MorganMichelle2001

For pretty much all of our land vacations, this is very true. But when it comes to cruising, it's almost 100% reversed. My wife likes to hear about the excursion options and have a say in which ones we book, and she'll do some research on that front, but apart from that I'm managing every micro-detail of the planning process. She's probably relieved there's one type of vacation where she gets to sit back through the lead-up! ?

We’re sailing on the Allure in July...can’t wait to follow your blog! Enjoy your family cruise! Hope it’s filled with fun, relaxation and lots of good times!

I can't wait to read about your trip...we will be boarding allure on March 24 for our first Oasis class trip.  Since I'm in the Frozen tundra of Illinois, your blog will help me fill up those long cold days til we board !  Jane

We are sailing on Allure in Feb 2020 - cant wait to see what you have to say about your experience (this will be our first cruise - we are in our late 20's)

On her first ever cruise in 2002, my mom played “Win a Cruise BINGO” on the very first night onboard Adventure of the Seas...and she WON! She took us w/ the next year on her sister ship, Explorer. 

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! 

PSA - BREAKING NEWS!
Terrible ship.  Do NOT book this ship.  Everyone needs to book some other ship.  Leave this ship to me. 
I will take one for team RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com and sail on this ship so that you don't have to.
If you would kindly heed my words, rates for Navigator will plummet on poor bookings and I can enjoy my new favorite ship all to myself.
Thank you and you are welcome.
 

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!


 

Will do! I’m also going to see what’s offered at Giovanni’s and will post that menu!

Generally no. The only time they do is if the staff feels there may be a good reason to, like the child is apprehensive about going in or some other special need. In my experience, I think we've only ever gotten pagers from Aquanauts.
Generally not. I can't recall that being the case.  If they want to find us, I'm sure they can.
Never heard that, other than after 10pm you will be charged hourly for after hours
First step is they leave a voicemail on stateroom phone.  This has happened a half dozen times. In all those cases, we were never at the room to get the call or message.
If it remains an issue, or escalates, then I believe you might be paged.  They do know your dining info if they need to track you down in a restaurant.
They can stay for as little as long as you want.
Other than meals, they never leave the room
I bet you can if you ask. I've never tried, but I think it rarely changes anyway.

Testing how to add photos from my phone. This was me and the hubby on Reflection in Aug 2018!

We are in the single digits!! T-minus 9 days until we leave for Miami!! Luckily, we are so busy the next few days that I’m hoping time will fly by: Kindergarten Orientation, basketball and dance lessons, early birthday parties and celebrations for my son, and of course last minute shopping and packing!
Speaking of packing, I started about a week ago, pulled out all the kids’ summer clothes, made them try stuff on to see how many new outfits I need to buy, set aside my kids’ formal night wear, started folding and organizing my clothes, and organized all the little “extras” we need for the cabin:
 


 
And here is my husband’s packing progress:

It just remind me of this funny meme ? How true it is!!! 

We are in the single digits!! T-minus 9 days until we leave for Miami!! Luckily, we are so busy the next few days that I’m hoping time will fly by: Kindergarten Orientation, basketball and dance lessons, early birthday parties and celebrations for my son, and of course last minute shopping and packing!
Speaking of packing, I started about a week ago, pulled out all the kids’ summer clothes, made them try stuff on to see how many new outfits I need to buy, set aside my kids’ formal night wear, started folding and organizing my clothes, and organized all the little “extras” we need for the cabin:
 


 
And here is my husband’s packing progress:

It just remind me of this funny meme ? How true it is!!! 

Testing how to add photos from my phone. This was me and the hubby on Reflection in Aug 2018!

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!)

We are in the single digits!! T-minus 9 days until we leave for Miami!! Luckily, we are so busy the next few days that I’m hoping time will fly by: Kindergarten Orientation, basketball and dance lessons, early birthday parties and celebrations for my son, and of course last minute shopping and packing!
Speaking of packing, I started about a week ago, pulled out all the kids’ summer clothes, made them try stuff on to see how many new outfits I need to buy, set aside my kids’ formal night wear, started folding and organizing my clothes, and organized all the little “extras” we need for the cabin:
 


 
And here is my husband’s packing progress:

It just remind me of this funny meme ? How true it is!!! 

We are in the single digits!! T-minus 9 days until we leave for Miami!! Luckily, we are so busy the next few days that I’m hoping time will fly by: Kindergarten Orientation, basketball and dance lessons, early birthday parties and celebrations for my son, and of course last minute shopping and packing!
Speaking of packing, I started about a week ago, pulled out all the kids’ summer clothes, made them try stuff on to see how many new outfits I need to buy, set aside my kids’ formal night wear, started folding and organizing my clothes, and organized all the little “extras” we need for the cabin:
 


 
And here is my husband’s packing progress:

It just remind me of this funny meme ? How true it is!!! 

No pager, they have your phone number and they can find you based on your card. 
They did not ask where we were going. 
You need to pick up at the end of each session unless they are signed up for a meal with the club and you need to sign them up for that ahead of time.
Phone number
We used the late night option 2 or 3 times. 
They probably won't fall asleep because they will be playing fun games with other kids and the staff. 
They do have mats for them to crash on if they want.
You can pick them up before the session is over.
No water activities but they may go other places.  Our daughter didn't because she only went after dinner then for late night.
You will get the week's kids' compass on the first day.  Extras by the guest service desk through the week.
We found they schedule was very general and we couldn't count on any one activity.
 
Another item of note is they played games and got prizes each late night.  My daughter got some nice items for free from the staff each late night.  The hourly fee is very reasonable plus she got free stuff, not a bad deal.
 

Go check the prices for a Disney cruise that week.  That will make you feel better ?
 

I don’t know for sure but my friend just got back from a harmony cruise and brought me back a few of the kids daily planners.  On it is the phone number to contact the Explorers room (ages 6-8), so it sounds like if your kids wanted to leave they would just call you.  Here were the session times, I’m not sure if you have to drop them at the beginning or at any time during the session.  It did say they have 1 person for 25 kids and they fill up.  We’re going in April over spring break so maybe they will have 2 people then.  I can’t see my daughter wanting to stay long with 2 adults and 50 kids though.

Great news about your daughter, @Karahvacatimes! Kind of a bummer that she'll be spending the whole trip in a cast, but that's still better than having to cancel last-minute.
Maybe she can get some officer and/or crew signatures on her cast as a kind of memento of the trip?

THAT is funny! Hope you have a great cruise, please tell us about it when you get back home. 

We are in the single digits!! T-minus 9 days until we leave for Miami!! Luckily, we are so busy the next few days that I’m hoping time will fly by: Kindergarten Orientation, basketball and dance lessons, early birthday parties and celebrations for my son, and of course last minute shopping and packing!
Speaking of packing, I started about a week ago, pulled out all the kids’ summer clothes, made them try stuff on to see how many new outfits I need to buy, set aside my kids’ formal night wear, started folding and organizing my clothes, and organized all the little “extras” we need for the cabin:
 


 
And here is my husband’s packing progress:

It just remind me of this funny meme ? How true it is!!! 

We are in the single digits!! T-minus 9 days until we leave for Miami!! Luckily, we are so busy the next few days that I’m hoping time will fly by: Kindergarten Orientation, basketball and dance lessons, early birthday parties and celebrations for my son, and of course last minute shopping and packing!
Speaking of packing, I started about a week ago, pulled out all the kids’ summer clothes, made them try stuff on to see how many new outfits I need to buy, set aside my kids’ formal night wear, started folding and organizing my clothes, and organized all the little “extras” we need for the cabin:
 


 
And here is my husband’s packing progress:

It just remind me of this funny meme ? How true it is!!! 

We got the key for 3 of us for our April Symphony cruise.  I got it at $19.99, which is only a few dollars more pp than getting the surf and voom internet.  Being able to get on earlier and the chops lunch make it worth it too.   I don’t really care about dropping my carryon luggage off, it’s on wheels so it’s not a pain. 
One of the big perks I wanted it for was private times at the flow rider, zip line and rock wall, but have since found out my daughter isn’t tall enough to go on the flow rider or zip line so we won’t even be using those.  She lives rock walls though, at least she can use that one.
Vip seating and shows and not having to wait in line as long for shows is totally a perk we’ll use.  If you’ve ever waited in line with a first grader with ADHD, you would understand why.