Adventure of the Seas review ---Caribbean 8 nights

[Pima1988]

Just got off this past weekend.  4th cruise with Royal in 3 yrs., 1st time on Adventure.

Day 1:  

Our time to embark was 12:00, but we showed up at 10:30.  On the ship, with drink in hand by 11.  We had to go to Chops 1st to make our 4 specialty reservations.  If we didn't the drink would have been in hand by 10:45.  

Negative for Cape Liberty is that the covered garage parking basically will only have Anthem and Celebrity passengers.  Adventure parks in the open parking lot, still a one minute walk, but in July your car will roast for the duration of your cruise.  If going on Adventure take a window shade cover.  I also would say pay for the porter.  Anthem you can just drive your car down to the lower level and load up the car.  

Day 2:  Sea Day 1st Formal night

I was shocked at how many people were really dressed up.  I would compare this to our Med cruise.  Usually on the Caribbean it is common to see people in open collared shirts and slacks.   I did not see one man in shorts.  

We are early risers.  I was at the pool (Solarium) by 7.  Chair hogs were out in full force in the main pool area.  I saw 8 chairs with towels, pool clips, every lounger had 1 shoe.  @ 9:30 I went to switch out my wet towel.  There I am standing in line and a couple is screaming at the towel attendant.  The attendant tells them that all over the pool deck there is signage 30 mins to hold a chair.  Their towels were confiscated and now would be charged 200 for the 8 towels.  If they continue to yell, security would be called.  They dared them and security arrived 2 mins later, which were than told if they don't knock it off they would be escorted off the ship tomorrow at Bermuda.    FYI, they took the towels back to the station, and left their personal items in a pile by the loungers.  RCL's position was also how do they know that they didn't lose the towels, and trying to avoid the charge.  

I would love to say they were on this all day long, but they weren't.  Went to lunch in the MDR, played some trivia and came back to the pool @ 2.  We had to go to the sky pool deck to find 2 loungers next to each other.  Meanwhile for the next hr+ every lounger by us with a towel was never used.

Day3: Bermuda

We traveled with my SIL and physically she could not do the #7 since they pick up and drop off at the top of Horseshoe Bay.  We paid 7 pp each way for a taxi since they drop off and pick up at the same place as the cruise ship buses.  Horseshoe is well, horseshoe...gorgeous!  

Did Chops for dinner and I must say I have a new favorite dish...Goat Cheese salad.  Think Bonnie Belle cheese circle that is coated in bread crumbs and fried.  It is served on top of an arugula salad with walnuts and very thin apple slices.  The dressing is raspberry vinigairette.   I did the Branzino, yes, I know steakhouse, but you ordered fish?  It just happened bc the 1st 2  nights we ate in the MDR and I ordered beef, could not do red meat again.  It was delicious.  The skin was crispy, and the fish was flaky.  The spinach was perfect.  

Negative: That night at 12:45 we were awakened to what sounded like a jack hammer outside our cabin door.  Somebody on deck 10 decided to ignore the card in the bathroom of DO NOT FLUSH....  They clogged every toilet from deck 10 to deck 1.  The toilets are banked together, so it was 10 cabins.  This drilling went on until 1:15.  What the noise was a powered snake, so they were pushing it down floor by floor.  I got up at 6:30 and still had no toilet.  I went down got my iced coffee from starbucks and headed over to guest services.  The purser said they were sorry, and in this case they would give me a bottle of wine.  I promptly said, I have the unlimited drinks, I don't want it.  Her response was what do you want.  I said OBC.  We don't do that.  I said let me talk to the mgr.  Nope, he doesn't report until 8:30.  I left my cabin number and the numbers of those in our party.  I said pull up my history, this is my 4th sailing in less than 3 yrs.  I have 4 specialties, chefs table, bottomless galley, wifi, pedicure, and a cabana.  My add ons cost more than the cruise itself.  8:30 rolled around and we got an alert on our phone.  They gave us 100 OBC.  No toilet issues for the rest of the cruise.  Unfortunately, we knew someone that got an AFT balcony, they did not have a toilet for 5 of the 9 days, and the staff did not budge....nothing.  He is fighting with RCL now.  He is saying that corporate is being responsive in a positive way.  He was on the same deck as us.  My guess is knowing the lay out of the ship, that he basically was below areas where toilet clogging could be an issue.  IE deck 12 is the flow rider, slide, mini golf, JR.  Deck 11 is WJ and pool.  We were mid forward, so everyone above us were cabins.

Day 4: Sea Day

Impressed by RCL.  Again, I am an early riser.  I live in the Solarium.  At 7:00 and all day long they told every single passenger that after 30 mins if the towel is left unattended they would collect them and charge 25 per towel checked out.  7:45 I am laying on my lounger and the attendant asked me has anybody sat here (towels and shoes on chair).  In the solarium at that hr you can easily see if they are in the pool or hot tub, I said no.  They folded up the towels, placed the shoes on top and put at the foot of the lounger.  15 mins later, he came back, asked again and I said no.  He put their personal items on the floor, and took the towels.  

Negative:  Passenger.  Anybody that knows the Solarium, knows it is 16 and over.  A family (grandparents, and daughter with a 16 mos old)  decided that the age requirement did not include toddlers.  Let me preface I have a 2 1/2 yr old grandbaby and only yesterday we were blessed with our 2nd grandchild.  I love them, but no way in Hades would I make everybody endure their noise in an adult only pool.  Not only did they take the prime spot loungers (window area), but they brought a portable crib, and removed 2 loungers for that crib.  They were the talk in the pool, but nobody wanted to say anything to them.  Finally, when I was leaving and going to the towel station I stood by the doors looked at her, thought, looked at the towel station, thought again, looked back at her again...she knew I was looking at her.  The Jersey girl in me took over and I walked up to where they were sitting.  I said, you do know this is a 16 and over pool, no children allowed!  Her response was they said it was okay.  I said did they say it was okay, or it was okay as long as no passengers complained?  She said what does that matter either way.  I said that they were placing a caveat and not a go for it.  She looked at her mother and asked what is a CAVEAT?  I just walked away as soon as she said that to her mother, laughing the 15 feet to the towel station.  What is a caveat?

Day 5: Bahamas

We again just hired a taxi, 5 pp. one way.  We went to John Waitlings Rum Distillery.   It is a free tour.  They are located at the top of the hill.  The grounds are really pretty.  After the tour you end up in their bar/gift shop.  You can get a flight of 4 rums for 10 bucks.  They are not skimpy on these pours.  The flight of 5 includes their highest end and that is 15.  My BIL made us laugh.  We got 2 flights for 5 of us, and if we sipped 50% that would be on the high end guess.  He was carrying a water bottle.  He decide to dump the water out and pour all of the remaining rum in it for the walk back to the ship.  That than included us stopping constantly for him needing a bathroom break.

We walked back down to the ship. On the way back we stopped at Graycliffs Chocolate.  Don't do the tour, it is really a waste of money.  However, go there and get some chocolates.  I lived in England, and love Cadburys.  Been to Italy,  Belgium, Germany, France and Australia.  I will say their chocolate ranks up with Belgium, but the big difference is they are more on the dark chocolate side. 

If you have little ones,  in the town they have a splash type fountains.  We all know the type...concrete with fountains that spray up at different intervals.  

Dinner was at Giovannis.  The food is good, the ambiance is amazing since it is all windows.  If you are from an Italian family you will probably give it an 8.  Highlight of the meal for me was the roasted garlic.  They bring out roasted garlic and olive oil/balsamic for the breads.  The roasted garlic is incredible.  I had the veal osso bucco.  The bone marrow was perfection.  I also had the beef carpaccio, but liked Chops better.  Giovanni has a pesto garnish.    My husband had the gnocchi, but believe it or not we both agreed that the spinach/ricotta gnocchi in the MDR for lunch was way better.

Nothing against Giovanni, but we decided that night we were going to try to change our 4th specialty to Chops.

Day 6: Coco Cay

We had a cabana.  Cabana number 10.  Y'ukesha was our attendant.  It was worth every penny.  I would do it again, and twice on Sunday if we were traveling in a group.  The tram literally drops you off right in front of it.  We walked, and beware you can over shoot it...basically walk up to wear the over water bar and beach beds are located, to only turn back towards the cabanas.  I do not know if this is true, but from here on out cabanas will be assigned.  They are assigned by the purchase date of the cabana.  We were number 10 out of the 20.  You arrive and they check you in, give you the VIP wrist band, offer you a glass of pineapple or cantelope water.  Our attendant @10 brought us a container (no plates here) with sliced pineapple and melon.  She also gave us the menu for lunch.  Later in the day she brought us fruit kebabs.  We had her and also a drink attendant.  Our drink attendant worked in the Champagne bar at night.  They were top notch, I don't think we went more than 15 minutes without one of them checking in on us.  My husband and I are strange tippers.  We know how much we will tip overall.  We give money in the beginning, than mid-way we give some more.  If they are still exceeding our desires we tip at the end more, if they were just eh, we lower that amount.

Interesting info.  On the ship the staff signs a 9 mos contract.  The ones that live on Coco Cay are contracted for 28 days.

Chef's table for dinner OMG DO IT

This was our menu: Course 1 Scallop Carpaccio with yuzo dressing and crispy quinoa.  Course 2 was Smoked Tomato soup with garlic focaccia croutons.  Three was Maine Lobster salad with hearts of palm, pineapple, cilantro, vanilla dressing. Course 4 was roasted branzino, veggies were zucchini and peppers with a lemon confit.  The skin was amazing, the fish was flaky.  They roasted on parchment skin side down at 1st.  Course 5 was Filet Mignon with a truffle potato puree, asparagus and bordelaise sauce .Last course was the World aka the Wonderland dessert paired with a salted caramel espresso martini.

Day 7 Sea Day

Same as any other sea day

Dinner was at Izumi.  Wendell our maitre'd/host for chef's table said ask for the off the menu item.  None of us could recall the name.  Izumi on Adventure does not have teppynaki or the soups, it is pure sushi/sashimi.  I said to the waiter can you please bring us the off the menu item, he immediately said, oh you mean....

I am not a sushi person.  I got the spicy shrimp roll and LOVED it.  The family loved the off the menu, but agreed that their favorite was the Champagne Lobster roll.  

REGRET  Had I known when we boarded the ship that the 70s night was day 3I would have booked an 8:30 reservation.  On Anthem the 70s is done on the Promenade, and Izumi is right next to it, so by the time dinner is done you will be in a prime seating place

Day 8 Sea Day

Did the bottomless galley brunch.  Worth the money, but I had an issue with RCL from a sanitary/health aspect.  They tell you closed toe shoes, no shorts.  There were people allowed wearing either and both.  Sorry, but seeing the hairy legs of a man grossed me out.  Kitchens are insanely clean, but I just kept thinking as he walked the hair on his legs could fall on the floor.  The woman in flip flops, slips, falls and she will not only sue, but win bc they let her down into the galleys where the floors are slippery

Dinner was at Chops again with our same wait staff.  Got the goat cheese salad AGAIN.  Lobster bisque and the filet.  Hubby got the lamb chops, we shared with each other.  Our waitress knew us now.  She brought out every side family style, minus the potato and mac.  18 little metal cups for 5 of us.  On top of that she brought out the spicy shrimp entrée, and when dessert rolled around she didn't ask, she brought every item on the menu to share family style.  Chops to us is akin to Ruth Chris.  That meal would have cost us 400+

@WAAAYTOOO  I thought about you because everyone's favorite was the red velvet cake.  Our waitress actually brought another piece because they devoured the 1st slice

 

 

 

[WAAAYTOOO]

LOL  Thanks for thinking of me...but it's really SWEETY who is the RVC maniac !!!

[ChessE4]

3 hours ago, Pima1988 said:

Just got off this past weekend.  4th cruise with Royal in 3 yrs., 1st time on Adventure.

 

Day 2:  Sea Day 1st Formal night

I was shocked at how many people were really dressed up.  I would compare this to our Med cruise.  Usually on the Caribbean it is common to see people in open collared shirts and slacks.   I did not see one man in shorts.  

 

 

 

 

Thanks for your detailed summary!  Your observation about formal night is consistent with what I have observed, that most people dress nicely. 

[AshleyDillo]

3 hours ago, Pima1988 said:

We had a cabana.  Cabana number 10.  Y'ukesha was our attendant.  It was worth every penny.  I would do it again, and twice on Sunday if we were traveling in a group.  The tram literally drops you off right in front of it.  We walked, and beware you can over shoot it...basically walk up to wear the over water bar and beach beds are located, to only turn back towards the cabanas.  I do not know if this is true, but from here on out cabanas will be assigned.  They are assigned by the purchase date of the cabana.  We were number 10 out of the 20.  You arrive and they check you in, give you the VIP wrist band, offer you a glass of pineapple or cantelope water.  Our attendant @10 brought us a container (no plates here) with sliced pineapple and melon.  She also gave us the menu for lunch.  Later in the day she brought us fruit kebabs.  We had her and also a drink attendant.  Our drink attendant worked in the Champagne bar at night.  They were top notch, I don't think we went more than 15 minutes without one of them checking in on us.  My husband and I are strange tippers.  We know how much we will tip overall.  We give money in the beginning, than mid-way we give some more.  If they are still exceeding our desires we tip at the end more, if they were just eh, we lower that amount.

I love to hear that they're kicking up the cabana experience a notch.  I heard they had put someone on Coco Cay to help amp up the cabana program and it appears like they are adding some nice touches to it.

[JLMoran]

7 hours ago, Pima1988 said:

Chef's table for dinner OMG DO IT

Yeah, this. 

7 hours ago, Pima1988 said:

This was our menu: Course 1 Scallop Carpaccio with yuzo dressing and crispy quinoa.  Course 2 was Smoked Tomato soup with garlic focaccia croutons.  Three was Maine Lobster salad with hearts of palm, pineapple, cilantro, vanilla dressing. Course 4 was roasted branzino, veggies were zucchini and peppers with a lemon confit.  The skin was amazing, the fish was flaky.  They roasted on parchment skin side down at 1st.  Course 5 was Filet Mignon with a truffle potato puree, asparagus and bordelaise sauce .Last course was the World aka the Wonderland dessert paired with a salted caramel espresso martini.

Interesting. Your menu is almost the same as what I had on Freedom last year, but instead of a pasta (garlic truffle tagliatelle) for course four with choice of either Branzino or Filet as entree / course 5, you were given both entree options and no pasta. I'd have been totally fine with this menu as well, but gotta say that the truffle tagliatelle was beyond amazing.

How were the wines that were served with everything? I think you're the first person who's talked about their chef's table experience and didn't mention that part at all.

[WannaCruise]

Great review.

Where do they hold Chef's table on Adventure?  Great to hear you loved it so much.  It seems to get not as great reviews as on other ships (but overall sounds like a wonderful experience).  We were planning on trying it, but then upgraded to JS so not sure it's in the budget...but...they had The World on there too?  Hmmmm.  The meal sounds delicious, and that doesn't even count the wines.

[Chaosgirl426]

10 hours ago, Pima1988 said:

 

Did the bottomless galley brunch.  Worth the money, but I had an issue with RCL from a sanitary/health aspect.  They tell you closed toe shoes, no shorts.  There were people allowed wearing either and both.  Sorry, but seeing the hairy legs of a man grossed me out.  Kitchens are insanely clean, but I just kept thinking as he walked the hair on his legs could fall on the floor.  The woman in flip flops, slips, falls and she will not only sue, but win bc they let her down into the galleys where the floors are slippery

 

 

 

I was just looking at the bottomless galley brunch, and the only thing it stated was no open toed shoes. Nowhere does it state no shorts. :) it gets hot in the kitchen, and sometimes chefs/ foodservice people wear shorts or capris anyway... I'd be more concerned with someone who had long hair that wasnt tied back. (food safety certified here) :)

[FloridaCruiseGirl1210]

I'm on Adventure on an 8-night sailing this Oct. to the Caribbean. Do you remember if Izumi had drinks? I would love to try Sake (especially since i have the drink package)...

[Pima1988]

@Chaosgirl426   When they deliver the letter to your cabin it states no shorts or open toe shoes.  Capris are fine.  Nobody was in shorts.  The kitchen wasn't hot at all.  I would not advise flip flops because the floors are slippery

@FloridaCruiseGirl1210 they did have sake and Japanese beer in Izumi

 

[Pima1988]

13 hours ago, JLMoran said:

Yeah, this. 

Interesting. Your menu is almost the same as what I had on Freedom last year, but instead of a pasta (garlic truffle tagliatelle) for course four with choice of either Branzino or Filet as entree / course 5, you were given both entree options and no pasta. I'd have been totally fine with this menu as well, but gotta say that the truffle tagliatelle was beyond amazing.

How were the wines that were served with everything? I think you're the first person who's talked about their chef's table experience and didn't mention that part at all. 

The wines were very good.  Wendell would have us taste them before we ate the food and than while we ate it to see how they changed in flavor/notes.  Since the menu was mainly seafood, there was no reds until the filet.. He basically did wines around the world.  Italy, France,  New Zealand, California.  My favorite was a wine called Conundrum.  It was a Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Semillion blend.  This was also served with the smoked tomato soup, which was also 1 of my 2 favorite dishes.  My other favorite was the Maine Lobster salad.  It was sooo light and refreshing where the lobster really popped.

On another group I belong to a poster said that they would never do the Chefs table again because they felt it took too long. Theirs was close to 4 hrs., ours was 3 1/2.  Wendell even stated that it would be 3 1/2 hrs when we met up in the Champagne Bar.  We had a great table and the conversation flowed naturally even though we had only just met.  Lots of laughter.  Of course for Adventure, just like I found on Anthem, all of us were from the NJ/NY/PA area so there was that common thread to start with from the get go....especially for the guys (Yankees/Mets/Phillies and Giants/Jets/Eagles discussion)  The wives all were the same age with kids the same age, so we all joked about kids.

[princevaliantus]

20 hours ago, Pima1988 said:

What is a caveat?

[Pima1988]

11 hours ago, WannaCruise said:

Great review.

Where do they hold Chef's table on Adventure?  Great to hear you loved it so much.  It seems to get not as great reviews as on other ships (but overall sounds like a wonderful experience).  We were planning on trying it, but then upgraded to JS so not sure it's in the budget...but...they had The World on there too?  Hmmmm.  The meal sounds delicious, and that doesn't even count the wines.

You meet at 1st in the Champagne Bar.  They than escort you to the table.  On Adventure there is only 1 dining room, but it 3 decks.  Deck 3 and 5 will be MTD.  Deck 4 is traditional.  If you see any pictures of the dining room (called Sapphire), especially from the deck 4 entrance, you will see at the back what appears to be a grand wrought iron staircase.  This staircase only goes from deck 4 and 1/2 way up to deck 5.  It looks like a platform that juts out.  There is only 1 table and it only holds 12 people.  So you also get this really nice view for dinner because it overlooks straight down to the open area (the area where they have the buffet set up for breakfast and lunch)

Personally, the Chefs table from here on out will always be something we will do.  We were fortunate because our TA gave us 100 OBC pp and threw in specialty dining.  During the cruise we got a card left in our cabin on the 3rd day and she gifted us another 50 pp. OBC. (nice surprise)  One reason we love using a TA.  

We are not foodies, but we are people that like to eat at higher level restaurants for the ambiance and service.   A 2 hr dinner for us is not unusual, so 3 1/2 hrs for 6 courses didn't bother us at all.

[Skid]

20 minutes ago, Pima1988 said:

On Adventure there is only 1 dining room, but it 3 decks.  Deck 3 and 5 will be MTD.  Deck 4 is traditional.

That is interesting to me. We have been on Adventure twice with traditional dining (once before refurb and once after) and were at the same table on deck 5 both times. I will be requesting the same table again for May, so I hope that has not changed.

[Pima1988]

We had traditional and was told that traditional was on 4 only, but maybe it was because we did late seating, so there were less passengers compared to an early seating.

[WannaCruise]

4 hours ago, Pima1988 said:

You meet at 1st in the Champagne Bar.  They than escort you to the table.  On Adventure there is only 1 dining room, but it 3 decks.  Deck 3 and 5 will be MTD.  Deck 4 is traditional.  If you see any pictures of the dining room (called Sapphire), especially from the deck 4 entrance, you will see at the back what appears to be a grand wrought iron staircase.  This staircase only goes from deck 4 and 1/2 way up to deck 5.  It looks like a platform that juts out.  There is only 1 table and it only holds 12 people.  So you also get this really nice view for dinner because it overlooks straight down to the open area (the area where they have the buffet set up for breakfast and lunch)

Personally, the Chefs table from here on out will always be something we will do.  We were fortunate because our TA gave us 100 OBC pp and threw in specialty dining.  During the cruise we got a card left in our cabin on the 3rd day and she gifted us another 50 pp. OBC. (nice surprise)  One reason we love using a TA.  

We are not foodies, but we are people that like to eat at higher level restaurants for the ambiance and service.   A 2 hr dinner for us is not unusual, so 3 1/2 hrs for 6 courses didn't bother us at all.

Thanks for explaining. Sounds like a nice area with looking down over MDR.

Meal does sound long...mostly because I have back issues and can't sit too long..but does sound lovely...and extra bonus if you get a great group of people.

Glad you had such a wonderful experience (and helps with your TA too)