Kristen

Just got off Allure 2 weeks ago. AMAZING time! My #1 tip... over the door shoe hanger for the back of the bathroom door. We're a family of 4 and all our shoes, flip flops, sneakers fit in it. It kept us from losing shoes and tripping over random shoes all week.

I tried to link my reservation with my friends for dining. My friend booked thru RC and I used a travel agent. I am not able to link our reservations. The reason my agent gave was that she put me in a "group" booking (random, I'm not in a group) to get extra on board credit and a group discount for the cost of the cruise. If I want to be linked with my friend, I would have to re book and lose my perks. Also, my friend is in a suite and her dining is complementary so she will be booking when she's on board. I will pre book and HOPE that we will be able to sit together. This is our first cruise and things are starting to get a little complicated. Thankfully I refer to this blog for EVERYTHING and it has help A LOT! Thank you!

Why two tags printed in each holder? just to make it double sided?

I'm still a bit confused about the whole WiFi/Voom thing. I don't want internet so i'm not getting Voom. Can we still use our iPhones to communicate via iMessage or WiFi calling? If not, what app do you all use to communicate without getting Voom? I will have 2 teenagers on the ship and am fully expecting not seeing them much the whole week :) but i'd like to be able to check in once in a while.

We're booked at the Ramada Fort Lauderdale Airport/Cruise Port. I chose it because I have enough points for a free night there. It has a free airport and cruise port shuttle and a free breakfast. It doesn't look to be the most elaborate place but free is good as far as i'm concerned! Has anyone stayed there?

In March 2015, I booked BOGO 50% off passengers, BOGO 50% off Premium drink package and 100 OBC for a July 2016 cruise. I haven't seen that BOGO combo since. The problem with getting any BOGO or special offer is that if another one comes out and you want to change your booking, you can lose parts of your original deal. For example, if I change to the 30% deal, I'd lose my BOGO drink deal and also risk not being able to get the stateroom I wanted since sometimes the deals are "tied" to certain tiers of staterooms. It's a gamble. I think I got a good deal though :)

We're cruising on Allure over 4th of July and hoping that there will be some sort of celebration on board? Has anyone cruised over 4th of July?