mbk999

Unfortunately it sounds like you ran into someone who really didn't know what they were doing.  The person helping us looked to be undergoing some on the job training as she had someone over her shoulder helping her.   Maybe you got her before she got assistance....

Thank you for taking the time to blog.  I hope you enjoy the cruise!  No doubt that you will!

Yes.   I just got off the Allure and there were two Formal nights, Day two and Day six.   We saw the full range, t-shirts and gym shorts to tuxes and ball gowns.   There were enough of each that you won't feel out of place wearing whatever you want to wear.   

There are so many blogs to read this week it is wonderful!!!  Just wanted to say a quick thanks to all who are taking the time out of their vacations to help those of us stuck in dry dock!  ☺️

Just remember to pack your luggage and leave all that baggage at home.  

Final thoughts:
Pros:
Loved the Allure, great ship   we are confirmed big ship fans. The Entertainment in general was fantastic Food was decent, some better than others but overall I'd give it a B Exception was Chops, that gets an F  and it will be a long time before venturing into another Chops In general the staff was very friendly and pleasant.  Guest Services wasn't the friendliest but they are usually dealing with problems or complaints so as long as they aren't rude, they get a pass from us. Check-In / Disembarkation was simple Cons:
Unorganized Embarkation but that might just be because of the previous delayed disembarkation Did not care for the MDR aesthetics, we prefer the Grand multi-level MDRs Schooner Bar was a let down.  The Vision-Class schooner Bars are way better.  Plus the drinks were terrible.  I loved the Enchantment Schooner Sidecar, the one on the Allure was totally different.  I tried another drink and it was bad too.  I thought it might have been me.  Maybe i've grown soft in my drinking or something.  Then I saw a group at trivia who clearly enjoyed their alcohol, and one or two of their drinks were undrinkable as well The walkways can be narrow around the pool deck.  If there's a scooter or stroller coming, it's a one-way lane.  The outside deck on deck 5 is also narrow.  The jogging track takes up most of the deck. The following is for information purposes as it comes up often in the boards, it's not meant as an editorial:
Dress Code -    there really wasn't a dress code, pretty much anything went.  T-shirts and shorts were prevalent, even in Chops and Giovanni's.  However, there was enough mix on Formal night where either crowd wouldn't be out of place.  There were enough Tuxes, Suits, Ballgowns where if you wanted to dress up, there were others equally as dressy.  I also saw enough T-shirts and shorts where that wasn't out of place.   I just don't want to be the one guy in shorts when everyone else is in a Tux or vice versa and that would not have been an issue.   Smoke:  it is noticeable around the pool bar on the port side where there are several tables with ash trays.  We had started out on the starboard side and hadn't realized there was smoking until we went to the other side to hunt for shade.   The smoking impact on the Casino was interesting.  There was a smoking and a non-smoking section and I did not find the Non-Smoking section to be that bad.   It was too much for my wife but she is hyper-sensitive to smoke but even she said it wasn't as bad as other ships.  The smoke did drift up the Starboard aft stairwell.  You could tell by Deck 6 (casino on deck 4) and one night you could start to get a whiff around Deck 8.   The smoke smell definitely encroached into that elevator bank so we just made sure not to use that one.    Still prevalent but much less than on the Enchantment.

Final thoughts:
Pros:
Loved the Allure, great ship   we are confirmed big ship fans. The Entertainment in general was fantastic Food was decent, some better than others but overall I'd give it a B Exception was Chops, that gets an F  and it will be a long time before venturing into another Chops In general the staff was very friendly and pleasant.  Guest Services wasn't the friendliest but they are usually dealing with problems or complaints so as long as they aren't rude, they get a pass from us. Check-In / Disembarkation was simple Cons:
Unorganized Embarkation but that might just be because of the previous delayed disembarkation Did not care for the MDR aesthetics, we prefer the Grand multi-level MDRs Schooner Bar was a let down.  The Vision-Class schooner Bars are way better.  Plus the drinks were terrible.  I loved the Enchantment Schooner Sidecar, the one on the Allure was totally different.  I tried another drink and it was bad too.  I thought it might have been me.  Maybe i've grown soft in my drinking or something.  Then I saw a group at trivia who clearly enjoyed their alcohol, and one or two of their drinks were undrinkable as well The walkways can be narrow around the pool deck.  If there's a scooter or stroller coming, it's a one-way lane.  The outside deck on deck 5 is also narrow.  The jogging track takes up most of the deck. The following is for information purposes as it comes up often in the boards, it's not meant as an editorial:
Dress Code -    there really wasn't a dress code, pretty much anything went.  T-shirts and shorts were prevalent, even in Chops and Giovanni's.  However, there was enough mix on Formal night where either crowd wouldn't be out of place.  There were enough Tuxes, Suits, Ballgowns where if you wanted to dress up, there were others equally as dressy.  I also saw enough T-shirts and shorts where that wasn't out of place.   I just don't want to be the one guy in shorts when everyone else is in a Tux or vice versa and that would not have been an issue.   Smoke:  it is noticeable around the pool bar on the port side where there are several tables with ash trays.  We had started out on the starboard side and hadn't realized there was smoking until we went to the other side to hunt for shade.   The smoking impact on the Casino was interesting.  There was a smoking and a non-smoking section and I did not find the Non-Smoking section to be that bad.   It was too much for my wife but she is hyper-sensitive to smoke but even she said it wasn't as bad as other ships.  The smoke did drift up the Starboard aft stairwell.  You could tell by Deck 6 (casino on deck 4) and one night you could start to get a whiff around Deck 8.   The smoke smell definitely encroached into that elevator bank so we just made sure not to use that one.    Still prevalent but much less than on the Enchantment.

Final thoughts:
Pros:
Loved the Allure, great ship   we are confirmed big ship fans. The Entertainment in general was fantastic Food was decent, some better than others but overall I'd give it a B Exception was Chops, that gets an F  and it will be a long time before venturing into another Chops In general the staff was very friendly and pleasant.  Guest Services wasn't the friendliest but they are usually dealing with problems or complaints so as long as they aren't rude, they get a pass from us. Check-In / Disembarkation was simple Cons:
Unorganized Embarkation but that might just be because of the previous delayed disembarkation Did not care for the MDR aesthetics, we prefer the Grand multi-level MDRs Schooner Bar was a let down.  The Vision-Class schooner Bars are way better.  Plus the drinks were terrible.  I loved the Enchantment Schooner Sidecar, the one on the Allure was totally different.  I tried another drink and it was bad too.  I thought it might have been me.  Maybe i've grown soft in my drinking or something.  Then I saw a group at trivia who clearly enjoyed their alcohol, and one or two of their drinks were undrinkable as well The walkways can be narrow around the pool deck.  If there's a scooter or stroller coming, it's a one-way lane.  The outside deck on deck 5 is also narrow.  The jogging track takes up most of the deck. The following is for information purposes as it comes up often in the boards, it's not meant as an editorial:
Dress Code -    there really wasn't a dress code, pretty much anything went.  T-shirts and shorts were prevalent, even in Chops and Giovanni's.  However, there was enough mix on Formal night where either crowd wouldn't be out of place.  There were enough Tuxes, Suits, Ballgowns where if you wanted to dress up, there were others equally as dressy.  I also saw enough T-shirts and shorts where that wasn't out of place.   I just don't want to be the one guy in shorts when everyone else is in a Tux or vice versa and that would not have been an issue.   Smoke:  it is noticeable around the pool bar on the port side where there are several tables with ash trays.  We had started out on the starboard side and hadn't realized there was smoking until we went to the other side to hunt for shade.   The smoking impact on the Casino was interesting.  There was a smoking and a non-smoking section and I did not find the Non-Smoking section to be that bad.   It was too much for my wife but she is hyper-sensitive to smoke but even she said it wasn't as bad as other ships.  The smoke did drift up the Starboard aft stairwell.  You could tell by Deck 6 (casino on deck 4) and one night you could start to get a whiff around Deck 8.   The smoke smell definitely encroached into that elevator bank so we just made sure not to use that one.    Still prevalent but much less than on the Enchantment.

Saturday:  Last Sea Day was pretty much a repeat of the other sea days.  Beach chair, pool, drinks.  we had thought about going to the Aqua show, going to bingo, but we were content watching the ocean go by.    Packed up in the afternoon, WIndjammer for dinner, bought some pictures, and just chilled.

Final thoughts:
Pros:
Loved the Allure, great ship   we are confirmed big ship fans. The Entertainment in general was fantastic Food was decent, some better than others but overall I'd give it a B Exception was Chops, that gets an F  and it will be a long time before venturing into another Chops In general the staff was very friendly and pleasant.  Guest Services wasn't the friendliest but they are usually dealing with problems or complaints so as long as they aren't rude, they get a pass from us. Check-In / Disembarkation was simple Cons:
Unorganized Embarkation but that might just be because of the previous delayed disembarkation Did not care for the MDR aesthetics, we prefer the Grand multi-level MDRs Schooner Bar was a let down.  The Vision-Class schooner Bars are way better.  Plus the drinks were terrible.  I loved the Enchantment Schooner Sidecar, the one on the Allure was totally different.  I tried another drink and it was bad too.  I thought it might have been me.  Maybe i've grown soft in my drinking or something.  Then I saw a group at trivia who clearly enjoyed their alcohol, and one or two of their drinks were undrinkable as well The walkways can be narrow around the pool deck.  If there's a scooter or stroller coming, it's a one-way lane.  The outside deck on deck 5 is also narrow.  The jogging track takes up most of the deck. The following is for information purposes as it comes up often in the boards, it's not meant as an editorial:
Dress Code -    there really wasn't a dress code, pretty much anything went.  T-shirts and shorts were prevalent, even in Chops and Giovanni's.  However, there was enough mix on Formal night where either crowd wouldn't be out of place.  There were enough Tuxes, Suits, Ballgowns where if you wanted to dress up, there were others equally as dressy.  I also saw enough T-shirts and shorts where that wasn't out of place.   I just don't want to be the one guy in shorts when everyone else is in a Tux or vice versa and that would not have been an issue.   Smoke:  it is noticeable around the pool bar on the port side where there are several tables with ash trays.  We had started out on the starboard side and hadn't realized there was smoking until we went to the other side to hunt for shade.   The smoking impact on the Casino was interesting.  There was a smoking and a non-smoking section and I did not find the Non-Smoking section to be that bad.   It was too much for my wife but she is hyper-sensitive to smoke but even she said it wasn't as bad as other ships.  The smoke did drift up the Starboard aft stairwell.  You could tell by Deck 6 (casino on deck 4) and one night you could start to get a whiff around Deck 8.   The smoke smell definitely encroached into that elevator bank so we just made sure not to use that one.    Still prevalent but much less than on the Enchantment.

Friday:  Labadee 
We were late getting to port and we were delayed getting off the ship (1015-1030).  Unusually for us, we had no plans or really no idea where to go (no cabana).   We walked over to the beach lounger section on Adrenaline Beach.  We didn't get a lounger but got two chairs under a palm tree and it was great.   Despite the 6K passengers, it wasn't overrun on the island (imo).  Except maybe for lunch.  Decent buffet but one time through took about 20 minutes.  
Bar service was a bit lacking.  I know it's a pain to truck over the supplies but they ran out of margarita mix by 1:30 (at the main bar over by Nelle's Beach).  We stayed until 4ish when we were chased off by a storm.  
Tonight was lobster night and we cancelled our MTD reservation and went to the Windjammer.  Neither of us are that crazy about lobster and it was going to be crazier in the MDR than the night before.  Plus it was Indian night up at the WIndjammer.  Dinner at the Windjammer, who knew?  I didn't know what to expect and we really liked it.  I thought the food was good.
Blue Planet was the main show.   The performers were good but the show was just okay.  I hated the song arrangements.  U2's Pride is a stadium anthem, it doesn't work as a Broadway stage song.
We went to the Quest and it was a good time.  

Wednesday (St Maarten):
Bistro for breakfast and then we had an island tour at 8:45 .  It had been a few years since we'd been so we opted to see the island again and while some of the views were great, it was sad to see the destruction from last year.   Some buildings are just walls and floors, power line towers are just laying on the mountain, boats are still submerged in the harbor.  We stopped somewhere and got some pastries and bread which was very good.   We got back to the ship around 1230 so we decided to just get back on the ship and enjoy it.   The overall goal for this cruise was to relax as much as possible and it's been a stressful year.  Sitting by the pool with Simon/Tamra drinks worked for me. 
No pier runners as we sailed away....
This was our second Giovanni's night and it was better than the first.  Our waiter Asu was great.  My wife wanted what I previously had (gnocchi with the Bolganese sauce) but he had other ideas.  "No no, i'll bring you that and the pasta of the day to share.  Madam, you like shrimp?  I'll bring you that.  Sir, you get the Filet" . both were very good.  That was a great meal, both with food and service.
We caught How to Train your Dragon after dinner which was good but not as good as Ice Games.  This was our make-up reservation for Oceanaria as well and we liked it just as much the second time.
Another good night.

Friday:  Labadee 
We were late getting to port and we were delayed getting off the ship (1015-1030).  Unusually for us, we had no plans or really no idea where to go (no cabana).   We walked over to the beach lounger section on Adrenaline Beach.  We didn't get a lounger but got two chairs under a palm tree and it was great.   Despite the 6K passengers, it wasn't overrun on the island (imo).  Except maybe for lunch.  Decent buffet but one time through took about 20 minutes.  
Bar service was a bit lacking.  I know it's a pain to truck over the supplies but they ran out of margarita mix by 1:30 (at the main bar over by Nelle's Beach).  We stayed until 4ish when we were chased off by a storm.  
Tonight was lobster night and we cancelled our MTD reservation and went to the Windjammer.  Neither of us are that crazy about lobster and it was going to be crazier in the MDR than the night before.  Plus it was Indian night up at the WIndjammer.  Dinner at the Windjammer, who knew?  I didn't know what to expect and we really liked it.  I thought the food was good.
Blue Planet was the main show.   The performers were good but the show was just okay.  I hated the song arrangements.  U2's Pride is a stadium anthem, it doesn't work as a Broadway stage song.
We went to the Quest and it was a good time.  

Wednesday (St Maarten):
Bistro for breakfast and then we had an island tour at 8:45 .  It had been a few years since we'd been so we opted to see the island again and while some of the views were great, it was sad to see the destruction from last year.   Some buildings are just walls and floors, power line towers are just laying on the mountain, boats are still submerged in the harbor.  We stopped somewhere and got some pastries and bread which was very good.   We got back to the ship around 1230 so we decided to just get back on the ship and enjoy it.   The overall goal for this cruise was to relax as much as possible and it's been a stressful year.  Sitting by the pool with Simon/Tamra drinks worked for me. 
No pier runners as we sailed away....
This was our second Giovanni's night and it was better than the first.  Our waiter Asu was great.  My wife wanted what I previously had (gnocchi with the Bolganese sauce) but he had other ideas.  "No no, i'll bring you that and the pasta of the day to share.  Madam, you like shrimp?  I'll bring you that.  Sir, you get the Filet" . both were very good.  That was a great meal, both with food and service.
We caught How to Train your Dragon after dinner which was good but not as good as Ice Games.  This was our make-up reservation for Oceanaria as well and we liked it just as much the second time.
Another good night.

Monday (Sea Day):
Breakfast was at the Bistro (a theme for the week) and we hit the pool deck.  We were on the Starboard forward pool and go some decent seats on the third row.  The pool could get crowded but you could always get a spot to cool off.  Simon and Tamra at the Starboard side pool bar were great.   We tried lunch at the Wipeout Cafe but that's more of a place to grab a burger or hot dog.
We left the pool deck a little early to catch the 5:00 Ice Games which was great.   And we were at Giovanni's by our 6:00 reservation.  We really enjoyed Giovannis, the service was great and the food was really good (imo).  It might not be the absolute best Italian food (that was my Grandmother's kitchen) but we thought it was really good.  We liked it enough to cancel 150 and book Giovannis again.  i know some are shaking their heads at that move but my wife isn't a big foodie and she was happy with Giovanni's so it worked out. 
We were able to catch Oceanaria that night and we really enjoyed it.  It's our first time on an Oasis Class ship and we were blown away.  I think both Oceanaria and Ice Games are drop what you're doing and go see them events.

Sunday Continued:
Once we got on board, we followed message board advice and went right to the dining room to make reservations.   We had a Bogo and one other voucher from AAA.   They gave us Samba Grill the first night and Giovanni's the first second night.  We switched out Samba for Chops, booked 150 Central Park for Wednesday.  We had My Time Dining so we made 6:00PM reservations for the other days.   With that done, on to lunch!   We decided to try the Solarium Bistro and we liked that alot.  There wasn't as large of a selection as Windjammer but the food was good and we got ahead of the crowd.     We left the Solarium and went to the pool deck for our first drink.   As soon as we sat down, the announcement was made that the rooms were ready.   When I mentioned the hump balcony, I forgot to add that the bed was by the bathroom and the couch by the balcony.  It didn't matter to us but I know others prefer the reverse.  Continuing our good travel luck, our bags were actually outside the room, so we were able to unpack, get changed, and back up to the pool deck by 2:00.  
After the muster drill  (leaving that was the only time the ship felt claustrophobic), we watched sail away from the balcony and got ready for dinner.   One word about Chops... awful.  the service was bad, the entrees weren't good, it was just bad.   The host looked like we were bothering him.  The server was inattentive and absent for 15-20 min at a stretch.  THe apps were okay but my wife's chicken was dry and tough, my NY strip was cooked perfectly but was more like sirloin.  We should have complained but we were an hour in and who to complain to?  The surly host or the ghost waiter?  As this was our second lackluster Chops experience, we decided lesson learned on Chops and hoped for better at Giovannis.
We had reservations for Oceanaria but that was cancelled for the evening due to conditions so we checked out some of the music venues in the Promenade.  I applaud Royal for the broadway productions but we skipped Mamma Mia.  147 min based on Abba music is too much for us.  Grease, We WIll Rock YOu, Chicago, we're in.

Sunday Continued:
Once we got on board, we followed message board advice and went right to the dining room to make reservations.   We had a Bogo and one other voucher from AAA.   They gave us Samba Grill the first night and Giovanni's the first second night.  We switched out Samba for Chops, booked 150 Central Park for Wednesday.  We had My Time Dining so we made 6:00PM reservations for the other days.   With that done, on to lunch!   We decided to try the Solarium Bistro and we liked that alot.  There wasn't as large of a selection as Windjammer but the food was good and we got ahead of the crowd.     We left the Solarium and went to the pool deck for our first drink.   As soon as we sat down, the announcement was made that the rooms were ready.   When I mentioned the hump balcony, I forgot to add that the bed was by the bathroom and the couch by the balcony.  It didn't matter to us but I know others prefer the reverse.  Continuing our good travel luck, our bags were actually outside the room, so we were able to unpack, get changed, and back up to the pool deck by 2:00.  
After the muster drill  (leaving that was the only time the ship felt claustrophobic), we watched sail away from the balcony and got ready for dinner.   One word about Chops... awful.  the service was bad, the entrees weren't good, it was just bad.   The host looked like we were bothering him.  The server was inattentive and absent for 15-20 min at a stretch.  THe apps were okay but my wife's chicken was dry and tough, my NY strip was cooked perfectly but was more like sirloin.  We should have complained but we were an hour in and who to complain to?  The surly host or the ghost waiter?  As this was our second lackluster Chops experience, we decided lesson learned on Chops and hoped for better at Giovannis.
We had reservations for Oceanaria but that was cancelled for the evening due to conditions so we checked out some of the music venues in the Promenade.  I applaud Royal for the broadway productions but we skipped Mamma Mia.  147 min based on Abba music is too much for us.  Grease, We WIll Rock YOu, Chicago, we're in.

Wednesday (St Maarten):
Bistro for breakfast and then we had an island tour at 8:45 .  It had been a few years since we'd been so we opted to see the island again and while some of the views were great, it was sad to see the destruction from last year.   Some buildings are just walls and floors, power line towers are just laying on the mountain, boats are still submerged in the harbor.  We stopped somewhere and got some pastries and bread which was very good.   We got back to the ship around 1230 so we decided to just get back on the ship and enjoy it.   The overall goal for this cruise was to relax as much as possible and it's been a stressful year.  Sitting by the pool with Simon/Tamra drinks worked for me. 
No pier runners as we sailed away....
This was our second Giovanni's night and it was better than the first.  Our waiter Asu was great.  My wife wanted what I previously had (gnocchi with the Bolganese sauce) but he had other ideas.  "No no, i'll bring you that and the pasta of the day to share.  Madam, you like shrimp?  I'll bring you that.  Sir, you get the Filet" . both were very good.  That was a great meal, both with food and service.
We caught How to Train your Dragon after dinner which was good but not as good as Ice Games.  This was our make-up reservation for Oceanaria as well and we liked it just as much the second time.
Another good night.

Monday (Sea Day):
Breakfast was at the Bistro (a theme for the week) and we hit the pool deck.  We were on the Starboard forward pool and go some decent seats on the third row.  The pool could get crowded but you could always get a spot to cool off.  Simon and Tamra at the Starboard side pool bar were great.   We tried lunch at the Wipeout Cafe but that's more of a place to grab a burger or hot dog.
We left the pool deck a little early to catch the 5:00 Ice Games which was great.   And we were at Giovanni's by our 6:00 reservation.  We really enjoyed Giovannis, the service was great and the food was really good (imo).  It might not be the absolute best Italian food (that was my Grandmother's kitchen) but we thought it was really good.  We liked it enough to cancel 150 and book Giovannis again.  i know some are shaking their heads at that move but my wife isn't a big foodie and she was happy with Giovanni's so it worked out. 
We were able to catch Oceanaria that night and we really enjoyed it.  It's our first time on an Oasis Class ship and we were blown away.  I think both Oceanaria and Ice Games are drop what you're doing and go see them events.

Sunday Continued:
Once we got on board, we followed message board advice and went right to the dining room to make reservations.   We had a Bogo and one other voucher from AAA.   They gave us Samba Grill the first night and Giovanni's the first second night.  We switched out Samba for Chops, booked 150 Central Park for Wednesday.  We had My Time Dining so we made 6:00PM reservations for the other days.   With that done, on to lunch!   We decided to try the Solarium Bistro and we liked that alot.  There wasn't as large of a selection as Windjammer but the food was good and we got ahead of the crowd.     We left the Solarium and went to the pool deck for our first drink.   As soon as we sat down, the announcement was made that the rooms were ready.   When I mentioned the hump balcony, I forgot to add that the bed was by the bathroom and the couch by the balcony.  It didn't matter to us but I know others prefer the reverse.  Continuing our good travel luck, our bags were actually outside the room, so we were able to unpack, get changed, and back up to the pool deck by 2:00.  
After the muster drill  (leaving that was the only time the ship felt claustrophobic), we watched sail away from the balcony and got ready for dinner.   One word about Chops... awful.  the service was bad, the entrees weren't good, it was just bad.   The host looked like we were bothering him.  The server was inattentive and absent for 15-20 min at a stretch.  THe apps were okay but my wife's chicken was dry and tough, my NY strip was cooked perfectly but was more like sirloin.  We should have complained but we were an hour in and who to complain to?  The surly host or the ghost waiter?  As this was our second lackluster Chops experience, we decided lesson learned on Chops and hoped for better at Giovannis.
We had reservations for Oceanaria but that was cancelled for the evening due to conditions so we checked out some of the music venues in the Promenade.  I applaud Royal for the broadway productions but we skipped Mamma Mia.  147 min based on Abba music is too much for us.  Grease, We WIll Rock YOu, Chicago, we're in.

Friday:  Labadee 
We were late getting to port and we were delayed getting off the ship (1015-1030).  Unusually for us, we had no plans or really no idea where to go (no cabana).   We walked over to the beach lounger section on Adrenaline Beach.  We didn't get a lounger but got two chairs under a palm tree and it was great.   Despite the 6K passengers, it wasn't overrun on the island (imo).  Except maybe for lunch.  Decent buffet but one time through took about 20 minutes.  
Bar service was a bit lacking.  I know it's a pain to truck over the supplies but they ran out of margarita mix by 1:30 (at the main bar over by Nelle's Beach).  We stayed until 4ish when we were chased off by a storm.  
Tonight was lobster night and we cancelled our MTD reservation and went to the Windjammer.  Neither of us are that crazy about lobster and it was going to be crazier in the MDR than the night before.  Plus it was Indian night up at the WIndjammer.  Dinner at the Windjammer, who knew?  I didn't know what to expect and we really liked it.  I thought the food was good.
Blue Planet was the main show.   The performers were good but the show was just okay.  I hated the song arrangements.  U2's Pride is a stadium anthem, it doesn't work as a Broadway stage song.
We went to the Quest and it was a good time.  

Wednesday (St Maarten):
Bistro for breakfast and then we had an island tour at 8:45 .  It had been a few years since we'd been so we opted to see the island again and while some of the views were great, it was sad to see the destruction from last year.   Some buildings are just walls and floors, power line towers are just laying on the mountain, boats are still submerged in the harbor.  We stopped somewhere and got some pastries and bread which was very good.   We got back to the ship around 1230 so we decided to just get back on the ship and enjoy it.   The overall goal for this cruise was to relax as much as possible and it's been a stressful year.  Sitting by the pool with Simon/Tamra drinks worked for me. 
No pier runners as we sailed away....
This was our second Giovanni's night and it was better than the first.  Our waiter Asu was great.  My wife wanted what I previously had (gnocchi with the Bolganese sauce) but he had other ideas.  "No no, i'll bring you that and the pasta of the day to share.  Madam, you like shrimp?  I'll bring you that.  Sir, you get the Filet" . both were very good.  That was a great meal, both with food and service.
We caught How to Train your Dragon after dinner which was good but not as good as Ice Games.  This was our make-up reservation for Oceanaria as well and we liked it just as much the second time.
Another good night.

Thursday:  San Juan
Guess where we had breakfast...   We had never been to San Juan before so our plan was to get off the ship around 7:30-8:00 and just walk around old San Juan.  We really enjoyed just wandering through the old city, the forts, and the gate.  We are looking forward to going back.    We walked around for a few hours and got back on the ship a little after noon (1:30 all aboard).  We were delayed leaving as there were still 4 people not on board as of 1:30.   Two came back around 1:40 but we were still missing two.  Finally at 1:50 they appeared on the docks.  Note:  if you're going to be a pier runner (intentionally or unintentionally) you at least need to be able to walk fast.  The two stragglers could not move fast at all.  We didn't leave until around 2:30.  Whether that was the reason or not, we were doing about 21.5 knots that whole night to Labadee.
Dinner at the MDR with 6:00 reservations.  The line for no reservations was out into the elevator lobby so they were able to find an empty table for us up on Deck 5 which is for traditional dining.  My wife got the pork chop and it was good.  I got the Ahi Tuna and it was delicious.  Not good by ship standard but just outright good.   Big thick piece of Tuna, cooked correctly, piping hot.   
Earl Turner was the headliner and he was fantastic.  I must say the entertainment was great all week.

Sunday Continued:
Once we got on board, we followed message board advice and went right to the dining room to make reservations.   We had a Bogo and one other voucher from AAA.   They gave us Samba Grill the first night and Giovanni's the first second night.  We switched out Samba for Chops, booked 150 Central Park for Wednesday.  We had My Time Dining so we made 6:00PM reservations for the other days.   With that done, on to lunch!   We decided to try the Solarium Bistro and we liked that alot.  There wasn't as large of a selection as Windjammer but the food was good and we got ahead of the crowd.     We left the Solarium and went to the pool deck for our first drink.   As soon as we sat down, the announcement was made that the rooms were ready.   When I mentioned the hump balcony, I forgot to add that the bed was by the bathroom and the couch by the balcony.  It didn't matter to us but I know others prefer the reverse.  Continuing our good travel luck, our bags were actually outside the room, so we were able to unpack, get changed, and back up to the pool deck by 2:00.  
After the muster drill  (leaving that was the only time the ship felt claustrophobic), we watched sail away from the balcony and got ready for dinner.   One word about Chops... awful.  the service was bad, the entrees weren't good, it was just bad.   The host looked like we were bothering him.  The server was inattentive and absent for 15-20 min at a stretch.  THe apps were okay but my wife's chicken was dry and tough, my NY strip was cooked perfectly but was more like sirloin.  We should have complained but we were an hour in and who to complain to?  The surly host or the ghost waiter?  As this was our second lackluster Chops experience, we decided lesson learned on Chops and hoped for better at Giovannis.
We had reservations for Oceanaria but that was cancelled for the evening due to conditions so we checked out some of the music venues in the Promenade.  I applaud Royal for the broadway productions but we skipped Mamma Mia.  147 min based on Abba music is too much for us.  Grease, We WIll Rock YOu, Chicago, we're in.

Friday:  Labadee 
We were late getting to port and we were delayed getting off the ship (1015-1030).  Unusually for us, we had no plans or really no idea where to go (no cabana).   We walked over to the beach lounger section on Adrenaline Beach.  We didn't get a lounger but got two chairs under a palm tree and it was great.   Despite the 6K passengers, it wasn't overrun on the island (imo).  Except maybe for lunch.  Decent buffet but one time through took about 20 minutes.  
Bar service was a bit lacking.  I know it's a pain to truck over the supplies but they ran out of margarita mix by 1:30 (at the main bar over by Nelle's Beach).  We stayed until 4ish when we were chased off by a storm.  
Tonight was lobster night and we cancelled our MTD reservation and went to the Windjammer.  Neither of us are that crazy about lobster and it was going to be crazier in the MDR than the night before.  Plus it was Indian night up at the WIndjammer.  Dinner at the Windjammer, who knew?  I didn't know what to expect and we really liked it.  I thought the food was good.
Blue Planet was the main show.   The performers were good but the show was just okay.  I hated the song arrangements.  U2's Pride is a stadium anthem, it doesn't work as a Broadway stage song.
We went to the Quest and it was a good time.