HLWIser

I cruise solo often as my family and friends don't have my flexibility to travel like I do.
I really enjoy solo cruising and it makes cruises with family or friends even more special and different.  I used to travel for business a lot and became used to dining alone on business trips.  Due to that it doesn't concern me to eat in the MDR alone.   If you have a flexible calendar there are deal opportunities.  I can't count the number of times I've asked someone to cruise but they can only go a certain week and rate are double that week.  Being by myself I can sail in an interior cabin and have lots of room.  That alone saves a lot of money, like getting free excursions, internet and drinks.
Studio cabins tend to run ~75% of the cost of paying for double occupancy.  Sometimes they restrict promos and inventory to solo cruisers despite requiring you to pay for two.  In some cases I add someone I've cruised with before to a booking to get a cabin type or promo rate.  Truth is if that person could go at the last minute they would be welcome to join me but more often than not they are a no show at check in.  In those cases the taxes and port fees end up refunded automatically shortly into or after a cruise.   I don't pre-pay gratuity in the cases where a 2nd person is added who might not sail.
Studio cabins do not get double C&A points.  Booking a non-studio cabin including 'Guarantee' cabins do get double C&A points.  Not many ships have studio cabins and they go quickly.  Sometimes they are only slightly cheaper than a regular cabin.  Studio cabins are sometimes pretty small and if the price difference is small I'll go into a regular cabin and take advantage of the double C&A points.  I love suites but just can't justify them when solo.   
There is something really nice about solo cruising.  Do what you want, when you want.  There are often single seats in the theater available as people space themselves out when they sit leaving one seat between them and the next couple.  Sometimes there are single loungers by the pool available for the same reason.  MDR service tends to be very fast when solo.  
If you are the type of person who is comfortable being by yourself solo cruising is great.  Tons of happy people around and lots of public places but easy to slip away and have some alone time when you feel like it. 

Thanks! I also will refer you to this post by @mpoole3:
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2015/02/16/what-you-need-know-about-taking-solo-royal-caribbean-cruise
One other tip...a great way to cruise solo is join us for a Royal Caribbean Blog group cruise! That way, you aren't truly alone! 
More info on all of our group cruises here: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/events

I would say that @twangster and @monctonguy are your best bets on this topic, maybe also @firegal2539 IIRC; from what I gather on their posts, they always travel solo and probably have a lot of experience they can share.
"The family business"... "casues a lot of stress"...
Why am I suddenly hearing the theme song from "The Sopranos" in the background? 

My approach to Maho Beach

Actually sitting in the Battle of the Sexes game show now!!!

To make things MORE confusing, when I added my boyfriend (who has the same address so he was linked to my C&A account since he is considered a household member), he got "Diamond" Status since that is what my true points reflect. So, I'm Diamond Plus because of my parents, and he is Diamond because of me. LOL. I hope that makes sense.

Good morning everyone! So I have also received different answers from different C&A's reps when I called.. I think it might be time to start using a travel agent honestly (lol). I also had this issue as my tags were showing up as Diamond. I finally spoke with a supervisor and he told me that I will keep my parent's status from before I turned 18 (i was 16 when my father achieved Diamond Plus) even though I currently have 109 points, which makes me a Diamond by points alone. So, I have my own set of points but keep his Diamond + status. I now build on my points alone. It seems their computer system might not always be correct since this has happened to others I know as well! I would call the C&A line and explain that your sons information is incorrect and you just want to make sure they have the appropriate status.

Thanks for sharing the pics! That is one thing I wish I took more of - but I left my phone/ camera in the room most of the time on accident!

The Silent Disco was my favorite!! I had so much fun looking like a fool dancing on my own. haha.
Have you had a chance to go to the Imperial Lounge for any of the gameshows yet? Those were a riot and we enjoyed them the most out of everything! It might be worth checking out at least one night :)

To make things MORE confusing, when I added my boyfriend (who has the same address so he was linked to my C&A account since he is considered a household member), he got "Diamond" Status since that is what my true points reflect. So, I'm Diamond Plus because of my parents, and he is Diamond because of me. LOL. I hope that makes sense.

Jeez...looks like I hafta now put "MUST HAVE DIAMOND OR HIGHER STATUS" on my dating profile.

To make things MORE confusing, when I added my boyfriend (who has the same address so he was linked to my C&A account since he is considered a household member), he got "Diamond" Status since that is what my true points reflect. So, I'm Diamond Plus because of my parents, and he is Diamond because of me. LOL. I hope that makes sense.

That is my understanding!! Although it might depend on which C&A rep you ask. haha!

I had to read that twice to wrap my head around it ?
So basically whatever your parents status is when you turn 18, you remain there until you yourself have enough points to move up. Right?

Good morning everyone! So I have also received different answers from different C&A's reps when I called.. I think it might be time to start using a travel agent honestly (lol). I also had this issue as my tags were showing up as Diamond. I finally spoke with a supervisor and he told me that I will keep my parent's status from before I turned 18 (i was 16 when my father achieved Diamond Plus) even though I currently have 109 points, which makes me a Diamond by points alone. So, I have my own set of points but keep his Diamond + status. I now build on my points alone. It seems their computer system might not always be correct since this has happened to others I know as well! I would call the C&A line and explain that your sons information is incorrect and you just want to make sure they have the appropriate status.

A glass of champagne is always a good way to start a vacation! Then switch to the patron and pineapple.. yum, that sounds good!

A glass of champagne is always a good way to start a vacation! Then switch to the patron and pineapple.. yum, that sounds good!

A glass of champagne is always a good way to start a vacation! Then switch to the patron and pineapple.. yum, that sounds good!

A glass of champagne is always a good way to start a vacation! Then switch to the patron and pineapple.. yum, that sounds good!

Yea that's nuts, although it's definitely the outlier.  Still, not a great experience.
No worries at all! It's so hard to get the context of any comment online since we cannot hear how you're saying it.  Thanks for taking the time to share your report and clarify what happened!

It was the one right off the water taxi.. I think the Great Bay beach is what it was called. It was clean.. but the buildings right along the coastline were still damaged. They had broken windows/ roofs blown off. It was definitely cleaned up & functional, but not anywhere near where I've seen in the past (years ago). There was a family right next to us on the beach chairs with kids from ages 4-12 or so. They played in the ocean and seemed to have a good time :) I found some pics taken in the same area we were recently here: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g147347-d2356032-Reviews-Great_Bay_Beach-Philipsburg_Sint_Maarten_St_Martin_St_Maarten.html#photos;aggregationId=101&albumid=101&filter=7&ff=301838928

We got off and took the water taxi to the island! We ate at one of the restaurants right on the beach and rented a beach chair and umbrella for $10. It was okay - they definitely come up the entire time and try to sell you stuff, even while laying on the beach chairs! Others in our group did the rum double decker tour bus. They really enjoyed it. They said the French side of the island is still closed. They also said the airplane beach was really cool, but still had a lot of damage (and no umbrellas and chairs). Hope this helps!! :) 

Yay! We will have to say hello and become cruise buddies! Looking forward to it :) I am so excited to see a little something different/ out of the ordinary for us.

I'm back from Adventure's first cruise post drydock! Unfortunately, I did not take as many pictures as I had planned - my greatest apologies!! I ended up leaving my phone in the stateroom the entire time, but on the Adventure of the Seas - past, present, and future cruisers Facebook page, many of the other passengers posted lots of pics of the ship if you are interested.

I am a bit of a rare cruiser as I have been on 12 RC cruises but none in the last five years (except this one). So, I have some thoughts on what I experienced and how it differed from years past. I'm not sure if I just don't remember some things or if things have changed since 2013, but I did definitely notice some differences that I'll touch on below.

Overall thoughts: 8/10: Amazing!! I had the BEST time, and five days flew by way too quickly.

Embarkation: 5/10: Okay.. so... we got to the ship around 10:30. We flew by security and checked in the C & A line. We boarded the ship right away. No waiting, no lines. That was amazing. However, I am not sure what happened with the cards, but either they had a large defective batch of cards OR the printer was not able to handle the high volume of printing (I never really got a clear answer), but when I walked onto the ship where they scan your card, mine wasn’t working. There were two other people to the side that had the same issue. They had to reprint our cards at Guest Services while we just stood on the deck waiting, watching other people scan in and walk onto the boat. I was there for maybe 15 minutes when the lady told me to just go to guest services to get another printed. She did not give me my old one. I got to Guest Services (almost completely empty- no lines!) and the girl was so confused at my story. She asked how I got on the ship and if I had even made it through security if I had no card.. then she got a little irritated and said I should have waited because they were on the way to where I was standing with my card. She printed me a new one anyway and said it should work. Well, it didn’t. Lol. I had to go BACK to guest services after I went to the Windjammer because the bartender said my drink package was not scanning correctly. ANYWAY – after that, it worked fine, but it was a pretty sour way to start a vacation, especially since none of them really seemed to know what was going on. GOOD NEWS HOWEVER: They had the room ready when we got on the ship (11:15 or so).

Food 8/10: Honestly, this was the best food I've ever had on a RC ship. In the past, I think food was rather mediocre, but on this one, Windjammer and Main Dining room got high points from me. The Windjammer (7/10) was pretty basic, but had a large selection and seemed to have a good "flow" with all sides being open. I enjoyed breakfast the most, as they always had grits, eggs, rice, fruit, etc, so no day looked the same. We did not do any specialty besides Johnny Rockets on Valentines Day- it was just okay. My salad was just lettuce with some fried chicken on top, and my boyfriend's burger was way too greasy - even for a cheeseburger. LOL. Our waiter did only charge us for the Junior Cruisers rate (6.95 each instead of 9.95), so that was nice. The Main Dining room was incredible. My favorite meals were the Caprese Salad, the Tiger Shrimp, Lobster, and Duck a la orange. The Cherries Jubilee and Baked Alaska are always a favorite too. Our waiter/ assistant waiter Maria and Dewa were THE BEST. I have never had that great of service before. I loved them so much.

Drinks 6/10: Bar service was absolutely horrible. Is it always like this? I want to say the entire ship had less than 100 kids, and there were a ton of adults, especially youngish (20s-40s), so they just might not have been prepared for the high volume of adults at all venues. In the Main Dining Room, it sometimes took until midway until our entrée to get our FIRST drink. Viking Crown/ Blue Moon was also horrible. The pool bar on the sea days was always packed. The worst might have been Imperial Lounge. I'm talking standing in line for 30 minutes for one drink. Boleros was a little better, Champagne bar was also better, Schooner bar was better at some times than others. Basically, if I wanted a drink at nighttime I either had to be prepared to stand in line for 30 mins or call the cocktail waiters over after only a few sips of my current drink. HOWEVER, quality of the drinks was 9/10. Heaviest pours were at Schooner, Blue Moon, Boleros, and the Casino (imagine that?) We definitely utilized our drink package. Between the two of us, for 5 days, we had over 90 drinks… and I don’t even think I’m that heavy of a drinker. I enjoyed many Miami Vices, Lava Flows, Titos & Soda, Titos & Redbull (for those late nights in Blue Moon).

Entertainment 10/10: I LOVED THE ENTERTAINMENT ON THIS CRUISE! They had a great variety of gameshows, comedy, ice skating, dancing, Karaoke, etc. We went to some type of gameshow every night in Imperial. Funny story- my boyfriend’s brother in law won the Belly Flop, Word’s Sexiest Man, and him & I’s team won the quest – he was a crowd favorite, lol. The whole ship I’m pretty sure thought he was my husband, but our significant others are not as outspoken as we are so we are the ones that did the participating!
Stateroom 6/10: I never met our stateroom attendant. I have no idea who he was lol. My boyfriend did meet him and said he was very friendly. Our stateroom bathroom was not the cleanest (dark hairs in the shower, dirt/ an old champagne cork under the toilet area when we arrived?). We had a balcony room on deck 8 – room 8630. The boat was really rocking on days 2 and 3, and there was a “popping” sound in the balcony door when it would rock. I could never figure out what it was, but I’ve never heard that before and it was pretty loud. We tried to open the door and figure out where it was coming from but couldn’t.
Other thoughts:
One thing I noticed far more than other cruises in the past is the constant approaching/ selling of extra services like specialty restaurants and the drink package. The first day we were approached constantly, in every venue, trying to get us to purchase something. I’ve seen this before but never this bad.
The boat was rocking BAD on Night 2, All of Day and Night 3. They had to drain and close the pools.

We LOVED Zumba on the pool deck on all the sea days :) so fun!

My highlight of the cruise was the Silent Dance party in Blue Moon. It was so much fun.

We did not get close with any bartenders this cruise. In the past, I always have chatted with them and gone to favorites, but this time, there were different bartenders every day and night at each venue so it was hard to do that.
The Cruise Director, Casey Pelter, was only seen at the “big ticket” items – Belly Flop, Love and Marriage Gameshow, The Quest, and that’s really it. I also saw him at the Crown and Anchor event in Imperial, but I did not see him any other time. I would have liked to. I LOVED his staff though! Neal, Lorenzo, Maya, Prince – they were all amazing and we got to know them pretty well since we participated in everything.

St. Thomas Mountain Top was absolutely beautiful. I wish we would have spent more time there. I have never seen something like that in my life – I am going to have to go see that again.

Hurricane damage is still very apparent in St. Thomas, St. Maarteen, and San Juan, PR.

The ship is gorgeous. All of the public areas do not show signs of age, in my opinion. They are fresh, new clean, and I enjoyed it so much, we booked ANOTHER voyage on her for September 31- August 7 for New England and Canada ?

I have decided I am the biggest fan of the Voyager class. I have been on Oasis & Allure 2 times each, and while they are amazing, I think they might be a little too big. Adventure never felt crowded unless a show had just let out and people were walking to get somewhere else, or at the bars when people wanted a drink. The pool deck was never so crowded that you couldn’t find a chair. Adventure was just the perfect size – I was worried I had been “spoiled” by Oasis, but honestly, it was my favorite size of all of their fleet.
One last thought – they have GREATLY improved the Café Promenade food options. The vegetarian pizza- which I think was just cheese pizza with maybe 3 leaves of spinach added- was actually delicious. The cheese tasted like REAL CHEESE! Their sandwiches and salads/ snacks were also pretty good for a quick bite after a few drinks at Blue Moon or in the middle of the day after the pool.

I can't wait to sail on her again!!!

It was amazing!! I had every intention of taking lots of pictures, but I ended up just relaxing and leaving my phone in the stateroom the whole time. LOL. A lot of my fellow cruisers took pics and posted them on the Adventure of the Seas - past, present, and future cruisers facebook group if you want to take a look. The carpet in the room was new, as well as a new chair. The Windjammer had sinks for washing hands right at the entrance (not sure if this was added at drydock but looked brand new), everything smelled new and fresh around the ship. The public areas were amazing - nice and clean. It did not look like they were doing any more work in the public areas.. it looked mostly finished. Oh and Izumi in the Promenade! We did not eat there but it was finished and had people dining there every evening. I am so excited to go on this boat again! I honestly loved Adventure more than my last few trips on Oasis class ships.. those are just SO big that it almost feels hard to relax, if that makes sense. Voyager class seems like the perfect size for me.

Good afternoon! My boyfriend and I just returned from our 5 day repositioning on Adventure and loved it so much that we booked her again for August 31 - September 7th for New England and Canada. I have only done the Caribbean before... we are really interested in seeing New England and Canada, enjoying beer, lobster, sightseeing, etc, and I know this attracts a much older crowd, but will there be any other young cruisers? Just curious what the demographics look like on those sailings.