Leaderboard

Here's a graphic I slapped together since I like to see fleet info with the tonnage listed. The pictures and below came straight from the RCI website. I only added the header and the tonnage info. I've attached a pdf version and also included a ppt version if you want to tweak the image to your liking. Enjoy! RCI SHIP INFO.pdf RCI SHIP INFO.pptx

Hello ladies and gentlemen, I arrived home around 1 am on Monday, December 17th and slept nearly the morning away. (Needless to say, I was extremely grateful that I had booked this day off work LOL.) Still catching up with IRL work and other commitments, but I am planning to finish this review ? Thank you for your patience! Christine

We did meet with him on the first day. We are in a suite and have three small kids. We book a bigger room so we can actually use the room. We tend to be in the room often but leave long enough for our room steward to have time to take care of things. We aren’t new to cruising... this one puts us at Diamond Plus. I’ve never encountered rudeness before this. I did chalk it up to him having a bad day. I know they do crew drills on the first port day so that adds to their stress. I personally have never removed tips nor would I in any circumstance. I was just pretty uncomfortable with the way he was talking to me. Definitely not very professional. Hopefully today he is having a better day.

T-1 Day Almost a year ago, my family booked this cruise. Now we’re less than a day away from boarding the beautiful Navigator of the Seas to embark on our 9 night journey to the Southern Caribbean. I guess it’s best to start this live trip report by telling everyone a little bit about myself. I’m 17 from Atlanta, Georgia. I know I’m probably quite a bit younger than most of the users on Royal Caribbean Blog, but what can I say - it’s never to early to become obsessed with cruising. Going on this cruise with me are my mom, dad, elderly grandmother, and her elderly friend. We booked two separate balcony rooms, so my grandmother and her friend will stay in one room and I’ll stay in the other room with my mom and dad. My dad and I both booked the classic soda package and the voom surf voyage package so we can communicate with each other while on the ship. After diligently checking the cruise planner every 3 or so days, I was able to get the voom package for $19.18 a day, which was the cheapest I’ve seen it for the past 6 months. We chose this cruise strictly for the itinerary. The ABC islands have been on our list for quite some time, and when they offered them at the next cruise desk on our last cruise, we just couldn’t pass it up. The intertary is as follows: Day 1: At sea Day 2: Labadee, Haiti Day 3: At sea Day:4 At sea Day 5: Oranjestad, Aruba Day 6: Willemstad, Curaçao Day 7: Kralendijk, Bonaire Day 8: At Sea Day 9: At Sea In Labadee we’re planning to just have a beach day, in Aruba we’re doing a Trikes tour, we’re going to just play it by ear in Curaçao, and in Bonaire we rented a few golf carts. We got into Miami yesterday night with my dad driving my grandmother and her friend down and my mom and I flying since she had to stay later to work and I had to stay later for finals. Today in Miami we did a little sight seeing at Little Havana, South Beach, and Bayside. After lunch we ran a few last minute errands to pick up the things we realized we forgot to pack, and all got pedicures (including my dad). He was not a fan of the flip flops lol. At least they had blue. Now all that’s left is our last dinner of 2018 on land and then it’s cruise time tomorrow!!

They had those on my recent Serenade cruise, along with chicken and turkey sausages at breakfast. Now, to me, a chicken 'sausage' is an abomination and perhaps a crime against humanity, but it's there for those that want to partake in such lunacy. ?

Check this out ..... never seen this before, at least not for Nassau

Thanks ? we are just being extra nice to him. He could have some really difficult personalities in other cabins too. He is definitely on top of maintenance though so that’s good ??

This just reinforces what I have thought about the Bahamas in general. I typically try to avoid cruises going to the Bahamas but, if I do go, I stay on the ship.

Their non-vegetarian Indian selections off the nonpublished menu are really good. Ask your server what's on the menu for the next evening. My favorite was Butter Chicken. They aren't afraid to add spice. And if a couple of people order they'll serve it family style. It's not a special order, but a compromise fleetwide. Our headwaiter said that cruising was becoming popular among the middle class in India, but Western food was unpopular - resulting in a lot of special requests every night. Royal countered with an unpublished menu with a vegetarian and a meat-based Indian entree and traditional side dishes nightly, with entrees varying from the different states of India. Anyone can order if they give 24 hours notice, or you can opt in for the entire cruise.

^^^^Truth! That line brings a smile to my face. My 10 year old is on these boards regularly (she doesn't post, just a lurker lol) and she watches many of @Matt's scopes with me. She loves it. She knows so much about cruising already. The earlier you start, the earlier you are on your way to Pinnacle! ? Looking forward to following along. Enjoy your Christmas cruise!

I just got the Sheraton 4 Points Pesort at Coco Beach for $96 including taxes and fees for January 26. Cheapest rooms I could find online were $225 +

Must agree with Bernards tours $40 per person, a great tour round island with some rum punch thrown in to make it even more enjoyable lol various stops for photos and lunch etc 4-5hrs so plenty time to walk round cruise port shops afterwards

Best tour guide ever is Thenford Grey. He has probably hundreds of great reviews. If you don't happen to get him personally, no worries--he runs the family business and everyone is great. http://www.thenfordgreytours.com/ He has several different excursions to choose from. We did the Grand Tour of St. Kitts. My review, as well as @accio7's (who just took that tour last week) can be seen on this site here https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/search/&q=thenford You'll notice that my avatar is also on his site. It was one of the stops on the tour. It is where the Atlantic Ocean (on the left) meets the Caribbean Sea.

I would assume that is correct, I have never been on a bridge tour on an O class but was just on one on Freedom, we meet at the very front elevator lobby on deck 10, the concierge took us all the way forward on the port side and then trough a secure door where you could tell it was officer cabins and then on through to the bridge. So the same logic would hold true for deck 12 on Allure.

@Jason, although we did not do any excursion in Barbados (this was in 2016), I did want you to know that Harbour Lights is the nicest beach we have been to. Crystal clear water and sand like white powder. If you decide to take some beach time, that's a great place to go.

These warnings are necessary especially with some sailings leaving Nassau at 11:59pm.

I generally agree. Warnings like this are worth noting, but not worth skipping or treating like some sort of war zone that should be avoided at all costs. Have a plan for onshore, be vigilant about your own safety, and don't act like an idiot that turns you into a target.

No.

I’ll get some of it running too. They do a show at the end of the cruise that we plan on attending

Yes, I've googled that one before. We will definitely try Conrad eventually. But we are creatures of habit and 17th St. is just comfortable lol.

Look at deck 12. there is only half a deck plan. I always though that the officers lived on that deck in full size staterooms

I cant believe that everyone is so worried and scared about this??! i think most of the things listed here would apply to visiting any country and being smart about where you go and what you take with you?!!I think the US government has had some kinda warning out about Nassau for years...similar to Zika warnings in Mexico etc... Nassau in the daytime is safe..I have been there a dozen times in the past 4-5 years...no issues with anything. Its chaotic getting out, but once past the fence its nothing. Its a great and safe place to explore. Lots of tourist bars, beaches.....beautiful resorts and more being built.... I would be more scared walking around some cities in North American than Nassau...its 99% tourists during the daytime....

All Mine ....

Both agents in this case work with MEI Travel, which is a sponsor of this blog. You can get a quote here: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/want-quote-your-cruise

That figure looks right based on the picture I have. $7.95 to $9.95 depending on variety. Kraken, the preferred rum of the Royal Caribbean Blog, is $7.95 and a Kraken Colada would be $13. *Disclaimer: Using a bar menu from Oasis obtained January 2018. Please add an additional 18% for gratuity.

@michelle

This biggest problem stewards have (not saying you fit into this category) are people being an ass's. They complain afterwards on the surveys or at guest services (Last Day of cruise) about room not being cleaned, beds not being maid, towels not exchanges or whatever they can find to gripe about in order to justify them getting a discount or not paying gratuities, or whatever freebies that can get. The easiest thing to do once on board and you meet your steward is to tell him/her what's expected of them for room service at the beginning of the cruise. They're not mind readers, thing tend to go soother for both parties in the long run. Remember they get up early to start their shift and work late evenings..so the only time they get off for there relaxation/breaks are in-between morning & evening duties when all their cabins are done. They do have bad days too.

$7.95 + 18% grats for a typical shot of rum. @CGTLH or @twangster likely has something in their photo vault that shows more extensive pricing.

Yeah, but good luck finding any bar service in the MDR. You'll have a better chance of finding a leprechaun riding a unicorn through the MDR than finding bar service.

YES!! That garlicky butter is so good!

Good to know. I was considering a bird-watching tour , but I'd have to walk a bit into town to catch it, and I'll be solo. Nix to that!

Per their site you can bring them onboard but can't use them on the ship, or at Labadee or Coco Cay. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/can-guests-bring-drones-onboard I did this just last month and security saw it in the bag, told me not to fly it on the ship, and that was it.

That is what we did, points... sometimes you win and sometimes... ?? @tonyfsu21 It is a great location for food... and I love Foxy Brown’s too!! But I will have to use Uber, the hotel wasn’t up tp snuff and there are other options ?? I could have lived with the construction, it was the bad food and the service attitudes that were really the killer. Hoping for better luck next Nov! I was looking at something on Dania - I will definitely check back through the posts for suggestions.

Thanks @WAAAYTOOO

We just went to Nassau in November. We took an excursion to Pearl Island. Everything was fine, lunch really delicious and the island is nice and clean. I recommended Pearl Island. I think if you do an excursion with the ship that should be OK. Anyway, we will never wonder by ourselves in Nassau.

The current 30% off offer runs through Dec 26, 2018. That isn't to say that it wont be extended, or that the next offer will also offer 30% off. But officially it ends on Dec 26.

Yikes ! We'll be in Nassau twice in Feb (both ends of the B2B on Anthem). I wasn't planning on getting off the ship anyway but now for SURE. Thanks, Mark

Here's a list of things to do in Old San Juan https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2015/04/14/things-do-old-san-juan

Glad to hear you like what they got. I've noticed intriguing alternative burgers lately. Turkey, chicken and even fish burgers. Great options for those looking to eat healthier.

We did Bernard's tours when we were there in August. They offer different tour packages. We did the beach tour. It was a great way see the island and learn some history along the way. There was still quite a bit of hurricane damage and our tour guide talked a lot about the recovery process. It was a great day! Take a look at their website.

Good to know.....I love their Indian dishes but always wished they had more...butter chicken is a fav..... After my last cruise on NCL Sky, I appreciate even more how good Royal`s food is....minus their pizza....lol

Also pinging @bellemiche. They rented a Jeep there from Hertz in the summer and went all around. She had a great experience. She talks about it here in her blog: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/6855-allure-review-july-8-~-15/

Private drives was $375 for a full day tour. There was 7 of us so it made more sense cost wise and I have kids so we tend to stay away from bus tours. Pinging @KLA as I think she has done this with Benards Tours and have been very happy with them. I think they take you to all the places that you listed for about $40 each.

Looks like great time and ship....we are looking at maybe Adventure in April so following along!

Just joining in- great pics! Now I need to go to San Juan...

Day Seven Dinner By FlowBro Ty For Dinner I Had Coconut Shrimp. And I Four Scoops Of Ice Cream And Chesse Cake . Since Tomorrow Is My Birthday I Got A Cake. Then I Went To The Hot Tub. After The Hot Tub I Went To Bed. Tomorrow The Trip Will Be Over.

Day Seven At Sea-Boardwalk Party By FlowBro Ty After Lunch At The Boardwalk Dog House. I Went To View The Live Band There. The Band Was A Dixieland. There Was Quite A Big Group Of People Viewing The Band. After Viewing The Band. I Went To Ride On The Carousel. I Rode It Five Plus Times. There Was No Line To Ride The Carousel. They Had To Clean It Once When I Was Riding It. Then I Went To The Boardwalk Arcade. Then The Adventure Ocean Arcade. Then The Main Video Arcade. Here What I Won.

Looks almost identical to our trip next week on Harmony, same itinerary and we’re also in a junior suite on 8

Hey just saw this. We were on the same cruise. Our dining room tables were even close to each other (I think, assuming 687 is close and we were in the same time). The channel you mentioned in Haiti was really beautiful. We were up on the deck over the bridge. The island is the famous pirate hideout of Tortuga. All in all it was a great trip. Beautiful weather every day.

Day Three Nassau Part Three By FlowBro Ty After Dinner I Went The Market On Deck Five And Bought Some T-shirt's And A Postcard. I Thought The Shop Was Small And The Royal Merch Was A Small Variety. At 10:30 I went to the late night snack at the windjammer. It was pretty good. Also There Was A Big Line To Get The Food. After That I Went To Bed. I Am Going To Get Up When The Ship Comes Into Miami.