Allure of the Seas-Sept. 30, 2012 My Experience

[swwake]

You are on a roll, Harold! I think you missed my post :)

[Eng23]

The pier is in sight!

[Eng23]

You are on a roll, Harold! I think you missed my post :)

Which one? I replied to one and mentioned you would be a tough act to follow.....

[Eng23]

Crown Bay cruise terminal. The Chaos is near.......:mad:

[Eng23]

After docking and having the ship cleared I figured due to my not needing to be at Bolongo Bay until around 10:30am there was no need to rush off the ship. I figure the rush for taxi's would be over by the time I went to get off. WRONG! I was going to allow about 30 minutes travel time to get to Bolongo Bay so I was looking at leaving the ship around 9:30-9:45am. The taxi stand area was still a zoo at 9:30am. The way taxi's are in St. Thomas is they are open air vans or trucks that carry quite a few people. I needed to find one that would take two of us (my friend Buddy from Virginia was with me) to Bolongo Bay that did not make a trip around the island to get there. I mentioned that Bolongo Bay was kinda off the beaten path. The taxi director's or whatever they are called kept trying to say I should take a private car that would cost $40 one way :eek:! I told them no, I just need a taxi headed towards Havensight as that is along the way to Bolongo Bay.

By the way, we were the only ship in port in St. Thomas today. Havensight Terminal was empty. So after umm "negotiating" for 30 minutes or so we finally found a taxi headed our way. Whew! That was like pulling teeth!:mad: Anyways I called 340 Watersports to tell them I was a little behind schedule because of the taxi fiasco and they assured me no problem. So now I will jump to Bolongo Bay as I took no photo's of the maddening taxi.

[swwake]

The one about your long..........hallway ;)

[Eng23]

I like jet skiing. Everytime I have been to Coco Cay I do the jet ski tour. There were no ship jet ski excursions in St. Thomas so I had to find one on my own. A quick search on the internet came up with 340 Watersports. I checked out their website which was informative with some nice videos. I gave them a call to get some more info on pricing and scheduling. Note* they close for the month of September to take a break from the high season but reopen again in October. They will check for messages during their down month on Mondays and will call back. So I found the package I wanted and the price was acceptable (at least to me) and booked a tour for 11:00am. I was expecting a group tour similar to what is offered at Coco Cay, turns out I was the only person scheduled for my time frame. So I received a personal tour from 340's owner Matt. We took care of the paperwork and payment, he gave me a class on operating the watercraft and a safety brief. After that Matt tells me we've got 90 minutes to have fun and asks what I would like to see or do.

 

Of course I want to get near the Allure so Matt takes me out and assures me we will get into the port area with no problem. Why don't I just show you the pictures right? :rolleyes:

[Eng23]

Matt, my tour guide. We're in the Havensight area.

An empty Havensight Pier.

Is this guy happy or what?!

[holydad]

Hi LT! You are gonna have a great time! I was just in Philly this year for the convention. You guys were great hosts! :D

I am glad that we were able to be pleasant host for the convention, even though the mayor still have not honored our contract. But anyway, my wife is telling everyone that I am overly hyped up for this cruise, I AM. I wish I were on the Allure right now. patience is a virtue, but the patience has left the building.:)

[Eng23]

 

 

After visiting the Allure we went off island hopping and sightseeing. The wind was getting pretty stiff which made for some exciting wave jumping on the way back to Bolongo Bay. Just before getting back we went to a fairly calm area and did a little freestyle riding. Higher speeds, sharp turns, and other fun manuevers. Of course I'm not as good a freestyler as Matt was so after the first time I hit the water I said that's it! No need to need medical attention. So we headed in and I was ready for some island refreshments!

[Eng23]

I am glad that we were able to be pleasant host for the convention, even though the mayor still have not honored our contract. But anyway, my wife is telling everyone that I am overly hyped up for this cruise, I AM. I wish I were on the Allure right now. patience is a virtue, but the patience has left the building.:)

Yeah, your mayor is a s*& well I can't say it here but you know what I mean. Don't feel bad, that's the way I was around the firehouse and I'm going to be the same way next year with 2 cruises booked. :D

[gambee]

damn I gone for one day and you post 3 pages worth of pics, lol. I am enjoying your review, keep it coming .

[Eng23]

You are on a roll, Harold! I think you missed my post :)

I am on roll! Yes I saw your post, that was the one where I said you would be a tough act to follow. :D Heck, you are up to 9 pages....

[Eng23]

After 90 minutes on a jet ski I was hungry and thirsty. Very, very thirsty. Can anyone tell me what you drink in St. Thomas when you are thirsty or at least what I drink?

 

After bidding Matt farewell I went to meet my friend at Iggie's. Iggie's touts themselves as the only bar actually on a beach in all of St. Thomas. Iggie's is pretty idyllic as far as portrying the tropical island retreat. So it is lunch time, I had the conch fritters and not 1 but 2 Bushwackers! Bushwackers are the trademark St. Thomas drink and the ones at Iggie's were good as were the conch fritters. So we sat back and relaxed awhile before heading back to the ship. By the way getting a taxi back to the ship from Bolongo Bay was a snap! Here are a few photo's:

View of Bolongo Bay from Iggie's.

The Bushwacker stare......

So we fininsh our relaxing at Iggie's and pick up a t-shirt to remember the visit... Time to head back to the ship where I enjoy a little balcony time.

Balcony time.....

[Eng23]

Packing up, sailaway is near.

Getting ready to sail.

[Eng23]

Bow thrusters in action!

 

Good Bye St. Thomas. Next stop is St. Maarten where I have been wanting to go for a very long time. I'll explain later. :)

[swwake]

The Flowrider in action. I think that is my friend Susan! Susan turned out to be a pretty good Flowrider star. :)

Yay me! :)

[Darkwolfe]

Good Bye St. Thomas. Next stop is St. Maarten where I have been wanting to go for a very long time. I'll explain later. :)

 

Good review!

 

Were you looking for the "Yoda Man?" ;)

[Eng23]

Day 5 is in St. Maarten. I'm sure most poeple know that this island is jointly controlled by the Netherlands and France. My entire reason for visiting St. Maarten is to go to the airport and watch the planes come in over the fence. I'm pretty much an aviation geek and I love flying. For someone like me going to St. Maarten is like a pilgrimage of sorts (a bucket list item for me). So that pretty much sums it up for me on how I am spending my day. :)

[swwake]

I am on roll! Yes I saw your post, that was the one where I said you would be a tough act to follow. :D Heck, you are up to 9 pages....

Post 76. It won't be funny anymore :(

[Eng23]

Passing Saba Island on the way into St. Maarten. I read in a magazine that this island was the inspiration for Kong Island in the movie King Kong.

Hello Phillipsburg!

Backing down the pier. Also of note is that we are once again the only ship in port today.

[Eng23]

The original plan was that a few of our roll call mates wanted to go to the airport as well. We were going to go as a group but wound up going separately and meeting at the Sunset Bar & Grill at Maho Beach. So as you exit the port area there is a taxi stand (much more organized then St. Thomas). Got a taxi to Maho Beach easily. It takes about 30 minutes to get to Maho Beach and the airport area. It is stressed that you stay on ships time and leave enough time to return in the afternoon as traffic can be heavy. Here is some local scenery:

Some day!

Airport in the distance.

Today's hangout.

Maho Bay.

[Eng23]

If you have ever watched any Youtube video's of this place you'll understand this sign!

The surfboard at the bar lists the flights and their arrival times. I was hoping to catch a jumbo jet arriving but that didn't happen. :(

Here's what I was waiting for:

But I have an even better one coming up soon!

This is how close to the end of the runway you are.

[Eng23]

Where are those planes?

You'll notice a narrow road separates the beach and the airport. The beach is very narrow and rocky due to some past storms.

Is that a jet I see approaching?

Trust me, there is a jet out there on approach.

AND Here it is!

:eek: I'm sitting on the little concrete wall on the road and this is not even using the zoom on the camera! Sorry about the fuzz in the middle, that was a little condensation on the lens....

[Eng23]

Departures can be interesting too! Danger is not in this guys vocabulary!

Nor is it in these people's vocabulary! Standby for sand blasting!

So after watching a few arrivals and departures it was time for a few cold Carib beers and some lunch. During lunch I met a new friend and I just called him Sunset:

He likes the fried grouper!

After spending an enjoyable morning and early afternoon we had to get ready to head back to the ship.