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Day 4 Santorini. Santorini is a lovely island but it's a quite busy one. It's always a tender port so we chose to take RCL to bypass the tender lines. The RC excursion which we choosed was Santorini island view but we got noticed it was cancelled and we got 15% discount to any other excursion. We took the Oia &Fira excursion which takes you first Oia follow by wine testing and ends in Fira. We figured due to the wine testing less chance to have many childrens. The only problem was the excursion meeting point 7:20 Am , night time. Royal wanted to send all the excursions on the first tenders. I was sent to bring some food from the WJ and we started our day. After 20 minutes waiting at the theater we went on the tender and got to the new port. A bus took us to Oia for few minutes of guided tour followed by 1.5 free time. We used the free time to take the required pictures and to eat some very good frozen Greek Yogurt. We went on the bus and continue to a local winery, lucky for us we were the first bus so the place was just for ourselves, it a lovely place with wonderful view of the bay. They gave use three wines to taste and some cheese, crackers, olives and tomatoes. It was only 11 am but I am sure it was 5 pm somewhere. We relaxed for an hour at the winery and went to the last stop Fira we're we got tickets to the cable car to go to the port so we could stay as much as we want before returning to the ship. We went to a local supermarket to buy some olive oil, wine and local sweets. We tour the village for a while before we decided to return back to the ship to beat the cable car line (or so we thought) As you see we weren't the only ship in the island. Making sure everyone knows who are the real local residents and already dressed for the official night (they did not heard it's dress your best) We went to the cable car line but it was just too crazy, it was very long and nearly moved, people that went to check estimated at least one hour. I hate lines, I hate lines that not seems to move but most I hate lines which many seems not to respect. We decided to walk down... We forgot one thing, sun screen. The way down is shared by people and donkeys which means it is full with mines and the steps are very slippery. It takes about 20 minutes to go down during I got reminders I have some mussels which are not that I use most of the time. I also felt sorry for the poor donkeys that beex to go up and down all day under the sun. Here is what my spouse called picture of three donkeys (she used other words but hey it's PG rated blog) Once down at the port we located the RC tender tent and we're so happy to use the cold water station they had there. Back at the ship first thing we done as to take a shower , most needed after our adventure and some close encounter with the trail partners. We went for some drink and food in the diamond club ,finally we saw two other people there, we are not the only one. Leaving Santorini at evening time is always good time to take sunset pictures We skipped dinner as we eat at the diamond lounge and went to see the Piano man production show followed by some recreational time in the next door smoke lounge (which some referring it as the casino) missing the non smoking golden room at wonder. At least we got a jackpot.

Day 2 - Sea Day! We had given Jay our coffee order and (silly us) asked for a delivery at 7am. What??? 7am is far too early for a wake up on vacation! Tomorrow, it will be 7:30am instead. Our coffee arrived as ordered, but there weren't any identifying markings on them so we were all tasting each others' coffees to figure out who they belonged to. Breakfast arrived at 8am as ordered except for one extra plate of 2 eggs and hash browns. One thing we had learned last year is that they take orders very literally. If you order 2 eggs, they think it's 2 orders of eggs. Not too bad for our first room service order. Jay stopped by after breakfast to go over our day and we chatted for a long while getting to know him. He's genuinely a really nice guy! By the way - if any of you are looking for info on gifts for Jay, he loves coffee! His drink of choice on the ship is a venti caramel latte with almond milk. We hung out in the room most of the morning and got to see the rehearsal for the aqua show. We're amazed at the talent the performers possess!! We finally ventured out a little after 11am so our cabin attendant could come in and put our room back together. We wandered down to Starbucks (to get Jay his favorite drink), and ended up at the wrong end of the Promenade because they had just started the parade. We went down to 4 to cut over to the other end but ended up at the entrance to the casino. When I walked off the elevator, it was like walking into a wall of smoke. I turned around and went back into the elevator and told the group I'd meet them down there. I ended up going up to deck 7 and walked down the stateroom hallway to the other elevators. The group never made it to Starbucks so I stopped and got his drink then met them at Izumi where I found them all melting from the temperature. It's so hot on this ship! I kept thinking it was just me, but I'm beginning to hear it from others also - so I'm not actually having one long hot flash! Thank God!! I've been running so hot that I've been reluctant to put makeup on because it would just melt off of my face. Jay had arranged lunch for us at Izumi sushi and while waiting for it to open at Noon, Mom was feeling a bit woozy again. After the incident on the plane, we immediately contacted Jay and he brought up a wheelchair for her. It turned out to be motion sickness, so Tim, Mom, and Cindy went back to the cabin to get her Dramamine and eat lunch there while she rested and recovered. After mom was feeling a bit better, Cindy joined Kenzie, Kayla, and I at the restaurant and she got caught up with the rest of us on the appetizers. We learned on Anthem that we loved the chicken karaage and the edamame! Of course we ordered those and gyoza dumplings, and we got a couple of the signature rolls to share at the table. We sent some food to the room also so Mom and Tim didn't miss out. Unfortunately, the room delivery wasn't delivered for a very long time (we ordered it at 12:30, and it showed up at 2:40pm. When we left at 1:45pm they said it was on the way. It must have made a few laps around the ship because by the time it arrived, it was inedible. Thankfully, Jay had ordered a feast of snacks for everyone so they munched on 6 orders of chicken wings,2 whole pizzas, 2 orders of quesadillas, 2 orders of tacos, 1 charcuterie plate, 1 order of nachos, 1 veggie tray, 1 order of chocolate strawberries, and a plate of chocolate chip cookies. Um...there are only 6 of us! So. Much. Food. We requested that tomorrow's snacks be a plate of berries and some cookies - only! Mom and Tim sat out on our next adventure while mom relaxed a bit. The other four of us met other star classers up on deck 12 and we got to do the Star Class bridge tour!!! Jay said that was only the second tour they had done for the star classers since the comeback, so they were making sure everyone was extra well behaved - they don't want to give them any reason to not continue that perk. The bridge is amazing!! I could easily live up there!! Just sayin. We went back to the room and kicked our feet up for a bit, then Cindy, Kenzie, and Kayla decided to go hide all the ducks they brought on the trip. They had a blast, and have even seen a few with people since hiding them. Tonight was "formal night" and we all decided not to take our formal too far, but instead only do a semi-formal / dressy night and just color coordinate. Our color tonight was blue. It was also Kenzie's birthday celebration. Dinner was at Samba Grille and the amount of food they provide you there is crazy! We all tried to pace ourselves through dinner, but each time the gauche came by with more new meat for us to try, Mom looked at us with a look of shock and dismay! She was a trooper and ate at least a bite of everything just to try it. Some of the side dishes that are served Mom tried and didn't like, but was going to eat it anyway since she took it. We told her it's okay not to eat something she didn't like. Such a hard concept for someone to grasp when they've spent their entire life not wasting food. I'm sure we'll have to continue to remind her. After dinner when we were all bloated, and I'm sure with food in our teeth from all the meat, it seemed like the right time to go have some pictures taken. I really don't know what I was thinking. We definitely need a better plan in the future. We made it through two photographers, and then were all melting from the temperature of the ship and the heat coming off the lamps. We called it good for the night and headed to our next thing. The headliner show tonight was on par with most headliner shows. It was good enough to keep us entertained, but it wasn't amazing. Jay reserved us great seats, and we'll have the same tomorrow night for Mamma Mia! We can't wait for that one!! The seats we have are six seats that are semi-private - which is really nice. We're in the front row of the mezzanine, which we totally prefer. I have to say that I love that Jay asked what our preference was. Kenzie and Kayla didn't join us for the show tonight, so there were two seats not used in our little private area. In the middle of the show, some woman climbed over the back of the end seat and barreled her way in front of us, not even apologizing for trampling our feet. I was left somewhat in shock over it but figured I'd save my complaining until after the show when we could all pile on together over the annoyance. Apparently, it's a thing because at the end of the show, three more women climbed over the back of the end seat and forced their way by us, annoyed that we weren't pushing our way into the crowd. The front woman was extremely rude to Cindy telling her that she needed to get out. Don't people excuse themselves anymore? Where did manners go? We came back to our room and it was like a sauna in here! I let Jay know and he was coming over anyway to drop off some things. He called maintenance along the way and when he got here, he started sweating! He called maintenance again and they asked him to check the doors to make sure they were closed. According to Jay (who has been on ships for years), they were closed. However, when maintenance arrived, he checked the sliding door in our room and the living room and he determined that it was the doors keeping our AC from not working. If Jay thought they were closed, how are people who don't live on a cruise ship supposed to tell if the door is closed or not?? While in the room, we had the maintenance guy pull a staple out of the carpet that Kenzie and Tim had caught their feet on. It was sticking up and was hard to find after it happened. Crazy! I'll share some thoughts on the ship and the cabin a bit later in my blog, but I can tell you that Allure is starting to show her age and could really use a facelift. Here are my pics from today. Sorry, I didn't get the food pics from Kenzie before she fell asleep. Also sorry that one of the pics of the compass is sideways.

I would never have expected my response to having the Key. Normally something I wouldn't consider it popped up on my cruise planner for less than the Zoom Internet alone. Made no sense not to get it for my Oasis voyage. Arriving "Port Liberty" there were lines around the building. Dropped off my sweetie while I parked the car. Got to the garage that was already full and asked the attendant where I should go and that I had the key. He just said " Key? there's room in here". Walked back past thousands in line to my sweetie. Asked where "Key" goes. They escorted us past long lines to one roped off and nobody waiting. Right to and through security then to check in and escorted right to the ship with zero wait. Deck four MDR was waiting for us to set down our carry on bags and eat a really way good Chops lunch. Shows? Right in... treated royally. Anywhere we dropped the "Key" word we bypassed lines and were pampered, even the dinner lines... A special line at customer service even was open for suites, diamond and up and Key people. Getting off special breakfast of crab eggs benedict was had then walk past the crowds and fast tracked back to the car. I didn't ever think I'd like being pampered but I did and my Fiance' really loved every bit of it. I will splurge any time it gets available at reasonable rate...

Yesterday was a great sea day. Park Ave salad and hot dog place for lunch. I suggest the German hotdog, my friend wasn’t loving the regular one but I was happy. Dinner was Giovanni’s. Friend didn’t realize what pork belly was so was surprised when it came out. . Besides that we were happy with our meals. Our waiter even found us limoncello to end the meal. He was a doll and that little touch was appreciated. He got a good tip. I’ve learned I can’t blame waking up early on my dog. Today it was 5:30. I gave up at 6 and got myself a coffee to watch the sunrise and read. Both mornings I’ve been doing a little jogging. Testing a knee injury from February. My friend and I are meet up mid morning. I’m quiet in the morning and she’s raring to go so we do our own thing in the mornings. Today is the casita. We’re stopping in Orlando. Made it til just now and rain. Not too worried. Hoping it’s a passing storm but you never know. we keep missing any shows because we’re exhausted by 10 and like later dinners. No complaints at all though, we both seem to be content.

Please speak to your physician or psychiatrist regarding your concerns. There are both medication and therapy options that are effective depending on the individual circumstances. Please do not mix medications with alcohol or any other substances. Sincerely, A physician

Funny, that's my condition on every cruise I sail on.

Hi Everyone, I'm new here and this is my first post. I have half a mind to delete this because it might be a little strong for a first post- LOL! The last time I cruised was on Explorer back in 2006. I recently booked my family on Allure going to Roatan and Mexico in March. It's a surprise and I'm excited to see my kids faces when we get dropped off at the cruise port and they see the ship for the first time. "Yep WE are going on THAT!" One thing I've noticed since 2006 is that things seem much more complicated with the add ons and tack on fees and complex reservations etc. It's kind of made me half crazy and anything, but relaxed. "Manage your cruise" What? Isn't that sort of what I'm paying you a whole lot of money for, Royal Carribean? When I last cruised my wife and I did one night at Portofinos which was a restaurant that used to be on the Explorer. The food was good I'm sure of that, but I don't even remember how it tasted these years later or what I ate. Here is what I do remember: the fun we had with our dinning room waiter and tablemates. We still laugh about them to this day! The cabin attendents making towel animals and the bartenders, and looking out at the ocean, the sailaway party and the New Yorkers saying "Heyyyy! it's the Verrazzano!!!" as we glided underneath the bridge on the start of our carribean adventure. As soon as I booked Allure, I was introduced the the Key program and dining packages which are not cheap! Forgive me for saying this but it seems like a rude bait and switch. A cruise should be about hospitality and abundance and the Key program introduces scarcity...that little fear that you know "they really are short on Flowrider time and show tickets and if you want your kids to be able to try it you need to give us $160 a day for 7 days..." Honestly, I'm not trying to be cynical, perhaps this is the way it is and I'm making a "rookie" mistake in this day and age, but I'm taking a different approach so tell me if you think this could still work. 1. We're going to eat in the MDR and have fun at dinner. We're going to eat at the Windjammer and try to find a nice table near a window and try food from around the world. 2. We're going to eat soft serve ice cream at 2 o'clock every single day! 3. We'll eat Sorrentos and the Park Deli. 4. We're going to look up at the stars at night and go for walks around the ship. Maybe watch a movie! 5. We're going to get up early and watch the sun come up over the ocean and whisper a quick prayer or two. 6. We're going go to the pools and shoot hoops in the middle of the carribean sea and play ping pong and do the flowrider and have mini golf tournaments everyday with prizes I'll be giving out. 7. We'll book some shows and hope we get seats. It'll be great if even one of my kids begins to love theather. 8. We're going to enjoy time together and walk up to the bow of the ship and stand on the helicopter pad. We're NOT going to have internet. 9. I'll buy my daughter some candy-- Ok there's 7 bucks, I can't say no! 10. We'll spend money doing excursions and see some Mayan ruins and enjoy being in another country and play on the beaches. I just want to be together with my family on an already great ship. Let me know if I've got this wrong. Thanks, T.

Some times the fact that all my favorite tables are full works just fine

while the price may seem crazy for most of us, as long as people are willing to pay then I can not see them lowering much.

I think that’s amazing. Full stop. I still think it’s premature to judge without actually knowing.

I have both asthma AND knee issues so I understand the concept of "you can't tell by looking" because I look like one of the healthiest people on the ship. I rarely take the elevator (up or down) for less than three floors except on debarkation day with the luggage.

Well, if we didn't live 1500 miles from a port we'd probably be D+ by now.

Thank you all for the responses. I love the positive message and support that you can still have fun without optional spending. Also thanks for the perspective on the Flowrider and the info on booking shows at boarding. My kids will be 15, 13 and 9.

Correct. Your beverage packages are honored all over the ship and no need to bring your cups anywhere if you don't want to. The card shows you have a beverage package, not the cup. The only time you absolutely need the cup is if you're using the self serve Coke Freestyle machines, if your ship even has them. We don't even bother with the cups and just leave them in the cabin and order what we want from anywhere.

Thats the best part about cruising, you can do it your way. My wife and I usually go for a balcony room and enjoy the buffet and MDR. We purchase the DBP and sometimes eat specialty dining. We are taking our kids on their very first cruise in Feb 23 on Allure and we went Star Class this time. So we are going to do all the things and eat all the things this upcoming trip. I'm afraid it will be hard to go back lol.

I was on a B2B a few weeks ago and used my Diamond vouchers in the morning of both disembarkments. This was before 8am. I got 2 cans of Coke Zero and 2 bottles of water as I decided to forego any drink package and just use my diamond and prime drinks.

We also purchased The Key for our recent Oasis cruise, for less than the cost of internet alone. There was only one security line for Key guests when we arrived shortly after 10 am. It moved slowly due to an older passenger in a scooter, but once he was through, it moved much quicker. I believe we were on the ship around 10:30. After visiting our muster station, we dropped our carry-on bags at the main dining room. The crew member was very nice and told us to be sure to come back for lunch. We would usually go to the buffet for lunch, but the Chops Lunch in the main dining room made for the most pleasant embarkation day lunch ever! My wife was instantly won over. On arriving at our stateroom, our attendant made note that we were Key guests. I'm not sure it mattered, as we received the same great service that we always do. We did take advantage of some of the special times for activities, for example, i rode the slide twice at 9:05am with no wait. We also used the seating in the main theater for Cats (The performers were great, but what the heck did we watch?} We received the Key luggage tags on the next-to-last day. On debarkation morning, we went to the breakfast in the main dining room {so relaxed!} then collected our carry-on luggage from our room and left the ship at 8:30. There was almost no line so we just walked off ourselves. The luggage for Key guests was in one spot and it was there first, meaning we could have walked off immediately upon being cleared if we preferred. Bottom line, we will absolutely purchase the key again if it is $5 -$10 more than Voom itself.

In Aug you will have many extended families for sure, as Matt said, when school is in session its a slightly different make up. But I will add, with more and more home schooling taking place across the country, even during the In-school dates, we've been seeing a steady increase in # of kids on board over the past few years.

I wouldn’t jump the gun on that one if you are sailing out of Fort Lauderdale/Miami. By Thursday/Friday in SoFL it will be business as usual. It’s been raining all day today in Fort Lauderdale but that’s about it, no wind (yet).

For sailings booked by March 31, 2022, that depart by September 30, 2022, you can cancel up to 48 hours before your sail date and get the full paid value in a Future Cruise Credit.

We're looking at an Alaska cruise next year now that Canada has kicked rocks on the mandates, but there are five of us and I'm not seeing the 5+ icons on the deck plans, not even on the really large rooms. Does anyone know a good place to see which rooms are 5+? Thanks! Edit: Found them! They were just not where I was expecting.

I was on the Allure last week and there were 5338 passengers…we never felt overcrowded most likely due to the spaciousness and variety of things to do. Timing is key for the Windjammer but even if you happen to arrive at peak time it’s not that horrible! We cruised 8 nights and for the very first time opted to eat at one specialty restaurant on one night…Samba. I will stick to complimentary dining from now on as I also enjoy the interaction with the wait staff. Yes, it was pretty decent food (but pricey) but this restaurant is located in the Solarium Bistro so no air conditioning or if there is A/C it certainly doesn’t cool you off! Your children‘s ages are perfect for allowing you and your wife some alone time. While I was enjoying this cruise, I kept thinking of how much fun my grandkids would have on this ship. We are actually looking at potential cruises for next summer to include them! Enjoy the countdown to your cruise and enjoy every minute once onboard!

You don't have to spend for any of the add-ons and you can still have a fantastic cruise! Allure being an Oasis class ships has a LOT of complimentary dining options: Main Dining Room Windjammer Buffet Park Cafe Johnny Rockets is included for breakfast only (you pay for lunch and dinner). Doghouse on the Boardwalk. Mini Bites is located up on the pool deck and will have breakfast and lunch available and is included. Solarium Bistro is in the Solarium area and offers breakfast and lunch Sorrentos Pizza and Promenade Cafe are on the Promenade and have near 24-hour service and are included. Vitality Cafe which will be located near the gym/spa area. They have some light bite, fresh food items as well which will be complimentary. The Cruise Compass will show ($) next to the Vitality Cafe, but that just indicates there is a charge for the juice/smoothies without a package. Soft serve is available on the pool deck Boardwalk doughnuts are available in the morning What you can appreciate is that there is a large variety of dining places (complimentary and extra) so it will help better spread out the 5000-6000 passengers on the ship!

That would be pretty cool. In reality the Cruise Compass is created on board by the cruise director staff and they are literally making it up the day before and sometimes the day it's printed. For food venues and dining times those don't change much cruise to cruise but for show times they can make minor tweaks going with the flow of what's happening each sailing.

Each day they sent us notes about benefits. Two nights before departing they sent details for last breakfast and leaving.

Yes, you get vouchers on disembarkation morning of your 1st cruise like any other cruise. Where? WJ bar, MDR, Cafe Promenade for fancy coffee/ice coffee you can't or don't want to get in the DL, etc. You could also get some bottled water for the 2nd cruise if so inclined.

Photos from Day 1

Take all important items-medicines, ID and medical equipment in your carry on. Add a day or two of clothing just in case. it amazes me when I read of lost bags and the owner complaining their meds or documents were in there. I even have a foldable recycling bag in the outer pocket of my carryon. If they tell me there’s no room for my carryon I’ll unpack half that stuff from the carryon into my recyclable bag so I still have my most important items in my possession.

It’s always possible it can go lower and it’s also possible a bunch of people will fall on their heads and pay $4k and take up all the availability before the price drop could come

Why would that be wrong? It’s your cruise, do it your way. You don’t HAVE to spend a dime on board if you don’t want to. Of course Royal is going to tempt you with add-ons, they are in business to make money and they do so with the add-ons. Doesn’t mean you have to buy any of them.

One last thing I want to leave you with. The only real issue I had on the trip was I got real tired of hearing people complain. Our cruise has over 300 Pinnacle cruisers and the most of the rest was Diamond and Diamond plus. The ship had a couple of meetings with the staff warning them how picky the cruisers on this cruise were going to be. Most of the people on the cruise were great but there was enough that were not that you got tired of hearing it. I was told that the ship had to leave about 350 staff in Copenhagen because the USA would not give them a work visa. All the ships are short staffed to start with. All the staff was working their hardest to make a great cruise for us. I seen the glass half full and appreciate everything they did. Please, going forward do not be the glass half empty person and only see what you did not get on your cruise. Thank you for following, Mike

Hello Sailing March 5th 2023 7 day Bahamas cruise, has any one stayed in cabin 6300 obstructed balcony. How bad is it obstructed and does anyone have any photos of the balcony. Thankyou

I will tell you, handsdown that the guac at Sabor was worth every penny of the extra dining costs. I could have eaten 2 as my meal.

Keep in mind the number of children who are homeschooled has steadily increased. Also remember that not every school does the summer, winter and spring break schedule. There are plenty of schools that do the 2 months on and several weeks off route. I was shocked at how many children and teenagers were on my Sept 7-16th cruises on Nav. I don't sail in the summer to avoid the majority of children often aboard those sailings. In all honesty don't expect any sailing on Royal to have no children, just expect less during the months most are in school.

Cruise planner will close 48-72 hours before your cruise, and you won't be able to buy or cancel anything. This is also the case for RoyalUp, they can and will upgrade people as late as on the boat. In that case you will have to go to guest service or have your concierge make the refunds for you.

We sailed on the 9 night Oasis this past August and it was a great mix of kids/teens/adults/seniors. Since driving to Bayonne is an option from many parts of Ontario and Quebec, there are lots of Canadians on the ship (not just in the summer but whenever ships are sailing from Bayonne). In Ontario, schools are out until early September so that certainly increases the amount of kids onboard in July and August. We had a fantastic time and 9 nights is just perfect. Oasis has so much to offer with the 4 sea days on this itinerary. I'm sure your family will have a wonderful holiday!

While October isn't a super popular time for families due to school being in session, I think you'll find lots of families onboard. Royal Caribbean is a family cruise line, so there's usually families. The fact your cruise is 9 nights may skew slightly older since it's more than a week (Americans typically prefer 7 night cruises so it fits in with PTO time better), but it won't be like a transatlantic crossing which has very few kids. So I don't think there will be 1,000 kids onboard, but I don't think yours will be the only ones either.

Yep, FLL on Allure.

Yes. It will depend on the ship and the geographic location and what the supplier has available. We've personally experienced all three.

Yes, very simple onboard. Just open a browser and all instructions are there.

The free day is one way to go but you could also use the 25.99 off.

If you're on Wonder, lobster is on the menu at Hooked. Hooked is included in the UDP.

I believe the menu you see is reflecting the current Anthem menu (which is currently on a 7 day cruise schedule). Therefore there isn't a Day 8 to base anything on. I'm on the Dec 18th Anthem cruise too. Can't wait!

You should buy Royal stock using your Costco visa. Double bonus

Lost luggage is not to bad anymore, I work at Cincinnati airport, bags are scanned now, they know how many bags are on the plane, tight connection are the biggest concern , we also use the porters , skip the lines inside and go straight to security. To us its hard to do carry in for a cruise.

Do a food tour! My recommendation would be to take one with a company called Spoon. They are great people who run that company

The A/C units are individual but the coolant is centralized and distributed. The chillers that provide the coolant are the highest source of energy draw for the hotel side of the ship operations. When ships are in port including turn around days more and more governments are demanding they reduce emissions so it's common for the ship to reduce the chiller so they can operate the ship in port with the least amount of engines running. It's common on boarding day for cabins to feel warm especially if your cabin is on the sunny side of the ship that day. Once the ship leaves port and reaches international water they can crank on the chiller to its normal operating level and cabins can be cooled better.

Embarkation Day (Day 1) Breakfast and coffee were just what we expected and then we finished getting all packed back up. It's crazy how much gets unpacked for one night in a hotel!! We all sat in the room for the last hour just tapping our toes waiting to leave. Cindy asked every five minutes if it was time to go yet. We were all so excited! I had confirmed 10:30am with Jay though, so I didn't want to get there too early. We took two XL Lyfts that showed up at the hotel just a minute apart. The two lifts ended up at ~$12 each plus tip, and for one person to use the shuttle from the hotel it would have been $15. Had we used the shuttle, I guarantee we would have lost our luggage to the over zealous porters as soon as the driver opened the door. Instead, Lyft was an excellent choice! I highly recommend it!! The two vehicles went through the security gate at the same time - which was good because I had already collected everyone's documents and Tim had them in his bag in car #1. Since they wanted to see everyone's ID, we sent our person over to his car and they checked everyone off. Loved passing everyone at the port to get to star class. Everyone knew not to even get out of the vehicle until we had a star class porter. He showed up with a cart, loaded it up, and we were on our way with an escort passed the incredibly long check-in line!!! We walked by them all and weaved in and out of groups as we made our way directly to the counter where it took about 5 minutes for us all to be on our way up to the suite waiting area. As we made it by the last group into the building, Tim threw his hands up with the rock and roll signals celebrating our front of the line pass. If there was ever a reason to book star class, this is it people!!! Jay was busy when we arrived so we found some comfy seats and the conversation that started Friday night at the hotel in Portland continued. Man, we can talk!! Okay - mostly Cindy, Kenzie, and Kayla, but we keep it going. We didn't pay attention to how long it took for Jay to arrive (because we were talking), but it wasn't long - maybe 10 minutes? He came over and we were instantly family. He got hugs from everyone and we chatted for a few minutes. He needed another 10 minutes before he would be ready for us, so we chatted a bit longer and he came back over and got us. We made our way onto the ship and Jay used the magic card to get us up to the 17th floor where he dropped us off in the Suite Lounge to await our room readiness. The girls went nuts over the magic card. So easily amused! We met Dr Booze (aka Sachin) in the Suite Lounge and when Cindy asked for Pims, he said he didn't have it there, but he knew it was at Blaze because he had served it last night there. We figured we'd go there later and get a drink. Nope! 10 minutes later, he arrived with Pims in hand and Cindy got her drink. Great way to start the trip! Jay arrived shortly after and took us to our suite that was all decorated for our different celebrations. We had a few snacks and cake number 1. Jay made sure we had macarons because Kenzie has a bakery that specializes in them. Nice touch! Our luggage (minus one bag) arrived shortly after we did and once we got a chance to ooh and aah over the suite, we started unpacking our 11 bags. Lunch arrived and all but Kayla had Caesar salads and shrimp cocktails from Chops. We also had a couple of sides of mac & cheese and tater tots. It was great! The girls and Cindy went back up to the suite lounge after they unpacked and got Cindy's Pims drink, and they stopped by and got pizza for Kayla. It was almost 2pm and we decided to go up to the Schooner bar for the 9/25 bday meet & greet. We met some great people and hung out until we realized at 3pm that we needed to go get checked in at our muster station by 3pm. We headed out and did that, then I went back to the room to finish unpacking while everyone explored a bit - hoping my bag was there. Unfortunately, it wasn't. Jay had to go track my bag down and found out it was in the naughty room. It was tagged with "Kettle" but there wasn't anything in the bag that was not allowed. We did bring our own hand soap pumps onboard because the bar soaps dry out our hands, so maybe that popped up on their scanner? They waited for Jay to arrive before they opened the bag and he said they were amazed by how organized it was. Nothing was "naughty", so he gathered the bag and brought it to me. We met Iman, our cabin attendant, and he is awesome! We walked through a few things we needed and when we came back from dinner, they were all handled. I finished the unpacking - after having to get more hangers (yes, with 12 bags, we used a ton of hangers), and made sure things were picked up for our turn-down while we were at dinner. While at dinner, Jay collected our drink order for our show tonight. Dinner: 150 Central Park - The bread!!!! The bread is a loaf of 6 chunks (seemingly) soaked in truffle butter - YUM!! I ate waaaay too much bread! Kenzie and Kayla didn't want any, so I helped them out. We had a mix of things - halibut, braised short rib (again, yum!), and the Lobster Thermidor, pumpkin bisque, and scallops. Kayla has a tough time with most food, so she asked to order off-menu and got the steak salad from Chops' lunch menu. For dessert we had a couple of the fried cheesecake (yum again), Kenzie got the peanut butter chocolate thing, and Kayla got strawberry ice cream. Ritikesh was our server, and a few of us had cappuccino with dessert. When Kenzie asked for vanilla for hers, he said he had some because he got it by accident earlier that day when he got the lemon liquor for the garden martini. So we all had vanilla cappuccinos. They were great. Oh - we had one of the famous garden martinis too! That is now Cindy's new favorite drink! It was cool that he made it tableside! Aqua Show: We watched it from our suite deck and that was a really cool thing! This is our first aqua-theater suite and watching the show from our balcony was the reason Tim wanted it! Bucket list item - check! After the show, everyone pooped out and migrated to their own spaces. The first day was a huge success! Side note about the room so I don't forget to tell you later: There are outlets behind each nightstand in the master bedroom!!!! I probably watched every video on the internet about our room and not one of them said anything about outlets behind the nightstands! Let me tell you that this made me VERY happy!! Okay - going to bed! Photo dump coming next...

My rule of thumb has always been: Stairs down are always an option, stairs up 2 decks are an option, stairs up 3 decks or more will depend on my mood, destination and time available. Save the elevators for those who need them. Also allows me to indulge more at the bars and restaurants...lol