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So excited about our June 2019 cruise on Allure! Being a newbie, I'm asking for any advice or tips I should know. I'm traveling with my 12 year old son.The itinerary is 7 day Eastern Caribbean,  stopping at St. Kitts,BVI, St. Thomas, USVI and Nassau, Bahamas. I am a research junkie, but nothing beats advice from a seasoned cruise community! So many questions....

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Go to the registration and meeting for the kids' club the first day.  Mention to them any special needs your child may have or special diets.  They have 3 sessions per day plus paid babysitting at night. 

When deciding on getting the drink package consider the cost of soda or specialty coffees you would drink also. 

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10 hours ago, Hoski said:

Go to the registration and meeting for the kids' club the first day.  Mention to them any special needs your child may have or special diets.  They have 3 sessions per day plus paid babysitting at night. 

Just to clarify, the OP has a 12 yo so he would be in the teen club.  It is very different than the kids club (no sessions and no babysitting).  There might be a teen registration but it will be different than the AO registration.  Just make sure to pick up a teen compass to see the times.  The biggest suggestion is to have your teen go to the teen club the first night.  There is a meet and greet the first night and that is when the teens will hopefully find a group.  

Here is Matt's article about Allure for first time cruisers  https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2015/08/12/what-first-time-cruisers-need-know-about-oasis-and-allure-of-the-seas

If you search the blog, you will find tons of tips.  If you have any follow up questions, feel free to ask!

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@Angelicious, welcome to the message boards!  You've found a great community of people here.  Not sure from your original post if this is your first cruise or not.  Here is a great resource by @Matt to get you started if it is.

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/getting-started

Here are a few more posts that are specific to Allure:

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2017/08/15/9-things-try-allure-of-the-seas

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2016/01/07/7-surprising-facts-about-royal-caribbeans-allure-of-the-seas

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2015/08/12/what-first-time-cruisers-need-know-about-oasis-and-allure-of-the-seas

Keep asking whatever questions you have.  Someone here will know the answer lol.  And Allure is a great ship.  All Oasis class ships are awesome.  I have a 12 year old as well and she is going on her first Oasis class ship in March.  Great choice for tweens/teens!

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11 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

@Angelicious, welcome to the message boards!  You've found a great community of people here.  Not sure from your original post if this is your first cruise or not.  Here is a great resource by @Matt to get you started if it is.

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/getting-started

Here are a few more posts that are specific to Allure:

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2017/08/15/9-things-try-allure-of-the-seas

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2016/01/07/7-surprising-facts-about-royal-caribbeans-allure-of-the-seas

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2015/08/12/what-first-time-cruisers-need-know-about-oasis-and-allure-of-the-seas

Keep asking whatever questions you have.  Someone here will know the answer lol.  And Allure is a great ship.  All Oasis class ships are awesome.  I have a 12 year old as well and she is going on her first Oasis class ship in March.  Great choice for tweens/teens!

Thank you so much for the wealth of information! I have also wondered about staterooms. We have an ocean view at the front of the ship. Thoughts?

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6 minutes ago, Angelicious said:

Thank you so much for the wealth of information! I have also wondered about staterooms. We have an ocean view at the front of the ship. Thoughts?

Motion on a ship is so hard to predict.  And Allure is such a large ship, that it doesn't really get anymore stable than that.  Still, if you encounter rough waters, you will feel something.  How much it bothers someone also varies depending on sensitivity.

I am prone motion sickness.  So is my 12 year old daughter.  That does not ever stop us from cruising.  I have cruised the smaller ships and the larger ones (like Allure) and I will say that I have yet to experience much motion on Oasis class ships.  I usually book mid ship cabins.  We just came off a cruise on Independence (smaller than Allure), where we had the very front of the ship.  We also encountered some rough waters.  We did feel motion on that one.  Enough that it bothered us.  Then again, we were on Mariner last August, also forward Deck 11, and we did not feel a thing.  Unpredictable.  We always pack anti-nausea meds just in case and then we are good to go.

Not sure how forward your stateroom is but the one thing I did not like about our very forward ocean view was the noise during docking.

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27 minutes ago, Angelicious said:

When can I book? We’re about 145 days out

Check your cruise planner now. If the entertainment is not available now, check back every week. Definitely will be there once you hit 90 days out. Once you get them booked, the shows will be electronically "posted" on your sea pass card. Show up at least 40 minutes before the show starts (for the better seats) , they will scan your sea pass card and admit you. If you get there 15-20 minutes before the show starts you probably won't get good seats. :27_sunglasses:

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Just now, rjac said:

Check your cruise planner now. If the entertainment is not available now, check back every week. Definitely will be there once you hit 90 days out. Once you get them booked, the shows will be electronically "posted" on your sea pass card. Show up at least 40 minutes before the show starts (for the better seats) , they will scan your sea pass card and admit you. If you get there 15-20 minutes before the show starts you probably won't get good seats. :27_sunglasses:

We will definitely be showing up early then! I’m vertically challenged (5’1”),so good seats are important!?

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5 minutes ago, rjac said:

Check your cruise planner now. If the entertainment is not available now, check back every week. Definitely will be there once you hit 90 days out. Once you get them booked, the shows will be electronically "posted" on your sea pass card. Show up at least 40 minutes before the show starts (for the better seats) , they will scan your sea pass card and admit you. If you get there 15-20 minutes before the show starts you probably won't get good seats. :27_sunglasses:

Will add to what @rjac already said in that I have seen entertainment open for booking as early as 170 days out to as close as about 45 days out.

No rhyme or reason.  Just keep checking that cruise planner.

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1 hour ago, Angelicious said:

so good seats are important

Word of caution. the Ocean Aria is held on deck 6, aft in the Aqua Theater. As you might guess from the name of the venue, it can get wet, especially if your are in the first couple of row known as the splash zone. Definitely want to get in the center as much as you can so you can enjoy the show. :27_sunglasses:

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welcome @Angelicious     one of the biggest things i learned when we took our two boys on their first cruise (12 & 14) was to give them freedom but also at the beginning we kept it in short bursts if you will.   Our number one rule we set was if at any point they missed a check-in with us, then the rest of that day and the next, they would be attached to our hip.     The first couple days we required them to check in with us every couple hours which was a huge success.     We always let them know where we were going to be.  If our agenda changed, we updated them with a sticky note on our cabin mirror.   As the week progressed and they gained more of our trust, we began to make the check in times a bit longer in between.    They enjoyed the freedom and we weren't nearly as nervous.   The vast majority of the times, we were running into them by chance as they hung out with others their age which was nice.    Never had one incident at all,  kids made all their check-ins and even found that they wanted to spend more time with us than had originally planned.       Don't get me wrong,  we spent plenty of family time together on the trip but the boys definitely enjoyed their "alone" time from us.  This wasn't just a run-free and be good, see you in a week type scenario.  ?

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19 minutes ago, Todd W said:

welcome @Angelicious     one of the biggest things i learned when we took our two boys on their first cruise (12 & 14) was to give them freedom but also at the beginning we kept it in short bursts if you will.   Our number one rule we set was if at any point they missed a check-in with us, then the rest of that day and the next, they would be attached to our hip.     The first couple days we required them to check in with us every couple hours which was a huge success.     We always let them know where we were going to be.  If our agenda changed, we updated them with a sticky note on our cabin mirror.   As the week progressed and they gained more of our trust, we began to make the check in times a bit longer in between.    They enjoyed the freedom and we weren't nearly as nervous.   The vast majority of the times, we were running into them by chance as they hung out with others their age which was nice.    Never had one incident at all,  kids made all their check-ins and even found that they wanted to spend more time with us than had originally planned.       Don't get me wrong,  we spent plenty of family time together on the trip but the boys definitely enjoyed their "alone" time from us.  This wasn't just a run-free and be good, see you in a week type scenario.  ?

This is a wonderful idea!

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  Next to most of the elevators is a large touch screen to help you navigate the ship areas.   Experiment with that when you get on board so if you or your 12yr old get turned around it can show you where you are and the touch screen can tell you how to get to any area on the ship.  The ship is very large and can be somewhat confusing till you learn it.  Have a great time and remember your on vacation,  dont try to do too much.  Just relax and enjoy.

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