Me, Myself & I, First Solo Live Cruise on Allure…May 8-14

[BeachDiva101]

Have a great time, and safe travels! 

[ReneeFLL]

Have a great cruise. I have been on the Allure the last 3 weeks and tomorrow will be my 4th and last until some other time. I have sailed with hubby and without. Prefer to sail with him but because of his schedule he can't always make it. 3 weeks ago I was solo, next week was with him, this week I'm solo and I found out today he will be getting on with me tomorrow. 💃🍾🥂  

[AlohaLivin]

1 hour ago, ReneeFLL said:

Have a great cruise. I have been on the Allure the last 3 weeks and tomorrow will be my 4th and last until some other time. I have sailed with hubby and without. Prefer to sail with him but because of his schedule he can't always make it. 3 weeks ago I was solo, next week was with him, this week I'm solo and I found out today he will be getting on with me tomorrow. 💃🍾🥂  

 That’s great 🎊🎉 I have never vacationed alone (including cruising), although I have traveled alone for work and family events with no problem. But as with your situation, we are at the point in our careers that I have more flexibility than he does. There were some casino offers I got in 2019 that I let pass because he really had a limit to how much he could go, but I have decided if those come my way again I may just go alone. I haven’t decided if it’s likely to be a great experience or a terrible one, although I have never had difficulty talking to complete strangers so I am sure that it would not be too hideous! But I definitely need to get some details from people have have already done it. 👍🏼
 

Edited May 8, 2022 by AlohaLivin

[Ukigirl]

7 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

Have a great cruise. I have been on the Allure the last 3 weeks and tomorrow will be my 4th and last until some other time. I have sailed with hubby and without. Prefer to sail with him but because of his schedule he can't always make it. 3 weeks ago I was solo, next week was with him, this week I'm solo and I found out today he will be getting on with me tomorrow. 💃🍾🥂  

That’s wonderful! We’ve talked about doing back to back to back once he retires. Great that he’s able to join you!

[Ukigirl]

13 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

Have fun with the review. Always nice to read new takes.

 

I have my first solo coming up in June

You are the OG of live reviews, I just love them 😄

[Jimbo]

8 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

Have a great cruise. I have been on the Allure the last 3 weeks and tomorrow will be my 4th and last until some other time. I have sailed with hubby and without. Prefer to sail with him but because of his schedule he can't always make it. 3 weeks ago I was solo, next week was with him, this week I'm solo and I found out today he will be getting on with me tomorrow. 💃🍾🥂  

It's a shame you guys have so far to travel to get on a cruise ship. It's like I'm running out to the grocery store for a few things, be back in 7 days. 🤣

[molly361]

I'm still getting used to the cruising solo thing. Not loving it but I have no choice.   I enjoy chatting with people at the bar but so far have been sitting by myself at dinner.  Not a fan of eating with strangers but that's just me.  A lot of solo cruisers that I know just eat in the WJ but for now I'm good with the MDR.  Have the 3 night dining package for today's cruise.  Going to Jamies, 150 CP and Chops.

[Ukigirl]

1 hour ago, Jimbo said:

It's a shame you guys have so far to travel to get on a cruise ship. It's like I'm running out to the grocery store for a few things, be back in 7 days. 🤣

😡 Been reading some horror stories on Facebook for this cruise, several delayed and canceled flights and luggage not arriving. So far my only 😱moment is that I forgot to pack my contacts. 
Hubs would love to move to Florida but I still need to be convinced 

[Ukigirl]

Set alarm for 8, up at 6. Guess that’s enough sleep since I was out by 9:00 last night. Was going to track Allure on Vessel Finder thanks to @BennyBrunbut saw on Facebook that someone posted pic of her docked in port getting all spiffed up and loaded with important supplies like bourbon. 
I’m taking hotel shuttle which leaves at 11, my check in time is noon. 
Time for more coffee and back to room to double and triple check my bags.  I also posted itinerary for the week.

 

[We Be Floatin !]

Have enjoyed your sharing !!  Will be sailing on Allure for the second time July 31, 2022. Can't wait !  So glad to see you shared where your staying pre cruise.  I have a room booked there post cruise, as our flights aren't till next day.  Have a wonderful trip and I will be following your trip !!

[edrussell]

Will be following along.  There aren't that many solo trip reports on CC so it is fantastic to read along and get the perspective of a solo cruiser.  Enjoy the sailing.

 

[John&LaLa]

4 hours ago, Ukigirl said:

😡 Been reading some horror stories on Facebook for this cruise, several delayed and canceled flights and luggage not arriving. So far my only 😱moment is that I forgot to pack my contacts. 
Hubs would love to move to Florida but I still need to be convinced 

 

Apparently I95 has huge delays

[Ukigirl]

Pleasantly surprised at how smooth check in went. At the terminal by 11:00, my check in time was noon but they let me right in. Have all your paperwork ready, family in front of me was going through all their backpacks looking for their stuff 🤔. So you need set sail pass, Covid negative paperwork (just made a copy of mine in case internet was spotty) and try and answer health questions before you get in line. I watched muster video on shuttle, so just went to Aqua Theater and they checked me in. And now the hamster walk 😄

[Ukigirl]

In the immortal words of Carrie Bradshaw, HELLO LOVER! Missed that feeling so much of first boarding the ship and it never gets less exciting. My first meal was the famous Kmmmmwhatever sandwich, after my first cocktail of course. Started with closest bar which was Champagne Bar and ordered a champagne cocktail. Used to love these but not sure if my tastes have changed or it wasn’t made the same but meh. Great thing about drink package is you don’t feel obligated to finish what you ordered. So far I’ve had the Bloody Mary (yum), peach daiquiri (meh not for me) and now drinking a margarita. 

[Ukigirl]

Walked around a bit, so here’s some pics. The loungers are kind of disgusting so plenty of towels needed. I like the hand washing stations though and the fact that towels can be delivered to your room 

[pam_1024]

On 5/7/2022 at 7:56 AM, OCSC Mike said:

Might as well go for a Pub Sub while you're down here.... unless you see a WaWa, in which case go there. 🙂

 

Safe travels and enjoy your cruise! Looking forward to your review!

Spoken like a true Floridian. 😊

[OCSC Mike]

1 minute ago, pam_1024 said:

Spoken like a true Floridian. 😊

How dare you!

 

More like a true Philadelphia suburbanite who moved here in 2000... hence the Wawa preference. 😁

[pam_1024]

4 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

How dare you!

 

More like a true Philadelphia suburbanite who moved here in 2000... hence the Wawa preference. 😁

Small town Kentucky girl here.  😊. Moved to Altamonte Springs 1 year ago and not one regret!  I love Publix but I'm quite obsessed with Wawa!  We didn't have either in Kentucky.  

[OCSC Mike]

My wife and I grew up with Wawa. We were ecstatic when it came to Florida. We actually went to one of the first grand openings around here and the number of Philadelphia sports team t-shirts/jerseys we saw was hilarious.

 

Growing up, Wawa basically had hoagies at a deli counter and the rest of the store was just a glorified 7-11 (pour your own coffee, slurpees, soda, candy, chips, etc.) I was so confused when I saw all the other food and drinks they added when they opened here. 🤣

[Ukigirl]

Let me know if you want anything looked up, I just reserved Aqua Show, Mama Mia and Comedy show for the week, passing on Ice show.

No paper copy of cruise planner for today, hopefully tomorrow.

 

[Ukigirl]

Here’s my cabin sign for the week, hoping to meet some Ukrainian crew 🇺🇦🇺🇦. Raised in a Ukrainian community, my parents were immigrants so this is an extremely difficult and emotional time. All I’ll say is what you see and hear about the resilience and strength of the people is 100% true, it’s a beautiful country 😢

 

[OCSC Mike]

3 minutes ago, Ukigirl said:

No paper copy of cruise planner for today, hopefully tomorrow.

I have read that on some ships you need to request that your cabin attendant bring you a paper copy each night, otherwise they will assume you are just using the app.

[Ukigirl]

My pre-dinner snack, pizza was ok but grilled zucchini and fried artichokes, not so much.

 

[Ukigirl]

1 minute ago, OCSC Mike said:

I have read that on some ships you need to request that your cabin attendant bring you a paper copy each night, otherwise they will assume you are just using the app.

Good to know, thanks

[Jimbo]

2 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

My wife and I grew up with Wawa. We were ecstatic when it came to Florida. We actually went to one of the first grand openings around here and the number of Philadelphia sports team t-shirts/jerseys we saw was hilarious.

 

Growing up, Wawa basically had hoagies at a deli counter and the rest of the store was just a glorified 7-11 (pour your own coffee, slurpees, soda, candy, chips, etc.) I was so confused when I saw all the other food and drinks they added when they opened here. 🤣

Have you been to the Wawa that is about 1 mile from Orange Lake on #192..............That is where our timeshare is located at.................Good to see them in Florida now,  we used to live in NJ also. No Wawa now here in Virginia. Miss them !!