Allure of the seas- Eastern- april 15-22nd Review

[obsessedsc]

Hey! Can you please tell me, if you know, why when I try to use that same countdown url, I can't? It just keeps saying invalid URL? Thanks for any "computer challenged" help you can give me:o

 

I'm not sure if you are asking me or Bill for help with this but I have no idea! wish i could help. when i created mine i just went up at the top of the page to that link that says countdown clocks and then copied the code in my signature.

[Sunebeach]

Enjoying your review...can't wait til I'm on her in October...long way to go yet but CC helps!:rolleyes:

[obsessedsc]

Tuesday morning we headed to johnny rockets for breakfast. It was pretty good. Mom and I had the omlet and my hubby had the french toast. Dad stopped by just to have a cup of coffee before heading to the gym. Mom and Dad ended up getting johnny rockets most days for breakfast or at least for coffee. They found it to be the best on the ship. For me, if I drank coffee I got a white mocha from starbucks!

 

 

After JR's me, dh, mom, and baby headed to the jogging track... where we saw a man walking his puppy! cute little doggie! I had read on here before about people with puppies on allure. But we saw 2 on this cruise! My mom had a fit. She has a very hard time leaving her 9 year old yorkie that has seizures. Our hands were full enough with a 8 month old though! Anyone know what it cost/ how to qualify to bring pets along? Just curious! We did one or 2 laps (i don't remember) and then took the baby to play at the babies and tots area.

 

 

 

After that, my DH went to nap with the baby (he always quickly volunteered to nap time) and I went with mom, dad, and brother to the solarium. There was no reason for the baby not to get his good naps in on sea days so he had at least 2, 2hr naps on these days to help balance out for the days we were at the islands. Tip for the solarium. If you find chairs that arent together and there is room you can always ask for some help having them put together. We had 1 chair when we got there and ended up with 3!

 

 

Around 1:15 i headed back to the room. I was supposed to be back at 1 but had no watch and I was so relaxed...I got in the hot tub with dad and brother and they said it's probably after 1 by now...oops! DS had already woken up and DH had him fed and ready to go to the pool. We took him to the baby splash zone. I knew we wouldnt be there for a long period of time so my parents/brother kept the 3 chairs we had in the solarium and took turns coming to see DS play in the splash zone for about 30-45 min.

 

 

Then DS and I went back to the room. And DH enjoyed the solarium for about 30-45 min with the rest of the fam.

 

We skipped lunch this day because we had 5:30 reservations for Giovannis Table!

[ollienbertsmum]

I am looking at the picture of the dog - is that a wet patch behind it??:eek::eek:

[Hypo]

I saw the "pets at sea" too....first time ever! I should have brought my little "Suki".

I loved Chicago, my favorite. We went to the 7pm show, so my husband actually stayed awake.

Missing Allure!

 

 

We were on Oasis last Sept. When DW read that they had "Pets at Sea" at a certain time, she was adamant that we go to it. Imagine her disappointment when she found out that they weren't really "pets", but rather, stuffed animals that you could buy.:D

[obsessedsc]

When we got to central park we had about 20 minutes before dinner so we went to vintages for a glass of wine! That brings me to another tip I have for this ship. try to group things together. For us the first night we pretty much DID the boardwalk. The next night before dinner in the MDR while we were with the baby my parents and brother went to bars on the promanade prior to dinner since our dining room was on 5. This night we went with a central park theme! Just before dinner it started to rain. The staff puts umbrellas at the entrances/ exits which I thought was a very nice touch!

 

 

 

 

Back to vintages (sorry im all over the place). While there we mentioned that our TA so nicely got us a bottle of wine, but I only drink reisling and DH doesnt really drink wine. We really didnt want to waste it. They said they could switch it out with no problem!

 

 

Dinner at Giovannis was really good. Everyone had different opinions. My dad said he enjoyed the MDR better. Mom thought it was fun but she wasnt impressed with the food on this ship. My brother probably enjoyed it most. I really enjoyed the appetizers, but a busy baby really kind of spoiled this night for me. My DH and I had to keep walking out with him to keep him entertained (which we expected prior to the trip). The eggplant appetizer was our FAVORITE...I dont even know if I had ever had eggplant before but it was delish!! DH enjoyed it but wished we had took turns going to chops instead (us one night, the rest of the fam another). I'm glad we did it. We'd probably even give it another try!

 

 

 

After dinner DH and DB had planned to go to the early comedy show but some how lost track of time and didnt make it. Instead they ended up wandering around the ship. I was trying to get the baby to sleep. I was bored so I got on to check our account and found 20.00 to the arcade...guess I knew then where they went. The baby wouldnt go to sleep so I put him in the stroller and we strolled and found ourselves at the arcade. After they spent all their money, we went to the jammer to get round 2 of dessert!

 

 

 

Next up: Wednesay, St. Thomas---Park Cafe breakfast, ST.JOHN: TRUNK BAY (thankfully through a RCI excursion because we were late for all aboard), and MDR for dinner! I'm going to try to get through this one today because I'm going back to work and working a 12 hr shift tomorrow and I know I wont have time to get on here!

[Mmketeer]

Love in it! Especially all the great little tips. :)

[obsessedsc]

We woke up with the baby around 7am. I got starbucks and we enjoyed a stroll through the promenade. Then we headed to Park Cafe for breakfast. I had a breakfast sandwich (egg, ham, cheese on english muffin) and DH and one of those and a breakfast burrito. Great breakfast. We strolled on deck 16 as we pulled into port. We were going to let DS play at the babies and tots area but it didnt open until 9am. We then headed back to the room to watch on our balcony and let the baby nap before our excursion. We were to meet at the pier at 10:45. So we planned to meet the family in the lobby by our door.

 

 

(this was a game my son played all week...try to touch the plants in central park)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[obsessedsc]

I just had a random thought for those that are traveling with a family in 2 cabins (or more) like we were. My mom and brother were concerned prior to the trip how we would find each other (bc obivously we werent going to stick together a pack of 6 for everything).

 

It was so simple At the beginning we used the phones in the rooms to leave messages. Sometimes we would just say something like" hey, good morning! we are headed to breakfast and then the baby splash area and if we do anything different we will let you know" and we also had post it notes. My parents would stick notes in the room for my brother. But it was funny to me how predicatable we all became before the end of the trip. Without a message one morning I found my parents at johnny rockets and one afternoon at the solarium.

 

Another funny memory i forgot to mention was that on tuesday morning my DH phoned my parents and brother's room and changed his voice pretending to be room service wondering where my DB would like his order 47 pancakes because they tried to deliver them to the cabin but he was not there. It was so funny but the joke ended up being on my mom who called room service back to tell them that he had not ordered 47 pancakes and that she was not going to pay for that! LOL

[obsessedsc]

we met at station 10 at the pier. we found out our station when we got there. we asked a royal caribbean staff person where we needed to be and he pointed us to a lady that told us station 10. we had the destination st john: coastal cruise tour. They gave us wrist bands. On our ferry we had 3 groups. I know one was a shopping tour and I'm not sure about the other but we had blue, yellow, or green wrist bands.

 

 

There was no problem with taking the ferry over with your tour and then getting on a taxi to go to trunk bay or wherever. Taxis were 6$ per person each way. They did not charge the baby. Also there was a $4 per person fee to get into trunk bay which is a national park (not sure if we paid for the baby there or not).

 

 

 

(he was a little hot, not sunburned, in this one- he drank lots of extra water on beach days)

 

I was worried about taking the baby to st. john, but it is our favorite place in the world we had ever been and we had to go back! It worked out even better than I hoped! For those traveling with a baby: he napped in my arms (no life jacket on) on the ferry, he sat in my lap on the open air taxi (i prayed the whole time), and at the beach we found a shaded spot. He played in the water in his float, got out after about 45 min. ate his lunch, played in the sand. Got back in the water for about 15 min. Got a tiny bit fussy. we took him to the showers rinsed off the sand and salt. put on fresh clothes and he napped in his stroller and in my arms. (can't promise it will work for you or that it's safest way to do a day in st thomas but it worked for us)

 

 

 

 

[JBert]

Great review!

 

Quick question - what float is that? We'll have our 6 month old DD on our next trip and want to give that a try!

[obsessedsc]

Trunk bay had a snack bar and shower facilities. We got sodas, beers, passion fruit and guavaberry foo-foo drinks and m&ms while we were there.

 

My brother bought a t-shirt. We showered off and then took our taxi back to cruz bay. I was hoping to get a sit down late lunch but it was too late. We found a snack bar/burger shack on the corner of the road and got a bite to eat and then waited on the ferry.

 

The ferry was a little late but we were told the ship wouldnt leave without us because we were on a excursion through the ship. They gave us all rum punch (2-3 if you wanted) and we arrived back at the cruise port at 5:45 (all aboard was at 5:30). customs line was quick because we were the last to get on the ship!

 

We went straight to our cabin. DH went to park cafe to get us roast beef sandwiches. I bathed the baby and put him to sleep. Then dried my hair while watching a beautiful caribbean sunset!!

 

 

we were so nervous about what baby was going to do at dinner, but I was able to transfer him to the stroller without waking him and he slept through dinner! whew!!!

For dinner we were told the surf and turf steak was chewy so I chose to get the chops filet with the shrimp and mashed potatoes from the surf and turf dinner. It looked better than it tasted. Good, but not worth the extra expense. A waiter came over to do some magic tricks for us! It was really fun and we all enjoyed it! Somehow I made the salt shaker go through the table. I'm still not sure how...Magic, I guess!!

 

 

 

 

After dinner we had the headliner show. No surprise here...we missed it! Food coma after a day in the sun. We were off to bed to dream of our day with Bernard's Tour in St.Maarten!!

 

 

next up: st. maarten (private tour with Bernard's Tours)-coming saturday! Thankfully I am well and going to work tomorrow!! Wish me luck. I have been off for over 2 weeks now!! 13 hour work day!!

[obsessedsc]

Great review!

 

Quick question - what float is that? We'll have our 6 month old DD on our next trip and want to give that a try!

 

http://www.amazon.com/swimways-baby-spring-float-canopy/dp/B0035X4NNE/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1335478191&sr=8-5

 

we got ours at target, but I found it here first! She will love it. the canopy is kind of a pain. I'd just put a hat on her and leave that part at home or in your stateroom!

[twinlges]

I love Bernard! He got my very dainty, nervous, "everything's-icky" 19 year old daughter to number 1, touch--no wait, not touch--HOLD a sea urchin in her hand and number 2, drink beer from a bottle!!! She always says it was one of the most fun days she's ever had. Even at that age it was amazing to watch her have a new experience! We've booked with him twice. Both times were FANTASTIC!

 

Katie (BTW I've really been enjoying your review)

[noshoobie]

I've been enjoying the review and the tips. Can't wait to hear about Bernards. We're planning on booking him for our cruise.

[AF-1]

Very nice review. Love your pics with captions. I traveled with ten in Dec. we had four cabins. We used sticky notes and left them on doors. We had five kids age's 2-14. It helped the Tweens by leaving notes. So u r saying that the. Royal allows people to bring their dogs?

[flyawayca]

I'm enjoying your review. Thanks so much for taking the time! Looking forward to see more, I'll be on the Allure next year (It can't come soon enough!) Why do I seem to wish my life away for cruises? :D

[amc40]

AF1....I saw 2 small dogs on the ship. A yorkie with a "service dog" vest and a small mixed breed with no vest. It's the first time I have ever seen dog on a ship. Kind of strange.

 

Great review! I can't believe it's been 2 weeks since we left for Ft Lauderdale!

[obsessedsc]

I'm back! Thursday pics are uploading right now! I am going to be posting lots of pictures for this day!!!

 

We woke up to our adorable little alarm clock around 6:30am. We watched the ship dock and a Holland American ship dock next to us. The baby loved people watching from his pack n play on the balcony. Holland America's top deck matched up with our balcony!

 

We had a private tour booked through Bernard! We met at the info center at 9:30. They checked our name off a list. We got in a line for a few minutes. They ran our credit card and within 2 minutes he introduced us to our driver and before we knew it we were in our air conditioned van and on our way!

 

Our stops: iguanas, sea urchins/sea animals to touch and hold, Le Galion beach (2hr), Maho Beach (1.5 hr), and then Great Bay (about 15 minutes on the way back to the ship)! He also made some stops for picture taking!

 

My brother prefered staying put at one beach like in St. John the day before, everyone else claimed this trip as the highlight of our whole cruise!

 

Le Galion is picture perfect! I had been to st. maarten 2 times before this (orient beach and dawn beach) and finally after this beach I fell in love with it! The water warmed up as the day went on and we really could have spent the whole day there!!

 

At Maho Beach we ate some bar food (monzarella sticks, chicken fingers, fries) and watched several planes land. In the 1.5 hrs that we were there about 5-6 landed (maybe even more). My husband called it cheesy...my dad and I loved it! It was fun to experience but we dont HAVE to go back!

 

Great Bay was much prettier in the pictures i googled than in person. We only stayed a few minutes. It was fun to see the ships from there and if we werent already worn out it would have been fun to rent jet skis there!

 

Through the whole trip Timo (our guide) was always close by with the "bar"!

 

next up: Pictures! A little mommy/daddy time! Dinner, Ice Games, and Cupcake!

[obsessedsc]

Great review!

 

Quick question - what float is that? We'll have our 6 month old DD on our next trip and want to give that a try!

 

just realized we were on the same freedom cruise in 2008!!!

[obsessedsc]

 

 

 

 

 

[obsessedsc]

 

 

 

[obsessedsc]

 

 

 

 

 

[dancersp119]

 

 

 

 

 

 

super great review...we are on allure later in may and ssem to be doing the same things as you ..going to St. John for the day...think we are going to the shopping one and just skip out on the shopping piece...we have a private tour booked with joyce prince in st marten and plan and going to a few beaches...

[obsessedsc]

(brother at le galion)

 

(my boys at le galion)

 

with our guide, Timo on our way to Maho

 

Maho- from sunset bar

 

(DH and mom @ sunset bar)

 

 

Maho Beach