Spring Break! Kids, Kovid, Khaos

[SwissMiss USA]

Hi all!! 
 

I am Leanna and have unsuccessfully made a live review here once. I started out on a roll,  and may or may not have had a super long night post chefs table and given up. 
 

We are on allure March 13-19 for a western over spring break. It is me, my daughter PJ and my mom and dad. Would anyone want to follow a report that may or may not be timely? We are star class and can report how that is all happening since @A&L_Ont cancelled their spring break. 
 

I am concerned about Covid testing. We have the at home Proctor tests. We used them for a Christmas sailing (that was way worse in gering Covid I keep telling myself) and was super easy! 

 

Our genie is Romina. She contacted us about 6 weeks out. We had both 1720 and 1718 but my sister refuses to cruise … it matters cause another genie wrote them and the wording was nearly exact. Templates. Efficiency. Won’t critique so long as our service is good .

 

it could be a few days between posts as am a single working mom. Gotta pay for these things .. lol

 

Leanna

Edited March 3, 2022 by SwissMiss USA

[barbeyg]

Would love to follow your review, Leanna.

 

Have a great trip! 🙂

[EllaDuChien]

I would be interested!  I am on the Allure in July with my daughter.  We were last on the Allure together in 2012, when she was 10 months old!  

[topnole]

6 hours ago, SwissMiss USA said:

Hi all!! 
 

I am Leanna and have unsuccessfully made a live review here once. I started out on a roll,  and may or may not have had a super long night post chefs table and given up. 
 

We are on allure March 13-19 for a western over spring break. It is me, my daughter PJ and my mom and dad. Would anyone want to follow a report that may or may not be timely? We are star class and can report how that is all happening since @A&L_Ont cancelled their spring break. 
 

I am concerned about Covid testing. We have the at home Proctor tests. We used them for a Christmas sailing (that was way worse in gering Covid I keep telling myself) and was super easy! 

 

Our genie is Romina. She contacted us about 6 weeks out. We had both 1720 and 1718 but my sister refuses to cruise … it matters cause another genie wrote them and the wording was nearly exact. Templates. Efficiency. Won’t critique so long as our service is good .

 

it could be a few days between posts as am a single working mom. Gotta pay for these things .. lol

 

Leanna

We will be Star class on Allue in a couple months.  Looking forward to your review. Are you open to fielding some questions?

[matj2000]

I believe someone just did a review from that ship.

 

But thanks anyway...

[topnole]

25 minutes ago, EllaDuChien said:

I would be interested!  I am on the Allure in July with my daughter.  We were last on the Allure together in 2012, when she was 10 months old!  

Interesting.  I could’ve sworn Allure came out in 2010.  My recollection was we sailer her for the first time in December 2011 and she was already out for over a year.   Maybe I’m mixing my times up.  

[nelblu]

8 minutes ago, topnole said:

Interesting.  I could’ve sworn Allure came out in 2010.  My recollection was we sailer her for the first time in December 2011 and she was already out for over a year.   Maybe I’m mixing my times up.  

The Op may be referring to her daughter being 10 mos. old.😄

 

To the Op.  I sailed Allure on January 22 and resided in a measly CP balcony.  Had a great time.  If you love musicals, you will love Mamma Mia.

 

Will follow, but hopefully there will be a broad discussion and highlights and not simply life with a genie.😄

Edited March 3, 2022 by nelblu

[EllaDuChien]

1 hour ago, topnole said:

Interesting.  I could’ve sworn Allure came out in 2010.  My recollection was we sailer her for the first time in December 2011 and she was already out for over a year.   Maybe I’m mixing my times up.  

 

Lol, Sorry!! I meant my daughter was 10 months old!! 😆 You are correct on Allure in 2010.

[irishgal432]

I get on as you get off!  Your posts will be a great start. My last cruise 2 weeks ago was derailed by a positive covid test.  Surprise!  No symptoms and not a bad case, I would not have taken a test unless I was cruising.

[feisty77]

Yes please, we will be on Oasis week after you.  I"m not sure what all genie service gets you but interested in family/kid specific things.

[Maitaivegas]

I would love to read your report.

I am sailing on the Oasis 3/6- if the flight in a little tiny regional plane gets me to Miami.

[gingersvp]

I'll be on the Oasis on 3/13 but will enjoy reading your report when I get back from my own adventure!

[DesireeC03]

Fancy!  Will follow along - we will be aboard her (first time) in April!

[SwissMiss USA]

12 hours ago, EllaDuChien said:

I would be interested!  I am on the Allure in July with my daughter.  We were last on the Allure together in 2012, when she was 10 months old!  

I remember cruises with littles. They just love everything and aren’t all picky about this and that! I do have to say that the boat is great for kids! 

[SwissMiss USA]

7 hours ago, feisty77 said:

Yes please, we will be on Oasis week after you.  I"m not sure what all genie service gets you but interested in family/kid specific things.

If I can get my kid to get out of the room, you bet. Ha! Yes, more than just the genie. We don’t even cruise for the genie, but it is a nice perk! I’ll let you know what family stuff we do. 

[SwissMiss USA]

12 hours ago, nelblu said:

The Op may be referring to her daughter being 10 mos. old.😄

 

To the Op.  I sailed Allure on January 22 and resided in a measly CP balcony.  Had a great time.  If you love musicals, you will love Mamma Mia.

 

Will follow, but hopefully there will be a broad discussion and highlights and not simply life with a genie.😄

Hey…. We had a balcony at Christmas and took a crap shot at a request for an upgrade at customer service. We got it! It cost a bit but nothing like had i booked a CLS online. 
 

As long as one can see the water! 

[SwissMiss USA]

12 hours ago, topnole said:

We will be Star class on Allue in a couple months.  Looking forward to your review. Are you open to fielding some questions?

Yes I can field them, but might not be as fast to reply as others. It is still vacation, so anything too crazy I may just tell them requester to “wait 2 weeks for Topnole” 

 

lol 

[topnole]

19 minutes ago, SwissMiss USA said:

Yes I can field them, but might not be as fast to reply as others. It is still vacation, so anything too crazy I may just tell them requester to “wait 2 weeks for Topnole” 

 

lol 

Completely understand.  No rush on any questions.  I do look forward to hearing your star class experience.  
 

If you don’t mind me asking, how old is your daughter?   My daughter is 6 (plus we have two younger boys too) and this will be her first cruise that she will really get to do a lot of the activities.  Not all, but she will be good for rock climbing and skating as an example.  So I’m so excited to see her have a blast doing those things and just enjoying the adventure that is a cruise.  She will be in heaven with all of it.  

[EllaDuChien]

46 minutes ago, SwissMiss USA said:

I remember cruises with littles. They just love everything and aren’t all picky about this and that! I do have to say that the boat is great for kids! 

 

She'll be almost 11 by the time we cruise in July, and nearly Diamond on her own points!  But since she has no recollection of this ship and we haven't sailed any other Oasis class, it will all be new to her.  She is super active and is really looking forward to the rock climbing wall, the flowrider and the zip line.

[Magicat]

20 hours ago, SwissMiss USA said:

Hi all!! 
 

I am Leanna and have unsuccessfully made a live review here once. I started out on a roll,  and may or may not have had a super long night post chefs table and given up. 
 

We are on allure March 13-19 for a western over spring break. It is me, my daughter PJ and my mom and dad. Would anyone want to follow a report that may or may not be timely? We are star class and can report how that is all happening since @A&L_Ont cancelled their spring break. 
 

I am concerned about Covid testing. We have the at home Proctor tests. We used them for a Christmas sailing (that was way worse in gering Covid I keep telling myself) and was super easy! 

 

Our genie is Romina. She contacted us about 6 weeks out. We had both 1720 and 1718 but my sister refuses to cruise … it matters cause another genie wrote them and the wording was nearly exact. Templates. Efficiency. Won’t critique so long as our service is good .

 

it could be a few days between posts as am a single working mom. Gotta pay for these things .. lol

 

Leanna

Romina is a fabulous person!

[SwissMiss USA]

1 hour ago, topnole said:

Completely understand.  No rush on any questions.  I do look forward to hearing your star class experience.  
 

If you don’t mind me asking, how old is your daughter?   My daughter is 6 (plus we have two younger boys too) and this will be her first cruise that she will really get to do a lot of the activities.  Not all, but she will be good for rock climbing and skating as an example.  So I’m so excited to see her have a blast doing those things and just enjoying the adventure that is a cruise.  She will be in heaven with all of it.  

Oh no … I wrote a huge response and it didn’t post. She is 10! I’ll try to re-write the rest later 

[xpcdoojk]

15 hours ago, matj2000 said:

I believe someone just did a review from that ship.

 

But thanks anyway...

It is practically a new ship was only launched a bit less than 20 years ago!  Should be awesome hearing what is going on with it.  😉

 

Every trip and sailing is a new experience.  I look forward to your live report, OP.

 

jc

[SwissMiss USA]

I was going to give a bit of our cruising history. My first cruise was with NCL (2012). I lived in Europe and my then husband and I wanted to take a vacation with my visiting parents. I looked up cruises and there was a cruise in the Epic departing from Barcelona. Barcelona was about a 90 minute flight from Zurich and seemed “safe” in case we miss a flight. We were naive…. No insurance … no fly day before. We called and they had a forward facing suite and we took it. We had no idea what to expect. My sister and her husband took a cruise for their honeymoon years prior and didn’t like it; he was too tall for the shower and she got motion sickness. She told us to not book the cheapest cabin if we have 4 people. We land in Barcelona, take the cab and …. Whoa!! Huge ship. That was the first time we realized there are huge ships out there. We soon learned that we had booked in the Haven. Loved the ship in ship. Pj was 9 months and could crawl in a near empty lounge ….they got her toast daily (teething) and gave my mom “Pepsi in a fancy glass”. We had a butler who we never used expect one reservation. The bathroom tub was smack looking out the front window and …. Views … views

 

My love for cruising was born. 

[SwissMiss USA]

My second cruise was not until 2016. Pj and I had moved back to the USA. I was trying to figure out what we could do as a family. We happen to have 8 people: me, pj, mom, dad, my sister, her husband and 2 nieces. Advertising works. I saw an ad for Royal and looked it up. I saw this new thing called Royal Suite Class. I found a 2 bedroom aqua theatre and booked. I called back with every kids sale free and got lower and lower price. I think many will agree: I got that room at 13k for 8 people. I thought that it was as cheap as a balcony with All the extras. 
 

we had no idea what to expect, except we knew to not give our bags to the porters. we got a genie porter and he legit packed 15 bags and went to our room with us. The room was tight, but rarely were we all in it. The balcony was amazing!!!! Beautiful for movies or 2am when you hear only the motor abs yourself breathe while you look at the stars tipsy. 
 

we had an amazing time. My brother in law was no too tall for the shower. My sister did not get lotion sick. We made wonderful memories. We had no stress as our genie (Marla) made and adjusted all plans as needed. We celebrated my niece’s 10th birthday. 
 

we walked off Sunday morning at 7 as we had a 9:30 flight. We made it! 
 

This is when we realized the suite life. 

[SwissMiss USA]

So busy this week!!! Lots of fun reviews! 
Our preparation is slowly beginning. I made the packing list last night… yeah, I could use the same list every time but for whatever reason I like to create a new one. I always forget something and thus start early. When I remember something I think … “yes, girl… phew you could have forgotten it.”

 

We have our Covid tests ready. 6pack for 4 people and back up at Walgreens. They don’t have the rapid test but signed up for the 1 day test. I’ll cancel if the proctored tests come back negative. 
 

The dogs got a space in the boarding facility. I was on wait list. My sister will be picking them up after the weekend buy still relieved they have a place to play and won’t have to sit in their crates. 
 

Question out there to folks. We booked insurance to late for pre-existing conditions, so we took the least expensive travel insurance an stacked GeoBlue on top. Was very cheap to cover medical and also covers pre-existing conditions. Does anyone have experience with GeoBlue? 
 

Many ask about travel with child and one parent. I technically have full custody, but my documents are all in German. I have never been asked to show proof I can travel with her anywhere (cruise, Hungary, Ireland, Germany, etc). That said, she has a passport (and her dad sends the form of approval) and I kept my married last name partially for this reason. Despite all this, I get her dad to sign a notarized document every time he comes to the USA that is generic and let’s me travel in case asked. 
 

I’ll write again a bit later this week when we actually pack!