An Alluringly Amazing Anniversary * LIVE Allure OTS Dec 8-11th *

[mandyleighflies]

Welcome back to another LIVE cruise with us! Later this week my husband and I will be sailing on Allure OTS for a 3 night Bahamas cruise from Port Canaveral. We are celebrating our 3rd wedding anniversary, we are a Covid wedding couple so yes we celebrate each year (we also love an excuse to cruise 😄). We will be flying to Orlando from DC on Thursday morning, renting a car from MCO to drive to Cape Canaveral for some sightseeing on the Cape and the pre-cruise overnight there. My husband and I are aviation and space geeks so be prepared for nerdy space things from this pre-cruise adventure.

 

We have the deluxe beverage package, reservations at Sabor and Chops and admission to CocoCay Water park as our planned "extra spending" activities. We are sailing in a JS and will attempt a dinner reservation at CK if we can manage one, our sailing is sold out so I have doubts but we shall see! 

 

Edited December 3, 2023 by mandyleighflies

[mandyleighflies]

 

My early holiday present to myself on sale from Etsy. It is currently filled with simply ice water however, on board, it might be filled with something else. 😆

 

 

Peter (my husband) and I are both airline crew members (different airlines) so our work schedules can make vacation prep interesting. I find myself packing this morning as I am off to work from today to Tuesday evening (11pm). That would leave a single day to pack and prep…insert mental chaos here…hence one massive job done. 
 

Since it is a short cruise, I will be using my Beis Weekender tote and a backpack. The tote will hold cruise only things while the backpack will hold pre-cruise things. I have miniatures of my skin care line and basic personal needs. I am a light packer in general but I always have extra drawers…my mother was a nurse, I will give her all the credit for this fear for packing. 

[BecciBoo]

22 minutes ago, mandyleighflies said:

reservations at Sabor and Chops

We had just about given up on Chops and low and behold it was our favorite of all the venues on Allure last September!  Outstanding!  We did Giovanni's and 150.  All good but we were quite surprised about Chops.  Oh I forgot about Sabors, we loved that too!  Shortribs were my fave. We did it long ago and weren't that impressed but this time good, we'd do that again too.  Woohoo, Bon Voyage ya'll.

 

OK I'm getting that cup!

Edited December 3, 2023 by BecciBoo

[mandyleighflies]

3 minutes ago, BecciBoo said:

We had just about given up on Chops and low and behold it was our favorite of all the venues on Allure last September!  Outstanding!  We did Giovanni's and 150.  All good but we were quite surprised about Chops.  Woohoo, Bon Voyage ya'll.

We do love our nights in Chops! It’s going to be our anniversary dinner. We just sailed on Lady G in April so I’m hoping they have added at least a new dish or two since then. Once again, stay tuned lol

[mandyleighflies]

 

Did I mention my mom was a nurse? 😆😆 

 

Another packing “habit“ from my mother, the nurse, a traveling medical kit and sanitation. Fun fact, we have been carrying some form of Lysol in our bags since the early 90s. Since our cruising began in the mid 90s, I have been in the habit of wiping down and spraying down our cabin not only the first day, but every day. This was not a Covid thing, this was a “trauma of living with someone who works in a trauma department“ behavior. we also have antihistamine, DayQuil/NyQuil, two types of pain, relievers, of course, seasick meds, and stomach issue medication’s. Ahh yes the things we don’t wanna think about however, we’re glad we planned for because on board they are four times the cost. This bag goes in my backpack, so I have it immediately when we get to our cabin. 

[mandyleighflies]

Here we are at a recent wedding. We will not be participating in this type of formal wear this sailing however. 

 

We will most likely look like this most days. This is our Christmas card photo for this year. My kids (his step kids) and I are sailing on Freedom OTS on Dec 18 (yes another live, popcorn ready) with my mom (the infamous manic nurse) for the holidays. Oh and the adorable rodents are our spoiled and bratty guinea pigs, Clover and Roswell (yes like New Mexico, yes for aliens). 

[BecciBoo]

11 minutes ago, mandyleighflies said:

“trauma of living with someone who works in a trauma department“ behavior.

Not that unusual, I've done the same since I learned about a "Swingers" charter cruise just before ours way back in 2012...LOL

[DaniDanielle]

Have a great celebration 🍾

[Havin'fun]

Following along.

Have a great time!

[CruiszBug]

🍿Following!

[SilkySal]

Congratulations and Happy Anniversary! The pictures of you and your happy family are wonderful! Hope you thoroughly enjoy your cruises! We also enjoy dining at Chops and have had good luck getting in CK when in a JS but be sure to go there as soon as you board for reservations. We're also cruising on December 8th to 22nd on the Adventure for a B2B (love those), and cruising from PC. Merry Christmas, bon voyage, and cheers to you and your family!

[nalatrixie74]

We are on the same cruise! It will be interesting to see your perspective on the sailing. Happy anniversary and have a great trip! 

[mandyleighflies]

23 hours ago, nalatrixie74 said:

We are on the same cruise! It will be interesting to see your perspective on the sailing. Happy anniversary and have a great trip! 

 

How exciting!! Have a great trip and maybe see y'all onboard! 3 DAYS!!

[mandyleighflies]

Today is my FRIYAY before VACATION FINALLY. 

 

We had a very long, long day at work yesterday. Today I am working one leg home and once I am in my car in the employee lot I am officially on vacation! Spending the day in Miami today until our flight home this evening. I am going to hit the streets for a little morning run, coffee and pastries (because why not I worked out lol) with my crew later on and then some light shopping. There are these amazing cookies at Publix and I get them every time I am down here. They are a tropical cluster type cookie, I will buy them and share, no gatekeeping here. 🙈

 

I always bring little gifts for our flight attendants and for our cabin steward when we cruise. Today and tomorrow will be shopping for these items. These items are never, ever expected, honestly even simple acknowledgement goes a long way. It makes our day when people show their love and appreciation, we as cabin crew often feel invisible unless there is a problem or someone needs a beverage. It can be a lonely job and simply being seen as fellow human being can make someone's day and I like to make people's day's so that is why I try to do it whenever I can. I personally bring the crew small lotions, chapstick, a bag of wrapped candy to share and a card. If I do not have time for those things, I grab Starbucks gift cards at the airport. 

 

Anyway, off to run and get those cookies...maybe a light jog to the grocery store counts? 😆

 

OOH and I am putting together a Christmas stocking for our Cabin Steward. We are obviously going to tip additional gratuities but I wanted to leave a small stocking with little things like candy but does anyone else have ideas on what else to add? I'm never sure what they need/want and this sailing is too short to get to know them and buy something in port. Idea's here are greatly appreciated as I need to do this twice this month! 

Edited December 5, 2023 by mandyleighflies

[A&L_Ont]

Enjoy the day and I can't wait for your cruise adventure to begin.

[gfargo53]

have a great cruise

[BecciBoo]

3 hours ago, mandyleighflies said:

does anyone else have ideas

I've had our stewards and Jordan Bauth also say that WalMart gift cards are good!  Also Starbucks gift cards.  Oops you already got that one. I always take a small room deodorizer from Bath and Body works too and then I just leave it in the cabin for the stew.

Edited December 5, 2023 by BecciBoo

[mandyleighflies]

We leave tomorrow!!! 
 

I know I promised cookie content…but there happened to be a nail salon next to our hotel. I chose a pre-vacation mani/pedi instead. I’ll make up for the lost calories this week no worries. 
 

Woke up with a sore upper back so I chose to change my packing style slightly. I know from experience that back pain and a weighty tote bag don’t exactly go together hand in hand. I cleaned out my work suitcase and moved everything into it. 
 

 

There are also two types of vacationers…one who is packed and ready the day before/days before and the one who will “pack before bed”. Spoiler alert, they marry each other. I’m 98% packed and he has an empty suitcase. 

 

[Another_Critic]

3 hours ago, mandyleighflies said:

There are also two types of vacationers…one who is packed and ready the day before/days before and the one who will “pack before bed”. Spoiler alert, they marry each other. I’m 98% packed and he has an empty suitcase. 

 

So he packs early.  😄  I often start/finish packing the day of departure.

[BecciBoo]

What category am I ...sometimes packed 3 weeks in advance...LOL

[mandyleighflies]

 

 

Our exciting evening before vacation lifestyle. Pete found out our original plane for the morning has broken down in LAX, however, it’s been replaced so all is well. 
 

With that, off to bed! See yall early in the morning to fly out to MCO. ❤️✈️

[perfect match]

I love your reviews! I’ll definitely be following along with you! 

[mandyleighflies]

 

When I said bright and early…I meant it lol. It’s honestly not hard to be up this early to leave for vacation, besides, I set my alarm for 6am most days to maximize my mornings. 
 

Getting some stuff done before getting ready for the day. Check in from the car in awhile!! 

[mandyleighflies]

 

Off to IAD! ✈️🎉

[Sunshine3601]

WooHoo, let the fun begin.   Happy Anniversary💐