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Allure March 3, 2013 Review. Not as awesome as I thought, but still better than work

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whataboutport

whataboutport

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Thanks so much for posting this great review - I'm really enjoying reading about your experiences. I have one quick question for you if you don't mind. What would you say was the total time that you actually got to spend at the beach at Trunk Bay? We're debating doing the ship excursion on our next cruise and I'm just wondering once you factor in the ferry trip over and cab ride to the beach how much time you have to enjoy the beach itself.

 

Thanks again and can't wait to read the rest of your review!

MouseGirl

 

Ok MouseGirl, I just went back and checked the time stamp on my photos. The time we actually got to Trunk (when I took my first pic) till the time I took my first pic back at Mongoose Junction (where we ate) was 2hr 15min. It's about 15min taxi ride between Trunk and Cruz, so we were at the beach for only 2 hrs. But you could stay another hour easily if you can wait till you get back on the ship to eat, but we were starved from snorkeling. You can always bring some snacks with you. You can easily take food off the ship, but you can't bring it back on. I would say we spent about 45 mins just to eat a burger at the Sun Dog.

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whataboutport

whataboutport

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That's probably the same beggar that was at Sarafina's when I was there in October. The guy was very aggressive and scared my 4 and 6 year old girls. We were sitting there at a table 'inside' the restaurant and he came up asking for money and wouldn't leave us alone. "Give me five dollars. Come on, five dollars, I want five dollars. You need to give me five dollars."

 

He then said, "Give me some chocolate. Come on. I want chocolate. Why do you not give me chocolate? Give me half the chocolate" and he actually started reaching for our pastry that was sitting on the table. I had to tell him NO forcefully quite a few times before he left us alone. The workers there seemed very disinterested in chasing him away from hounding their customers who were sitting inside their shop.

 

Yes, he said "You NEED to give me" now that you mention it! If you look at my pic of outside Seraphina's he's behind the sign. Well you can't see his face but that's him. Bf is right next to him in the blue Hurley shorts.

 

I can't believe the staff there doesn't care.

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whataboutport

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We saw this yacht too on the 5th of March while on our Indy cruise. It was incredible, looked like something from a James Bond movie. We had heard that there had been a yacht regada over the previous weekend so figured it was leftover from that. Glad someone knew more about it. Thanks. Enjoying your review, keep it coming.

 

We saw it on the 7th at St Maarten. What island did you see it at? It is really neat looking isn't it?

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LincolnLog

LincolnLog

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That's probably the same beggar that was at Sarafina's when I was there in October. The guy was very aggressive and scared my 4 and 6 year old girls. We were sitting there at a table 'inside' the restaurant and he came up asking for money and wouldn't leave us alone. "Give me five dollars. Come on, five dollars, I want five dollars. You need to give me five dollars."

 

He then said, "Give me some chocolate. Come on. I want chocolate. Why do you not give me chocolate? Give me half the chocolate" and he actually started reaching for our pastry that was sitting on the table. I had to tell him NO forcefully quite a few times before he left us alone. The workers there seemed very disinterested in chasing him away from hounding their customers who were sitting inside their shop.

 

 

You have GOT to be kidding me. I don't know or even care what the poverty level is there, I would not be able to tolerate that. Asking is one thing, even begging, but when he's REACHING FOR YOUR FOOD?? I think I would turn violent. :mad:

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whataboutport

whataboutport

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Lots of sauce? Eeek. Too much sauce and too many toppings are not NY pizza.

Yeah I guess not. That's CA style maybe? Do you guys have Papa John's out there? That's the only chain pizza place I like, and it's lots of toppings and sauce, just enough cheese. :)

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whataboutport

whataboutport

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Good review and photos. Enjoyed reading your posts.

Thanks for following along!

 

You have GOT to be kidding me. I don't know or even care what the poverty level is there, I would not be able to tolerate that. Asking is one thing, even begging, but when he's REACHING FOR YOUR FOOD?? I think I would turn violent. :mad:

My brother had a very strange encounter with a homeless woman in Huntington Beach, here in CA. He was eating a tuna poki out on the patio of a restaurant and she came by and leaned over the railing and asked him, Oh what is that? That looks so good. Can I try some? Just that little piece, that tiny little piece right there. She's reaching her hand closer and closer, and my brother is really confused as what to do and can't believe what was happening. Before he could answer, she reached in with her hands and scooped up the entire mound, stuffed it in her face and ran off. :eek:

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whataboutport

whataboutport

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Question about your waiter, Austin, did he have curly hair and glasses? Fairly tallish? 5'10" maybe?

 

We had a waiter named Austin on our cruise this summer and we loved him. If he is one and the same as the one on the Allure I will def. have to ask for him if we sail on her soon.

 

We wore glasses some of the time, but not every night, but I'm not super sure. His hair was short, so I can't tell if it was curly or not. And the only time I was standing up talking to him and not sitting down was the last night when we dropped off some additional tips for him and his asst. I didn't remember him to be tall, but he def wasn't short. I'm short, only 5'2" but with 2" heels and I don't remember craning my neck up like I normally would have to. So maybe this is not the same Austin. But he was very good. His Indian accent was thick, but not to the point where it was hard to understand him, however he was kind of soft spoken. He looked to me about early to mid 30s. But pretty much every waiter I've had on a cruise has been good to excellent.

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whataboutport

whataboutport

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Alright, so where was I? Yes, Maho Beach, aka Airport beach. This was our next stop on our tour, and after Marigot, this was my next fave place on SXM. The beach is really tiny and narrow, and there are no trees or shade (unless you rent a chair and umbrella, but even those are not aplenty) but you know the one reason why people come here, to experience the planes and jets landing overhead. In fact, our driver Sexy told us that three months out of the year, the water comes all the way up the beach and even covers the rocks and floods the street, so this is a very interesting place to say the least.

 

There are some hotel/resort/casinos within walking distance, but the Sunset Bar & Grill is right where the action is. It's a very popular place that serves food and drink, with lots of places to sit, live music (while we were there anyway), friendly staff, ceiling fans (it sure was hot that day!), etc. It had a party atmosphere, but was good for families and kids too. I saw lots of young children there, in fact two of them (one each from different families) made friends with eachother and kind of overtook part of our table. Not a big deal, they were cute and very courteous. At the time we were there, it was not like Spring Break party with people flashing their bits type of party, but in the coming weeks, I don't know how it is. It a was very lively, energetic, and fun atmosphere.

 

Anyway, some pics...

This is the Arrivals surfboard. For all you spelling sticklers, notice it says "Beatch" chairs $10.

P1060586.jpg

 

View from my table. Most upper part of the bar, in the front near the railing. This part is built so it goes over the beach a bit, on the rocky side that is.

P1060587.JPG

 

Another view. This is from me with my butt in my chair. When I got up and went closer to the railing was when I got an almost undisrupted view. You can see there are small propeller planes as well as large jumbo jets.

P1060591.JPG

 

AA jet coming in for a landing!

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This is the view when we went down on the beach, just down in front of where we were sitting, in front of the rocks. You can get some crazy pics and perspective from down here. It makes the planes look even closer to the people.

P1060657.JPG

 

See?

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/53728344/P1060658.MOV

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whataboutport

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Don't say nobody warned you! *The bottom part of that sign that you can't read says "resulting in extreme boldily harm and/or death"

P1060663.JPG

 

So now we were on our way back towards Philipsburg. We got a few of these shots, but again, from a moving van =/ Notice the mega yacht The "A", next to lady Allure?

P1060668.JPG

 

If you'll look closely in this one, there's The "A" in the center, another mega yacht to her left, and the one to her right I believe was the one waiting for us peons in the Allure to leave so she could dock. A total of $1.4b according to Capt Johnny and worth more than Lady Allure herself. Wow, who could ever imagine to have that much money?! Not me!

P1060669.JPG

 

Two more shots from the moving van.

P1060671.JPG

 

P1060675.JPG

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whataboutport

whataboutport

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On our way back to the nothing-to-be-ashamed-about-that's-worth-less-than-$1.4b-Allure.

P1060679.JPG

 

I had this pic on my Facebook with the caption, "This is what it looks like to not be invited onto a $400 million mega yacht. Keep it movin' poor people, nothin' to see here."

P1060681.JPG

 

All three richy riches in this shot.

IMAG1198.jpg

 

Final panorama I got before on our way home.

IMAG1199.jpg

 

I'll do more food porn tomorrow.

Thanks to all who are still following along.

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MouseGirl

MouseGirl

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Thank you SO much for the Trunk Bay info! I think we'll do the ship excursion shopping tour to cut out the coastal cruise and not bother stopping to eat, as you suggested, to give us more time at the beach itself. I really appreciate your taking the time to respond, and am continuing to read along with your wonderful review.

 

MouseGirl

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MAJPLO

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So I'm not having luck with Youtube. Anyone able to see the vid I posted? It was not on Youtube, but Dropbox and doesn't seem to want to load on my ancient mac.

 

Definitely taking a long time to load. The furthest it has played for me is four seconds. But I'm excited to see it when it does! Thanks for including it.

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whataboutport

whataboutport

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Thank you SO much for the Trunk Bay info! I think we'll do the ship excursion shopping tour to cut out the coastal cruise and not bother stopping to eat, as you suggested, to give us more time at the beach itself. I really appreciate your taking the time to respond, and am continuing to read along with your wonderful review.

 

MouseGirl

Cool, glad I could help! If I were to do it again, I'd def bring some chips or snacks from the ship. I'm thinking chips, brownies, cookies, etc, since you won't have any refrigeration and it'll probably be warm to hot out.

 

I'm really enjoying your review! Good to see the review through the eyes of another whom was also on the same sailing! Keep it coming!

Thanks! I've got your review book marked and I'm gonna read that next after I'm done with this one. Just a few more posts to go. :)

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whataboutport

whataboutport

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Thanks for posting this review! We'll be on the Allure in about 2 weeks - can't wait! This will be our 1st time to St. Thomas & St. Martin, so I've enjoyed seeing your pictures.

Cool! Please do a review whe you get back! It really helps other first timers. I wish I read more first timers reviews before I went.

 

Very well done.

I really enjoyed reading your review.

Thanks

Sea Ya

Thanks for following along!

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