Cruise 2024: Dominican Republic, Turks & Caicos, & Bahamas

We took our second family cruise June 1 - 7 on Royal Caribbean's Adventure of the Seas! We booked the cruise almost two years ago, so we were so excited when it was finally time to get away. Our ship was the larger one on the left.

When we boarded the ship, we quickly met up with Grammy, Aunt Amy, and Cousin Stella. The woman checking our passports told us that a rocket launch was scheduled before we set sail, so we and many others gathered at the back of the ship to see a launch for closer than we've ever been before (the dock was in Cape Canaveral).

We had a great view. Unfortunately...the launch was delayed. Oh well.

For the rest of the afternoon, we explored the ship.

There were "welcome aboard" parties all over the ship. The girls enjoyed dancing at the one by the pools.

The first two days were "at sea" while we headed to the Dominican Republic. Luckily we had great weather for the kids to enjoy the pools, slides, and "Flow Rider".

The inside of the ship was extremely similar to our last ship (Independence of the Seas), with a beautiful promenade with shops, bars, restaurants, and an art gallery.

Public bathroom with a view!

The kids were very amused by how windy it was on top of the ship at night. The ship wasn't windy most of the time, but at certain points there seemed to be "wind tunnels" that could almost knock you over!

Our room was incredible. Sure, cruise rooms are smaller than hotel rooms, but this one was surprisingly spacious with really smart storage spaces all over the place. Two large beds (one pulled out from a sofa) were able to fit in the room and we could still walk past them. The balcony had a table and two chairs. Grammy, Amy, and Stella were right next door, allowing for easy balcony conversations. (Whoops - it looks like I only took photos of the balcony, not the room...)

It's a tradition on Royal Caribbean that the stateroom staff leave surprise "towel animals" for the guests (when they have time). We got a monkey, then a bunny holding the TV remote.

For our second day at sea, we made a reservation to enjoy some free ice skating. This was important to Ronan, because last year he wasn't allowed to ice skate with us because he didn't have any long pants with him. At the time, I felt bad for him, especially since I spotted a little girl out on the ice with shorts. I went to a guy in charge to ask why Ronan couldn't skate if the little girl could...unfortunately they kicked the little girl off of the ice, rather than letting Ronan skate...whoops!.

 Anyway, this time Ronan was ready. It was his very first time ice skating, so he clung to the walls and had some complaints about his skates wobbling and not doing what he wanted them to do, but I helped him and he had fun. Grammy and Kraig watched us, and Kraig took some photos. The ice rink is also used for ice skating shows in the evening; Amy and the kids watched one of them.

On Day 3, it was time for our first island stop - The Dominican Republic. We've never been there, so we were really excited. Originally we were supposed to go to Haiti as well. It wasn't really Haiti - it was a private area of the island run by Royal Caribbean. But due to unrest in the country, they decided to take it off of the itinerary. Pulling into the port in the morning was exciting...we've never been to Hawaii or any other island that had big mountains, so it was breathtaking! Welcome to Puerto Plata.

All of us signed up for a land excursion by bus so we could visit various sites that were miles apart. We were very pleased to find out we'd be traveling in an air conditioned bus that wasn't full. Our first stop was at the top of the mountain, so it was about a 45-minute drive through the countryside. It was a great opportunity to see the land and large variety of homes, from smaller traditional buildings to luxury homes.

We also had to stop for a sudden herd of cows that rushed by the side of our bus on the road. There were dozens, and it was neat to see how the adult cows kept the calves in between them for protection as they moved.

We were impressed with the traffic lights - they had a "countdown" for how long they were going to remain red or green. Seemed like a genius idea!

Our tour guide, Pablo, was amazing. He talked the whole time, pointing out everything he could and providing details about the economy and history. He didn't just wait for people to ask questions. He also walked with us and continued to provide information at the various stops, rather than just dropping us off and waiting in the bus. I particularly liked when he pointed out huge fruits growing from trees, including plants I've never thought about, like the one that produces the gourds that maracas are made from.

When we reached the top of the Isabel de Torres Mountian, we had a close-up view of the Christ statue, as well as sweeping views of the lush landscape and ocean (including our ship in port). There's a cable car that you can ride all the way up the mountain.

The tour guide told us that the building under the Christ statue was actually used as a prison for a while. We were met by locals who offered to use our cameras and phones to take fun photos with the statue (most were on Brielle's phone). He used my phone to take a panoramic photo that produced two images of Brielle in the same photo (I didn't know how to do that). I tried to tip the guy, but he refused, saying that instead I could look at the items in the gift shop (which he then led us to). Everyone else in the tour ended up in the same situation...that's just how it works. I ended up buying some earrings made with a light blue stone called larimar that only comes from the Dominican Republic.

The top of the mountain also had a large botanical garden with many gorgeous flowers and even a small cave.

Our next stop was at Fortaleza San Felipe, a historic Spanish fortress that protected the people from pirates. We only saw the outside.

Finally, we headed into town for a walking tour through Independence Square.

I had peeked at some info about Puerto Plata, and I was looking forward to seeing Umbrella Street and the Paseo de Dona Blanca (pink street). We also drove past a Kite Street.

On the pink street, there was a lady with a monkey, offering the opportunity for people to hold the monkey for $5 and take photos. Of course!

Like all tours, stops at stores to hear a description of their products with a sales pitch was part of the experience. One was a coffee store, and one was a store offering a liquor called "Mamajuana", a combination of tree barks and herbs soaked in rum, red wine, and honey. We were all offered tastings - the first one with a cinnamon flavor, and the second one chocolate. It was tasty, but really expensive, so we passed on bringing some home. Surprisingly, little cups of Mamajuana were also handed to the kids! Brielle and Stella originally took a sip, but Ronan was a little concerned.

The tour was amazing, and it was really special to spend a little time in a new country. However, with the "shopping" stops, the tour went a half hour long. We arrived back at the port just in time to get completely soaked with rain on the way to the ship. This resulted in wet shoes for days, which was unfortunate. Along those lines, we learned a lesson for our next cruise - bring more clothes! It was relatively easy for me to hand wash clothes in the sink, but drying them was a whole other issue. It was humid outside, so you couldn't just dry them on the balcony. We had to use the hair dryer in desperation to dry things we needed.

I was hoping we'd have time to run into the monkey enclosure before returning to the ship. It's a place where you can pay to go inside for a period of time, and monkeys climb all over you, and it's right at the port. But with the pouring rain and a deadline to return to the ship, there just wasn't time. But we did leave feeling like we could definitely imagine returning to the Dominican Republic because there was so much more to explore!

 

The next morning we docked at Grand Turk in the Turks & Caicos. The stop was a replacement for Labadee, Haiti. This was our first time there, and it did not disappoint! The water was absolutely gorgeous.

We were able to go to the beach right next to the ship, and even though the water was crowded, there weren't any issues with sand clouding up the water. It was as clear as a spring, and with our snorkel equipment, you could see at least 50 in front of you under the water.

We swam out to the edge of the swimming area where fewer people were to snorkel. That's where we just floated and marveled at the colorful fish swimming all around us. I could have stayed there all day - I was in my happy place. It was like living in a fancy saltwater aquarium. Unfortunately, I can't share any photos of the prettiest part of our trip because we couldn't find our underwater camera anywhere.

There were teal fish, periwinkle fish, rainbow fish, huge fish, tiny purple and orange fish, skinny gar fish, Dory fish, and schools of tiny silver fish. I was most excited to see a flounder...at first it was about 15 feet away and I wondered what that sideways object was. Then it swam right under me, laid flat on a rock, and quickly became camouflaged, turning the color of the rock, even emulating the holes in the top of the rock. Incredible.

Snorkeling was the main thing I wanted to do, but it's good we stopped when we did because I burned my backside with all that floating! The port also has a large Margaritaville Restaurant/Bar with a large lagoon-type swimming pool.

As we departed the port, Brielle spotted a sea turtle swimming next to the ship.

We had another "Day at Sea" on the way to the Bahamas, so this is a good time for me to describe some of our onboard activities. This cruise was two nights longer than our last one, so we had more time to relax in the room and participate in scheduled activities on the ship. The Royal Caribbean app on our phones let us see each day's schedule and add activities to our personal calendars. We had dinner scheduled at 7 p.m. each night in the main dining room (and it took about 2 hours each time), but we managed to fit in some fun before and after dinner.

 

We didn't spend too much time in the ship's pools and hot tubs because they were really crowded. But we did relax on the deck to have a drink and watch the water views. Ronan decided to exercise on the track.

We played miniature golf. (It was so hot and humid that my camera lens kept fogging up!) The course was pretty cool - at one hole the ball goes down a metal spiral to a lower level and more putting courses.

And, of course, we made sure to catch the Belly Flop Contest. It was all men, and they lined them up from lightest to heaviest, ensuring the contest would end with a big splash. After each belly flop, the cruise director asked everyone to hold up one to five fingers to rate the flop. She told us to show a cupped hand if we felt that the contestant was a "butt tucker" (i.e., he arched his back forward to cushion the landing). She then looked up at the hundreds of voters and called out their votes for a final (made-up) tally.

In the evenings, we went to three comedy shows, including a juggler who was also very funny. The kids, Grammy, and Amy caught an ice skating show. We met a couple of times at a bar to hear a wonderful piano player and singer who took requests from the audience. We also saw "game shows" where audience members volunteer to participate in funny contests. We tried the karaoke, but it was a flop - bad songs, no good singers. So we went to a karaoke "finals" competition, thinking there must be amazing singers there. Instead, only 3 people had signed up and they were encouraging others to join (no, the wine was at least $11 a glass, so I didn't drink enough to karaoke). I couldn't believe that with thousands of people on the ship, there weren't some really talented singers taking the opportunity to show off. But everything else was really high quality!

One thing I really enjoyed was the dance parties in the Promenade. One night was "80s night". People danced as 80s music played and staff members dressed up as Madonna, Heavy Metal bands, and other 80s performers as they led people in dances from up on the bridges over the Promenade. 70s night was similar, but with a lot of disco music and 70s performers.

Eating on the cruise was pretty easy, and it was amazing having six days in a row without having to make food! For breakfasts and lunches, we went to the Windjammer, a large buffet-style eating area on the 11th floor. There were always hash browns and fruit, some kind of vegan Indian dish (e.g., dal and rice), pasta, veggie burgers, and various veggies and breads. For dinners we decided to eat in the Main Dining Room each night. We were able to do this because Royal Caribbean has a vegan menu on all of their ships! Unfortunately, on this particular ship, they didn't have a separate vegan menu with several choices for the appetizer, main dish, and dessert (like on our last cruise). But they did have a vegan choice for each category, so it worked out fine (other than for Ronan, since it was always a chocolate dessert and the kid doesn't like chocolate).

The service was very good, and on the next to last night, there was a sudden singing and dancing party in the dining room to honor the staff and celebrate the end of the cruise. Our servers, Maricel and Blasio, are in the foreground of the first photo.

My main complaint is that the dinner experience always took a chunk of time. There are three courses (and more if you want), and it's a time to spend time with each other, but it also meant we had to miss certain events. Last time I was disappointed that we were always eating during sunset and never got to see if from the ship. In fact, prior to this cruise, I had re-occurring dreams that I was on a cruise and finally got to see the sunset. Of course, in the dreams I could never get my camera to work, but it was beautiful anyway. So this time I decided we would see the sunset, even though we had to run out of the dinner and upstairs to do it. The first time we tried, all we saw was cloud cover. In fact, through the windows at dinner, we never saw colorful light coming through. Maybe sunsets out at sea are less likely? On our second attempt to catch a sunset, we saw just a little color, but at least we saw it. And the dreams have finally stopped!

Our final stop was "Perfect Day at Coco Cay" in the Bahamas. This was the only destination on this trip that we've been to before. It's a private island owned by Royal Caribbean with plenty of beaches, lagoon pools, a water play area, and some wild animals, including a big iguana who grabbed a roll of bread when we were eating lunch by the water. We snorkeled some more and saw a smaller array of fish than at Grand Turk, but it was still beautiful. A stingray was the most exciting animal we saw in the water (we were glad we didn't see sharks this time!)

Back on the ship, we watched as the Grandeur of the Seas (an older, smaller RC ship) pulled away from the dock, waving to the people on their balconies.

We had fun watching the birds who decided to travel with us back to Florida.

The cruise was a huge success overall. We loved our first visit to the Dominican Republic and look forward to returning to the reefs of Turks and Caicos for more snorkeling. We ate well and enjoyed almost all of the activities on the ship. We learned to bring more clothes, bring more snacks (the stores in the Promenade were basically useless), and wear swim shirts to avoid getting burned. For a cruise this long, I'd also bring my computer next time. I wouldn't have had internet access, but at least I could have started working on these photos immediately. Our next cruise will either be on one of the new mega ships or on a cheaper ship, in a cheaper room, where we focus on paying for excursions at certain locations while saving money on the ship. But we were definitely inspired to start thinking about the next trip!