Drink Around the Ship: Adventure of the Seas Bars
So everyone has heard of “Drink Around the World” at Disney Epcot’s World Showcase, but it has been an ongoing cruise tradition for us to “Drink Around the Ship”. We make it a point to sample every bar menu and get at LEAST one drink at every bar on our cruise ship, so our recent 7-night Adventure of the Seas cruise was no different.
Boasting 15 bars, clubs, and lounges, Royal Caribbean’s Adventure of the Seas has plenty of options for all types of travelers- whether you prefer beer or champagne, whether you like to dance, listen to live piano music, or catch a sports game, you will certainly find a bar that suits your taste. Follow us as we travel to all the Adventure of the Seas Bars during our “Drink Around the Ship” extravaganza!
Adventure of the Seas Bars
So, let’s start at the bottom and work our way up through all of the Adventure of the Seas Bars. Located on Deck 4 is the Lobby Bar, Casino Bar, Jester’s, and Schooner Bar.
The Lobby Bar, which is actually still listed on Royal Caribbean’s deck plans as the Aquarium Bar, is located near the central staircase and is still reminiscent of the Aquarium Bar with sea life decor in the seating areas. This bar features the traditional Quenchers at Sea menu and was never busy during our cruise.
We visited this bar on a few occasions during our cruise including the last day, when we ordered 2 drinks of the day– Caribbean Sunshine. It’s like the drinks were toying with us because there was NO Caribbean sunshine that day- only rain and rough seas!
Quenchers at Sea Menu: Page 1, Page 2
Heading forward, next up is the Casino. This bar offers your traditional full bar menu but no specialty cocktails. Although we never actually sat at the bar, we did order some drinks to drown our sorrows while losing money.
Immediately outside of the casino is the entrance to Jester’s, the Gothic-themed nightclub on Adventure of the Seas. This venue is a two-story complex with a bar and seating area on the upper level and another bar on the lower lever along with the dance floor. Jester’s is one of the venues that does stay open late night, yet it always seemed pretty slow to us.
We only visited Jester’s once during our cruise, just to check it off our “Drink Around the Ship” list, as it is not really our scene. Again, Jester’s does not offer a specialty drink menu, so we ordered our drinks of choice. The Princess likes her vodka and cranberry, DB ordered his cruise drink of choice the Long Island Iced Tea, and Sis went with a gin and tonic.
Lastly on Deck 4 is the Schooner Bar. This nautically themed bar is a Royal Caribbean staple. This venue, located near the theater, was always busy. It hosted such activities during the cruise as karaoke, trivia, live piano music, and more. We made several stops at this bar during the course of our week.
Offering a specialty cocktail menu, it served up a mean sidecar for DB. While I decided to try the Tropical Old Fashion during this particular visit.
Schooner Bar Menu: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4
Heading up a deck to Deck 5 on our tour of Adventure of the Seas Bars, you will find the Royal Promenade which houses the Champagne Bar, the Duck and Dog Pub, The Gravity Sports Bar, the Cafe Promenade, and the Imperial Lounge.
My favorite bar was the Champagne Bar. This elegant venue had a large seating area and a specialty drink menu. This bar, like the Schooner Bar, was more crowded on a nightly basis, possibly because of the location or the great drink selection.
This bar’s specialty drink menu featured great Strawberry Shortcake and Orange Dreamsicle martinis, so we could be found here quite often.
Champagne Bar Specialty Drink Menu: Page 1, Page 2
Moving along, the Gravity Sports Bar is in the heart of the Royal Promenade and offers some “al fresco” seating. We managed to score some seats here the night of the 70’s disco party.
This venue does not offer a specialty drink menu, but it did draw a bit of a crowd, possibly the sports fans who wanted to catch a game on the televisions within the bar. Even though there were no specialty cocktails, we made sure to check it off our “Drink Around the Ship” list of Adventure of the Seas Bars.
The Duck and Dog Pub is located across the Promenade from Gravity. This venue featured a live guitarist on many evenings, but never seemed to draw too much of a crowd except when events were occurring on the Promenade.
Being a beer lover, DB made sure we visited this spot a few times during our cruise. This venue offered a unique specialty drink menu featuring some beer cocktails. DB ordered the Boston Iced Tea Party (left), I ordered the Cherry Orchard (center), and Sis ordered the Pink Velvet (right). None of us were thrilled with the cocktails, so DB just stuck with beer on future visits.
Duck and Dog Pub Menu: Page 1, Page 2
Continuing along the Royal Promenade, there is the Cafe Promenade. While it does not specialize in bar drinks, it does offer a small selection of beers and specialty coffees to go along with your snacks.
Having an Ultimate Drink Package, we frequented this spot for our daily dose of lattes. And although we did not purchase any, Cafe Promenade also served up Ben & Jerry’s ice cream for a small fee.
Last but not least on Deck 5 is the Imperial Lounge. The Imperial Lounge is an entertainment venue hosting numerous events throughout the cruise including trivia, bingo, and the Michael Jackson Tribute.
We attended an 80’s trivia session, a Harry Potter trivia session, the Michael Jackson Tribute, and the Battle of the Sexes in this venue, and of course we ordered drinks at each event!
Venturing up quite a few flights of stairs from the Promenade to Decks 11 and 12, you have your 3 outdoor Adventure of the Seas Bars- the Pool Bar, Solarium Bar, and Sky Bar.
The Pool Bar on Deck 11 is located in the center of all the action, near the stage where the band played Calypso music and where the Sexy Man Competition took place. The Sky Bar is located directly above on Deck 12. These bars were always busy with pool-goers, tanners, and loungers alike.
The Solarium Bar is also located on Deck 11 in the adult’s only Solarium area. This area tended to be much quieter and always felt very hot and humid to us.
All three of these bars serve up the same Quenchers at Sea menu. The Pool Bar on Deck 11 and the Sky Bar on Deck 12 were our go to spots for some frozen cocktails during our sea days. How can you go wrong with a pina colada, a strawberry daiquiri, or a mix of the two?
Even though it served the same menu, we technically never did get a drink at the Solarium Bar. It was our plan to spend some time there on our last sea day, but due to weather conditions, the outdoor decks, and thus bars, were closed.
There is also a bar located in the Windjammer Cafe on Deck 11, serving up beverages at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It’s not really a bar that you would sit at and have a drink, but you can certainly order one to enjoy with your meal. You’d be surprised how many morning Bloody Marys we saw being consumed!
Last but certainly not least of the Adventure of the Seas Bars is the Viking Crown Lounge located on Deck 14, serving up great views and great drinks. The Diamond Lounge is also located here.
The Viking Crown Lounge is the one venue that we always intend to visit more but usually don’t given its location. This time around on Adventure of the Seas, we made sure to get a drink here Day 1 to ensure it was completed for our “Drink Around the Ship.” The night we visited, the Latin band was playing on the stage of Blue Moon. Blue Moon also hosted guitar classics and an occasional karaoke during the course of the week.
That completes our “Drink Around the Ship” visiting each of the Adventure of the Seas Bars. If you are still thirsty, you can always head back down to Deck 4 and start the tour all over again!
Comments
Have you sailed on Adventure of the Seas? If so, what was your favorite bar or lounge? Do you have any unusual cruise traditions like our “Drink Around the Ship”? Drop us an anchor below to let us know where you like to sip your favorite cruise cocktails.
7 comments
Greg Hutch
Thanks so much for this review… I realize it was from last October, but I am going on my first cruise on June 4th on adventure and I cannot wait!!! I was talking to my wife the other night about all the different drinks and she was wondering about specialty drinks (she likes to try new things but never can “think of any on the fly”.) So this review was perfect to look at and get idea of what they offer. I am a beer drinker as well and I will say the beer list at the duck and dog looks pretty great! After reading this I think we may put this on our todo list… “drink around the ship”! great idea!!! 30 days and counting!!!
Shelley Mellard
I see you purchased the Ultimate drink package which is what we purchased on our last cruise. Next time I think we’re going to go with the Premium package which if I am understanding the difference correctly it will just not include premium coffee, tea and/or fresh squeezed juice. Please correct me if I am wrong. Do you know if there is a benefit in purchasing drink packages before boarding?
DB
Hi Shelley. Thanks for reading. Yes, we did the Ultimate, and you are correct, the only differences are the premium coffees and fresh squezzed juices. We are big latte drinkers so the Ultimate works for us. Currently, RCI does not offer any benefits for paying for a drink package before you sail (unlike NCL which gives you a discount if you prebook). That may change in the future, but for now, we always wait til we are onboard to purchase. Appreciate the comment. When is your next cruise?
Shelley
Boarding Freedom of the Seas on 12/6; doing the Western Caribbean. Our last cruise (which was our first) Oct. 2014, we were on the Oasis. We’re hoping we didn’t spoil things by going on the Oasis first now downsizing to the Freedom. Either way we are excited to be going again.
Matt Hochberg
Okay, I’m ready for a few drinks now after reading all this. Love it!
DB and The Princess (@EatSleepCruise)
Thanks Matt for reading and the comment. The weekend is almost here, so I think you have earned a few drinks! Just wish those drinks were on a cruise ship. Glad you enjoyed the post. We had a great time drinking and writing it!
Joyce DeSanctis
Are elevators available for ALL decks/bars/pools? I can’t do stairs well.