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Live from the Allure of the Seas - August 21-28, 2011


Daghis

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Hello, everyone!

 

Just as Radio has finished his fantastic cruise on the Enchantment of the Seas, giving me much enjoyment to read for the past week, we're about to embark on our own cruise on the Allure of the Seas.

 

As I did last year, I'll bring y'all along with me for the cruise to share the experience. I love reading "live" threads and hope that this thread will be enjoyed by others as well.

 

We're planning on heading to the pier around 10:30, so it's about time to get to bed so that I can awake refreshed and full of anticipation for this wonderful week ahead of us!

 

BTW, this is my first time using Tapatalk, so I'm hoping that this will make it even easier to access the forum while onboard. I've got my "Camera Connection Kit" for the iPad, and I've got a method for uploading photos from here, so I'm really hoping I'll be able to share photos as well. I'll keep my fingers crossed that it works as planned.

 

See y'all tomorrow!

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Hi Marc!

 

I will be seeing you at the port- I plan on getting there around the same time so we can get an early jump on things. If you dont mind giving me a few lessons on the IPad picture posting- I have one too. Not familiar with Tapatalk,

See you at the port!!!!! Let's get the party started!

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Well, as usual, I can't sleep well the night before the cruise, so here I am, checking email and stuff early in the morning. DH is awake also, but the kids are sleeping soundly. Lucky them!

 

I thought this would be a good time to give everyone a bit of background about us. We are a group of five (DH, two sons, 14 and 18, and a family friend) from Pittsburgh. We've sailed a bunch as you can see from my signature, but have become "loyal to Royal" since we sailed on the Liberty of the Seas a few years ago. Thanks to a quick 3-day cruise on the Majesty of the Seas that I managed to squeeze in back in January, right before the cruise credits-to-points change happened, we are now Platinum Crown & Anchor members for the first time. I'm looking forward to being on the other side of the boarding area to see what it's like on that side of the room. :)

 

We sailed on the Oasis of the Seas last year, so I'm looking forward to seeing both what's familiar on the Allure of the Seas as well as what's different. A few highlights in my mind that are on my "to do" list include: Izumi, Rita"s Cantina, Jazz on 4, the Riding Tide Bar, the Champagne Bar, the Cupcake Cupboard, ... well, pretty much all of the Royal Promenade :)..., FlowRider, ice cream on the Pool Deck, the casino, Samba Grill, Park Café, Johnny Rockets, and the comedy club. Yes, those are just a "few". :D

 

Oh, about our cabin... We are booked in a Promenade cabin. What's disappointing to me about the Oasis-class ships, as compared with Voyager- and Freedom-class ships, is the lack of Promenade cabins. There are so few, and even fewer that connect to another cabin (just 3). And those that do connect, do so to a "large interior" (category L) cabin, not another PR cabin. That seems strange to me as well. I guess that's another advantage to us for booking early... we were able to get a cabin that we wanted which was in limited supply. I do love Promenade cabins!

 

Hmmm... Here's a disadvantage to Tapatalk. I can't review the rest of the thread while posting this to reply to others' posts. I guess I'll post those separately.

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I will be seeing you at the port- I plan on getting there around the same time so we can get an early jump on things. If you dont mind giving me a few lessons on the IPad picture posting- I have one too. Not familiar with Tapatalk,

See you at the port!!!!! Let's get the party started!

Sure! I'll be glad to show you my little setup including picture uploading and Tapatalk.

 

See you in a few hours!

 

How far in advance were you able to book specialty restaurants and shows?
I seem to recall it was about 70 days out for the shows. I think restaurants opened up earlier than that, but I didn't book any dining in advance. The entertainment opens up somewhere between 60 and 90 days out. At some point, Royal Caribbean opens up several cruises at once. We were a bit later than expected in that regard.

 

One thing that will be interesting to see will be whether our friend can book some of his missing reservations onboard. He neglected to book in advance as I had done, so he doesn't have a few of the reservations that we do. We're hoping that by going to the Show Reservations desk (in Studio B) as soon as we board, he might be able to get those reservations that he couldn't get on the web. I guess we'll see how well that works soon.

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I was pleased to find this morning that we could indeed see the Allure of the Seas off in the distance!

 

web.jpg

 

It's always a wonderful time on embarkation day when you can see the ship from your hotel room balcony.

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Help with POQbum. I was able to get the countdown clock in an email but how were you able to get in on Cruise Critic. I would like to put it on my desktop.

 

Here's the code that I put into my signature here on Cruise Critic. You can edit the numbers/text embedded in this code to put your own message and time/date.

 

<embed src="http://files.myspace-toys.com/Files/Gens/countdown/cndplayer.swf?skinn=http://files.myspace-toys.com/Files/Gens/countdown/skin3.swf&bg_c=16777215&bg_mc=0x003366&tcm=b2b2fe&tcu=fa7fed&msg=Allure%20of%20the%20Seas%20August%2021,%202011&tyear=2011&tmonth=8&tday=21&thours=11&tminutes=0&tseconds=0" wmode="transparent" quality="high" name="cndplayer" height="180" width="310">

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Did you spend your pre-cruise night at the Embassy Suites? I think I recognize that view.

Yes, we did! Good eye!

 

I like staying here since it can hold all four of us reasonably well and it's pretty cost effective.

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Thanks for the "LIVE" report! Will be tuning in each day, as we board the Allure in

just 7 weeks! We are your neighbors! Will be flying out of Pittsburgh first of October

to board the Oasis, the will be boarding the Allure! Can't wait! Have a great cruise!

 

Can you let me know if they have any live Calypso bands playing poolside

on sea days! Thanks!

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