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Allure 8/18/13 - Eastbound & Down: A Composition of Photos and Other Trip Details

KGSB11

By KGSB11,
in Royal Caribbean International

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storm1of4

storm1of4

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Sorry folks for the apparent leave of absence! I will get started on posting Day 3 shortly.

 

I have figured out a work-around for the Google Photos issue, albeit still not as easy as before, but much better than what I initially found -- plus this saves the hassle of having to move everything! :eek:

 

So I had a scare this weekend when my cell-phone (a.k.a. Where all my notes for the cruise are stored) broke on me -- rather, I should say I broke it :rolleyes: -- but those are details which I care not to discuss henceforth! All you need to know is that I THANKFULLY was able to recover my photos/data/contacts and most importantly CRUISE NOTES from the internal memory whist it lay in despair.

 

Actual Photo -- Not a Dramatization :o

 

 

phone.jpg

 

 

WOW What did the other guy look like?

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KGSB11

KGSB11

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Woke up with room to stretch this morning as I chose to explore the ship while many cruisers were still nestled all snug in their beds…Okay I’ll admit that the coffee and breakfast pastries were calling, but I managed to at least spend some time on the track; my running friends would be proud (SPOILER ALERT: I wasn’t exercising) :p

After hitting up Café Promenade around 7:15am, I enjoyed some time to admire the ship in its ‘empty’ state.

TRAVEL ALERT: I recommend everyone at least do this once. I feel that it really gives you a different perspective without the hustle & bustle of the people – your line-of-sight is expanded and it is neat to be able to see an unimpeded view of the Royal Promenade from one end to the other, top to bottom.



 

Promenade.jpg

 

After this I made it outside onto the track to get some fresh air as I made my way back to the aft-stairs; the weather today was very overcast, not too hot, but very humid. You know that feeling that the clouds WANT to precipitate (SPOILER ALERT: It would rain a decent amount around lunch) – it was a few minutes in that I realized among the few runners that were out this early, I was the only guy walking on the track with a plate full of pastries – oh, the irony :cool:

 

A view from my balcony

 

Storm.jpg

 

DW woke up shortly after I returned and requested a breakfast sandwich from Park Café – I went out to round up the requested item and brought back a few extra choices that looked good as well (yogurt parfait, melon medley, and a chili-egg-burrito)

 

Up Next: CruiseCritic Meet & Mingle and a drinking class!

TRAVEL ALERT: Don’t let your eyes be bigger than your hands…or pockets…or whatever you plan to carry a ton of food back to your stateroom with. Not sure why I passed on the tray this morning, but I must have look funny walking back with parfait cups sticking out of my pockets.


 

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KGSB11

KGSB11

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The CruiseCritic Meet & Mingle was at 9:30am so we had about an hour to kill beforehand; I wanted to explore more of the near empty ship so we found ourselves exploring the Boardwalk area and ended up at the Donut-Shop (as I write this, I am just now realizing how much we ate before 10am – and I’m not even TO 10am yet). We perused around the AquaTheater for a bit and watched a SCUBA course in-progress as well as sat down for a hypnotic session of "wake-watching"!

 

Tue-Wake.jpg

Soon enough it was time to head to Dazzles for the CC meet-up where more fruit, cheese, coffee, and juices were had. After a few nice words by the Asst. Cruise Director (can’t remember name, but he was from S. Africa), he told a quick history of RCI while also integrating some RCI History Trivia to which hats were given for correct answers – the raffle was also quite fun, I can’t remember all the winners, but I think I recall Razman10, FamilyOreoTreats, and CanadianCruiser38 being among the winners. After the raffle a few of us stuck around and chatted for a while before we went off to enjoy the first sea day. Everyone was really nice and it was quite a lot of fun to finally meet the people that had been on the roll-call for so long – even if it took them FOREEEEVER to decide on which cruise, looking in your direction Alaska_Planner. :-)

 

Before heading to our normal residence at 001 Solarium Drive, Allure of the Seas Blvd (that's the actual address BTW :p), we took a quick stroll on deck 5 to get a glimpse of the waves breaking as the ALLURE hit them (remember the clouds and impending storm) and quickly found ourselves getting trapped by the Move It! Move It! Parade...turned out, we enjoyed it a lot and were glad we stumbled upon it.

 

parade.jpg

 

After the parade, we heard a loud rumble and after realizing no one else seemed to be bothered by it, we determined it must have been our stomachs! So we decided to try Izumi for lunch – DW LOVES sushi and she can thank her DH (that’s me ) for that. Also, for those of you keeping track, this would be specialty restaurant #2 that slipped its way into our schedule :cool:. This was good; pretty much exactly what I’d expect from any place on-shore – quality, well-made, & fresh sushi! DW was able to get her custom California Rolls (no cucumber) without any fuss so she was happy - a diet coke for the misses and a cold beer for me so I too was also happy. It was at this point that I noticed through the windows, the pool deck was uncharacteristically empty…then I noticed the windy downpour that was currently in-progress – this lasted pretty much our entire lunch, but cleared up by the time we made it to the Solarium.

 

Tue-Solarium-2.jpg

 

Tue-Solarium.jpg

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alaska_planner

alaska_planner

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Soon enough it was time to head to Dazzles for the CC meet-up where more fruit, cheese, coffee, and juices were had. After a few nice words by the Asst. Cruise Director (can’t remember name, but he was from S. Africa), he told a quick history of RCI while also integrating some RCI History Trivia to which hats were given for correct answers – the raffle was also quite fun, I can’t remember all the winners, but I think I recall Razman10, FamilyOreoTreats, and CanadianCruiser38 being among the winners. After the raffle a few of us stuck around and chatted for a while before we went off to enjoy the first sea day. Everyone was really nice and it was quite a lot of fun to finally meet the people that had been on the roll-call for so long – even if it took them FOREEEEVER to decide on which cruise, looking in your direction Alaska_Planner. :-)

 

 

 

me??????????????

 

of what are you speaking pray tell?????????????????????? ;)

 

foreeeeeever is a bit of an understatement!!!!! it was foreeeeeever and many many many many days.....and months...

 

but what a GREAT choice i finally made!!!!!!!!! with lots of very welcome encouragement from Bob!!!!!! :) :) :)

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KGSB11

KGSB11

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TRAVEL ALERT: Attention “South-of-the-Border”-Drink lovers -- Do not…I repeat…DO NOT miss the “Learn How to Make the Perfect Mojito and Caipirinha Clinic” And even if you don’t, but just enjoy good bar entertainment, please attend!



 

The Mojito/Caipirinha class is in Boleros and takes place on the dance-floor (no dancing involved, it just isn’t up at the bar)…the bartender who taught our class was the casino bartender, so he incorporated some humor and magic tricks into the class which was quite entertaining.

 

bartender.jpg

 

Now here is where the drink lovers pay attention – for $12 –or- $4 if you have the drink package, you get to learn how to make four (4) drinks and in return you get to drink...I reapeat...drink...four (4) full-size pours of said drinks (Mojito, Caipirinha, Margarita, and Cosmopolitan) – This is NOT a 'participation required' session, it is more of an instructional class - volunteers will be requested periodically, but most people just sat, watched and drank the adult-beverages provided.

 

TRAVEL ALERT: I am not sure if it was a mistake, but I was only charged $4 and I did not have a ‘drink-package’, just the Wine & Dine pkg



 

The drink with the napkin wrapped around it was DW's Blue Hurricane (she did not take part in the class, but just watched)

drinks.jpg

 

Now when you are given 4 drinks in a 45 minute window…food will be of utmost importance when you leave – also required is the assistance of a DW – who will be known henceforth as Designated Walker.

 

It may also be pointed out that no one said you had to drink all four beverages before you left…but I accepted the challenge anyways :rolleyes:

 

We had reservations for Samba Grill that night (specialty #4), so we grabbed a quick bite at the Boardwalk Dog House to soak up the limes and mint leaves which were probably coating my tongue green by now. This would be the only time we ate here – I say that in a remorseful sense, as we enjoyed it very much and never found time to return. DW had her usual classic frank with ketchup (her being originally from Chicago, I don’t know how she gets away with it :eek:) and I had the bratwurst with loads of sauerkraut and mustard (paying homage to my German roots).

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KGSB11

KGSB11

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More Flowrider observing before heading to On-Air for Movie Soundtrack Trivia.

 

IMG_7152.JPG

 

IMG_7151.JPG

 

IMG_7157.JPG

 

IMG_7162.JPG

 

Trivia was more fun because of the rather loud group we sat next to…again Alaska_Planner, looking in your direction. DW or I didn’t get many correct, but it was fun to see a few more CC people again.

A short time later, and a few minutes before our reservation at Samba Grill, I made my way to Vintages to get a wine recommendation for the evening…

 

TRAVEL ALERT: A GREAT resource by the way for anyone wondering. The waiters have a general idea and can navigate the wine lists without getting into trouble, but if you are looking for tasting profiles, suggestions, and comparisons – you MUST go to Vintages - Rumen, the RCI winetender at Vintages became a good friend this cruise.



 

I initially only expected to see if they perhaps had my Robert Mondavi wine I was hoping for the previous night, but instead found myself tasting a few samples and ultimately with the night's recommendation specific for Samba – the Arboleda Carmenere.

 

IMG_7168.JPG

 

This dinner ended up being one of our favorites of the cruise. The concept wasn’t new to us as we have many similar restaurants around the Chicagoland area, but the food was just so good and of equal quality! There were two types of Top-Sirloin which were served and those were my two favorites (Picanha&Alcarta) and the lamb was slightly better than what I would eventually have in the MDR.

FOODIE ALERT:

IMG_7173.JPG

 

 

I can’t recall what DW had for dessert, but I had the flan which was pretty tasty – they also convinced me to buy their nifty Royal Caribbean “made in Italy” wine decanter!

 

This may also be a good point to mention that the specialty 'dinner' restaurants (Samba and Chops for example) allow you to take the fancy Stolzle brand wine glasses with you when you leave for later consumption -- Vintages, however requested that the glass stay there.

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KGSB11

KGSB11

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We attempted to take an evening stroll on deck 16 after dinner, but were stopped by the sight of teenagers being whipped around like ragdolls by the wind – of course, my superior adult reasoning told me that they were overreacting – in short, No…they…were…not!

 

In fact, a few of us started a human chain to assist some of the other ‘far-flug’ people – okay, maybe I used my creative license on that one a bit, but it was pretty windy. So to Central Park we headed (a protected area with a sky view) and took in some live string music before the start of the Love & Marriage Show.

 

In case you were wondering...yes they do take bluegrass requests!

 

IMG_20130820_214241.jpg

 

The L&M show was, as usual, funny and hysterical. I will skip the fine details as I’m sure most of us are versed well in the questions and various responses which are given – although to summarize the three couples: Honeymooners (CC D4nigirl was not selected), 20yrs+ couple who like to do it on the beach, and Abe (named such by Ken Rush for his likeness to Abe Lincoln).

 

The Asst. Cruise director from the Meet & Mingle is Stage Left behind the podium.

IMG_20130820_232654.jpg

 

We then retired to our balcony with wine in-hand to rest ourselves for St. Thomas.

 

Day 3: 2.37mi walked -- Alas, I have found my kryptonite...of the items in the category "Things Not Recovered from my Phone" was my walking data. This will be my last step count for the cruise.

 

For those curious...throughout the entire cruise, I was never again over 3 miles, yet never below 2.25 miles

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KGSB11

KGSB11

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Fabulous Review!! Totally loving it - I leave on Allure on Sunday, wooohooo! love your writing style want to keep reading but on my 3rd glass of wine and can barely stay awake! Should be working, anyway looking forward to the rest....:):D:cool:

 

Thanks for the compliments....I like the way you read; wine always enhances the experience :D

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KGSB11

KGSB11

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WOW What did the other guy look like?

 

The 'other-guy' that was hit was my wallet :rolleyes:, and he didn't fare too bad... I took advantage of an available upgrade on my family account.

 

Oh, the humanity!!!!

 

Yea...just when I thought that I got everything organized the way I like it :eek: #OfCourseMe #CruiseCriticShouldUseHashtags

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KGSB11

KGSB11

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Great review! Do away with the spreadsheet planning, check out Tripit.com - it'll change your holiday planning life!

 

I actually have tried Tripit many a time...in fact every vacation I give it another try (including this one). I'll admit there are conveniences to using it, but I always end up using the paper-copies more.

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KGSB11

KGSB11

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Awesome review from one planner to another! Thanks for taking the time and adding the pictures.

 

Not a problem...thanks for following along!

 

Wow, great review, and can't wait to see how it ends! We're sailing on the Allure on 11/24 and will definitely reread this entire thread before we leave.

 

Thank you for all of your efforts in putting this together!

 

Your very welcome.

 

I'm just paying it forward to those who came before me and those who will come after!

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