Bad Experience on Adventure

[CrimsonCruiser]

1 hour ago, JimnKathy said:

Me too.

It's pretty strange to make a negative comment lacking details if one is hoping for feedback from other cruisers.

Some folks are just quirky, I suppose. 

I mean..even for a one-and-done post I thought I'd at least get to enjoy a poorly told story of woe.... but no...just...one grammarless sentence...

[ChessE4]

I find that at least one half of my cruise "misadventures" have been beyond the control of Royal.  For example, I had trouble checking in for a return flight from Europe, and Royal Guest Services graciously placed a call to the airline, but the airline wouldn't check us in until we reached the airport (I guess a passport thing or something).  Anyway, I was upset, ruined my last day, all because of my expectations and despite fantastic service by Royal.  I have gradually learned to modify my expectations and avoid common pitfalls.  As was stated by someone, we typically learn "work-arounds" for a crowded venue.

[Ampurp85]

Sometimes a cruise just isn't good,

There is nothing wrong with saying that and providing examples why. As we are all individuals with different taste. This issue is the hit and runs. I don't think anyone here cares if people post the negative things. 

I just did a B2B on Nav, it was my least favorite cruise. Not because of staff or food but the people. The older I get the harder it is to become a duck.......I can't just let things slide off me like water on a duck's back. I only want to be able to do two things on a cruise besides eating; enjoy myself in the casino and relax by reading. If I sit at a nonsmoking machine and someone blows smoke in my face, my experience is ruined. If people are so drunk and belligerent, bring their crying babies/children in the solarium and fight in and round my cabin: it is hard to relax and read.

This may have been a not-so-great experience but that doesn't put me off cruising, it just makes me appreciate other ships, classes, itineraries, and ports more. 

[Ian]

The smoke in the casino reminds me of getting on the smoking carriage by mistake in the London Underground many years ago.
Hold your breath and walk the length of one or two smoking carriages until you could breathe.
It is now 2022, and it is unbelievable to me that Royal still has smoking inside it's casinos.

Edited September 27, 2022 by Ian
smelling mistake

[GatorCruiser]

I have youngish children. Zero chance I’d ever take them in the solarium. People are people and that’s not always a good thing. 

[jeffmw]

On 9/18/2022 at 6:14 PM, suna said:

Mainly, the problem was the food. Mold on display and shrimp tails in a burger is unacceptable. Mentionning it to the right persons onboard and they don't care is unacceptable. It is below rcl standard. It might have only happen to me but for that reason I will hesitate before booking this ship again.

Don't get me wrong, I go on cruise vacations for no cooking or diswashing for a week and relax. The same applies when I eat out on workdays. 

It is not the titanic sinking. It was my experience late july, ranking 15th on 15 cruises with rcl so it makes it the worst of them.

LOL... trust me. Lack of quality of food in the MDR is not limited to Adventure

It's the one thing Royal needs to get in order soon. They need to reinvent the MDR experience and make it something desirable again. 

[YOLO]

On 9/19/2022 at 3:17 PM, Robmtx said:

The smell of smoke penetrates up from the casino...some days worse than others. Also forgetting what side of the ship you're on and walking down the pool deck and into the smoking section sucks. I've had these problems on more than one ship in the fleet though. 

Yup, Port=bad && Starboard=good.  But sometimes getting yourself oriented is the trick...

[Ptrg]

On 9/19/2022 at 2:17 PM, Robmtx said:

On Adventure last May and thought the ship was fine. Our problem was cabin location, right next to where they bus dishes they retrieve from room service. As early birds in our room by 10pm, we heard the clanking of dishes until 11pm. I poked my head out once and the crewman doing it said "oh, sorry" then continued on making loud noise after I went back in my room. Guest Services said they'd address it and it was better for one night then back to sounding like we were bunking in the dishwashing area in the galley.

The smell of smoke penetrates up from the casino...some days worse than others. Also forgetting what side of the ship you're on and walking down the pool deck and into the smoking section sucks. I've had these problems on more than one ship in the fleet though. 

Overall Adventure was fine for us in 2018 and recently this May. We'd sail her again.

What room number was you stayed? Thanks

[Ian]

On 9/21/2022 at 9:50 AM, YOLO said:

Yup, Port=bad && Starboard=good.  But sometimes getting yourself oriented is the trick...

So true! We just returned from the Explorer and when we opened our cabin door on deck 10, the smell of smoke was strong.
Must have been coming from port side smokers.

[tjcruisers]

Just got off the Adventure. I would say it was my least favourite cruise I've taken, I wouldn't say it was bad just my least favourite (maybe give it 7 out of 10). but I will cut all cruise lines some slack into next year when they're fully rolling again. For me it was a bunch of small things that kind of added up: soda machine not dispensing ice, limited selection in the soda machines, limited selection in the bar, quality of Johnny Rockets being worse than the windjammer, MDR chefs were experimenting with food combos with some not making sense, shrimp cocktail using extra small shrimp

The crew were all great, ship was in good working order. We did notice the smoke smell from the casino. One the last day with when we could ask the captain question that came up and he mentioned they're going to be overhauling the ventilation system in the casino in the near future.

Speaking of the captain (Jaret Barry) he is the complete opposite of every captain I met, I would definitely pick a cruise based on him captain again. He was very easygoing, friendly, meet him in the hallway he'll stop and talk to you for 1/2 an hour. The staff I talked to absolutely love him

 

 

[Squid]

On 9/18/2022 at 3:45 AM, ranchlady403 said:

Posted Thursday at 07:57 PM

We were on Adventure OTS - out of Bayonne Sept 1st. - 9 nights up the Eastern coast and Nova Scotia & N Brunswick.

This is the first time we had sailed on the Adventure.  However, we are Diamond Plus and we've been on several of the Voyager class ships. 

On the Adventure, The smell of smoke was everywhere.

 We first noticed the stench of smoke coming from the casino when we strolled down the promenade on deck 5.  

It got worse during the sea days.  I am asthmatic and had a pretty bad reaction by day 3. 

I had read that the ship was updated in 2018 and anticipated a cleaner air system. 

By day 4 - I was suspicious that it might have been covid - so I tested and was negative.  It was more like bronchitis with constant coughing and wheezing.

I am reporting this because I heard the same issues from several others at dinner and around the ship.  

We ended up staying on the ship on the balcony - no excursions - and wasting 6 days of our Canadian adventure.   

Just putting out a warning that this particular ship is WAY worse than any other we have been on.  

Service was very good and the dinner staff were great.  This was not an experience I ever want to have again on a ship.

We are now searching for non-smoking ships.......

 

I think Karen Cruises are all non-smoking, and nothing but wine, in 1L glasses. 

[KevinJ]

I had what was to date my worst cruise, not bad just had several issues.

The ship was Voyager Oct 9th to 16th. 

This was the smallest ship I've been on, all my other cruises were Oasis or Quantum class.

What I loved was, the crew super good job. The entertainment was great. The bars and their staff were also terrific.

What I had problems with. Fewer dining options compared to the larger ships.

The MDR food was not as good as I've had on other cruises.

I like hanging in the solarium but not in the open solarium when it's 50 degrees.

We had trouble with our cabin, a loud humming noise that cycled from soft to loud enough to overwhelm my noise machine. It was the cycling of the noise that was bothersome. The the secon day there was a burnt electronics smell that was quite noticeable, enough that it irritated my throat. These I reported as I was concerned that there was a safety issue. 

I was pleased with how they handled this. The sound was coming from equipment behind the cabin wall between our cabin and the next. They would not be able to address this until the next turnaround day so they could get at it. The smell slowly dissipated over the next few days. They offered to move us to another cabin, even upgrade us to a JR suite, but my wife has mobility issues and requires an accessible cabin which was not available. They ended up giving us some OBC. Even though there was no immediate resolution their attentiveness to the issues was appreciated.

My take away was that I've been spoiled by the larger ships with all their options. We were supposed to do a B2B on Voyager next may but because they switched out the ship we decided to do our B2B on Harmony, glad we made the change. My next six cruises, one is on Odyssey but the rest are Oasis class and one on Icon.

So my vacation was not ruined but I did learn some of my cruising limitations. 

[PhillyLady]

My worst cruise was the one I didn't get to go on!

I started cruising back in the dark ages--only one restaurant for everyone, no televisions, no Internet, bunk beds in many cabins, lots of metal stairs without carpets, skeet shooting off the back deck, etc.  

It has been very fascinating to see the evolution of cruising, and what people like and dislike, and the way the ships have become more and more self-contained entertainment centers.

I do agree that having to smell smoke is a bad experience, and there needs to be more effort to accommodate the many non-smokers who are much more prevalent than the smokers these days.

But travel is always an adventure, and one has to take the good with the bad--at least there are always a lot of interesting memories and stories to share!

[ChessE4]

On our last cruise MDR food was hot, a change from "sometimes lukewarm" . I think cruise satisfaction is a matter of expectations. I would expect a room free of noise or smell problems, so if that is addressed, I can handle the rest. For some, the ship is the destination, but for us it's the itinerary.

[Pattycruise]

5 hours ago, ChessE4 said:

On our last cruise MDR food was hot, a change from "sometimes lukewarm" . I think cruise satisfaction is a matter of expectations.

I just got off the Anthem, calamari served was room temp,  I did The Key and the embarkation lunch was sad.  The cocktail sauce was made with BBQ sauce, I sent it back and they gave me another of the same.  The waiter allegedly checked in the kitchen and said they are all like that.  YUCK. Mashed potatoes weren’t warm, but the filet was amazing.

 Same ship, same dinner time, but in a separate area of the dining room, acquaintances were served cold food daily.  One finally spoke up when her soup wasn’t hot.  I don’t know if it improved after that, I didn’t run into them again. 
oddly the dining “manager” for our area (what is their title?) would stop at every table near us to chat up the diners, and he would bypass mine.  (Fine by me but odd)

I was very grateful to not have my waiter and “dining manager” ask us about service/survey and ratings almost everyday.  I don’t know if that’s a ship policy but it was super nice to not be harassed!!

[Curt From Canada]

Our first cruise was our worst cruise (2006).  In the 26 cruises since, it continued to get better.  Multiple issues:

• We had significant delays (due to weather) on our early morning flight (7AM planned departure).  We finally arrived in Miami Airport at 2:30PM (no breakfast & no lunch).  We just got to the ship on time before departure.  We never even considered flying in the night before ... Oooooops, our bad (RCL wins this one ... RCL 1 - Confused Canucks [CC] 0).
• By the time we got on the ship, the muster drill had just started.  All of the food & beverage venues were closed or were closing.  Like animals after a long cold winter we scavenged tables for scraps of food and drink.  One single orange and one regular coke is all we could find.  We never even considered flying in the night before ... Oooooops, our bad (RCL wins this one ... RCL 2 - CC 0).
• Every night the ship was alive with music and dancing.  We had taken lessons in university, but had forgotten everything.  All those people having fun and we were like two sticks in the mud.  We never thought that you could have so much fun dancing on a ship to live music, we should have started lessons up again ... Oooooops, our bad (RCL wins this one ... RCL 3 - CC 0).  I am sensing a trend.
• The food was excellent!! We stuffed ourselves silly.  No one told us there was too much good food to be had on vacation.  We gained a pound per day EACH.  We never thought to pace ourselves ... Oooooops our bad (RCL wins this one ... RCL 4 - CC 0).
• The last night of the cruise was very depressing.  We had WAYTOO much fun.  We did not want to go home.  No one told us the last night could be that bad.  We did not do our homework and research cruising ahead of time ... Oooooops our bad (RCL wins [in a shutout no less] 5 - CC 0).

We learned our lessons well:

1. We fly in the night before.
2. We want to take credit for the new Muster Drill process, but RCL gets a bonus goal for that (RCL 6 - CC 0).
3. Our Foxtrot is smooth, our Rumba is steamy and our Swing can clear a dance floor (sorry).
4. We pace ourselves in the restaurants (Quality, not Quantity) and get some alternate exercise when we are not dancing.
5. We always make sure have between 3 to 6 cruises booked before the last night.  Making sure the next one is no more than 90 days away.

For experienced cruisers there is nothing new here to help.  For rookies ... DO YOUR HOMEWORK.

Curt from Canada

[FireFishII]

1 hour ago, Curt From Canada said:

We always make sure have between 3 to 6 cruises booked before the last night.  Making sure the next one is no more than 90 days away.

WOW!  That is a lot of cruising.  Can you adopt a 61 year old woman?  I would be willing to take dance lessons. LOL!  I want to be you when I grow up. 

[ChessE4]

6 hours ago, Pattycruise said:

I just got off the Anthem, calamari served was room temp,  I did The Key and the embarkation lunch was sad.  The cocktail sauce was made with BBQ sauce, I sent it back and they gave me another of the same.  The waiter allegedly checked in the kitchen and said they are all like that.  YUCK. Mashed potatoes weren’t warm, but the filet was amazing.

 Same ship, same dinner time, but in a separate area of the dining room, acquaintances were served cold food daily.  One finally spoke up when her soup wasn’t hot.  I don’t know if it improved after that, I didn’t run into them again. 
oddly the dining “manager” for our area (what is their title?) would stop at every table near us to chat up the diners, and he would bypass mine.  (Fine by me but odd)

I was very grateful to not have my waiter and “dining manager” ask us about service/survey and ratings almost everyday.  I don’t know if that’s a ship policy but it was super nice to not be harassed!!

Sorry you had such a poor experience.  We weren't a fan of MTD, but we did hear the dining manager and our waiter asked folks next to us for feedback.  They complained mostly about slow service.  The waiter took it all in and thanked them for the feedback.  Honestly, we were served by him twice and thought he was one of the better ones.  We haven't cruised as much as you, but we have never had the food service problems you reported.  (Just the occasional lukewarm item or cold syrup for breakfast.)  I'd say that our most recent cruise two weeks ago was the worst of three MTD experiences -- got stuck at the back corner twice and largely ignored.  Thankfully, one of those two nights we were seated next to a young Irish couple who really won us over with their enthusiasm.

[Sunny_D]

Cruising for 31 years, thankfully only had one truly bad cruise, and it was on NCL. Inaugural sailing in 1992 on the now-defunct MS Dreamward. One of the stabilizers went out, and before we could get back to a US port, we got caught in a mild storm. Probably wouldn’t have been a big deal under normal circumstances, but without the stabilizer it felt like the Poseidon Adventure. Waves of water came out of the pools and spas and flowed downstairs, knocking people over including someone in a wheelchair. Numerous people with broken limbs. The power ultimately went out and the motion caused several of the refrigerators in the main galley to skid across the floor and damage other equipment, leading to spoilage and rationed food until we could get back. I remember announcements to vacate the open upper decks and get back to the staterooms where the room attendants came and locked down all the portholes for safety. 

I was only 11 at the time, but old enough to learn a valuable lesson: Stay away from NCL 

[memebag]

On 9/19/2022 at 8:35 AM, memebag said:

I'm sailing on Adventure in 56 days. If the worst that happens is a stray shrimp tail, moldy display food, and staff who don't seem phased by that, I'm OK.

I just got back. The MDR food quality was sub-par. The service was always top notch. I didn't look at any display food.

The ship is aging, but aren't we all? My friends and I had a blast. We enjoyed the bars, the water slides, the Flowrider, the Solarium, and the card room. Also the bars. Blue Moon was my favorite.

I loved the casino. I got to play in the poker tournament and came in first place. Paid for the cruise and the booze package.

I came to love the Windjammer. Yes, it's a big buffet of institutional food. You have to seek out the bright spots. For me, those were the Chinese and Indian dishes.

The comedy show might have been funny in 1993. The ice show was excellent. Shout out to Max.