Adventure of the Seas Review
Rating by category
Additional details
Having sailed exclusively in the past with Carnival, we decided to up the level of service and switch to Royal and did we make the right choice!
On our first cruise with Carnival, we were spoiled but by cruise 2-3 Carnival began cutting corners such as table clothes on the main dining room tables, which left us missing the first “wow” experience. It may sound petty, but we felt a cruise should be an elegant experience….you want to feel pampered. Sailing on Royal brought that special experience back to us.
Pre-departure stay in San Juan: We stayed at the Hyatt House in San Juan, the closest hotel to the departure pier. The hotel is apx 3 years old and very well kept. Breakfast was included and they offered a great selection in hot/cold foods and beverages. They even provide an omelet window where you can choose the "omelet of the day" or use a prepared slip of paper and check off what you want in your omelet, and they’ll prepare it fresh for you. Awesome location but not near the beach.....no problem for us as they have a very nice pool/garden setup to relax in. If you travel with young children, across the street from the Hyatt House hotel is the Hyatt Place hotel which has a children play pool with slides etc. For a more quiet stay, I suggest staying a Hyatt House. We booked on line with Hyatt House well in advance and took advantage of signing up for the rewards/loyalty card. It's free.....and they call it Gold membership. I've seen reviews of people paying up to $250-300 USD a night for a room here but I paid only $125 USD per night by signing up for the free rewards program and booking early. Nil penalty if you want to cancel up to 24 hrs prior to your stay. I highly recommend this hotel but look at a map and see if the location is right for you. We would stroll to Olive Garden and walk the 5 blocks for a Pizza Johns with no hesitation at night.
Cabin Review
Superior Oceanview Stateroom with Balcony
7528 was a standard balcony cabin located port side forward. Its location was very quiet and ideally located in the forward part of the ship. Yes, you have a walk ahead of you from the Dining room, but not far from the main theatre. Let's face it, unless you're located mid-ships, in these large ships you'll have a distance to walk to your cabin regardless. The room itself was very clean and well-kept with no mold or rust anywhere. The bed was firm but not hard and the TV was upgraded to a new flat screen. Nothing else in the cabin seemed to be upgraded during the recent refit. We liked being on 7 deck as it encouraged us to use the stairs to the Promenade or Deck 11 and outside. The only compliant I have would be the balcony. Some people like the fully enclosed steel balcony but I felt I was in a echo-filled box. Balconies with opaque glass side panels and a full glass front offer so much more sunlight. AoS is the only ship in this class to have this enclosed balcony. I understand the new rooms being added on deck 12 will full opaque glass walls and full glass front walls.
Port Reviews
Aruba
Just shopping and a beach day. :)