Allure Halloween Cruise Photo Report Oct 28th 2012

[mszmek]

I love your pictures from the sea lion swim; we have that same excursion booked for our February Allure cruise. Now I am even more excited!!

[S.A.M.J.R.]

Great job on the review. The pictures are wonderful!

 

What cabin did you have?

[Mango Tango]

I thought I would get all kinds of things done during the sea days but pffft. Not a chance.

B2B must be the only to go to get everything done. :rolleyes:

We did a B2B on the Allure and still didn't see and do everything!

 

I'm loving your review and pictures!

[Sinppu]

I wish more people would look like this while working. I do :D

 

 

There were two $10 sales during the cruise. It is the usual stuff (jewelry, scarves, clutches, watches and more). I got these:

I was really happy about the wallet. I've had a similar one for about 8 years now and I've been looking for a new one.

 

The only really bad experience we had with staff was today at the sale. There was one lady (I'm not going to mention her name or nationality, everybody should judge for themselves) who was absolutely awful.

 

She was completely disinterested in the people who were standing in line and she kept talking to an older lady in a way that I thought they must be related.

She ignored everyone else, rolled her eyes at people, sighed and cursed under her breath very unpatiently when the barcode scanner wouldn't work, dropped it very dramatically on the table and then started punching the numbers in cashier so forcefully that she ended up dropping all my things on the floor and when she picked them up she just shoved the bag at me.

She never looked me in the eye and barely greeted me or said a word to me the whole time. I mentioned her to Lowry and he had stopped to watch her while getting pizza from Sorrento's and he told me she acted exactly the same with all the other people and their purchases.

 

I work in customer service myself and I do NOT complain easily. The level of service has to be low and I mean LOW (like rolling in the mud at the bottom of Mississippi River) before I even think of complaining.

 

This lady got a complaint on the Guest Satisfaction Survey. Finnish customer service (or the complete lack of it) is infamous and even here she would have been considered "a bit rude, dear".

 

Then it was time for the Ice Games! show.

I'm a big figure skating fan and I made a bet with Lowry before the show. I told him I could name all the countries that the performers were from. He'd buy me a glass of champagne at dinner if I'd get them all right.

My guess was UK, USA, Canada and Russia.

 

 

After the show the performers were presented and they were from UK, USA, Canada and Russia!!...and one lady from Bulgaria.

%¤"¤¤!! First the pre-cruise trivia and now this!! I feel like a failure.

[Sinppu]

We went up to the pool deck to have lunch at the WipeOut Café. Lowry was bummed that he hadn't known about it before and kept asking me "Why didn't you tell me about the SplashOver Buffet?" :D

 

The French Fries were GOOD. If you don't like the fries at the WipeOut, for the love of Pete, DO NOT come to Finland and eat french fries. You'd just be scarred for life :eek:

 

The next photo is for our European cruisers. You'll be happy to know that the cabins have our type plugs under the vanity table! We had an adapter with us and we were very happy that we could use two plugs at the same time. (Ever seen this photo, Bill? :p)

 

All of this had to go back to our luggage now. We've only done express walk-off before so we aren't used to packing stuff away so that we'll still survive without them in the morning.

Edited November 7, 2012 by Sinppu

[Sinppu]

I love your pictures from the sea lion swim; we have that same excursion booked for our February Allure cruise. Now I am even more excited!!

 

It was so wonderful. They are big and a bit scary, but get very cuddly towards the end. I hope you have as much fun as we did.

Take a towel from the ship with you!

 

Great job on the review. The pictures are wonderful!

 

What cabin did you have?

 

Thank You oh so very much :)

We had a Superior Balcony.

[Sinppu]

We did a B2B on the Allure and still didn't see and do everything!

 

I'm loving your review and pictures!

 

Oh dear! You'll just have to join us and do another B2B someday :D

Lowry has a crush on Labadee and he wants to go back there. I have a girl crush on the magnificent sisters O and A ;)

 

So maybe we'll just make us both happy and take the B2B :rolleyes:

[Sinppu]

On the last day we noticed that our calorie intake was hopelessly out of balance. We could both still fit in all our clothes! We rushed first to the CupCake CupBoard...

...and then to the Ice Cream Parlor.

 

I wanted to take a ride on the beautiful carousel but Lowry persuaded me to do it later. He probably saved himself and a set of parents from another heart attack as there was already a kid sitting on MY TIGER!!! (I'm an only child. It shows.)

 

This last evening we went to Giovanni's Table. We love Italian food and noticed after all four courses that our mouths were faster than our eyes (hence no photos... empty plates are not very photogenic).

 

I spotted another fluffy animal for me to hug. By far my Favourite!

 

And I got my tiger. All mine.

[Sinppu]

Our last evening had a sensational sunset.

 

 

The ship was so beautiful and quiet. I wish we hadn't packed our swimwear in our luggage as the hot tubs and the pool deck (which we forgot to try) were almost completely empty.

 

 

 

 

Central Park is magical after dark. It's lights reminded me a little about Christmas, especially as we had just heard that Finland got the first snow already...

 

 

 

Good night, Al. Hopefully we'll see you (or your sister, we're not picky) soon.

Edited November 7, 2012 by Sinppu

[Sinppu]

We were greeted with a pretty sunrise!

 

Our flight left from MIA at 4pm and I had booked us the Everglades Boat Tour with an airport drop-off through RCCL.

 

The tour was really interesting and we learnt a lot what we call "useless facts" (they are useful only when making people feel intellectually inferior to us. We know a LOT useless facts and don't hesitate to use them).

 

Did you know that Everglades is not a swamp but a 100-mile long river?

 

 

 

If you see a reptile like this and it tries to attack you, it is a crocodile. If it runs away from you, it is an alligator. Crocodiles eat people, alligators don't (Bad, bad CSI for claiming the opposite!).

 

They can't digest salt and that's why they might eat your furry friends but not you. They can outrun just about anyone (20-30 miles per hour).

 

There are about half a million gators in the Everglades (over 2 million in Florida) and they live easily to 70-80 years old.

[Sinppu]

They run an alligator rescue center at the Everglades. The volunteers run wrestling shows and use the tips they get to buying alligators from the gator catchers.

 

 

You could also hold a baby gator and take a photo with it for $5.

I wanted to do it at first but then I felt sorry for the little bugger and decided against it.

 

 

There were plenty of peacocks and cats around. I would have tried to smuggle a cat home with me but Lowry caught me before I had the chance.

He always gets a bit offended when I try to do that (he's REALLY allergic to cats so maybe that explains it...kind of).

 

 

The excursion is for people who have a 4pm or later flight. Personally we found that the time-frame is a tad pessimistic: We were at the airport at noon (FOUR hours before our flight) -and the bus even waited for over 20 minutes for the one last person at the Everglades parking lot!

 

We did our check-in and took our luggage to the bag drop. We heard there was a shuttle to the Dolphin Mall but we decided to eat lunch, buy and write a few postcards and update our travel blog.

 

This time all our flights were on time and we got home only about 28 hours after we left the Allure.

 

We heard some interesting things regarding Sunshine Class and the third Oasis sis. The Sunshine ships are coming out in 2014 and 2015 and they are supposed to have things that have not been seen on ships before and they were compared to the newest Celebrities (by Zack, the Activities Manager).

 

Ken Rush said on one of his pre-show speeches that it has been rumoured that there will be a third Oasis class ship. However in the Captain's Corner (which we saw on the TV) he said (when asked about the new ship names) that "We need to have some wonderful names as we have new ships coming out in 2014, 2015 and 2016".

I assume the latter is the third Oasis class and he didn't talk about it being a rumour anymore ;)

 

 

SO this is the end of it, my dear fellow cruisers and CC members.

Thank so very much to you all for reading my report.

If you have any more compliments, I'll be very happy to receive them all :D

Any questions will be answered and I hope you were all sufficiently entertained.

Only a 198 days to our next cruise.

Edited November 7, 2012 by Sinppu

[AkSusan]

I really enjoyed your review and your pictures. It's pictures like these that are starting to push me towards wanting to try one of the "big" girls!

 

Susan :)

[Sinppu]

I really enjoyed your review and your pictures. It's pictures like these that are starting to push me towards wanting to try one of the "big" girls!

 

Susan :)

 

Thank you! They are big but beautiful :)

 

You are from Alaska! I'm coming there soon, less than a year now :D

[Angelsea57]

Remember the part about me not getting along with heights?

Lowry doesn't have a problem with them. He wanted to impress me and went on the Zip Line.

 

 

 

 

Now if we had been dating for a few months I would've probably been starry-eyed and fascinated by his courage.

After almost nine years together of which four years married, I just wanted to strangle him for nearly giving me a bloody heart attack!!

(I guess that was his payback from the "dress around my ears"-incident on Day 1...)

 

Show-off.

 

I had to calm nerves with a glass of wine (I have many nerves and they all needed to be calmed down). We had a tapas lunch at Vintages in Central Park. The tortilla and paprika aioli were absolutely delicious. Cab croquetas and veggies were also nice, as was the red wine. It wash alsho veerry shhoothing on my nervesh.

 

I'm the same way. Very scare of height. But guess what, I tried it and since the

ride is so short, it was done quick and it was so much fun. (I was scared to death, believe me) LOL

Got to try it the next time around.

[Sinppu]

I'm the same way. Very scare of height. But guess what, I tried it and since the

ride is so short, it was done quick and it was so much fun. (I was scared to death, believe me) LOL

Got to try it the next time around.

 

I'll make you a deal: Buy me a cruise on a ship with a zip line and I'll do it :D;)

[AkSusan]

Thank you! They are big but beautiful :)

 

You are from Alaska! I'm coming there soon, less than a year now :D

Well, if you need any advice on things to do, let me know! Lived in Anchorage for the last almost 29 1/2 years and 5 1/2 years before that and have done Alaska cruises as well as traveled with my job throughout the State! Are you coming into Anchorage at all?

 

Susan :)

[Sinppu]

Well, if you need any advice on things to do, let me know! Lived in Anchorage for the last almost 29 1/2 years and 5 1/2 years before that and have done Alaska cruises as well as traveled with my job throughout the State! Are you coming into Anchorage at all?

 

Susan :)

 

Sadly no :(

I don't get to choose everything since we are a group of 5.

I'm quite sure I'll love Alaska. It's as far North as Finland is :cool:

[Just The 3 Of Us]

Sinny - thanks so much for this wonderful review - totally enjoyed it!!!

 

 

Barb

[Sinppu]

Sinny - thanks so much for this wonderful review - totally enjoyed it!!!

 

 

Barb

 

You're welcome Barb! I hope you have the time of your life on the Oasis!

[Huddler]

Sinny, Thanks for your wonderful review! We were in Helsinki last summer on a cruise and loved it! The people were great! I told my wife I would love to live there right up until the time a guide told me that the Baltic freezes over during the winter! You are not supposed to be able to ice skate on the ocean!!:eek: But our beloved goal tender for our local NHL team, The Nashville Predators, is from Finland, Pekka Rinne. So, I love you guys!! Thanks again!

 

Jeff

[jebl]

Sinny,

 

this may be the best review I have ever read. Love your style and humor. Your pictures are great. After seeing the photos of the sea lion swim, I may have to try that. Swam with the dolphins last year and it was amazing.

 

I sail on Allure in 31 days and you really have me excited after this review.

 

Thanks again.

[Sinppu]

I told my wife I would love to live there right up until the time a guide told me that the Baltic freezes over during the winter! You are not supposed to be able to ice skate on the ocean!!:eek: But our beloved goal tender for our local NHL team, The Nashville Predators, is from Finland, Pekka Rinne. So, I love you guys!! Thanks again!

 

Jeff

 

Oh yes you are!!

That's the reason everyone can skate in Finland. There is so much natural ice fields (over lakes, rivers and sea shores) during the winter that many of us know how to skate just after we learn how to walk :D

 

I'm glad you enjoyed the report and have a great time on Miss Al!

[Sinppu]

Sinny,

 

this may be the best review I have ever read. Love your style and humor. Your pictures are great. After seeing the photos of the sea lion swim, I may have to try that. Swam with the dolphins last year and it was amazing.

 

I sail on Allure in 31 days and you really have me excited after this review.

 

Thanks again.

 

Judy honey, you have excellent taste. Superb, actually.

I thank you and wish you the cruise of a lifetime :)

[Coolcruise02]

Now, now, PSU fans can't be bad mouthing OSU fans, especially after last month and especially after,......... I don't even have to say it.

 

Agree!! :)

[Sinppu]

Agree!! :)

 

This is so fascinating, I have no idea what you are talking about but if it has anything to do with sports, I'm in the fight with you :D