Trip was not easy dodging 2 hurricanes.

Adventure of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Southern

Stevemc5123

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 57

Overall rating:

3 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Southern Caribbean (San Juan Roundtrip)

Sail date: August 22, 2015

Ship: Adventure of the Seas

Cabin type: Suite

Cabin number: 9558

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 9 years ago

Review summary

It's a little unfair to evaluate the cruise because we only went to 1 of the 5 scheduled stops.

The good part is the crew was wonderful, service was great, food was good - the servers accommodated my food allergies well, and everything very clean (ship was a little tired - some stairs had torn carpets, but that was minor).

The bad part, weather, was not Royal Caribbean's fault. However, the process of rebooking new shore excursions to the new ports was frustrating because the TV menu ordering system didn't work each time we tried to use it (with each of the 2 itinerary changes). Reviewing our end-of-cruise accounting was a challenge from excursion charges, credits, new charges, new credits, and again new charges. Another problem with the TV system was we couldn't access the USB port to review our photos. Guest relations said access was blocked to prevent virus downloads. Don't see how a virus could infect their TVs?

We would like to try the original itinerary cruise again - either in 2017 or 2018.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Our dining room servers (Edysson & Shelton) and Noel were all awesome.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

I'm not big on onboard activities in general. I'm more focused on the ports/shore excursions. Normally I would have been on your climbing wall daily, but I just had stitches removed from my hand so I was grounded. =(

Entertainment

5 out of 5

I only went to 1 show - the 'On Ice' performers. Wow - they were amazing!!!!

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

The lady (name complicated, can't remember) who took care of our room was a sweetheart and did a wonderful job. Thank you!

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

I like the layout, it was clean, but some of the areas were a little tired (torn carpets on stairs) and would have liked USB access on the TV to review trip photos in the evenings.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

It was nice. Liked the extra room from our normal balcony. I thought it would be a little bigger, but otherwise it was enjoyable.

Ports of call

San Juan, Puerto Rico

5 out of 5

Yunque National Forest is worth visiting, hiking.

Thumbs Up 10

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

1 out of 5

We booked scuba dive with Octopus Diving. The office stood us up - after 30 min taxi ride to the shop they were CLOSED. No note and did not answer their phones. Our booking tour company was HUGELY apologetic and issued full refund. Still, lost a day of our trip. Very disappointed!!

Thumbs Up 1

Basseterre, St. Kitts

3 out of 5

Hurricane forced us to miss this port.

Thumbs Up 1

St. John's, Antigua

3 out of 5

Hurricane forced us to miss this port.

Thumbs Up 0

Castries, St. Lucia

3 out of 5

Hurricane forced us to miss this port.

Thumbs Up 0

Bridgetown, Barbados

3 out of 5

Hurricane forced us to miss this port.

Thumbs Up 1

13 Comments

dee1285858150 9 years ago

never cruise during hurricane season

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cyntil8ing 9 years ago

We were in Puerto Rico already. We went Tuesday to have some time to explore. We heard about the first storm on Wednesday and found out about the first itinerary change on Thursday. We got phone calls, emails and texts to both me and my husband. The second storm didn't come up until we were already aboard.

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ny2azchic 9 years ago

I didn't expect them to cancel the cruise either,however, talking with Royle Carribean 2 days before, they said they weren't sure IF they were going to cancel so to 2 hurricanes and not sure if which direction it was going to head to, told me it was rare but at that point wasn't sure - in the meantime my flight to San Juan was 12 hours till I left ;(

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cyntil8ing 9 years ago

We always cruise in August. Rates start to drop, but kids are still out of school. We just buy insurance and hope for the best. But we are go-with-the-flow type people. I was more upset about our BioBay excursion being canceled because of seaweed!

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glomarrone 9 years ago

Sorry that you got to miss some of your ports of call. I hope you get the chance to take the cruise again and visit those ports.

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LLiveLife 9 years ago

Good for you August should be fine, I'm glad you still had a good time for the most part yeah I'm scared to book any excursions after hearing everything now I'm just going to wait and wing it to I just hope the weather is better for us in the coming week!

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deet82 9 years ago

They would never cancel a cruise for that reason, especially if they have other ports they can go to. I'm sorry you had to change your route but glad you made the best of it.

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cyntil8ing 9 years ago

We are going to try again next year. We are booked for 8/13/16.

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cyntil8ing 9 years ago

I was on this cruise too. I would have been furious if they had canceled! I loved Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao and the weather was fantastic except for the final sea day. These are the risks one takes cruising the Caribbean in prime hurricane season. i spent many hours finding and booking private tours in St. Kitts, Barbados and St. Lucia that I had to cancel. Instead, we wound up winging it.

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ny2azchic 9 years ago

After we left, it's understandable but for days they were aware of it. With uncertainly, I think they should of cancelled - we found out about the entire change of itinerary when we arrived in San Juan- even tho I called everyday to see what they were going to do

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ny2azchic 9 years ago

I was in the cruise just before this one and we had to do the same thing ;( very disappointing when I waited 25 years of marriage and didn't get to go on our ports either ;( well, 1 of the 5 we did and the rest. 👎👎 not RC Fault tho but they were aware of both hurricanes before we left, knowing we couldn't go to our ports but others,I think it should if been cancelled- if the Hurricanes happened

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LLiveLife 9 years ago

wow that's the main reason I wanted to go on this cruise because of all the ports so you just lose out Royal Caribbean doesn't do anything even though the weather is not there problems so to speak that really sucks, sounds like you still had a good time though but I'm sad to hear that for you and everybody else:-(. We go next Saturday I hope it clears up.

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nancygal 9 years ago

me too. we cruise either the full week before thanksgiving or February or March, with the exception of Alaska June through September

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