Adventure of the Seas - a transatlantic voyage

Caroline on shore in Arrecife, a port city on the east coast of Lanzarote, one of Spain’s Canary Islands.

We were still a bit gun-shy after the disastrous cruise on Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas in June. The Adventure of the Seas and Voyager of the Seas are both from Royal Caribbean’s older Voyager Class of cruise ships. More than half of the passengers headed to Europe on the Adventure (going there for repairs and upgrades) were planning to board the Voyager in Barcelona 4 days after disembarkation in Lisbon for the return to Florida. However, we had canceled that return cruise immediately upon finishing our cruise on the Voyager in June, so our plans were to have 2 days in Lisbon and 2 days in Barcelona to explore before flying back to Denver.

That terrible cruise on the Voyager was not the fault of the ship's layout; rather, the food was submarginal and staff kept canceling events listed on the Cruise Compass newsletter. For my friends returning to Florida on the Voyager, I hope RC replaced the senior chefs, and all the problems we experienced were rectified.

Our adventure began in Cape Canaveral, arriving a day before embarkation. We got a couple bikes and explored Cocoa Beach, even finding some sea turtle shells from an earlier nesting event.

Then, time to board! We've learned to be relaxed during the boarding process. There are a lot of people getting on board, but the shore-based staff were efficient, and we were on the ship in less than 20 minutes. You don't get to enter your room until early afternoon, so there is time to kill. We had lunch, explored, played table tennis, and enjoyed a latte while playing cards. We had early dining, so at 5 we headed to the Main Dining Room (MDR) and ended the day watching the sunset.

The very next day, Caroline and I got into our routine that we followed for the rest of the cruise. I wake up around 6, and head to the gym. Caroline gets out of bed after I leave, makes a cup of coffee, and writes in her journal. Then she heads to two of the free morning fitness, stretch and abs.

That first day, all the room and mats are taken by the people with good intentions. After day two, however, there is plenty of room. Too many late nights for the guests, I assume. As with many cruises, sometimes the fitness instructors don't show up. Since Caroline is a regular, she usually leads the classes in their absence.

Caroline leading the stretch class one morning.

The first full day of the cruise included a stop at CocoCay, a small island leased to Royal Caribbean by the Bahamian government. It's function is to be a land-based extension of whichever ship is berthed, with food and beach entertainment included. We added to the entertainment by bringing our ukuleles.

Now, we had a week at sea as we sailed to the Canary Islands. Up every day at 6, and in bed at 9. We were not typical cruisers, seeking dancing, music, casino adventures, and drinking until the wee hours. Yet we find lots of entertainment on board!

Overall, the weather was nice. It was windy, and a bit too chilly for pool action, but we had little rain and lots of sun. We did experience some medium wave action, but nothing that confined us to our rooms.

Our friend Sue winning a medal at a sack toss game on deck 11.

Our room was small but comfortable, with it being cleaned at 8:30 every morning. Our room attendant usually left us with towel animals.

We enjoyed the Main Dining Room, deck 4, every night, with breakfast and lunch at the Windjammer buffet.

I know this is a bit harsh, but the evening entertainment tended to be "cruise ship normal - blah blah." There were exceptions. Duo Quintessence, a couple with amazing strength, agility, and balance, was a show I would see again and again.

Duo Quintessence taking in a show themselves!

And there were a series of great lectures, really one act plays, featuring past presidents and first ladies with a history of Atlantic cruises, all performed by William and Sue Wills. I look forward to future cruises to hear more!

Back to the transatlantic. It was easy to get into a routine. Wake up, exercise, have breakfast in the Windjammer buffet, shower, get a latte and head to the presidents and first ladies lecture or a Q&A featuring the captain, maybe some table tennis, lunch in the Windjammer again, some ukulele playing and reading, then grabbing a glass of Fre (non-alcoholic wine; not that great, but something to have while waiting for our appetizers) and heading to an early dinner in the Main Dining Room with friends. After dinner, there was a show, then bedtime for us early risers!

Finally, landfall in the Canary Islands.

Then the cruise was over! We said our goodbyes and disembarked in Lisbon.

The first day we rented e-bikes to explore hilly Lisbon. Then we were off with Bill Netro and friends to explore the countryside.

We also received some news. Gelato helps. And perhaps a prayer to Our Lady of Fatima? The Fatima apparitions were a series of events in 1917 when the Virgin Mary appeared to three young shepherd children in the Portuguese village of Fatima.

We drove to Nazare, home of THE big waves. This is what the waves could look like:

By Luis Ascenso from Lisbon, Portugal - Praia do Norte, Nazaré, Portugal, CC BY 2.0,

And this is what they looked like the day we visited:

Either way, a beautiful spot.

We ended in the walled city of Obidos:

For us, our trip was going to end with a short flight to Barcelona and a couple of relaxing days, staying in the midst of the city..

We took the Metro to the airport, serenaded waiting passengers, and flew home. And... Caroline immediately started painting and putting new lights our new home!