Lipstick on a Pig
Adventure of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Southern
7 Night Southern Caribbean (San Juan Roundtrip)
Sail date: May 13, 2017
Ship: Adventure of the Seas
Cabin type: Suite
Cabin number: 1654
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 7 years ago
Review summary
Cruisers beware, the ship is NOT completely renovated. Don Johnson 1990's state rooms, hall ways welcome you to this tired ship. 2016 renovations were not completed as advertised. Deck 5, 11 pool area appear to be completed the rest of the ship left port in 2001.
Lets talk food, 2 specialty resturants, Chop's Steakhouse can't cook a steak to order, why because the majority of food is made earlier in the day and flash heated / steam trayed for service. 3 Fillet Mignon's ordered Med Rare, all well done, 4th ordered rare to out fox the chef, finally got close. If you like Sizzler or Old Country Buffet food, then this cruise is for you. No evening buffet, same old same old, day after day, menu nemoriezed by day 2. 1st day nice yellow bananna's which you had to ask for, each day after selection became more ripened, brown spots gallore, thank god it wasn't 2 weeks. Forget papaya, kiwi, mango, Caribbean exotic fruits, expect hard apples, same fruit cocktail, green oranges etc. Pastry were horrible. Teramagoo not tiramisu, never had a glob of tiramisu should have known by the serving bowl. Someone from NYC or Jersey, please show the chef how to make a Cannoli, no crunch, whip cream filling, gross. Tarts were gooey. Thanks to this experience, I now know what to expect at the end of my life in a retirement home.
3 days prior to cruising, RC had knowledge of St. Lucia port closure. Though constant barrage of emails to sell you something, the port closure was not communicated prior to sailing. Passengers were afforded the info after the safety drill 1st day. Anyone who booked excurions on their own (recommend) not through the overpriced short excurions offered by the cruiseline, had to scramble at sea.
If you are first time cruisers without a benchmark of what Royal Caribbean or other lines typically offer or one could expect (and shown on RC's own commercials of other ships in your cabin) then this is your cruise ship. If you have cruised on anything other than Carnival, then you will be gravely dissapointed. Throwing some lipstick on the old pig in the veranda and hiring Sizzlers chef doesn't float the boat.
Unfortunately, the people who you will engage face to face have to apply the lipstick every day. No complaints about any of the staff we met. We felt sorry them actually, 12hr days, 7 days a week exploited labor in my opinion. Just think, they have the task of serving the slop, raking the stables (state rooms), and milking the passengers (constantly selling), ALL for corporate profit at the passengers cost, a true Adventure at Sea. If you booked future sailings on Adventure of the Seas before Jan 2018 dry dock, run!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Children's Programs
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
Run far away. Book after next dry dock or later.
Ports of call
Castries, St. Lucia Did not visit port
Traveler Photos
21 Comments
RealView 7 years ago
According to the Captain during the safety drill announcement, yes as we left port, St. Lucia was closed due to dredging to accommodate larger ships for RCCL. During the cruise it was discovered RCCL knew about this days before sailing. Considering the ship was there 2 weeks prior, makes you wonder why it was kept quiet. Obviously the entertainment director was caught offguard as well, initial shore excursions to new port Martineqe were in B&W and a mass scramble to dig up things to do hit the entire ship.
RealView 7 years ago
If you have a cruise planned based on Moons statements, switch ships and wait for the upgrades. Unfortunately I relied on RCCL booking and didnt go back far enough
Based my booking on the reviews on here that obviously are either staff from RCCL or paid stoolies part of the presidents club crowd wanna be who become clouded in that search that everything is great. The upgrading of a new chef still isn't clear because the food on this ship sucks, period, upgrade or not.
mrsmoon 7 years ago
RealView 7 years ago
No motives Steve, we sailed on two other RC cruises in the Met, same ship, first 2 months old, second 7 years old. Worlds apart on the second, each port the ship smelled of sewer. I also traveled on the Summit in 2015 and had our trip in April 2017 (shortened due to ship propulsion issues) so we took the refund and went on Adventure to catch the other ports married with our 2015 cruise. The Celebrity Summit is about the same age BUT it was totally updated. The information given on cruise credict, through RC and other sights implied the Adventure was renovated in 2016. There wasn't any direct contradiction to the info, in other words the info was misleading and "suggested" the ship was completely renovated. Simple things like ice in your suite, the ability to present fish that is moist, the knowledge that Filet Mignon is best served rare to medium rare not well done are basics in cooking. I'm not that refined but come on, $4,000+ for a the level of original played out room decor, run of the mill food found at lower income over salted food chains is not acceptible.
Dear Readers, Take the info at face value, only wish I had this info and not hung up on protecting what was with the cruise line or this particular ships past. Each person at any given time experience the cruise differently. I can assure you the rooms won't be upgraded in 2017, and based on the galley tour, pre-made food is the norm under this chef.
RealView 7 years ago
I would change the date or ship. Trust me, this ship and chef need a make over. I spoke with Royal post cruise and customer relations recomends the newer ships for food and service for suite / Jr. Suite travelers. As I posted, the crew is NOT the issue. The Chef and those who hide behind the front line folks hold them accountible. If you complain about the food the waiter gets the bad mark not the chef. Just letting you know in advance. The ports are the ports, look at Trip Advisor for each and enjoy.
pamela27 7 years ago