Simply the Best! Allure of the Seas E. Caribbean March 3rd-10th with pics!!

[Highlander]

Hi Missy,

Here is the Port Everglades cam showing us leaving March 3rd. Our group is at 4:10 of the video on Deck 11 aft balcony with Canadian flag and Scottish Lion Rempant flag.

 

 

Cheers,

[cruisin_cutie216]

Hey everyone, decided to continue my review. Got some time to kill until the boyfriend gets up to get ready for work and I have to get food ready!! All in the day in the life of a busy military girlfriend.

 

So I had a funny moment, I got up this morning to make my breakfast and I stood by the kitchen counter holding my plate waiting for someone to put food on it. *sigh* PCD has kicked in.

 

Chapter 3: Welcome Aboard!

 

Once we got into Port Everglades, we arrived curbside to luggage drop off. This seemed like a big mess. Luggage everywhere and people everywhere. In spite of it all, the porters did a great job in ensuring that everyone's luggage ended up in the correct places/spots. As anyone would do, I did look back occasionally trying to see if my bag had made it onto one of the trolleys, but alas, didn't see much.

 

Arriving into the cruise terminal felt like a college student arriving onto campus for the first time. It was HUGE. SO many people and lots of different lines to get us processed and registered for check in on the ship. We were smart, and printed our sign and sail documents and had them signed that morning at our hotel. All we had to do was give our credit cards for room charging and pose for our seapass pictures. Seapasses in hand and excitement in the air, we were off to get our first photo together. There were several stations for taking onboarding photos and several backdrops of the ship. It was very interesting to see the photographer's eyes grow wide as all 9 of us attempted to crowd into the small photography space. ((**Disclaimer: tried to take pictures in the cruise terminal but was so excited that it just didn't happen. I'm sorry friends!! I'm still kicking myself over that)).

 

After the photo was taken we headed to the second level of the terminal for that special moment: we were boarding the Allure of the Seas. My heart was racing a million miles a minute and I was so excited! I could hardly wait to get onboard and explore this AMAZING vessel. Walking onto the gangway seemed like it lasted forever. It went up and to the side and up some more. I was so wide eyed at my first view of the ship from the gangway. In fact, it kinda hurt my neck to peer up at her. We all stepped through the door and we were on the Royal Promenade. It was even better than the pictures!!! Tons of stores, restaurants, and staff members dressed in their neat uniforms greeting us and welcoming us. It not longer felt overwhelming, it felt sort of calming. I knew we were going to have the best service possible.

 

It was about 1230 at this point and we still had a little bit of time until our stateroom would be ready so we decided to head to Central Park to snag a bite to eat. Let me tell ya, BEWARE! This was one of the food venues open for lunch upon boarding and it was PACKED! It was very hard for all of us to snag a table but that was to be expected. We also decided to check out our options for drinks during our cruise. Rob and I are occasional social drinkers but we decided collectively that we were more concerned about having soft drinks and juice rather than alcohol. We purchased our soft drink package at a set up counter in Central Park and also got our souvenir mugs to be used with the Coke Freestyle machines located throughout the ship. We could also use the mugs at various bars located in the ship. The price was $6.50/per day totaling (with gratuities)= $52.33. Not bad for the entire cruise!!

 

After purchasing our drink mugs we headed back to Park Cafe to meet up with the group for our lunch. After waiting for about a few minutes, we got in and ordered our lunch. I had the Egg Salad sandwich with cheddar/sour cream chips and an Arnold Palmer. Ziggy decided to join us for lunch, he wanted to share with me.

 

 

Buut Egg Salad wasn't his forte. So he politely declined and allowed me to shoot another shot of my lunch (sans Ziggy)

 

 

(you can see the drink mug I got for my drink package in the background)

 

The egg salad was yummy though it felt like more ended up on my plate than inside my bread.

 

After lunch, we decided to explore the floors above Central Park and we wandered our way to my stateroom (Rob was in another stateroom down the hall and on the other side of the ship). Low and behold it was ready and our luggage was being delivered! Hurrah!!! Being so excited, I didn't snap many shots of the room but I did catch Ziggy out on our balcony catching a snooze...

 

 

OH Ziggy....

 

None the less, the view was spectacular and beautiful both day and night.

 

 

I could hardly believe that this was happening, even today it still feels like a dream.

 

Since our baggage had arrived, I proceeded to get out the decorations I had brought for our stateroom door. I picked up some cute little nic-nacs at Hobby Lobby the day before and was just ecstatic about how cute the door was going to look!!! After about 10 minutes of decorating...TAH DAH!!!

 

 

 

Super cute!!! Pretty soon it was time to head to muster drill at our assigned station and then the fun could begin!!!

 

More soon!! Enjoy friends!!!

 

<3 Missy <3

Edited March 13, 2013 by cruisin_cutie216

[cruisin_cutie216]

Side Post: Here's my luggage that I took on the cruise!!

 

 

The backpack acted as my carry on and the larger suitcase held all my clothes, shoes, accessories, and hair supplies.

 

 

My bag that had my figure skates in it have had an island theme for a while. I still have my cabin luggage tags on my bag, I can't find it in myself to take them off!!!

 

 

I always knew which bag was mine!!!!

[luvsunnydayz]

Awesome start!!!! I can't wait to read more!!!!

[cruisin_cutie216]

So I will be doing my best to try and get some videos up of the tour of my cabin and also some video I shot of central park as well. Just gotta get them rendered from my camera.

[Eng23]

Nice start! Ziggy cracks me up! It's fun having a cruise buddy like Ziggy even though you had Rob with you too.....:D

[lemming]

Loving the review so far. Thanks for taking time to share your adventures with others. My wife and I are going next year and enjoy reading about other peoples adventures.

 

Looking forward to the rest.

[rednancy1]

I am loving your review so far. OMG the precious puppy! :)

 

I am enjoying the pics of Ziggy as I love zebras. :)

[ALSEAU]

Love your enthusiasm Missy!

 

Looking forward to following your adventure.

[emmy]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No words can truly describe what its like pulling into Port Everglades and seeing all the cruise ships at their respective docks. However, nothing can compare to the feeling I got when I saw our ship, Allure of the Seas, towering above the smokestacks on the power plant near the port. Rob proceeded to point her out to me.

 

Rob: That's our ship. That's it! *points to the ship*

Me: O_o...that can't be it.

Rob:That's it!

Me: No way....*double take* we're getting on THAT!?

Rob: Yep.

Me: o_O....oh my......

 

She was breathtaking... she looked so majestic and so regal against the Florida sun and she towered over all the other ships in port that day. I could hardly believe that I would be sleeping, eating, and exploring that ship. Being directionally challenged I hoped that the ship had rentable GPS units so that I could find my way back. I even joked about carrying a stockpile of breadcrumbs to make a trail back to my stateroom on the occasion that I may get lost. I could feel the excitement rising and the nerves starting. This was going to be, an amazing cruise!

 

 

Good Morning ~ this post gave me goosebumps. I can feel what you felt at this moment :) Enjoying your review. LOVE Oasis class!

[cruisin_cutie216]

Love your enthusiasm Missy!

 

Looking forward to following your adventure.

 

thank you! so glad that you are enjoying it!!! I've been so excited to write my review. Its like reliving my cruise from start to finish, but the best part is..YOU GUYS ARE HERE!!!

 

Good Morning ~ this post gave me goosebumps. I can feel what you felt at this moment :) Enjoying your review. LOVE Oasis class!

 

I've fallen in love with the Oasis class as well! Firmly trying to convince my mom to cruise on the Allure in November for her birthday (kinda want to surprise her though..). Writing that post made me feel excited all over again. it was kind of a warm fuzzy feeling :)

 

I should have more posted soon friends! Just got home from work so I'll be uploading more to potobucket and posting more soon!!

 

<3 Missy <3

Edited March 13, 2013 by cruisin_cutie216

[chuckrock12]

Subscribing to this thread. Nothing like a first cruise!!!

[Jenjer]

Love it. Please keep it coming

 

Thank You for taking the time to do this.

 

We are sailing the big girl in May and can not wait...whooohooo

[cruisin_cutie216]

hey all! just was rudely awakened by a phonecall *grumble grumble* but I decided that since I can't fall back to sleep, now would be the perfect time to write some more of my review! Here we go!

 

Chapter 4: Let the Vacation Begin!!!

 

After my brief crafty moment, Rob and I decided to take a quick stroll to his room before muster drill started. I said goodbye for now to his mom, Sandy, whom had decided to get a quick nap in before muster drill (she liked to have her quiet). His sisters were already off exploring with their boyfriends so it left me.

 

 

Rob and I walked to his room and it was a bit different than the set up us girls had. He was sharing a room with his dad and the two boyfriends. They had an interior stateroom with a fold out couch and separatable [sp?] queen bed that turned into two twin beds. Needless to say, those guys were content with their set up. Me, having champagne tastes, couldn't see how they could sleep in a room with no balcony or any sort of view at all!! :eek: Darling boyfriend later informs me that you really are only in the room to sleep. I scoff at this and don't believe him (he ends up being right not even three hours into our trip! Go figure huh!)

 

We had just seated ourselves on the couch in the room when the captain comes over the PA to welcome us onboard and give us instructions as of to how the muster drill was to work. Being a first timer on the cruise, I found this to be a smidge scary but very important. Not to mention, I was looking forward to being able to see everyone in the crazy orange lifejackets and to maybe snap a picture. Plus, I had been a bit concerned that I couldn't seem to find our life jackets in our staterooms. This puzzling bit of information was soon explained by the captain that the lifejackets aren't stored in the cabins, they are at the muster stations and we would not be needing them for the drill. O_o...won't be needing them?! How on earth is my panicked little brain supposed to figure out how to put the darn thing on in the event of an emergency!? Well, captain knows best. He then explained that the muster is MANDATORY for all passengers to attend per maritime law. I thought, this is good. I don't wanna be THAT GUY during an emergency.

 

Rob and I decided to head out to the muster station since the drill was starting soon and I had remembered my station ID on my seapass [Muster Station C2] and Rob was C1. Sandy had joked in the terminal "well girls you won't be with your boys if we die!" (verry comforting...but it made me laugh). We parted ways and I headed into the Blaze Nightclub (deck 4 I believe) and was one of the first people there. There were crew members at the door scanning Seapasses as you entered as a way of keeping track of every passenger and stateroom that attended the drill. Ended up being a very nifty system overall.

 

Soon the alarm was sounded throughout the ship and people began pouring into the club. I tried saving booth seats for the rest of my stateroom but to no avail. The girls joined me at the station but we had no problem standing. We were directed to an informational safety video to watch on the screens in the club and once the video had ended and the captain dismissed us, we were free to go!

 

Once the muster ended, I reunited with Rob and the guys and us girls decided to head to the Sun Deck on deck 14 for the sailaway. I had been looking forward to this as I had read many reviews and wanted to see the house with its very own FlowRider. Plus the feeling of exhiliration and relaxation as soon as the ship had begun movement out of Port Everglades.

 

We reached the SunDeck and luckily it hadn't gotten crowded at all. We snagged a spot and I proceeded to whip out my camera and take some shots of the scenery. (they may be a smidge out of order, so my apologies)

 

 

the neighboring Carnival ship setting sail the same day as us. It was fun to wave to these guys from our deck!

 

 

caught this awesome shot of Ft. Lauderdale (you can see Rob looking through the binocculars in the reflection of the glass).

 

 

A Holland America Line [HAL]ship in port. You can see the Celebrity Cruises in the background.

 

 

could hardly believe that our ship had a heli-pad!! Super awesome!!

 

 

Ah, there's the FlowRider house!!! Love the person just chillin in their pink bathrobe. Classic!!

 

The wait to start moving felt like forever! Now believe me I was in a bit of a rush, I was ready to get my vacation started!! It was pretty cool to see all the homes and hotels that lined the ocean front and I had to wonder to myself 'what would I do if I had that much money to buy one of those houses?' I told Rob I wanted a FlowRider for my birthday. He chuckled and then replied with a deadpan "no." *sad face*

 

Since I can only do six pictures a post, I'm gonna have to do this entry in two parts! Keep the feedback coming and tell your friends!!!

 

<3 Missy <3

[Sunny AZ Girl]

I think I am loving your review more than any of the others I have read (and I have read some excellent ones!).:D To see the Allure from the perspective of a first time cruiser is so fun - an exciting! Thank you so much for doing this after your first cruise. I can't wait to see the rest.

 

I love Ziggy. He looked alive looking out that window in the plane. What a cute idea.:cool: And thank you for making the font bigger! Now I can just sit back and enjoy the show without straining. I don't want to miss a word.;)

[BillOh]

 

I firmly believe I can learn something from every review. Allure,the Park Cafe, has my favorite cheddar sour cream chips?!

[cruisin_cutie216]

Chapter 4.2: Let the Party Begin (cont'd)

 

Finally, one by one, each cruise ship began to depart the port.

 

First up, the Carnival Freedom

 

 

Then followed by Holland America

 

 

Then last but not least, the Allure of the Seas. Being on deck during the sailaway felt just like the movies. Laughing, cheering, waving, and calling to the people on land and telling them Bon Voyage!! It was such and exhilerating feeling that is so hard to describe. I could hardly believe that we were on our way to Nassau Bahamas! We all decided to get some pictures on the deck shortly after we had sailed off and the breeze had picked up considerably making for us girls having windblown hair (kinda looked like a Beyonce video in some pictures). Of course the guys didn't have this problem as they all had short hair.

 

 

Me and the girls! Aren't we cute!?

 

 

The guys looked super handsome here!

 

 

me with my honey <3

 

We were all so excited! We departed the SunDeck and all went exploring once more. We agreed we would all meet up again for dinner.

 

Since we had had a very exhausting travel day, Rob and I decided to head to the adult Solarium to relax and have a soak in the hot tub before having to be at dinner. First he wanted to change into his swimsuit. We headed back to his room, parted ways and I headed to mine to put on my suit. No sooner had I walked into my door, my phone rings with a call from Rob's stateroom.

 

Me: y'ello!

Rob: We have a problem.

Me: O_O...what is it?

Rob: everyone has their luggage but me.

 

I felt my heart race a bit. He didn't have his luggage yet and we had already set sail. I was sincerely hoping that his bag made it onto the ship and wasn't still sitting in the cruise terminal. What a fantastic way to start the vacation. He meets up with me again at my stateroom and we decide to kinda just explore the ship a bit more and then check back at his room once finished to see if his bag had turned up. We headed to the sports deck near the Windjammer Cafe and I wanted to get some shots of the Allure signage. [just realized this was taken pre departure so pretend the ocean is in the background XP]

 

 

I think everyone at some time or another if they've sailed the Allure or Oasis they've gotten this shot!

 

After doing some exploring, we head back to his room where his dad informs him that the cabin steward came by and said that security has his bag down on deck 2 and he has to venture down and collect it.

 

I'm a bit puzzled, what on earth could they have seized his bag for? We didn't pack any alcohol.

 

Then it hit me. Rob is a Mountain Dew fanatic and he learned that our ship wasn't going to carry the Dew so he brought his own six pack of bottles in his checked baggage. They seized it more than likely because it probably appeared to be alcohol on the scanner.

 

So a rather grumpy Rob and I head to deck 2 which is pretty much like no mans land, to collect his baggage. You would not BELIEVE how many pieces of luggage were down here!! So many! I could only imagine if every piece of luggage from every passenger had ended up here. Yikes!

 

After about 15 minutes, Rob was cleared and we headed back up to our deck so he could change. I couldn't help but do a little dance and sing a little song about his bag going to 'the naughty closet' but then again the rest of us did it to. He scowled at me but I told him "Hey, one day you're going to look back and laugh about this."

 

[shauncruises]

Very entertaining review! I also am enjoying the review thru the eyes of a "1st timer"! I love your enthusiasm! :)

[cruisin_cutie216]

Thank you everyone for the wonderful feedback! I know I say thank you a lot but these comments mean a lot to me!

 

BillOH: YES! I was soo excited to see these chips as they're my favorite as well! So yummy especially with ranch dip (mmmmmmM!)

 

To the lady who's going on her first cruise for her wedding anniversary from the UK: Congratulations!! You will love it!! Get some pictures taken at the Picture This studio. Rob and I had some done on our cruise and they came out beautiful! A bit pricey and we won't get them in for another 6-8 weeks but I feel like it was worth it. If anyone has any feedback on this experience, please, feel free to share!

 

To Ziggy fans: Ziggy was an awesome cruise companion! He didn't go everywhere with us (i.e. he didn't dine with us in the MDR, I left in the room to rest and hang out with Elphie the Elephant and the towel animals) but when he did it was fun to have him explore with us and be apart of the memories. Ziggy even has his own blog which is still under construction. Details to soon follow!!!

 

My voyage was so much fun on the Allure and to those of you who are first timers or sailing on her soon, you are in for a treat. Its an amazing vessel and its always such an amazingly fun party! Enjoy it to the tee cause once its over its over and its so sad :-(. Here's to happy waves and cruisin to all you guys!!

 

I'll have more up later tonight, got tons to do today plus I want to try and get some video footage uploaded of my cabin. Should have that posted for you guys later today!

 

P.S. Who out there has a cruise critter like Ziggy? Let me know! If not, its cool! I've posted on the cruise critter thread, just curious.

 

<3 Missy <3

Edited March 13, 2013 by cruisin_cutie216

[Rated]

Can't wait to read more!!

 

Seems like you are in very much in love with your boyfriend, very happy for you two!!!

[jewel825]

Missy, I am LOVING your review! Add me to the list of those whose favorite chips are Cheddar and Sour Cream. I think I may have to make a stop at the Park Cafe on the first day also when we leave next month. :)

 

I feel like I'm right along with you on this trip. It helps the time go by until it's my turn! I appreciate all the thought and time you are putting into the review.

[Familygoboston]

I'm loving your enthusiastic review...I'm getting the idea you LIKED cruising ;) Somehow I thought so! Ziggy is inspired! I have a daughter who has a ratty green moose (who in a burst of toddler creativity, she named "Moose Green":rolleyes:) who has been to 3 continents already!

 

I'm looking forward to more to feed my insatiable appetite till my Allure cruise in exactly ONE MONTH!!:D But who is counting!!

 

One of the reasons I bailed on sailing during "diamonds in December" this year is because I adore the enthusiasm and sheer glee newer cruisers exhibit, and I wanted more newbies to sail with, not fewer...Hope you never lose your joy...looking forward to more of "ziggy's adventures"!

[bludevil]

Hello!! I'm also a first time cruiser going on the Allure 19th May, it's going to be our 30th wedding anniversary whilst on board. We are doing the western itinerary but mostly want to experience the ship she looks amazing! We are staying in Fort Lauderdale first for 5 nights as its a lot of travelling for us from the uk just for a week, so wanted to extend the holiday a bit.

 

Julie

 

If you are celebrating a special occasion, I HIGHLY recommend the Chef's Table. $95 includes wine and it is amazing. I did it to celebrate my birthday last week on the Allure and it was worth every penny.

[jakesmom04]

Awesome review cruising cutie216. Our group of 15 will be boarding her on the 14th of April with 4 first time cruisers. I am so loving your review and can't wait to read more. Ziggy is great, we have "the little german" who will be cruising with me.

[Juliesfirstcruise]

If you are celebrating a special occasion, I HIGHLY recommend the Chef's Table. $95 includes wine and it is amazing. I did it to celebrate my birthday last week on the Allure and it was worth every penny.

 

Oh thank you! We were thinking about going to chops on our anniversary is this better?

 

And thank you Missy, we will definitely get some photos done at the studio will be lovely reminder of our cruise!! My husband has just bought himself a new camera to take on our holiday, it looks a bit complicated to me, but he is getting used to it before we go! I like something you pick up and click and a perfect picture haha, perhaps it's best I leave the photography to him!

 

Enjoying the review!

 

Julie