My wife and I enjoy cruising and have been on 10 cruises, all Royal Caribbean. This is the first time on the Adventure of the Seas. On this cruise, we were joined by our close friends, Sandy and Steve from New Jersey (we are in Atlanta), who have never been on a RCCL Ship. We flew into San Juan on Friday night before boarding the ship on Sunday. While our friends arrived on time, Delta had plane problems and we were 3 hours late arriving. We stayed at the San Juan Marriott Resort and Casino which is an $8 PP cab ride from the airport. Boarding was no real problem as we headed out to the pier Sunday morning around 11:15, a 15 minute cab ride for $6 PP. After arriving at the pier around 11:30 there was a line of +100 or so since they had not started boarding. We checked our bags and within 10 minutes they started boarding and we went thru with no problems and were on the ship by a little after 12:00. Being a Diamond member and having our Seapass filled out and printed before arriving in San Juan helped with a smaller line. No complaints. Our Cabin 9320 is a D1 balcony category near the elevators and stairs aft on the Starboard side of the ship. Our luggage arrived around 4 in the afternoon and we unpacked. Luggage fitted under the beds and I also used the balcony to store some of our items like snorkel gear and a few other items. Since we are not in the room that much on a cruise, the smallest does not bother us. Just don't try and bend down in the shower stall, it will not work. We find that the room has many small areas to store things so it does not seem too crowed. Our room attendant was Avanell from Trinidad who was a delight and took care of us all week with no problems. Very responsive. The required Muster drill was at 6:00 and took about 15 minutes and then it was off to dinner as we had the main seating. We had a table for 8 with the four of us traveling together sitting with 2 couples from Missouri traveling together. We had a delightful week of laughing and enjoying each other stories at dinner. Ship Activities: There is so much to do on this ship that no one should ever be bored. Don't miss the Ice Skating show (free but must get tickets). Steve and I attempted the Rock climbing wall-bad idea with bad knees but were applauded for the effort. Basket ball courts (pick-up games always going on), dodge ball games, putt putt course, ping pong tables, plus a host of other activities for the younger set of kids. Two pool areas, one for adults with two hot tubs and two pools with four hot tubs for anyone. Pool areas packed on days at sea. Chair saving is discouraged but still goes on. We did not have any problem finding an area to lie in. I have seen a number of complaints on other reviews regarding children in the adult pools, been unsupervised by the parents in general, loud running, etc. On this cruise I thought the kids behave themselves as I saw no unruly behavior. There were no kids in the adult pool area and when they were, they were removed. They appeared to be respectful in elevators, in the halls, pool areas and general appeared to have a great time. I have also seen complaints about our friends from Puerto Rico as being loud and not having much control over the kids. I love the somewhat international favor of this cruise and we saw nothing but people having a good time without infringing on others. The people we meet were always polite. You will always fine someone who will be obnoxious whether they are from the US or any other country. There were 2,100 from the US 1,100 from Puerto Rico and several hundred from about 30 different countries including one from Cuba. Entertainment: A show was held most nights in the main theater. The best performance was the group call "Mosaic". If you ever get the chance to see them--do!! They perform with George Wallace in Las Vegas and are a singing group of young men that will have you standing at the end. The only time I know that a show performance on the RCCL received a loud standing ovation at the end. The other main show was a comedian and also had a show with the RCCL singers and dancers. Nothing special, just good entertainment. Mike Szwajkowski was our cruise director and he is one of the best on RCCL, upbeat, funny and easy to talk with. We enjoyed the 14th deck Viking lounge for late night drinks and dancing. Best view, easy music and dancing after 10:00 in the evening. Great place to unwind from the day's activities. Also up on the 14th deck is a sports bar/lounge. On the promenade 5th deck also includes a sports bar as well as a sing along pub. Regardless of your taste of music, there is a place somewhere on board you can enjoy. Food: Everywhere and all the time. We ate breakfast and lunch at the Windjammer cafe (typical buffet food) and dinner at the main seating 6:00 in the main dining room. You will get a million different takes on the food but for us we always enjoy the food and the service during dinner. Many choices and we have not had a bad meal, some better than others but never a bad meal. If you have a problem, they will correct it. For feeding 3,500 guests and 1,100 crew members, RCCL does an excellent job. They have eliminated the midnight buffet on this cruise, which we have never been too, so it was not a loss to us. Maricar from the Philippines was our waiter and was always attentive and prompt with her service. Always smiling and took good care of us. Service was excellent across the board. We did not visit Portofino's which has a $20 PP charge. Did not see the need to go and pay extra. We did not have room service. Aruba: All four took the SailAway Beach and Snorkel tour. Had about 50 people on the boat which included two snorkel stops and a third stop on a beach for lunch. Left about 9 AM and returned by 2 PM. Snorkeling was excellent,lunch was average. There was a mixture of experience and beginners for snorkeling. The boat ride was a good chance to see a good part of the island. We did not take the opportunity to see the town.

Curacao: Steve and I took the Tugboat and Reef Snorkel full day tour with Curacao-Actief (not thru RCCL). They picked us up at the ship and returned us directly to the ship. The snorkeling sites of the sunkin ship and a beautiful reef were outstanding with large amounts of colorful fish and coral. Need to be a reasonably good swimmer to enjoy the snorkeling. Learned a brief history of the Island and visited one of the old forts. If your interest is snorkeling do not do the full day tour but instead opt for the half day tour. Same snorkel sites, less money, lunch not included. If interested in learning about the island then the full day tour is ok. We would have preferred to snorkel more.

St. Maarten: The wives took a good portion of the day for shopping on the Dutch side (we docked on the Dutch side) and all agreed the shopping is better on St.Maarten. Better prices and better products. Wife was able to secure a beautiful 4 caret diamond tennis bracelet for about 40% below state prices. We encourage everyone to go to the ship's seminar on shopping on both St. Maarten and St. Thomas. Learned a lot of tips and will save you money and time. While the wives were shopping we went to the best beach around: Orient Beach on the French side of the island, 2 miles of beautiful white sandy beach and crystal clear waters, with a ton of activities from wave runners, parasailing, windsurfing and you can rent a chair and umbrella for the day for about $12-$18 depending on location on the beach. Many places for lunch and plenty of drinks. Cab fare was $8 PP each way. Warning: there is some nudity (topless) on the beach mainly at the far end of the beach near Club Orient, which is a clothing optional resort. If beach activities is your thing then this is must stop. Read more