Blondie511

One last paragraph for ya’. We arrived at Port Bayonne way early, since there was not much traffic. We pulled into the parking garage across the street at 9:00 am. It is about $22 per day with tax to park there, and it made things so easy and convenient for us. I was surprised at how many people were arriving early like us! We did sail past the Statue of Liberty, which was pretty cool and even sailed under a bridge! Today we did self dis embarking. We were told that we could do this from 6:30 am-7:30am. We wanted to avoid city traffic as much as possible, so we decided to be at the Lyric Theatre at 6:30 am sharp, thinking that we would be first off the boat and avoid the lines. WRONG! At 6:30 am the line wrapped almost the entire length of the ship!!!! We were off the boat at 7:10 and in our car at 7:15am, which was pretty good. Not only did the line move fast, but we basically just stood for a quick picture and left. No bag searching, no passports even looked at, no forms to fill out, no bags even placed on a scanner. I should have put some of those cookies from the buffet in my bag to eat later. (Just kidding!) hope I helped some of you out!

Onto Coco Cay! At 8:00 am sharp we left the ship and I must say that it DOES meet ALL expectations! It is so amazing there! Flawless sand, HUGE pool, attentive bartenders, GREAT food, tons of chairs. I could start a fan club for the Snack Shack’s chicken sandwich, mozzarella sticks, and funnel cake. They actually make the funnel cake on the spot only when you order it, so it is fresh fresh fresh! We were the only ship in port that day. We snorkeled, hung out on the beach, hit the pool, and the buffet/ snacks. It was the perfect day! Every employee was eager to give directions, ask us how we were doing, they seemed pretty happy to be there. My number one piece of advice is this : check out the map and find the lockers. The lockers are FREE, despite the fact that the map says that you pay for them. The lockers are first come, first served, and there are NOT very many. They were gone by the second hour of our day! We did not feel comfortable leaving our cash and other stuff out on a chair while we swam and snorkeled, so the lockers were great! I know that kids under age 18 must have an adult with them to enter the water park...... but we only bought a ticket for the water park for my 15 year old and waited to see if they would enforce that rule. (I had asked at the Excursion desk the day before, and she told me that they will not allow a child under age 18 in without an adult. I told her that kids my son’s age can go to local water parks and even Disney world water parks without a parent, but she was pretty firm on that.). They did not enforce the rule at all, group’s of teens went in and they did not even ask where their parents were. We stood off to the side, Seapass in hand, ready to pay for my hubby to join my son, but since they didn’t care....... (please do not judge me here😆😆😆) I can answer any questions about Coco Cay that anyone has. On a side note, people said at the end of the day that there was a four hour wait to see the doctor on board? So either there were a ton of severely sunburned people that day, or something else????

Next, onto Nassau. We had spent a week at the Atlantis resort two years ago, and we had stayed at the Comfort Suites Paradise Island, so we knew how to get a bargain. We booked a room at the Comfort Suites through hotels.com. Each person gets a “free” Atlantis pass if they stay at the Comfort Suites. We were off the ship at noon, at the resort minutes later via taxi, then in the water park a few minutes after that. We never even went to the room. We saved a ton of money this way, compared to all the people on the ship that booked a trip to Atlantis through the ship. There were FOUR ships in port that day, even though the website telling me which ships were in port said there would only be two. Apparently they were supposed to be in Cuba that day, so they went to Nassau instead. we left Atlantis and headed back to port around 6:00 pm to do some shopping, but our taxi driver said that all shops in and around the port close around 5:00 pm in Nassau, so we just headed back to the ship instead. if everything closes at 5:00pm, and your ship is docked until midnight, what do YOU do? I talked with another passenger who said there are two restaurants near the port that stayed open and there were about 20 ship guests there.

About our ports! we started in Bermuda and chose Hat Trick Charters with Captain Keith. For $75 per person, he took us out six miles to The Blue Hole Coral Reef. It made all other snorkeling that we have done anyplace else seem lame. The trip includes rum punch, drinks, lunch, and is three hours long. It has a perfect score on TripAdvisor and we could tell why. It is a small group only, so book early! There is no great snorkeling in Bermuda off shore, when you see the reef here, you will be blown away. Took a ten minute taxi to the pier and hit Seas glass Beach on the way back to the pier. If you have any questions, check out the reviews on TripAdvisor. HIGHLY recommend this excursion. Contact them directly, this is not through Royal Caribbean.

Just got back today, VOOM internet prevented me from posting anything else! Slowest internet at sea. The line to complain at the internet table was long the entire week. Think twice before buying internet on Adventure of the Seas! Here are some things I hope you all find interesting about my week. Theme nights in the Windjammer, in order: American, Italian, Asian, Mediterranean, Tex Mex with Chocolate Sensation, Caribbean, Indian, and Seafood Extravaganza. If you are considering the soda package, be aware you can only find a Freestyle machine in the Royal Promenade and the Windjammer only, and they were “down” quite a few times. Movies this week are Captain Marvel, Creed 2, Five Feet Apart, and the Upside. The shower has body/hair wash dispenser in it. The water went from very very hot to scalding mid shower - we each hollered a few times and got burned a bit. No pen and paper in the room, as usual, so be sure to bring your own. be sure to decorate your door! All the rooms look the same when you are walking down that hallway! You can not make reservations on this ship, it is first come, first served. We showed up a few times 5-10 minutes before show times and were turned away since they were full. Other than Royal Caribbean TV channels and sports channels, there are about four other options for channels to watch on tv. (No ABC, NBC, CBS, Etc.). My cruise was the eight day out of Bayonne to Bermuda, CocoCay, and Nassau. If anyone wants me to post the cruise compasses, just let me know.

We have an inside room on the ninth floor room 9349. Great location and pretty quiet. Three of us in the room. Hubby and I on the regular bed and 15 year old is in a pull down bed that drops down from the ceiling. My son is literally over my head, so I have to slide out ducking down or I would hit my head. Last cruise my son was on a couch that converted into a bed at night.

A monkey hanging down from the middle of our room

Movies by the pool this week include captain marvel, the upside, and five feet apart.

The big show this week is a tribute band to Frankie Vallie and the Four Seasons. Popped in and saw the second half of the show. Definitely a show for senior citizens and the singers even joked about how old they were a bit.

Voom is very bad this week and we bought the most expensive surf and stream version. All day long there has been a long long line to complain about it. Very upset guests all over the ship. Two hours to send a text and no emails being received at all some people. The Voom lady says expect Voom to be as fast as a dial up service. She offered no compensation, just apologies all day. I said that I was going to post about our conversation on this site and she said sorry it is so slow ...

The last one is of the nightly ice cream sundae bar. There was also a warm bread pudding, but it was on the dinner buffet and the line was very long.

What is for dessert at the windjammer tonight???

These last two are from the adults only solarium. The solarium has a bar, small pool, and two hot tubs.