irishgirl0525

Ok! this is very late and not live at all, but here is my blog! I'm sorry it wasn't live, I was just so ready to sleep by the end of the day!
Departure day-Saturday 3/2-

We woke up in NJ to 4 inches of snow on Saturday morning, but thankfully, we did not have a huge delay. Our flight took off about 2 hours late which was annoying, but I was so glad that we were not on the Southwest flight that clipped another plane’s wing and caused a huge delay for those passengers.

After landing we went to visit our friends in Coral Springs and since we were late getting in, we were much later arriving in Miami than we had anticipated. My husband dropped me and my sound asleep daughter off at the Hyatt Regency at 9:30, and then had to drive the car to Miami airport to drop it off, then uber back. Not the most convenient of plans, but it worked. While he did that, I repacked our suitcases for the 3rd time and prepared our embarkation day bag.  Next time, I leave 25% of what I took at home!

Embarkation Day-Sunday 3/3

Our plan was to hit the terminal between 10 and 10:30 AM. We caught an Uber and arrived at about 10:25, dropped out bags with a very helpful porter whom we tipped well, and then headed in. 

There were others their ahead of us, but not a huge crowd.  It was 10:31 when we went up the escalator, and we walked onto the ship at 10:45. I couldn’t believe it. We had just gotten our picture taken in front of the fake background of the ship when they announced they were boarding Key passengers and we were literally standing right there. We were almost the first passengers on the ship! I felt that the Key paid for itself in that moment!

We got on board, took it all in for a few minutes, and headed to the Amber theater to check our carry on bags which was another Key perk and a very welcome one.  We headed to Sorrento’s for a slice of pizza (and Mai Tai’s, our first official drink) because we needed something to tide ourselves over until our 12:30 Chops lunch reservation.  After that we headed to the pool deck, changed into swimsuits and enjoyed about an hour at the beach pool (and some more mai tais!)

Lunch at Chops followed. We had a lovely waitress named Yuting from China, who took a liking to our daughter.  We ordered the Chops burger, which I was looking forward to.  It was not bad, but just ok. I was sorry I hadn’t ordered the tenderloin. I also wanted to try the goat cheese salad and the gruyere tots but I knew they were not offered for embarkation day lunch. I did ask though, just in case but they were not able to do it, too much going on the first day and those items are time consuming from what I was told. Not a big deal at all, we still got mashed potatoes and mac and cheese!

Our room was an extra large balcony on deck 10, starboard side. It was perfect for the 3 of us. We unpacked and organized the room until it was time for muster, which wasn’t too terribly painful, and then we were in our room for sail away.

We were in Silk on deck 5 for dinner and we shared a table with another family of 3 with a 7 year old boy and we got along great with them. They also had the deluxe drink package so when the servers with shots came around each night, we never turned them down. 

Our waiter and assistant waiter were very nice, but the first few nights, drink service was extremely slow. It did get better by the end of the week. I know they are really busy and we weren’t in a hurry, it really was not a big deal.  They took great care of us throughout the week. I ordered an appetizer plus escargot every night that we dined there, and one night I asked the headwaiter about having savory bites that I had heard about, and he made sure they were there on Wednesday night. (BTW, I am at a loss for why these are missed. They were kind of dry and odd but we ate them because it was a special request and I didn’t want to be a jerk.


 
We got Shannon signed up for Adventure Ocean after dinner that night as we had missed sign up that afternoon. She was thrilled to go and play, and that gave us a chance to walk to the Boardwalk for some margaritas.  We realized that Ocean Aria was about to start, and lo and behold, there were special seats for The Key, so we got a great spot to watch the show, which we thoroughly enjoyed. I kept wondering how they allow for the forward movement of the ship when they start a dive to where they finish but they had it figured out so I tried to stop worrying about it ?

We headed back to Sabor for margaritas from inside the restaurant, where they were decidedly better than the ones we got at the bar out front. I tried the Avocado margarita which was very good, and I can’t remember which one Ken had. We got the guacamole to go and headed to pick up the little one. 

Ken went back out to get some drinks for the room so we could enjoy on our balcony. 

It was a long first day but very enjoyable!

Up next-Nassau, where we stayed on the ship.

Ok! this is very late and not live at all, but here is my blog! I'm sorry it wasn't live, I was just so ready to sleep by the end of the day!
Departure day-Saturday 3/2-

We woke up in NJ to 4 inches of snow on Saturday morning, but thankfully, we did not have a huge delay. Our flight took off about 2 hours late which was annoying, but I was so glad that we were not on the Southwest flight that clipped another plane’s wing and caused a huge delay for those passengers.

After landing we went to visit our friends in Coral Springs and since we were late getting in, we were much later arriving in Miami than we had anticipated. My husband dropped me and my sound asleep daughter off at the Hyatt Regency at 9:30, and then had to drive the car to Miami airport to drop it off, then uber back. Not the most convenient of plans, but it worked. While he did that, I repacked our suitcases for the 3rd time and prepared our embarkation day bag.  Next time, I leave 25% of what I took at home!

Embarkation Day-Sunday 3/3

Our plan was to hit the terminal between 10 and 10:30 AM. We caught an Uber and arrived at about 10:25, dropped out bags with a very helpful porter whom we tipped well, and then headed in. 

There were others their ahead of us, but not a huge crowd.  It was 10:31 when we went up the escalator, and we walked onto the ship at 10:45. I couldn’t believe it. We had just gotten our picture taken in front of the fake background of the ship when they announced they were boarding Key passengers and we were literally standing right there. We were almost the first passengers on the ship! I felt that the Key paid for itself in that moment!

We got on board, took it all in for a few minutes, and headed to the Amber theater to check our carry on bags which was another Key perk and a very welcome one.  We headed to Sorrento’s for a slice of pizza (and Mai Tai’s, our first official drink) because we needed something to tide ourselves over until our 12:30 Chops lunch reservation.  After that we headed to the pool deck, changed into swimsuits and enjoyed about an hour at the beach pool (and some more mai tais!)

Lunch at Chops followed. We had a lovely waitress named Yuting from China, who took a liking to our daughter.  We ordered the Chops burger, which I was looking forward to.  It was not bad, but just ok. I was sorry I hadn’t ordered the tenderloin. I also wanted to try the goat cheese salad and the gruyere tots but I knew they were not offered for embarkation day lunch. I did ask though, just in case but they were not able to do it, too much going on the first day and those items are time consuming from what I was told. Not a big deal at all, we still got mashed potatoes and mac and cheese!

Our room was an extra large balcony on deck 10, starboard side. It was perfect for the 3 of us. We unpacked and organized the room until it was time for muster, which wasn’t too terribly painful, and then we were in our room for sail away.

We were in Silk on deck 5 for dinner and we shared a table with another family of 3 with a 7 year old boy and we got along great with them. They also had the deluxe drink package so when the servers with shots came around each night, we never turned them down. 

Our waiter and assistant waiter were very nice, but the first few nights, drink service was extremely slow. It did get better by the end of the week. I know they are really busy and we weren’t in a hurry, it really was not a big deal.  They took great care of us throughout the week. I ordered an appetizer plus escargot every night that we dined there, and one night I asked the headwaiter about having savory bites that I had heard about, and he made sure they were there on Wednesday night. (BTW, I am at a loss for why these are missed. They were kind of dry and odd but we ate them because it was a special request and I didn’t want to be a jerk.


 
We got Shannon signed up for Adventure Ocean after dinner that night as we had missed sign up that afternoon. She was thrilled to go and play, and that gave us a chance to walk to the Boardwalk for some margaritas.  We realized that Ocean Aria was about to start, and lo and behold, there were special seats for The Key, so we got a great spot to watch the show, which we thoroughly enjoyed. I kept wondering how they allow for the forward movement of the ship when they start a dive to where they finish but they had it figured out so I tried to stop worrying about it ?

We headed back to Sabor for margaritas from inside the restaurant, where they were decidedly better than the ones we got at the bar out front. I tried the Avocado margarita which was very good, and I can’t remember which one Ken had. We got the guacamole to go and headed to pick up the little one. 

Ken went back out to get some drinks for the room so we could enjoy on our balcony. 

It was a long first day but very enjoyable!

Up next-Nassau, where we stayed on the ship.

Ok! this is very late and not live at all, but here is my blog! I'm sorry it wasn't live, I was just so ready to sleep by the end of the day!
Departure day-Saturday 3/2-

We woke up in NJ to 4 inches of snow on Saturday morning, but thankfully, we did not have a huge delay. Our flight took off about 2 hours late which was annoying, but I was so glad that we were not on the Southwest flight that clipped another plane’s wing and caused a huge delay for those passengers.

After landing we went to visit our friends in Coral Springs and since we were late getting in, we were much later arriving in Miami than we had anticipated. My husband dropped me and my sound asleep daughter off at the Hyatt Regency at 9:30, and then had to drive the car to Miami airport to drop it off, then uber back. Not the most convenient of plans, but it worked. While he did that, I repacked our suitcases for the 3rd time and prepared our embarkation day bag.  Next time, I leave 25% of what I took at home!

Embarkation Day-Sunday 3/3

Our plan was to hit the terminal between 10 and 10:30 AM. We caught an Uber and arrived at about 10:25, dropped out bags with a very helpful porter whom we tipped well, and then headed in. 

There were others their ahead of us, but not a huge crowd.  It was 10:31 when we went up the escalator, and we walked onto the ship at 10:45. I couldn’t believe it. We had just gotten our picture taken in front of the fake background of the ship when they announced they were boarding Key passengers and we were literally standing right there. We were almost the first passengers on the ship! I felt that the Key paid for itself in that moment!

We got on board, took it all in for a few minutes, and headed to the Amber theater to check our carry on bags which was another Key perk and a very welcome one.  We headed to Sorrento’s for a slice of pizza (and Mai Tai’s, our first official drink) because we needed something to tide ourselves over until our 12:30 Chops lunch reservation.  After that we headed to the pool deck, changed into swimsuits and enjoyed about an hour at the beach pool (and some more mai tais!)

Lunch at Chops followed. We had a lovely waitress named Yuting from China, who took a liking to our daughter.  We ordered the Chops burger, which I was looking forward to.  It was not bad, but just ok. I was sorry I hadn’t ordered the tenderloin. I also wanted to try the goat cheese salad and the gruyere tots but I knew they were not offered for embarkation day lunch. I did ask though, just in case but they were not able to do it, too much going on the first day and those items are time consuming from what I was told. Not a big deal at all, we still got mashed potatoes and mac and cheese!

Our room was an extra large balcony on deck 10, starboard side. It was perfect for the 3 of us. We unpacked and organized the room until it was time for muster, which wasn’t too terribly painful, and then we were in our room for sail away.

We were in Silk on deck 5 for dinner and we shared a table with another family of 3 with a 7 year old boy and we got along great with them. They also had the deluxe drink package so when the servers with shots came around each night, we never turned them down. 

Our waiter and assistant waiter were very nice, but the first few nights, drink service was extremely slow. It did get better by the end of the week. I know they are really busy and we weren’t in a hurry, it really was not a big deal.  They took great care of us throughout the week. I ordered an appetizer plus escargot every night that we dined there, and one night I asked the headwaiter about having savory bites that I had heard about, and he made sure they were there on Wednesday night. (BTW, I am at a loss for why these are missed. They were kind of dry and odd but we ate them because it was a special request and I didn’t want to be a jerk.


 
We got Shannon signed up for Adventure Ocean after dinner that night as we had missed sign up that afternoon. She was thrilled to go and play, and that gave us a chance to walk to the Boardwalk for some margaritas.  We realized that Ocean Aria was about to start, and lo and behold, there were special seats for The Key, so we got a great spot to watch the show, which we thoroughly enjoyed. I kept wondering how they allow for the forward movement of the ship when they start a dive to where they finish but they had it figured out so I tried to stop worrying about it ?

We headed back to Sabor for margaritas from inside the restaurant, where they were decidedly better than the ones we got at the bar out front. I tried the Avocado margarita which was very good, and I can’t remember which one Ken had. We got the guacamole to go and headed to pick up the little one. 

Ken went back out to get some drinks for the room so we could enjoy on our balcony. 

It was a long first day but very enjoyable!

Up next-Nassau, where we stayed on the ship.

DD8F5D36-2AA5-47B5-B443-0EB14AE56388.MOV DD8F5D36-2AA5-47B5-B443-0EB14AE56388.MOV
 

The Irish 25% of me cried when I read this.
I learned this is the right way to go after my first cruise last year, on Freedom. Dunno why bar service is always so abysmal in the MDR, no matter the ship. ??‍♂️

I can't wait to follow along as we are just a week behind you! can't wait to hear about your experience with The Key and Adventure Ocean! 

Following & Happy 10th!!! ?

Hello all! I will be attempting  to live blog as much as I can from Allure of the Seas, March 3rd Sailing to the Western Caribbean.
I am going with my husband Ken and our 5 year old daughter to celebrate our 10 year anniversary.  We picked Allure because it was recommended as a great kids program and I liked the itinerary, I wanted to go back to Cozumel. 
It's a first cruise for my family and my 3rd, though it has been 11 years since my last cruise on Navigator OTS in March 2008. She looked very different than she does today! Before that I was on 2 different Carnival cruises for which I did very little planning but times have changed.  For 11 months I have pored over posts, obsessively listened to Matt's podcast, and have packed with Sheri on CTTV multiple times. 
My nails are done, our bags are packed (though I will be repacking them tonight because I have way too much stuff) and our plane boarding passes and set sail passes are printed. 
Getting there:
We are flying out of NJ tomorrow morning to FLL and then going to take a detour to visit a friend in Coral Springs. Then we will head to Miami tomorrow night and try to get some sleep!  I fully intend for us to be at the port by 10:30 AM on Sunday and one of the first on the ship to explore and attempt my first public periscope (please bear with me if you are following me!)
The itinerary:
Western Caribbean:
Nassau-We will stay on the ship, which probably won't be as empty as we would like
Cozumel-Beach day at El Cozumelino
Roatan- Private tour with Victor Bodden tours because I want us to be on our own schedule and stay as long or as short as we want to. We are planning on seeing monkeys and sloths, then some lunch at a local place and snorkeling off of West Bay Beach. 
Costa Maya-We will spend the day at Maya Chan beach where we will renew our vows and enjoy some relaxation time. Still back and forth on whether or not we'll leave our LO on the ship for this one (she told us she wants to stay on the ship) but that will likely be a game day decision.
The room and board:
We are in stateroom 10602 large balcony room.  We did bid on a Jr Suite and Crown suite through RoyalUp but I do not have my hopes up that it will come through, the ship has been sold out for several weeks and we didn't bid much. It would be a nice treat though.
We got the deluxe drink package for $44 per day and the Key which we scored at $19.99 and I felt that was well worth it.  We are looking forward to Chops for lunch on embarkation day.   We do plan to eat in the MDR, but have a reservation at 150 Central Park and I plan to reserve Chef's table on board when we figure out what day is best. We may add something else but I enjoy the traditional dining and my husband thinks that sounds good too, getting to know the waiter, table mates, etc.
We love craft IPAs but not expecting to find much of that on board, so it will be morning bloody marys and poolside margaritas.  Any other favorite drink suggestions welcome.  I heard @Twangster order a frozen lemonade with grey goose on periscope today so I'll have to try that, sounded delicious!
Oh and I almost forgot, we are celebrating my husband's birthday while we're there as well which falls on Mardi Gras this year.   Our daughter is very excited about Adventure Ocean and keeps telling us how she can eat dinner with us and then they'll take her to go the "kid's club". I can only hope she likes it as much as she thinks she will.
So much to look forward to and I look forward to sharing it with you all!


 

Hello all! I will be attempting  to live blog as much as I can from Allure of the Seas, March 3rd Sailing to the Western Caribbean.
I am going with my husband Ken and our 5 year old daughter to celebrate our 10 year anniversary.  We picked Allure because it was recommended as a great kids program and I liked the itinerary, I wanted to go back to Cozumel. 
It's a first cruise for my family and my 3rd, though it has been 11 years since my last cruise on Navigator OTS in March 2008. She looked very different than she does today! Before that I was on 2 different Carnival cruises for which I did very little planning but times have changed.  For 11 months I have pored over posts, obsessively listened to Matt's podcast, and have packed with Sheri on CTTV multiple times. 
My nails are done, our bags are packed (though I will be repacking them tonight because I have way too much stuff) and our plane boarding passes and set sail passes are printed. 
Getting there:
We are flying out of NJ tomorrow morning to FLL and then going to take a detour to visit a friend in Coral Springs. Then we will head to Miami tomorrow night and try to get some sleep!  I fully intend for us to be at the port by 10:30 AM on Sunday and one of the first on the ship to explore and attempt my first public periscope (please bear with me if you are following me!)
The itinerary:
Western Caribbean:
Nassau-We will stay on the ship, which probably won't be as empty as we would like
Cozumel-Beach day at El Cozumelino
Roatan- Private tour with Victor Bodden tours because I want us to be on our own schedule and stay as long or as short as we want to. We are planning on seeing monkeys and sloths, then some lunch at a local place and snorkeling off of West Bay Beach. 
Costa Maya-We will spend the day at Maya Chan beach where we will renew our vows and enjoy some relaxation time. Still back and forth on whether or not we'll leave our LO on the ship for this one (she told us she wants to stay on the ship) but that will likely be a game day decision.
The room and board:
We are in stateroom 10602 large balcony room.  We did bid on a Jr Suite and Crown suite through RoyalUp but I do not have my hopes up that it will come through, the ship has been sold out for several weeks and we didn't bid much. It would be a nice treat though.
We got the deluxe drink package for $44 per day and the Key which we scored at $19.99 and I felt that was well worth it.  We are looking forward to Chops for lunch on embarkation day.   We do plan to eat in the MDR, but have a reservation at 150 Central Park and I plan to reserve Chef's table on board when we figure out what day is best. We may add something else but I enjoy the traditional dining and my husband thinks that sounds good too, getting to know the waiter, table mates, etc.
We love craft IPAs but not expecting to find much of that on board, so it will be morning bloody marys and poolside margaritas.  Any other favorite drink suggestions welcome.  I heard @Twangster order a frozen lemonade with grey goose on periscope today so I'll have to try that, sounded delicious!
Oh and I almost forgot, we are celebrating my husband's birthday while we're there as well which falls on Mardi Gras this year.   Our daughter is very excited about Adventure Ocean and keeps telling us how she can eat dinner with us and then they'll take her to go the "kid's club". I can only hope she likes it as much as she thinks she will.
So much to look forward to and I look forward to sharing it with you all!


 

Hello all! I will be attempting  to live blog as much as I can from Allure of the Seas, March 3rd Sailing to the Western Caribbean.
I am going with my husband Ken and our 5 year old daughter to celebrate our 10 year anniversary.  We picked Allure because it was recommended as a great kids program and I liked the itinerary, I wanted to go back to Cozumel. 
It's a first cruise for my family and my 3rd, though it has been 11 years since my last cruise on Navigator OTS in March 2008. She looked very different than she does today! Before that I was on 2 different Carnival cruises for which I did very little planning but times have changed.  For 11 months I have pored over posts, obsessively listened to Matt's podcast, and have packed with Sheri on CTTV multiple times. 
My nails are done, our bags are packed (though I will be repacking them tonight because I have way too much stuff) and our plane boarding passes and set sail passes are printed. 
Getting there:
We are flying out of NJ tomorrow morning to FLL and then going to take a detour to visit a friend in Coral Springs. Then we will head to Miami tomorrow night and try to get some sleep!  I fully intend for us to be at the port by 10:30 AM on Sunday and one of the first on the ship to explore and attempt my first public periscope (please bear with me if you are following me!)
The itinerary:
Western Caribbean:
Nassau-We will stay on the ship, which probably won't be as empty as we would like
Cozumel-Beach day at El Cozumelino
Roatan- Private tour with Victor Bodden tours because I want us to be on our own schedule and stay as long or as short as we want to. We are planning on seeing monkeys and sloths, then some lunch at a local place and snorkeling off of West Bay Beach. 
Costa Maya-We will spend the day at Maya Chan beach where we will renew our vows and enjoy some relaxation time. Still back and forth on whether or not we'll leave our LO on the ship for this one (she told us she wants to stay on the ship) but that will likely be a game day decision.
The room and board:
We are in stateroom 10602 large balcony room.  We did bid on a Jr Suite and Crown suite through RoyalUp but I do not have my hopes up that it will come through, the ship has been sold out for several weeks and we didn't bid much. It would be a nice treat though.
We got the deluxe drink package for $44 per day and the Key which we scored at $19.99 and I felt that was well worth it.  We are looking forward to Chops for lunch on embarkation day.   We do plan to eat in the MDR, but have a reservation at 150 Central Park and I plan to reserve Chef's table on board when we figure out what day is best. We may add something else but I enjoy the traditional dining and my husband thinks that sounds good too, getting to know the waiter, table mates, etc.
We love craft IPAs but not expecting to find much of that on board, so it will be morning bloody marys and poolside margaritas.  Any other favorite drink suggestions welcome.  I heard @Twangster order a frozen lemonade with grey goose on periscope today so I'll have to try that, sounded delicious!
Oh and I almost forgot, we are celebrating my husband's birthday while we're there as well which falls on Mardi Gras this year.   Our daughter is very excited about Adventure Ocean and keeps telling us how she can eat dinner with us and then they'll take her to go the "kid's club". I can only hope she likes it as much as she thinks she will.
So much to look forward to and I look forward to sharing it with you all!


 

Following! And happy 10th anniversary!

Hello all! I will be attempting  to live blog as much as I can from Allure of the Seas, March 3rd Sailing to the Western Caribbean.
I am going with my husband Ken and our 5 year old daughter to celebrate our 10 year anniversary.  We picked Allure because it was recommended as a great kids program and I liked the itinerary, I wanted to go back to Cozumel. 
It's a first cruise for my family and my 3rd, though it has been 11 years since my last cruise on Navigator OTS in March 2008. She looked very different than she does today! Before that I was on 2 different Carnival cruises for which I did very little planning but times have changed.  For 11 months I have pored over posts, obsessively listened to Matt's podcast, and have packed with Sheri on CTTV multiple times. 
My nails are done, our bags are packed (though I will be repacking them tonight because I have way too much stuff) and our plane boarding passes and set sail passes are printed. 
Getting there:
We are flying out of NJ tomorrow morning to FLL and then going to take a detour to visit a friend in Coral Springs. Then we will head to Miami tomorrow night and try to get some sleep!  I fully intend for us to be at the port by 10:30 AM on Sunday and one of the first on the ship to explore and attempt my first public periscope (please bear with me if you are following me!)
The itinerary:
Western Caribbean:
Nassau-We will stay on the ship, which probably won't be as empty as we would like
Cozumel-Beach day at El Cozumelino
Roatan- Private tour with Victor Bodden tours because I want us to be on our own schedule and stay as long or as short as we want to. We are planning on seeing monkeys and sloths, then some lunch at a local place and snorkeling off of West Bay Beach. 
Costa Maya-We will spend the day at Maya Chan beach where we will renew our vows and enjoy some relaxation time. Still back and forth on whether or not we'll leave our LO on the ship for this one (she told us she wants to stay on the ship) but that will likely be a game day decision.
The room and board:
We are in stateroom 10602 large balcony room.  We did bid on a Jr Suite and Crown suite through RoyalUp but I do not have my hopes up that it will come through, the ship has been sold out for several weeks and we didn't bid much. It would be a nice treat though.
We got the deluxe drink package for $44 per day and the Key which we scored at $19.99 and I felt that was well worth it.  We are looking forward to Chops for lunch on embarkation day.   We do plan to eat in the MDR, but have a reservation at 150 Central Park and I plan to reserve Chef's table on board when we figure out what day is best. We may add something else but I enjoy the traditional dining and my husband thinks that sounds good too, getting to know the waiter, table mates, etc.
We love craft IPAs but not expecting to find much of that on board, so it will be morning bloody marys and poolside margaritas.  Any other favorite drink suggestions welcome.  I heard @Twangster order a frozen lemonade with grey goose on periscope today so I'll have to try that, sounded delicious!
Oh and I almost forgot, we are celebrating my husband's birthday while we're there as well which falls on Mardi Gras this year.   Our daughter is very excited about Adventure Ocean and keeps telling us how she can eat dinner with us and then they'll take her to go the "kid's club". I can only hope she likes it as much as she thinks she will.
So much to look forward to and I look forward to sharing it with you all!


 

But don't you know???!!! The Tanzanite mines are running out of gems! Gotta get it while it's still around!!
I've been hearing that since 2003.

Skip the towel creatures class, I’m still waiting for one to show up on our bed at home.  
 

Following!

First off because its the most important thing today ......
Its Single Digit Dance Day!!  

And now for something completely new, from me that is!  A Live Blog (or as live as I can make it) from our 7 night sailing on Symphony of the Seas, March 2-9 with stops in Nassau, St Thomas, and St Kitts/Nevis.  
Just a little background info to get you as close to as excited as I am!! 

We booked this cruise in July 2017 at NextCruise on Anthem of the Seas!  Anthem was the first cruise we had taken in 15 years!!
h
Symphony was still being built and we were stoked to book our first Oasis Class Ship.

I have 9 more days to to tell you all about the rest of the firsts for this cruise so "Come aboard, we're expecting you!"

Just, you know, a little larger....

Have a blast and I look forward to following along! I will have the Key on Allure in May so I'm especially interested in how you like it on Allure and what to expect (seems certain things are a bit different ship to ship). If you could snap a picture of the Allure Key Chops menu that would be fantastic but no worries if you can't ?

We'll be getting off Allure as you are getting on!  I'm sorry we'll miss you, it sounds like our 5 year old daughters would get along very well, we have a social butterfly too! She is very excited about Adventure ocean! 

Would love to hear about your experience or tips once you get home! Our kids will be in different age groups for Adventure Ocean but I already asked if it would be possible for her to bump-up to his grade (in case they want to be together; they might enjoy forming their own social groups/circles ?‍♀️) They said they can certainly do that after observing for a while and feeling confident she would do well with the bigger kids. 

We'll be getting off Allure as you are getting on!  I'm sorry we'll miss you, it sounds like our 5 year old daughters would get along very well, we have a social butterfly too! She is very excited about Adventure ocean! 

While I am a new Royal Caribbean Blog poster, I have been a quiet voyeur on the page for almost one year! We booked our Spring Break family cruise back in May of 2018 during a Kids Sail Free event. Man, did we score an amazing deal! Oasis Class was not in our price range, but the sale was too good to pass up. We are anxiously awaiting (T minus 12 days) our first family vacation (excluding Disney with the whole extended family 2 years ago). 
About us: My husband and I are in our mid/late thirties, and we love to travel. We’ve been on vacation together almost once/per year since we started dating almost 13 years ago. We enjoy going to warm, tropical locations (since we live in a frozen-tundra: Minnesota). I cruised with my family when I was in college and absolutely fell in LOVE with cruising, but, ironically, haven’t been on a second cruise until August of 2018. We already had our March 2019 Spring Break booked and, Surprise! My husband earned President’s Club through his work, and we were treated to a 5-night Italian Cruise on Celebrity Reflection (ADP chartered the entire ship- it was an absolutely unbelievable experience). That was my husband’s first time cruising. He is a rather tall/big drink of water, and his hesitation with cruises in the past was the size of the room/bathroom and feeling claustrophobic. He had NO issues on our Presidents Club cruise and really enjoyed the experience (though it will be very different cruising on a 100% booked Mega Ship @ Spring Break).
We have a seven-year-old son who will be celebrating his eighth birthday on the second day of the cruise, which he is rather excited about. We also have a five-year-old daughter who is an absolute joy, a social butterfly if there ever was one (don’t be surprised if she befriends you and your children at the pool or Adventure Ocean). We normally do adults-only vacations- when our kids were little it was imperative for us to take time to connect as a couple, and we are blessed with amazing parents who BEG to take their grandkids for the week! During our last AO trip in March 2018, I found myself missing the kids like crazy! They are not babies anymore, much easier to go out and do things with (plus SO MUCH FUN to hang out with), and decided that they are old enough to start taking on our “relaxation” vacations. We know this vacation will be more “work” than AO, and we will have times of stress and chaos, but I know we will have an amazing time as a family.
We are flying into Miami on Saturday, March 9th. We booked The Key, so we plan to be at the port as early as possible to board/start enjoying the ship right away! We do not have any specialty dining plans (other than Chops with The Key), and only a beach excursion booked for St. Maarten (Orient and Maho beach). Other than that we plan to hang out as a family by the pool and around the ship, hopefully the kids will enjoy some time at Adventure Ocean, check out the cruise activities (my son is ALMOST heavy enough to try the zip line!) and eat, drink, and play!
With The Key, we have internet access so I will try my best to post updates LIVE. If nothing else I will update you all when we get back. What else will there be to do in the remaining frozen months of MN winter (no more Cruise planning/daydreaming…might as well reminisce with pictures/write-ups of our adventures!)

Looking forward to hearing what you think!

You know you're a cruise nerd when...

I had heard with Ultimate Dining Package some people had been able to eat at a specialty restaurant for lunch. I figured it was worth the try to see if they would seat us.  Sure enough,  they looked us up and happily seated us for lunch. Keep in mind that if you are cruising soon, you can and should ask politely but be prepared for the answer to be no. The rules clearly state lunch with UDP is for sea days only  

This is the first Royal Caribbean cruise ever I have ever been on that I have not eaten embarkation day lunch in the Windjammer. 
 

I was quoted $265 plus 12% gratuity for the vow renewal. which I thought was very reasonable.