Live - Allure of the Seas - Jan 6-13 Star Class!

[tweety522]

Thanks for sharing  with us. I am on this ship in February with same Itinerary so I am curious to hear what you are doing in the ports also. This will be our first time on the Allure and in Central Park Room.

 

[RFerrington]

3 hours ago, ryanbarckley said:

 

What sort of parties did he plan for you? I was thinking of doing something like this. 

Well, what jumps immediately to mind is to have a nice reception in your suite during the cabin crawl.  What better way to show off your incredible suite than to have food and drinks brought in for the crawlers ?

 

We’ve done this 3 times.  All of the food, water, soft drinks and beer are “free”.  The only thing you would have to pay for would be wine.  Liquor is a bit complicated so I would skip the liquor but you can have a very nice reception in your suite with a few snacks and some beer.  Charlie will arrange everything.  They will bring plates, silverware, napkins glasses and all the food....and then they come and clean it all up for you when you’re done.  Of course, a generous tip is appropriate but there is no other direct cost.

 

The only limitation here is that you can only arrange specialty dining food delivery during  normal operating restaurant hours so if the cabin crawl is being done very early then it might not be possible.  That’s one reason why I always arranged our cabin crawls to be mid-afternoon when I knew specialty restaurants would be available.

[ryanbarckley]

20 minutes ago, RFerrington said:

Well, what jumps immediately to mind is to have a nice reception in your suite during the cabin crawl.  What better way to show off your incredible suite than to have food and drinks brought in for the crawlers ?

 

We’ve done this 3 times.  All of the food, water, soft drinks and beer are “free”.  The only thing you would have to pay for would be wine.  Liquor is a bit complicated so I would skip the liquor but you can have a very nice reception in your suite with a few snacks and some beer.  Charlie will arrange everything.  They will bring plates, silverware, napkins glasses and all the food....and then they come and clean it all up for you when you’re done.  Of course, a generous tip is appropriate but there is no other direct cost.

 

The only limitation here is that you can only arrange specialty dining food delivery during  normal operating restaurant hours so if the cabin crawl is being done very early then it might not be possible.  That’s one reason why I always arranged our cabin crawls to be mid-afternoon when I knew specialty restaurants would be available.

 

 

This is EXACTLY what I had in mind. I wasn't sure what was included with that, as I saw someone who said they had beer and wine and such and it was like $20/person at the end. I definitely can't afford that but would be more than happy to throw out a nice tip to some staff for something that's included. Good to know! (This was one of the things I asked Charlie about via email and he just gave me a "yeah we can arrange that talk to me on board about it", I was hoping for more info, and I've found it here! Thanks

[ryanbarckley]

3 hours ago, tweety522 said:

Thanks for sharing  with us. I am on this ship in February with same Itinerary so I am curious to hear what you are doing in the ports also. This will be our first time on the Allure and in Central Park Room.

 

 

I'll be sure to post a couple pictures of my grandparents Central Park room if I can get some. 

 

Here's what we have for ports (obviously more detail will come with the live portion of things):

 

Nassau - Walk to Junkanoo beach, sit out for a couple hours, stop by the fish fry for lunch, and do some light souvenir shopping (this was our "save some money" port since Nassau is overdone at this point. 

 

Cozumel - Swim with Dolphins and Manatees at Dolphin Discovery Cozumel (they have decent prices, way cheaper than through royal, and even cheaper again If you email them with some questions - I'll post the deal we got once we do it and make sure it all seemed right). This is also inside Chankanaab national Park and has lots of other things to do and see inside the park. 

 

Roatan - private "best of" tour with Bodden tours. We'll be stopping to visit some monkeys and sloths, zip line, horseback ride, hike, shop and eat.  

 

Costa Maya - Maya Chan all inclusive beach day. I've never done this one before but it seems to be highly recommend by everyone who takes part. It's very limited in capacity and almost always sells out for the day well in advance. Reasonable price ($60 for adults) includes transportation to and from, open bar/drinks, lunch taco bar, cabanas/beach chairs, snorkeling, and they have a pool as of recently. They also offer massages on the beach for $25/half hour or $45/hour.

 

And that should do it!

[DCT61]

If I could give you any advice, it would be not to overthink things. You’re traveling as a Star Class guest...relax. Everything will be taken care of. Charlie’s answers are short and to the point because he is concentrating on his current guests. Something you will appreciate when it’s your turn. To put you at ease...Charlie will take care of everything, and everything ( within reason) is possible. He will meet with you the first day and go over everything you need and answer all questions. 

‘Most of all...HAVE FUN. 

[DISFANS3]

Good times ahead, Allure awesome ship...

[dst]

Love the start of this - we are sailing on the 13th only in a grand suite but we are sailing the harmony in November and are interested in hearing about star class experience. 

 

Enjoy! 

[driftersdream]

We'll be on the same cruise in 57 days!!!  I'll be following along in anticipation!!!!  Your girlfriend is going to love this!  Take lots of port pictures.  

[MaiseyM]

Your packing experience was like mine two weeks ago.  I has six suitcases for five people. I was happy I chose southwest air for this reason.  I figured there weren’t any deals with Christmas cruising for Chris’s or air, so I thought I could at least save money on the baggage fees. It worked out well.  And yes. I too scheduled alarms in my phone to check in exactly 24 hours ahead of time.  I made section B both times. 

 

Are you there yet!

[mac_tlc]

Enjoy your ATS! We had 8330 on Oasis in August (seems like so long ago). They never used the rock climbing wall on our side  the entire week. We had breakfast almost every day on the balcony. Fabulous. Also had JR milkshakes and popcorn delivered at 8:30 every night. The grandkids loved it —- OK, the grandparents enjoyed it too! We loved Star Class and booked the 4-bedroom Villa Suite on Harmony in August 2020. YOLO!

 

We always go to Maya Chan when in Costa Maya. It’s one of our favorite destinations. David and the staff are tremendous. We have also used Victor Bodden a number of times and has a great time! 

 

Looking forward to your review.

 

mac_tlc

[ryanbarckley]

8 hours ago, DCT61 said:

If I could give you any advice, it would be not to overthink things. You’re traveling as a Star Class guest...relax. Everything will be taken care of. Charlie’s answers are short and to the point because he is concentrating on his current guests. Something you will appreciate when it’s your turn. To put you at ease...Charlie will take care of everything, and everything ( within reason) is possible. He will meet with you the first day and go over everything you need and answer all questions. 

‘Most of all...HAVE FUN. 

 

That's what I'm thinking, and I totally understand. I'm ready to relax and not at all anxious. I was more noting that I didn't get a lot of info ahead of time for the purposes of the review. I've heard nothing but good things about Charlie and can't wait!

 

7 hours ago, DISFANS3 said:

Good times ahead, Allure awesome ship...

 

Looks like it!

 

4 hours ago, dst said:

Love the start of this - we are sailing on the 13th only in a grand suite but we are sailing the harmony in November and are interested in hearing about star class experience. 

 

Enjoy! 

 

I'll be sure to write everything up!

 

4 hours ago, driftersdream said:

We'll be on the same cruise in 57 days!!!  I'll be following along in anticipation!!!!  Your girlfriend is going to love this!  Take lots of port pictures.  

 

She's so excited we just got to our hotel and can't hardly contain herself. 

 

4 hours ago, MaiseyM said:

Your packing experience was like mine two weeks ago.  I has six suitcases for five people. I was happy I chose southwest air for this reason.  I figured there weren’t any deals with Christmas cruising for Chris’s or air, so I thought I could at least save money on the baggage fees. It worked out well.  And yes. I too scheduled alarms in my phone to check in exactly 24 hours ahead of time.  I made section B both times. 

 

Are you there yet!

 

Yeah we just had 8 for 6 people. Southwest for the win there! I managed to get myself in group A for the flight down!

 

3 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

Enjoy your ATS! We had 8330 on Oasis in August (seems like so long ago). They never used the rock climbing wall on our side  the entire week. We had breakfast almost every day on the balcony. Fabulous. Also had JR milkshakes and popcorn delivered at 8:30 every night. The grandkids loved it —- OK, the grandparents enjoyed it too! We loved Star Class and booked the 4-bedroom Villa Suite on Harmony in August 2020. YOLO!

 

We always go to Maya Chan when in Costa Maya. It’s one of our favorite destinations. David and the staff are tremendous. We have also used Victor Bodden a number of times and has a great time! 

 

Looking forward to your review.

 

mac_tlc

 

 

Looking forward to Maya Chan, I need a nice day like that!

[ryanbarckley]

We've made it to Miami!

 

Getting a group of 6 plus luggage to the airport at 4 am is no easy task! After a few small snafus and a SERIOUS game of Tetris getting 8 bags (plus some backpacks) in a car, we got to the airport. 

 

We walk in and...wait...the terminal is PACKED. I don't get it it's 430 am! I was not ready for this. My girlfriend and I have pre check so we flew through in about 10 minutes. The rest of my family was not so lucky. I saw some southwest employees looking for people in the line for our flight and pulling them ahead, and I got nervous. I asked our gate agent about it and she shrugged her shoulders and said nothing I can do I don't know about pulling anyone. My mom + sister got seperated from my sister and her husband. My sister and her husband got through around 525 (boarding was at 540) and after a few more nail biting minutes (I wasn't worried they'd miss the flight, but I didn't want that southwest group A boarding spot to go to waste!) My mom and sister got through around 535 and we popped in line right in time for boarding. 

 

We got on our flight right on time, got a whole row to ourselves (row 7, not bad!, Picture below) And took off.  We had a bit of turbulence (we flew through a small storm raining down on NJ right now), it wasnt bad but it did make a couple people nervous. The clouds also looked fairly picturesque today so, here ya go.

 

After landing in ft Lauderdale (we caught all the ships in Port there too as we were about to land), waiting forever and collecting our bags, and then waiting forever for our rental car we took off toward Miami. 

 

There was a little traffic but we got to our hotel (Holiday inn Port of Miami) around 1130 am. There were TONS of people all over the place getting ready to board their cruise today. I expected the hotel to say come back later but the very friendly woman at the front desk was SHOCKED to say that our room was already ready to go and we could check in now!  

 

Our room has a pretty decent view! Check it out! We're off to get some ceviche for lunch. More later!

[PCWalton1]

Thanks for bringing all of us along. Looking forward to seeing how the "suite" class live. 😁

[ryanbarckley]

Alright! We've made it on board, and are waiting for the muster drill!

 

Last night we went out to dinner in Bayside Marketplace. Boy did I forget how much of a tourist trap that place is. Lots of nice stores but the restaurants are all bad chains, overpriced and not really worth it. We wound up eating at Bubba Gumps, it was just ok, our waiter was very friendly and fun though! We also got a couple drinks at the daqueri bar which were overpriced but good. 

 

This morning, we wanted to get to the port as soon as possible. I had a rental car from the airport which we actually needed to return today before boarding, so our process of getting on board was odd, but here's what we did: 

 

I dropped my family off with the exception of my gf and I, along with all of our luggage. I brought the car to the airport, and took an Uber back to the port.

 

Once we got to the port I walked up to the star class desk. And they immediately knew who I was, and whisked us in to the elevator to the suite lounge. We went through security super fast, and I met up with my family in the lounge (boarding had already started but they wanted to wait for us, so we could all surprise my GF) Charlie had been let in on the suprise and was there waiting for us. Someone checked my GF and I in on a tablet, and Charlie told us that "there was a problem with our room, so hed escort us" (to cover up the fact that my gf STILL hadn't figured it out, I told her I got to use the suite entrance because of my high status with the cruise line, she believed it (too bad I'm a lowly Platinum)). We walked right on board, and went straight to our room. (we were in the new terminal so briefly, I didn't even have a moment to take a picture, sorry!) 

 

For those that are curious: when we arrived at 1030 to drop off my family, there was still TONS of traffic from the debarking passengers, so it was a bit of a mess. When I came back in the Uber at 11:30, we flew right up to the terminal. 

 

Once on board, Charlie breifly talked us through everything for the week, and answered any questions (including those I had asked via email, which, it turns out there was a reason for the generic answers). We went to coastal kitchen for lunch. I had the salmon and Caesar salad (menu attached). The salmon was EXCELLENT, very fresh, and hot. 

 

After lunch we went and enjoyed our room for a little bit (I hung up a hammock, pictures to come).  We just did the muster drill and are grabbing a hot dog before dinner at chops tonight!

 

Since it just throws my pictures at the bottom here's what I have.:

1. Coastal kitchen lunch menu.  

2. View from our balcony back in to the port 

3. View of the new terminal from our balcony. 

[A&L_Ont]

Ryan, have a great week.  We board Allure 3 weeks today and we will be sailing in Star Loft 1720.  I said to my wife today that we should be hearing from our Genie this or next week.  In the meantime you and your family and helping me pass the time. 

 

Looking forward to following along. 

[ryanbarckley]

Hi Everyone!

 

I'm relaxing on our balcony in Nassau and thought now would be a good time to put up some pictures and an update!!

 

Last night's sailaway from Miami was almost perfect. Here are a couple pictures. While our muster was happening, several of the other ships in port in Miami yesterday passed by us, and as soon as muster was over, we were on our way. Everything was as smooth as glass, though I did notice the motion of the boat for the first hour or so we were moving.

 

Once we were moving it was time for dinner in Chops! Everything was excellent. We started with some bread, and our waiter brought us a bunch of that amazing bacon they have. We ordered everything, and we were off for one big meal!

 

I had, beef carpaccio 

We ordered the seafood tower (gotta get our moneys worth on that star class! It was SO MUCH FOOD)

And for dinner itself, I got the surf and turf.

 

Our waiter was excellent (I forget his name, but we told him we'd like to have him again when we're back in later this week). On the seafood tower, the clams and shrimp were great, the mussels were just ok, crab was good (though the claws were PERFECTLY sized to be too small for the bigger part of the shell cracker, and too big for the smaller opening, so they proved tough), and the lobster was just ok, not nearly as tender as it could've been.

 

The lobster that came with my main course (I had thought I was going to regret getting more lobster) was actually quite good, a bit more tender and the sauce on it was great. The steak was perfect, cooked perfectly rare, and had a great char on it.

 

For dessert, I didnt get any pictures. Charlie had made us an 8 pm reservation for Mama Mia, and it was 750 when they got put on the table (I had the chocolate lava cake and red velvet cake split with my gf). Both were delicious. We RAN to the theater, and made it just in time (Charlie was starting to get worried). He got us in our seats, got us some drinks and wished us a good show! The show was really fun, with a good and fun cast, though it felt a bit long. 

 

After the show, we popped back up to our room, and caught the last 10 minutes of Ocean Aria from our Balcony. The divers are so good! My sister and her husband happened to be watching Ocean Aria from the Sabor Bar and SCREAMED my name (I heard them, though so did the whole Aqua Theater!).

 

We went and met up with my mom and grandparents in the Casino. Lady Luck was not with us, though I only spent around $30. After that, we stopped in Boleros and danced for a bit, there was a live band going that was quite fun. When the band stopped for a break, we made our way down to Blaze (the night club), this was the first time I saw them with a sea pass scanner at the door verifying age, and security really keeping an eye on the dance floor to make sure no one had any drinks on the dance floor. Once inside we danced to the DJ (who had a pretty good mix going) until around 1. We made our way back to the room to get ready for bed. I decided to enjoy my hammock for a little as well (seen below with my gf napping in it in Nassau). Turns out the location I put it in on our balcony is PERFECT. It's away from any noise coming from inside the ship, and has a great view of the stars.

 

Stray Observations: (Matt from Royal Caribbean Blog does this, I like it, I know hes on here too I cant for the life of me think of his username right now)

 

1. The bathroom in our suite makes the strangest noises whenever water is going through the pipes in our room (either from the shower or sink). I know its from the water running by and blocking the pipe for a second making sound, there's nothing wrong per say, it's just a slightly odd sound that I don't really enjoy.

2. As many of you have said, the tub is a pain to get up and in to, it's not the end of the world but, just less than ideal.

3. Overnight, the wind had all the smoke from the ship going directly over our balcony. I didn't have any issues with soot this morning, but seeing all the smoke pouring right over our balcony took a little away from the breathtaking star views we had. Im hoping the wind directions change so we get a better view at some point (I'm sure they will).

 

More to come on our day in Nassau!

[ryanbarckley]

I was just going to sit down and write some more, and I realized, it's gotten quiet! 

 

Is anyone still with me? I won't bother If no one's along for the ride. I've got so much more from yesterday and today!

[JulieMcCoy]

Definitely still following along...more, please!

[CatLadyFemme]

Still here and so appreciative!

[buckeye rob]

15 minutes ago, ryanbarckley said:

I was just going to sit down and write some more, and I realized, it's gotten quiet! 

 

Is anyone still with me? I won't bother If no one's along for the ride. I've got so much more from yesterday and today!

Yes Ryan.  When were your dinner reservations at Chops ?  I see your show reservations were for 8.  How long did Chops take for dinner ? That's my problem is allowing enough time.    Gerry.

[MzShae]

Waiting for more 

[queenfrostine22]

patiently waiting for the next update!

[LuCruise]

22 minutes ago, ryanbarckley said:

I was just going to sit down and write some more, and I realized, it's gotten quiet! 

 

Is anyone still with me? I won't bother If no one's along for the ride. I've got so much more from yesterday and today!

Yes following along.  Would love to hear more!

[Allura_317]

23 minutes ago, ryanbarckley said:

I was just going to sit down and write some more, and I realized, it's gotten quiet! 

 

Is anyone still with me? I won't bother If no one's along for the ride. I've got so much more from yesterday and today!

Yes!!!  I love hearing about star class!!  What have you asked Charlie to do so far?  Does he go above and beyond? Take advantage of everything included with star class! Enjoy your cruise!

[A&L_Ont]

Waiting for my fix.  Thanks for coming back.