Year 4, Day 347, “Living the Dream”. Saturday, 4/12/2025. The Wellington – Day 11 of 11 day trip to the ABC Islands – Day 9 of 8 night Southern Caribbean cruise on Adventure of the Seas. – Final Cruise and Ship review, disembarking in Port Canaveral Florida and driving to Science Hill, Kentucky.
We rolled our own luggage off the ship in Port Canaveral, Florida at 7am on the 4th deck.
We walked all around the outside deck of the ship. We needed to reach the point where you actually disembarked. This led into the ramp down to the terminal. Once in the terminal we walked down to the first floor and straight through facial recognition. Love love love facial recognition. We then walked across the road and went up another ramp to the second floor of the garage. We were on our way home within a half hour. We even took the time to Windex our car windows.
There has been major traffic and many accidents today. We are trying to get home tonight. We will see. Stopped at Disney World in Fort Valley, Georgia for gas. Oh no my mistake, I mean Buc-ee’s. At 3pm we are south of Atlanta with 430 miles to go. It looks like it will be after midnight if we drive all the way. It is a sunny beautiful 73 degrees in Georgia.
8 night Adventure of the Seas ABC islands cruise from Port Canaveral 4/4/2025 – 4/12/2025 review
Weather: It was a windy, cooler, overcast week.
Cruise guests: Lots of families and children. We kept away from the crowded children filled areas.
Ship Appearance: Very clean and well maintained. Lots of new carpeting, new upholstered main dining room chairs and a new room loveseat.
Embarkation/safety drill: Quick and easy Embarkation. Watched safety videos on the app on the way to the parking garage. Boarded ship and checked in at the muster station in person as soon as we got on the ship.
Crown Lounge: Nice relaxed area for specialty coffee and continental breakfast, afternoon snacks, and evening appetizers. This is a great area to meet people.
Windjammer Buffet: Good assortment of varied food for every meal. Breakfast had an omelet station and Steve had an omelet every day. One morning he got an extra surprise of a nice long hair cooked in it. The coffee was great. The oatmeal was wonderful along with the avocado bread. I usually eat hard boiled eggs on the ships for breakfast. However, the ones on the buffet looked strange with black spots. I was kind of turned off by that. I never ate one of those eggs. What was it poop, mold or ????. The premade fried eggs were gross also and pretty raw. The bacon was very good and done crispy. The corned beef hash was good. There were hamburgers/cheeseburgers, hot dogs, chicken fingers, and French fries served for every lunch and dinner. The hamburgers were great although the buns were not that soft. There was a specialty burger everyday. .The burgers were well done, but juicy. The chicken tenders were dried out hockey pucks yuk!! The foccacia bread was awesome along with the olives and cheeses. There was a nice assortment of nice fresh cheese wedges. The mashed potatoes were excellent and not salty which surprised me. Other excellent lunch items was the pulled pork, the chicken salad, and the cheese spread. It was crowded on port days early for breakfast and at 5:30pm when they opened for dinner. When they opened for dinner, the servers lined up and clapped. They danced and sang to a song for the theme for the night. A lot of times, when I walked into the Windjammer, a young man played a guitar. He sang Elvis songs with “wash your hands” in them. There are sinks on this ship and most people did wash their hands when entering the buffet area.
Main Dining room: Beautiful and service was excellent. We had a nice table by the window. Not once did anyone mention disinfecting your hands before entering the dining room. The purell hand sanitizing machine was set off to the side. I didn’t see anyone use it. The food was okay. It was nothing to write home about. Steve sent his beef tenderloin back three times and it always came back raw. The cheese plate’s cheese was totally dried out. I never saw anything like that. Also there was no bread or crackers served with the cheese. We had to ask for some and they were just thrown on to the plate. No one seemed to care about the food in the main dining room. We started going to the Windjammer after a few nights.
Debarkation: It was fast. We walked off with our luggage at 6:45am into the terminal and through facial recognition. Love facial recognition. We picked up our car in the main parking garage and were driving home within a 1/2 hour. Just a warning. It is a long walk with your luggage. We exited through the 4th deck doors on the port side of the ship. We had to walk around the ship’s outside to the starboard side to check out. Then you walk down ramps to the second floor into the terminal. Down a long hallway and down more ramps to the first floor of the terminal. Through facial recognition out onto the street. We crossed the street. We walked up a little ways. Then we took a ramp back up to the second floor of the garage. In the garage there were two small elevators that had lines. Steve walked to the third floor. He picked up the car. He met me on the second floor of the garage to load the luggage.
Stateroom attendant: Did his job. Room was clean. Had to ask for robe, tissues, and never supplied another bar of soap at the sink. It was a sliver at the end of 6 nights. The best thing our stateroom attendant did was make the largest towel animal I have ever had on my bed. It was an elephant made with a bed pillow. I was so excited when I opened my door. It made my day.
Casino: Clean, lots of machines, and lots of room to get around. Machines were tight although I saw a lady win over $4,000 on a $1.76 bet. Rewards have become tight also. Under 2,000 points the free cruises were for one. Royal Caribbean has tightened their belt. Cashiers were very nice and friendly.
Cheers with an Officer lunch: Captain did not give a cheer toast. Menu was ok, best part of this function is meeting people and the plentiful wine provided.
General crew onboard: Basically everybody did their job. Nothing above board to say about any particular crew members. One of the photographers did remember us from our Australia trip. That was so sweet.
Ship Excursions: Aruba’s party bus was good, but it wasn’t a party. There were no drinks onboard. No water, no anything for two hours of riding around blasting music. We did stop at a little church and the lighthouse. After two hours they dropped us off at a beach. There I was listening to people talking about yea that’s just a drinking bus. What a laugh that was. We actually took a taxi back to the ship. In Curacao we did a historical trolley ride. It was excellent. We learned a lot and would highly recommend. The tour guide was wonderful.
Jenna picked up her new Havanese therapy puppies. Can’t wait to meet them.
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
Here’s a link to today’s Amazon recommendation: https://amzn.to/3RSvc4y All Mighty Pacs Laundry Detergent, Free Clear for Sensitive Skin: We always use All Free and Clear liquid laundry shop. Just recently we have started buying the pods for traveling. It is great for for using laundry machines in hotels. When you have to purchase small packages you have to buy real perfumy stuff most of the time. Allergic reactions have been a problem in the past. This stuff is great. Clothes come out really clean with no perfume odors or skin irritants.
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