Nov 4, Allure of the Seas, Western Caribbean - A Review and Complete Pictorial Guide!

[rubrrick]

gambee....I thanked you once, and I'm going to thank you once again, for a most inciteful review that I have ever read, on CC.

 

Your pictures are professionaly done....even tho you say that it's just a hobby. Oh, by the way, I have a Sony DSC-HX9V and thinking that I'll get the next generation before next Wednesday, when we leave for San Juan, Puerto Rico.

 

For the past 14 years, before I met my soul mate, I had a woman from Columbia, that was our housekeeper, and one of my best friends. She was married, and we both knew that we would always be, good friends.

 

Some of your photography...is seriously professional, and you might be thinking that your profession in life....could be just that.

 

Thank you so much for showing many (we were aboard the Allure for the preinagural) the best ship in the fleet, and how you saw it thru your eyes.;):)

 

Rick

[rotting_hell]

Great Job on the Review!!! :D

 

I'm also a CC junkie and somehow missed your thread, I found it last night and read all 40 pages from start to present post, I subscribed. Between your writing style, ship details, shore details and the awesome pictures, I stayed interested for all 40 pages! :)

 

I could not even imagine the hours put into this review.

 

Thank you very much, looking forward to the rest!!!! :D

 

Cheers!!!! ;)

[gambee]

WOO HOO! Thanks so much for this picture! We will be on the Star in 23 days, 14 hours, 27 minutes, and 57 seconds...but who's counting. :eek:

 

Oh wow, thanks SO MUCH for this information. I always wondered why it felt so safe and friendly here. It's one of my favorite places. If only ALL the ports could be like this!

 

It sure seems like someone is counting ;)

 

Happy Thanksgiving to you too Gambee!!! Still extremely enjoying your review. WOW.......the colors of Cozumel really pop in your photos!!! Great job.......loving it all!!!!

 

Patty

 

 

Thanks, I do indeed enjoy the colors of Cozumel a great deal. Glad you enjoyed those pictures. Thanks for staying here with me :)

Edited November 23, 2012 by gambee

[gambee]

FYI, they do have cameras on the outside of the ships. So, it's possible that you gave a few a display :D (Haven't you read that when someone "falls" from their balcony, they review the footage to look for foul play or what happened?)

 

 

 

 

YIPPEE AGAIN! We were just on the Pearl in March and going on the Star next month. You got both of them in these pics and if you don't mind, I'd like to steal them from you to put as my desk top. :confused: :) If that's ok.

 

I am aware of the cameras to from the outside, but I sure hope they are not pointing towards the inside of the cabins :D. In any case I was just on my undies :-)

 

The pictures is urs if you like it for personal use, if you like I can send you an even better one and not compressed. just send me an email to ccgambee at gmail dot com and I will send you a few of them. That would be an amazing picture to have if you had sailed both ships.

 

gambee....I thanked you once, and I'm going to thank you once again, for a most inciteful review that I have ever read, on CC.

 

Your pictures are professionaly done....even tho you say that it's just a hobby. Oh, by the way, I have a Sony DSC-HX9V and thinking that I'll get the next generation before next Wednesday, when we leave for San Juan, Puerto Rico.

 

For the past 14 years, before I met my soul mate, I had a woman from Columbia, that was our housekeeper, and one of my best friends. She was married, and we both knew that we would always be, good friends.

 

Some of your photography...is seriously professional, and you might be thinking that your profession in life....could be just that.

 

Thank you so much for showing many (we were aboard the Allure for the preinagural) the best ship in the fleet, and how you saw it thru your eyes.

 

Rick

 

thanks for commenting again :)

 

I love the Sony DSC-HX9V, my only issue with her was the speed, she was a tad slow. If they manage to fix that on the newer generation, they definitely have a monster on their hands. I actually regretted selling that camera, but I used the money to get a lens for this one, so I guess it's all good.

 

I hope you continue to enjoy :) thanks again for posting more than once.

[gambee]

Great Job on the Review!!! :D

 

I'm also a CC junkie and somehow missed your thread, I found it last night and read all 40 pages from start to present post, I subscribed. Between your writing style, ship details, shore details and the awesome pictures, I stayed interested for all 40 pages! :)

 

I could not even imagine the hours put into this review.

 

Thank you very much, looking forward to the rest!!!! :D

 

Cheers!!!! ;)

 

You must of had the entire day free to read it all, thanks for doing so and glad that I could keep you entertained. I will most likely finish this coming week, the last day was a busy day, I tried to get everything I missed.

 

Thank you kindly for subscribing to my thread and taking the time to show your support.

[gambee]

The taxi was old and beat up, he actually had to open the door for me because I was not able to do it on my own. I will tell you one thing the gentleman driving that taxi was maybe the nicest person I encountered in Cozumel. We got on and asked him how much for Chankanaab, he said $10 and that it would take about 30 minutes depending on traffic. He was little off in the time frame, we got there much faster, but it was nice to know the details.

 

On the way there we started talking, one topic that really interested me was a major hurricane back in the 80's that pretty much destroyed the west side of the island. Our driver had been living there for over 40 years and recalled everything. On the way there he told us that all the west side used to be all beaches now its all full of rock formations. You know the funny thing is that was one of things I loved more about the island, go figure.

 

I took a few pictures on the way there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once we got to the ticket station I presented my coupon. The coupon would save us $2 each in the admission price, it's not much but it helped. I Attached the coupon to this post for those who want it, it adds up on a large family. So the total for our entry cost us $38 for both us vs. $42 without the discount. Once again I want to mention how nice people were, just incredible, so helpful in every possible way.

 

 

 

 

 

ChankanaabCoupon.pdf

[gambee]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dolphin encounter pool.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The park is just gorgeous, it was all that I was imagining and more. They keep the ground absolute garbage free and there are people to help you everywhere you look. I found a friendlier atmosphere here than in the ship. If anyone has not done Chankanaab before, I highly recommend it.

 

 

[gambee]

 

Before you go to the beach area you should stop by and see the dolphin area and the pool, I wish we could of done the dolphin encounter, but yeah, money was very tight by then. It is something that mom and I will have to experience sometime in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

It was then that we noticed that another ship had already docked next to us.

 

After walking the grounds a little we decided to go and see how crowded the beach was and try to get a nice place.

 

When we got there we noticed an almost empty beach and this was with 4 large ships docked. We quickly found a little cabana and set camp there, mom was super happy with our location.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our view for the day! you can't beat that :-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

The restaurant a few steps away from us.

 

 

 

 

I noticed a crow and somehow I managed to switch lens really fast and get him before he flew away. (by the way switching lens is not recommended outdoors :rolleyes:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

Mom was very hungry, why she only had a fruit salad on the ship is beyond me, so she went to the restaurant to check out the menu and get us a lemonade to mix with the tequila.

 

 

I gave her the main camera and she got us some pictures of the menu, by now I was very confident of mom's ability to take pictures and she did not disappoint.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once she came back she explained what the server had told her and I thought it was a good idea to get the mexican plate. I asked one our drink servers if he could bring us one, he said of course, at that point I also ordered another lemonade.

 

I really did not drink that much that day, I am not much of a tequila drinker and I was somewhat on recovery mode from the night before. Mom on other hand had some catching up to do, I believe she ended drinking most of both mixed lemonades, go mom! , lol.

 

 

[gambee]

While we waited for our drinks I went on a little photo shoot of the park grounds. Situations like these is why I need a wide angle lens. Maybe for Christmas :-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a short video so you can better visualize the area:

 

 

[gambee]

 

 

 

 

Make metal note of that floating barge out there, I almost had a panic attack there. I will get into it later.

 

 

 

 

As you can see there is no real beach in Chankanaad, well there is one very small one, I think I got a picture of it. I will look for it. Anyway, you should bring water shoes, it makes everything much easier when you're entering the water. I read it in many reviews and mom bought shoes for both of us, but you know how stubborn I am and I told her I did not need them, so she left them in the ship.

 

 

 

Well ummmm….. I kinda regretted not brining them, lol

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

 

Right behind the beach area is the lagoon, swimming is not allowed in there, it is simply a pretty pool of water to look at. There are a few fish in there as well, I took some pictures of the area. The lagoon is kept alive by 2 tunnels that feed it fresh water, it never smelled bad to me. Some of these lagoons can get a horrible smell if water is not circulated, example the ones in Atlantis...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

path to go down to the lake

 

 

 

 

 

A short video of the Lagoon, not the best one, but good enough to get a feeling of the area:

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

 

 

 

 

Going back up the ramp to go back to our spot.

 

 

 

Once I got back, mom had already eating some of the mexican plate, she left half of it for me to eat. It included an enchilada, a taco, a tostada and rice and beans, it was very very tasty (I love mexican food). Well soon after we finished I realized that I did not get a picture of the food :(, I was a little upset. So what do I do, I asked mom if she could well…. you know what... so I could get a picture of the food. She said you are just gross, lol, I was just messing with her, it was so funny. :-), love messing with her.

 

[gambee]

This is one of their specialty drinks, my neighbor had it.

 

 

 

 

 

Mariachis

 

 

 

[gambee]

Then I decided to go try to snorkel, I had brought my own equipment, but they also rent their own stuff there.

 

 

The pictures of the snorkeling are with my 10 year old camera...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

well remember I told you I almost had an anxiety attack?

 

I love snorkeling and I am fascinated by marine life, but there are two big problems. I have a fear of both sharks (Selachophobia) and open water, it is actually more of a phobia for both of them. It is really a shame because if I wasn't I could probably be padi certified by now and able to dive with my cousin every weekend here at home.

 

These two fears are really holding me back, last year I went snorkeling in Key Largo and for a few minutes I thought I was going to drown. My cousin and uncle have both made several attempts to educate me on shark attacks, but all attempts have been futile. I really don't know where these fears come from.

 

Anyway so I was snorkeling out there and I pretty much the only person in the water within 50 feet, the water was a little cold and most people stayed in the beach area. When I saw the statue I went closer to take pictures, once I got there I noticed how deep it was, so I dove several times to get different samples. Once the novelty of the underwater statute had wore off, I notice that I was pretty far away and there was a lot of open space around me. To make matters worse I was surrounded by little fish, I think people feed them because they were very friendly, you even touch them if you like.

 

So I had a decision to make, do I go back from there or go to the barge (it was closer) and wait for people to go there so I could go back with them. I tend to feel better if there are people around me, I guess it decreases my chances of being eating alive. I made a quick dash and climbed up the barge, I waited there for a few minutes and no one was even getting in the water, let alone coming towards my area. I was set on waiting even for an hour, for someone to go there, but two factors made me change my mind. First and foremost mom would be worried and second I was starting to get seasick. So I gathered up some courage, dove in the water, closed my eyes and started swimming as fast as I could. I never get far from the coast line, but this the time the curiosity of the statue and the desire to photograph it took over me.

 

Once near the coastline I opened my eyes, gathered myself and relaxed for a little while. They say all fears can be conquered, I have tried many times with this one and no good has ever come out of it. If anything I think each attempt makes matters worse. It is actually very funny how can you can be so passionate about something and at the same time so terrified about it.

 

When I got out of the water I went straight to our spot to relax for a little while. The sad part is that when you look at the barge in the pictures, it is really not that far away… I think what affected me that day was how deep the water was, maybe 15 feet at some point?

 

 

 

But overall chankanaab offers good snorkeling for those not expecting much variety, there are plenty of small friendly fish, but not a lot more to see. I am sure most will be very happy there, bring some cereal from the ship to feed the fish. I read that in another review once, too bad I forgot to bring some that day.

 

 

[gambee]

After relaxing for a little while I decided to go photograph some crabs that I noticed while I was snorkeling. The color of the rocks made them extremely hard to photograph, remember my screen was barely visible to save on battery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The hammocks on the way back to our little hut.

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

when I got back, mom asked me to take a picture of the stuff we bought, so I did.

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of my uncle's gf is a really cool lady and I spend hours talking to her online, actually she is the only person that I talk to from Colombia other than my mom. Apparently she likes very bright stuff and mom told me she would like this shirt. I personally thought it was hideous… But I guess it wasn't for me, so I bought it.

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see in this picture, it appeared like some weather was rolling in from the north, mom suggested we toured the grounds before it rained so I could get all my pictures. That sounded like a good idea, so we gathered our stuff and went for tour of the park.

 

 

 

 

We paid our bill, it was $13 for the mexican plate + $2 for the extra lemonade and I left him the normal tip that I do in the states. He was very happy and we both parted ways.

[gambee]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]