Allure of the Seas transatlantic from Rome, October 22 to November 6, 2015

As usual, I'm enjoying your report. The cabins look to be very nice indeed, and I'm glad you're in what sounds like a great location. I hope your dining situation is sorted out as a result of the table change, and you can truly enjoy your dinners and dining companions instead of merely making the best of them. Keeping my fingers crossed that the good things stay good, and the not-so-good things get better.

If you don't mind, What cabin are you in?

Roy, very sorry to read your dinners sent working due to poor oversight by RCCL. That's pretty terrible IMO.

I was on the jogging deck about 5:30 and found that the central starboard area was roped off for the gangway, and instead of laps walked back and forth around the open section for 30 minutes. As I walked we were sailing parallel to the dock and at the end we had stopped and a small boat was relaying lines to the shore. This is my 4th visit to Barcelona, each of the previous 3 I disembarked and toured the city.

 

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I took a leisurely breakfast and left the ship about 9. The Allure uses 2 terminals in Barcelona, one devoted to forward cabins and the other to aft. I think technically I was supposed to leave by Terminal B and reboard through terminal C, but wanted to drop my gratuity envelope off at guest services and left through C. It didn’t really matter for people with their own bags, but luggage pickup would only be at the designated terminal.

 

My plan for the day was to do some morning laundry in Barcelona and unpack in the afternoon. My GPS said that it was about a mile and a half walk to the laundry but it looked like the pedestrian route led away from town before meeting the road into town. I had pretty much planned on taking the shuttle and that sealed the deal. There was a long line but I just squeezed onto the first bus. I had found Wash and Dry through a combination of Cruise Critic and Google, and loaded the location into my GPS. The shuttle dropped us off at the Columbus Monument at the end of the Ramblas. I thought I remembered the reviews saying Wash and Dry was in a back alley and hard to find but I set off down the Ramblas anyway. At the first traffic light after a long block on the Ramblas the GPS indicated the laundry was to my left. It was a narrow street between tall buildings and the GPS was starting to lose it’s position.. I was just getting discouraged when the laundry appeared to my left.

 

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There were 5 washers and 3 dryers and it must be a very busy day when both the Allure and Epic are in town. I was just in time for the last washer and settled down to edit my photos for half an hour. When the wash cycle ended I had about a 5-minute wait for the first dryer and was on my way out 25 minutes after that. I stopped at McDonalds (1 block further up the Ramblas) for lunch and wifi, then walked back to the Columbus monument. The line for the bus was again long, and I was nearing the front when the second bus fully loaded and set off. I got a seat on the 3rd bus and was headed back to the port about 12:30.

 

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We were given “Consecutive Cruiser” tickets which were supposed to expedite the reboarding process but I couldn’t see where it made any difference. In any case, the lines were short at 1PM and I was soon back onboard. My stuff was all waiting for me when I got to my new room, and unpacking (this time for 12 days) began in earnest. Muster was at 5PM. Perhaps due to some drydock modifications, the card on my door lists my station as “Adagio 5" but it is now the Silk Dining Room. I was confused about sailing time. I think I’ve seen it listed anywhere from 6 to 8 PM but the word on board was 6.

 

About 5:45 Captain Johnny said we would be delayed, and I needed to get to dinner. The first night unfortunately was not good. There were no escorts at the door to get people to the right table and I didn’t find it easy to locate the table. When I did, the table was a 6-top and there were already 6 people there. I had a wait while the Maitre d handled other requests, but he assigned me the table next to it “just for the night”. It was also a 6-top, when I arrived there were 4 empty seats and a couple who spoke only German, and I don’t think they were happy to see me. Twenty minutes later the Maitre d came back and said this was now my permanent table. Perhaps there are some other English speakers who will be back other nights, otherwise I’ll have to wait and see what develops.

 

Service was quite good and we left the table about 7:20. As I walked out along the jogging track we were just backing out of our berth until we get to a turning basin. The evening entertainment was Mama Mia (running for 3 days only). It was excellent but it had me in bed VERY late. I also found the volume extremely loud and moved from about row 5 on deck 4 to the back of the balcony after the first number.

 

 

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I am running behind again and posting early Monday afternoon for my parting shot. In his noon update Captain Johnny plugged the “Captain’s Log” on channel 18 and there he mentioned storms and the Canary Islands getting severe floods. Wishing the Canaries a speedy recovery.

 

Roy

Roy can you give more detail ( if possible ) on how doing a back-back works in Barcelona ?? We are cruising Harmony next October, first leg is 7 nighter, followed by 13 night TA. Thank You !!!

Roy, don't feel like the Lone Ranger with your dinner arrangements, I was on the Allure as a solo traveler and that turned in to a disaster. The first night at a 8 top no one showed up, not wanting to eat alone in MDR I went to the Windjammer. The second night no was there so I asked to be moved and again ate and in the Windjammer. The third night with a new table assignment I arrived to find all the tablemates very drunk and no solos, just couples, so for rest of the cruise I ate in the Windjammer.

Thanks all. I'll have to get back to you on the questions, today's Enrichment lecture is about to start. Cruisin' Again 86, are you keeping the same cabin for both legs?

I was down on the jogging track about 5:30 and it was already closed off at the gangway points. I walked 4 laps, cutting through the Royal Promenade to avoid the closed off section. As I walked I could see some stars out.

This is my second visit to Malaga with the first on the Celebrity Solstice in 2012. At that time I visited the Caves of Nerja, but this time decided to go West rather than East.

We docked about sunrise (7:30); it was then cloudy but with room for the sun to shine through. We pulled into the terminal closest to town with the MSC Divina by the breakwater and Windstar’s Star Pride (ex Seabourn) at a small dock very close to town.

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/dawn1027.jpg

My tour was set to meet at 8:15 and leave at 8:30; the ship was cleared just about 8. I had a bit of a wait at the Amber Theater but left on time and the bus pulled out close to 8:30. As we left the ship I could see the Zuiderdam pulling into the space between us and the Divina.

Marbella, a town of about 100,000 is just over 30 miles West of Malaga but traffic in Malaga was slow and we were over an hour making the trip. Captain Johnny had suggested a chance of morning rain and as we passed through Malaga a little drizzle started. About half way to Malaga the drizzle became a downpour. It slowed down enough by the time we got off the bus so that it was fairly comfortable with my rain jacket as my walking tour started. The town is quite ancient and was an Islamic stronghold through about the 15th century. As we started walking through the lovely town square the rain got stronger. We continued to some narrow alleys and stopped at a small chapel that was originally a Mosque but converted to a Catholic church.

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/marbella1.jpg

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/marbella2.jpg

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/chapel2.jpg

We continued walking around the oldest part of town and entered into the main church. It was quite ornate with many small niches and a grand organ. By the end of our hour of walking around town the dry refuge of the bus was welcome.

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/mainchurch.jpg

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/marbellaorgan.jpg

We continued another 5 miles west to the resort town of Puerto Banus. It was about a 40-minute on our own shopping and scenic stop. There were picturesque streets and a bow of huge private yachts from around the world, with a few up for sale. We returned to the bus at 12:10 and were back at the port at 1.

The rain had slowed again to a light drizzle but it was time to head up to my room for relaxation and drying out, followed by a trip to the Wipeout Café where the pizza was very good. It cleared up about 3 and I went out for a walk around the port about 3:30.

My new table is another 6-top. I am told there were only 3 people there the first 2 nights so I make 4. I think most of us will be there each night. The other man there is from Scotland and the 2 ladies are from the midwest and from the Netherlands. The Dutch lady’s first language is German but she has very good English with just an occasional struggle to come up with the right word. I think the last 10 nights will be very pleasant.

Sunset was about 6:45 and sailaway was about 8. It was a very dark sailaway despite a lovely full moon. I watched from above the bridge on deck 14 as we backed out of the port, backing at least the combined length of the Allure, Zuiderdam, and Divina before we cleared the breakwater and turned.

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/moonoverallure.jpg

The main evening entertainment was Mama Mia. Instead I watched the final performance for a while of Ocean Aria., as it is sea and weather dependent and will not be repeated until we hit the Caribbean. It’s primarily a water show performed in a theater at the back of the ship. The entrance is on deck 6 with seating descending to a pool on deck 5. It’s actually cast of several specialties with aerial acts, tumblers, dancers, and divers. The pool has a false bottom that can drop low enough to allow high dives, be raised as a platform for gymnastics, or set at any level in between. A section behind the pool rotates as a platform on one side and a trampoline on the other, and there are 3 levels of diving spots with the top one even with deck 12, allowing about a 70-foot high dive. It was a very entertaining and energetic show. If It’s repeated as we approach Fort Lauderdale I may try to watch some of it from my balcony.

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/aria1.jpg

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/aria3.jpg

As today’s parting shot congratulations to the Mets and (especially) Royals.

Roy

Thanks for posting! Really enjoy reading in the morning with my coffee.

We will be sailing on Allure in January, our second time on her. We were not Diamond when we last sailed. You mentioned the Diamond breakfast, would you be able to post some shots of the lounge and your thoughts on it?

Thanks

Sppunk, the I hope the dining situation was a really unusual occurence because it really didn't look good. Thanks JamesEM and buckirj1, things were A LOT better last night. LetsGoToDisney I'm in 11719 for the TA and was in 10183 for the 3-day mini. I like just about everything about my new cabin better.. These cabins come in pairs with a little jog in the wall between cabins. For each pair of cabins, the cabin on the right is wider at the balcony end and the bed is there. The cabin on the left is wider by the hallway and the bed is next to the closet. The chief difference for me is that on that left cabin the bed makes access to the closet kind of awkward.

Countess5, much of what is set up in the Diamond Lounge is just set up for breakfast. I'll try to take some pictures tomorrow morning.

Cruisin' Again 86, I've attached the official story on consecutive cruisers. It's mostly true with a few things I'll add.

There was a meeting for consecutive cruisers the day before Barcelona. They had representatives there for a lot of programs and we got the schedule of shows for the TA and a chance to reserve them on the spot. I didn't pay attention but I think there were also representatives for the specialty dining and the spa as well as shore excursions. I thought the meeting was worthwhile if only for the shows. I think there was one slight bit of misinformation at the meeting. I got a "consecutive cruiser" card the last night and was told it would get me expedited checkin for the TA. I was just sent to the regular line.

I changed rooms. The last night I had to pack the stuff from my shelves and drawers and leave them in my room. My steward (old room) delivered my bags to the new room and all the clothes on hangers in the old room were in hangers in my new room when I returned.

My plan was to go into Barcelona and use a laundromat. It worked pretty well but especially if the Epic is also in town it got busy, I would suggest going early. The letter said independent guests should take only small personal items. I took that with a grain of salt and had a rollaboard size backpack with me with no problems.

I haven't heard form anybody who left with the group to clear customs and return ASAP how they made out.

If you want to go into Barcelona, there are w options. You can do a ships tour or something independent. There were no tours offered in advance but there were w in the booklet I get when I boarded the first leg. Both were about 4 hours, either a Barcelona City Tour, about $40, or a tour to Montserrat for about $43. There are a number of options for things you can do on your own (I suspect among others you could join a suitable length group tour through your roll call and be dropped back either at the ship or the shuttle stop).

If I've missed any of your questions let me know.

Roy

consecutive.pdf

Roy, I am really enjoying your day-to-day commentary along with the photos!

Thanks all. I'll have to get back to you on the questions, today's Enrichment lecture is about to start. Cruisin' Again 86, are you keeping the same cabin for both legs?

 

I was down on the jogging track about 5:30 and it was already closed off at the gangway points. I walked 4 laps, cutting through the Royal Promenade to avoid the closed off section. As I walked I could see some stars out.

 

This is my second visit to Malaga with the first on the Celebrity Solstice in 2012. At that time I visited the Caves of Nerja, but this time decided to go West rather than East.

 

We docked about sunrise (7:30); it was then cloudy but with room for the sun to shine through. We pulled into the terminal closest to town with the MSC Divina by the breakwater and Windstar’s Star Pride (ex Seabourn) at a small dock very close to town.

 

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/dawn1027.jpg

 

My tour was set to meet at 8:15 and leave at 8:30; the ship was cleared just about 8. I had a bit of a wait at the Amber Theater but left on time and the bus pulled out close to 8:30. As we left the ship I could see the Zuiderdam pulling into the space between us and the Divina.

 

Marbella, a town of about 100,000 is just over 30 miles West of Malaga but traffic in Malaga was slow and we were over an hour making the trip. Captain Johnny had suggested a chance of morning rain and as we passed through Malaga a little drizzle started. About half way to Malaga the drizzle became a downpour. It slowed down enough by the time we got off the bus so that it was fairly comfortable with my rain jacket as my walking tour started. The town is quite ancient and was an Islamic stronghold through about the 15th century. As we started walking through the lovely town square the rain got stronger. We continued to some narrow alleys and stopped at a small chapel that was originally a Mosque but converted to a Catholic church.

 

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/marbella1.jpg

 

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/marbella2.jpg

 

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/chapel2.jpg

 

We continued walking around the oldest part of town and entered into the main church. It was quite ornate with many small niches and a grand organ. By the end of our hour of walking around town the dry refuge of the bus was welcome.

 

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/mainchurch.jpg

 

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/marbellaorgan.jpg

 

We continued another 5 miles west to the resort town of Puerto Banus. It was about a 40-minute on our own shopping and scenic stop. There were picturesque streets and a bow of huge private yachts from around the world, with a few up for sale. We returned to the bus at 12:10 and were back at the port at 1.

 

The rain had slowed again to a light drizzle but it was time to head up to my room for relaxation and drying out, followed by a trip to the Wipeout Café where the pizza was very good. It cleared up about 3 and I went out for a walk around the port about 3:30.

 

My new table is another 6-top. I am told there were only 3 people there the first 2 nights so I make 4. I think most of us will be there each night. The other man there is from Scotland and the 2 ladies are from the midwest and from the Netherlands. The Dutch lady’s first language is German but she has very good English with just an occasional struggle to come up with the right word. I think the last 10 nights will be very pleasant.

 

Sunset was about 6:45 and sailaway was about 8. It was a very dark sailaway despite a lovely full moon. I watched from above the bridge on deck 14 as we backed out of the port, backing at least the combined length of the Allure, Zuiderdam, and Divina before we cleared the breakwater and turned.

 

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/moonoverallure.jpg

 

The main evening entertainment was Mama Mia. Instead I watched the final performance for a while of Ocean Aria., as it is sea and weather dependent and will not be repeated until we hit the Caribbean. It’s primarily a water show performed in a theater at the back of the ship. The entrance is on deck 6 with seating descending to a pool on deck 5. It’s actually cast of several specialties with aerial acts, tumblers, dancers, and divers. The pool has a false bottom that can drop low enough to allow high dives, be raised as a platform for gymnastics, or set at any level in between. A section behind the pool rotates as a platform on one side and a trampoline on the other, and there are 3 levels of diving spots with the top one even with deck 12, allowing about a 70-foot high dive. It was a very entertaining and energetic show. If It’s repeated as we approach Fort Lauderdale I may try to watch some of it from my balcony.

 

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/aria1.jpg

 

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/aria3.jpg

 

As today’s parting shot congratulations to the Mets and (especially) Royals.

 

Roy

We were not able to get same cabin, we are deck 7 ocean balcony for 7 night and deck 8 boardwalk for T-A...

Thanks in Advance !!!

We were not able to get same cabin' date=' we are deck 7 ocean balcony for 7 night and deck 8 boardwalk for T-A...

 

Thanks in Advance !!![/quote']

 

Just to be sure, did you see post #58?

 

Roy

Hi,

I'm one of your fellow cruisers on the Allure (12615) enjoying your posts. Yesterday the sea was a bit rough with some noticeable swells even tough the wind was mostly only around 10 knots. Much less motion in the ocean today, even though it's a bit windier (25 knots, southwesterly). Glad that Captain Johnny chose the (longer) southerly rhumb line route rather than the (shorter, but rougher) northerly great circle route. The Anthem, currently sailing from Southampton to Bayonne, is experiencing some rough weather. I'll try to include a screenshot of today's Atlantic winds, where you can compare their conditions to ours. BTW, pretty good internet here, see attachment.

Thanks aviator. I'm running behind again, in part because of yesterday's cabin crawl. There are too many pictures to post on cruise critic, so here's a link to my blog page for the event:

https://getawaysfrom21044.wordpress.com/extras/bigship/crawl/

Roy

I hedged a bit on my walk today. I knew we would pass through the Strait of Gibralter very early in the morning and wanted to be on deck for the passage. Instead of starting my walk first thing after getting out of bed I started it promptly at midnight and slept after the walk. As I started out Gibralter was almost directly on our starboard side. According to my GPS it was about 6 miles to Gibralter and 9 miles to the Moroccan coast on the port side, although the navigation channel was much narrower. While the GPS showed no towns along the coast, on each side there was a steady string of lights. I was also glad to walk that early as a low pressure system was predicted and the seas were calm in the wee hours. When I finished my walk (about 1:30) we were just clearing the European and African coasts.

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/gibralter.jpg

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/morocco.jpg

I slept late, getting up about 7:30, in time to watch the sunrise from the flowrider area and get an omelet at the Wipeout Café. It’s becoming one of my favorite snack spots on the ship, I love being on deck and all the food has been very good with the exception of a runny frozen yogurt cone in the afternoon.

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I was asked on cruise critic for some photos of the Diamond lounge and I took a few today. Most of the breakfast items leave me cold but the English Muffins are very nice and it’s a very convenient place for coffee and tea. There is no happy hour there; there are so many diamonds on the crossing it had been moved to 3 bars.

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David Kirkpatrick’s morning lecture was “The Making of the Little Mermaid”. Lunch was a combination of pizza at the Wipeout Café and vegetable at the WJ.

The highlight of the day was the Cruise Critic cabin crawl. I won’t go into it here; I posted comments and pictures as a blog page:

https://getawaysfrom21044.wordpress.com/extras/bigship/crawl/

The weather has not been great and people are staggering around the ship quite a bit. I’ve concluded that the design of a ship is as important as size for stability on the seas. The 220,000 ton Allure of the Seas is handling 4-meter swells about the same way the 150,000 ton Queen Mary 2 handled 6-meter swells 2 weeks ago. Fortunately, Allure does not see a lot of these conditions in it’s usual travels and fortunately I have pretty good sea legs.

I don’t know if there will be a shortage of pool and deck chairs later in the crossing but there are PLENTY now. It could be really nice on one of them right now with just a bit of a coverup.

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/pooldeck.jpg

The seas were still pretty choppy around dinner time and we were down to 3 this evening. One of the ladies came in early and started feeling uneasy. She left before I arrived at the table. Otherwise it was a fine evening. My evening activity was the comedy club..

Today’s parting shot looks back at my most recent cruise on the Grand Caribe and my return through the Montreal area. The village where my mother was born will celebrate it’s 100th anniversary as an independent village on October 29. Congratulations Howick.

Roy

I am really enjoying your postings. Hoping one day to do a TA myself. Thank you!!!!!

Just to be sure, did you see post #58?

 

Roy

Got It !

Thank You

Enjoying your posts of your great adventure!

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for posting the Diamond Lounge shots,

Looking forward to enjoying that in January. Chef's table was held upstairs on the Oasis.

Went through the straights last June on Anthem, actually stopped in Gibraltar, very interesting. When leaving it was so amazing how close Africa was! The mountains were huge!!!!

Sail on and enjoy!😀

One of your HAL posters checking up on you. Thanks for sharing your cruise experiences on the Allure. I've wondered how the Allure would handle rougher seas.

With a ship that large, there is so much to explore. Do you know your way around it now?

Do you know if the ship developed major problems far out in Atlantic, would it be possible to tow it to a port capable of repairing it? That would of course depend on winds and seas.

Your comparisons with the QM2 would be welcome, too.

Hi,

Also posted this on the other TA thread.

Would someone ask Ana (1) if she is using the 01 or the 02 email address and (2) when does she go back to the DL. TIA

Hi,

 

Also posted this on the other TA thread.

 

Would someone ask Ana (1) if she is using the 01 or the 02 email address and (2) when does she go back to the DL. TIA

I will be on the November 8th sailing and have emailed Ana at the 01 email address. She said that she will be on the Nov 8 sailing.

I will be on the November 8th sailing and have emailed Ana at the 01 email address. She said that she will be on the Nov 8 sailing.

Thank you. I will email her at the 01 addy and see when she goes home and or back to the DL.

I had fallen behind on my postings Wednesday and loaded Wednesday photos onto my hard drive before starting my walk. Still, with the ship still on Rome time and located 15 degrees west of London, sunrise and sunset are getting later and later. When I finished my walk around 8 it was still pretty dark.

My Boardwalk Balcony has just a narrow window of outside visibility but it looked like our heading was right to be able to see the sunrise from my balcony and took a chance. I was very happy with the results.

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/dawn1029.jpg

My morning activities really started with David Kirkpatrick’s talk on “The Movie - From Idea to Hit”, dealing extensively with the creation of “Beverly Hills Cop”. There was a “Meet the Stars” session with the cast of Mama Mia in Boleros at 12:15. It was supposed to be for Crown and Anchor (C&A) only but nobody was checking. It was extremely crowded and I did not pause long. I’ve heard rumors that there will be a repeat later on in a larger venue.

Lunch today was at Sorrentos. I was thinking it was a national brand but am now doubtful. In any case I found the pizza very similar to what was served in Wipeout Café but Wipeout has nice ocean views.

My entertainment today was the magic show of Hector, and it was a 3PM matinee. His act was mostly slight of hand and making objects levitate, but he did a few other things and (disclosing this was not really magic) put on a very entertaining display of animals created by shadows of his hands on a screen. I thought it was a very good show (more later).

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/hector.jpg

The C&A welcome party was held before our dinner seatings in the Amber Theater. The Mama Mia cast sang a number of songs and Captain Johnny introduced the senior staff. As I had expected this is heavily weighted towards the upper C&A levels. My level, Diamond, has the most with 1,228, followed by entry level Gold (925), D+ (759), Platinum (just above Gold, 742), Emerald (between Platinum and Diamond, 424) and just a few at the top level, Pinnacle (56). It is no wonder the Diamond lounge is very busy.

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https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/caparty2.jpg

We are often a table of 3. Our Scottish man had been complaining about shoulder pain Wednesday and was seen during the day wearing an arm sling. I hope he is doing ok, we missed him at dinner.

We gain 6 hours going from Rome to Ft. Lauderdale and are still on Rome time. Tonight we gained the first of those hours. Due to the C&A parties there was only a late show in the Amber Theater (the Adele Tribute) at 10:45. There was also a good movie in the Aqua Theater but I think rough seas are tiring and I took a “rest” on my bed and woke up several hours later, time to head for bed for real.

Today’s parting shot comes from Hector’s magic show. People who know me know my favorite Cruise Line is Crystal. One of their traditions is that sailaway they play Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World”. I associate that song with Crystal sailaways and it’s difficult to hear it on a non-Crystal ship. It was played twice in Hector’s show. The first time was when he made a table levitate. He did it once and then invited a young boy, Charlie, to join him. While Charlie is a bit too old for it to apply directly I sensed Charlie’s wonder and was transported to the last stanza of the song and it felt totally right.

“I hear babies cry, I watch them grow;

They’ll learn much more than I’ll ever know;

And I think to myself what a wonderful world”

Well done Hector and Charlie

Roy

Thank you Setting sail for fun, Cruisin' Again 86, mswildeye, countess5, St. Pete Cruiser, redcrown, and Cruisincricket. Crusincricket, thank you for following up on Ana; it sounds like she is not currently on board so I'm not sure what I could have done. mswildeye, I highly recommend a TA. In fact, while the first on RCI, this is my 21st overall. You can be assured I love them.

St. Pete Cruiser, I'm no expert on what would happen with a mechanical failure but I would guess it would call for a number of tugs. I suspect that, especially after a recent drydock, any lessons learned from the the Carnival Triumph have been fully implemented on the Allure, I would also guess that the ship, being hydrodynamically intact would be an easier tow than was the Costa Concordia and towing while slow would be possible.

I am still discovering new things about the ship but pretty comfortable now in knowing my way around. I'm a believer in something Colonel Potter once said on MASH, "If you're not where you are you're nowhere"', and I'll hold off on comparisons until after the cruise. Let's just say I booked this expecting that this is something I would want to do once and I am still happy with that initial assessment. The ship is not me but I am immensely enjoying the moment and there is nowhere else I would want to be right now. I'll have comparisons later and will probably find a way to post them on the HAL forum as well.

When I was in the theater for the lecture, there were a lot of thuds and bumps as waves hit the ship.

The wind was howling through Central Park even though it's fully enclosed by walls going up at least 5 decks.

Roy

I have always found that every cruise is an experience and they all hold their own treasures. You always find some things on each that you like or not and compare them to others.

We all have our favorites, but exploring to me is what it is all about. The itineraries, people and staff vary and that is What makes it fun.

Reading cruise critic and having people post their experiences and opinions helps me learn and desire to try other adventures. :D 🚣⚓️

Even though we have sailed Allure before and will again in January, thanks refinmd for bringing us your adventures!

Sail on! :)