Adventure of the Seas Review
A mixed scorecard of good and bad for this cruise.
Rating by category
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This was our 3rd sailing on the Adventure of the Seas and it was the least impressive, from the standpoint of the condition of our cabin and of more than a few of the public spaces on board the ship. Oddly enough, it was also one of the best in terms of cordiality, friendliness and great service provided by various crew members. It was stated by some crew members that this particular sailing was a sell out, so that meant roughly 3,800+ passengers on board and at various times, it felt that all of them were in the same place that we were. This is likely our last sailing on board the Adventure as we were told that beginning next year, the ship will be moving its home port away from San Juan and will be splitting its time between Cape Liberty and Miami. The Freedom of the Seas will take the Adventure's place in San Juan. From what we observed firsthand, the ship is well overdue for general maintenance and refurbishment of many items scattered in various places all over the ship. So many of the furnishings in bars and restaurants were wobbly, rickety, dilapidated and just worn out. Many elevators with missing floor call buttons or with the lights for the floor call buttons being burned out. Many public men's restrooms had urinals and stalls which were out of service for the entire sailing time. Some handicapped automatic doors were not functional. A number of casino slots games were out of service for the entire sailing. Burned out or flickering lights inside of the Sapphire dining room, the Windjammer buffet and down stateroom hallways.
Many of the staff members in the Windjammer, Sapphire dining room, Promenade Cafe, Schooner Bar, Duck & Dog Bar and Bolero's were delightful to interact with and provided excellent repeat service with enthusiasm and friendliness. We made sure to sit in the same sections and patronize those same venues, repeatedly, and tipped above and beyond the standard guidelines for those particular crew members.
The best part of the sailing were the excursions that we were booked on for each day, with the only exception being for Martinique, which was substituted in place of St. Maarten. Money for our booked excursion in St. Maarten was refunded to our credit card. Our post cruise excursion to the Bacardi Rum facility, for Saturday 12/23, was cancelled and no one was aware of this. Someone at Royal Caribbean or at Bacardi dropped the ball in communicating this bit of news, so that our tour group only found this out after our bus pulled up to the front entrance and an employee told us that the facility had been rented out for that weekend for a private holiday function. Royal Caribbean has promised full refunds for the price of that tour.
Cabin Review
Superior Oceanview Stateroom with Balcony
Our cabin was really showing some wear and tear on the furnishings inside of it. Multiple dresser drawers would not glide open/closed on their tracks and instead had to be pulled open/pushed closed. The small refrigerator in the room was totally useless in its ability to provide any cooling for any items, including water bottles. There was no adjustment setting inside of it, therefore no ability to try and improve its functionality. The sheer curtains, used most often during the daylight hours, had numerous hooks that were broken off, so that those drapes would sag and hang down. The sofa in the sitting area was covered in stains and was only used if a towel was placed on the cushions. Noticeable mildew and crud visible on the lower portions of the curved shower doors and along the tracks for those doors. Many banged up and scuffed up wood surfaces.
Our stateroom attendant did an excellent job in keeping everything else inside our cabin spotless, stocked and comfortable.