Berlitz Cruising & Cruise Ships 2017 (Berlitz Cruise Guide) (2016)
Adventure of the Seas
★★★+
Berlitz’s Ratings
Ship: 390 out of 500
Accommodation: 141 out of 200
Food: 222 out of 400
Service: 268 out of 400
Entertainment: 76 out of 100
Cruise: 264 out of 400
Overall Score: 1361 out of 2000
Adventure of the Seas Statistics
Size: Large Resort Ship
Tonnage: 137,276
Lifestyle: Standard
Cruise Line: Royal Caribbean International
Former Names: none
IMO Number: 9167227
Builder: Kvaerner Masa-Yards (Finland)
Original Cost: $500 million
Entered Service: Nov 2001
Registry: Bahamas
Length (ft/m): 1,020.6/311.1
Beam (ft/m): 155.5/47.4
Draft (ft/m): 28.8/8.8
Propulsion/Propellers: diesel-electric (75,600kW)/3 pods (2 azimuthing, 1 fixed)
Passenger Decks: 14
Total Crew: 1,185
Passengers (lower beds): 3,114
Passenger Space Ratio (lower beds): 44.0
Passenger/Crew Ratio (lower beds): 2.6
Cabins (total): 1,557
Size Range (sq ft/m): 151.0-1,358.0/14.0-126.1
Cabins (for one person): 0
Cabins (with private balcony): 765
Cabins (wheelchair accessible): 26
Wheelchair accessibility: Best
Cabin Current: 110 volts
Elevators: 14
Casino (gaming tables): Yes
Slot Machines: Yes
Swimming Pools: 3
Hot Tubs (on deck): 6
Self-Service Launderette: No
Dedicated Cinema/Seats: No
Library: Yes
Onboard currency: US$
A large ship that’s big on things to do for the whole family
Overview. Adventure of the Seas is a large, floating leisure resort. It provides a host of facilities, rather like a small town, yet offers a healthy amount of space per passenger. Too large to go through the Panama Canal, it limits its itineraries almost exclusively to the Caribbean, where only a few islands can accept it.
The Ship. A four-deck-high Royal Promenade is the main interior focal point; it’s a good place to hang out, or to arrange to meet someone. The length of two American football fields, it has two internal lobbies rising through 11 decks. Cafés, shops, and entertainment locations front this winding street and interior ‘with-view’ bay window cabins look into it from above.
The long super-atrium houses a ‘traditional’ pub. There’s also a Champagne Bar, a Sidewalk Café (for Continental breakfast, all-day pizzas, specialty coffees, and desserts), Sprinkles (for round-the-clock ice cream and yoghurt), and a sports bar. There are also several shops - for jewelry, gifts, liquor, perfumes, and souvenirs. Comedy art has its place here, too, for example in the trompe l’oeil painter climbing up the walls.
Arched across the promenade is a captain’s balcony, and in the center of the promenade a stairway connects you to the deck below, where you’ll find the Schooner Bar (a piano lounge common to all Royal Caribbean International (RCI) ships) and the flashy Casino Royale. Gaming includes blackjack, Caribbean stud poker, roulette, and craps, plus 300 slot machines.
There’s a regulation-size ice-skating rink (Studio B), with real ice, with ‘bleacher’ seating for up to 900, and the latest in broadcast facilities. A stunning two-deck library, open 24 hours a day, includes $12 million worth of artwork.
Other drinking places include the intimate Champagne Bar, Crown & Anchor Pub, and Connoisseur Club - for cigars and cognacs. Lovers of jazz might appreciate Blue Moon, an intimate room for cool music atop the ship in the Viking Crown Lounge. Golfers might enjoy the 19th Hole, a golf bar, as they play the Adventure Links.
Families. Facilities for children and teenagers are quite extensive. Aquanauts is for three- to five-year-olds; Explorers is for six- to eight-year-olds; Voyagers is for nine- to 12-year-olds. Optix is a dedicated area for teenagers, including a daytime club with several computers, a soda bar, and a dance floor. Challenger’s Arcade has an array of video games. Paint and Clay is an arts and crafts center for younger children. Adjacent is Adventure Beach, an area for all the family to enjoy; it includes swimming pools, a water slide, and outdoor game areas.
Accommodation. There is a wide range of cabin price grades, in four major groupings: premium ocean-view suites and cabins, interior (atrium-view) cabins, ocean-view cabins, and interior cabins. Many cabins are of a similar size - good for incentives and large groups - and 300 have interconnecting doors (good for families).
Some 138 interior cabins have bay windows that look into the interior horizontal atrium - the Royal Promenade - a cruise industry first when the ship originally debuted. Regardless of what cabin grade you choose, all except for the Royal and Owner’s Suites have twin beds that convert to a queen-size unit, TV set, radio and telephone, personal safe, vanity unit, hairdryer, and private bathroom. However, you’ll need to keep the curtains closed in the bay windows if you wear little clothing - you can be seen easily from adjacent bay window cabins.
Royal Suite (Deck 10). At around 1,146 sq ft (107 sq m), the Royal Suite is the largest private living space, located almost at the top of the Centrum lobby on the port side. It is a nicely appointed penthouse suite, whose occupants, sadly, must share the rest of the ship with everyone else, except for access to their own exclusive concierge club. It has a king-size circular bed in a separate large bedroom that can be fully closed off; a living room with an additional queen-size sofa bed, baby grand piano, refrigerator/wet bar, dining table and four chairs, expansive entertainment center, and a reasonably large bathroom.
Royal Family Suites. The four Royal Family Suites (two aft on Deck 9, two aft on Deck 8; each measure around 574 sq ft/53 sq m) have two separate bedrooms. These suites, at the stern, have large balconies with views out over the ship’s wash.
Owner’s Suites. Ten slightly smaller but desirable Owner’s Suites (around 468 sq ft/43 sq m) are in the center of the ship, on both port and starboard sides, adjacent to the Centrum lobby on Deck 10. There’s also a private balcony, although it’s not very large.
Standard outside-view and interior cabins. All cabins have a private bathroom, as well as interactive TV and pay-per-view movies, including an X-rated channel. Cabin bathrooms really are compact, but at least they have a proper shower enclosure instead of a shower curtain.
The balcony decking is made of Bolidt - a sort of rubberized sand - and not wood, though the balcony rail is of wood. If you have a cabin with a connecting door to another cabin, be aware that you’ll probably be able to hear everything your next-door neighbors say and do. Bathroom toilets are explosively noisy, based on the vacuum system. Cabin bath towels are small and skimpy. Note that room service food menus are very basic.
Dining. The main dining room has a total capacity of 1,919. It is close to being massive, and consists of three levels, each of which is named after a famous composer: Mozart, Strauss, and Vivaldi. The menu is the same on all three levels. A dramatic staircase connects all three levels, and huge, fat support pillars obstruct sight lines from a number of seats. However, the ambience is good and there’s always a good buzz when the ship is full and dinner is in progress.
Two small private wings serve private groups: La Cetra and La Notte, each with 58 seats. When you book, choose one of two seatings, or ‘My Time Dining’ (eat when you want during dining room hours). Tables are for four, six, eight, 10, or 12. The place settings, china, and cutlery are of good quality.
Other dining options. Portofino, the ship’s upscale Euro-Italian restaurant. It’s open for dinner only, reservations are required, and there’s a cover charge. The food and its presentation are better than the food in the dining room, although the restaurant isn’t large enough for all passengers to try even once during a cruise. Choices include antipasti, soup, salad, pasta, main dish, dessert, cheese, and coffee.
Casual and informal meals at all hours can be taken at:
Windjammer Café: this is a really large, sprawling venue for casual buffet-style, self-help breakfast (this tends to be the busiest time of the day), lunch, and light dinners (but not on the last night of the cruise); it’s often difficult to find a table and by the time you do your food could be cold.
The Island Grill (it’s actually a section inside the Windjammer Café), for casual dinner (no reservations needed), with a grill and open kitchen.
Johnny Rockets, a retro 1950s all-day, all-night diner-style eatery, has hamburgers, malt shakes (at extra cost), and jukebox hits, with both indoor and outdoor seating.
Promenade Café: for Continental breakfast, all-day pizzas, and speciality coffees - which are provided in paper cups.
Sprinkles, located on the Royal promenade, is for round-the-clock ice cream and yogurt, pastries, and coffee.
Entertainment. The 1,350-seat Lyric Theater, the principal showlounge, is a stunning room located at the forward end of the ship. It has Art Nouveau themed decor, spans the height of five decks, with only a few slim pillars and almost no disruption of sight lines. Production shows are presented here by a large cast and a live band.
Spa/Fitness. The ShipShape health spa is reasonably large, and measures 15,000 sq ft (1,400 sq m). It includes an aerobics room, fitness center (with all the usual muscle-training equipment), treatment rooms, and men’s and women’s sauna/steam rooms. Another 10,000 sq ft (930 sq m) of space is devoted to a Solarium (with sliding glass-dome roof) to relax in after you’ve exercised.
On the back of the funnel is a 32.8ft (10m) rock-climbing wall, with five climbing tracks. It’s a great buzz being 200ft (60m) above the ocean while the ship is moving. Other sports facilities include a roller-blading track, a dive-and-snorkel shop (with equipment for rent), a full-size basketball court, and a nine-hole, par 26 golf ‘course.’