Review: Allure's Thanksgiving At Sea: Suite Class, Smiles, & Steerage

[Tree_skier]

On 11/28/2021 at 7:14 PM, RCCL Fan said:

Day 0

 

 

Flying out today couldn't come fast enough. It had been a WEEK.

 

My wife is a stay at home mom, but trained to be a substitute teacher this year to help out at our daughter's school post pandemic.

 

The covid numbers were relatively low but then the week pre-cruise, an outbreak, like a significant ones, whole classes were quarantined,  teachers dropping like flies, and now my wife and daughter were both in the middle of this.

 

My oldest has been vaccinated, but my youngest was too young until just the week before we left.  We took her in for her first dose, but not enough time from approval to get two doses in before we left.

 

We did several tests on both my wife and daughter before we left.  We were nervous we might miss the cruise as one of them could test positive.   

 

Luckily all stayed clear all week.

 

When we booked this cruise over Thanksgiving, I just wasn't thinking....   airfare to Florida, on the busiest travel time of the year.  It was sky high FOR MONTHS.   $2900 for all 5 of us.   So just before we left when the airline dropped the price of the flights outbound to just $68 a person if we took the 7pm departure, I talked my wife into it.   What could go wrong?

 

 

Now's a great time to mention, my favorite movie is Planes, Trains, & Automobiles.   I watch it about 10 times in the days leading up to Thanksgiving. Usually 2-3 times the day before Thanksgiving. (and yes I packed it)

 

Watching Steve Martin and John Candy trying to get home as one thing after the other happens just cracks me up.

 

Of course it wasn't so funny when I got a little taste of it going down to Florida.

 

My wife was stressed all day.   It was cruise day.  But she was already packed, and had nothing to do.   So, she was cleaning, triple checking and triple packing, doing at home covid tests and insisting I never book a night flight again! lol

 

 

We got to the airport 2 hours early, but it took us less than 15 minutes to get from car to gate.   If you don't have TSA precheck, invest in it!  

 

Our plane was waiting at the gate.... So were our pilots....  BUT.....  no flight attendants.

 

They were flying in from another city and were delayed, and so we waited.

 

The delay wasn't that bad...  we got loaded up into a widebody 777 plane, the girls loving the big seats, and the in flight entertainment and off we went to Miami.

 

 

 

Our flight was just fine, until it was time to land...   the plane appears to be seconds from touchdown but suddenly jerks back up in the air, full throttle... we sink back in our seats as the pilot does a go around.

 

It was a little unnerving, but being a bit of a plane buff, I wasn't alarmed.   The kids were a little freaked.

 

 

 

 

I figured another plane was on the runway, or the braking action was bad as it was raining.

 

Well we started going in circles in the middle of that rainstorm.

 

 

I listened to the air traffic control tapes later, apparently the pilot was way too low. Alarms went off and the tower instructed him to climb immediately. When the tower asked him what was going on up there, he said he was having "internal errors" and later issues with the navigation system.

 

 

After we did get on the ground, the terminal at MIA was packed... and a mess.  There were people everywhere.

 

We had an hour and 55 minute wait for our checked bags to come off the plane!

 

 

There was no explanation as to why we were standing at the belt at 1am waiting for bags.

Finally bags in hand and three tired kids and a wife who was demanding wine.... we realized it was after 1am and the hotel shuttle we planned to take had stopped.

I’m trying to order an Uber when, out of no where the shuttle  arrives.

 

Awesome!

 

We hop on take out seats and settle in.

At the next stop, a family with an 88 year old man and a 93 year old woman. Neither of which are capable of climbing the stairs to get on the shuttle.

Their kids who appeared to have been drinking on their flight are trying to carry them up the stairs and on the shuttle.

 

The elderly couple was yelling STOP!!!

 

 

This was not good.

A flight attendant and others on the bus jumped up and it was like a 5 person job of people trying to lift these elderly folks up the wet stairs in the rain.

That took another 30 minutes at that one stop.

We arrive at the hotel, exhausted... worn.... and ready to bed.   

 

 

These extended stay hotel aren't normally my speed, but since our niece was traveling with me, I wanted to give our preteen girls as much privacy as I could searched to find something 3.5 stars that  offered two bedrooms behind the safety of one door to the hall. 

 

After check-in I’m walking around sans shoes and I say, “the floor is wet, like really wet”

 

Did they shampoo in here just before we came?

 

 

 

 

I head to the desk, and yes by now it's 2:30am

Sorry sir no more rooms in the hotel.

 

I’m ready to haul it over to another hotel where I’m a loyalty member and should be able to get in but my wife  is like it’s almost 3am. Just go to bed.

 

I'm lying in bed and I'm like,   “What’s that smell?”

I swear it’s urine. 

 

I had been walking in urine!

 

Grossed out I washed my feet, and went back to the front desk.  

 

They offered me the one empty room in the building. Which had a functional but damaged bathtub

I was like that’s fine.

 

Girls were asleep in the other bedroom,   one on the couch,  my wife didn't want to get dressed to move, so she slept on the couch too, and I went to the other room.

 

I scrubbed my feet like crazy in the damaged tub before finally getting in the bed in the new room.

 

 

It was a disaster, but we made it here. Just a few short hours and we head to the pier.

Absolutely love @RCCL Fan reviews!  Can’t wait to follow along. 

[RFerrington]

Wow.  Sounds like there were a lot of unforced errors on Royal's part.  I hope that it gets better for you.

[h20skibum]

1 hour ago, RCCL Fan said:

Another surprise....  GRAND MARNIER SOUFLEE!   This is hands down my favorite dessert on RCI.   (granted you have to add some sugar to it)  When we sailed on Adventure in June we were told it was removed from the menu.

We had it last month on Odyssey. It was excellent. 
 

And yes, very limited seating in the unvaxed venues due to seats blocked off for social distancing. This would be true for all the ships.

[cynt]

Welcome home!! Loving your review as always. I will need to try the Moscato White Spritzer on my next cruise in 17 days!!! YES!!!  

 

 

[RCCL Fan]

Day 3

Cozumel

 

 

 

Woke up this morning to find we were alone at the international pier.   I had expected to find some sister ship calling on Cozumel with us, but it was just us.

 

Only one ship at the Carnival pier too, this was going to be an easy day in Cozumel.

 

Since vaccines for kids were approved the week before we left, our youngest was not fully vaccinated.   We got one in her, but that's it.   So we were in the unvax club which meant we could not get off the ship unless going on a RCI excursion.

 

Typically we like Nachi Cocum or Chankanaab while in Cozumel.   We've wanted to try Paradise Beach, but couldn't on our last two cruises because of the unvax rule. 

 

The only beach club for us was Playa Mia. 

 

 

Now I've avoided this place in the past because it just didn't look nice, but we had no choice, as it was the only beach club option for us, so to Playa Mia we go!

 

One of the suite perks meant that our cabin steward brought us beach towels before we left which was so nice and easy. 

 

We met outside the theater and got a sticker which was our approval to get off the ship and boarded buses to the beach.

 

 

We were warned ahead of time that there would be no beach umbrellas as the wind was too high, which drew some concerned faces, but upon arrival we found workers coming around making sure everyone had umbrellas. 

 

 

Service here was wonderful.  We had a great waiter who promised to check on us frequently and keep our glasses and plates full.  We were super excited.

 

The only problem was just about everything he brought us we didn't enjoy.  The alcohol tasted like pure homemade grain stuff,   Like one sip of my "margarita" and I was like I don't know what this is but if i had to guess what power steering fluid tasted like, it would be this.  lol

 

 

We stuck with beer and water as it was the least offensive and left our full margaritas, coladas, and other frozen drinks there. 

 

The food was also..... disappointing.  It was kinda a french fries, frozen chicken nugget kinda deal.   The tacos were meh.  Just nothing really appealing here.  We all kinda declared we'd eat when we got back on the ship. 

 

 

The water was also --- disappointing.  It was brown.  Now I know sargassum is in force in Mexico and this is kinda par for the course these days, but I felt like I was swimming in a lake rather than the ocean  it was just milky brown much more than in recent years.  I have no way of knowing if that was this location or the whole coastline.

 

The water near the ship was its usual blue so.... no idea.  The pool areas were nice and clean but the water was bone chilling.  I chose some beach chair time instead for the day before we boarded buses and headed back to the ship.

 

Not a repeat visit for us here... but acceptable.

 

 

 

No crowds in port and easy return on board.   I hurt for the retailers at the pier as no one was there or walking through their shops.

 

Anyway we got back on board, grabbed a bite to eat and headed back to the cabin. 

 

I was sitting on the couch when I looked up and there was Liberty of the Seas backing in next to us. 

 

 

 

It was 2 or 3pm.... what in the world?   We looked down and saw a waiting ambulance and knew someone's cruise was ending early.

 

 

 

The ship docked briefly, the passenger and his companion got off the ship and back out she went.    While there, we had numerous conversations with random people on liberty... asking about our ship... what it was like....where we were going...... and what in the world kinda room had a hot tub on the balcony.  lol

 

 

Liberty had left Galveston and some folks had their Texas flags flying, we laughed as we shared a moment with our fellow "Texans" before they headed on toward Belize.  

 

I got my first complaint of the trip that moment, the kids were upset our ship didn't have waterslides. lol

 

I was like, "Would you like to go home?"

 

That quieted them down. 

 

 

We ran upstairs for a game of mini golf --- which is always good fun, before getting read for dinner.

 

Tonight was adult night, we were treating our friends to dinner at Chops.... and the kids were going to go to Adventure Ocean.

 

 

Only problem was that in order for us to make the show that night at 8pm, we needed to do dinner at 6pm.    

 

Adventure Ocean didn't open until 7pm and there was no adventure dining offered where they feed the kids in the windjammer.

 

So we were going to have to miss the show, or eat really late.

 

 

We asked the preteens to order room service in the suite and watch the little ones for an hour, before walking to Adventure Ocean at 7pm  The ladies left Chops briefly to check the kids in and return to Chops.

 

Can I just say Chops was AMAZING!   The food was expertly prepared, filled with flavor, and the service was fantastic.  If you're going on Allure I highly recommend it.  It was much better than Chops on any recent sailing I've had.   Great meal.

 

 

Left dinner and met the preteens for Mama Mia.    My oldest is a theater kid,  she's in two theater productions regularly at home.  So she was thrilled to be there. I had never seen Mama Mia and as the story line played out, I turned to my 12 year old and was like, "I don't know if this is appropriate for you!"  She brushed me off and informed me she had watched the movie when visiting my mother in law TWO YEARS EARLIER.  Oy!

 

 

After Mama Mia we picked up the kids and they were not happy.   Apparently Adventure Ocean is super super different for covid times.   The kids are given a circle to sit on and they're not allowed to leave their circle.   They must play on their circle, and not venture from that spot.....  FOR THREE HOURS! 

 

They were miserable, and begged us to never send them back there.  The youngest misunderstood the rules and was breaking her neck to get to the bathroom because she thought she couldn't get up to potty.   

 

My kids ADORE Adventure Ocean usually we have to fight them to come out of there, but this experience may have ruined it for them.  Say the name and it was a deep shudder.  NO MORE!

 

Other parents picking up their kids were upset too and questioning the staff as to why this procedure wasn't disclosed to them ahead of time as they wouldn't have left their kids there all night to sit in one spot and draw and play on tablets.

 

 

Oh well nothing a little late night pizza couldn't fix...  of course they crew got a little side eye from us for putting up their tree before Thanksgiving. lol

 

 

Then it was back up to the suite for bed.... tomorrow is our one stop we're really excited about the beautiful clear water of Roatan. 

 

[binro01]

Love the review! The wife and I will be on Allure OTS on Feb 27th 2022 for our second cruise without kids. Our twin 17 yr olds are not happy, but as a consolation prize they will get to go on a Spring break cruise with us on the Navigator OTS in April.

[perfect match]

Wow, the Allure you’re on sure doesn’t sound much like the Allure we were on in September! We sailed out of Canaveral, while you sailed out of Everglades, so that could have something to do with the difference in boarding experiences, but our whole on board experience ran smoothly, the app worked as it was supposed to, MDR was very organized, overall an excellent cruise experience. I can’t say anything about Adventure Ocean because we didn’t have any kids with us. I don’t think there were very many kids on board with us, but we did see a few. We went to a beach club in Cozumel, Sky Reef, and the water was crystal clear and warm, but that was back in September.
 

I hope your cruise experience gets better as it goes along. So far, it seems like you and your family have been having a great time even though everything hasn’t been going exactly as planned, and I’m confident that you’ll continue to do so. I’ll keep following along to see how the rest of your cruise unfolds.

[Cruise a holic]

Nice review.  Hope you continue to have a great time!  

 

 The airport looked so crowded, and funny how some people do not know that they must cover their nose with the mask!  We have a cruise scheduled in a few weeks and I hope that people at the airport, and on the ship,  realize they must wear a mask properly!  Now that a new covid variant is impacting us!.

 

We are truly looking foward to the cruise, but are cautiously optimistic!.

[RCCL Fan]

23 hours ago, perfect match said:

Wow, the Allure you’re on sure doesn’t sound much like the Allure we were on in September! We sailed out of Canaveral, while you sailed out of Everglades, so that could have something to do with the difference in boarding experiences, but our whole on board experience ran smoothly, the app worked as it was supposed to, MDR was very organized, overall an excellent cruise experience. I can’t say anything about Adventure Ocean because we didn’t have any kids with us. I don’t think there were very many kids on board with us, but we did see a few. We went to a beach club in Cozumel, Sky Reef, and the water was crystal clear and warm, but that was back in September.
 

I hope your cruise experience gets better as it goes along. So far, it seems like you and your family have been having a great time even though everything hasn’t been going exactly as planned, and I’m confident that you’ll continue to do so. I’ll keep following along to see how the rest of your cruise unfolds.

 

Trust me there were people on our same sailing who thought it was their best cruise ever.  I do think a lot of our issues were that we had kids with us, which labeled us "unvax" and made us feel like second class citizens from check in through most of the week.

 

We also brought friends so we had the added pressure of making sure things went smoothly for them.

 

Allure is a repeat ship for us, we usually love her.

 

This week just wasn't it. 

[Lionesss]

@RCCL Fan

 

Glad you got some rest from your posting which I must say is a great job on your cruise.

 

Love the pictures, and documetary.

 

Ok back to work.

 

I want  more updates.

 

Take care.

[RCCL Fan]

Day 4

Roatan

 

 

Woke up this morning to Roatan, an island we absolutely adored on our last trip.

 

The crystal blue water of west end... the amazing snorkeling.... the great people.

 

We weren't able to go back to West Bay Beach this time....  Steerage Class (unvax kids)  so we had to go with a RCI tour.  There wasn't anything to our usual haunting ground.

 

 

We booked a tour to Sol Y Mar through RCI.   It was supposed to be a beach day all inclusive with lunch.

 

A perk of sailing Royal is they have first docking rights at the main pier right downtown.   You step off the boat and boom you're right there in the tour area.  

 

 

We were met with great staff who got us on our air conditioned bus and straight over to Sol Y Mar. 

 

The drive took us through downtown which was very  "real honduras" we hadn't seen this side of the island before and it was quite a sight. 

 

 

We arrived at the resort, which had a beautiful entrance with gorgeous trees and a nice drive back to the beach area. I was feeling good about this place.

 

Great tour guide, beautiful entrance, but then we walked to the water and boom.

 

 

It was brown, murky muddy.   I was like oh no, come on!

 

Look at the photos from our last trip to roatan at west end, and look here.

 

 

 

 

 

Not even remotely similar.  Oh well, what can you do.

 

it was clearly a nice spot than Playa Mia we settled into our beach loungers, grabbed our rented kayak for exploring but then realized, there were ropes not far off the shore kinda fencing us in.   How could we go exploring?

 

 

We asked the staff what was up with the ropes and they said.  "We have some really bad seaweed, if you go past the ropes it could get on you and it will itch and sting and it won't be pretty so please stay on this side of the rope.

 

Ok glad we asked.

 

 

 

Well everyone wasn't in the water very long before the people sitting next to us said their kids were coming out of the water for help.

 

Yes,  they had gotten in contact with this stinging seaweed and before we could say anything one of our little ones came back with it too.

 

 

 

So we got all the kids out of the water, and told them to play in the sand.  We ordered drinks.   Much better than yesterday.  Higher quality alcohol for sure, not great but drinkable.  

 

Food came soon and looked and smelled great.  I had a red onion allergy and just about everything had red onion in it.  So I couldn't each much other than some fried fish but that fish I had was fantastic!  The others raved about the coconut chicken. 

 

While I was returning back to the beach chairs with my fish (i had some nibbles while walking)  My wife met me halfway, "Get the folks, we're leaving"  Apparently the kids playing in the sand were all covered with red welts.  red bites.   Their backs legs arms covered.   The adults had them on their legs too. 

 

People next to us as well. 

 

 

I got the staff and told them what was going on.

 

"Oh we have sand fleas on that side of the beach, they come out on rainy days and it rained a lot yesterday,  sorry "

 

I was like, ok.  Well we can't go in the water because of the seaweed, we can't sit on the beach because of the fleas.   Thanks for the lunch but we're done, we need to go. 

 

So they pulled a bus around for us, and promised to drive us back early (we were not even 2 hours in)  but when others saw us leaving they joined in and we had a full bus headed back.

 

I was frustrated. Roatan really was an important stop for us.  It was kinda the only place we were excited to visit.   Mother nature happens, but man this isn't what we wanted.

 

I kinda felt like the whole cruise was like one big Sea Day now. 

 

Again, things happen, I really wish I could have hopped in the car and gone to West Bay Beach, but can't leave the tour.... so back to the ship we went. 

 

 

Popped up in the Suite Lounge for drinks.... before watching us sail away.

 

Tonight we had Samba Grill scheduled for dinner, but everyone was itchy like crazy for these bugs, so we decided to call it a night.   Sorrentos Pizza, Room service, or whatever you wanted for dinner on your own.... as we all just to go our own ways and relax tonight.

 

 

Preteens ordered room service,  the moms did drinks, kids went to sorrentos.

 

I opted for my Thanksgiving tradition..... Planes Trains and Automobiles.   The movie.

 

 

I brought my laptop on the balcony.    Our room steward brought me champagne and I filled up the hot tub and hopped in and watch my favorite movie of all time on the balcony as we sailed away from Roatan.

 

 

After my showing, we headed down to the Aquatheater.  We had confirmed seats this time for the show.... Oceanaria.

 

I have never been a big aquatheater guy but my family LOVES it. 

 

I loved watching them oooo and ahhh! as the drivers did their thing.

 

 

Our friends also seemed amazed at the high divers, it was a good night..... including a stop to see Roger our guy in Sabor.   Best margaritas!!!

 

 

We headed back to the suite early and my heart melted my youngest went around "Hugging the ship".  She said even though Roatan and Mexico weren't fun, she loved Allure of the Seas and had a great time. 

 

After baths and pajamas  i found her in bed writing a note.   I asked what she was writing and she said it was a note for our cabin steward.

 

 

I will translate the second grade spelling for you

 

"Thank you for making the rooms straight and I'm sorry if it is hard. I'm also sorry if you miss your guys' families.  I miss my family when I'm away from them.  

Show to all the workers on the ship and the captain too."

 

She's a good egg. 

 

 

Tomorrow ---- Thanksgiving  in Costa Maya

[RCCL Fan]

7 hours ago, Lionesss said:

@RCCL Fan

 

Glad you got some rest from your posting which I must say is a great job on your cruise.

 

Love the pictures, and documetary.

 

Ok back to work.

 

I want  more updates.

 

Take care.

 

Sorry we had some holiday parties this weekend, and I got delayed.  Promise to catch up!

[RFerrington]

That's the sweetest note....

Even though it's been a while (like a really LONG while) since I had a second grader, I was able to interpret it all !!

[AKR2011]

What a great review! I'm sorry for all of your misfortunes, but it's great to see that you were able to move on from them. Your family seems so sweet too. Thanks for posting.

[topnole]

Appreciating your review.  We are on Allure in a suite (with young kids) in May and learning post Covid stuff Is very helpful.  We almost certainly won’t all be vaccinated since my youngest will be a toddler.  We knew there would be potential issues with this so we are bringing my Mother in Law along to help with the kids.  She is very content to do stuff with them all the time so we should be able to do some shows etc for vax only.  

 

[Maitaivegas]

23 hours ago, RCCL Fan said:

Day 4

Roatan

 

 

Woke up this morning to Roatan, an island we absolutely adored on our last trip.

 

The crystal blue water of west end... the amazing snorkeling.... the great people.

 

We weren't able to go back to West Bay Beach this time....  Steerage Class (unvax kids)  so we had to go with a RCI tour.  There wasn't anything to our usual haunting ground.

 

 

We booked a tour to Sol Y Mar through RCI.   It was supposed to be a beach day all inclusive with lunch.

 

A perk of sailing Royal is they have first docking rights at the main pier right downtown.   You step off the boat and boom you're right there in the tour area.  

 

 

We were met with great staff who got us on our air conditioned bus and straight over to Sol Y Mar. 

 

The drive took us through downtown which was very  "real honduras" we hadn't seen this side of the island before and it was quite a sight. 

 

 

We arrived at the resort, which had a beautiful entrance with gorgeous trees and a nice drive back to the beach area. I was feeling good about this place.

 

Great tour guide, beautiful entrance, but then we walked to the water and boom.

 

 

It was brown, murky muddy.   I was like oh no, come on!

 

Look at the photos from our last trip to roatan at west end, and look here.

 

 

 

 

 

Not even remotely similar.  Oh well, what can you do.

 

it was clearly a nice spot than Playa Mia we settled into our beach loungers, grabbed our rented kayak for exploring but then realized, there were ropes not far off the shore kinda fencing us in.   How could we go exploring?

 

 

We asked the staff what was up with the ropes and they said.  "We have some really bad seaweed, if you go past the ropes it could get on you and it will itch and sting and it won't be pretty so please stay on this side of the rope.

 

Ok glad we asked.

 

 

 

Well everyone wasn't in the water very long before the people sitting next to us said their kids were coming out of the water for help.

 

Yes,  they had gotten in contact with this stinging seaweed and before we could say anything one of our little ones came back with it too.

 

 

 

So we got all the kids out of the water, and told them to play in the sand.  We ordered drinks.   Much better than yesterday.  Higher quality alcohol for sure, not great but drinkable.  

 

Food came soon and looked and smelled great.  I had a red onion allergy and just about everything had red onion in it.  So I couldn't each much other than some fried fish but that fish I had was fantastic!  The others raved about the coconut chicken. 

 

While I was returning back to the beach chairs with my fish (i had some nibbles while walking)  My wife met me halfway, "Get the folks, we're leaving"  Apparently the kids playing in the sand were all covered with red welts.  red bites.   Their backs legs arms covered.   The adults had them on their legs too. 

 

People next to us as well. 

 

 

I got the staff and told them what was going on.

 

"Oh we have sand fleas on that side of the beach, they come out on rainy days and it rained a lot yesterday,  sorry "

 

I was like, ok.  Well we can't go in the water because of the seaweed, we can't sit on the beach because of the fleas.   Thanks for the lunch but we're done, we need to go. 

 

So they pulled a bus around for us, and promised to drive us back early (we were not even 2 hours in)  but when others saw us leaving they joined in and we had a full bus headed back.

 

I was frustrated. Roatan really was an important stop for us.  It was kinda the only place we were excited to visit.   Mother nature happens, but man this isn't what we wanted.

 

I kinda felt like the whole cruise was like one big Sea Day now. 

 

Again, things happen, I really wish I could have hopped in the car and gone to West Bay Beach, but can't leave the tour.... so back to the ship we went. 

 

 

Popped up in the Suite Lounge for drinks.... before watching us sail away.

 

Tonight we had Samba Grill scheduled for dinner, but everyone was itchy like crazy for these bugs, so we decided to call it a night.   Sorrentos Pizza, Room service, or whatever you wanted for dinner on your own.... as we all just to go our own ways and relax tonight.

 

 

Preteens ordered room service,  the moms did drinks, kids went to sorrentos.

 

I opted for my Thanksgiving tradition..... Planes Trains and Automobiles.   The movie.

 

 

I brought my laptop on the balcony.    Our room steward brought me champagne and I filled up the hot tub and hopped in and watch my favorite movie of all time on the balcony as we sailed away from Roatan.

 

 

After my showing, we headed down to the Aquatheater.  We had confirmed seats this time for the show.... Oceanaria.

 

I have never been a big aquatheater guy but my family LOVES it. 

 

I loved watching them oooo and ahhh! as the drivers did their thing.

 

 

Our friends also seemed amazed at the high divers, it was a good night..... including a stop to see Roger our guy in Sabor.   Best margaritas!!!

 

 

We headed back to the suite early and my heart melted my youngest went around "Hugging the ship".  She said even though Roatan and Mexico weren't fun, she loved Allure of the Seas and had a great time. 

 

After baths and pajamas  i found her in bed writing a note.   I asked what she was writing and she said it was a note for our cabin steward.

 

 

I will translate the second grade spelling for you

 

"Thank you for making the rooms straight and I'm sorry if it is hard. I'm also sorry if you miss your guys' families.  I miss my family when I'm away from them.  

Show to all the workers on the ship and the captain too."

 

She's a good egg. 

 

 

Tomorrow ---- Thanksgiving  in Costa Maya

Your Youngest has a big heart, I teared up when I read that lovely note.

[Luckynana]

What a wonderfully sweet daughter you have there!  Showing her appreciation for all of the hard work of the ship staff in her beautiful note is so awesome!  You're doing a great job raising your daughter, RCCL Fan!❤️

[RCCL Fan]

Day 5

Thanksgiving!

 

Woke up this morning with the Bacon and eggs waiting.... ahh!   If you remember I love bacon that is soft and not crispy... the folks on Adventure this summer had the crunchiest bacon in the world... but allure came through with some options for those of us who like it less done.   One of the best parts of cruising life.... bacon that's waiting when you wake up.   

 

It's Thanksgiving and the view outside my window was amazing this morning.

 

 

 

 

I was like WOW   the water in Costa Maya is usually not so blue, but man it was postcard perfect this morning!    I started to think about it.  Cozumel is often like this too, the water where the ship docks is always such a deep rich blue.... the beaches are nice but not as blue.  Maybe it has to do with the dept of the water. 

 

Anyway we chose to stay on board today.   I mean our previous two islands didn't go well, but we had made this decision before we left.  We've been to Costa Maya many times.   My family isn't into the ruins,  my little one is too short for many of the slides at the water park,  we don't want the hour drive to Bacalar which I understand has lost its color anyway....   and we think the dolphin cage  there is cruel. 

 

So.....   we usually go to the malecon and chill at one of the beach side restaurants, but we couldn't do that this trip.

 

So....   for the first time in hundreds of cruise nights.... we stayed on the ship.

 

 

We had a lazy morning in the room before taking the kids up to the junior casino.... aka the arcade.

 

It was so funny I got up there and ran into four of the families from Roatan the day before.... who like us didn't find any tour options that worked for them and decided to stay on board too.

 

I felt some reassurance that I wasn't being unfair, this was tough for the unvax families having some of the same struggles we were.

 

Oh well... I had a ball in the junior casino, and learned my youngest was a boss in race car driving but couldn't take her Dad in air hockey!

 

 

We had some lazy time in the suite lounge, talked to the staff a bit.  I learned that since the ship is at half capacity they are readying the cabins for the next cruise right now.  The ones that were empty this week.  It's how they're able to get rooms open so early.    

 

 

Our friends who are on their first cruise and in a grand suite kept saying they wanted to see what a regular room looked like so I got them a few pics of a central park balcony. 

 

Speaking of which.... our friends didn't stay on board.  They wanted to see the ruins.

 

 

They said it truly was the best tour of the trip.   They said the bus ride was long, but it was a comfy greyhound type bus and they all got on and slept.... and it was a good nap.

 

 

They enjoyed the grounds around the ruins a lot, saw animals and the rainforest and said it was really nice.    I was so happy to hear this one went well!

 

 

Onboard my wife and I decided to get some quiet time in the hot tubs, while the kids were at the pool....   

 

yeah they found us after about 3 minutes and it became family hot tub party haha!

 

 

We took advantage of the empty ship and went zip lining and flow riding.

 

 

We mixed in some face time calls home to family.... who all said our social media posted photos looked great.    My wife's step mother told us she was definitely coming with us on the next one.     Then when we called my mother in law she said she was coming with us next time.   uh....... that might not work. hahaha

 

 

 

We watched Disney sail away and I asked the kids about going... to which they said what they always do.   It looks too small and old.   No thanks. 

 

 

We got ready for dinner and headed back to the dining room for thanksgiving dinner tonight.    I called ahead of time to make sure we had a table for all of us this time. They promised we would and we did.

 

 

Thanksgiving dinner together was great.   Wonderful menu with all the traditionals.... I got the Turkey but wanted a little ham too and that was nooo problem.

 

 

After dinner we ventured out and were ready to get into something.....   but there was nothing.   Like nothing to do show/activity wise.

 

 

The only options for unvax were shows we already did already, and watching football. 

 

Like i never saw football as an activity on a cruise compass before but it was here all week. I guess because of thanksgiving.

 

But we literally were kinda lost for an activity for the night, and there were no bars we could take the kids too. 

 

So we took photos as that's always fun and then bribed the preteens into babysitting in the room and playing games. 

 

 

The adults then hit up a few bars, and went to the Love and Marriage show without the kids.

 

 

Been to many of these... actually was a contestant once,  cruise director didn't do a great job of keeping it moving   kinda slow but the typical good laughs.

 

I was really craving a better cruise director at this point. 

 

 

We stopped at the Champagne Bar....   did some late night pizza.....   and called it a night  before our sea day.... and last day on board!

 

[BeagleAgility]

30 minutes ago, RCCL Fan said:

Been to many of these... actually was a contestant once,  cruise director didn't do a great job of keeping it moving   kinda slow but the typical good laughs.

 

I was really craving a better cruise director at this point. 

 

 

 

 

Who was the cruise director? I am on the ship in two weeks - was hoping for a good one.

[bobmacliberty]

2 hours ago, RCCL Fan said:

I was really craving a better cruise director at this point. 

 

I think I would also be craving a better concierge.  He/she should have been fixing many of the problems that you were having.  That should be part of what your 2BR GS is paying for.  Dexter was our Allure concierge in September.  Is he still there?  There were a couple of things that I thought Dexter could have handled during our September cruise but he couldn't.

[George C]

2 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

I think I would also be craving a better concierge.  He/she should have been fixing many of the problems that you were having.  That should be part of what your 2BR GS is paying for.  Dexter was our Allure concierge in September.  Is he still there?  There were a couple of things that I thought Dexter could have handled during our September cruise but he couldn't.

We were on the following week, there was two concierge, I thought the guy was useless, the girl was totally great she booked all our shows and all our dinners and lunches on sea days we had the ultimate dinner package for the 8 day cruise. 
the concierge was

Wilfredo J. Salaya
Suite Concierge | Allure of the Seas

Edited December 7, 2021 by George C

[Sea Dog]

@RCCL Fan Sorry I'm late to the party, I've been nursing a bad cold. Great review as I always love hearing your stories. Your ability to stay calm and level headed when all hell is breaking down around you should be a lesson to us all. I almost have to laugh as it seems every cruise you have something weird happen. We will be on that itinerary in September. I do worry about the murky water, sand fleas and seaweed that seem to be in abundance in those areas. Again thank you for taking the time to write up your experience. I still hope one day we can meet up.

[RCCL Fan]

9 hours ago, BeagleAgility said:

Who was the cruise director? I am on the ship in two weeks - was hoping for a good one.

 

New guy... Cory Rogers.   Apparently he got on not long before us, so hopefully he's just in a learning curve.

[RCCL Fan]

7 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

I think I would also be craving a better concierge.  He/she should have been fixing many of the problems that you were having.  That should be part of what your 2BR GS is paying for.  Dexter was our Allure concierge in September.  Is he still there?  There were a couple of things that I thought Dexter could have handled during our September cruise but he couldn't.

 

We had Nicol (a guy)  and Willie.

 

I dealt with Nicol the most.

 

I know the girl @GeorgeC is talking about...  because I thought we left our medication in the safe and emailed the ship  and she (Claudine)  was johnny on the spot with a reply to look into it and an answer.

 

I know usually the concierges rotate between the suite lounge and the diamond lounge and so I think I may have gotten the more junior guy 

 

I never like to point the finger, but I really wondered if a lot of the problems we were having with showing up to shows where we had no reservation, and being called saying we had reservations at places we never even asked about were because these guys were entering our info improperly.

 

I never went to guest services and didn't use the app for anything, I relied on the concierge to fix everything... 

 

I don't know if the ship was just off or if they just were not doing what i asked. 

 

 

[CruisinMama2003]

5 minutes ago, RCCL Fan said:

 

New guy... Cory Rogers.   Apparently he got on not long before us, so hopefully he's just in a learning curve.

He was the CD for the first 2 days of our Indy cruise at the beginning of Oct, then he went to Allure. Our cruise was Oct 6-15.