!

Hey! We are doing AOS 14 November! WOO HOO!!

We have booked a jeep tour of Aruba as well!! What tour company did you book with?? Any details? Good, Bad, Ugly?!! Thanks!

[lisara]

We will be on the Nov 7 sailing of AOS. I think I finished my wardrobe "shopping" today. Bargains, bargains, bargains!!!

Question-Which tour company does the cruise line use for the jeep 4x4 on Aruba? Can you tell us what all you did? Any info about that excursion would be greatly appreciated. Will my "good" camera be "safe"?

Were there special "theme" nights at dinner?

At dinner, did you see any large groups/what was the largest table you saw?

We are a group of 29.

I would love to do the rainforest on the return day, but it is not listed as an excursion. My flight is 6:30 and I'm not sitting at the airport all day!!!!

Thank you so much in advance!

Lisara

[karadsheh]

bobbyd: We booked the Jeep 4x4 off-road excursion through Royal Caribbean, but I believe the name of the tour company was DePalm Tours. Our tour began at 7:50 am where we boarded a bus to take us to where the jeeps were parked. We were given instuctions and assigned a Jeep....one Jeep for every 4 people. Each Jeep was assigned a number and we followed the tour guide in that order. We drove to the Lighthouse, rock formations, a chapel, ruins, and the Natural Bridge. We stopped at all the locations to take pictures and have drinks. You drive off-road most of the time and you're in the desert, so you have to be prepared to become filthy and covered in dust. You then drive to a pier and board a boat to take you to DePalm Island for a buffet lunch and snorkeling. The lunch is okay and the snorkeling is very good....lots of blue parrot fish. After about 2 hours on the island, you head back to the tour office and the excursion ends. It's a long day, but fun and different.

lisara: your "good" camera should be fine, but keep it in a closed case that you can keep on your body. ziplock bags and wet wipes for your hands would be very handy, too! Theme nights: they had a Caribbean night and a 50's, 60's, and 70's night, but they were no different than any other casual dress night in the dining room. The Theme parties were dances which were held in the nightclubs or in Studio B later in the evenings. Dining tables: The largest tables I saw sat 12-14 people. I did see large groups in the dining room and they had large tables next to each other. If you have any problems with your dining room seating assignments, just go up to the dining room after you check-in and get your seapass card and they are usually very helpful in trying to accommodate you. Post-cruise tours-You definately don't want to spend the day in the airport after your cruise....Sunday mornings are horrible at the airport! Whichever tour you choose, they take your luggage to a holding area at the airport and you can leave your carry-ons on the tour bus. After the tour you are taken to the baggage holding area at the airport, claim your luggage, then either get a porter or take your own luggage inside the terminal. It's very easy and much better than dragging luggage around.

[lisara]

Thanks so much for the information.

We're hoping that the rainforest will be added as an excursion for the last day!!

Also, we're looking forward to the jeep tour. Only heard good things about it! Some of our group has already booked through the cruise line. Its worth the extra $$ just for the convenience. Part of the group is booking on their own through a private tour company.

Is there a place to change into your swimsuit on the island? Or must it be worn under our clothing? What did you have for lunch?

I'll ask more questions later!! I'm always thinking?!?!?

Lisara

[karadsheh]

We booked the jeep excursion through Royal Caribbean because we figured we'd just be aimlessly driving around if we didn't. It turned out to be the best decision for our family group of 6. Everything was taken care of which made it so convenient. When you get to DePalm island there are changing rooms, so there is really no need to wear your bathing suit. The buffet lunch was barbequed rib, pork, and chicken, we think. One of my kids just called it "mystery meat". There was also rice, baked beans, bread and salad, but no dessert. They have a little gift shop on the island, too. I hope this info helps!

[rkaplan]

Thanks for the great review. We are doing AOS the end of Jan. It's never to early to "dream" about your vacation.

[GreggNKara]

HOLY SHYT!!!

 

Bobby Collins was on the cruise...he is truely an A list comedian in the stand up world. Im going next week and I would give my left foot if he was on the ship with us (of course id have to take my foot back when the cruise was over)

 

Anyone know a way to figure out if he will be on next week as well?

[staylor]

Please tell more about Aruba....if not tropical, what did it look like? Were there beautiful beaches?

[CGAGE]

Hi there-

Thanks for the great review! We leave on the AOS on September 5th and we can't wait! Ironically enough...we booked cabin 8610 on the hump as well. Can you please go in to some more detail about that particular cabin. Was that the cabin that you said you could really hear the noise from the computer area??? How about the balcony...was it any bigger than any other cabin that isn't on the hump? How about the cabin size itself? I can't believe you stayed in the same cabin we booked...that's never happened before from any other reviews I've read!

Any info would be great!

Thanks again!

Carrie :)

[karadsheh]

staylor: There seems to be a section of Aruba where most of the big hotels are located, and that area must be where all the beautiful beaches are located. We were on the Jeep excursion, so we drove on the opposite side of the island from the hotels. Cactus, sand and rock formations were everywhere. The downtown shopping area is nice, but it seemed like a shopping area that we'd have here in the U.S. It wasn't my favorite island, but it's still worth the trip.

CGAGE: Cabin 8610 is NOT the cabin directly across from the computer area, so noise shouldn't be a problem. At least that's what my kids tell me. The cabin is the same size as all the cabins next to it, but the balcony is slightly larger. If you're inside the cabin looking out at the balcony, the left side of the balcony is deeper than the right. Truthfully, even though the balcony is a little larger, I don't think anyone would really notice a difference. Stefan will probably be you cabin steward....he's a little quiet, but he gets the job done. Have a great cruise!

[CGAGE]

Thanks for the reply and again...Great review!!!

[Joeci]

Thankyou, glad you had a good time, was it hard to get a taxi at the airport in san juan, there are 20 of us we did not not book transportation through RCCL.

[karadsheh]

It's extremely easy to get a cab to the pier from the San Juan airport. When you leave baggage claim there is a taxi stand outside at the curb. You tell them how many people you have in your group, they give you the price, then get the vans for you. The cost is about $3 per person.

[Joeci]

Finally the answer Ive been waiting for,thankyou very much.

[pd933]

Aruba is a desert island formed from volcanic activity, at least thats what the tour guide told us. There are several beaches Eagle Beach in the low rise area is great, also there is Palm Beach located by the high rise area more people but better water sport access. Baby Beach is also a good place to snorkle mostly the water is only about 4 feet deep. If you want to see the beach try this link http://www.arubacam.com its a beach cam at the Bucuti Beach Resort.