Royal Caribbean’s Adventure of the Seas

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Last Updated on February 20, 2024 by Grant

We decided about a year and a half in advance that we would spend Thanksgiving week of 2016 on a cruise. Specifically, Royal Caribbean’s Southern Caribbean Cruise aboard the Adventure of the Seas sailing out of San Juan.

We invited all of our family and many of our friends. We figured this would be a good way to enjoy the holiday with many different branches of our family and nobody would have to cook! Or clean or figure out how to host a big group! Ultimately, it ended up just being the two of us and a couple of thousand strangers on the boat, but it was still a great cruise!

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Adventure of the Seas Refurbishment

Our cruise was actually just the second sailing after Adventure of the Seas came out of dry dock for some fairly significant refurbishments. Unfortunately, during the summer of 2016 Hurricane Matthew caused significant damage to the shipyard. Additionally, the hurricane forced several of the cargo ships carrying equipment and supplies to be rerouted. All this caused changes to the planned refurbishment.

Adventure of the Seas got a fresh look with the 2016 refurbishment, including interactive maps.
Adventure of the Seas got a fresh look with the 2016 refurbishment, including interactive maps.

Ultimately, dock workers were able to complete some of the scheduled refurbishment to Adventure of the Seas. Some parts of the refurbishment were pushed back, some will be in process for a few months and, sadly, some of the upgrades were cut altogether.

We do want to note that Royal Caribbean did offer a future cruise credit to all guests on this cruise to make up for the change to the refurbishment schedule. We do have a certificate for a credit towards a future cruise, to be used within the next year. Unfortunately, we are not sure that we will be able to use it, but we do appreciate the gesture by Royal Caribbean.

The vast majority of the ship was exactly what we expected… up-to-date furnishings, a variety of lounges, bars and lots of entertainment. The biggest disappointment for us, in terms of the refurbishment, was the restaurants. Chops Grille was not yet open and plans to install Izumi Japanese Cuisine were axed. Thus, we only had one specialty restaurant. We do consider ourselves minor foodies, so losing two restaurants was tough for us.

Dining on Adventure of the Seas

Breakfast, most days, was in the main dining room. We had an option of a buffet or a cooked-to-order meal, along with fresh breads and pastries. We ordered room service for breakfast once, but it arrived sooner than we expected, which was somewhat inconvenient. While the food was good, we decided we would rather just go to the restaurant or buffet when the time was right for us.

Our favorite lunch was in the main dining room, where we were able to get a custom salad along with an entrée. That was a real treat after having the buffet and pizza for several days!

The entree salad from the lunch service in the main dining room. Cruise tip: the main dining room aboard Royal Caribbean ships is absolutely great for breakfast and lunch... Much less crowded than the buffet.
The entree salad from the lunch service in the main dining room. Cruise tip: the main dining room aboard Royal Caribbean ships is absolutely great for breakfast and lunch… Much less crowded than the buffet.

The main dining room always has a fabulous dinner menu with mainstays and rotating specials. We enjoyed every meal we had in the main dining room. We also enjoyed getting to know our wait staff, as it was the same every night, even with My Time Dining.

The Windjammer Cafe, a buffet, is another good option, especially for breakfast and lunch. They have a wide variety to choose from, which should please most travelers. The Cafe Promenade also serves a light breakfast (pastries) and lunch (sandwiches and pizza). We enjoyed the cafe but ultimately is just wasn’t enough food for a full meal most days.

Specialty Restaurants on Adventure of the Seas

While the main dining room was great, there is a reason that cruise lines have specialty restaurants. Even with a changing menu, it can get boring to eat in the same place every single day/night. This is why we are willing to splurge a little on the restaurants.

The meat and cheese plate at Giovanni's Table
The meat and cheese plate at Giovanni’s Table

While we are willing to pay a little extra for something different, we also always have our budget in mind. The cruise line offered a dinner special a few weeks before the sailing, which we took advantage of. We booked a package of two meals for the price of one (on the first two nights). We planned to dine at Portofino (Italian) one night and Chops (steakhouse) the other night. However, since Chops wasn’t open yet, that left us with just one option for both nights.

Portofino was excellent! We really enjoyed the food, drinks, service and ambiance. The antipasti (meat and cheese platter) was a great start to the meal. The pasta was delicious, the steak was well seasoned and cooked as ordered and the dessert was amazing! It really took us back to Italy and was a great way to start our dining experience onboard The Adventure of the Seas.

Portofino did offer a couple of dishes from the Chops menu, which was nice. But it was certainly not the same as having a second restaurant to dine at.

As evident by her face, Bonnie loves ice cream... or really anything sweet.
As evident by her face, Bonnie loves ice cream… or really anything sweet.

While Portofino was the only specialty restaurant, there is also a Johnny Rockets on board, which I think is fairly standard for Royal Caribbean ships. Johnny Rockets may not be a first-class dining experience, but it is a great alternative to a fancy dinner every night. Burgers and a milkshake is always a yummy treat!

While we were mildly disappointed that we did not have all the restaurant options that we expected, we really enjoyed our dining experience onboard Adventure of the Seas. All of the food was delicious and the service was great all week!

Bars on Adventure of the Seas

Let’s be honest, one thing that everyone likes about cruising is the ability to drink and not have to worry about driving or even navigating through car-filled streets! While we rarely drink excessively, we do enjoy adult beverages and did purchase the drink package.

Grant enjoying his first drink aboard the Adventure of the Seas.
Grant enjoying his first drink aboard the Adventure of the Seas.

While we may not always get our money’s worth out of the drink package (especially Bonnie), it is much better than counting every dollar spent on every drink and worrying about what it will add up to. I would much rather pre-pay and just be able to get a drink when I want to and not worry about it!

Our favorite bar on Adventure of the Seas is definitely the Viking Crown Lounge. Located on deck 14, this lounge overlooks the pool area and offers a great view of the ship and your surroundings. We especially like this bar at sunset! It also is usually fairly quiet, so it can be a great place to unwind and actually have a conversation.

The Viking Crown Lounge is one of our favorite bars on the boat.
The Viking Crown Lounge is one of our favorite bars on the boat.

Other bars include Boleros Latin Lounge (a new addition with the refurbishment), Schooner Bar, Duck & Dog Pub, the Champagne Bar and Gravity Sports Bar. Boleros and Schooner Bar often offer live music in the evening. The Duck & Dog Pub has a wide range of craft beer and whiskey. The Champagne Bar has champagne, of course, but also other high-end liquors, such as Johnny Walker Blue. Gravity Sports Bar is exactly that: a sports bar with lots of TVs. Don’t get too excited, though, as they only got ESPN Caribbean. Thus, no watching college football on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

We enjoyed all the different bars. They each offer their own atmosphere, so there is something for just about everyone.

Things to Do on Adventure of the Seas

This ship had the usual shopping, pool, spa and gym that you would find on most any cruise ship. There is a separate pool area for adults, but it was usually just as noisy and crowded as the general pool. We are not big pool people though, so we really didn’t spend much time at any of the pools.

The main pool provides ample opportunity for kids to play and a adults to sunbathe.
The main pool provides ample opportunity for kids to play and adults to sunbathe.

There is also a track, an arcade, a rock-climbing wall and various sports courts. New additions include a two-story mini-golf course, FlowRider surfing simulator and dual racer water slides. Unfortunately, the water slides were not quite operational yet. The FlowRider was a big success, though, with lines usually fairly long. Surfing is not our thing, so we enjoyed the small stadium seating for watching!

Towel animals are always fun!
Towel animals are always fun!

There also were lots of scheduled activities going on throughout the ship such as trivia, dance contests, poker tournaments and wine tastings. These vary from day to day, but there is always a long list of activities to keep folks busy on both port days and at-sea days.

Nightlife on Adventure of the Seas

We typically are not late-night partiers, at home or when traveling. In fact, we often have to force ourselves to stay out after dinner when traveling so that we can experience some of the nightlife!

When cruising, our favorite evening activity, by far, is gambling. I suppose that is because we don’t have the opportunity to visit casinos at home! We are very conservative gamblers, though. We determine how much we are willing to lose and that’s all we take with us to the casino. The amount typically equates to what we would be comfortable spending on a night out at a restaurant and/or movie. We figure that way if we lose it all, we’ve spent a comfortable amount of money on our entertainment for the night.

The casino does not really welcome cameras, but has plenty of slots as well as most table games.
The casino does not really welcome cameras but has plenty of slots as well as most table games.

The Casino Royale offers our favorite, blackjack, along with roulette, poker, craps and, of course, slot machines. You can order drinks at the casino bar or wait for a server to come to the table to take orders.

Additionally, Adventure of the Seas generally offers at least one show per night. It typically is not the Broadway-level show available on some of the other (bigger) cruise ships, but good entertainment nonetheless. The nightly show could be a variety show, a comedian, a dance revue or an ice skating show.

One of the cool  parts of a cruise is the opportunity to see great entertainment, like famous ventriloquist Ronn Lucas.
One of the cool parts of a cruise is the opportunity to see great entertainment, like famous ventriloquist Ronn Lucas.

We saw two comedians, including the ventriloquist, Ronn Lucas. Both shows were fairly short but entertaining. Sadly, we did not make it to any of the song or dance shows. This is the problem with a cruise that stops in a different port for five days in a row – you are just too tired at the end of the day to enjoy all of the entertainment on the ship!

Overall Impressions of Adventure of the Seas

The Adventure of the Seas is a good mid-level ship. It is not one of the newest, biggest ships with the most extravagant furnishings or attractions. It also is not so small that you have nothing to do.

You will get quality food, drink, entertainment and service at a reasonable price. This was a great ship for us, especially since it was just the two of us. The ship does have plenty of family-friendly entertainment and activities for kids. There is also enough fun stuff for adult couples traveling without kids.

A quick selfie with St. John's in the background.
A quick selfie with St. John’s in the background.

Overall, we recommend this ship for any cruise. We recommend this Southern Caribbean Cruise itinerary. And we recommend Royal Caribbean as a cruise line.

For more from our 2016 southern Caribbean cruise, be sure to read our overviewtips on staying healthy on a cruisepros and cons of staying in an aft cabin, as well as our port reports from Saint MartinSaint KittsAntigua,  Saint LuciaBarbados, and San Juan.


Travel Resources
What do you use to find a flight?

We use Skyscanner to find deals on flights. Skyscanner has a great interface and compares tons of airlines for the best pricing and routing. That said, it does not always have every airline and some airlines will have better deals on their website. Still, Skyscanner is a great place to start.
Click here to search for a flight.

What do you use to find a hotel?

We typically stay at Hilton properties, so we use the Hilton website. You can find good Hilton Honors discounts or AAA discounts for a hotel there. We make great use of our free night certificates from our Hilton Honors American Express.
Click here to book a Hilton property.

If there are no Hilton properties available, we use TripAdvisor to read reviews and book the hotel. We find we can get the best price that way.
Click here to search for a hotel.

We recently partnered with Stay22 to add interactive maps to each of our destination posts. This will allow you to see a plethora of hotels and vacation rentals all in one responsive map of the area.
Click here to search an interactive map.

What if I need more space than I can get at a hotel?

We use Vrbo for the times when we have rented a cabin for a weekend getaway, like this cabin in Townsend, TN, or needed to rent a house for a large family vacation. We had a great experience with them in terms of refunding deposits when COVID hit and will continue to use them.
Click here to search for a vacation rental.

Who do you use for rental cars?

As a general rule, we book with Hertz for rental cars. We have had nothing but good experiences with them. Plus, we really like unlimited mileage and not worrying about crossing state lines. We have even rented from Hertz overseas in both Slovenia and Croatia.
Click here to book a rental car.

How about booking a cruise?

We have found some amazing prices for booking a cruise through Cruise Direct. We have saved a lot of money on our cruises compared to what we found elsewhere, making a last-minute Bahamas cruise even cheaper.
Click here to book a cruise.

What if I want to rent an RV?

We highly recommend Outdoorsy for RV rentals. We rented a camper van for a week to visit Rocky Mountain National Park for the elk rut and Custer State Park for the Buffalo Round-Up and had a blast. The program was easy to use and we really enjoyed the freedom of having a camper van for that trip.
Click here to rent an RV.

What do you use for booking tours?

We don’t often book tours. Typically, we like to do stuff on our own. That said, there are some experiences you can’t have any other way. So, when we do want to book a tour, we always check Viator first.
Click here to book a tour.

Do you use anything to get discounts on the road?

We make extensive use of both Good Sam and AAA on the road. Good Sam is normally regarded as a discount card for RVers at campgrounds and Camping World but anyone can use the 5 cents off a gallon at the pump at both Pilot and Flying J.
Click here to get a Good Sam membership.
We have had AAA as long as we have been married and it has more than paid for itself in discounts at hotels, aside from the peace of mind of having roadside assistance. Add in paper maps and the ability to get an international driver’s license and it is more than worth it for any traveler out there.
Click here to get a AAA membership.

Where can I get Travel Insurance?

We have partnered with Global Rescue for travel and evacuation insurance. This provider will put you out of the worst situations and get you to medical care promptly. You can even purchase “cancel for any reason” insurance from Global Rescue. This is our go-to provider of travel insurance. Traveling somewhere dangerous? They will even extract you if war were to break out on your trip.
Click here to get Global Rescue for your upcoming trip.

An overview of Royal Caribbean's Adventure of the Seas, including reviews of dining, bars, activities and 2016 refurbishments.
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4 thoughts on “Royal Caribbean’s Adventure of the Seas”

  1. Thank you for sharing your review of the Adventure of the Seas, as well as your itinerary. I will be on the same ship with the same port schedule in December 2017, so your blog gave me a good heads-up on what to expect in 5 new ports. Thanks again for sharing!

    Reply
  2. I must say our trip on this ship, summer 2019, was unpleasant. The cabin was dirty, stained and rusty in all areas. We sailed from NJ to Bar Harbor, St. John and Halifax…excursions in St. John and Halifax were canceled last minute, leaving us to fend for ourselves. The adult pool was in a direct line from cabins to everywhere else, so crowded with children running thru and the NOISE! I would not sail on RC ever again. My choice is Viking!

    Reply

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