Adventure of the Seas 5/18/18

[Sunken dreams]

7 minutes ago, KathyC said:

 

My in-laws complained they only had warm water in their bathroom sink, never got cold enough to even brush their teeth.  We had no problems like that, but our toilet smelled like pee the entire trip.

I honestly thought the hot water to my sink was shut off until I had almost finished shaving and the water started to get hot. I think the water lines to the sink must be very long and with the water conserving screens on there just isn’t enough water getting to the sink to change the temperature on normal use. 

20 minutes ago, KathyC said:

Wish I had known you were sailing with us; I had 18 & 20 yr old boys with me; they would've loved someone their age to hang with every now & then.

My son is pretty anti-social. It’s hard to tell when he is willing to make an effort to be social although he is better since starting college. I would have loved to have met you and your family. I always wonder if I will run into someone who follows RoyalCaribbeanBlog. Matt got me hooked with his podcasts.

[Lovetocruise2002]

5 minutes ago, twangster said:

I saw people parked in the garage line at 5:30am waiting for the parking attendants to arrive.  

Poor Joe...he's such a planner that he's going to have to sleep in his car the night before lol

[JLMoran]

12 minutes ago, KathyC said:

As we were pulling out of the parking deck at 9:30, people were driving in.  LOL 

4 minutes ago, twangster said:

I saw people parked in the garage line at 5:30am waiting for the parking attendants to arrive.  

Did I just get dropped into the vacationer's version of Monty Python's "Four Yorkshiremen" skit? 

[KathyC]

2 minutes ago, Sunken dreams said:

I honestly thought the hot water to my sink was shut off until I had almost finished shaving and the water started to get hot. I think the water lines to the sink must be very long and with the water conserving screens on there just isn’t enough water getting to the sink to change the temperature on normal use. 

My son is pretty anti-social. It’s hard to tell when he is willing to make an effort to be social although he is better since starting college. I would have loved to have met you and your family. I always wonder if I will run into someone who follows RoyalCaribbeanBlog. Matt got me hooked with his podcasts.

Mine are not extremely outgoing either and will rarely take the initiative, but my 18 year old somehow seems to make friends with whomever is standing next to him.  I wonder where he gets that from?

We were the only people we saw in RCBlog shirts throughout the week; I think Tony was disappointed no one asked him if he was Matt.  LOL!! 

[Sunken dreams]

17 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

 

We arrived around 10:15 am they were already checking people in.  The suites area (to the left) was not crowded but there were already quite a few people on the right where general check in/boarding was.  

We got to the terminal right around 10:00. There was not really anything to do in the morning around the hotel. I expected to stand in a line waiting for security to open but we went right through to checkout. It was quite impressive how Royal processed people quickly, exact opposite of Carnival. 

[Floski]

34 minutes ago, KathyC said:

See my periscope of the area.  Not big.  Like a handful of chairs only.

Was that your 'scope of the day resort in Nassau?   Wait - it was a FB video, right?  Periscope wasn't playing nicely?

I really enjoyed it, and had no idea that place was so close to the pier.

[KathyC]

Just now, Floski said:

Was that your 'scope of the day resort in Nassau?   Wait - it was a FB video, right?  Periscope wasn't playing nicely?

I really enjoyed it, and had no idea that place was so close to the pier.

Yep!  That was me.  Cell service in Nassau was terrible.  CocoCay was so much better.  My husband got an international plan for the two days we were in the Bahamas.  Periscope wouldn't connect, then Facebook live cut in and out so I gave up.  

[Sunken dreams]

1 minute ago, KathyC said:

We were the only people we saw in RCBlog shirts throughout the week; I think Tony was disappointed no one asked him if he was Matt.  LOL!! 

I have been tracking the group cruises hoping to get one I could make but no luck so far. Someday...

My daughter made cruise T-shirts for me, mostly food related. She knows me too well. 

[Lovetocruise2002]

1 minute ago, Sunken dreams said:

I have been tracking the group cruises hoping to get one I could make but no luck so far. Someday...

Same...I would love to go on a RCBlog GC too.....the only one I can make is the Anthem one but I booked Symphony already for July 2019 

[Ogalthorpe Haywood]

On 5/21/2018 at 9:49 PM, Sunken dreams said:

Day 4 - Coco Cay

This was my first visit to Coco Cay.  My wife and son headed off to the theater for their parasailing excursion while I took the regular tender to wait for them to finish. There were very few people on the tenders this early so I was able to walk right on. After a short wait to allow a few more people on, we headed over to the island. The new pier construction is well underway and will make access so much faster. We unloaded and after a short wait the tender with the first excursion group pulled in. Amazing enough, I had beat them by at least five or ten minutes!

Sadly the parasailing was canceled due to weather, the wind won again. My wife grabbed a lounge chair and my son and I went to pick up the snorkeling equipment. The water was about the perfect temperature but the wind was kicking up waves so the deeper sections were closed to snorkeling. We headed out to the floating platforms and took in the underwater sights. In addition to the standard sunken boat and plane, we were lucky enough to see some nice schools of fish and quite a few sea slugs. 

When we had our fill of swimming and drank plenty of sea water we decided to head back to the ship for some spa time,  lunch at the Windjammer and then an afternoon nap.  

Dinner in the main dining room was great as usual and service was excellent.  Our waiters brought extra appetizers and desserts “just in case” again and were sure to ask my son if he needed any more food. He is a skinny nineteen year old, but I never thought he looked under fed. 

The ice show for the evening was “Cool Art, Hot Ice”.  The doors opened at 7:30 for the 8pm show but by the time we got there at 7:15 there was already a huge crowd waiting for a seat. We were lucky to get good seats, but the seats filled up fast. The show was as good as I expected, and it’s easy to see why this is such a popular event on board. I still find it amazing these performers can put on a show while the boat is moving. 

Next up, Nassau Bahamas. 

I was on the same cruise... the winds were really bad that day, I couldn’t even rent an umbrella. Thankfully the clouds were working in my favor so I could last all day. One thing that bugged me about Coco cay was that even though I had the drink package I was essentially forced to purchase either a hollowed out pineapple or a souvenir cup if I wanted a frozen drink. The other options was to get a 6 ounce cup which lasted all of 10 Minutes just to wait in line another 15 to get another one. I reluctantly got the pineapple but was disappointed another option wasn’t available. That being said Coco cay remains one of my favorite places to visit and I’m glad I got there before the craziness begins next year. 

[JLMoran]

26 minutes ago, Ogalthorpe Haywood said:

One thing that bugged me about Coco cay was that even though I had the drink package I was essentially forced to purchase either a hollowed out pineapple or a souvenir cup if I wanted a frozen drink. The other options was to get a 6 ounce cup which lasted all of 10 Minutes just to wait in line another 15 to get another one.

That's odd. On Labadee I was able to get a Labadoozie or any other frozen drink in a 16-oz regular plastic cup with straw. Might have been "only" 12-oz, but most definitely not a mere 6 ounces!

I don't know if this was part of having a cabana rented and so my attendant was able to get larger containers for us, but that really stinks if you can only get tiny containers on Coco Cay if you don't spring for the souvenir mug.

[KathyC]

1 hour ago, Ogalthorpe Haywood said:

I was on the same cruise... the winds were really bad that day, I couldn’t even rent an umbrella. Thankfully the clouds were working in my favor so I could last all day. One thing that bugged me about Coco cay was that even though I had the drink package I was essentially forced to purchase either a hollowed out pineapple or a souvenir cup if I wanted a frozen drink. The other options was to get a 6 ounce cup which lasted all of 10 Minutes just to wait in line another 15 to get another one. I reluctantly got the pineapple but was disappointed another option wasn’t available. That being said Coco cay remains one of my favorite places to visit and I’m glad I got there before the craziness begins next year. 

At the floating bar, people with drink packages were given plastic cups with CocoLocos in them.  Definitely not 6 oz.  More like 12-14oz.

[twangster]

5 hours ago, Ogalthorpe Haywood said:

One thing that bugged me about Coco cay was that even though I had the drink package I was essentially forced to purchase either a hollowed out pineapple or a souvenir cup if I wanted a frozen drink. The other options was to get a 6 ounce cup which lasted all of 10 Minutes just to wait in line another 15 to get another one. I reluctantly got the pineapple but was disappointed another option wasn’t available. That being said Coco cay remains one of my favorite places to visit and I’m glad I got there before the craziness begins next year. 

This may be ship dependent.  On one occasion I recall seeing some strange pricing for Coco-Locos where if you had the drink package it was $11 (in a souvenir cup) but without the drink package it was $13.  This flies in the face of the normal convention where drinks up to X are covered ($12 on most ships, $13 on OA or QU class).  If I recall this was on Anthem so at $13 it should have been covered but since it was a souvenir cup it wasn't but you got $2 off.  

The same price schedule was not used on Grandeur a few months before Anthem.

[Ogalthorpe Haywood]

15 hours ago, KathyC said:

At the floating bar, people with drink packages were given plastic cups with CocoLocos in them.  Definitely not 6 oz.  More like 12-14oz.

I guess I went to the wrong bar. Because I asked for 2 since it was so small and they said one at a time was the limit 

[twangster]

25 minutes ago, Ogalthorpe Haywood said:

I guess I went to the wrong bar. Because I asked for 2 since it was so small and they said one at a time was the limit 

Suggest a kindly worded email to RCI pointing out that this flies in the face of "Saves the Waves" and reducing plastic techniques such as the new straw policy.  Forcing guests to use more plastic cups by serving frozen drinks in small 6 oz disposable cups only generates more plastic garbage on a precious ocean island.  

The bar staff and bar beverages including coco-loco come from the ship and are tendered off to Coco Cay.  This was likely a ship choice (or they were low on larger cups).

[Ogalthorpe Haywood]

Just now, twangster said:

Suggest a kindly worded email to RCI pointing out that this flies in the face of "Saves the Waves" and reducing plastic techniques such as the new straw policy.  Forcing guests to use more plastic cups by serving frozen drinks in small 6 oz disposable cups only generates more plastic garbage on a precious ocean island.  

Hahaha they don’t really care about saving the waves. They care about the bottom line. No straws and asking people to use towels more than once is all about saving money imo. 

[twangster]

2 minutes ago, Ogalthorpe Haywood said:

Hahaha they don’t really care about saving the waves. They care about the bottom line. No straws and asking people to use towels more than once is all about saving money imo. 

Yet other ships don't use Dixie cups.  Ships are financially responsible for their own operation.  Each has a revenue officer on board that watches the bottom line.  Your ship is cutting corners and corporate doesn't know about it.

This is what a drink package Labradoozie looks like on Labadee. 

[KathyC]

12 minutes ago, twangster said:

Yet other ships don't use Dixie cups.  Ships are financially responsible for their own operation.  Each has a revenue officer on board that watches the bottom line.  Your ship is cutting corners and corporate doesn't know about it.

This is what a drink package Labradoozie looks like on Labadee. 

That's the size the floating bar on CocoCay was giving out.

[JLMoran]

17 minutes ago, twangster said:

This is what a drink package Labradoozie looks like on Labadee. 



That jibes with what I had as well. And here’s my photo showing the cup a little more in close up:

I’ve got long-fingered hands and still couldn’t have wrapped them around that cup if I wanted to.

[Ogalthorpe Haywood]

21 hours ago, KathyC said:

That's the size the floating bar on CocoCay was giving out.

Yeah like I said I only tried one bar before purchasing the pineapple which I got refilled for no additional cost, so next time I’ll just search a little more. 

[henrysea13]

On ‎5‎/‎20‎/‎2018 at 7:55 AM, Traveler said:

Have a wonderful cruise , following for sure.

Regarding NY and the behavior of people , the funny thing is that many of the people that gave you the look and said something nasty to you came to the city only few weeks ago and got the same treatment themselves, its just a NY thing I guess 

 

this is very true pay no mind to them this is the way they are I live in a city in florida of 70000 made up of almost all new Yorkers I ignore the rude ones and seek out the nice ones after 23 years living in the "little apple"i have come to realize there is good in everyone sometimes you just have to look deeper and you will quickly learn how to tell them apart when I first moved here I picked up an Orlando paper whose lead editorial was entitled Rude Coast my town has a terrific mix of new York and southern redneck 23 years of culture clash has been a riot to watch but all in all they adapted to each other now the nyc people drive pickups and the reds have DA'S the older folks seem to be the ones who look down there noses at each other kiss you in church ad kill you at Walmart seems to hold for them but the young will straighten out this problem over time as they interact just saying

[Floski]

On 5/28/2018 at 11:18 AM, JLMoran said:

That jibes with what I had as well. And here’s my photo showing the cup a little more in close up:

I’ve got long-fingered hands and still couldn’t have wrapped them around that cup if I wanted to.

If I close my eyes, this drink I just made myself is what you're having, and I'm in Labadee, and we're hanging out telling stories to each other 

while the wives and kids (well, your kids, as mine is 29) are out in the water or on the roller coaster.

 

Yep, that's where I am now....aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh.......

 

 

eta:  This drink I just made is thanks to Twangster's photo of the drinks they make onboard.   Mucho appreciado, mi amigo

[RBRSKI]

So I know you were in a JS for this voyage, but did you happen to see inside a standard balcony stateroom? Did all stateroom get new carpet, drapes, and reupholstered furniture?  We are sailing on her for Christmas 2019.

[twangster]

2 minutes ago, RBRSKI said:

So I know you were in a JS for this voyage, but did you happen to see inside a standard balcony stateroom? Did all stateroom get new carpet, drapes, and reupholstered furniture?  We are sailing on her for Christmas 2019.

Yes, all cabins were updated. 

I was on Adventure repositioning cruise 5/5/18 from San Juan to Bayonne.  Pictures of a standard balcony cabin in my live blog here:

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/6297-adventure-5-nights-5518-repositioning-san-juan-to-bayonne/&do=findComment&comment=67883

 

[RBRSKI]

31 minutes ago, twangster said:

Yes, all cabins were updated. 

I was on Adventure repositioning cruise 5/5/18 from San Juan to Bayonne.  Pictures of a standard balcony cabin in my live blog here:

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/6297-adventure-5-nights-5518-repositioning-san-juan-to-bayonne/&do=findComment&comment=67883

 

Thank You Sir!

That's funny you were on the repositioning for the Adventure, we were on the Freedom for the FLL to San Juan Repo 5/6/18.  The pictures are awesome.   It's a total of 8 of us going next year for Christmas and we have both the port and starboard side corner aft staterooms 1388 & 1688. 

[RBRSKI]

42 minutes ago, twangster said:

Yes, all cabins were updated. 

I was on Adventure repositioning cruise 5/5/18 from San Juan to Bayonne.  Pictures of a standard balcony cabin in my live blog here:

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/6297-adventure-5-nights-5518-repositioning-san-juan-to-bayonne/&do=findComment&comment=67883

 

Thank You Sir!

That's funny you were on the repositioning for the Adventure, we were on the Freedom for the FLL to San Juan Repo 5/6/18.  The pictures are awesome.   It's a total of 8 of us going next year for Christmas and we have both the port and starboard side corner aft staterooms 1388 & 1688. 

[RBRSKI]

Thank God they got rid of those horrible blue faced furniture!!!

 

[mom2mybugs]

On 5/25/2018 at 12:30 PM, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Same...I would love to go on a RCBlog GC too.....the only one I can make is the Anthem one but I booked Symphony already for July 2019 

Sigh...me too!  Someday lol! Jane