Jump to content

Allure of the Seas May 12-19 Eastern Caribbean - First attempt at Live Blog!


spiralqueen

Recommended Posts

11 hours ago, spiralqueen said:

It sounds boring, but I have read 2 books while I’ve been here and hope to finish the 3rd before I get home. I rarely have time to read properly at home so I treasure this kind of uninterrupted time to catch up on some good books

Good for you! I love reading but often find I don't have enough time for it on a cruise what with all of the activities going on. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, SpeedNoodles said:

Now you have me rethinking being on deck 12 on Symphony next Feb.  I may have to move down closer to CP.  Loving your blog!

I know that many love deck 8 or 6 on Oasis class ships, but we personally like deck 12.  We have stayed on Deck 12 for every OA class sailing so far.  I like to take stairs, and I find Deck 12 more central than the lower decks because you've got the WJ and many public areas on Decks 15/16.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh man I forgot how much 11pm sneaks up on you on the last night when you plan on putting out luggage. My mom and I managed to speed pack everything in about half an hour while my dad slept. ?‍♀️ I’m completely exhausted right now and I know tomm morning will be a bit hectic followed by sitting around waiting so I’ll do the proper day 7 recap at the airport, but I will leave you with this. I’ve always wondered why they have stores like Kate Spade, Michael Kors & Coach on cruise ships. Then I found myself needing to waste $50 in OBC on the last day and well. One thing led to another and the good news is I DID manage to spend the $50. .......and then some. 

8CDE9276-D7A0-4C66-BA7C-97237F5B23F5.thumb.jpeg.4a4dbb4271dda117ba99a0da85a7d1e7.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I really appreciate you taking the time to write this blog. I too travel with my parents sometimes. Parents are very special. I am glad you had this time to spend with them. My father is 81 and he says he is going to do the slides on Navigator this June. Cameras are ready.

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Sweety said:

I really appreciate you taking the time to write this blog. I too travel with my parents sometimes. Parents are very special. I am glad you had this time to spend with them. My father is 81 and he says he is going to do the slides on Navigator this June. Cameras are ready.

 

 

 

 

Thank you so much! It’s funny, when I was a teenager I wanted nothing to do with my parents because I was a hormonal brat but now as an adult it’s really great to get to spend the time with them. It’s such a great bonding time and I’m really looking forward to my Jan 2021 cruise which will just be a mother/daughter trip. I’m sure you must be looking forward to that June cruise! Your dad sounds like he is still very much young at heart. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, spiralqueen said:

Thank you so much! It’s funny, when I was a teenager I wanted nothing to do with my parents because I was a hormonal brat but now as an adult it’s really great to get to spend the time with them. It’s such a great bonding time and I’m really looking forward to my Jan 2021 cruise which will just be a mother/daughter trip. I’m sure you must be looking forward to that June cruise! Your dad sounds like he is still very much young at heart. 

Have an awesome time with your Mom. The memories are awesome. My Mom hit jackpot on an Alaskan cruise. She booked another cruise with her winnings. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 7: I realized last night that I never tried Johnny Rockets for breakfast so that was definitely on my wishlist for today. I talked my mom into coming with me and my dad ended up joining us mid meal for some coffee. 

6495A44A-707E-490A-94C2-1F287B83F53C.thumb.jpeg.527d00fbd5af77912e5dc83a96f5c95d.jpeg

I got the breakfast sandwich with bacon and we split the “Works” potatoes. The potatoes are crispier than they appear but they were kind of heavy for breakfast with all the cheese. I did like the addition of the peppers though. The breakfast sandwich was pretty good, but I liked the Park Cafe one more. It was more toasted and the ham had more flavor than the bacon. 

8139BD5C-EF10-4D54-81D7-C212BF20E44C.thumb.jpeg.69bfa3d1fe63863187b72138dbf1824b.jpeg

When we docked in Nassau, we were next to the NCL Sky and the Disney Dream was on the other side of it. I noticed from our balcony that the NCL ship was having a crew safety drill. 

A0D51F03-2F28-4571-8614-76884C9BC0E4.thumb.jpeg.73ccc0422d6575d131a6b4136e3f439d.jpeg

The view from the starboard side was pretty industrial but the view from the port side. Whew. Quite lovely. 

18EAD43D-C5E0-46DB-B699-A95D7926BCCD.thumb.jpeg.a103055fa55c2499eeb181a9d1d26bc9.jpeg

Today was another day of.....you guessed it! Reading in the Solarium! It was wonderfully peaceful with staying on board for the port day and I had my pick of chairs with nary a wait at the bar. 

We had 6pm dinner reservations at CK as usual and tonight was filet night! I was very excited and the menu looked great. 

AE193F5E-1099-4421-9A4C-304EAEC2402E.thumb.jpeg.26e4566b1e1d4cb425f5964fbe1ffdd8.jpeg

however, forewarning....I think I was a bit burnt out on food by this point. The food was all good, but it was kind of overwhelming and I’m ready for lots of salads at home. So. Much. Meat. This trip (my fault). 

76BBC371-0A9C-4BF7-B923-6BE80C416721.thumb.jpeg.a3c47b73f3b58ecb4d78aa58a598a993.jpeg

Crispy pork belly for appetizer. It had way more flavor than Giovanni’s and I liked the parsnip purée more than I thought I would. It also had a really nice texture to it. Overall, I’d say twice as good as the Giovanni’s pancetta. 

FE3B3E50-D5C1-452E-A047-8D946679046F.thumb.jpeg.b950ad710e996b5774747769f3420e97.jpeg

Of course the filet for my main. I have to say....it was excellent. Honestly, a very good cut and flavorful sides and sauce. But I’d say it’s the second best filet on the ship as I still liked the Giovanni’s filet more (the meat itself seemed to have more flavor. Idk how) and the CK rib eye is still my favorite overall steak on board. The thing with filet is that since it’s such a relatively low fat cut of meat, there’s only so much natural flavor it can have. The rib eye though. You can’t beat that natural marbling if it’s well cooked. And the Coastal Kitchen one I had was expertly cooked. I’d say this steak was still better than the Chops one though and the mashed potatoes are for sure much more flavorful than the Chops potatoes. 

I was kind of disappointed because our waiter (new person we hadn’t had) forgot to bring out the rigatoni for sharing that I had requested. We didn’t bother saying anything because there was absolutely no room in our stomachs for it and we didn’t need it...but it would have been nice to taste. 

6C4D1946-A9C3-4201-8383-9E8A9FC07C9F.thumb.jpeg.51110bb5095acca73de7ee10c05ba826.jpeg

4D7CC414-4BD5-4247-AD6C-598482310875.thumb.jpeg.9cb1376af94e9adef1ea3eb183061479.jpeg

I went with the honey pear because I needed something lighter in my life. It was good, but the puff pastry underneath seemed like filler. 

After dinner, my dad retired to the room and my mom and I went to waste some time in the casino. We only had 20 mins before our show so I didn’t want to go to a table because it would have been a waste. I did see this cool art work down there that I hadn’t noticed before. 

2D5D3AC6-B909-459D-98CD-E12280F6FE21.thumb.jpeg.9f601aec09089ce351de0835c3ce0adb.jpeg

Then it was time for Blue Planet. We got to the 8:30 show at 8:22 because we MIGHT have lost track of time in the casino. However...Key seating to the rescue! 

F51C47E7-7B6D-438F-898F-022230144380.thumb.jpeg.3d9ee0fe1e349dd01d0a0960358fef2d.jpeg

I enjoyed the show more than I thought I would. I didn’t realize that it was a combination of live singing, dancing as well as acrobatics. I thought it was more like a pure Cirque du Solei type thing. 

After the show, it was me hunting around the shops to spend my OBC and then a panicked realization that we hadn’t packed and time was running out. We juuuuust made it. And were feeling quite proud of ourselves about our efficiency and timing. Then it was BED. Flight is boarding now so I’ll probably recap this morning when we land. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sounds like an amazing trip, thanks for bringing us along!  We'll be on Allure in May of 2020 with a CP balcony.  Can't wait to sit on the balcony and listen to the sounds every evening as we recover from our long port day each day.  We're doing a 7 night med that has 6 ports.  Talk about tiring excursions!  ? 

We went on Grandeur last month and I read 5 books over the 7 days.  I'm a huge fan of balcony reading. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, KathyC said:

We went on Grandeur last month and I read 5 books over the 7 days.  I'm a huge fan of balcony reading. 

I'm thinking I need to make more time for this on my upcoming cruises. Thing is though, even on the balcony I'm reluctant to read in case I miss a dolphin or whale sighting. It doesn't matter how many times I see them, I get ridiculously excited!?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

57 minutes ago, hayley_bopp said:

I'm thinking I need to make more time for this on my upcoming cruises. Thing is though, even on the balcony I'm reluctant to read in case I miss a dolphin or whale sighting. It doesn't matter how many times I see them, I get ridiculously excited!?

We had our first aft-facing balcony and we loved it.  Sat there for half of each sea day, when depended on the sun.  Hubby napped, I read.  Brought snacks from WJ, drank two bottles of wine over the three days, read a book each day.  Other two books were read over the three port days. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok I am now officially home and unpacked and unwound and ready to blog about this morning and the debarkation process, especially with the Key. 

We woke up around 7ish and were out of the room by like...7:30. We brought our bags down to the Key breakfast because we wanted to free up the room ASAP for our room attendant since I know that it’s a tight day for them to flip. Our Key letter said that breakfast would be held on deck 4 which was The Grande. When we approached it I knew we were in the right spot because we were greeted with this sign. 

9A69B999-6249-4974-93C0-5CAEA6EB2FB8.thumb.jpeg.da4fc05b8da32221c67237621404a6e6.jpeg

At first we were planning on just piling our carry on bags by the table, but we noticed that others had just left them in the waiting area outside the dining room so we followed suit. 

80CDC6E5-5AFB-4AF7-A2A6-D379AF6C8C46.thumb.jpeg.19ad08c987309bdf73e50fa7925e51e3.jpeg

As you have probably seen, Key breakfast is basically the normal MDR breakfast menu with 2 added dishes. 

F51DEE7C-DC5D-478D-925A-345D27FF3283.thumb.jpeg.f709073409ff0767a58120725e56d83a.jpeg

I got the steak and eggs even though I knew I would only be able to sample it since it’s so heavy for that early. But I was on a steak mission! My dad got the crab Benedict so I got a shot of that too. But only after he attacked it first. Since it wasn’t my food I can’t  complain that he actually....you know, ate it. 

4FBE015A-2A9A-4C9B-B5AA-2F47AA200C90.thumb.jpeg.6054504bf863e1e7f02e600587ebb3f8.jpeg

E2F5F164-765C-4C97-B714-C765A72E5B07.thumb.jpeg.eb6babd07c8981bb15296aac6c32fae1.jpeg

My steak was very very good, but I was honestly so burnt out on steak that I can’t even begin to rank it in the various steaks I tried. I will say, it looks thin but that’s a good thing for such an early morning steak. And it wasn’t over cooked despite how thin it was compared to a normal filet. 

My mom got the French toast and was swearing it was a slightly elevated version over what she had had earlier in the cruise when we have breakfast in the MDR. I’m not sure if that’s because they used better ingredients or if it was just because the kitchen had to serve fewer people and was able to focus more on each dish. 

After we finished with breakfast, we made our way up the stairs to deck 5 near the Champagne bar as instructed. Again, ample signage. This time in the form of a nice woman holding up a key paddle. 

5FF09794-1D10-4A8B-BF52-CE9179E96D30.thumb.jpeg.041f438c0407da7b7826f139fec93a22.jpeg

When we approached her and told her we had the Key, the blonde woman above asked if we were ready to leave then. We told her that we were and she immediately whisked us away. No waiting for a group to form or waiting until a certain time happened. She personally escorted us down the gangway and through a special line in the port toward the baggage claim. 

44DD3E3F-1768-4762-805E-57FFC0A48E6E.thumb.jpeg.9516be6fad01bcb9791381f02a55581a.jpeg

C284DFED-8AEE-4697-8AEC-0FBDE15566D6.thumb.jpeg.1c7883eb3059e80b89c49395a6339462.jpeg

She led us past all the other luggage claim areas and over to the same area that suite and pinnacle (I think I saw them on the sign) luggage is. 

4E86F124-0056-4603-8FEE-4FCB01349A0A.thumb.jpeg.4090b186badbb3f8c96f6a5ee5a1ff9e.jpeg

That line that you see behind the luggage is the customs line so that tells you how close it is to the exit. She then said goodbye to us and wished us safe travels. She was very nice and very efficient. Once we found our stuff we decided to take full advantage of the porter there which ended up being a wise decision as he shamelessly cut the customs line and we were outside before I even had a chance to think about ordering the Uber to the airport. I then did that after customs as we were walking outside. They must have been circling the area because a Suburban was greeting us in less than 3 minutes. 

Overall, we approached the Key paddle woman at 8:25 and were in the Uber on the way to the airport by 8:43. And that is including delays due to being stuck behind slower moving people with walking assistive devices going down the gangway and it taking some time to hunt down our various bags among the Key section. Looking at the lines that had formed I could have seen it taking close to an hour otherwise. This includes getting off the ship and also through customs. 

I could definitely see us getting the Key in the future depending on the ship and price. I don’t think it’s worth it for a smaller ship like Grandeur so definitely not for that sailing. I will keep an eye out on pricing for our Harmony sailing. At the new full price I think it wouldn’t be worth it. But at $20-25 I can see the value. But that’s coming from a place where we would be getting the Internet anyway and we place real value on saving time and skipping lines. And I really, REALLY liked the reserved seats because it let us have a bit more freedom with our schedule and timing. The only other feature I can think that would be nice to add (and is pragmatic as a wish list item) would be a special line at guest services like AMC has for their Alist and Premier members. It wouldn’t cost them anything extra and it would make sense to also open that special line up to suites/pinnacles to avoid a revolt. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks so much for taking time out of your cruise for us !  It was a great blog and I enjoyed it very much. 

The disembarkation part of the Key program seems to consistently be the part that they get “right”. I have read almost no criticisms of the disembarkation in contrast to many many criticisms of almost all of the other Key aspects. For some reason they all seem to do well in disembarkation. Yippee !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Your blog was superb!  It provided me with a fantastic daily respite from the everyday grind for a week.  I greatly appreciate you taking the time to submit daily reports and pictures.  I was looking forward to catching up with you, every day. It looks like you had a very nice trip with your family.  I am glad you arrived home safely.  I hope you will continue to blog on future cruises - you are very good at it!  Thank you for sharing your trip with us.  Take care!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, Skid said:

@spiralqueen Glad you got home safely. Fantastic blog and pictures. Loved reading it.

Thank you so much! I’m glad my obsessive picture taking paid off. My parents were poking fun at me but humored me lol 

11 hours ago, Cindy Leslie said:

The worst part of a cruise is having it end and then having to go back home. ? Glad you made it home safely! Thank you again for sharing your cruise with us... I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Yes, the end of the cruise was very bittersweet. Of course I was bummed the cruise was ending because that also means back to work soon, but I was also very excited for my own bed and also to see my cats again. 

11 hours ago, hayley_bopp said:

Thanks so much for sharing your cruise with us. It's made me even more excited for my Allure sailing. 

Yay! I’m glad that it did as it served its purpose! You will have a great time. 

1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Thanks so much for taking time out of your cruise for us !  It was a great blog and I enjoyed it very much. 

The disembarkation part of the Key program seems to consistently be the part that they get “right”. I have read almost no criticisms of the disembarkation in contrast to many many criticisms of almost all of the other Key aspects. For some reason they all seem to do well in disembarkation. Yippee !

Thank you! And yes, the debarkation was a dream. We got some weird looks cutting the line getting off the ship but having her there to accompany us made it look more legitimate and less like we were jerks. I was very happy to see that it was immediate because I had heard reports about some ships making you wait until a designated time (which seems to defeat part of the purpose of the perk if you ask me) 

55 minutes ago, SSJ444 said:

Your blog was superb!  It provided me with a fantastic daily respite from the everyday grind for a week.  I greatly appreciate you taking the time to submit daily reports and pictures.  I was looking forward to catching up with you, every day. It looks like you had a very nice trip with your family.  I am glad you arrived home safely.  I hope you will continue to blog on future cruises - you are very good at it!  Thank you for sharing your trip with us.  Take care!

 

Oh my goodness, thank you so much!! This is so genuinely flattering and I’m glad that people enjoyed this and found it helpful. I can definitely see me doing this in the future as it wasn’t as hard to keep up with as I feared. Especially if I was able to do 2 posts a day to break it up a bit. 

53 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

@spiralqueen Thanks for live blogging!  I really enjoyed logging in each day to see what you were up to and what you ate at CK ?

Well thank YOU because I definitely took your and other’s feedback on CK and kept it in mind when ordering. My parents were especially happy that I said “I heard the tomato soup is very good” and my dad declared it the best soup he has ever had on a ship. Also, you definitely need to try that rib eye the next time you are on a sailing! I was going to say “the next time you are in a suite” but then I realized that, knowing you, the statements are the same ? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, spiralqueen said:

Also, you definitely need to try that rib eye the next time you are on a sailing! I was going to say “the next time you are in a suite” but then I realized that, knowing you, the statements are the same ? 

Lol!  @Boston Babe and I are suite snobs and not afraid to admit it!  I will most definitely try it on the Anthem GC.  Can't wait to get back onto a ship!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you @spiralqueen for allowing us to join you on your Cruise this week.  The blog information and photos that you provided I am sure will be helpful to me as I prepare for my cruise on the Allure in August.  Thank you again for taking the time out of your vacation with your family to do this for us.......

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/13/2019 at 4:53 PM, Cindy Leslie said:

OMG! G&M is our favorite when we’re in the Baltimore area! They have the best crab cakes! They’re on par with my grandmother’s. I’m starting to salivate. ?

Guess where we had to stop after getting back home from our Navigator Cruise today.  

A057594B-EE76-49BB-BBCA-EEFE74F47770.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, VinceC said:

Thank you @spiralqueen for allowing us to join you on your Cruise this week.  The blog information and photos that you provided I am sure will be helpful to me as I prepare for my cruise on the Allure in August.  Thank you again for taking the time out of your vacation with your family to do this for us.......

It was my pleasure! I really enjoyed using the liveblog to reflect on my day and it encouraged me to take more photos that I normally would. By the way, were you ever able to join that FB group? 

20 minutes ago, Andrew72681 said:

Guess where we had to stop after getting back home from our Navigator Cruise today.  

A057594B-EE76-49BB-BBCA-EEFE74F47770.jpeg

Omfg omfg ummmmm @Matt I would like to formally petition for a new drooling post reaction option.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, spiralqueen said:

It was my pleasure! I really enjoyed using the liveblog to reflect on my day and it encouraged me to take more photos that I normally would. By the way, were you ever able to join that FB group?  

Omfg omfg ummmmm @Matt I would like to formally petition for a new drooling post reaction option.  

@spiralqueen yes, thank you, I was able to join the Facebook group and it was interesting read about everyone's experience on the ship.  It gives me an idea of what to expect since this is my First RC cruise.  Being a travel agent, I have always push value verse experience, and I am starting to realize that although other cruise companies may offer more value and Royal seems to be more of an a-la-carte, Royal seems to be more of a RED CARPET treatment no matter what your status or booking category is.  This must be why I see a lot of commitment to Royal Caribbean.   I also took notice of some issues on board that I will take careful note of when I get on the ship.  The last thing that I want to have on board is issues.  Thank you again for doing this.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great live blog, thanks!

As someone who has recently gotten off Grandeur, I can't see a reason to get The Key there.  I'm not sure which itinerary you are on, but if it's Bermuda/Charleston then it's worthless for disembarkation. You go through customs in Charleston and walk off the ship in Baltimore.  The customs process was so easy in Charleston, and everyone was through in far less time than originally scheduled.  There is only one show worth going to, the CD does a Neil Diamond tribute show.  We didn't go, but all the retirees were raving about it after it was over, LOL.  Otherwise, those "reserved seats" are for meh shows.  There will be a lot of specials for specialty lunches, they are big on sea day lobster brunches.   It's a small ship with very few bells and whistles, so unless you want the private rock wall time, there is no venues to offer you private anything (like Flowrider.) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, JohnK6404 said:

Hi @VinceC !

I'm so sorry! I don't know how I missed the notification for your post... we live in Holbrook. I grew up in Smithtown and my wife grew up in Farmingdale.

Hi former neighbor. In previous lives we lived in both Nassau and Suffolk counties. Worked for a few years in Jericho. One of the best memories is walking around Port Jefferson. Other than the LIE, we miss the area.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...