Dan Curtis

Beverage Package
For beverage packages, DH typically purchases the soda package and he purchased the refreshment package once on a good deal, but we have never gotten the full deluxe drink package.  We originally had no plans to purchase it for this cruise, but we were one of the lucky ones who got the $18 price on our two cruises next year (or $23 CAD for us).  However, those cruises are with our kids so will be keeping the number of drinks to a minimum.  But it got us thinking that it would have been especially nice to have the DDP for this Adventure cruise as it was just DH and I.  We looked at the price and it seemed a lot, but we kept thinking about it and decided to treat ourselves and just buy it. It came to around $850 CAD, but it still was a pretty good deal as we were able to get it for equivalent of $45 USD on Labor Day weekend (which was the same cost on Black Friday).  These days, that's not a bad price.
I am a mega planner.  With every trip, I create a spreadsheet and keep track of prices (staterooms, flights, hotels, excursions, etc.), as well as research for the ports, packing lists, tips from others, etc.  So for this trip, I had a spreadsheet of drinks to try (probably my most extensive research for this cruise…lol).  Was able to try a lot of great drinks from the list such as:
Blue Hawaiian (basically a blue Pina Colada) Blue Lagoon Regular and Coconut Mojito (one of my new favorites) Lava Flow with Kracken (had before) Miami Vice with Kracken Lavender Daiquiri Red Velvet Cake Green Goddess Chocolate Martini Woo Woo (good drink but name even better)  And daily (late) morning treat
Starbucks cappuccino with Baileys (no one seemed to be able to make an Monte Cristo or Spanish Coffee)
 Also got to try different wines at dinner.
One thing to note that is that each place only made certain drinks.  Example, Schooner bar has the Lavender Daiquiri.  Champagne bar has the Red Velvet Cake (drink) and Green Goddess, but you must go to these venues for these drinks.
One thing that is really nice about Adventure is that there is not a separate kiosk for Starbucks coffee.  This means, that the Starbucks coffee with its regular drink offerings was served at Café Promenade.  On Oasis class, I don't believe this is the case and Starbucks is a separate kiosk and is not included in the drink package.  On Adventure, it is.  So we enjoyed many coffees and frequented this location often (and I discovered I like iced coffee and chai lattes) . 
 
So was the package worth it?
Aside from one day when he over drank the previous day, DH drank enough to make the package worth it (he was more into Dark & Stormy and Old Fashioned drinks).  He also got soda – usually at dinner from the bar, but a few times during the day he took the cup and used the freestyle machines Aside from the last day when my stomach was off, I probably broke even as I had about 4 drinks a day plus an additional coffee We also got bottled waters and DH ordered fresh juice one morning Well, at current prices I'm not sure we'll purchase the DDP again, but I can say that we loved having it.  It was nice not having an unknown bill at the end.  And what I really liked, was being able to try new drinks without thought.  And if there was something I didn't like, then no big deal.  Without the package, I definitely wouldn't have had that much to drink and would have stuck with the drinks I knew (I know for some, 4 drinks a day when on vacation is not a lot but it is for me).  The freedom was really nice. 
 I didn't take many pictures on the ship but here are a few that I did take:
Regular Mojito and a Coconut Mojito

Champagne bar menu (sorry for the shadow)

Red Velvet Cake

@Sweety, this one is for you! No red velvet cake so far, but this red velvet cheesecake sure was good! Dining room night 6

 

OMG. The mouse was fantastic, but this water buffalo?? I heart him so much!

 

Hi -- Wife and I are excited to visit the ABC islands next week as part of the Freedom group cruise.  Based on the helpful info on these boards, we're planning:
Curacao - RC Fascinating Curacao excursion -  hope we can get up on 1/1 for the 11:15 AM curacao tasting tour, LOL.  Hit Mambo beach area and group event.
Aruba - Head up to the Eagle beach area--no formal excursion.  Group event in the evening.
Bonaire - RC Mangrove and Beach excursion - looking forward to seeing lots of exotic (for us) sea birds and especially flamingos.  
Besides the ABCs:
St Martin - Taxi up to the French side and probably hang out at Grand Case beach.  Will also want to see how Orient Beach area might be recovering some.  We've visited this great island a couple times previously and will see about heading up to the French side along the east shore instead of the longer loop through Maho Beach/airport area.
Also looking forward to meeting other bloggers!
 

I'm sorry that you are not happy with the location of your "upgrade" but it is, in fact, an upgrade. Going from an inside room to an ocean view room is considered an upgrade.  One of the dangers of using RoyalUp is that you do not know where you will be relocated and with the basic room accommodations the locations vary widely.  That is why I recommend that people in a balcony category never try and upgrade to a different balcony category b/c sometimes you end up with basically the same room you started with but in a terrible location.  

Lindsay hits I Fly & Wave Rider ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Lindsay had tons of fun doing both these activities. Star class benefits really pay off as ? can book I Fly multiple times and star class gets you preferred access on the wave rider ?? 
If he can move in the morning from the workout he got today on the wave rider he is trying  stand up tomorrow. Hours are 9-5 on 2 remaining sea days.   
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We,always go to the Quest, it is amazing what they do for a key chain. I,was brave enough one cruise to be on the floor. We also enjoy love and marriage, but agree, need to change up,the questions sometimes. Thanks for all the pics.

Second sighting of the Stowaway Piano Player! First was crammed in an alcove outside the Royal Theater two nights ago, picture not possible. Here he’s in front of the lower level of the Music Hall. He’s quite good!

 

Other Evening Fun
There are the production shows, and then there are the Royal Interactive/Game shows that are a ton of fun.
The Love & Marriage show is always a hoot.  I'm amazed at the people that volunteer and have no issue sharing details that just shouldn't be shared. And it always seems like the couple that has been married for 55+ years has their children or grand children in the audience, and the newlywed couple has their parents or grandparents there.  The cruise director lead this one and he was quite funny.  The only criticism I'll give of this show is that they tend to repeat the questions on the ships, so you know the questions that are coming if you are seeing it again.  
Quest is another fun show to watch (or participate if brave enough).  Again, I'm amazed at what some will do.  The activity manager ran this one, which was a bit disappointing as we like to see the CD, but it was still well done.  
And there is the Battle of the Sexes show.  This was my first time attending this one.  It started out with a innocent challenge (if that's the word), and then they got riskier / braver.  Quite a few laughs.  PS - Girls won!
DH and I also just enjoy listening to music in the evening.  I tend to love the Schooner Bar music when the piano player is there so we stopped in the first night.  I found the guy ok, but DH really didn't like him.  We were spoiled on Navigator, our most recent cruise, as that guy was the best Schooner Bar player we've seen (he did a lot of impov and would play with the audience or people walking by), so this guy had tough shoes to fit into.  Needless to say, we never returned to hear him again.  
As an alternative, we often stopped by Boleros.  There was a group called Switched On that we quite enjoyed.  It was a lead singer with a 3 person band and they performed known songs as well.  So we tried to catch them when they were listed in the compass and we were between shows.
Another fun event is the 70s Show on the Promenade  .  It's fun music and hilarious when they come out with their 70s hair.  It's quite loud during this time so hope no one with a promenade room was trying to sleep.

While I"m sharing a picture of the Promenade during the night, here is one during the day.  (You can see the Adventure 'car' on the bottom right corner)
One thing that we didn't see on Adventure was the Stowaway Piano person.  Not sure if we just didn't catch the person of if they isn't one on this ship.
 

Great photo tour, @twangster! And agree with @Lovetocruise2002, the pictures of the aqua show are something else! Your nighttime photography skills continue to impress mightily. ☺️

Hello Everyone And Welcome To Another Not Live Trip Blog. This Cruise I Booked In February And Well Originally I Was Going To Sail On The Week Of The Sixth But Due To The Price I Moved It To The Week Of The 13th.  On This Sailing I Am Doing A Four Night Cruise Back To Coco Cay, And Nassau And A Sea Day. Without Further Delay Let The Blog Begin!! 

Challenge accepted!!

Squeeeeeeeeee! Our first block! 

Okinawa
We are not going ashore today, since we live in Japan and have been to Okinawa, However, I know people are interested in the port, so here are some photos from our last trip here. These (after the first shot, anyway) are taken on a Sony RX-10 III for those whore are interested. Also, all of these shots are from places easily accessible from a Royal shore excursion.
Port:

Naha:

Fukushuen Garden:



Shurijo Castle (before it burned down, under reconstruction currently):

Gyokusendo Cave:

A Muscovy Duck, which you can find all over the place as an invasive species:

A fun restaurant sign in Naha:

 

Prices are high. I'll stick to what's free and leave the rest to the elite that don't mind shelling out big bucks.

Evening Production Shows
One of my favorite things about cruising is going to dinner and a show each night.  One thing that differs on Voyager class vs Oasis class is that is is not an issue getting a good seat.  First, there was no reserved seating in the main level, which meant those seats were available.  (Reserved seating must have been the on the balcony).  Also, you could arrive close to show time and still get a close seat (although we always arrived 20-30 minutes early).
The first night had only one showing of the Welcome Aboard show.  This is also the first time you see the cruise director (Drew Devine).  The show had a small ballroom dance act, but then they had the headliner comedian come out for a bit for the family show  Later in the evening, he did the adult comedy show.  He was quite good.
I was surprised that on a 6 night cruise, there was only one production show called Can't Stop the Rock.  I find the Royal produced shows a bit cheesy, but still enjoyable.  The Royal singers and dancers are very talented.  Funny enough, I don't remember much about this show (so guess it wasn't that memorable), but there were songs that I recognized and still enjoyed it at the time.

Adventure has an Ice Show called Cool Art Hot Ice (or something like that).  The ice shows are always great, but I'll say that if I were to rate all the ones that I've seen, this one would probably be on the lower end. It wasn't bad and the skaters were impressive, but it didn't stand out like the others I've seen (Mariner's is fun, Navigator and Symphony have the drones and neat effects, Independence has the different years through the decades, Allure has Monopoly theme).  But for anyone going, I still say don't miss it.
Another night, they had an Elton John impersonator.  He was really good and it was like we were seeing a live Elton John concert. He had the look, the dress,  the moves, and the voice.  Pretty cool!  
On the second last night, they had a hypnotist where brave volunteers from the audience went on stage to be hypnotized.  The group started with about 35 people, and by the end, they were down to about 10-12 who were following along with the act.  Don't know if the thing was real or not, but I will say that it was hilarious.  And I bow to those brave people who didn't mind making a fool of themselves.
The last night was the Farewell show, and again, they had a different comedian that ran most of the show.  And later, he also did an adult show.  He was quite funny.
You never know the headliners you will get, but I think we were pretty lucky as they were all really enjoyable and fun.

Labadee 
As you guys know this is our first time cruising with Royal so following the itinerary change from Coco Cay to Labadee I had no expectations. We didn’t really explore the island so my review is limited to the suites area. The over water cabana was great! Weather could not have been better.  The suites area was nice. Lunch was ok; hotdogs were very good.  I found the buffet selection a bit limited compared to Disney’s Castaway. It was also a bit strange that every time you ordered any type of beverage they had to take your sea pass with them. And you couldn’t use 1 sea pass for the 3 of us. Only 1 drink per person at a time. 
Andres met us on island and stayed with us until we reached the cabana. I was actually surprised that we didn’t see him again for any sort of check in throughout the day to see how our day was going. I think the one notable difference between Labadee and Disney’s Castaway was that the on board concierge take care of you while at your cabana. I didn’t realize how much we liked this personal touch until today when we had no check ins except from our cabana host who lives on the island.  Here are some pics of our cabana and the eating area. 
 



 
 

Food Options:
Cafe Promenade
Adventure is Voyager class and thus, there are not as many food options as Oasis class, but it was still good.  For complimentary, there is Cafe Promenade, which was at the typical location on the Promenade at the front side on deck 5.  The pizza is served here are well, and it wasn't bad.  The pizza seems to have improved.  The coffee shop is attached, which serves Starbucks coffee (more comments to come).
Windjammer
Of course, Adventure has the famous Windjammer.  We had lunch here a couple times.  The selection was impressive with many salads and various options, and then they also had Indian food and Mexican food.  I find the Windjammer hit and miss for lunch, but it was pretty good on this ship.
MDR
Breakfast
We quite like the breakfast in the MDR so aside from the first morning, we went to the MDR.  The buffet is very similar to the Windjammer (maybe a bit smaller) and DH and I both love the Eggs Benedict, but with smoked salmon instead of the meat. The service is always very good and quite efficient.
Lunch
On sea days, you can have lunch in the MDR.  They serve the Tutti Fruitti Salad bar (spelling?), which is make your own salad.  That in itself, is worth going to the MDR for lunch.  Having said that, Adventure's MDR for lunch was disappointing compared with other ships.  Outside of the salad bar, the rest of the buffet is quite small.  You can order off of the menu, but there weren't any great options and it was the same menu on both sea days.  On Navigator/Symphony, we had a spectacular grilled cheese and also a great pasta.  Everything here on the menu was blah.  We got fish tacos which were fine but didn't stand out.  
Dinner
For dinner, we booked early traditional dining.  We made the mistake of not checking out our table beforehand.  Thus we arrived at 5:30pm for dinner time and they lead us to a table.  As we saw where they were leading us, we said "uh, that is not what we booked".  First, the location wasn't ideal as it was near the entrance.  And second, we had asked for a table for just DH and I, but it was a large group.  So we had to line up with everyone else who needed table changes.  They said they would see what they could do, but this annoyed DH as we requested a private table awhile ago when we booked.  The manager was there and helped find us a table for two.  The two servers came by who seemed very pleasant, and the location was fine so we asked if we could keep the table.  At first they weren't sure, but then the manager returned in a bit and said this would be our table.  So issue solved.
I'm guessing they keep some buffer tables for people switching on night 1 as we weren't the only ones in the line up for table issues (or those on wait lists).  
For the meals, my favorites were served over the 6 nights (and one night had both lobster and a pasta that I love so I had both...lol) and the food was pretty good.  One thing that is different on Adventure is the menu doesn't have the "classic section" for those items that are available every night (which they have had on our last few cruises).  After the third night, we noticed that escargots were removed, but DH and I did ask for them on the last night, and they were able to bring them to us.  So it's good that they can accomodate.
Specialty
We didn't try any specialty restaurants so can't comment on those.  The location is a bit different though with Izumi on the Promenade, Chops across from Schooner Bar and Giovannis near the Windjammer.  It's actually these little differences that i enjoy from ship to ship (so that they are not all exactly the same).  

Specialty Dining 
We are really loving Specialty Dining! The quality of the food has been excellent. 
Lindsay went all in with the seafood tower followed by lobster at Chops.  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Reyd had NY strip and I had Ribeye ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
We visited Coastal kitchen for the first time. Reyd had NY steak, Lindsay had salmon and I had veal cannelloni. Everything was excellent ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
 

Embarkation
Adventure was parked at terminal 29 at Port Everglades.  We passed the lovely Allure on the way, but still felt the "wow" feeling when we we saw Adventure....that feeling when you see the ship waiting for you for the first time.  Our last two cruises were at the new terminal at Miami and this one was much more plain looking, but everything was still pretty quick and smooth.  Even though we had a suite booked, they told us to wait in our C&A section.  But then they started boarding at 10:30am and so we were one of the first groups called and we were on the ship by 10:40am.  Not bad!

We hired Leo Brown on "Easter Saturday", he is fabulous.
When we met him, there was another group of 4, the "mom/wife" was Marion. I am Mary Ann..... well, I booked with Leo via text, Marion booked with Leo's wife via text... so the Canadians and the New Yorkers spent the day on Leo's entire island tour, I think we saw everything. 
It worked out just fine with the double booking,  we all had a good laugh, then he tried to charge me less for the day.
It was a lot of fun, our family will hire him again.
He is a safe, friendly and knowledgeable driver.
But if he gives you beverages before noon, and you need to ... tinkle, just let him know!  LOL

April  24, 2019
A week ago we (a family of four) were fortunate enough to visit Sint Maarten (Saint Martin) for a third straight year.  And for a third straight year, we hired Leo Brown to be our private driver.  Three years ago, we looked into booking a tour through the ship's excursion office.  Now, there's nothing wrong with booking an excursion through RC but we wanted more.  What we got was a lot more.
We decided to research a few months before on how to hire a private driver.  We found  Leo Brown on the internet.  He was recommended by previous travelers.  We called him up and hired him for the day.  The idea was that we would pay him the same amount that RC was going to charge us for their excursion. However, hiring Leo Brown has more benefits:
a)  You are helping the economy directly.  All money you spend is going into local's pockets. Booking an excursion means that RC gets a percentage.
b)  More time on the island.  The RC excursion will bring you back to the ship hours before it's set to sail.  With a private driver, you get more time on the island for the same amount of money.
c) You choose where you want to go.  If the kid's wanted to go snorkeling, Leo Brown would take us to a great beach... if the kid's wanted big waves, Leo Brown would take us to another beach... when we got hungry, Leo Brown took us to the French side for delicious food cooked in a local and authentic island restaurant... Want amazing views for the family picture?, Leo Brown will drive you to one of the highest parts on the island so you can take that picture. 
d) Leo Brown is proud.  The first time we met Leo Brown, he drove us around the entire island (Dutch and French side).  He is a proud lifelong resident of Sint Maarten and it shows.  Needless to say, we also learned quite a bit about the island through Leo.
e) If you hire Leo Brown, you are it.  No mini-bus filled with other passengers going to the same place where you will then have to wait in line and keep your eyes on the time in order to get back in line to board the mini-bus and get shuttled back to the ship. With Leo Brown, you are on "YOUR TIME".  You tell Leo Brown what time the ship leaves, and he will have you back.
Like I said before, this is our third straight year visiting Sint Maarten and hiring Leo Brown.  Unfortunately, our plans for next year do not take us back to this wonderful island.  However, if you are planning a trip to Sint Maarten (Saint Martin) via cruise ship or flying in, we HIGHLY recommend hiring Leo Brown.
Leo Brown: (721) 553-4290
note:  if you arrive by cruise ship, you will need to walk out of the cruise pier area to meet Leo Brown.  There is a taxi area inside the pier terminal but Leo will be waiting just outside.  You will see many passengers exiting here because it is a short distance to the town area.
 
The attached picture is Leo Brown and his wonderful wife and daughter along with myself and my two kids.

Hang around the pier and watch the Carnival ships? 

Day 1
After boarding, we wandered the ship a bit, heading for the Silver dining room for lunch. First impressions:
This is a giant ship It doesn’t feel nearly as crowded as I feared it might The art around the ship is phenomenal, and there is a lot of it I was pleased to see the removable tiles in the elevators that show the day of the week ?  This is our first app-enabled ship. The app has a lot of potential, but... yeah. It’s not super The Silver lounge, dining, and solarium are lovely. The are exclusive for guests in Gold or Silver suites, plus Diamond Plus and Pinnacle. On this sailing they are also letting Diamonds in, as they have been for the last few months. I suspect they will enforce the D+ and above thing as more passengers in this region get to the higher tiers, but for now this is by far the nicest “Diamond Lounge” space in the fleet.

We got into the Silver dining by waiting at the back door of the Silver area until a crew member walked by and then asking to be let in. Had we gone to the other side, there was someone stationed to look at Set Sail passes and let people in. We can’t seem to do anything the easy way today!
Silver dining is a buffet at breakfast and lunch. There were exactly 3 other people there when we entered for lunch, and by the time we left there were 11. In other words, the space is definitely a haven of calm! The food was tasty and fairly simple — roast beef, noodle bar, salad, etc.

After lunch (at 1230pm) we were able to get into our cabin. SeaPass cards were on the door. All Aboard was at 3pm, muster was at 330pm. Our muster station is in the MDR. Our bags were at the cabin by the time we finished muster. Next was off to the Schooner Bar for a sail away beverage to enjoy on our balcony:

Lavender Daiquiri and Ron Zacapa and Coke. We were supposed to leave at 4pm, but ended up heading out about 425pm for whatever reason.
No sail away pics because it was still super hazy. Perhaps next weekend on turn around day.
Back to the Silver lounge at 5pm for happy hour, the MDR at 530pm for traditional dining. We had asked ahead for a table for two and had been confirmed. Yay! We scoped out the table before muster and while it was indeed a two-top, it was just a few inches from another table. Ah well. As it turned out, our table was actually a 4-top that they split for two couples who requested seating as pairs. HA! Fortunately the other couple seems quite pleasant so I think we’ll be fine. ? 
Full disclosure, we have always been #TeamMDR, and always traditional dining. We intend to stick with this for the first week, going to speciality restaurants for lunch. But the last 4 days we’ll have Gold dining access and plan to eat there. It will be the closest we’ve been to Coastal Kitchen and I’m excited to see how it goes!
Here’s the menu for the night. I had Pork Noodles and MisterZ has the Moussaka. Both were quite good!


After dinner it was back to the Schooner Bar for a bit of music and one last drink. Then back to the room to do my homework... uh, post to the blog ? 
 

Central Park at night is always pretty special.







Christmas carols by the tree.