Everything was excellent, except the casino allows smoking throughout. Many of us could not stay there as long as we would wish. The smokers also seemed rude and purposely blew smoke towards others. I don't know if it was on purpose, or if they were just oblivious to the non-smokers. Coming from Florida where it is illegal to smoke in a public place, I was aghast that smokers had more rights than we non-smokers. Everything else was superior. Departure was easy and smooth; disembarkation was fast and smooth. I liked the Adventure of the Seas. This was my first time on her, and all was good. We had a small cabin, but it was clean, neat, close to the elevators , and Tu was a great cabin steward. Dining was fine. We ate in the Cafe' Promenade, Windjammer, and Sapphire restaurants. Food was very good, but I would have liked a larger selection of entree's. Our waiter and ass't waiter were among the best I have ever had. There were many activities and entertainment shows: nothing as grand as on the Oasis and Allure (no Broadway productions) , but we had good shows. The comedians were only average, but the singers and dancers were very good. Back stage tour was very interesting. The Company Men ( a male quartet) was excellent! I have their CD. They were quite the experience. Service was excellent throughout the ship. I love Grand Cayman, but did not book any excursions this trip. Costa Maya: I just explored and went shopping; then I watched the dolphins being fed and jumping. In Cozumel I took the tour to Chichen Itza. It was a lifetime goal and did not disappoint. Some on the tour did not realize that it takes most of the day to travel back and forth. We only had a little over an hour there, but I knew what to expect. I was not disappointed! I travelled with a friend. I would definitely go again. I love cruising. Read Less

Room attendant was subpar. Didn't clean room til mid afternoon and then would show up 930 or 10 in evening after we had gone to bed to clean second time. Cleaning also was not good. Everything else about cruise was excellent. We were disappointed they did not have the parade on promenade deck. Our dining servers were great, always aiming to please. Offering second helpings, entertaining my grandson, inquiring if everything was ok and offering to get a meal to go if one of us did not show up for supper. Even ran up to windjammer to get strawberry kiwi water for us. We took 3 people who were on their first cruise and they are definitely ready to go again. Disembarking was handled better than previous cruises and we were off ship quicker than we had anticipated. We are looking for our 2020 family/friend cruise. It won't come soon enough Read Less

We chose this cruise because of the great price and the great ports of call.We had a great time.It was our grand-sons first cruise and now tells people he will be pinnacle one day.lol.Many great choices in MDR including chicken,pork,beef,vegetarian,fish,shrimp,Italian dishes,shrimp,and lobster.Most of our faves on appetizers and desserts.Also had great choices for the kiddos.Adventure Ocean was a great option for grand-son.He had fun.The ship has many things to do onboard.Our wait staff were some of the BEST!!Joyal and Jean at table 132.Table was great.A bartender recognized on my sea pass it was by birthday and wished me a happy birthday.Embarkation happened in like 5 minutes fast and easy!!Really the only negative was our bed.It was one of of the worst compared to the other shipsAll 4 ports were awesome.We would definitely go again if the price is right.Phenomenal value.Grand-son loved the ice-show.Hubby liked the dancing and I had a few date nights with hubby and grand-son.Over-all great memories made.Because there were great photographers onboard ;we got some great photos as well to remember it by. Read Less

Very nice ship with lots of activities if you want a chair at the pool, GO EARLY. Ppl get a chair and keep it all day. Food was very good. Most staff member were great, very polite and helpful. I did not care for our room steward. He just acted like we annoyed him. Our hallway smelled like sewer. They were doing daily work on something in our hallway. There were about 6 guys with open panals in our hall daily working all day. No other halls had an oder. Island stops were wonderful. The ship was sold out, so VERY CROWDED. The on boarding shops were more reasonably priced than I expected. She is a very pretty ship. The shows were well put together. Very talented performers. I would recommend the beverage package if you are a drinker. Drinks average about $12 for a mixed drink. We also used the new Key package. We loved the perks it offered. Read Less

We just returned from a Caribbean Cruise on Saturday, March 30. The staff was wonderful - attentive, kind, welcoming...all you could hope for. As usual when this many people are being served, the food is fair. They do the best they can given the limitations and the massive number of people they are serving. It seems healthier options are gradually moving in. Our balcony room was lovely and had enough room for our needs. We had a junior suite and were surprised to find a walk in closet! Prior to booking this trip we had done as much checking as possible - online cruise forums, speaking with folks at RCI, etc - to be sure that the children's program on board accommodates children with special needs. We narrowed our decision down to a Royal Caribbean Cruise vs a Disney Cruise. In the end, it seemed the quality was comparable but the Royal Caribbean won since it was less expensive and we had cruised on their ships twice before (without kids) and were happy overall. We now regret the decision. We had been assured by Royal Caribbean agents that the childcare staff is all trained for dealing with children with special needs and there is even a program for autistic kids, though it was vague. As the cruise date came closer I tried harder to get specific information about what accommodations are made for children with special needs, including what the ratio is and could not get a clear answer but kept getting assured that the kids would be well cared for. Both of our kids have special needs, but our 6 year old son in particular is impulsive and hyperactive. He has to be well supervised. Our group was counting on having at least one hour per day of a break from him. Here is what happened: 1) my travel agent was told by someone at RCI the day before departure that upon arrival we needed to check in with guest services to get us set up as a special needs family. 2) upon arrival, we went straight to the guest services desk, waiting in line for about 20 minutes with a very hyperactive, impulsive and agitated child (!!) only to be told that guest services doesn't handle that at all. I insisted, but then an assistant manager who said he'd been managing that desk for about 15 years told me that absolutely the guest services folks have nothing at all to do with special needs accommodations. Then he said that someone would come to our room to do a private drill so that the crowds wouldn't be too upsetting for our son. That was nice, but not super helpful since we then had to sit in a lounge with NOTHING TO DO while the rest of the passengers were undergoing the drill and our son was spinning out of control from boredom. It was a very stressful way to begin our trip. 3) we headed straight up to Adventure Ocean where we met very nice people, shared our specific issues/concerns about our son. They said there would be no problem handling him but would give us a phone to contact us in case there was a problem. They then informed us that their ratio was a surprising 1:25! My adult kids who didn't have any sensory or behavioral issues would have come undone in that chaotic of an environment. I said that our son in particular needs a lot of supervision and we had been told that they can handle special needs and...what about autistic kids? Surely they can't have autistic kids in that kind of environment. They assured us that they have planned activities and all would be well. 4) the next day (2nd day of our cruise) we took the kids into Adventure Ocean but had to WALK THROUGH A VERY LOUD AND OVERSTIMULATING ARCADE to get in there. TERRIBLE TERRIBLE thing to do to any family, but most of all special needs kids - the sensory overload was not a good way to enter the children’s program. We arrived to a scene that was so chaotic and disorderly that it looked frightening frankly. While standing there trying to assure my kids that they would in fact have fun, two children bumped into each other and neither adult in charge witnessed it because there were nearly 50 kids in the tiny space with only 2 adults - one of them frantically trying to check people in and out and the other ONE PERSON (!!) was trying to manage all of the children in the two sections of the space. It was really a crazy scene. I pushed through, thinking I'm overly sensitive and all of these other parents have left their kids so it must be okay. The child whose head got bumped was crying so hard he was hyperventilating but no one could take the time to comfort him. He looked about 8 or 9 years old. The child who bumped into him was clearly ashamed, feeling like he'd done something wrong and was in a corner in a sort of fetal position looking so disturbed and vulnerable. But again, no one could possibly take the time to comfort him and handle the situation. I stood there for a while and in the end both boys were just encouraged to get back in the ball game but neither looked at all comfortable or happy about playing anything. The boy who was crying was asking to see his parents. I don't know if the caregivers even heard him. 5) I stupidly left both of my kids in there for about 45 minutes and when we picked them up the place was still so chaotic we never went back. 6) we NEEDED this cruise to play but also to relax a bit. We didn't relax at all except for the one hour we had massages booked and our older daughters took care of the kids. We were counting on getting some relief from the kids and them having some fun organized activities, but that did not happen. 7) I complained to the Adventure Ocean manager by phone on the 3rd day, hoping that there was possibly some other program for kids who are sensitive, but nope. The only thing she said was that we could be let in the back door so the overstimulating arcade could be avoided. And she said that on port days the children's program has fewer kids. We took our kids out to enjoy islands on port days! So that's not helpful. We ended up having a very stressful experience on board. I am writing to let others know that at least on this ship, they don't have any sort of accommodations for special needs kids. And secondly, to have an adult to child ratio of 1:25 doesn’t even adequately meet the needs of typical children, in my opinion and from what I observed with my own eyes that day. My kids refused to go back there to try another day and they are kids who usually are game for any kind of adventure and fun. If I had even been told that the ratio was 1:25 we would have gone ahead and paid the extra to go on a Disney Cruise for fewer days. It is dangerous even to have ratios that high. After writing a letter to RCI, I received a phone call from someone who said they read my letter, thanked me for my feedback and suggestions, and have a nice day. Disappointing response for sure. At the very least, they need to have it posted where parents are able to see on their website when shopping for a cruise, that their ratio is 1:25. That information should not be impossible to learn until boarding the ship. Read Less

We recently returned from a cruise to the Western Caribbean with Royal Caribbean on Adventures of the Seas. We traveled with my daughter, son-in-law and 4 grandchildren ages 15, 12,10 and 8. The whole experience was fantastic. We first spent two days in Fort Lauderdale at the beach and took an airboat ride through the Everglades. We stayed at the Ocean Mile Motel which was an older place but very nice and within walking distance to the beach. The owner of the Motel was an awesome young man that made sure our ever need was met. We had rented a car at the airport and turned it in near Port Everglades which provided a shuttle to the cruise port. Once there we were able to board and I was surprised at how smoothly boarding the ship went. Shortly after being on the ship we were able to go to our stateroom which was very nice sized as we had two of our grandchildren in our room. The food on the ship was superb. Our waiter in the main dining was Roberto and he did above and beyond to serve us and meet our needs. Our first port was Falmouth, Jamaica where we did the Dunn's River excursion. I highly recommend this as it was beautiful and so much fun. The next day was Grand Cayman where we did a Dolphin swim and a trip to Stingray City both were so memorable for all of us and l will never forget the look on my grandkids faces as they petted stingrays. Costa Maya was next and we took a van to a beach area and had drinks at the Krazy Lobster 2.00 beer and 5.00 margarita's nice beach area with lounge chairs, and shopping near by last port was Cozumel and we used the Cozumel Activities just outside the port area who took us to a resort beach area where we could snorkel and swim for 25.00 a person which included the snorkel gear. Our driver was awesome and made sure we got back to the ship in plenty of time. The entertainment on our ship was fantastic; two different comedians, a Spainish gaucho who had a very funny, entertaining act, an ice show in the ice rink, great music and dancing by the cruise ship entertainers. My grandkids never lacked for things to do and they didn't even spend anytime in the kids programs which were plentiful. All in all would highly recommend it. Read Less

We chose this cruise due to date "spring break" and location. It was my son, 13yo and me traveling alone. We wanted something close to home and a chose a cruise since we wanted to stick to a pre-set budget so we pre-paid all our gratuities, excursions etc. We had a few ship sailing options from Miami and Ft Lauderdale in the end we chose this ship because the itinerary was more interesting for my son and it was right on budget. We had no issues with arrival/departure or baggage delivery as we were local and had carry-on bags. We checked-in later in the day somewhere around 3pm so our cabin was also ready upon arrival. DINING- After unpacking and ensuring everything was ok in the cabin we headed out to the PROMENADE CAFE where we had an afternoon snack daily. They had a nice variety of food choices daily. The wait times here varied based on time of day, but was fast moving and fortunately we never had an issue finding seats (time of day we went, I guess). The only critical feedback is that the bussing was slow and there was no area for one to self bus thus giving an unkempt look and presenting issues with seating. COFEE BAR - Adjacent to Promenade Cafe - wait times can vary, busier during morning hours. Service was good and coffee was good. I recommend buying the Coffee Pass which allows you up to 15 premium selections throughout the sailings (note; Fraps count as 1). MAIN DINING ROOM - This is my pet peeve. We booked this cruise in advance, as I stated just my son and I traveling, we confirmed MAIN Dining 8pm and Table of 6 - we wanted to meet and socialize with other cruisers. First evening on our way to dining room we come to find out that we now have MY TIME DINING When did this change? Why weren't we told? Everything, all of my documents, which I had with me, even at time of online check-in when I verified dining again we showed dining noted as Main Dining 8pm Table of 6. So here we are 1st night, having to make a tedious long line for dinner, we are finally seated near 9pm and in a Table for 2 - this is all they can give us they said. The waiter Brian, not great, mediocre. The assistant waiter, Charmaine, was graciously charming and all smiles, happy to serve, she made up for what Brian lacked. After our first nights dinner we spoke to the Maitre'D to discuss our dining mishap, he was not able or willing to honor my confirmed dining preferences, all he could do was book us reservations for 8:15pm the remaining of the week for the same TABLE OF 2. Next day, I went to guest services to see about getting this changed, and again they said there was nothing they could do. So please be ware, and when you check-in at the Pier immediately review your SEA PASS for dining accuracy, unfortunately, I failed to do that, lesson learned! To make matters worse, Charmaine, unfortunately, was sick most of the week so we were left with back-up assistant waiters and the boring Brian who it seemed was always rushing about, we were fortunate to get her back on our last night. We made the best of dining, and friended our neighboring tables of 2, together we had an informal table of 6, ha! It is however funny and sad, that each evenings conversation included a discussion of the "service" mood for the evening. The first parties would warn the others of what to expect. All of us also felt rushed at dining. As the evenings went on, I connected the dots and associated this "rushed" sensation to the MY TIME DINING, of course it makes sense, you have tables coming in (of all sizes) at all times, the wait staff is going crazy and unfortunately not able to give their full attention equally to all, or is it that the quiet, bashful table of 2's get lost amongst the bigger and louder parties? That said, I don't recommend My Time Dining to anyone, instead, on the nights you need flexibility visit the WINDJAMMER CAFE, here we found the service and the food options EXCEPTIONAL, even at peak morning hours. Oh before I forget, food quality in the Main Dining room was as expected it was good with great variety from night-to-night. SHIP - Overall it was fine. Few things I would like to mention. The running deck is on the main pool deck, if you are a runner you need to come out here early when not crowded or go and use deck 4. Seriously why do cruise lines always do that? Place the running deck on the most crowded deck and often times windier deck too. The gym was very good. I used it daily. The equipment was in good condition and gym goers wiped after themselves and re-racked weights. I didn't partake in classes, but I did use the treadmills, ellipticals, rowers, free weights and some machines. I didn't visit the casino or bars or shops, so cannot speak to them. Pool/Towels - In my opinion they should have more than 1 towel station, it is located on the main pool deck in a very crowded area. If you are lounging in the upper decks you need to go down 2-decks to get/return towel. Another station, even if only part of day, would I think benefit cruisers. ACTIVITIES- FREE Recreation on board was fun, there was putt-putt, ping-pong, sports deck, rock climbing & slides. With regards to the sports deck and ping-pong, there are lots of hoarders that will take the ball and keep it for a very long time, we only got to use the basketball 10-minutes before the teenagers ran us off the court to play a double court game. For ping pong we often had to wait 30+ minutes to get a table as the unsupervised kids would just keep playing and other kids would keep joining. I think that RCCL can do much better, maybe require guests to check-out the SPORTS equipment and provide a sign-up sheet this way EVERYONE has a chance. I can tell you when my family had the ping-pong table we would play one-game and then share with any other family waiting. We would play one game, they would play one game, then winners would play each other. I didn't see enough of that, very disappointing. The slides were fun, I would go later in the day when the wait time had dropped off. We did not partake in rock climbing, when I remembered it was there, it was too late they were closing up and it was last day of sailing. We did not partake in surfing as that involved an additional fee and well we live in Florida and travel to Southern California yearly. TEEN PROGRAM - I was looking forward to this, but was disappointed. My son is shy, he is an only child, quick to make friends with Adults but with other kids he needs a little more time, so the couple of times I did get him to the Optix lounge there was no one there. It seems that most of the teen activities are un-supervised, there was a calendar of events but not too much explanation of what the events were, so when we went around to inquire no one could help us. The other teens seemed to be traveling with large families and groups so they had the advantage, I really recommend that cruise lines maybe offer SINGLE FAMILIES or FAMILIES in general a couple of social meet/greet nights, they do this for target markets which included the older teens 18-21, Adult Single Cruises, LGBTG and others. TRIVIAS and misc activities were fun but some hosts were better than others. Seriously if you have a Harry Potter Trivia make sure the person running the show has seen the movies and knows how to pronounce the questions. CABIN- We booked the lowest inside cabin available at the time and I was very happy with our cabin and our service. We were assigned a cabin on deck 6 overlooking the promenade. Our cabin attendant was friendly and brought us ice daily. We unfortunately only received a cabin towel animal on the last night :-( EXCURSIONS- We pre-booked our excursions, they were as to be expected. The tour providers were all great and kept to schedule. The only feedback here was the towel service. You have to get your towel before leaving and it wasn't clearly communicated how/where. Additionally it was different every day, wouldn't it be simplest to have teams dispatching towels in the same place every day? The last stop was the best organized where they handed out the towels right on the pier after getting off the ship. ON BOARD COMMUNICATION AND APP- I downloaded the app, have used similar on other cruise lines, I thought this would enable me to communicate with my son during the cruise, it does not!!! There was no way for him to download it too unless he had an e-mail account and additionally there wasn't a feature to communicate with your cabin mates and/or other friends on board. People, you don't have WIFI on board, how else can you communicate with your family and children? Yes you can purchase wifi- but why, we wanted to, and needed to disconnect. I saw other families using walkie-talkie type of devices, wish I would have known, now you know. Also the app didn't show any of the TEEN or KID CLUB options, so again, very hard to know what was going on in those areas. The app also defaulted to "recommended" every time I had to go and select to "see all" you can also filter by type of activity (e.g. Dining, Entertainment). ENTERTAINMENT - mediocre. Not impressed, the only hi-light was a comedian on board and a comedian/musician. Read Less

My wife, son and I cruise every year typically on Spring break. We prefer something closer to a weeklong cruise, not a 3 or 4 night Bahamas cruise. This was 6 nights on Adventure with stops in Grand Cayman, Costa Maya and Cozumel. We love the Voyager & Freedom class of ships so it was a no brainer when we decided to book it. Initially I had us in a panoramic oceanview room on deck 12. I like the thought of floor to ceiling windows plus that would have given my son a sofa-bed instead of a Pullman bed to sleep in. After booking it I continued to look at other rooms, especially balconies. After some searching I found a video of cabin 7388 on Explorer of the Seas, sister ship to Adventure. When the guy in the video got to the balcony I knew I had to try to get that room. I called Royal and fortunately it was available. Apart from the room we loved the cruise, as we always do. We enjoyed the dining, destinations, water slides, mini golf, etc. A few notes about the ship, they added hand washing stations at the entrance to the Windjammer. It’s nice to have that option along with the ‘washy washy’ person. If you don’t know what ‘washy washy’ is, you will once you’ve sailed with Royal. Boarding the ship is also easier now that your sea pass cards are waiting for you at your room. Lastly, Royal did a good job with the recent upgrades. You never feel like you’re walking from an older section of the ship to a part that was recently refurbished, everything flows together. Some may ask, would you do it again? The answer is yes! We’re booked on the same ship and same room for next year. The only downside was being told we had to take down the hammock we brought with us. I saw a couple pictures online of a hammock on this balcony. Our cabin attendant told us we couldn’t have one on a moving vessel. Hmmm, I thought one of the earliest uses of hammocks was on moving vessels. Oh well :) Read Less

Chose this cruise for the price. Embarkation was smooth as silk once we got to the ship. The only slow part was having to park at the midport parking garage and then having to shuttle back to the ship. Lunch at Park Café. Did not want to put up with the crowd at the Windjammer. After lunch our room was ready and our sea pass cards were at our door. Went to Bolleros for a drink while waiting for our luggage. Racquel and Glenn were the greatest bartenders. Went to check on our luggage and one of the two suitcases had arrived. The other did not. Finally got a letter that they confiscated our power strip and had to pick up the bag on deck 1. When I got there I told them the power strip was not a surge protected type and we had used it on numerous cruises. To no avail they said I could reclaim it after departure on the last day. Dinner at the main dining room every day. Food was the typical food served by Royal on their Voyager class ships. Service was excellent at table 147 with Jayesh (you can call me Jay) as the Waiter and Charmaine as his assistant. Even though we had my time dining, we requested that table and time for the remainder of the cruise and it was granted. We definitely tipped them extra at the end of the cruise. Many activities during the day. The shows were good. Finis Henderson was the best. He is a singer / impressionist who does Elvis, Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, Nat King Cole, and many others including Sammy Davis his real Godfather. Casino was good to my wife but not to me. Oh well. Went to the Diamond lounge on the first day for happy hour. The hors d'oeuvres were not that good . The chicken wings seemed like they were steamed and then had some thin bbq sauce on them. The skin chewed like rubber and bubble gum. Small children were touching everything on the buffet but were not eating them. Their guardians were to busy drinking and bragging about their Crown and Anchor status to do anything about them. Next night returned to the DL and again kids running around unsupervised. But the thing that made us not return to this lounge was the fact every one was saving seats for people that "were coming later", so there was no place to sit and they wouldn't open up the outside seating. We had cabin 8637. Sherwin the room steward was great. First morning no hot water in the sink or shower. Called maintenance and they promptly showed up. The man said it's fixed after doing something outside in the hallway wall. It was hotter but not the temp I usually encounter in a stateroom. Next morning no hot water and the sink is stopped up again. By Wednesday we had hot water till Thursday morning. This went on the rest of the cruise and was probably our biggest bummer of the cruise. We bought liquor in Cozumel and as normal you turn it in when you get back on board. The man collecting it said it would be returned to the stateroom on the last night of the cruise. No problem. The last night of the cruise no liquor. Down to Guest Services. They said you can pick up your liquor on embarkation day at 0630 deck 5 in the Sapphire dining room. Why?. Because it is spring break and there is a lot of under age children on board and we don't want them to have access to the alcohol. But if you buy it in their liquor store on the last day you get to take it with you right then and there. What?. Did self assist when getting off the ship. They said it would be around 0645 when they would let us off. Around 0715 is when we started off. The shuttles were waiting and back to the parking garage. All in all a fun time, but we will not cruise the Adventure again. Too many little small things going on. Not enough to spoil a good time, but enough to turn us away from this ship. The Mariner in October. Read Less

We've been on 6 previous cruises and this was our first with Royal. First of all every cruise member was friendly and welcoming. Our dinner waiters Jorge and Garamar were the best we've ever had!!! I can't say enough good things about them! There were 6 of us in our group and we all agreed we've never been treated so well. The food was great! There was only one night when I just didn't care for the fish but it was replaced right away! Breakfast was very good and it is much easier in the dining room than the Wind Jammer. Too crowded in the morning there esp on port days. Lunch was also good in the dining room. The Windjammer food is good too, just too many folks all wanting the same thing. Loved the Washy Washy Ladies! They would stand there every day and see that folks used sanitizer or washing their hands. We had a balcony cabin #7632 and it was very comfortable and quiet. It was not very far to the elevators and library. We enjoyed everything the ship had to offer. Was surprised there wasn't more shopping options onboard as other ships we've been on (Princess and Carnival). We enjoyed the ports of St. Martin, St. Kitts, Labadee, and San Juan. Weather was perfect. Our only complaint was the long, long wait to get off the ship. We were told there were only 3 Customs agents working (also people would not wait until their numbers were called) and that also slowed things up. Wasn't in a hurry to get off the ship but sitting on deck rather than the chilly ice skating rink for a couple of hours would have been better. Overall loved this cruise and wish I was on another right now! Read Less