Jump to content

Adventure of the Seas 5/18/18


Sunken dreams

Recommended Posts

I don’t normally do any reviews, but a few days in I have seen enough to make me change my wicked ways. I will try to keep it short as possible. 

Pre-cruise:

We stayed in the Embassy Suites Newark Airport in Elizabeth, NJ. Nice enough hotel. About what I would expect for $200 a night, well up until they charged my credit card for a damage deposit nightly. Never have seen a hotel that has a card on file actually charge it for a damage deposit without damage to the room. ?. Interesting start. 

Always wanted to visit New York City, but especially after 9/11.  I was sleeping after a night shift when my wife came woke me up and we watched the surreal images on TV that changed travel forever. 

We of course took the train to the World Trade Center and spent time at the memorial pools. Very humbling to be on that sacred ground where so many died that day.

Next we walked to Battery Park to catch the Ferry to the Statue of Liberty. Glad we went, got to climb to the top of the pedestal. I wish I had bought tickets early enough to climb to the crown.

Being the Brave souls we are we walked from Battery Park to the Empire State Building  I learned and saw a lot on that walk.  Mostly I learned that in New York traffic lights are merely suggestions for cars but barely hints for pedestrians.  I grew up in Los Angeles and LA has nothing on crazy compared to New York City. Secondly I learned that New Yorkers know where they are going at all times and any slight hesitation to try to figure out your way will get you yelled at like you just made them miss the last train out. So very different from the absolute politeness back in my city in Washington State. 

The Empire State Building was epic but I am doubtful it was worth the money for the ride to the top. I guess it is a once in a lifetime thing.

Train ride back to the hotel we hopped the wrong train and were deep in the suburbs before the first stop. An hour later we boarded the right one thanks to an incredibly helpful woman who went out of her way to help the most touristy tourists ever. 

Next stop, boarding.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 1 Boarding 

we took a Lyft from the hotel to the cruise port. $33 wasn’t bad and since it was my first time using Lyft I learned a lot. Definitely recommend Lyft if you need the lift to the port. Choose your ride carefully. A smaller car would never have fit three plus our luggage. 

Check in went great. We have a Jr suite for the first time so we got to take advantage of the suite seating area (nicer padded chairs my tailbone liked)  and were some of the first to board. Great!  Right up until we got to the boat and their new system couldn’t read our set sail pass. 20-30 suite guests standing in the wind and light sprinkles while they worked on the problem. They finally gave up and manually entered us to get the line moving. I think it got fixed later though because the flow of people on board grew pretty fast. 

In keeping with the theme of overspending I had pre-booked Chops Grill for lunch. As always the food there was great. Unfortunately they seemed to know nothing about the set sail passes being used until you could pick up your cards at the stateroom after 1pm. We had to explain to the waiter the process, something Royal should have sufficiently trained on before the first guests arrived. So far it looks like it got straightened out. Keeping my fingers crossed.

 After lunch we went to our room. It was not quite yet ready but our bags were already delivered!  My wife unpacked while I hit guest services because my internet code had not been delivered. The guy at the internet table graciously helped me and it was time for the drill. 

The safety drill went fast despite as many people showing up late as possible. Shortly after we were sailing out of the harbor. 

Next up, finding some Bonine for my very motion sick 19 year old son who can’t show he is getting sick until too late. Now when we go to pay we find out our set sailpasses have not been activated to pay for stuff. Since it’s my card on file I know it’s all set up. Back to guest services to activate all three cards for the family. I am really beginning to suspect the manual entry they did to get me on the ship didn’t save me any time. 

Booked an additional cruise through NextCruise even though the benefit seems almost non existent. 

Had dinner in the MDR. It was ok, not my favorite. Waiters were excellent and made sure we had plenty. 

The short Welcome Aboard show was a small peak at theweeks entertainment. Looks like it should be fun. 

Then, either because I am starting to feel old or because I am just boring it was off to bed.


 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 2-Sea Day

The weather remains windy with some sprinkles. Starting to get worried about the activities later in the cruise. Keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best. 

Breakfast in the Wind Jammer was what I would expect. I like Royal’s buffet fat better than Carnival ‘s so I am not normally disappointed. 

After breakfast we did the stairs and top track workout to burn some of those calories off. With the wind blowing so hard it was very difficult to walk outside. After giving up we said our hellos to every room attendant on decks 5-10. Not as fun as walking outside but sometimes you have to sacrifice.

Lunch I the Windjammer. Same as expected. Dinner tonight was formal night. I stopped wearing suits almost 30 years ago, ties almost 20 years ago and it is very rare to talk me into a dress shirt and slacks. My wife took pity on me and we went to the Windjammer. 

We cought the 8:30 headliner show “Invitation to Dance”. I had seen this production once before (in the Independence I think) but it was still good to watch. I am really liking the orchestra. 

Out on my balcony for a half hour before my wife drags me in and tells me to go to sleep  ? 

Tomorrow, Cape Canaveral

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The ship is in great shape. The update and new additions are really nice. The water slides look fun (I can’t test them out as I am over the weight limit of 220 for one and 250 for the other).  Even though so far it has been fairly rough waters and very windy the slides get good traffic. 

I need to try out the two story miniature golf  it’s a unique set up  

While I prefer the Oasis class, the Independence was my introduction to royal Caribbean so this ship feels very familiar. 

The outdoor movie screen does have a huge pixel out  looks like a foot square of blank. It is  distracting while watching the video clips they play  

So far the crew and staff have been great to deal with. My issues were resolved quickly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Sweety said:

Following. I hope your son feels better.

He is. The bonine took care of the sea sickness. 

2 hours ago, Traveler said:

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 ?

 

It honestly wasn’t as bad as we west coasters think. I really enjoyed walking the city. The architecture is beautiful, the city is much cleaner than I thought it would be (based on Los Angeles).  A few rude people are to be expected. The traffic and jaywalking blew me away. I have to say though, the walkers have it down to an art. I didn’t see a single car v pedestrian. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 3 - Port Canaveral, FL

It was a slow morning today, so we had breakfast in the Main Dining Room. Nothing against the MDR but I think I prefer the Windjammer for ease and variety in the morning. 

We arrived in Port Canaveral right about noon. On the way in we passed the Oasis of the Seas. Even a large ship like the Adventure looks tiny next to the Oasis. 

We docked at a terminal that looks like an NCL terminal and were cleared to exit the ship very quickly. 

The family went to the Kennedy Space Center guided tour. Our tour guide Larry did a great job guiding us through the KSC. No launch today but considering how busy it must get that was probably a very good thing. It’s amazing that anyone was brave enough to sit on the top of those early spacecraft considering how many violent failures there had been.  

The tour ended at the Atlantis building. Such a huge jump in technology over earlier rockets. If you get to go to the Kennedy Space Center, I highly recommend the space shuttle launch experience in the Atlantis building. It took about 30 minutes to get in but was completely worth it. 

We were back on board before 6 pm even though all onboard time is 8:30.  A nice quiet meal in the main dining room and I am now on the pool deck enjoying our first really nice evening weather of the cruise.  I have to say I really love Florida and would live here if only my job would allow  (Special shout to my daughter and her husband who moved to Miami TODAY to start her Med school, so proud and so jealous).

Tomorrow morning we hit Coco Cay.  Another first for me!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Sunken dreams said:

So far the crew and staff have been great to deal with. My issues were resolved quickly.

Loving your review. Your sense of humor and touches of sarcasm are great!

We were on last week and had mentioned that this just may be the best crew we have ever had. Make sure you introduce yourself to Fernanda on the CD entertainment staff. She will make you feel like you are best friends and wow, can she ever dance!

Enjoy the rest of your cruise. Safe travels.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/20/2018 at 1:18 AM, Sunken dreams said:

Check in went great. We have a Jr suite for the first time so we got to take advantage of the suite seating area (nicer padded chairs my tailbone liked)  and were some of the first to board.

Thanks for posting this! I was just asking about whether this even existed at Cape Liberty, and while I already got confirmation that it does, it's nice to see another real-time confirmation. Also glad to hear the seats are cushy, my tailbone says to say "thank you" to your tail bone for the vote of confidence! ?

13 hours ago, Sunken dreams said:

I have to say I really love Florida and would live here if only my job would allow  (Special shout to my daughter and her husband who moved to Miami TODAY to start her Med school, so proud and so jealous).

+1 on the desire to move but for circumstances. And big congrats to your daughter!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 5 - Nassau, Bahamas 

Early this morning we docked in Nassau, along with four other cruise ships. The dock was pretty busy on both exit and entry, but the flow of people seemed pretty smooth. The excursion stations wasn’t quite as organized as I have experienced elsewhere but we all found our group. My wife headed to Nassau Essentials tour while my son and I headed out to snorkel again.

Considering how sunburned I was, snorkeling two days in a row may not have been my smartest idea. The wind was still blowing pretty good but the water wasn’t quite as choppy as yesterday so it was a bit easier to enjoy a bit of time swimming with the fish. No surprises today for me although my son reported that he saw an eel. Not wasted for sure, but have to remember to spread out the sun filled fun next cruise. 

My wife seems to have decided that she is done with bus tours. She wants to get out and explore all the exciting new/old places and the bus tours just don’t have the time for that. Maybe next time I can talk her into scuba diving! Yeah, probably not. 

We all arrived back at the boat in time to catch a late lunch and a short nap before it was time get in a few walking laps then head off to dinner at the main dining room. Just the wife and I went today since our son had other things he wanted to do. Our waiters made sure that if we thought he needed a plate to go they would provide it. We assured then he was fine and doing his own thing. We had a pleasant couples dinner then headed off to the headliner show. 

I have to admit I am not a huge fan of ventriloquists and the headliner tonight was a ventriloquist named Kevin Johnson. My wife asked me nicely to go with her and since I wanted to live until tomorrow I thought it would be a good idea to go. He was surprisingly funny and I truly enjoyed the show. An hour later I was back in the theater with my son laughing just as hard at the show the second time through. 

Even though we are headed back to NJ tonight, I still have two sea days and plan to fully enjoy them both. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/21/2018 at 9:26 AM, Matt said:

That's one heck of a walk! You walked half of Manhattan

It was a long walk for sure but it was one I was really glad we did. There is so much to see both in terms of people and architecture that we never would have seen via bus or subway. 

The phone GPS didn’t seem to work really well in Manhattan which didn’t help a lot but we found our way eventually. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, Sunken dreams said:

I have to admit I am not a huge fan of ventriloquists and the headliner tonight was a ventriloquist named Kevin Johnson. My wife asked me nicely to go with her and since I wanted to live until tomorrow I thought it would be a good idea to go. He was surprisingly funny and I truly enjoyed the show. An hour later I was back in the theater with my son laughing just as hard at the show the second time through. 

I'm the same way.  I usually avoid those type of acts, but glad to hear it was better than expected!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 6 - Sea Day

Today was a mostly quiet and relaxing sea day. We had breakfast in the Windjammer then browsed the on board shops for a while. A bit of extra calories burned walking decks four and five then it was lunch time. 

Even with this being my fourth Royal Caribbean cruise, we had not yet tried Izumi so we decided a few rolls for lunch would be nice. It was a great break from the normal cruise fare and I will definitely be going back again at my next opportunity. Even though my wife is ver particular about her sushi, she gave it two thumbs up. 

More lazing around then the second formal night in the Main Dining Room. I haven’t said it yet, but My Time Dining is a really nice feature. It’s even made better when you get to keep your wait staff the whole cruise like we did. 

After dinner, the next on the agenda was the production show Can’t Stop the Rock. After the Oasis and Independence I really miss the Broadway style shows. The rock shows don’t have the same quality and appeal. 

80s Dance Party in Studio B filled in the time before the Quest Game Show. This is definitely a lively and crazy show for the adults, not for the prudish or for the shy. I tend to be on the quiet side, but you can’t help but participate and help take your team to victory. For the first time in almost twenty years my bald head was useful. Our team won, but the participants are really the show here and it would have been fun even if we lost. 

Tomorrow is our final sea day. ☹️

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 7 - Sea Day

Our final day at sea was a very beautiful one. If only we had started with weather this nice. The wind is almost nonexistent, the seas are glass, the sun is out. What an awesome ending to our cruise. 

Windjammer breakfast was followed by browsing on the promenade, followed by a second lunch at Chops Grill. Another great way to spend the last afternoon. 

Of course packing brought home the reality that all good things must come to an end. 

The Farewell show was our final appointment for the night. 

Overall the three biggest highs of the cruise  in my opinion were:

*The Cruise Director Chris Brown and his staff

*Chops and Izumi

*Our Wait staff in the Main Dining Room

The lows:

* Water pressure in the stateroom (sink took forever to get hot water when I shaved and rinsing the razor  was next to impossible)

* Dated shows.  I really miss the Oasis shows

* The weather for the first half of the cruise. The gamble we take when booking so far in advance. 

I would for sure go on the Adventure again, although I still have so many more ships to explore. Current plans are the Anthem in November, Navigator in December, Serenade next June. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/21/2018 at 10:01 AM, JLMoran said:

Thanks for posting this! I was just asking about whether this even existed at Cape Liberty, and while I already got confirmation that it does, it's nice to see another real-time confirmation. Also glad to hear the seats are cushy, my tailbone says to say "thank you" to your tail bone for the vote of confidence! ?

 

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

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

Day 4 - Coco Cay

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.   

The ice show for the evening was “Cool Art, Hot Ice”.  The doors opened at 7:30 for the 8pm show but y 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. 

 My kids had their jet skis canceled due to the winds.  The group before them got out, then had to come back.  

We saw the last ice show - pretty empty.  My in-laws saw the lines earlier in the week, and got there really early expecting huge crowds.  We walked in 5 mins before.  LOL 

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, KathyC said:

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

Actually watched it after @twangster posted a link on my separate thread about this question, along with your other post showing the drive in. I can deal with small as long as it's not overly crowded when I get there. Port is only about a 45 minute drive from home, so I'm giving serious thought to leaving with the missus at 9:30 to bypass rush hour traffic and get there around 10:15. Hopefully they'll be taking in embarking passengers at that point, so we won't have to wait outside in the chilly October morning air.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, JLMoran said:

Actually watched it after @twangster posted a link on my separate thread about this question, along with your other post showing the drive in. I can deal with small as long as it's not overly crowded when I get there. Port is only about a 45 minute drive from home, so I'm giving serious thought to leaving with the missus at 9:30 to bypass rush hour traffic and get there around 10:15. Hopefully they'll be taking in embarking passengers at that point, so we won't have to wait outside in the chilly October morning air.

I've arrived just after 10am by Lyft and they were accepting new guests so 10:15 after parking, etc. shouldn't be an issue.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, twangster said:

I've arrived just after 10am by Lyft and they were accepting new guests so 10:15 after parking, etc. shouldn't be an issue.

Hmmm, since that probably means there will be traffic / lines getting into the port, maybe I'll leave closer to 9 in that case. I don't need to be that guy shouting "FIRST!", but I would like to be boarding as early as possible. She's a big ship, gonna need time on that first day to explore and find where everything is!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, Sunken dreams said:

Overall the three biggest highs of the cruise  in my opinion were:

*The Cruise Director Chris Brown and his staff

*Chops and Izumi

*Our Wait staff in the Main Dining Room

The lows:

* Water pressure in the stateroom (sink took forever to get hot water when I shaved and rinsing the razor  was next to impossible)

* Dated shows.  I really miss the Oasis shows

* The weather for the first half of the cruise. The gamble we take when booking so far in advance. 

I would for sure go on the Adventure again, although I still have so many more ships to explore. Current plans are the Anthem in November, Navigator in December, Serenade next June. 

For us, the CD & his staff were meh.  I can't tell you how many times we encountered them on the stairs, in the halls, and they don't even make eye contact let alone say hello.  They are great when "on", but without the mic in their face - nothing.

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.

Only show we missed was ventriloquist.  I guess we should have gone! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, JLMoran said:

Hmmm, since that probably means there will be traffic / lines getting into the port, maybe I'll leave closer to 9 in that case. I don't need to be that guy shouting "FIRST!", but I would like to be boarding as early as possible. She's a big ship, gonna need time on that first day to explore and find where everything is!

When I arrived at 10:15am I wasn't anywhere close to 1st and there we already 15-20 diamond sitting down in the diamond chairs plus many other levels of C&A in their sitting areas.  Worst case you have to sit and wait depending on when US customs clears the ship for new guests.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

Actually watched it after @twangster posted a link on my separate thread about this question, along with your other post showing the drive in. I can deal with small as long as it's not overly crowded when I get there. Port is only about a 45 minute drive from home, so I'm giving serious thought to leaving with the missus at 9:30 to bypass rush hour traffic and get there around 10:15. Hopefully they'll be taking in embarking passengers at that point, so we won't have to wait outside in the chilly October morning air.

 

3 minutes ago, twangster said:

I've arrived just after 10am by Lyft and they were accepting new guests so 10:15 after parking, etc. shouldn't be an issue.

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.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...