Welcome our guest writer, Mike Scudiero. Mike is a Royal Caribbean Blog reader who wanted to share his experience sailing on his first Voyager Class ship.
Recently, my wife and I took our first trip on the Adventure of the Seas. It was a 6-day cruise that
visited Nassau, Labadee, and Puerto Plata, the latter two of which were new stops for us.
We were excited for this journey as much for visiting those particular locales as we were to try
Adventure ourselves, our first Voyager Class ship.
Not long ago, Matt Hochberg created a vlog post focusing on the less discussed ships within
Royal’s fleet. While he didn’t list Adventure specifically, I think many of us would agree that this
ship – and the entire Voyager Class perhaps – can easily be overlooked.
These ships aren’t the newest or fanciest ships around, yet they are far from the smallest and oldest which sometimes draws criticisms, too.
That leaves the entire Voyager Class somewhere in the middle, although having sailed on all three Freedom class ships, I think it’s quite easy to confuse these two classes and their eight different ships. But maybe that’s just me.
Nonetheless, there are still some unique things about Adventure that my wife and I enjoyed,
and, well, at least one that we were a bit creeped out by. In no particular order, here are seven things that made Adventure stand out while aboard our first cruise:
Chops on Deck 4
My wife and are fans of Chops as well as multiple other specialty dining options when aboard
Royal Caribbean cruises.
Of the 29 current or announced ships in the RCCL fleet, this is the only one in which you’ll find Chops on Deck 4, adjacent to Casino Royale and the Schooner Bar.
On all other Voyager and Freedom Class ships, you’ll find a variety of other options, like Izumi,
Sabor, Giovanni’s, and even Hooked in this seemingly prime location, but only on Adventure
will you find Chops here.
This comes with a downside: no windows.
If you’ve eaten in this spot on other ships at the aforementioned restaurants, you’ll recall the views to be nonexistent and the lighting a bit dim. If you’re someone who only wants a quick break
from the casino for their Filet Mignon or Ribeye, this is as short of a distance as you’ll find
anywhere in the fleet.
Izumi on the Promenade
Another once-in-the-fleet prize for Adventure comes for its exciting placement of Izumi: right
smack in the middle of Deck 5 along the Promenade. While there's always a mix of bars,
shops, and even other quick-serve restaurants that line the promenade on many RCCL ships,
only on Adventure will you find Izumi here, located right across from the British Pub.
This does bring with it two downsides: the first is that you will not have the Hibachi/Teppanyaki version
of Izumi on Adventure. The second is that the overall menu is also somewhat limited.
We learned from talking to our server that this is a result of a smaller kitchen/prep area for Izumi
because of its Promenade location, meaning compared to the Izumi we found on Quantum of the
Seas and some other ships, it won’t have the same expansive menu we were accustomed to on
the Freedom and Oasis Class ships.
None of which is to say that it takes away from the overall experience. The central location with lots of foot traffic walking right by you as you dine makes this Izumi perhaps the most fun we’ve seen to date.
The Peek-A-Boo bridge
While not specifically unique to Adventure, the Peek-A-Boo bridge, something Matt and others
have talked much about, is not to be missed.
It’s tucked away in the forward of the ship on Deck 11 and even has a bench seat and diagram guide in the viewing area, so passengers can get a sense of what they’re seeing below on the Bridge.
As I understand it, all Voyager Class ships have this feature, but since it was a first for us, we found it interesting enough to seek out and would encourage any nautical fans to do the same.
Also, it costs nothing to visit this section of the ship, which never hurts.
Artistic models throughout the lower decks
Adventure features custom-designed models resembling old Hollywoodesque caricatures and
Vaudeville figurines in and around both the casino and the Royal Promenade. Again, if these are on other ships, I must have missed them.
While some might see these as catchy art, is it possible that stumbling past one of these eerie smiling cartoon characters after a few Deluxe Beverage Package offerings might be enough to freak you out slightly? Asking for a friend.
“Next Stop” notifications in the elevators
Although it’s possible I’ve just missed this on my other cruises, my wife and I both noticed
something new in the elevators: an indicator alerting riders what the next floor your car will be
stopping at as it ascends or descends.
For example, if you’re on Deck 4 and heading to Deck 11 but the elevator is stopping to let someone else on at Deck 8, you’ll see that notification electronically above the elevator button options.
Adventure of the Seas is far from the newest ship in the fleet and is, I’m assuming, still due for upgrades at some point in the years ahead like many other similar-aged ships have undergone, but this is one area where the ship seems ahead of its time.
Café Promenade/Sorrento's/Sugar Beach
It’s one-stop shopping on Deck 5, which features all of these options rolled into one location.
Gone are the Ben & Jerry’s locations from RCCL ships, as has been written about on
RoyalCaribbeanBlog previously. Replacing them: Sugar Beach, something already found on
some of the newer, bigger ships.
What made this new for us was having Sugar Beach, an extra-pay option like Ben & Jerry’s was combined with the specialty drinks available at Café Promenade. As most readers know, Ben & Jerry’s (and now Sugar Beach) is something that all guests pay for, regardless of what drinks or dining packages they have on that cruise.
Specialty drinks, like my wife’s twice-daily Iced Café Mochas, are free with either the Deluxe
Beverage Package or the Refreshment Package. Unlike all other ships we’ve sailed on, guests
getting a free specialty coffee drink have to swipe their card and sign for it, just as if it were something being bought in a gift shop, even if it’s still free because of a package.
As for the food, just like the other ships this size and larger, there is a separate line for food items coming from Café Promenade, which is particularly helpful when Sorrento’s pizzas are flying out of the
oven and the line becomes much longer than the morning coffee line to its right.
Windows in Casino Royale
Any seasoned gambler will tell you two things you practically never see in land-based casinos: clocks and windows. The logic is that the house would much rather you not know what time it really is, so you’ll keep gambling! The lack of windows could just as easily be chalked up to security concerns, too.
I’ve been on 12 different Royal ships, and this was the first in which I could see out windows to the sea. As I have since learned, Voyager Class ships are all built this way, which is quite different when you’ve been in and out of probably 100+ land-based casinos and never saw daylight from a Blackjack table.
On a related note, it is also worth mentioning for the gambling enthusiasts that the machines onboard Adventure all seemed to be quite new, which I was not expecting given that the ship itself has not been remodeled recently.
These unique/unusual points of interest with the ship made for an overall great experience on Adventure of the Seas. I also felt the value was significant compared to some of the newer and larger options within the Royal stable. The crew was one of the best we’ve gotten to know on any Royal ship, and we’d choose it again in a heartbeat on a future booking.
