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We will be a party of 4 this time. It will be hubby and I my sister Renee and her better half Vithana. Celebrations: Vithana: retirement Cruisin and Boozin: birthday Cabin: Aqua theater suite deck 8 Itinerary: Oct 1: Ft. Lauderdale Oct 2: Sea day Oct 3: Labadee Oct 4: Sea day Oct 5: Oranjestad Aruba Oct 6: Willemstad Curaçao Oct 7: Sea day Oct 8: Sea day Oct 9: Ft Lauderdale and travel day(sad day) Travel We will be driving. It will take us 2 days. Stopping first night in Lake City, Florida. Second night we will be in Ft Lauderdale. We will be using Best Western hotel chain this trip. On the way home we again will drive to Lake City,Florida. Last day of driving on to drop Renee and Vithana off at there house. About us This will be Vithana’s first cruise ever. Having said that we just want him to be wowed. This will be Renee’s 4th star class cruise and our (hubby and I ) 8th star class sailing. Star class info The star class questionnaire never came. 22 Days till we sail no email from a genie as of yet. I have been in contact with both my travel agent and Royal Caribbean and still nothing has been done. Even though we haven’t heard from a genie we are super excited. None us have been to Aruba or Curaçao so this should be fun.

Less than 45 days until cruise time! Who else will be on the cruise? Also, has anyone else heard about the tumbler cups being out of stock on Allure? Hope they are back by deperture time!

Hey everyone! My wife, son (10), and I will be on the June 11 Allure sailing. This will be their first time on Allure, but my second. Looking forward to getting back to cruising and meeting up at the Schooner bar

Does anyone know if a Microsoft Book 2 with dimensions 13.5 X 10 inches fit in the cabin safe?

Thought I'd mention this. Needed some cash so stopped by the casino cage to ask where the atm is. There's a sign there (I'll post a pic as soon as I go back to the casino) that says Allure no longer does cash advance from the cage. Now you get cash from the table or slot machine. There's no fee I'm aware of as when I took some cash it showed up as a normal charge from Royal. Don't know if it's available on other ships but you might visit the casino cage and inquire.

Does anyone know when Allure will be amplified? Rumor on Facebook says this year.

Beware this is a 21st Birthday Cruise. Bring your party hats and we will have some fun.

I’m sailing on Allure of the Seas August 6th. I’m really excited. It I couldn’t help but notice how outdated the ship looks compared to the rest of the Oasis Class ships that are either new or Amplified. If you guys know when it will be refurbished that would be so cool because I’m having trouble figuring out when this will happen considering the losses RCCL has had in the last couple years.

I am not sure where to begin with this one. It has been 867 long days since I stepped off Symphony’s gangway. I don’t even know if I remember how to blog anymore lol. The lead up to this sailing was precarious at best. Being a Type A planner like myself, the last few weeks have been quite stressful in terms of having whiplash from the ever-changing travel restrictions (we are Canadians, but we fly out of the US), testing requirements, right down to the, “Will we unknowingly test positive two days prior to cruise day and need to cancel the cruise?” I’ve had a hard time allowing myself to get excited for this sailing, in fear of devastation should anything go wrong. Words cannot describe how much I have missed sailing, what this sailing means to me, and the utter gratitude I will feel stepping onto that gangway in two days time, God willing. This pandemic has taken so much, caused so much upheaval and uncertainty, but there are several things that remain certain, my love for cruising has not faded, and I will never take another cruise for granted again. Allure … captivating, charming, grabs hold of you and doesn’t let go … I could go on and on. You think I’m talking about sailing right? I am, but more importantly, I am thinking of Hubby. This sailing is not only a joyful return to the seas, but a very special celebration for us. As silly as it may sound, on a cold December day, 25 years ago, a story of love began over a $50 bill, a 1st year university Calculus textbook, Jerry Maguire, and two cups of Tim Horton’s coffee at midnight (Note: Hubby doesn’t even drink coffee, but he had one that night, already a winner then lol). Tomorrow, we celebrate our 25th “Dating Anniversary" and what better way to celebrate than with our beloved La Bamba, margaritas, queso, fajitas, fried ice cream, and of course…CRUISING! Who’s Going? It’s just Hubby and I on this sailing. Flight It feels so good to say that we will by flying out of DTW. Praise God for the land border opening and staying open! We double-booked flights for this one out of Detroit and Toronto, but we’ve cancelled the Air Canada flights for obvious reasons. Pre-Cruise Stay Allure sails out of Port Everglades so we will be staying in Fort Lauderdale on 17th Street. When we have the girls with us, we usually choose a more family friendly property like Holiday Inn Express or Hyatt Place. Since it’s just Hubby and I, we picked Renaissance Fort Lauderdale Marina Hotel. We’ve stayed here before when we sailed Allure in 2016 and it’s modern, clean, very close to Port Everglades, and most importantly, a short walk to La Bamba! Itinerary This 4-night sailing was supposed to take us to Cozumel, but Royal changed the ports a few months ago. We are now headed to Nassau and Perfect Day Coco Cay. Personally, I could care less where it goes, I might not even leave the ship! lol Cabin #teamDeck17 of course! This is the way. Pre-Cruise thoughts - There might be major tears when I step back onboard on Sunday. I already warned Hubby. He has promised to record it to show the girls so they can see how ridiculous their mother is. People who are not cruise junkies just won’t understand lol - Once again, in the spirit of a live blog, please do not hesitate to ask any questions. I will do my best to find out whatever I can for you. - When responding to a post with a series of pictures, please do not include the pictures in your reply. It just makes for easier scrolling. - Lastly, I will try to post videos and stories on Instagram. You can follow me @lovetocruise2002

This cruise has been through some changes - first we lost a day off the front and then our course was altered a bit also (we now will be in the following ports - Betamas, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten. We are just thrilled that we will be back on the ship. We will be doing a side to side, our cruise the week before will be on the Symphony. Hopefully this cruise will bring new friends and a great time for everyone! ”Lynn” and Eric CHARLOTTE AMALIE, ST. THOMAS PHILIPSBURG, ST. MAARTEN

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2019/07/11/royal-caribbean-announces-165-million-upgrades-and-enhancements-allure-of-the-seas

Well my husband has been after me about blogging our trip, so here goes. He claims that he will be helping me blog, but I'll believe it when I see it. Atleast at this moment he is sitting next to me looking at the screen and not reddit for once. A little background on us: I'm Tiffany, and he's Steven. Our circus consists of four kids who are nine, seven, one, and eight months. Steven retired from the Army last year, and I'm a stay at home mom. We knew we wanted more time to be able to cruise, so we decided to take a stab at homeschooling this year. So far so good, and to make it even better, it is significantly cheaper cruising when it's not over school break. Our cruise plans: We were originally on the Allure of the Seas September 1st cruise that got shortened by three days due to Dorian. We stuck with the cruise, and had an amazing time and got a nice future cruise credit since we were in a 2 bedroom aquatheater suite. It was so great, in fact, that we had to do a "grounding cruise" in a non-Star class cabin to bring us back down to Earth. Guess it didn't work, because here we are doing another Star class cruise on November 17th. The ship and cabin: Allure of the Seas 10730 (2 bedroom aquatheater suite) We would have loved to be back in the deck 8 aquatheater suite, but since it's a last minute booking for a family of six, we were lucky to find this one open. We will try to keep this as live as possible but with four kids and star class food coma, no promises.

We just got an email informing us that our August 15th sailing out of Port Canaveral has been changed. Like, really changed. Only one destination is the same (Perfect Day). The reason given was due to "port availability". This is our first cruise and we actually don't mind the changes so much, but I am worried that this is the first step before cancellation. Or...could it be that they really hope to sail and have planned stops based on what they can realistically deliver. Is this a normal practice outside of Covid19 times? I know everything would be speculation at this point, but I would appreciate any insights.

I've read about a number of RC ships in port for vaccinations for the crewmembers, but haven't heard anything about Allure. Since we're due to board on Aug 1, I'd love to start hearing some positive news.

Hi Everyone, Looking to make a reservation on Harmony. As much as I would love an ocean view balcony, its not in the budget. :angry: :( Has anyone stayed in boardwalk or central park balconies? Advantages? Dislikes? Recommendations? Looking forward to hearing from you! Thanks! Mel :)

Hello! My family and I will be onboard Allure of the Seas Holiday Sailing taking off from Fort Lauderdale on 12/22. Anyone else going to be onboard? There will be 6 of us adults plus one under 2. The more the merrier!

After a VERY hectic few months, it's almost time for our very first Caribbean cruise sailing on Allure Of The Seas over Christmas. Itinerary 22/12 - Embark at Fort Lauderdale 23/12 - Sea Day 24/12 - Sea Day 25/12 - St Maarten (hopefully ?) 26/12 - San Juan 27/12 - Sea Day 28/12 - Coco Cay 29/12 - Disembark at Fort Lauderdale The Crew Me, husband (both Brits) & our USA-dwelling British & Canadian friends all in our late 30s to mid 40s. For us, it's our 5th cruise - 3rd on RC having done the Med on Navigator and Independence. For our friends, it's their very first cruise and we've told them they'll love it. I hope we were right! We chose this sailing to fit in with my holidays from school (I'm a primary school teacher) and because I really wanted to try an Oasis Class ship. Pre-Cruise We've driven down to Heathrow airport from our home in the Midlands this afternoon and are spending the night at the Radisson Edwardian Blu. We stayed here earlier this year and were really impressed so we booked again. They do a deal where you get a hotel stay and parking and it's just a short Uber ride to the terminal in the morning. They have a funky bar with great cocktails and a couple of restaurants. Tonight we're trying the Indian restaurant. We're flying into Miami tomorrow (after original direct flights to FLL were cancelled and we had to rebook at extra cost or face going via Chicago or somewhere in Texas!) and staying at Pestana Beach hotel in South Beach. Our friends fly in to FLL from Detroit in the morning, are renting a car and picking us up from MIA when we arrive in the afternoon. We've got no firm plans ( we've all been REALLY busy, plus we thought we weren't going to be able to go at all when our TA went bust!) but we're hoping to see the Everglades and do an Art Deco architecture tour.

I am considering purchasing the Deluxe drink package on my upcoming cruise on Allure of the Seas. I know I'll enjoy some alcoholic drinks but I am also a coffee fanatic and enjoy my espresso based drinks so this package may be perfect for me. I know Starbucks is not included in the premium coffee but what is included? And where is that premium coffee found on the ship? I apologize if this question has been asked! This is my first cruise! Thank you for all your help!

Sailing on AOS the end of Janaury and just got the dreaded broken propulsion email. I am a super optimistic guy who loves sailing once or twice a year but this is the second port switch to Nassau in a month. First rerouted from Havana on Majesty and now we won't make Roatan so back to Nassau. I am sure we will have a great time but Roatan was going to be a highlight. Seems like Nassau is the Bermunda Triangle of cruise changes.

I’m curious what others think as I got to wondering today about the following: We are on Allure now (14-21 July 2019). Originally we where supposed to go to St Thomas, USVIs, which I was really looking forward to visiting. We received an email a while ago about the change of port to Puerto Rico. While on the ship, we were monitoring the protests and other RC ships that skipped PR. We were a bit surprised to wake up this AM and find ourselves there docked at pier 3. We received a phone call around 0745 ship’s time stating that our Food Tour of Old San Juan was canceled - no further explanation given, but surely it must have had something to do with the ongoing unrest in PR. Additionally, we talked to others on the ship today who got off and walked around the city this AM but we’re never told there was an issue until they were already out of the port, by one of the local shops. That seems a bit negligent on RC’s part, but not the point of my question... This leads me to wonder - why did RC make us go to PR in the 1st place? I know very little about these big ships, but I can read a map and the difference between USVI and PR seems to be about 65 NMs. Seems like we have time to make the next port of call. We’ve been making 18-19 knts both SE & NW over the water and I think I read somewhere normal cruise for Allure is 20 knts. Even at 22 knts, the difference in time between the two islands and Nassau seems relatively small. Additionally, why take us to port at all with the already on going protest which are projected to get bigger..? I’m just curious if anyone else thinks we were routed to PR for other reasons yet told it was due to propulsion issues on the ship? I have no doubt there is an issue as I’ve read about the potential need for early dry-dock - but is that issue really the reason for an itinerary change that seems so small of a distance over such a period of time... Maybe I’ve had one too many sea days and I’m all wet... ?

I apologize in advance for being a slacker on my first blog attempt! I’ll start off with the abbreviated synopsis... I have a new found admiration for all of the live bloggers out there! ? We have been so busy these last couple of days! I’m also trying to be respectful of our traveling friends that do not necessarily share the same level of enthusiasm for blogs, etc., as we do! Cruise Details: Allure of the Seas, 7-night, Western Caribbean itinerary (Labadee-Haiti, Falmouth-Jamaica & Cozumel-Mexico) Out of Port Everglades, Ft. Lauderdale 5/19/19 - 5/26/19 Cabin Details & Cruise Planner Stuff: Central Park Balcony (Deck 11... Port side of ship) Purchased the Key Selected My Time Dining Purchased the Deluxe Beverage Package Purchased Labadee Over the Water Cabana (Nellie’s Beach) Purchased admission to the Prohibition Party Miscellaneous Stuff: Flight on Southwest Airlines out of Islip/MacArthur Airport on Long Island (NY) on 5/18/19 to Ft. Lauderdale Airport Traveling with good friends from the Orlando, FL area in adjacent cabins... they decided to drive to Ft. Lauderdale Our first experience on an Oasis class ship (our traveling friends were on Oasis 2 years ago) I think that’s it for the synopsis... I apologize if I’m all over the place going forward. We’re having an amazing time and it’s only the first full day! Will be working on catching up to today... we have to start to get ready for our first formal evening shortly! ?

Now that it is officially single digits until sail away, I figure it is not unreasonable for me to get this live blog started! (though I AM endlessly amused by the people who have recently started their posts far in advance of their sailings. *cough @StayFrosty @Lovetocruise2002 @Matt cough*) I will be transparent in that, since this is my first live blog, I can't guarantee I will be able to stay on top of it the way I might like, but I will be doing my level best to share with all of you for multiple reasons. First and foremost, I have gotten so much out of other's live blogs and genuinely want to give back to this community in any way I might be able to. But it isn't ALL altruistic. I think, if I'm able to stay on top of a live blog, it will make a great memory in a bottle of my trip to allow me to revisit wistfully on extra stressful days. I think I will start with a bit of background organized in a format that I'm shamelessly stealing from one of @Lovetocruise2002's blogs. Pre-cruise report: Sailing: May 12-19, 2019, Allure of the Seas, 7 Night Eastern Caribbean cruise Sailing with: Me (32), and my parents (not my age to tell) Flying from: PHL to FLL on Southwest and returning on American (boo baggage fees, yay nonstop flights at reasonable times) Pre-cruise hotel: Ended up with Holiday Inn Express Ft. Lauderdale Cruise-Airport (the one on 17th Street) We cycled through many different hotels before we ended up with this one. Like the sane person I am, I would check on hotel prices about once every 2 weeks starting 8 months in advance and if I saw a great price at a hotel that looked convenient or interesting I booked it just to guarantee the price. At one point I had 4 hotels booked at the same time. You may be starting to get the impression that I take as much enjoyment from planning my vacation as actually taking it. You would be correct. And thank you kindly for enabling that! Other hotels that were considered and discarded: Drift Hotel - liked that it was close to the beach, disliked that it didn't seem to have as many amenities as other hotels, such as having someone there to hold our luggage if we got there far before check-in. Holiday Inn Express & Suites Ft. Lauderdale Airport/Cruise - liked that it had 2 queen beds (not doubles) for a good price. Disliked that it didn't seem very walkable Hampton Inn Ft. Lauderdale Airport North Cruise Port - this was the #1 hotel until the price recently came down for the Holiday Inn on 17th Street. I liked that it had the normal things like a free airport shuttle, concierge, pool, but it also was across a smaller side street from a shopping center that has restaurants, a Big Lot & a liquor store where my dad could grab some wine. But you just can't beat the convenience (from what I hear) of hotels in that 17th Street strip so while this hotel was walkable...the Holiday Inn Express won out. The itinerary is as follows: Day 1 – Fort Lauderdale Day 2 and 3 – At Sea Day 4 – Basseterre, St. Kitt's Day 5 – Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas San Juan, PR Day 6 – At Sea Day 7 – Nassau, Bahamas Day 8 – Fort Lauderdale We have booked a third party excursion on St. Kitt's through Thenford Grey. I've heard good things about him on here and elsewhere so I'm excited for this tour. We were originally slated for St. Thomas as a stop, but as many of you have probably already seen, Allure is having some propulsion issues and we will now be stopping in San Juan. There are many people in my sailing's FB group who are devastated by this news. While I respect that reaction, I don't want to start letting negativity seep into my vacation before it has even started. So goodbye trip to Secret Sands beach we had through Royal and hello to last minute research into self guided walking tours through San Juan. I'm actually legit excited about this change as I would prefer getting to know the history and culture of a place than simply laying around on the beach all day. And that FOOD. So time to dust off my super rusty 14 year old spanish lessons and go with the flow. WEPA! And for Nassau, we have been before and my parents have no desire to get off the off again. With a ship like Allure to explore and relax on instead, I will not be arguing with that. Cabin: We have a hump balcony Junior Suite on the 8th floor. Very much looking forward to "having" to walk through Central Park to get back to the room. ~*~WOE~*~ Pre-purchases: Besides the excursions which I covered above, we will be trying out The Key (I see it as a great little upgrade to Sea Class) and my mother and I have the refreshment package. Since my mom doesn’t drink, my dad gets the 2 bottle of wine allotment to himself and will supplement that with the occasional beer here and there. Nowhere enough to warrant a drink package for himself. The last time we were on a cruise, he would decant half of his bottle of wine into an empty (clear) water bottle from the room. The moment he proceeded to do this with his bottle of red as well was the moment I was mentally buying him a portable wine tumbler for this trip. None of the crew members said anything, but seeing him walk into the MDR with a clear water bottle full of dark red wine was not our proudest hour. Though if you asked him, he would quip that Jesus paid him a visit and turned that water into wine. *facepalm* Random Pre-cruise thoughts: I am going to take as many pictures as I can remember to, though it’s not ingrained. Please let me know if there is anything in particular you would like me to check out or take pictures of for you. I am open to requests. I will make sure to detail how easy or difficult it was for me to get reservations in Coastal Kitchen as a Junior Suite. That is something that seems to have very mixed results so I’m curious how it will work out. Ideally we would have reservations there every night except for the night we have Giovanni’s reserved. If all goes according to plan, I shall be running a completely unofficial and entirely arbitrary “Allure’s Best Steak” competition since I plan to have steak in Chops (Key lunch), Coastal Kitchen, Giovanni’s, and the MDR (Key breakfast). I will be sure to let you know my thoughts. I will also make sure to note how I am liking the Key since that’s such a new feature and it seems to vary wildly from ship to ship. I have reached the point in trip antsyness where I’m overthinking my packing and buying unnecessary things from Amazon to help. Because buying a toiletry bag is the most important thing in the world right now! I promise future posts will have more pictures!

I'm SOOOO excited! After a rather lengthy hiatus from these boards (which I didn't think anyone would notice but the eagle-eyed @JLMoran did!) I'm back and looking forward to not one but TWO cruises ? Having 2 cruises booked has been a dream since I joined these boards and fell in love with cruising in 2016 and saw just how many cruises some of you take. Also, having 2 cruises in the space of one year was another RC blog-inspired #cruisegoal of mine! (I'm blaming you @Matt and @twangster !). We have a 2 week Med cruise booked for August on P&O's Azura and have just this morning booked Allure for Christmas with a pre- & post-cruise stay in Miami's South Beach where we'll be staying for NYE! I'm a little sad that our summer cruise won't be on RC but I'm looking forward to experiencing a British brand and I'm soooo excited to try an Oasis class ship. When I first cruised on Navigator in 2016, I loved the look of the Oasis class from people's posts on here but didn't think I'd ever get on one. Now I'm going to be! We'll also be introducing 2 of our friends to cruising on Allure. Although I've tried to explain, I don't think they've got any idea how big she is. I can't wait to see their faces when they see her for the first time! On both cruises we've got an ocean view balcony (large balcony on Azura; Deck 10 on Allure) and I'll be Live-ish blogging and periscoping from both. Now, just 108 days to wait until the first cruise...

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!

I am SO excited for my family's very first cruise ever this July (7-14) on the Allure. My mother- and father-in-law (avid RC cruisers) are treating my family of three (me, husband, and son who will be 3 weeks shy of 6) and my brother-in-law's family (husband, wife, 13 and 15 year old boys) to the cruise and are helping us with transportation there. We will be responsible for all extras (excursions, premium dining, tips, etc.). I am having difficulty navigating the shore options available to us and haven't been able to find any sites that review the options. Ideally, I would like to take our son with us when in port because this will be his first international experience. We don't *really* love the beach and are definitely foodie-friendly (but not alcohol; we just don't drink it) and can definitely do walking tours but maybe not hikes. What are your thoughts on the available options? Of course, I will take any additional tips or tricks for making our first cruise a successful one! I don't expect us to do any premium dining, but I would be interested to hear in what extras are really worth it. We also enjoy dancing, music, comedy, art, watching sports, and of course, travel.