ROYAL CARIBBEAN – ADVENTURE OF THE SEAS

We just returned from at week aboard Royal Caribbean International’s Adventure of the Seas. This fantastic ship departs from San Juan, Puerto Rico on Sunday’s doing an alternating Southern Caribbean itinerary. Our voyage visited Aruba, Curacao, St. Maarten, St. Thomas and San Juan. The alternate itinerary visits Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Maarten, St. Thomas and San Juan.

Each island has beauty and excitement all it’s own. We enjoyed snorkeling in Aruba and one of our stops visited the shipwreck Antilles, just off shore. Seeing the quiet beauty of the undersea world around this site was one of the highlights of our visit.

Curacao is so quaint and beautiful with it’s rich history and literally it’s living color. The houses there are brightly painted similar to their Dutch counter parts. It looks almost “Disneyesque”, it is so perfect. Our tour around town featured their beautifully restored heritage buildings and the floating market. Merchants sell their produce and wares directly from the boats where they live.

The dual island of St. Maarten/St. Martin is a wondrous example of two countries getting along without formal boundaries. This island is hilly, not mountainous we were told. To Texans from the prairie, they certainly looked like mountains. The terrane offers magnificent views from anywhere on the island.

Of course, the highlight of Charlotte, Amalie in St. Thomas was the extraordinary duty free shopping. You can find almost anything your heart desires in this compact city. Do not overlook the beauty this island has to share. Fantastic Megans Bay Beach is one of the world’s most beautiful beaches according to National Geographic. Also, the sky ride takes you up 700 ft. to Paradise Point where you can enjoy the most fantastic vistas in the Caribbean

We visited El Morro in San Juan, which is up the hill from the cruise port. It’s a good thing we’d been walking before this trip, the steep hill to the fort is not for the faint hearted. We made our way back to the main section of Old San Juan and found a wonderful restaurant recommended by a local police officer. Their special that day was Apple Sangria. What a wonderful way to rest and cool off; drinking sangria, listening to music and enjoying some fantastic Puerto Rican seafood.

Our ship was a destination by its self. On board there are seemingly endless entertainment opportunities. The Promenade and Centrum area contained all types of restaurants, bars, Seattle’s Best coffee house, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and stores of every description. Every evening, performers entertained guests. We especially enjoyed the classical Spanish guitarist. He mesmerized everyone within hearing distance of his stage. Guests came to a standstill while he played.

The ship has an ice rink, rock-climbing wall, inline skating rink, 9-hole miniature golf course, basketball and volleyball courts as well as a library and internet café for the quieter types. The ice show is definitely a must see. All the entertainment was good, but the ice show was both beautiful and a technical marvel.

As you can see, we had a wonderful time, with so much packed into one week we can’t describe it all. We’ll go for now, but look for more on this and other cruises in the coming weeks.

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