Tres Amigas Review - Allure of the Seas Oct 14, 2012…Ole!

[wannasail4ever]

Now to the fun Beach (don't look Ethel!) Orient! If you've not been.......well, don't be surprised if you see some naked folks. That's right. They were in their birthday suits if you went to the nudist resort, Club Orient, on the right hand end beyond the jetty (facing the water) of the beach. Imagine that? Orient is a beautiful beach that is probably a couple of miles long with white sand, plenty of facilities, chairs and umbrellas and yes, you can go topless there. Not me! I'm not that proud.

 

Sheila and Jeff (Oreok)

 

 

Sheila and Jeff, Paul and Judi with the "other" end of the beach in the background

 

 

Oh yeah, that's the nude section behind Sheila

 

 

Macy with the "other end of the beach"

 

 

Judi, Paul and Susan enjoying the beautiul waters of Orient

 

 

Judi and Paul enjoying the "adult beverage" that came along with the chair/umbrella rental. That's a bonus!

 

[wannasail4ever]

Here's a couple of guys that I forgot to show you from the rocks along the pier in Crown Bay. I thought that the colors were beautiful and they could have cared less that I was so close by. Hmmmm........looks like dinner?

 

 

[wannasail4ever]

We had lots of fun all around the ship. Here are a few displays of fun!

 

Love the tie, Jeff!

 

 

Sherri and Mike clean up well!

 

 

Sheila and Jeff look happy too. (They're always happy!)

 

 

Go for it Mike & Sherri! Get down with those kiddos! (Blaze)

 

 

Butch and Macy at dinner

 

 

Bennaye and Susan

 

[delacruz]

Glad to see the pictures of Junkanoo Beach. Best laid plans.... Maybe we'll make it there next time. It had SOMETHING to do with the reward for the dance contest at Rita's (tequila). Hey, didn't anyone get a picture of Sherri spanking the host at the dance contest? Well, he DID encourage us!

 

Very good thing Sherri made those tags for us. And we decorated our door also...makes it SO much easier to find our home away from home!

 

For the first formal night we decided to go to Sambas Grill for something different. It was very enjoyable, although not as amazing as I had hoped for.

 

A couple of times we had our red light on to take a rest between courses, but our Gaucho (Arizona) kept coming with more. For those who haven't been - Sambas is the Brazilian style churrascaria (sp?) open in the Solarium Bistro in the evenings. (an upcharge restaurant - I think $25 each).

 

I had my first drink of the day (recovering from Rita's!) there - their signature Caipirinha, nice and light.

 

We had been warned it can be too much food to enjoy, and it is. When you're seated, you are invited to partake of a buffet of appetizers, salads, cold meats and cheeses, etc. We tried to go really light with that. There was an octopus salad I really enjoyed there.

 

Then the gauchos begin bringing different meats to your table. Our gaucho was Arizona - who for some reason we got into a conversation with on our first day outside the Promenade Cafe. There's a gaucho light at the table - green for the next course, red to take a break, white when we were 'meated out' :rolleyes:. I guess when they're preparing the meats fresh for you and you turn your light to red, they'd rather deliver it than have it be cold or heated up?

 

We noticed other couples taking dessert to go, and we saw why, we did the same!

 

All in all it was enjoyable. I'm not sure I'd do it again right away (there are restaurants we haven't tried even after our 2nd Oasis class cruise).

 

We had reservations for OceanAria afterwards, but after changing to casual clothes found that the show was postponed since seas were pretty rough (we had some residual winds and seas from Hurricane Raphael). Good thing since I don't think I'd have been comfortable digesting while sitting in wooden chairs or a bench at the AquaTheater. So it was time for dancing!

[wannasail4ever]

Anyone wish to see more photos from the Prohibition Party? Sorry, you must!

 

Ray and Betty (Raybettn)

 

 

The 3 Amigas

 

 

Judi & Paul

 

 

Macy sipping "tea" and betting on the horses

 

 

Butch enjoying his prohibited beverage

 

 

Mike

 

[wannasail4ever]

Let's not forget Bubbles (aka Sherri)

 

 

What do you mean they banned alkeehawl?

 

 

Chew up that cigar, Buddy!

 

[wannasail4ever]

Well, that was fun. But we also had a wave pool one day at the Beach Pool that was really cool!

 

 

 

[wannasail4ever]

And at nights we got pretty. Well, we made an attempt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's one I forgot (see, PP was FUN!)

 

[wannasail4ever]

Aren't you all glad I shared all these lovely moments between new best friends. See readers........if you put a little effort into getting to know your RC thread participants, you too can make your cruise a wonderful memory. Butch and I are still smiling! And with all these photos, I guess we'll always have a reason to grin.

 

Now, for just a couple around the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally, my favorite food porn to end my photo barrage!

 

[wannasail4ever]

All in all, it was an excellent cruise. I believe that the new menu was very good. Can't think of anything I ordered that I did not like. The ship was clean and we had a wonderful steward. He was always nearby and willing to chat.

 

My only negative comment concerns the BRIEF M&M. That is the absolute first time on a RCCL ship that I can remember being literally rushed out of a venue for something so ridiculous. I felt like I did not get to meet many of the new friends that I'd been chatting with for so long. Listen up RCCL (if you're reading this). Don't do that again. We loyal CC participants really do like those M&M's. We look forward to them and we don't wish to be rushed.

 

Other than that, that's my two cents and I wish I were back on the Allure with all my new buddies! It was great.

 

Macy

[delacruz]

If I forgot to warn you all, or if you haven't figured out that I get really disorganized, I'll do it now. And of course, we've all jumped in here at different times. I always bring a little notebook with me on a cruise to keep track of notes, remind me of things, and try to write a travel review as I go along, but by the time I get relaxed and in vacation mode, it all goes by the wayside. So I'm writing this as I think of things.

 

Did I already mention that the Crown & Anchor party was at 10:30am on the Boardwalk on the first sea day instead of an evening in a lounge? I guess that felt weird to me (I figured it was a way to cut back on free alcohol, although they did serve Bloody Mary's, mimosas, rum punch and punch) Still the water was rough so it was pretty funny that the aquatheater pool looked like the flowrider (although this picture of the Cruise Director Allan Brooks didn't do the movement justice).

 

They had several members of the performers from the shows on hand to do demonstrations - diving and acrobatics mostly, although they were limited because of the motion of the ocean. These brothers were amazing:

 

Following that, Captain Johnny and the Hotel Director tried to match their expertise:

 

'Super Mario' was on this sailing - we can only dream about cruising as often as he does.

 

I had been hoping to hear some tidbits of information on the Sunshine class, but they were very close lipped about it. On the way back up to the Boardwalk the Captain and Hotel Director stood on the steps greeting people and asking about our experiences. I tried to pull some info out of the HD...telling how much it would be appreciated for the Sunshine to sail out of Bayonne NJ, but zippo.

 

I've mentioned about how our M&M later that afternoon was cut short - still curious if other sailings have had the same experience or was this a planning fluke.

 

While I'm on Tuesday..we had reservations for Chicago at 7pm. We had heard some people complaining that they fell asleep when they went to the 9:30 Sunday or 10:30 Monday show, so I figured we were safe. Although Chicago isn't my favorite Broadway show, it was very well done. BUT I kept wanting to fall asleep! It was SO cold in there, that even with a light jacket, I was frozen stiff.

 

We returned to the theater later in that night for the Love and Marriage show. This time I brought my sweatshirt, but it was much more comfortable anyway.

 

As always it was so much fun - I don't think I've seen one that wasn't hysterical, but Allan Brooks really does a great job with ad libbing. As always, they older couple was so much fun (even with the language and cultural barriers - they were from the Caribbean), and I'm not sure why the newlywed couple thought they'd be good at it :rolleyes:, but it's funny how you see those 3 couples on a ship of 6,000 so often!

[delacruz]

I don't want to get too repetitive with reviewing our excursions and the Prohibition Party (the other dos amigas have great pics and posts bringing back amazing memories), but want to say how much fun they all were. I would do both excursions again in a sec.

 

At Trunk Bay I didn't notice any beach chair rentals there, although when I just googled it, it looks like there is. We did see snorkel rentals (but we had our own equipment), and although the beach was beautiful white powdery sand and gorgeous water, the beach seemed pretty shallow. There are shower and changing facilities - I did bring a change of clothes, but didn't pack it well enough, so I was a little less than comfortable on the way back. :eek:

 

It's just too bad the water was so murky (still the repercussions of Raphael), since with the snorkeling trail it was great having some guidance about what we were looking at. I really appreciated that there were announcements periodically reminding people from different excursions when it was time to get ready to leave.

 

On Bernards Tours, I didn't think I would have enjoyed seeing a bunch of iguanas or touching sea urchins, but both were really fun stops. Yipes, some of those sea urchins felt so weird!! It really was the perfect amount of time at every stop for us, although somehow our timing wasn't right for seeing the big planes land at Maho. If I recall, our driver was Dave, and since they have 2 Daves, he was DJ I think.

[reallyhooked]

I don't want to get too repetitive with reviewing our excursions and the Prohibition Party (the other dos amigas have great pics and posts bringing back amazing memories), but want to say how much fun they all were. I would do both excursions again in a sec.

 

At Trunk Bay I didn't notice any beach chair rentals there, although when I just googled it, it looks like there is. We did see snorkel rentals (but we had our own equipment), and although the beach was beautiful white powdery sand and gorgeous water, the beach seemed pretty shallow. There are shower and changing facilities - I did bring a change of clothes, but didn't pack it well enough, so I was a little less than comfortable on the way back. :eek:

 

It's just too bad the water was so murky (still the repercussions of Raphael), since with the snorkeling trail it was great having some guidance about what we were looking at. I really appreciated that there were announcements periodically reminding people from different excursions when it was time to get ready to leave.

 

On Bernards Tours, I didn't think I would have enjoyed seeing a bunch of iguanas or touching sea urchins, but both were really fun stops. Yipes, some of those sea urchins felt so weird!! It really was the perfect amount of time at every stop for us, although somehow our timing wasn't right for seeing the big planes land at Maho. If I recall, our driver was Dave, and since they have 2 Daves, he was DJ I think.

Enjoyed reading all your reviews. Great pictures. 3 Friday's and 1 night to sleep and we will be on Allure. Looking forward to a fun time.

 

Joyce

[Sunebeach]

Day four was our stop in St Thomas...we booked our trip through the ship as we are big chickens about missing the boat. [i think I had at least 4 near nightmares about watching her set sail without me] Or at least I am...I'd heard here on CC that the transfers and taxi's could be a bear and if you missed the last ferry you were toast. That being said, we had a great time as you have seen from Macy's pics.

 

[by the way...I didn't remember the one with the board with the hole in it after Rita's...and the other's were well...evidence you might say. OH, MY!!! I really did have a good time:o:D, and you can see I spilled a little of the free tequila shot on my dress as I was trying to down it quickly...lol]

 

Judi and Paul

 

 

Macy cooling off with her ever present Diet Coke...it was super hot/humid...

 

 

 

the rock in the back was used as target practice with cannons back in the day...like the 1800's.

 

Butch was overseer of a rescue mission...these locals lost the engine off their boat, so we did the right thing and threw them a line and pulled them back to the docks.

 

[Sunebeach]

 

a Panoramic shot of Trunk bay from the overlook. Our driver was great, he stopped at 4 scenic overloooks for photo ops.

 

 

My old samsung digital camera bit the dust on day two of the cruise, my DH bought me a new Panasonic Lumix from the camera shop on board, compared to Amizon,the duty free shop on board was cheaper, and it came with a 16GB memory card. [yes, I'd been watching and waiting for the old thing to die..just didn't want it to happen in the middle of this cruise...wanted to try to make it until after then buy a new camera, but oh well....]

 

Judi already mentioned how murky the water was after the recent tropical storms...here's a shot of the marker on the path and a few fish, if you can make them out. There weren't many fish around either. But it was nice calm waters for this beginner to not drown herself. Last time I tried to snorkel in Grand Cayman and Labadee, I bet I drank half the ocean, lol...

 

 

That night was the headliner show...needless to say, we didn't make that either. I can't even remember the guys name, or what show he was 'famous' for, but it didn't interest us, so we skipped it. We were booked for 1030 show and we had St Maarten the next day, so we wanted to be rested.

[Sunebeach]

The Allure docked in St Maarten...

 

 

As Judi and Macy have told you about their tour adventures...we had other plans. Our plans were to go on an excursion we booked privately through Island marketing for Rhino boats...[that reminds me I need to file a complaint with IM about this operator...obviously the man needed to put the money back into his business, there were several things wrong]. First we booked way back in April for this October trip. We were met and transported as per the emailed instructions and our driver was fantastic! We arrived at the scheduled time [way back in April we were told to arrive at 1045 am] and the lady checking us in started berating us for being 'late'!!! I showed her the copy of the email with 1045, we arrived at 1030...so what's the problem? They had changed the times and didn't inform us of this.

 

Oh, well plenty of time to jump into the safety briefing but unfortunately we were being rushed and I threw my snorkel gear into this mesh bag they handed me but completely forgot to throw in the sunscreen...yeah, buy the time we got back we were FRIED!!!

Other problems, our boat ran like crap! WE barely made it out of the dock area into open water, the seats had hardly any padding on them and my tail bone is still sore if I sit on a hard surface too long [it's now November one month after our trip!] [previously fractured my tailbone, so it can't take too much abuse].

Two other couples boats kept breaking down on the way to the snorkel stop. One of our two guides had to give up his boat for them and head back. So one poor fella had to keep an eye on the rest of us...by himself...

 

we passed a nude beach...oh,my!

 

Lovely snorkeling area, water was still a bit murky, but here's a fish I saw.

 

 

 

 

 

The return trip was not so great, our boat broke down and wouldn't be restarted, so our tour guide [luckily the other guy was finally catching up with us] gave us his boat and his unlucky partner had to paddle ours back to shore again to be picked up later. WE got back 10 minutes late for our taxi man scheduled pickup time, but he waited for us! :D

[Sunebeach]

 

 

we did manage to have fun, but worry about getting back in time since we kept having mechanical problems was stressful.

Again the man who owned the business needs to put some money back into his operation.

[delacruz]

Enjoyed reading all your reviews. Great pictures. 3 Friday's and 1 night to sleep and we will be on Allure. Looking forward to a fun time.

 

Joyce

 

Savor every minute of the anticipation and the cruise - it all goes by so fast!

 

I just mentioned to Paul as I looked at Sherri's new photos how we looked like such 'big kids' for the week. I know we had all had some pretty stressful times at home and/or work just before the cruise and were totally prepared to let loose and relax!

[Sunebeach]

Since Day five ended with the prohibition party, I won't bore you with more pics from it....for now.

 

Day six was a sea day, so we again set out to explore the ship a bit.

 

These little fellas are a frequent pic post here on the boards..

 

we used the last two days to 'do stuff' so my 18 yo DS would think we actually did something on this trip besides 'relax'...

 

The area behind the aqua theater has the shuffle board...if you're looking for it...

 

also has some great views...

 

 

 

wipe out cafe has a good selection of kid friendly foods, taco's, nacho's, pizza and the fabulous pretzel dogs...

[Sunebeach]

opps, it won't let me edit the thumbs down icon??? don't know how it got there to begin with...oh well..

 

 

Ping pong anyone?

 

 

snorkel scuba shop...

 

 

Pool areas...

 

 

flow riders...

 

Aqua theater from aft decks

great place to watch a show...

[Sunebeach]

Night life at Dazzles, after closing it down we headed to Blaze...and the party continued on until the weeeeee hours of the morning...

 

 

 

 

Central park at night, this picture does not do it justice...

 

 

 

[Sunebeach]

Can't forget to include the wedding photos...Happytraveler you made a beautiful bride!! Sorry it's grainy took this one with my phone...

 

I agree with Macy, the Blue Planet show was awesome...so was the Aqua show.

though I liked the aqua show better I think...half naked men doing gymnastic muscle moves? Who wouldn't like that??? LOL [see Judi's pics previously]

 

 

More towel critters...

 

 

Again we had to do something so the DS at home didn't think we were being lazy all week..

mini golf?

 

[Sunebeach]

Basketball? Really? it's like 90 degrees out here?

 

yeah, well, ya can't keep a UK boy from the courts...

 

 

 

I rode the merry go round...

 

[Coolcruise02]

Great review! What a fun time you all had. :)

[wannasail4ever]

Great photo review, Sherri. I owe you for one of those! :o

 

Coolcruise02, we're still having fun talking about the fun we had!

 

Macy