Allure of the Seas July 21st review

[Kevin]

My kids have been wanting to sail on the Oasis or Allure since the Oasis was launched, it was well worth the wait.

 

We did the Eastern Caribbean itinerary as we wanted to visit Maho Beach in St. Maarten.

 

The ship was great but it may have ruined cruising for us on other smaller ships. When sitting in Central Park or on the Boardwalk we did not really feel like we were even on a ship. Either it is so big or the seas were so smooth but we never really felt much movement at all. The only time we noticed we were on a moving ship was at night laying in bed.

 

We had a Boardwalk view balcony, 12327, almost at the very back. We took great advantage of the public deck just a few feet away and napped most afternoons in the lounge chairs there.

 

We did the Aquaventure excursion at Atlantis during the Nassau day. It was crazy expensive for the four of us considering we were there for only three hours. I don't think I would do it again. We came and stayed at HarborSide about 9 years ago. That was crazy expensive as well. The beach looked great.

 

 

In St Thomas we did a sail and snorkel to turtle cove. It was great! One of the deck hands borrowed my camera and got the shot below.

 

 

 

In St. Maarten we hired a taxi for the day. I didn't know you needed long pants to ice skate so we planned to have the taxi driver stop us somewhere to get some cheap jeans. We took a tour around the island with several stops. We stopped at Orient beach. It looked so inviting and the water was so warm but our plan was for Maho Beach and the planes. We ended up spending almost 3 hours at Maho watching the planes land and take off. We saw several 737s, one MD-80, one A340, and a lot of turbo prop planes. The best was the Insel Air MD-80 taking off. The pilot opened his window, waved, and taxied to the very end of the runway. He then sat there revving the engines for 30 seconds or so. He cleared everyone off the beach who was behind his jet blast. I helped collect several pairs of sunglasses, towels, shirts, and pants from the ocean after the plane took off. I have uploaded a video to YouTube. This is my first video on YouTube so I am not sure how it all works. At this time it appears to only work if you select 1080P for the quality. I am guessing that YouTube will eventually encode at other sizes and bit rates.

 

 

The highlight of the cruise was B.I.N.G.O. This was my first cruise since my dad passed away. He was a big BINGO player and loved cruising. It didn't take but a few moments for everyone on the ship to know my dad, he was so loud and happy all the time. I am usually a cheap person but this time I thought I would play BINGO like my dad. That means you need to always buy the largest card package, the Big Kahuna. I didn't play every session as there was always too much going on but my daughter said we needed to play on Friday because she saw that the big prize was a free cruise. Friday was the final formal night and we had dining reservations for 6pm so that meant I needed to be dressed for dinner before going to BINGO. Only my son and I managed to be ready in time to make BINGO. I handed my son the automatic machine (don't press any buttons or Big Daddy Cash gets upset) and I played the bonus paper cards. We got close on the first three games, getting to stand just one number away on every game but ultimately came up short every time. My daughter arrived about half way through the final game. She found us just as someone stood just one number away. We were still three numbers away. She looked over at the machine and announced that it would be great if the next number was I24. I24 was called. That left B1 and O74. The next ball called was O74. Now I was getting excited as I got my son to stand. The next and final ball called was B1 and we WON!

 

The funny part is my wife was still back in the room getting ready for dinner. It takes awhile for four people to get ready for formal night with only one bathroom. Do you know they don't give you any proof you won when you win the free cruise? We caught up with my wife and told her the good news. She didn't believe us and without any proof we could not convince her we were telling the truth.

 

We kept trying to convince her and at dinner she decided to call our bluff and said we should order a bottle of Champaign to celebrate. Who was I to say no? I had just won a free cruise! Pavel, our waiter, mentioned the next night that he had sold 3 bottles of Champaign that night. He was happy. They must get some sort of credit for pushing Champaign and wine.

 

My wife started to realize that I might be telling the truth when I wouldn't let it drop. I think she was getting a little annoyed. After dinner when a fellow cruiser asked if my wife had believed me it really sunk in I was telling the truth.

 

Saturday I got the definitive proof.

 

 

 

We didn't win the $9400 final BINGO but three people got to take home over $3100 each. I am guessing my dad was either looking down or maybe up and helped get the right BINGO balls called.

[killtheump]

Way to go!

[Steeler Nation At Sea]

Your Dad sounds like a character and isn't it funny that you won while honoring him? That's a great story!

 

Btw...had your same cabin in May and took our afternoon naps on the loungers on "our" back deck, too. Hardly used by anyone else....ever!

[Gumbey]

More Pics!!!

[Realtor at Sea]

Such a sweet Bingo story! Thanks for sharing!

[JohnSnowGOT]

So far good review....did you eat at Chops?:)

If so who was your waiter?

[Kevin]

So far good review....did you eat at Chops?:)

If so who was your waiter?

 

We ate in the dining room with Pavel our waiter, the Windjammer, Rita's, Johnny Rockets, and the BoardWalk Dog House.

 

Johnny Rockets was not the greatest for breakfast. The works (breakfast potatoes) were swimming in oil. Lunch was good though. You can't go wrong with a desert that starts with Oreos swimming in chocolate syrup.

 

We grabbed a snack from Cafe Promenade on several occasions. The ham and cheese croissants were good but they were the only sandwiches not covered in mayo.

 

We had a slice or two from sorrentos, never as a meal.

[Lionesss]

It was meant to be!!!!

Congratulations!!!!

Nice review.

Sea Ya