MorganMichelle2001

Beach day! I gotta say, this is a nice way to come down from such an amazing cruise. Deembarkation went well, they Key service was pretty nice I’d say. I’ll do a longer review when I get back. Today’s plan, enjoy one more day in the sun before reality strikes tomorrow.

Well, we found an Irish Bar in Miami Beach! It’s pretty good people watching here! 

13 minutes ago, Tim B. said:

Your children look so happy in all the pictures. As an older person now I think it would have done my heart proud to see the children having an awesome time with smiles  on their little faces.

Thanks! They really did have an amazing time. Most mornings my son would crawl down from his bed and give us big hugs, saying, “Thank you for taking me on the cruise.” I’m surprised just how well they did, it was so nice and relaxing for us and so fun to spend over a week together, all day every day, as a family. It’ll be tough getting back into the swing of normal life on Tuesday

I don’t know if it can get any sadder Kidddos went to Adventure Dining so hubby and I had a nice relaxing dinner to ourselves. Now packing and getting ready to leave the ship. Without a doubt, this has been the best vacation of my life! 

Tomorrow, Miami Beach!!

You MUST meet the Fairy Godmother of your cruise ship! She wa so happy!

Vacation traditions coming to an end Before dinner, we hit the pub for 2 IPAs, 2 chocolate chip cookies, and a Coca-Cola! It’s vacation people!!!!

We finally found a use for all that silverware!! Son played “Wolverine” at dinner yesterday!

Formal night #2 was poor service once again. Our head waiter is sure trying. I realize we don’t have a true “waiter” or assistant waiter, we get different people everyday. I’ll do a longer review when I get back. It’s not letting us down too much, but it is a bit frustrating when you see tables getting extra special service by who was supposed to be your waiter, and you get nada (our assigned waiter hasn’t been to our table since night 1). Food was good and as you can see, we enjoyed ourselves! 

My daughters Adventure Club group did a little Pirate Play! She LOVED it and it was so cute to watch! 

Of course I needed a Labadoozie! My husband was very confused when I told him what to order and didn’t think the bartender would know what he was saying

The sand at Columbus Cove was so pretty and perfect, very small waves and nice and shallow for my 5 yo.

Yes, Mommy went on the inflatables! 5 yo only lasted about 20 minutes, then the boy and I did some major climbing, jumping, and sliding. More fun than I’ve had in long time!

We met the Trolls! It’s sad RC is getting rid of the Dreamworks Experience, my daughter is really enjoying meeting all of the characters. 

Darn it, didn’t get a pic of the MDR menu Night  5...but here was the after dinner shot: Ameretto, butterscotch schnapps and Baileys, yummy! Food was only ok. Kids wanted to go to Adventure Ocean so we did My Family Time Dining. It went much smoother this time: we let our waiter know right away and he got their food  out right away and we checked them into kids club at the lobby of the restaurant at 6:40! I’ll do a longer write-up/review of the kids club when I get back, let’s just say my kids are enjoying much more than I expected!

After dinner hubby and I hit the casino for an hour of blackjack (won about $100...not bad!) Then grabbed the kids for the Headliner Show. My son didn’t want to leave so we let him stay at club and had a parent/daughter date w the wee one! Honestly, she probably would have enjoyed staying at club more than the show, but mom and dad enjoyed it. 

Also, on Night 4 we decided to just go to Windjammer with the kids. After dinner we went to the Parent Trap Show in On Air and the kids really enjoyed that! 

8 hours ago, Cindy Leslie said:

I enjoy reading about your adventures on the Allure! Your little munchkins are adorable!

Thanks so much!

San Juan! We hiked our way through the city to El Morro. The kids were not big fans of the long walk in high heat, but enjoyed stopping every so often to feed the pigeons The castle/fort was very neat and the kids loved exploring all of the rooms and details. Although it’s further away than San Cristobal, I’m glad we we went to El Morro (we chatted with another couple at the Headliner Show and they said San Cristobal was only ok, El Morro much neater.) 

We didn’t stay long in the city, the kids were super hot and desperate to go swimming, so we walked back to the ship (me giving my 5 yo a piggy back ride the whole way back...made for a very sweaty mommy!) I heard about the umbrella street and we just so happened to pass it on our way back! I thought it was so neat that the umbrellas were all pink, I told my kids they did it special for us (our last name happens to be Pink!) 

Beautiful beach in St Maarten! The water was as clear-aqua as I’ve ever seen and the sand soft white! The sand wasn’t even hot!! Went over to Maho for lunch and watched a few jets fly in. The restaurant we found even had a little pool which my kids loved (they didn’t want to be on the beach so close to the loud jets.) Despite our best efforts, we all got a bit sunburned ? We will be much more careful at Labadee!

Captain just made the announcement that Gangway is open in San Juan...but we are all still in bed. Will roll out soon and explore the city and forts! 

Ok, I’m having a heck of a time w that last post. I tried to edit so I could include notes as well as delete the video (I think it uploaded twice) and not having much luck. Oh well! Onward and upward!

About last night...kids decided they wanted to go to Adventure Ocean Dining, so hubby and I had a meal to ourselves. MDR was much less hectic last night and tho we did bring our own wine into dinner, our wine “refills” were much faster too! 

BTW, we were in Shooners Bar before dinner and I had a pretty full martini I was sipping, and I ordered my Kim Crawford for dinner and the bartender said no, since I already had a martini. I was like, “um, excuse me? I can’t order a second drink ?” He said, “how are you going to drink wine and a martini?” Apparently he doesn’t know I’m a pro at double fisting wine and cocktails I explained the MDR wine fiasco and he agreed to get my wine. Still, I thought that was kinda weird that I had to justify ordering a second drink! 

Oh, and the pic of the table was to show how much silverware they give us. Hubby and I both ordered something that needed a steak knife, and when the waiter dropped it off, hubby said something funny like, “just what I thought this table needed, more silverware!” 

We grabbed the kids after dinner then headed to On Air for family karaoke. We had a blast!! My 5 yo daughter was desperate to go on stage (budding Diva she is) but none of the songs she knows were options in the karaoke book (no ABBA Mamamia? No Greatest Showman soundtrack?! No Toto Roseanna!? Yes, those were all options she suggested ?) So I decided to pick something I thought I could sing relatively OK and she just bounced around w the mic and danced. She loved it!!

After we got off stage, my husband proudly announced he took a video of our performance...turned out to be an 8 sec clip, 1 sec of us on the stage then the crowd. LOL, bless his heart, he tried!! 

St. Maarten today, beach excursion! Just finished breakfast on our balcony, now time to lather the kids in sunscreen! 

Pools! Johnny Rockets! And naps! That’s what’s been keeping us busy today.

We grabbed a quick breakfast at Park Cafe, where my hubby swears they send bad Royal Caribbean employees to work when they’ve gotten in trouble (the staff just seem a little grumpier and shorter-tempered at Park Cafe). The breakfast burritos were super yummy. 

My son hit the rock climbing wall at 9 am sharp and the line wasn’t too long at all. He was done after one try (got up about 12 feet). We changed into swim suits then hung out at the pool for about 2 hours. The pools really are not as busy/packed as what I feared. My son and I tried the “lazy river” pool which was really neat. They all seemed about 10 degrees colder today so most of the time was spent in the “hot pools”. Kids also got their first taste of all-you-can-eat soft serve on the pool deck . They were happy campers.

Took advantage of our perks-swap and had JR for lunch. So good! And we were so full! Came back to the room for some down time: hubby and I shut our eyes for an hour while kids watched a movie on their iPads. I’m so glad we got the internet package!!! 

Sorry for my “hand shadow” in the pic. Night 2 MDR Menu. I had the beef carpaccio, lobster bisque, seafood linguine, and peach shortcake. Hubby had Cesar salad, shrimp cocktail, NY Strip and carrot cake. All tasted great! Wine service in MDR is pretty poor. First night I ordered Kim Crawford sav blank and my hubby ordered a cab. They brought 2 Kim Crawford’s.  Took until dessert for the cab to arrive. Same thing but opposite yesterday, hubby ordered cab right away, I had a cocktail still so I waited until I placed our order to ask for Kim Crawford. They brought 2 cabs and my wine didn’t come until dessert . Today we will bring wine in from a bar and make sure to order more wine right away.

Also, I’ll try to do a My Family Time Dining review. Hopefully we will try it again tonight and have a bit smoother experience.

3 hours ago, Ndfan89 said:

the struggle is VERY real at work!

That’s how I was for 2 weeks! Oh, who am I kidding... 2 months! I really ought to get back at’it when I return

1 hour ago, JLMoran said:

What are these? First one looks like something with Blue Curacao and either Kahlua or Bailey's (and... vodka? gin? on the bottom). I'd say the second was a traditional Black and Tan (that was extremely light on the Bass Ale), but as I recall the pub doesn't have Guinness on tap, only in cans.

I think the shot was some sort of rum, blue curacao and Baileys (shot of the day in the MDR, pretty yum.) Indeed, I told my hubby to order a Black and Tan, tho it was heavy on the black, less so on the tan. He said it Guinness from a can and “something else on tap” (He sure is a lot of help, eh? ) 

Formal night #1! MDR is SOOOO busy but our head waiter is trying his best to make us feel special. Food was great.  Kids at Adventure Ocean #myfamilytimedining. Now hubby and I taking an hour to ourselves before Oceanaria! 

#sorrynotsorry

Ideally, you come on vacation to unplug, but I have 21st century kiddos! Hubby and I enjoying a drink and some quiet time at Bow & Stern while the kids stay entertained on their Kindles! 

Couple shots from Day 1 that didnt upload correctly: MDR menu and pic of our Pullman Bed setup (my kids are big-time wrigglers in their sleep, so I specifically booked a room w a Pullman. Plus what 8 year old can resist a bunk bed?!)

3 hours ago, tiny260 said:

 

Edit, missed the photo above, looks like you have already been on deck 14 forward.

Thanks!! I got that tip watching Matt’s live Facebook stream, and I saved it in my phone! Kids loved sail away, not too busy at all!

Morning fun on the Boardwalk! Are breakfast at Windjammer, now exploring the ship! 

My son is begging to go Rock Climbing! Soon!!

Jungle Gym

Bean Bag toss game!

Sorry for the delayed post, we had some issues getting our internet access. I figured we’d get instructions with our Key information, but nada. Had to go to customer service to get help.

What a beautiful day! Early access on the ship thanks to The Key (and lunch at Chops was superb.) Pool, unpacking, muster drill, dinner, and Mama Mia! Here are some pics from a Day 1! I’ll fill in the details later!

Beautiful Terminal A! 

First thing we did after dropping our carry ons at the theatre: Carousel! My kids also found a fun little jungle gym/play thing in the Boardwalk. 

Chops lunch w/ The Key. Apparently they were serving the exact same menu at Giovanni’s but also w the option of a pasta. Our waiter at Chops, Elvis, was outstanding! 

Kiddos got got to eat off the exact same menu, even my 5 year old who we didn’t have to pay for The Key!

Birthday boy boy and his sister got surprised with cute stuffed animal/blanket and cupcakes, thanks to Royal’s Social Media Team (told you they were great!)  

Pools were not super busy at all!

Sail away on Deck 14 Sun Deck

Just now, SpeedNoodles said:

Aaaaand it's just raining here.

LOL, darn it! Missed out on the $$!! Good on those who took the offer (it ended up being two separate adult-only couples, great for them to start vacation that much richer!!)