We enjoyed having a very port intensive cruise. 5 stops. Barbados, St. Lucia, Anitgua, St. Martin and St. Croix. The entertainment was fun. We had Earl Turner, The 3 Las Vegas Tenors, Rodney Johnson Comedian, and Duo Bolshekov from Russia, as well as the in house singers dancers and Ice skaters. Was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the entertainment.
Overall I had heard horror stories. The ship was old, musty(Circa 2001) ship. Nothing could be further from the truth. They were constantly cleaning, repainting and maintaining the ship even at sea. I last sailed on Carnival's Celebration in 1999. At the time she was 12 years old and was in far worse shape than Adventure of the Seas was at 14 years.
Service was another aspect that was outstanding. Most crew members remembered my name after meeting me. My Waiter Mervyn, Asst Waiter Resma, Cabin Steward Ronaldo were top notch.
Cabin was nice....Small, but seemed bigger than it was. No complaints. Balcony was a metal box. two chairs and a table.
We stayed at the Hilton Condado resort and casino to get into the cruise mode. New San Juan has a spring break atmosphere. The wife preferred Old San Juan, although there is more to do at this hotel than at the Sheraton Old San Juan.
We took a cab to Rockley/Accra Beach. The Tiki hut. Awesome beach, a bit wavy, but the food and drinks were good. We got some sun as this island was the furthest east and south of the cruise.
We took a cab to Valley Church Beach and spent the day at the Nest. Taxi was a bit high according to the travel guide and they were right. 32 bucks to the beach.
The beach was beautiful, water was teal, although a bit cloudy. This was one of my favorite places. Although nudity is supposedly not allowed in Antigua, there were several women topless... ie about 10 on a beach with 200 people.
Took a cab to Maho beach.. watched and photo'd the planes. Walked to Mullet bay beach for the rest of the day. More topless ladies, however they were not like the 20 somethings in Antigua, they were all 50 to 60 years of age.
The beach and shops were all within walking distance of the pier. As rain was expected we shopped and walked on the beach. It was like being stateside, just with better beaches, and definitely did not have the foreign country feel of the other stops.