Not So "LIVE" Allure of the Seas: TAKE 2

[QTMichele]

mmmmm....

 

:D

 

I am really enjoying this so far! I bet it was such a rush and a happy occasion for your sister. Not only getting married while on holiday but seeing all the family there in one place to celebrate it.

 

Well done you for organising it

 

Look forward to reading the rest of it

 

CK x

 

A big rush! And very happy occasion.

 

Great expressions from your sister :). Truly surprised!

 

Oh she was! There's a video too, but I don't have it. Yet. ;)

[QTMichele]

Your review is truly priceless....We're heading out on the Allure in December. Can't wait..........:D

 

The time will fly by! I'm excited for you!

 

AAAWWWW!!!!!! Michele, your sister looks so surprised. She brought a tear to my eye. I am very sentimental.

The review is great. I will read more when I get back from ours. You have made me even more excited.

Thanks, Cindy

 

Oh, thank you! I'm sentimental too. :)

 

I'm so glad you were able to surprise your sister. Family is a great thing.

 

Family is the best, even at their worst. LOL

[QTMichele]

Michele,

 

Loving your review. What a great sister you are, any family would be proud to have you a part of it. Keep up the good work.

 

Thanks, Deb

 

That's a beautiful thing to say - thank you.

 

Thank you for the review and the pictures. We will be on her Easter Sunday and can't wait. This will be our first time on RCCL (always cruised with Princess) and we are beyond excited! I would love to know how the Over the Water Cabanas were. We booked one and would love to know how it was. From the pictures we did see it looks like we will NOT be disappointed. Glad you had a good time and spend it with the ones you love.

 

I'll post more about the cabanas SOON, but a quick summary - very nice! Get there early first pick.

 

Have a wonderful cruise! I'd love to hear a comparison between the two lines once you return.

 

We leave in nine days!!!! This is helping to stir up the excitement level (not that it needs much stirring ;)

 

You'll be there soooooo soon!!!!

[QTMichele]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review and pictures. I love reading your reviews and that's awesome you guys actually pulled off the surprise without it getting out! Looking forward to reading more.

 

Thanks for reading! I've gotta get my butt in gear and write some more tonight.

 

Suprising your sister is awesome. We suprised our youngest sister last year by having our oldest sister cruise with us.....tears were plentiful to say the least. Can't wait to read more.

 

I LOVE surprises!!! Glad you had a similar experience.

 

But I had to subscribe! Just off Jewel today and fully expecting your review to be cure my PCD when I return to New England on Sunday;)

Looking forward to reading it when it doesn't take hours for the photos to load! Glad you had a great time.:D

 

Oh, I want to go on a Radiance ship! How was Jewel???!!! Welcome home.

[QTMichele]

Michele-Following along with part 2 & loving the great emotions in your fam pics! Gotta say you're the most down to earth CC "rock star" I've ever virtually known.

 

 

 

 

 

Wishing I had a sister like you! :)

 

Aw, thanks!

 

Great start to the review, Michele! Looking forward to more and more photos!

 

Am getting there... tonight!

 

Your review is awesome, Michele and I cant wait to read the rest! Thanks for sharing your story and pictures :):):) beautiful family!

 

Thanks!!!

[QTMichele]

So great so far. We'll be sailing March 24th. Spring break here we come.

 

My neighbor is sailing during spring break too!!! :)

 

Oh my, loving your review. The excitement and photo's and the writing are awesome.

 

Thanks so much!!!

 

Okay, I need to continue this journey...

[QTMichele]

So, after our surprise, we went to lunch. We were starving! (But not for long!)

 

We decided to go to the Windjammer, but found a huge line at the door. We made our way to the Park Cafe instead. It was pretty busy there too, but we managed to get our food in reasonable time. Tables were scarce, but we managed to find some.

 

Now, I'm gonna gripe for a minute. My BIL to be found a table for him and my nephew, and my kids and I squeezed in to join them. That's 5 people at a table for 4, plus we had more coming. Another table opened up next to us. I got up to claim the table as we had more people joining us, but a woman ran up to me and said it was "hers." Her party didn't even have food yet. She was quite rude, and I decided it just wasn't worth making a scene over. I took the high road. I should've dumped my drink on her, but I'm not red-neck enough for that. (Well, I probably am, but I was a good girl.)

 

After lunch we went to our cabins. Our group booked a variety of cabins including insides on decks 8 and 3, forward ocean view on deck 8 (those were mine), balcony on deck 8, and a Central Park view on deck 9. They were all adequate, comfortable, and worked well most of the time.

 

 

This picture is quite dark, but you can see that Jason and I had the cabin on the right (bed near the window) and our kids had the cabin on the left (bed near the closet).

 

 

I loved our cabins! Because they were forward OV cabins, they were quite a bit longer than the typical cabin. The windows do slant in at the top so you have to be careful not to bump your head. It was almost an optical elusion - you could see the window, but we still walked into it numerous times. LOL

 

We had plenty of room for our family, more room than we needed, really. However, I don't think we could all squeeze into one room. (The Oasis class has many cabins that will accommodate 5.) Having said that, if I was on a tight budget, then I'd change my mind.

 

Our view was nice, but we could see a portion of the helipad. If you want an "unobstructed" view of the ocean, then do not book the forward ocean views. Also, they do open the helipad to some guests for sail away... be warned if you're coming out of the shower with your curtains opened.

 

Our luggage arrived and we managed to unpack. I love getting settled in - it makes me feel like my vacation has officially begun!

 

And it had... it was time for sail away!

 

And a sunset over Ft. Lauderdale

 

[QTMichele]

Because we had a large group, we thought we'd give My Time Dining a try. Before our cruise, I made reservations for 6:30 each evening of our cruise; our reservations were linked. I'm not sure how they manage the dining room, but linking our reservations had no effect on how we were seated. The first night we were split into 2 groups. This wasn't a big deal, but it would've been nice to sit in the general area of each other. Unfortunately, this situation wasn't the exception. Later in the trip, I spoke to a headwaiter who recommended linking reservations but using main or late seating. He said MTD hasn't been perfected for groups at this point. This is good info for me as we have a group book for this Thanksgiving onboard the Liberty.

 

Dinner was good, and I chose the Vidalia Onion Tart as my entree instead of an appetizer. Good choice, but they sent me too much! (And I ate every bite! LOL)

 

Cute story... I was sitting next to one of my uncles at dinner this evening. After ordering, he leaned over and asked me how much dinner would be. He's a new cruiser and was clueless. And when I say clueless, I mean CLUELESS. All he knew was that he was going on a cruise and that's it. Seriously. It was really quite funny and sweet at the same time! Instead of a V8, he should've read Cruise Critic.

 

After dinner, we ran into a few "friends."

 

 

(My son has a new girlfriend...)

 

 

Then we made our way to our first show: Chicago.

 

 

Chicago is not my thing, but the performers did a great job. There's a lot of talent on that stage, and the audience seemed to enjoy it. My family did!

 

We took a quick walk on the Boardwalk after the show where my girls found their alter-egos:

 

 

 

Another reminder that we are on the largest ship in the world:

 

 

After our quick Boardwalk tour, we had to stop for a quick snack in the Promenade. (This was a nightly thing for my girls on our Freedom 2010 cruise.) I had forgotten about getting dect phones, and thought I'd try my luck at Guest Services. They had some available so I rented two at $25 each. A GREAT price for peace of mind and getting in touch with our group throughout the week (our group ended up renting the remainder of the phones they had left).

 

***For those interested in the dect phones: $25/phone, $300 if lost, $200 if damaged. You'll get a charger with your phone too, so make sure you return that to avoid charges.

 

Our first day was very long, very emotion, and very fun! But it took a toll and we hit the sack.

 

Tomorrow: Sea Day

[keyarra]

Loving your review. I cant wait to hear more.

[Sugar*Magnolia]

The instructions for the family, minus my sister, her fiancé and his brothers, were to go to the Viking Crown Lounge and wait. We chose the VCL to reveal the surprises for a couple of reasons. First, there's a bar. In a Xanax shortage, this is good. Second, we assumed (correctly) that it wouldn't be crowded and we'd have the place to ourselves. Finally, the views are nice.

 

So, everyone but my sister and her entourage are waiting on me to find my sister. I found her et al in Boleros. Convincing her and the rest of the gang to join me was a little challenging, but I can be convincing.

 

Under the guise of, "We want you to see the view before it gets too crowded," we made our way to the VCL. My heart was pounding and I was grinning like a goof ball.

 

My sister greets everyone she "knows" is onboard:

 

>>>>>>

 

Here she is trying to figure out why everyone is telling her to look "over there."

 

 

And then she sees them. Terra finds our aunts and uncles sitting in the high back chairs and SCREAMS, JUMPS UP and DOWN, SCREAMS some more, and CRIES. It was the best surprise EVER!!!! We were all screaming and laughing.

>>>>>>Snip Fwd>>>

>>>>>

 

Fabulous, Michele! I couldnt wait to see how this all played out for you and your family! I know you worked hard at the perfect surprise and, well, just wow! you really did an amazing job of orchestrating! :)

[BillOh]

Great expressions from your sister :). Truly surprised!

 

Yea, you can't fake that. It was pretty amazing.

[QTMichele]

Loving your review. I cant wait to hear more.

 

Thanks! Getting there...

 

The instructions for the family, minus my sister, her fiancé and his brothers, were to go to the Viking Crown Lounge and wait. We chose the VCL to reveal the surprises for a couple of reasons. First, there's a bar. In a Xanax shortage, this is good. Second, we assumed (correctly) that it wouldn't be crowded and we'd have the place to ourselves. Finally, the views are nice.

 

So, everyone but my sister and her entourage are waiting on me to find my sister. I found her et al in Boleros. Convincing her and the rest of the gang to join me was a little challenging, but I can be convincing.

 

Under the guise of, "We want you to see the view before it gets too crowded," we made our way to the VCL. My heart was pounding and I was grinning like a goof ball.

 

My sister greets everyone she "knows" is onboard:

 

>>>>>>

 

Here she is trying to figure out why everyone is telling her to look "over there."

 

 

And then she sees them. Terra finds our aunts and uncles sitting in the high back chairs and SCREAMS, JUMPS UP and DOWN, SCREAMS some more, and CRIES. It was the best surprise EVER!!!! We were all screaming and laughing.

>>>>>>Snip Fwd>>>

>>>>>

 

Fabulous, Michele! I couldnt wait to see how this all played out for you and your family! I know you worked hard at the perfect surprise and, well, just wow! you really did an amazing job of orchestrating! :)

 

Yea, you can't fake that. It was pretty amazing.

 

I really need to get the video... LOL

[pabrett46]

After our quick Boardwalk tour, we had to stop for a quick snack in the Promenade. (This was a nightly thing for my girls on our Freedom 2010 cruise.) I had forgotten about getting dect phones, and thought I'd try my luck at Guest Services. They had some available so I rented two at $25 each. A GREAT price for peace of mind and getting in touch with our group throughout the week (our group ended up renting the remainder of the phones they had left).

 

***For those interested in the dect phones: $25/phone, $300 if lost, $200 if damaged. You'll get a charger with your phone too, so make sure you return that to avoid charges.

 

 

We also rented the Dect phones on Oasis.. we weren't given a charger apparently they ran out :eek: not sure how that's possible.. wouldn't you get a charger for every phone? Anyway they told us when it needed charging to bring it back to them and they'd either charge it for us or put a new battery in it. Which worked fine.

 

Loving your review!!

[QTMichele]

An early morning wake up call was necessary to make it to the one and only character breakfast we booked. Who is "we"? My aunt, my brother and sister, my youngest daughter (8) and me. Yes, 4 adults and 1 child, and we only brought the child to avoid the funny looks. (In fairness, my other kids were snoozing and I wasn't about to wake a sleeping toddler. No way.)

 

We arrived to a line of people waiting to get into the dining room. The "arrive by 7:45am to be seated" because breakfast started "promptly at 8:00am" was not observed by Royal this morning. No problem, we didn't have to wait too long.

 

We were seated and given these menus:

 

 

 

We were quickly given these pastries. (Ignore the missing pastry... it was devoured as quickly as it arrived.)

 

 

We had three characters for breakfast. (No, we didn't eat the characters!) All of us are kids at heart and loved it!

 

 

 

 

Overall, breakfast was good. Chocolate shakes for breakfast - who can beat that? I would have booked the other two breakfasts, but I knew 8am would be too early for our crew, especially as the week went on.

[Archaegeo]

Cant wait for your labadee cabana photo's and info since you teased them on the private island forum :)

[QTMichele]

We made our way to the pool deck after breakfast. It was a little cool and windy so the hot tub was the perfect place to stay warm.

 

 

Because we were on a cruise ship, we knew we had to eat again. I mean, do you realize how much food they prepare? Well, someone has to eat it! So we made our way to the Windjammer for the first time this cruise.

 

Ugh. I'm just not an Allure Windjammer fan. There's plenty to eat, but the variety isn't the same as on the other ships I've been on. I would guess this is due to all the other venues available. On the other hand, we had no problems getting seats today (or at any time during our cruise), even with our large group. Maybe the word has gotten out that there are several included places to eat?!

 

During lunch we decided to watch the Zip Liners and Flow Riders. A few people in our group were hung ho to give it a try. Thank goodness for cameras! It was HILARIOUS!

 

One of my uncles getting ready to take the plunge:

 

Then a quick sprint to the Flow Rider to catch my niece in her little bikini. This was her first time on the Flow Rider! Not bad!

 

 

The boys were staring, of course. The old men were drooling. Both groups were waiting for her to wipeout and lose her top or bottoms. Or both. Thankfully, she never lost either.

 

But she did lose her balance!

 

 

Then my uncles took their turn. A LOT of laughing going on with these two.

 

 

[QTMichele]

And their wipeout pictures:

 

 

 

We spent the rest of the afternoon checking out the activities for the kids. Allure does a fantastic job taking care of them! The characters are a huge hit, of course, but there are a lot of activities like face painting, superheroes, balloon animals, games, and so much more.

 

 

 

The kids had a great time!

[Archaegeo]

Pulls out a whip <cracking sound>

 

Write faster! <grin>

[mmcruise]

Savoring every second - you have already posted some things I hadn't seen before.

 

Thanks, and take your sweet time!;)

[QTMichele]

Ice Games was scheduled for tonight, but I skipped it. I saw it on our last Allure cruise and didn't love it enough to see it again. Several of the new cruisers in our group went and enjoyed it.

 

Monday evenings on the Western itinerary are formal. We opted out this evening and went to Rita's Cantina instead. The place was empty except for one other table beside us. The food was good - nothing great, but good enough. The strawberry margaritas were very nice. I like tequila.

 

 

I'm not a gambler, but will play the slots from time to time. We were killing some time before our Ocean Aria reservation and ventured into the casino. I picked Deal or No Deal thinking it would be like the game on TV. My first $10 spent in the machine was gone in moments, and I never got to play the "tv version" of the game. Not a quick learner, I put another $10 in. This time, I hit the right combination to play the TV version. I won $127! I was pretty excited as I never win anything! I pocketed the money and left for Ocean Aria.

 

 

The last time I saw Ocean Aria was during daylight hours. It was a great show and I was looking forward to seeing it again. This time our show was during night time hours. It was spectacular! The lighting was wonderful, and the talent did a fabulous job. This was probably our favorite show for the week.

 

A few pictures from Ocean Aria:

 

 

 

I highly recommend this show - book it, and get there early!

 

Tomorrow we'll be in Labadee! It's been years since I've been, and I'm really looking forward to it. We booked cabanas, and I'm very excited to see how the process works.

[QTMichele]

Pulls out a whip <cracking sound>

 

Write faster! <grin>

 

Oh crap. And I thought I was doing so well!

 

Savoring every second - you have already posted some things I hadn't seen before.

 

Thanks, and take your sweet time!;)

 

Oh, good! Sometimes I feel like everything has already been said, done, written, posted... I'm glad you're finding something new!

[Archaegeo]

I still say she is a Labadee tease <grin> but loving the review.

[QTMichele]

We ordered room service for breakfast for two reasons. One, it's our wake-up call. Two, it's too hard to get 3 kids, a husband, and me to breakfast "early" in the morning on a port day.

 

Every time I've ordered room service in the past I've gotten pretty small portions. You can imagine how surprised I was when we received full size meals for each of us, plus fruit plates, pastries, and more. Our rooms looked like one of the kitchen galleys! We ate a lot of the food, but couldn't eat it all - I felt guilty for the waste, and used it as a lesson for later room service orders. Most of the food was fine, but some was cold when it should've been warm (hash browns in particular). It was worth it, and allowed us to get to port sooner.

 

Before our trip, I reserved a Nellie's Beach cabana. Actually, I reserved 3 - one over-the-water for me, and 2 hillside cabanas for my mom and sister (there were no more over-the-water left). We had 21 people in our group, but only 6 people per cabana are allowed. We were 3 people over, and were concerned how we could keep our group together. Would they allow the extras to join us?

 

We received a call from the excursion desk on Monday letting us know the procedures for the cabanas. I asked them if we could bring our extra people and they said it shouldn't be a problem. It wasn't.

 

Once we left the ship, we went to the information center and let them know we were there for our "taxi." We got a "private" taxi who took us to the Barefoot Beach entrance. Once there, we were checked off the list, introduced to the concierge, island concierge, and our cabana attendant. We were also given bracelets to identify us as cabana guests.

 

One of the staff took us to our cabana. We had the first over-the-water on Nellie's Beach. This was a great location for us since we had young kids, but the view is less than ideal. Our cabana was turned towards the beach instead of towards the ocean. We turned our lounge chairs to improve our view.

 

Inside our cabana:

 

 

View from our side window:

 

 

View from our loungers:

 

 

View looking "back" from our cabana:

 

[NerdyChuck]

Michele,

 

If you have a picture of one of the rooms that overlooks Central Park, I'd love to see it... Darling Wife and I have one booked on deck 11 for the 7/22 Cruise to Eastern Carribbean.. Looking forward to the America's Regatta on St. Maartan..

 

Love the pic of the Madagascar penguins... I'm a huge fan on penguins... Guess I'm going to have to track those things down when we're on the ship..

 

mG

[Cruise_Kitten]

I am not going to look until Monday Morning now. It's just coming up to going home time here in the UK and I won't look at this thread again until Monday. may choice lol I just want to read it all in one go.

 

It will be my treat for all the training I'm doing next week.....new IT systems at work....boring :D

 

See you on Monday for more

 

CK x