We wanted a longer cruise that was affordable, so we could choose some excursions. We enjoyed the hot tubs and the decor. Our cabin was perfect; fantastic location. except not enough room for my wheel chair.(The handicapped cabin was more expensive).Our room's caretaker was excellent. No room for improvement there either. She was a kind sweet young lady, very thorough. We even enjoyed chatting with her. The food was fantastic anywhere we went we were well accommodated in the DR.The main complaint we had was the constant loud music videos on deck, never any quiet time. We found this a bit distressing. Service was great all the way around with one exception, when I needed a break in the line at the cafe they would not accommodate me. I cant wait in line and I needed a snack.All the other food venues were closed. This was a concern. Outside this complaint the service was excellent.. Read Less

We, because of price and spouse are "Loyal to Royal". But I'm serious thinking not such a great idea. If they are going to continue using older ships they really need to stop a day and CLEAN them thoroughly!! Entertainment was Excellent!! This class ship (as we sailed back-to-back with the Navigator of the Seas) won't be our choice anytime soon. **The plus is the food was good and entertainment also very good. The service in the dining room was lacking and definitely not what I would expect from Royal Caribbean. We had a wonderful excursion at St. Kitts, we've visited the island but never took one before. I highly recommend. It was for the Fort and Plantation house. Great Price and 5 star if you like history & views. Royal Caribbean needs new activities for folks that don't wish to sunbath & drink entire trip. Heck, I'd enjoy history lectures of islands visiting, etc. Just something new please. Read Less

We chose this cruise for the timing, between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Although we are veteran cruisers we had never sailed RCCL. The overall cruise was good (what's not to like on a cruise?). We found the staff generally friendly and accommodating. The main dining room provided surprisingly good food with superior service from our waiter, Joel, his assistant, Igety(sp?) and Amit, our section leader. Passengers, on the other hand, were exceptionally rude and ill mannered. Why, when you have a fixed table assignment, do you need to push others out of the way to get into the MDR? We also encountered some rude behavior by staff in the spa - remember the Julia Roberts character in "Pretty Woman"? These incidents were, however, isolated and did not significantly mar our overall experience. But we did come home with a few hundred dollars that had been earmarked for the spa, but went unspent. Read Less

This was our first RC cruise. The ship was beautiful and the service was excellent. We ate in the Windjammer and the food was so much better than Carnival. My husband and I both gained weight. So many deserts, it was hard to choose one so we didnt just have one. If you take this cruise sit in section 12. The wait staff were all so sweet and helpful, I hated to say goodbye to them. We stayed in an inside promonade cabin. It was uncomfortable. Small and no place confortable to sit. It also was loud at times. Our cabin mate was wonderful and did everything he could do to try and soften up our bed but nothing worked. Our ports 1- Labadee is really beautiful, lots of fun in the water. And again the lunch they served was wonderful. 2- PR I love this place. Have been there a couple times. Just wear really comfortable broken in shoes. Don't get blisters like I did. See the fort and the cemetery and eat a mofongo and see if you can find the snow cone man (we couldn't find him this time) lots of walking and lovely shops. 3- St Maartin - we stayed at the boardwalk, shopped some We should have taken a tour. 4- St Kitts - we did the 4x4 and beach. It was ok, saw a lot of the island. The tour people were informative and very nice. We had already seen Brimstone on a prior cruise. If its your first time to the island Brimstone is the way to go. I was not able to get a lounger near the pool. It was always so crowded. My husband is a smoker so he sat at the smoking area on deck 11 all the time. No I will not be booking another cruise for a long time. I was more comfortable on the Carnival Ship. It was cheaper, the food wasn't as good so I didn't eat much and didn't gain weight. Having the smoking area near the pool causes a problem for a couple where one smokes and the other doesn't. if felt like I was always by myself. Read Less

Joe and I love cruising. We have always been 'Loyal to Royal' and are Diamond Plus--not that it matters, except it is relevant to our experiences on this cruise. It started out well--the air connections the cruise line arranged worked out well, though they were time-comsuming. We got to the airport in Quebec City tired after 17 hours of traveling. We had asked RCI for an airport to hotel transport (their choice hotel) and were told none were available (18 months before the cruise.) When we got to the airport, there were Royal Caribbean representatives collecting people for transport to the hotel. They would not include us since we had no reservation with them. So we hit the taxi stand. We told the dispatcher there that we wanted to go to the Marriott Courtyard Hotel. He quoted us the price for going to downtown Quebec City. Since we knew no better, we said okay and he called a cab. The driver again asked us where we were going and we told him the Marriott Courtyard. He said 'Which One?', and we were stymied. We thought there was only one, and had no address for it. He claimed there were two and took us to the one downtown. Well, the one downtown was NOT a Courtyard, and was twice the fare it would have cost to get to the 'Courtyard'. So we had to call another cab and pay another fare. Grrrrrr. Checkin the next day was less than perfect--no priority boarding, long lines, and at least one less than friendly cattle herder. However, room was good, dining and wait staff were good, and room attendant was good. Now we get to the really rude awakening: Happy Hour-4:30pm-8pm. This spring we had sailed on the Brilliance on a repositioning cruise from Tampa to Amsterdam. They, like Adventure on this cruise, had a HUGE percentage of Diamond and above cruisers (who but us old geezers and rich whippersnappers have the time for a repositioning cruise?) Unlike Adventure, they had prepared for it. The staff on Brilliance turned their largest 'ballroom' area into a diamond lounge, with a different theme and entertainment every night. We were happy, and the non-diamond passengers were happy because the other bars weren't packed with us monopolizing them for drinks off our allotted 3 a night. Everyone had a relaxing, pleasant voyage. In contrast, on Adventure the 43-seat diamond lounge was FULL from breakfast through 8 pm. The Viking Crown was almost as bad. If you weren't in a seat there by 2:30 pm, you could forget Happy Hour. For us, it isn't just about drinks. This is our socializing time. We enjoy talking to other couples. The ones we meet at Happy Hour have experiences similar to ours. It is easy to start a conversation and one thing leads to another--we have had some really good times in the Diamond Lounge on other cruises, including on Adventure. Sometimes the free drinks we get are Cokes--we're too old for sustained booze. Unlike Brilliance, this time the experience on Adventure was more like Mayhem. It was packed. If you got there at 2:30 so you actually had a seat, it was hard to carry on a conversation with all the people standing around your chair waiting for you to vacate it. The crew appeared powerless to change anything. Their 'fix' for 13 nights of mayhem was a final night show and buffet--both of which were so crowded you couldn't see the show or get to the buffet. Adventure and RCI, you need to do better--MUCH better! Now for the good stuff! The absolute best part of the cruise was the carriage ride in Acadia National Park. After a whole lot of rain and cold, we lucked out and got sunshine and mild temps for our excursion. The draft horses that pulled our 8-passenger wagon were Moses and Molly. It was an hour of absolutely gorgeous fall colors, trees, a driver who carried on a leisurely and intelligent commentary--more like a conversation--with us, stops to watch deer, and just a wonderful time enjoying the world we're blessed with. It was one of those experiences I'll have a hard time ever repeating. Take a look at the picture I'm attaching and you'll get some idea of what I mean. The other really good excursion was to the Anne of Green Gables House. If you've read any of Maude Montgomery's books, you'll really enjoy this one. If you haven't--at least take the walking trails. They are really worth doing. When we were there, it was a slow, dripping rain. We went through the house first. Best thing there was seeing the cupboard where 'the raspberry cordial' was kept. You have to read the book to appreciate it. After heading outside, we took the 'Lover's Leap' path. It was beautiful, and brought back memories of Montgomery's descriptions of where the children played. There were trees, a brook, a bridge across it, and steps leading upward. Definitely a fun adventure. Well, by this time we were soaked, our time to meet the bus was near, and although I wanted to do the other path, I had to go. Hope there's a next time! I'll try to add the picture I took on the path to my uploads. Adventure is a good ship. She has some really good folks in her crew. This was our fourth cruise on her and we enjoyed them all. Captain Szynkarczuk appeared to be very professional, and concerned only with the operation and command of his vessel--a very good thing, considering we had some stormy weather on the cruise, an unscheduled return to port for medical reasons, and some ticklish navigational situations. My impression is that he is a bit uncomfortable around passengers. He could stand to unbend just a bit. We're really not a bad lot. If you haven't taken this cruise, do it. I'm sure RCI will fix the Diamond Lounge problem, and all the Canadian and New England ports are well worth it. I just may go again myself. I want to walk that other path on PEI and take the longer carriage ride at Acadia. See you onboard! Read Less

View Fall Foliage in Canada and New England areas. There was NO fall foliage. Local guides told us Fall Foliage appears from mid to late October, we were 4-6 weeks too early. embarkation was smooth with no delays. Day 1 had excellent weather sunny and 75-80 degree temps. Day 2 cold, windy, and rain. Windjammer buffet had average tasting food, no variety 95% of the food was the same every day. Expected more local foods and items from New England e.g. Clam Chowder. Breakfast and snacks at Cafe Promenade were the same every day and mediocre at best. Food in Sapphire Dining room again was average at best. Didn't see any local favorites on menu. Some items e.g. the Steak Diane wasn't very edible and had to be replaced with a different entree. Service in Sapphire room however was excellent, the wait staff, Kenneth and Mohammed were the best. Cabin was neat and clean. Entertainment was average. Casino was to have low limit tables at times but bet minimum never changed. The entire time 2 elevators never worked and 2 others worked occasionally. Read Less

Have enjoyed cruising on Royal line before but this ship was the worse experience we have ever had. Embarkation and disembarkation was great, We had a back to back cruise, on the first half going to Canada we were in a balcony room, but not too bad, only complaint was the odor of dried urine which was always present, the room attendant did clean it a few times daily but it did not help much, storage was adequate for an older ship, but on the second half of our trip we had to move to a interior room with no window or view screen for the outside, there was no circulating fresh air which cause my husband to have increased sinus problems and me to have frequent nose bleeds, the room was small with no room to walk along the bedside, we had to approach the bed from the foot of the bed then get on our knees and crawl up to the head of the bed which was not easy for someone who has muscular problems and a need to go to the bathroom throughout the night. We only ate at the Windjammer and had difficulty finding seating most times maybe because most of the tables were large with couples taking a large table so they could eat together and the smaller tables where you can sit and eat while having a private conversation with your companion were not plentiful, all the tables were too close. The only good thing were the dining servers, most were very friendly and constantly there if you needed anything. There is much more i could say that was not good on this ship but i won't. I have enjoyed cruising in the past on Royal and plan on doing it again only not on Anthem of the Seas Read Less

The main dining room was very nice. Great food and the service was perfect. The Windjammer Café(Buffet) was the same food for the entire cruise. If you like hot dogs, hamburgers, and French fries put out every day, then you will like the buffet. The other food was a copy day after day...no variation at all. Not enough seats because the room just can not handle the crowds. You will hear messages to hurry you so others can eat too. The buffet closes its doors at 9pm...way to early...If you want to eat later, you are sent to the 5th floor in the Café Promenade where there are no selections unless you want to eat "pizza" every day...I say "Pizza" if you want to call it that. Very small room also. The pool was way to crowded and that is again because the ship can not handle the crowds. Entertainment was very good, nice shows and the Lyric theatre is nice. Too many areas to eat where you had to pay. I guess that is the way cruise ships are going now...Pay extra for almost everything..I must admit that I would not select that ship again on our next cruise..It was a nice ship to bring children, because they had lots of thing to do for the children. Again...this is my opinion and you must make your own decision here.. Read Less

We choose this cruise because it was early June and we didn't want so many kids aboard. We enjoyed our cruise overall but there were issues. The food at the Windjammer was terrible, same things every day at lunch and breakfast! I mean, same fish, same dishes, day after day. The MDR had good dinners and we had Alicia as out waiter, she is wonderful! The assistant waiter was Romnick and he was sweet but I guess still in training. Our room attendant was Frangella, kept our room clean neat during our stay. The toilet paper was so rough!!!! Come on Royal Caribbean, wouldn't you at least get softer toilet tissue? The venues looked fun but we couldn't get into anything as they were held on extremely small venues and there were no place to sit. The weather didn't cooperate but this is not Royal Caribbean's fault. We had a good cruise overall and would try another ship. Read Less

Chosen for port of Embarkation and cost. Unfortunately, with everyone telling me how great cruises are, etc. It set a level of expectation that I didn't feel was met. The soups were too salty, the Omelette station was too slow, worse since there were two people preparing them and then oiling the pan AND spraying it. The Cafe Promenade which catered to the out of hours dining rooms featured pizza, tea sandwiches and salads. But Ni's winning smile was worth the trip. The schedule should have been given for the entire length of the cruise instead of daily. It would help you plan your itinerary better when there was an overlap, which forced you to sometimes make the wrong decision if you didn't think you'd get a second opportunity, It seemed kind of silly that the photography gallery was inaccessible when the cash registers weren't open. It's obviously for upselling purposes but if I could have the opportunity to review my images on MY time I might have purchased more, I hate being rushed. The drink and wi-fi sales the last two days were last minute marketing gimmicks which was a waste of time. It might help those of us who don't drink enough to justify a drink package, especially if your partner doesn't drink. Read Less

We choose this cruise because it sails out of Bayonne which is an easy 8 hour drive from us. The itinerary isn't really exciting but it was a nice getaway. Embarkation was a breeze - very quick and well organized. The only minor hiccup is that security asked my elderly father to remove his suspenders instead of using the wand to check him. How they expected a 70 year old man to hold up his pants and walk through the security scanners without his suspenders and then put them back on in the terminal is beyond me. He managed though because they would not relent. Wheelchair assistance was backed up from the get go - my mother has her own wheelchair and it was an easy push for me to get her from the terminal to the ship - only 1 longish ramp but not too steep. Our cabin was an interior accessible cabin. This is well set up for wheelchair users. Large bathroom with a roll in shower with grab bars on the wall on the left side and a fold down bar on the right. The sink is easy to roll under to wash your hands. The only non accessible portion of the bathroom is the storage behind the mirrors - I can't see how that would be reached by anyone in a wheelchair. The desk is easy to roll under and the closet has both a high bar and a low bar along with numerous shelves. There are also 8 small drawers for storage in the desk area. The downside to Royal is that the beds are hard and the pulldown couch is like sleeping on a wooden plank. There were lots of pillows this time and we asked for blankets instead of the heavy duvets so that made sleeping more comfortable. The cabins have been redone so there is new carpeting throughout and the new white/blue colour scheme in the cabin. Daytime activities on Royal are a little lacking if you're not into sports or spa (or shopping). Lots of for fee activities with a few trivia games during the day. Evening activities have more variety but generally focus on 1 big thing each evening. The movie screen on the pool deck isn't great for sound/quality to watch anything at night. Service was generally good; not too much outstanding where I felt the need to fill out a wow card but also nothing too bad where it left a bad taste. Dining was okay - MDR menu is now very small and the food kind of bland. Salads come pre-dressed with just a drizzle and food seems unseasoned. Even curry sauce had no heat or flavour. Windjammer is the usual cafeteria mass produced food with limited hours. Choices are repetitive - as you travel around, you'll see the same dishes in several places. Café Promenade has some decent sandwiches and some excellent salads. Pizza is terrible. Room Service is well worth the $8 (plus gratuity) fee for all you wish to order - the cheesesteak and burger as well as the Cobb and Greek salads were excellent. Overall the week was nice but bland. Not the best cruise we've taken (and we've taken a bunch - over several different cruise lines) but nothing really bad. Weather was rough the first few days which meant rough seas. For many people, this certainly impacted their impression of the cruise. Read Less

Mainly selected this cruise for the SOUTHERN CARIBBEAN itinerary (although St Thomas and St Kitts really are not southern) . It really should have had one more of the southern locations instead. The ship and cabin were well maintained. The embarkation was easy and satisfactory. The disembarkation was long lines. The choice of offerings and the quality of preparation of food in both the main dining and the Windjammer were adequate and satisfactory, for shipboard dining. However our experience has found land based resorts/restaurants more pleasing and satisfactory. The service, overall was above average. It is obvious that staff fully appreciates the training and intent of management. It is very likely they recognize the ease with which they can be replaced. Although our experiences at the bars was very satisfactory as to friendly performance and service of the staff, the pricing is exorbitant. The two shows we attended were entertaining and well performed for shipboard or resort talent. Read Less

Adventure is a beautiful ship. In order to fill the ship, it seems Adventure offered great deals to the residents of Puerto Rico. However those of us who are loyal to Royal and booked some time ago, were the ones to suffer the overcrowded ship. The staff was super and did their best, but were overwhelmed by numbers. We were disappointed in the shows, nothing unusual or unique. The two female singers were outstanding, the best part of the big nightly shows. We enjoy having unusual or unexpected experiences. Maybe because only one sea days, none of these happened. (Dancing in the promenade, drum bands, other spontaneous happenings). Enjoyed the big band concert in a lounge, not well advertised. Just lucky we noticed it so we could attend. Others told us they would have gone if they had known about it. We always love our cruising, just some more memorable than others. Read Less

I got on the Royal Caribbean Adventure of the Seas on Saturday, June 3, 2017 and was sooooo excited. Having been on other RCCL Ships, I had high expectations. The Adventure of the Seas is starting to show signs of aging. Our bathroom was rusted at the bottom and the sink faucet ran VERY slowly. This boat also has a funny smell in several places and compared to 5 years earlier when I had gotten on this same boat, the level of cleanliness had declined. The food is just OK. The main dining room was initially not so great, but I have to give it to the Dining room staff – the Maître D, Mohammed, and Marlon, our waiter and Anecito, our assistant waiter; once we expressed concern, they went out of their way to make sure we had what we wanted every night. Our room Steward was just ok as well. She seemed more concerned about policy than making us feel welcomed. There were 3 people in our room and she consistently left 2 washcloths, REALLY??? The entertainment was good. Our only concern is that the slide was down but it was good other places like the skating rink, mini golf, rock climbing, etc. Read Less

Chose this trip for the southern islands--they were nice, but the excursions didn't enhance the experience. The ship was extremely crowded with young people celebrating various end of school events, which is great, but almost felt over capacity. There must not have been a lot of variety of things to do other than eat at the cafe for some people--if you were trying to just grab a snack or coffee the line was always out the door with no place to sit--move on and find another place to socialize and let other patrons in. The off color political jokes about our president by the cruise director were definitely not appreciated. We chose the wrong time for our my time dining and missed much of the entertainment, but the dancers, singers we did see were excellent, as was the comedian (adult). Our wait staff and host in the dining room were exceptional, the food was not--I'm glad I didn't eat at Chops, we ordered off the menu the Chops items and they weren't worth it--poorly cooked. Not of the caliber of previous cruises with RC. Read Less

This was our 17th cruise, fourth on R.C. There seemed to be a decline in just about everything. There was no ice pitcher put in the room each evening, the beverages offered for buffet were limited to water or lemonade unless you wanted coffee or hot tea, no bedtime mints, repeats of most foods nightly in the buffet, good bands placed in crowded areas where it was difficult to enjoy the music. No place to sit and listen. Noisy crowds drowning out the bands, etc. Noise was prevalent everywhere. The comedians were excellent, the place was overall kept pretty clean. There was really nothing much that rose above the "average" level and nothing to get excited about this time. There were shore excursions we wanted to take which have been offered in the past but were not offered this time. We prefer to use the ship's shore excursions but couldn't this time because of the lack of offerings for our interests. Read Less

This was the 6th cruise sailing with Royal Caribbean and the second time on the Adventure of the Sea. We sailed on a number of cruise lines including Carnival, Norwegian & Princess. To be honest, we felt this time around, the cruise on the Adventure of the Sea was not up to par compared to our previous experiences. My wife and I felt improvements are needed on this Royal Caribbean ship, especially for the entertainment offered on the pool deck & lacking production shows, if they want to keep up with the other cruise lines. We realize were on a Caribbean Cruise, but that Caribbean music by the same group over and over for seven days, playing the same style music, gets boring. We have been on other cruise lines that have way more variety for their pool deck entertainment. In addition, of the seven nights & only two nights with production shows with the Royal Caribbean singers & dancers, we felt the entertainment lacked. In addition, why did was a production show scheduled on Super Bowl Night?? That made no sense what so ever. One night in place of a production show was a mediocre comedian, anther night was an impressionist & then anther was a flutist. The night the flutist played the theater was not even half full; we never ever saw a so called production show lacking so much audience. Then to top it off, before the first song was even over, rows of people including my wife & I got up and left. We felt this was the worst show we ever witnessed on a cruise ship. We also felt the food this time around was not up to par also, especially in the Windjammer Lunch Buffet. Thank god there were hamburgers every day, it lacked variety. I wanted to mention the great service we received from Alina Khafizova every day at the Windjammer Buffet, and she even filled in as our assistant waiter at dinner, she went over and beyond, very helpful & friendly. We did observe on a number of occasions though that the tables in the Windjammer do not get cleaned properly. It seems the tables are wiped off with just a rag with no cleaning spray of any sort, so they are left streaky & unclean. I was totally shocked to witness a couple tables being wiped off by a left over cloth napkin after clearing there dishes. The main dining room food had good & bad choices. The chicken marsala was terrible, thick chunks of chicken, not pounded & tenderized, that were very tough. The marsala sauce was very bland / tasteless. Another night deep fried fish was served, we could not eat it. Why not broil it instead?? We even told the female waiter in charge of the dining room that improvements need to be addressed if she wants to keep up with the other cruise lines. Also, we noticed you could only get shrimp cocktail on formal nights and they did away with it on the other nights. In September of 2015 we wailed on the Norwegian Breakaway and I had mentioned at our dining table that the one thing we really liked about Royal Caribbean was they served shrimp cocktail every night and then to find out the first night of the cruise Royal did away with it. As far as our wait staff team, Rommel Isidro and Maksym Kolesnikob were both outstanding. Our stateroom attendant was outstanding, friendly & helpful l. She always left our room spotless & cozy. The refrigerator in our cabin did not chill anything and needed to be replaced. I must mention, something needs to be done for safety reasons especially when entering the Ice Show. When those doors open it’s like a stampede, there needs to be some order when entering. Also, Royal Caribbean management needs to inform their staff of the saving seats for the show. I mean people were saving rows of seats. I had mentioned to a few of the attendants that it is not fair to save that many seats at one time, but nothing was done to correct it. I blame management for not training them properly. We were in line 15 minutes prior to the show and ended up sitting 2 rows apart because of all the seat saving, there was no order what so ever. My wife & I feel Royal Caribbean Cruises went downhill since our first one. But if these changes could be addressed, they could be back on top like years ago. Read Less

Let me tell you about the positive things before I go into full curmudgeon mode. I took this cruise to be part of a group of people who were also taking this cruise. I don't think I would have chosen it otherwise. Where we stayed: We stayed at Embassy Suites in San Juan before and after the cruise. Somehow our travel agent had gotten the information that we could walk to the pier, but it was a good $21 taxi ride to Old San Juan and/or the dock. Embarkation: Getting on the ship was easy. We arrived not too long after the start of the official boarding time , and pretty much walked our way onto the ship with only a few waits. Later we found our travel agent had recommended we board a few hours later, so perhaps we just got lucky. The Ship: The Adventure of the Seas is impressive. It features an indoor Promenade which gives you the illusion of being in a small village, and the ship has top-of-the-line amenities - huge gymn, outdoor sports areas, indoor ice rink, theater, casino, miniature golf….etc…There were plenty of elevators and they were very fast and smooth. Ship decor and art was interesting and we had fun discovering new art work in different rooms, stairwells, and corridors. Onboard activities: We didn't participate in most of the onboard scheduled activities. I went to meetings with my group, while my husband attended a seminar on beer, and a short Spanish class. We both enjoyed the "Beatle Maniacs" show one evening. We missed most of the last-night parade because we were busy packing. I didn't go to the "Meet and Mingle" but my husband did, and he enjoyed it very much. Service: Service was excellent. Iggy and Iwayan were two crew members who went above-and-beyond for us. One glitch was that my room key didn't work four times in a row - the first few times I was told that perhaps something in my purse was degmagnetizing it, but after I put it in a plastic bag and carried it separately it still wouldn't work and then they decided that perhaps my husband and my keys were incompatible, and they re-did both of them and there were no further problems. Shore Excursions: We took two shore excursions: On Barbados we took tour #BB14 "Harrison's Cave and Island Tour" where the highlight was an electric tram ride through Harrison's Cave. I enjoyed this tour very much. There is some disagreement about the way the cave was damaged when the tram tunnel was built, but you will have to decide for yourself. On St. Lucia we took tour #SL46 "The Island's Delights" which covered a lot of ground but was frustrating to my husband because many of the photo stops were only five minutes. We visited a small fishing village, had lunch in a hillside restaurant, visited the 'drive-in' volcano, and toured the botanical gardens. If I were to visit St. Lucia again I would just choose one activity. In Antigua we walked around the town on our own, and on St. Maarten and St. Croix we hired taxis to drive us around. The taxi driver in St. Maarten was very reasonable and gave us more than we paid for, but the taxi service in St. Croix (in the area just off the pier) shortchanged us. I learned the valuable lesson "get it in writing." Also, I realize I should have gone back and made a fuss at the time, because I am getting no response to my emails. (I never said I was smart.) Cabin: Cabin was standard size with lots of storage and was always kept up nicely. One odd thing was that some passengers before us must have had a party, because there were decorations hanging from the ceiling. The in-room refrigerator was full of over-priced food and beverage, and our steward said she couldn't remove it, so we had to stack everything on a counter so that we had somewhere to store our two bottles of wine. Dining: We ate dinner in the main dining room three times and I wasn't too impressed. We seldom go to high-end restaurants, we save our money for travel, but my feeling was there didn't seem to be enough staff for the work expected of them. Most meals seemed to drag on for hours, and food was not always hot when it arrived. I much preferred the Windjammer Buffet, which had a wide selection. I usually do a 'walk around' of the buffet line and then come back and choose what I want. To me the advantage of the buffet is that you can take a small portion of something to find out if you like it and you can try more things. They also had a pretty good salad bar, carving stations, and at times there was specialty food like sushi. There was a small soft serve yogurt bar outside the Windjammer main area, and an excellent 24-hour deli in the Promenade with several food options so you would never go hungry. We didn't go to any of the 'extra cost' restaurants - I didn't see the point. ( I still haven't lost the weight I gained on the cruise.) Childrens' Activities: We didn't bring any children, but the childrens' club area looked bright and colorful, and most of the children seemed to be having a great time. Disembarkation: Disembarkation was pretty standard. My only dislike here was that the man who put our two bags into the taxi (we didn't ask him to do that) wouldn't let us leave until we had given him a tip. Be sure to carry a lot of small bills for the last day. Summary: What this cruise line does, it does very well. If you are looking to enjoy yourself, sit in the sun, have a few drinks, take in some light entertainment, maybe go snorkeling when you are in port, I can't think of a better ship. Where my fur got rubbed the wrong way, though (and why I will probably never take this cruise line again) was the constant emphasis on "buy buy buy" - if it wasn't a 24-hour sales spiel on the television, it was a four-page insert in the daily "Cruise Compass" with a port shopping map showing you all the Diamonds International shops and their ilk , and not much else. There were "two hours only" special sales and raffles from the onboard shops, and, of course, The Art Auction. I didn't go on the cruise to buy jewelry or art. I was hoping to learn a little more about the islands we visited, but I found that if you didn't bring a guide book or have good internet access you were out of luck - the "Cruise Compass" offered only scanty information- a short paragraph on the history of the island and a list of 'top things to do'. The television stations were also limited and kept repeating the same news programs, situation comedies, and movies. I realize that I am probably in the minority here, because I expect most people probably take a cruise to get away from it all, and probably enjoy not knowing what is going on in the rest of the world. (Yes, we had maps on our smart phones, but I'm the old school type who likes to have a paper map. Would it have bankrupted the cruise company to have replaced just one of their pages of advertising with maps of the destination islands and cities?*) My last quibble was about the "nickle and dining" everywhere. I can see where they wouldn't want to be offering free wine with lunch and dinner (as we had on our last two European River Cruises) but when we were leaving the ship one day I had noticed they had large bins full of bottled water, and I thought "well, that's nice", but then I asked for a bottle the nice young man said you had to pay for it. Where I live even the cheapest guided tour offers you a bottle of cold water, but I guess Royal Caribbean doesn't worry that passengers are going around the islands getting dehydrated. Summary: I guess my main dislike of this style of cruising is that I want to feel special and sophisticated when I travel, not treated like someone who is not interested in the world, or history. Even if I did once ponder the possibility of filling my suitcases with cookies from the dessert table, I would like to be treated like a polished traveler who would not abuse the privilege of having a small glass of wine with their meals. One other consideration on travelling on such a large ship - when five such ships land in one port, each with possibly 3,000 passengers, most of who you are going to meet on shore, at least near the port, are other passengers. That sort of dilutes the experience. *The 'tourist information' booths near the port were sometimes very good, and sometimes empty.   Read Less

Having just returned from this cruise I thought that I would share my opinions with others.  This was the first time I had used this company so did not know what to expect, Arrived at Southampton and was soon on the ship process was smooth and staff very polite, was told cabin would be ready at 1pm we had a balcony on deck 7 so had a coffee at the Windjammer and room was ready as stated. Room clean and was up to standard the price we paid for the trip was very good especially as it was visiting St Petersberg a place we had long wanted to visit. On the positive side staff were very helpful and embarkation and disembarkation was very smooth. Good choice of food in the Windjammer a bit indifferent in MDH. We were on My Time Dining which turned out to be their time dining most people reserved tables for different times we eat usually at 6-30pm and were told nothing available until 8pm hardly choosing what suited you. We may have well chose fixed dining and avoided up front payment of gratuities. After much discussion aided by other guests we were fitted in for 6-15pm. Sea day 1 we thought we would lunch in windjammer got there at 12-45pm sorry fully may be able to help in 30minutes please go to deck 5 same story referred to windjammer. If you enjoy waiting in line this is just the job for you the challenge was now to choose when it was possible to eat without waiting in line not easy. Prommenade Café which is said to be open 24hour totally inadequate for some 3000 passengers at times it was impossible to reach it through deck 5 as they had bargain sales selling low end goods but would bring out tables further blocking the thorough fare it was a nightmare. Why windjammer was not 24hour buffet I don't know they have much more room to fit in lots of guests. I must say that I found staff excellent but dining became stressful it seems they have plenty of tables but not enough staff to serve them, so they make you wait while they communicate with there radios. The ports of call were great as I said we had a very good price and the ship was clean and did not look its age. It cruised at 22 knots a lot of the time which bearing in mind the region we were in kept most people away from sun decks hence the crush in the body of the ship. Entertainment apart from 2 acts and the Ice Show poor. Think if the cruise had been western med things could be different as lots would be on the sun deck. My was I glad to get home still did not pay too much a good consolation. Read Less

The four port fairly short cruise hits interesting spots in northern Spain and western France . . . especially interesting is the Normandy visit. My wife and I have cruised over 70 times, mostly in Europe. Not a fan of Royal Caribbeans promenade design as it brings everyone to a central place and results in crowding. It is almost impossible to get a cup of coffee after a show in rhe one and only open location and there is no late night food available anywhere without paying an extra fee. We also normally check the ratio of inside cabins as a high number tends to overload public ares . . . the Adventurer has far too many! he ship is mobbed. The food was good, but a bit repetitive. Its nice to have prime rib on the menu, but four out of seven nights?? Out biggest problem with RC is their guest services staff which seems to completely ignore their role to help guests. They also collect and hold passports forcing you to go ashore with only a photocopy. They claim "government regulations" but no other cruise line has the same practice and they even tell you in on board publications and presentations to make sure you have your passport with you ashore!   Read Less

Sailed from Malaga, Spain Thankfully we only had 5 days. Check in/out was good and fast. Entertainment very poor, went to see Comedian in Theatre, only spoke Spanish. Cabin very good and comfortable. Food diabolical in main restaurant choice limited, poor service, ordered a Medium/rare Steak on last evening, so tough I could have repaired my shoes with it , complained to waiter who replied "That's how they come!" and implied I should not have ordered Steak. 50% of passengers, Spanish pensioners, who all refused to use Disinfectant gel in restaurants, they smoked in non smoking areas, when an officer was asked, I was told that they turn a blind eye to it, as they are buying drinks. None turned up for dinner on last evening, so they did not give tips. Drink prices are exorbitant. A 750ml can of Fosters worked out at £6.20 which included 15% service charge and 20% Spanish VAT. Spent only £40 on board as I refused to be ripped off, 5 days tee total. Best food was cabin service which was good quality, well served and hot. Two ports visited Toulon and Majorca should have been Corsica, some excuse "Too windy" Bus transfer to Toulon £12 each return,didn't bother Majorca transfers to city £6 each, enjoyed a reasonable priced litre of beer. Read Less

This was our third transatlantic cruise, the first two having been with Celebrity on their Millennium and Century. Using that experience as a standard, this cruise did not quite measure up. It could be that RC is doing some product differentiation, allowing its Royal Caribbean brand to slide, while promoting its Celebrity brand as their 'premium' cruise line. Or, it could be that the very large newer ships in the RC line are posing new service/management issues. Then again, maybe it's both. This cruise left from Barcelona. For us, this was deja vu because we've sailed from Barcelona on two previous occasions. Embarkation in Barcelona has always been a model of efficiency and superior service. This embarkation was no exception. Incidentally, if you have an opportunity to spend time in Barcelona, do so. It's a wonderful city; one of Europe's very best, in our experience. From Barcelona, the Adventure of the Seas visited several Mediterranean ports (Toulon, Ajaccio, Mallorca, Cartagena) and two Canary Island ports, before setting out across the Atlantic to San Juan... 14 days in all. The selection of ports was very good, but the timing of some of the visits left room for improvement. For example, we visited Toulon on a Monday. Does RC not know that the French normally work Saturdays and take Mondays off? Disappointingly, this interesting port city was closed! This experience was replayed in Cartagena. Our favorite port was Ajaccio in Corsica, and we plan to return there for a land holiday. Onboard, the Adventure of the Seas is a marvel -- lots of room, lots of glitz, and an excellent smooth performer in rough seas. The maintenance on this ship is superb. Our stateroom was on deck 6, roughly amid-ship, with a balcony. It was excellent; and the service from the stateroom attendant was flawless. Some guests were complaining that their rooms were being serviced annoyingly late in the day. Later, we were to learn that RC had a lot of 'new recruits' among the crew on this voyage, and they were running daytime training sessions for the rookies... who were expected to catch up after class, I guess. Anyway, the problem was affecting some staterooms, and quite a few of the bars. Until the evening hours, fully half the bars were not open, and quite a few of the bar-tenders had difficulty mixing some of the drinks that were listed in the bar menus. The dining room was mediocre in many respects. On the first day aboard, we arrived at our reserved table for 6 to learn that it had been assigned to 8 guests. Anyway, the problem was addressed for the second evening, and all affected parties seemed satisfied. But, how can this kind of rookie mistake happen? Let's move on to the food. The quality of the entrees was inconsistent -- some evenings it was superb; some evenings it was difficult to choose an acceptable entree from the day's menu. Inconsistency! But the deserts were consistently bad. Indeed, we noted that the desert offerings at the buffet were much better than those being offered in the dining room. Incidentally, our table service was excellent; probably the best we've ever experienced. But we did note that some of the guests at nearby tables were not so fortunate. We used the buffet for breakfasts and lunches. The quality and choice of food was very good cruise fare. The only negative was the service, in terms of speed of clearing tables, etc. We did not frequent any of the extra-charge restaurants. And, speaking of costs, the cost of alcoholic beverages has been creeping up at RC. The cheapest bottle of wine that I could find was $27 + an automatic 15% gratuity. This is for a bottle of wine that I could have purchased for the equivalent of $6 in Barcelona. The activities aboard were typical of any very large cruise ship. We can't imagine anyone being bored. Still, this area of service was not without its problems. The gymnasium is probably too small for 3100 passengers, with much of the more popular exercise machines (treadmills, for example) being impossibly over-demanded. Also, the quality of the entertainment aboard was a huge disappointment. Except for an excellent Ice Show and one entertainer (an Elton John impersonator) the entertainment was dreadful, dreadful, dreadful. Generally, we enjoyed the cruise very much, and I have chosen to focus on the areas needing improvement. Would I repeat this cruise? Probably not; but that may be attributable to the very bad disembarkation that we experienced on arrival in San Juan (home port for the Adventure of the Seas). The ship was scheduled to clear port at about 7:30 AM and we booked a San Juan tour, since our flight only left at 4:00 PM. However, the ship did not clear until after 9:00 AM, and then the problems began in earnest. Passengers were off-loaded into a large metal building where, in 80 F heat, and without water or bathroom facilities, we stood in-line for three hours to clear US customs. During this experience, NO Royal Caribbean crew were in evidence. I can't believe that this is normal procedure in the ship's American home port! Welcome to the USA. Read Less