Adventure of the Seas 2013 Caribbean Cruises

Royal Caribbean released the 2013 Caribbean cruises for its Adventure of the Seas ship. I remember this ship as it was the first cruise ship I ever sailed on. It's a Voyager class ship and, it is incredible. I remember checking out the ice skating rink on board which boggled my mind. It seemed unreal to be ice skating in the middle of the Caribbean. Another interesting feature of the ship is its Royal Promenade. It's effectively a mini-street inside the ship lined with shops, a pub, a pizza restaurant with a separate bar that sold Ben & Jerry's ice cream, the excursions desk and customer relations. It was really neat.

One itinerary that I would recommend to any readers I have out there is the one sailing from mid-December to early April. The itinerary sails to St. Croix, St. Maarten, Antigua, St. Lucia and Barbados then returns to San Juan, Puerto Rico. I did this itinerary in the opposite order in November 2011. It was great. This itinerary allows you to see lots of islands and minimize your time on the boat. I don't know about others out there but, I don't go cruising to spend time on the boat. I go cruising because, I think it's the best way to see certain places and, it does have a mystique to it. Cruising in my opinion is the best way to see the Caribbean Islands and the Greek Islands. Also, it's a wonderful way to see some of Alaska. Concerning the mystique, I think it's hard to match the incredible views as you sail out of San Juan or Vancouver, Canada. I can't wait to watch when I sail out of Venice, Italy in November this year.

If you want a really good Caribbean cruise, the St. Croix to Barbados cruise is an excellent choice. For those who feel a week cruising isn't long enough, the Adventure of the Seas does on alternating weeks, the other cruise I did in November 2011 i.e. St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Aruba and Curacao. While this itinerary isn't as good as the St. Croix to Barbados one in my opinion, it's still decent. While in St. Thomas, Royal Caribbean offers an excursion to St. John which I did and offers some gorgeous beaches including Trunk Bay which is rated as one of the top 10 beaches in the world. I got to see it in November and, it is stunning. If a week isn't long enough, you can do back-to-back cruises. I had a blast doing this and felt like Serenade of the Seas was my ship after 2 blessed weeks of sailing. I can't wait to do it again this time on Splendour of the Seas in November. Happy Travels All!

Serenade of the Seas

In November, I'll get to sail on Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas for the first time. The cruise will visit 4 islands I've never been to - Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua and St. Croix. The cruise will also stop at Philipsburg, St. Maarten. Philipsburg is where I went on my notorious deep sea fishing trip during my first cruise. The fishing trip was a fiasco as between the 6 of us on the boat, we caught just 1 fish and, the captain of the boat left us stranded at the pier. We had to make our own way back to our ship the Adventure of the Seas. I told my travel friend Harvey we won't try that again when we make port in Philipsburg though I would like to go deep sea fishing again on the cruise. We'll see what the other ports offer in that way.

Internet wise, I found out from surfing the web that the Serenade offers the same kind of WiFi that Navigator of the Seas offered i.e. various hotspots throughout the ship as pay as you go or pre-pay. Depending on much you think you'll use the Internet, the pre-pay plans could save you some money. I know I'll use it a lot so I'll be buying their maximum plan which is 500 minutes for $150. Hopefully, my Crown and Anchor coupon booklet will have a discount coupon for the Internet so I'll be able to save some money like I did on the Navigator of the Seas.

The Serenade of the Seas is a Radiance class ship. I'll get to find out what those are like in less than 2 weeks when I do my previously mentioned Alaska cruise on the Radiance of the Seas. The class is smaller than the Voyager class that I've cruised on before. I'm curious to see what their like. The cruise on the Radiance will give me an idea of what it'll be like on the Serenade. One unique item the Radiance class has that no other ship has is automatically self leveling pool tables! They must have built in gyroscopes which is kind of wild for a pool table to have. I can't wait to try them out and see how well they work.

That's all for this post. Stay tuned for upcoming travel posts. The time is almost here where I'll get to play the world traveller again. I can't wait. It seems like ages since I took Globus's Legacy of the Incas tour. Cheers all!

My Cabin

I had to lighten this picture so you could see my cabin as it faced the balcony. The cabin had a good size bed, tv set, couch, drawers and bath room. I thought the shower was small though.






This shows the small couch, tv set, drawers and entrance to the bathroom.









This shows the view from the balcony. I really enjoyed watching as we came into or left port. The next time I go on a cruise, I will definitely get a balcony.

Size of Adventure of the Seas

I hope this picture will give you some idea how BIG the Adventure of the Seas was. Length wise, the ship was 1,040 feet long. Width, it was 154 and 1/5 feet. They didn't give the height though the surface part of the ship had to be over 4 stories high. Here is another picture that might give you an idea how big the ship was.

You can see building is 2 stories high and the ship towers over it. Lastly, here is a picture of ship taken from high on a high in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.

That should give you some idea just how big the Adventure of the Seas was. In my next set of pictures, I'll show how my cabin looked and some of the things they had on the ship.

St. Thomas

We pulled into our last port of call. Charlotte Amalie was very hilly. It was the hilliest of any of the places we’d visited. The ship smoothly pulled into the cruise ship pier. Harvey and I had a nice breakfast, grabbed our cameras and took an elevator down to deck 1. By now, the procedure was old hat. We’d hand the security office our SeaPass’s which he/she would scan and we’d disembark. Then, we looked for someone with a sign listing whatever activity we planned to do. In this case, it was Blackbeard’s castle and shopping. An old gentleman met us who directed us to an open taxi. It was an interesting contraption as it had a number of bench like seats and no doors except for the driver’s compartment.

Once everyone was on board, we handed in our vouchers to Rupert our driver and set off. Just as we were getting ready to leave the pier area, Rupert got called back as some late arrivals showed up. So, we went back and got them. Then, we proceeded to drive up some of the hills surrounding Charlotte Amalie. It was an interesting drive.

The hills were very tropical and pretty. They gave great views of the town’s harbor. Driving to the other side of the hills, we saw great views of Magen’s Bay which was stunning. At one of our stops, we could see all of Charlotte Amalie’s harbor and found out that the Noordam (see St. Maarten blog entry) had followed us. It was tied up at the pier on the opposite side of town. Our driver/guide Rupert told us some of the history of the place as well as some of the other islands. There are 3 islands that form the U.S. Virgin Islands. They are St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix. From our stop, we could easily see St. John. People from St. Thomas would take a ferry over there for a nice stroll along the beach and to relax. From there, we could also see Blackbeard’s Castle. Blackbeard didn’t own the tower. Someone recommended they name it after a pirate as it would presumably help the island draw tourists. They did and it worked. They have another tower named after Bluebeard.

After our tour of the hills around St. Thomas was done, Rupert dropped us off at Blackbeard’s castle. Here, another guide would take over. Unfortunately, I forget his name. He told us more of the pirates the island was famous for. They had a number of metal statues of the more famous ones including Blackbeard, Mary Read, Calico Jack and Captain Jack Avery who was a dead ringer for Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. He also showed us a number of old buildings and why they were built the way they were. It was a fascinating tour. At the end, he dropped us off at the shopping area of Charlotte Amalie. It was then that my next ordeal began. What gift was I going to get my step-mom Kay?

I’d promised I get her something. However, I figured if I bought her a t-shirt. I’d be dead meat. She suggested some kind of fabric but I didn’t see any bolts of it. The shops were filled with touristy stuff like jewelry, especially jewelry. I did see some lace like stuff but, it didn’t wipe me out. Another problem was funds. I needed to get some dollars. Finally, I found a bank with an ATM. It was First Bank and they only charged $2 to use their ATM. I felt like saying Nyaah at the cruise ship with their $5.50 ATM charge.

The only idea for a good gift I could come up with was getting her a real silver Spanish coin. It went with the Caribbean theme and it would be a cool gift. Where to get one though? I didn’t want one that was set as jewelry. I wanted just a basic coin.

Another concern was Harvey. While I was prepared to explore far and wide through Charlotte Amalie, Harvey wasn’t. Harvey has had a hip replacement and doesn’t care to do tons of walking. I wanted to find something for Kay within a reasonable amount of time so I wouldn’t drag him all over the place.

I think it was Harvey who spotted S.O.S. Antiques. We walked in and they had unadorned Spanish silver coins. Cool! I looked at the various ones. Then, a saleslady came over and we started talking prices. Uh oh! Real Spanish silver coins aren’t cheap. The cheapest one cost $299! I had second thoughts about getting this for my step-mom and might’ve gotten her something else except I couldn’t think of anything else to get her. I remembered I didn’t buy her a Christmas present so maybe I could make this a combined present. That made the cost somewhat more reasonable. After speaking further with the saleslady, I settled on a class 4 coin which you could see the coat of arms on and a cross on the other side. It came with a certificate of authenticity verifying that it came from the wreck of the Nuestra Senora de Atocha. I thought it was pretty cool. Interestingly, since the coin was over 100 years old (and then some), it was free of any U.S. duty. The store put a slip informing Customs of the coin’s age and the law exempting antiques that are over 100 years from duty.

Finally, I had my present for Kay. I had dollars and I had stamps to mail postcards with. I bought 10 stamps at a Post Office I found when I first started walking through the shopping area. It was interesting to see the Post Office there. It had the U.S. Postal markings but, it was different.

Harvey and I looked for a way back to the ship. To our delight, an open taxi like the one we used to see the hills and harbors of St. Thomas came by and asked if we needed a ride to the pier. We asked how much. He said $10. We hopped in. As we made our way to the pier, the driver picked up a couple more fares. We also passed a Hooters restaurant which reminded me of my brother Hank who is something of a playboy. See previous blogs about the Hooters calendar I absolutely must buy him every year.

We arrived back at the pier, skipped the tourist shops there and walked back to the ship. The ship was loading supplies. It was interesting to see all the booze the ship needed for its passengers.

While walking around, we’d noticed some dark clouds. Luck was with us. It didn’t start raining until we were on-board the ship and having lunch at the Windjammer Café. It ended up being a nice little downpour. I suspected we’d depart on time this time since folks weren’t going to want to stay out in that.

Later, Harvey and I knocked back a couple brews one last time before dinner. Tomorrow, we’d arrive back in San Juan and the cruise would be over. It had been a nice cruise and a learning experience. I felt certain the next cruise would go smoother. I’d already begun looking at Royal Caribbean 2009 Caribbean cruises. I found one cruise that would be ideal. The only problem was they didn’t list cruise dates for late April and May 2009 in the brochure. I’d have to keep an eye out to see if they offered that cruise on the Adventure of the Seas. After comparing Royal Caribbean’s bigger and smaller cruise ships, I preferred the bigger ones because they have more to do. Also, I wanted to try a suite next time if it wasn’t too expensive. It would be nice to have more room and a larger shower. I really enjoyed having a balcony so I could watch as we departed from or pulled into port. The next cruise, I’d make sure I had a balcony again.

After dinner, I went back to my cabin and packed. I also reviewed the departure procedures the ship staff had left in the cabin. Before I crashed, I put the color coded luggage tags on my two pieces of check-in luggage and left them outside my cabin. Ship staff would pick up the bags and leave them in the Customs area the next morning.

2nd Day at Sea

What to do? It was my second full day at sea. I’d explored the ship and I knew what it offered as far as activities. I decided to check the Cruise Compass. The Cruise Compass was a newsletter the ship puts out daily. It listed all the special activities the ship had that day. I saw that Captain Nyseter was going to do a Captain’s Corner, there was going to be a Singles trivia game, a bingo game where the prize was a free cruise and a t-shirt sale. I decided to do all of those.

The Captain’s Corner was the chance for passengers to meet Captain Nyseter, learn about ship operations and ask any questions they might have. First, Captain Nyseter told the audience about himself, how he made Captain and how long he’d been with Royal Caribbean. Captain Nyseter worked his way up from the very lowest ranks to that of Captain. He’s been with Royal Caribbean for over 16 years now. Then, he introduced Chief Engineer Tormod Isaksen and Environmental Officer (name forgotten) who told about themselves. Engineer Isaksen was responsible for all the engines on boards and the desalinization plant. The environmental officer was responsible for ensuring the ship met all environmental regulations. He also made sure that all types of waste were properly disposed of. The ship created a lot of it with over 3,600 passengers.

When the ship was in cruise mode, it used 2 engines and maintained a speed of 13 knots (14 or 15 mph). Top speed for the ship was 23 knots. The ship’s draft i.e. the part that was underwater was a surprising 29 feet. When you see how high the ship goes up above water (at least 70 or 80 feet), it’s surprising that there is so little ship underwater. During the question and answer session, Chief Engineer Isaksen said at top speed the ship burned 20,000 gallons of fuel a day. The ship carried over 1 million gallons of fuel. The ship made all its fresh water through its own desalinization plant. There are engines in the front of the ship that enable it to push away or pull to a pier. At the rear of the ship are engine pods that can be rotated enabling the ship to push to or away from a pier. The ship has 4 stabilizers which come out when the ship is at sea enabling a smoother ride. The ship can tilt up to 45 degrees and still recover. The worst situation Captain Nyseter was ever in on a ship was during a hurricane induced storm which caused visibility to be zero. The ship rocked a bit too but otherwise life carried on. If someone went overboard, the ship could stop in approximately 3 ship lengths and go back for them. Captain Nyseter said he’d had one person go overboard though he wouldn’t illuminate the cause of the incident. It was during the question and answer session that I learned of the new class of ship that Royal Caribbean will be coming out with. It’s called the Genesis Class and will be able to accommodate 5,400 passengers. Currently, the largest class ship Royal Caribbean has is the Liberty class which can hold over 4,000 passengers. The Adventure of the Seas was of the Voyager Class which will be their third largest class once the first Genesis Class ship is finished in 2009. With crew, the Genesis Class ships will have over 7,500 people on board. They will be literally floating towns.

I found the Captain’s Corner really interesting. It was also neat to get to meet Captain Nyseter. He was very friendly and likable. I didn’t envy him his job. He has to efficiently manage a ship that is over 100 feet long and over 130 feet wide. He has an international crew of over 1,200. He has to keep an eye on ship, restaurant, hotel and shop operations. He also has to keep on eye on the passengers on board, no small task considering we had 3,689 this cruise alone. It is a huge task. From what I saw, he does a great job of it. I hope I get to cruise on another ship he commands.

After having some lunch, I went in search of the peekaboo bridge. The peekaboo bridge is a spot on the ship where a passenger can look into the ship’s bridge and see its workings. They have a display board that identifies the equipment on the bridge. The seats that the captain can use to control the ship look like something from a jet. There is a radar screen that shows everything around the ship, how far from the ship it is and if it’s another ship whether their paths will cross. They have another screen that shows the ship’s position, the planned course and how close they are to the planned course. At sea, the ship in on autopilot though there is at least 1 officer on watch at all times to keep an eye on things. In the event of a computer failure, the ship carries paper maps, pencils to chart courses and sextants so they can figure out where their position is. It was really interesting.

I’m a big fan of trivia. I like learning things even if the knowledge isn’t terribly important. I saw on the Cruise Compass that they had a single traveler’s trivia game. It turned out it was organized an Australian lady named Jacarda who hailed from Melbourne. After the game, I told her I’d visited there and proved by telling of her of the some of the sights there. The game itself was fun and to my surprise, I won. My prizes were a Royal Caribbean pen and leather luggage tag. Ok, they weren’t the most exciting prizes but, I was still delighted to win.

The ship advertised a t-shirt sail in the Cruise Compass. I wanted a t-shirt from the cruise so I decided to check it out. Little did I know how fierce some people on board could be when it came to shopping. It seems that some folks go on cruises for the bargains that can be had in the various ports. They are on the prowl for a bargain. The ship was promising as much as 50 percent off on t-shirts and other items. Those were magical words to such avid shoppers. I was surprised by the crowd at the tables. One lady refused to make any room so I had to reach around her and grab t-shirts and see if I could find my size. Eventually, I found 3 t-shirts which I liked as well as a nice looking white fleece jacket. To my annoyance, the last night of the cruise, they discounted the t-shirts even further. Still, I got some nice t-shirts which I’ll wear showing that I was on a Royal Caribbean cruise.

Lady luck wasn’t with me when I played bingo for a free cruise. You had to fill in an X on your playing card in order to win. Cards weren’t cheap going at $15 a piece with a free card thrown in if you bought 3. I managed to get down to 3 numbers of one of my cards before an unknown lady won it. Damn!

After the bingo game, Harvey and I had a couple beers at the Promenade Café. It was a nice way to relax before dinner and discuss plans for tomorrow. Tomorrow, we’d go deep sea fishing out of Philipsburg, St. Maarten. Deep sea fishing can be very exciting with the big reels, big rods and BIG fish. I went a couple times with my step-grandfather and I really wanted to try it again. I looked forward excitedly to my next adventure. Stay tuned for my deep sea fishing adventure in St. Maarten.

Curacao

It was another hectic morning. I discovered the hard way that the early bird breakfast at the Windjammer is a continental breakfast. I hate those. Continental breakfast is two words meaning starve. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to wait for them to put out the regular breakfast items. I rushed back to my cabin, grabbed my diving gear and did the same routine again. Luckily, this would be the last time I’d go diving on this cruise so I wouldn’t have to mess with security again over my dive knives.

A guy named Jeremiah was waiting for the dive group at the pier. I forget what his nationality was but, he told me was married to a Dutch girl and had worked at a dive spot in Egypt before coming to Curacao. He’d travelled a good bit of the world. He seemed pretty cool. Once everyone had arrived, Jeremiah directed us to some taxis which would take us to Ocean Encounters. The drive was interesting as we got to see a bit of Willemstad.

Once we arrived at Ocean Encounter’s dive shop, we started setting up your gear or were issued gear if we rented it. Then, we received a briefing on how things were going to work. We were going to do a beach entry. Once we were in shallow water, we’d slip our fins on then, we’d work our way out to the dive point. Once there, we’d let the air out of our BCDs and descend down to the reef. If someone hit the halfway point on their air, they’d let the leader know and they’d head back with the leader’s assistant. The rest would carry on until it was time to turn back.

We made our way out to the beach. I waded into the water and promptly had problems getting my fins on. Then, I put air in my BCD and swam with the rest of the group to the dive site. While swimming out there, I swallowed damn salt water again. That stuff is nasty. I ended coughing some of it up when we got to the dive site. Thankfully, once I started breathing through my respirator, I was fine.

The reef itself was impressive with a large variety of coral and fish life. Visibility was outstanding at 65 feet plus. The reef wall supposedly descended down to 350 feet though the deepest I went was 62 feet on the first dive and 63 on the second. I didn’t have any problems equalizing on the first dive but I did on the 2nd to my great annoyance. I tried to overcompensate and ended up giving myself a bloody nose. I was frustrated with my left ear and pretty certain I had an ear infection.

In regards to Ocean Encounter and their people, I was very pleased with them. I thought they really tried to ensure we had some nice dives. The only thing I would do differently is make sure I go out on a boat vice doing a beach entry. Boat entries are loads easier.

After we returned or packed up our gear, we got back into the taxis that brought us to Ocean Encounter’s and returned to our ship. I grabbed some lunch and decided to stay on board. It looked like it might be a long walk to some shops in town. It turned out I was wrong. There is an easy walk to a number of shops and the remains of one of the old forts.

Departure time was 4:30 p.m. Apparently, some people thought that meant they could return at 4:35, 4:40 and two ladies even showed up at 4:45. They got royally razzed by those of us who were stuck waiting for them. They also got lucky Captain Nyseter didn’t depart. If he had, they would’ve had to fly to St. Maarten at their own expense to rejoin the ship.

I chatted with my friend Harvey and found out what he’d been up. I watched as we sailed east along the coast of Curacao. I decided to see one of the shows the ship out on in the Lyric Theater. It was called “Can’t Stop the Rock.” It featured music from films from the past 40 years. It turned out to be a nice production. I wouldn’t have paid money to see it but it was fun to watch and something to do. Afterwards, I had a nice dinner at the Windjammer. Later, our ship Adventure of the Seas changed tack and sailed northeast to St. Maarten. We would be at sea for an entire day. Stay tuned.

Aruba

Land ho! Land on the starboard bow! I didn’t actually say that from my balcony as our ship arrived at Oranjestad, Aruba BUT I was tempted. I’d been at sea for 33 hours at that point which is the longest I’d ever been to sea. Aruba seemed flat and heavily built up. The cruise ship pier was easy to pull up to and it took little time for Captain Nyseter to pull along the pier. For me, I had to pull my dive bag to one of the glass lined elevators and go up to deck 11 where I checked in for the dive trip. Then, I had to take the elevator down to deck 1 to get my dive knives from Security. I had to show them my receipt for the knives. They found my knives and I returned to deck 11. When it was time, our group descended to deck 1, had our SeaPasses scanned and walked one of the gangways to the pier. A lady was waiting for us. She took us to the boat that we’d use for our dives. Sadly, I can’t remember it’s name. Ton, a retired Dutch IBM executive, was the first mate. He shepherded us to spots on the boat and told to use to start setting up our gear if we brought it or issued it to those who didn’t.

When all were aboard, we left for the boat’s dive shop as they were short 2 pairs of fins for members of our group. Once we left their shop, we proceeded to the location of the Antilla wreck. The Antilla was a German freighter which was off the coast of Aruba at the start of World War II. Apparently, German authorities didn’t warn the ship of the pending invasion of the Netherlands. When Germany invaded the Netherlands, the ship was at anchor. So, when war broke out, Dutch authorities in Aruba came on board the freighter and informed her captain that they were going to seize the ship. The captain pleaded for 24 hours. The authorities foolishly gave it to him. Once the authorities left and were out of sight, the captain proceeded to scuttle i.e. sink the ship. When the Dutch authorities returned the next day, they found out what he’d done. The captain and his crew spent the whole of the war as prisoners of war. Later, he moved to Bonaire where he opened a hotel. There, you can see a picture of his freighter. I heard this story from Ton who was explaining to us about the wreck.

On our way out, we got paired up. I got paired with a guy named Tony. We were part of a 6 diver group that went with Ton’s assistant. When we arrived at the dive site, we took frog steps into the water. Then, we followed a line to the anchor line where we began descending to the bottom.

The wreck was in good shape for a World War II ship. It was also BIG. It was 400 feet long. We dove along side it seeing the various corals growing on the wreck as well as various species of fish. Visibility was at least 35 feet. Ton’s assistant pointed out things of interest including a very long light green Moray eel. The dive lasted at least 35 minutes. When it was time, our group began ascending the anchor line back to the ship. After our group was aboard, we waited for Ton’s group to return. While waiting we changed to fresh tanks of air. Once the second group was aboard, the board departed for the 2nd dive site.

The 2nd dive site was the wreck called the Pedernalis. According to Ton, two German subs were prowling the waters one night off Aruba. The first fired a torpedo which hit a ship but it failed to explode as the crew forgot to the take off the cap which covered the detonator. This tipped off ships that subs were in the area. Luck was not with the Pedernalis which headed straight in the direction of the second German sub. The crew on the second sub made sure the torpedo detonator was uncovered. The ship sank in 25 feet of water. As it sank in such shallow waters, people on shore who owned hotels on shore didn’t like their guests seeing a sunken ship so they asked the Dutch authorities to do something about it. They gladly took care of the problem by blowing the wreck to bits. You can see various pieces on the ocean floor.

After the 2nd dive, we headed back to the cruise ship pier. Ton and his assistant did a great job. The company they’re with is called Red Sail Sports. Later, I visited their dive shop which in my opinion wasn’t very impressive. Still, I’d gladly go diving with them again.

I returned to the ship and turned my dive knives back in to security. I dumped my bag off at my cabin. I grabbed something quick to eat for lunch at the Windjammer. Then, I left the ship again so I could see a little of Oranjestad and take some pictures. From what I saw of the town, I wasn’t impressed. I was amazed by how many jewelry stores they had. I believe they were there for the steady flow tourists that arrived by cruise ship. At St. Maarten, the fishing boat assistant there told me they had 1 cruise ship come in to port every day. Considering how many people are on those ships, I suspect the stores get a good bit of business.

After wandering around for 45 minutes or so, I returned to the ship. I caught up with Harvey and found out how his tour of Aruba went. According to him, they must have driven the length of the island twice during their tour. From listening to him, it didn’t sound like there was a lot to see in Aruba.

Around dinner time, I returned to the Windjammer and it’s sister café. Departure time at Aruba was 8 p.m. This meant it was dark when we left. The Windjammer is at the end of deck 11. It has large glass windows so passengers can look out and see the surrounding area. This was a huge plus as I got to see Oranjestad all lit up at night as we departed. It was really impressive. Our next port of call was Willemstad, Curacao. I looked forward to my next adventure. Stay tuned.

Day At Sea

Monday, March 10th was our first full day at sea. We'd set sail the night before around 9 p.m. It was incredible to cruise by the old fortress walls of Old San Juan and see the city lit up at night. This morning, there wasn't any sign of cities or land. All that surrounded the ship was water.

My friend Harvey and I walked through the passageways to the glass lined elevators. We went up to deck 11 where the Windjammer Cafe is located. The Windjammer offers a continental breakfast for early risers and a full breakfast afterwards. There was a wide choice of fruit, cereal, ham, bacon, sausage, eggs, potatoes, pastries and juices. We found a table near the windows which gave great views of the ocean surrounding the ship. The views hammered home we were at sea.

After breakfast, we had to decide what to do. The ship Adventure of the Seas doesn't lack for options. You can rock climb, roller blade, play miniature golf, play basketball, swim, read a book in the library, surf the web on their computer terminals for a fee, work out in the fitness center (treadmills, aerobicycles, weights), do yoga, relax in the sauna or whirlpool, go to the spa, shop in the ship's 5 shops, see a show in the ship's theater, gamble in the casino, walk or jog around the jogging track, rest in one of the lawn chairs, ice skate or take ice skating lessons, sip champagne at the champagne bar, take a scuba diving course, play shuffleboard, play various board games, pray at the ship's chapel on the 15th deck, watch the ship's officers run the ship at the bridge via the peekaboo bridge, play bingo, play trivia, play sudoku, learn where the best shopping will be in Aruba (our first port call), book optional tours, book a future cruise, take a nutrition course or just explore the ship. The ship is so big that it can you days to get your bearings. You learn where certain things are the like the shops on deck 5 or the Lyric Theater on decks 3 and 4. Harvey and I decided to explore the ship first and then get some exercise. I'd heard a joke that people came on board the ship as passengers and left as cargo. I was determined to avoid blimping out.

I was amazed that the ship had a block long street on shops inside of it. You could buy discounted liquor, jewelry, cameras, t-shirts as well as more mundane items like sunscreen and finger nail clippers. Interestingly, you pay for all these items with your SeaPass. Your SeaPass was a combination credit card, room key and pass that allowed you to get off and on the ship. It is the most important card you'll have during the cruise.

Another important item passengers would receive on the ship was the daily Cruise Compass paper. The paper told you what the temperature was going to be, what the hours were for the various shops, restaurants and bars, what special activities were going to happen that day as well as their time and place, any special sales and any special procedures ex. when we were getting close to the end of the cruise, the paper told you where you had to go to wait till your group was called to disembark the ship. It was very useful and every evening your cabin steward would put the next day's issue in your cabin.

After exploring the ship and doing an hour on the aerobicycle, Harvey and I had lunch at the Windjammer. It would be another nice meal though it felt weird not paying for it. In order to get my unlimited sodas, I had to show my SeaPass which had a sticker on it showing I'd paid for the unlimited sodas.

After lunch, I checked in with the SeaTrek dive shop on board. I had to show them one of my certification cards and sign a liability form. I would do my first dive trip on the cruise tomorrow in Aruba. Also, I found out what I'd have to do to get my dive knives back and where to meet for the dive trip.

Tonight was the first of two nights where passengers had to dress up for dinner in the formal dining rooms. Men had to wear suits and ties or tuxes while women had to wear dresses. I wasn't impressed enough with dining or the company at our table to want to go through all the hassle of dressing up. I found out I could skip eating at the Strauss (or Vivaldi or Mozart dining rooms), they could eat dinner in the Windjammer or it's connecting cafe (I forget what it's called). I had another problem with eating at the Strauss dining room. It was so late. The second seating didn't begin until 8:30 p.m. You wouldn't finish dinner till past 10:30. The later I stay up, the less sleep I get so I don't like staying up late. I decided to not eat at the Strauss anymore. Instead, I ate at the Windjammer or it's sister cafe. By doing that, I was able to finish by 9 p.m. and be in bed by 9:30. So, I had a decent dinner at the Windjammer and crashed afterwards. I had an interesting day ahead. I would do my first cruise diving trip and see Aruba for the first time. Stay tune.

Caribbean Cruise

I paid off my future Caribbean cruise sort of. By that, I mean I made the last payment on the cruise via charge card but, I still have to pay the charge card bill. Also, Harvey and I have to decide on a hotel in the San Juan area where we'll stay one night so we can do a tour of San Juan before the cruise starts. Joel Mills, the travel agent we use is trying to find out what hotel would be best for the tour and the cruise. Once he knows that, he'll advise what to do.

Concerning my cabin on the ship, my step-mom/mom Kay got me to check into if I was getting the best deal cabin wise. Right now, I have a reservation for a Deluxe Ocean View Stateroom which has 173 square feet of space. The next cabin up would be a Junior Suite which has 280 square feet of space. The cost to upgrade would be a whopping $1,500! All I would get for that money is the roomier cabin. There wouldn't be any better food or other perks. When I learned that from Joel, I told him I'd stay with the cabin I have. It's on the 8th deck, seven decks down from the top of the ship but, it is the 3rd highest deck as far as cabins go. The passenger decks are deck 2 to deck 10.

The ship itself "Adventure of the Seas" must be huge. It can accomodate 3,114 passengers. It has 4 swimming pools, a rock climbing wall, an in-line skating track, an ice skating rink, a 9-hole miniature golf course and a full-size basketball court. It also has a spa and casino. It weighs an inconceivable 138,000 tons! It sounds like it's a floating town. I wonder how long it takes them to get everyone on board. I'll find out next year. Cheers all!