WAAAYTOOO

If you have access to the Coastal Kitchen I would make sure not to miss their filet night. It was hands down the best steak we had on our entire cruise and we had steak at Chops, Giovanni’s and a Samba this week). It may take some sleuthing to find out which night they are serving the filet on Oasis. Allure moved their filet night from night #1 to night #4 but I have no idea what night it might be on Oasis. On a related topic, the most disappointing meal we had all week on Allure was Samba Grill. It was nothing like the meal we had there back in 2009 (yes, I DO realize that 9 years is a long time and that things change...). There were no tablecloths on the tables and chairs (they just used the Solarium pool tables and chairs) there is no more “Carnivale” show, the food was average at best. I can no longer recommend a Samba Grill based on our experience this past week. I know that Oasis doesn’t have Samba. I just thought I would mention it here. Very very disappointed. Even for “free” I didn’t think it was worth my time. I’m sorry we wasted one of our evening meals there.

You’ll be fine. Having the Genie clear the way makes all the difference.

No, there is $0 charge for anything at Izumi whether it’s on the sushi side or the hibachi side. Even all of the upgraded menu items for hibachi are included. You can add sushi to your hibachi order if you want. There’s virtually no way to have a charge from eating at Izumi unless you were to order some super premium liquor and I’m not even sure they have such an option at Izumi. Dan ate there about 4 times this week. Twice was enough for me.

Just thought I would pop in here and let everyone know that I was wrong about needing to earn 1000 points on your last cruise to get the free drinks and fee waiver. According to the Allure hostess, the ability to get free drinks and fee waiver is solely dependent upon you tier level. If you are tier 2, which is the minimum level to get these 2 perks, you keep that level and all of the perks associated with it, for the entire evaluation period. So if you only aspire to be level 2 then you can attain that level and stop earning points if you want to. This will be an advantage for people who have a slow cruise every once in a while or choose just not to gamble for whatever reason. So according to her, there is no more “ you’re only as good as your last cruise”. That’s a good thing IMO.

I don’t think you have to accumulate all the points in 1 cruise. I think it’s a cumulative deal where you keep adding up your points throughout the evaluation period. So you may start out at level 1 or 2 but once you accumulate 25k points you graduate to level 3 etc. that’s the way I understand it anyway. During the last evaluation period (18 months as I recall), I accumulated 11,667 points which puts me right in the middle of level 2. I have already qualified for level 2 for the new evaluation period which started April 1. This new evaluation period will run from now until March 31, 2019 and then it all starts over again. I never expect to get above level 2. I don’t wager enough but I’m ok with that.

Both of us had uploaded photos for our Allure cruise last week but when we did our checkin, they retook both of our pics. Not sure if the pics were not there or if they didn’t like them. At any rate, it only took a moment to restate the photos.

Yes, I think the earliest time for luggage valet is 11:59.....basically, noon.

We have a flight home at 10:15 from FLL (sitting in the departure gate as I’m writing this). We had b’fast for the last time at 6:30 (that’s when the CK opens -at least today). The Genie came to our suite to pick us up at 7:30. We took a cab from the port and were at our departure gate at 8:15, so yes, the Genie definitely expedites your departure. There is no short-cutting the disembark itself. Today, one of the boarding ramps is down so there is only one (aft) boarding ramp operating. Luckily, we got off early enough that no logjam had yet formed but the Genie does not have any way to bypass this initial debark step. Once you’re actually off the ship, then the Genie magic helps immensely. He took us though cordoned-off areas and bypassed all lines and took us directly to the suites customs line. That is as far as the the Genie can go but it was a tremendous help. So yes, the Genie gets you off quickly and painlessly. Of course, the real pain is the fact that your cruise is over and you’re very quickly returning to reality. Just let your a Genie know that you have an early flight and he/she will arrange your expedited departure. I would not recommend a flight before 10 AM though. While we are here is plenty of time, something unforeseen such as the inop departure ramp could cause significant delays. Luckily for us, it did not but my guess is that those disembarking behind us are going to have a very slow slog.

They’re really good friends and they ARE a lot of fun. Update on Jim. He made it back to the ship well before we had to send out a search party. Heading out to the CK for dinner soon. Will be consuming our final bottle of champagne with dinner tonite. I was beginning to worry that we were going to have to carry some of that home or leave it. One of the nice bennies of Star Class is that you can have your laundry done every day if you want. It’s an unlimited benefit. I sent some out this morning and it came back all clean and pressed a short while ago. I will probably do one more batch for the week.

Yeah, I guess it’s going to require a bit of sleuthing to figure out which mal is offer which night.

On Allure, they have moved filet night from night 1 to night 4. Apparently the word has gotten out about filet night on night 1 and they were overwhelmed. Tonite is night 4 so we will be going there tonite. So much depends on whether you have children traveling with you or not. Star Class has “access” privileges to some of the activities (zip line, flow rider, etc.) on sea days during certain hours so this would very useful if you have people in your party that would enjoy those things. There is so much to do on Allure it’s hard to choose which ones are “not to miss”. The Aqua Theate shows are fun and the ice shows are fun. We have seen Mama Mia enough times that we skipped that one this trip. The Blue Planet is a show I like seeing over and over so I wouldn’t miss that one.

Thanks for the info on Alex, Sabrina. I hope she’s doing well. She is a very classy lady. So, it’s Wednesday. The cruise is now half over which is not good news but we still have 3 good days left. Dinner last night was at Chops. Dan, Jim and I had a great meal. Dan thought it would be fun to order the large seafood tower. All I can say is, it’s a damn good thing that we had Jim there to help eat it. It was enormous! There was enough food there for 4 people. We did our best but even with 3 of us, we still left a lot of food. 2 full lobsters, 12 ginormous shrimp, countless clams, mussels and crab claws. Jim has ordered the filet so he wasn’t as much help as he could have been but at least we had some help. I recommend that you do NOT order the large one unless there are a lot more than 3 people to eat it ! The evening was our usual casino extravaganza but I was able to have a chat with the hostess who informed me that I accumulated 11,667 points over the past “evaluation period” (18 months, ending Dec 31 2017). This puts me exactly where I presumed I would be, smack dab in the middle of tier 2 which is a-ok with me. As long as I continue to get my 5% fee waived, I’m good. The one point upon which I have been mistaken is the issue of whether or not you must accumulate a minimum number of points on every cruise to keep you free drinks and fee waiver privileges. The answer to that question is “no”. Once you achieve a level that grants free drinks and fee waiver, you retain those privileges for the duration of the evaluation period regardless of whether you accumulate 1000 pointson any single cruise or not. I was relieved to hear this as it will not penalize a player if they have a “slow”cruise or if you are on a shortie, where it is more difficult to accumulate points. Beginning 1 April, a new evaluation period began so we are now accumulating points for our next rating period. 1 year from now I will either remain where I am, go up or go down depending upon my play over the next year. My play patterns have been very consistent for a number of years, so I expect to remain right where I am, generally. Interesting item(s) on our onboard account this morning. There were 87, $0.00 entries from the Adaggio bar from yesterday. It made it look as if we had gotten 87 drinks ! I don’t even know where the Adaggio bar is ! I think it’s one of the MDR bars but we have not set foot anywhere near any MDR all week. Obviously some kind of weird glitch, but a call to Charlie took care of it. Dan did not want all those entries, even if they were $0.00 on our account. Charlie just dropped by with a very interesting explanation for these mysterious charges. Basically, every time they bring a bottle of water or soda to your suite, they record it. It’s their way of accounting for where their inventory is going but more importantly, they are determining how much their “complimentary”services are costing them. It’s totally bogus b/c it makes it look as if we are consuming waaay more products than we actually are. I think I’ve drunk 2 Coke Zeroes and maybe between us we’ve had 4-5 bottles of water. They just keep bringing more and more bottles ! If that is, indeed, the reason for the entries, they need to find a way of tracking such things in the background, not on our visible onboard account. IMO they are going to justify raising Star Class prices by citing inflated consumption values. Maybe it’s just the skeptic in me. Neither Dan nor I are getting off the ship today (Falmouth). Jim has friends here so he’s going to do God knows what with them. Dan was supposed to go with him but Dan got too much sun yesterday so decided to stay indoors today. I’m very glad Dan isn’t going out into the wilds of Jamaica with wild-ass Jim. I can just imagine getting a ransom note for the 2 of them ! I’m just kidding of course. ...but I am glad he’s not out today. They are washing the deck outside this morning. We haven’t noticed any soot out there but I have read other accounts where soot in the loft area has been a problem in the past. Tonite will be dinner in the Coastal Kitchen (Filet night), then the headliner show (some kind of cover band, I think) and the late night comedy show. The Genie will save 3 seats for us as he promised. Apparently, on Allure, at least, they decided to move filet night from the first night (as it is on many ships) to night 4 b/c “the word has gotten out” that night 1 was “filet night”. I guess they want keep the number of people who enjoy steak to a minimum. Pretty sad, actually.

There is still a lot of mystery involved with determining what the onboard amenities are going to be. While this has NOT been confirmed, I understand that once you are rated to a certain tier, you will remain there until the next rating system comes around, at which time you will be re-assessed and either remain in the same tier, move up or move down depending upon your accumulated pounds during the rating period. I also understand that in order to keep your “free drinks”and waiving of the 5% convenience fee, you must accumulate at least 1000 points on the previous cruise. This may all be wrong. I plan on having a chat with the Allure hostess before getting off this cruise and hopefully she can let me know the truth. Fingers crossed anyway. I have a couple of flyers that we received on this cruise, which I plan on posting once I get home and can scan them.

Loop is absolutely useless. It’s not a true messaging service. The Genie must be at his/ her computer to get message so you might as well be using email. All of our Genies simply gave us their phone number and have us call their phones if we need anything. So far, on this cruise, we have not called Charlie even once. We simply have not needed anything. Pre-cruise you can either email or use Loop. We have our breakfast delivered every morning at 9:00 but I’m sure you can have it delivered up until the CK stops serving breakfast. For us, on this cruise, 10 AM would definitely be within those hours. The nice part about it is, as long as someone can answer the door, you’re good ! Nobody has to be dressed to go out...just able to get to the door and let them in. Usually, they call to let you know they’re on their way. This morning we got no such call and Dan had to answer the door in his robe. He had just gotten out of the shower when they showed up. But all was well. Yesterday morning we ate out on the balcony. This morning we ate at the table inside. We’ll see what tomorrow brings. We have preordered breakfast for every morning but by doing that, we are getting basically the same thing every morning. I was trying to keep the ordering overhead down for Charlie by keeping it simple but honestly, I may have to change it up a bit. There is a trade off between convenience (not having to preorder every day) and monotony. I absolutely love their French toast but I don’t want it every day. Whatever we decide to do, I will not bother Charlie with it. I will just go down to the CK and take care of it myself. Charlie is so nice. He’s an American from upstate NY. Rather unusual for an American to work on a cruise ship. He couldn’t be nicer and he has even taken a small shine to the utterly obnoxious Jim. We have met 1 of the other Genies, Phillip and he’s a very gregarious and fun guy too. I do not know who the third Genie on Allure is. On an interesting side note (regarding Royal Genies) nobody seems to know what has become of Alexandra, who was the lovely Genie on Harmony when we were on there with the Jim twins. Consensus seems to be that she is no longer a Royal Genie. I can’t help but worry that the Jim twins drove her to seek another line of work. I hope she found a wonderful, rich husband and decided to retire and have a big family in Transylvania, which is where she is from. I would hate to think the the Jim twins ran her off. ???

Yes, the drinks packages both include sparkling water.

Thanks, Twang-bot. High praise coming from you.

You can get cans from most bars but even with the deluxe package, the cans are not included (exception - Star Class). Nothing from the room fridge is included in either package so will probably need to bring your own cans onboard or pay $4 a piece. It’s a major deficiency in the beverage programs, IMO.

If there is ANY negative about this suite, it would be the loud music coming from the sports/Flowrider area. The noise certainly is not unique to this particular suite but rather a general problem with the loft area suites in general. It was very loud out on the balcony yesterday but once you come inside there is no noise from the outside at all. I think I prefer this suite to the one that looks out over the sports area even though this one it a bit smaller. The view of the ocean is a giant plus, IMO. I love being up on 17. While we really, really enjoyed being back in the Aqua Theater Suites (there’s just nothing like that view and those GINORMOUS balconies), the convenience of being just an elevator ride up to 17 away from most activities is so nice. I can walk to get my cappuccino in the Suites Lounge in 2 minutes while back in the ATS it’s a LONG walk to get anywhere and then a long walk back. I’m glad we did the ATS but I think I’m done with them. It’s going to be deck 17 for me from now on.

More pix

We went to Giovanni's for dinner last night. We had reservations to go to Chops but Charlie the Genie called us yesterday afternoon to tell us that he had changed the Rez to Gio’s b/c Chops was going to be very busy (formal night) and Charlie was afraid that our service would be slow. I thought that was extremely proactive on his part and we had a wonderful meal at Giovanni’s. Dan had the Oslobucco and I had the filet. We are rescheduled to go to Chops tonite. I’m sure it will be great. We did not have lunch in a specialty restaurant yesterday. If we had, we would not have been able to enjoy our dinner. I just cannot eat 3 big meals a day anymore. We have enjoyed breakfast in our suite every morning so far. It’s a great solution for us as we like to sleep in. In the past, we’ve always waited until the last minute and then scurried around trying to find somewhere to eat breakfast. No such worries this trip ! I could really get used to this !

I find the certificates to be nearly useless. The emailed comp offers are extremely valuable to us as they are cheap to upgrade. Since the no longer allow us to combine carts and casino rates (or comped rates) then the carts have nearly no value to us.

Tony, I am SO happy to hear this news. Imagine how many people that hostess totally screwed with her incompetence not to mention how many loyal CR members she disappointed, like you. I hope she gets soundly reprimanded. Totally inexcusable ! I’m glad the shoreside folks made it right for you.

Just so you know, the drink packages only include fountain sodas. If you (like me) prefer cans, you will still have to pay for them.

Oops. I though I deleted that last one. Meant to, anyway.