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Allure Star Class Take Two


Tiffeven

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Alan has been super responsive in our email exchange.  We also received an email from Fabian Mendez, who is part of the Private Journey team with Royal Caribbean, asking if we wanted to reserve a cabana on Perfect Day CocoCay before they sell out.  For this sailing the following cabanas are available:

Thrill Waterpark Cabanas for $499 USD, Oasis lagoon and Chill Island for $999 US

We threw around the idea of getting a cabana but decided against it, since we didn't want to keep the babies out in the heat all day.

 

 

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38 minutes ago, Tiffeven said:

Alan has been super responsive in our email exchange.  We also received an email from Fabian Mendez, who is part of the Private Journey team with Royal Caribbean, asking if we wanted to reserve a cabana on Perfect Day CocoCay before they sell out.  For this sailing the following cabanas are available:

Thrill Waterpark Cabanas for $499 USD, Oasis lagoon and Chill Island for $999 US

We threw around the idea of getting a cabana but decided against it, since we didn't want to keep the babies out in the heat all day.

 

 

This is very interesting. I didn’t think the Genies had any option to purchase cabanas for SC anymore.  Good info

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6 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

This is very interesting. I didn’t think the Genies had any option to purchase cabanas for SC anymore.  Good info

Not really the Genie offering/selling the cabanas. It is the Private Journey group trying to make the sale.

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10 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

This is very interesting. I didn’t think the Genies had any option to purchase cabanas for SC anymore.  Good info

 

1 minute ago, CGTLH said:

Not really the Genie offering/selling the cabanas. It is the Private Journey group trying to make the sale.

CGTLH is correct.  It wasn't the genie just the Private Journey's team, but I don't think I would have received that email had I not been Star class.  He also offered to set up private tours if we are interested, but we're not.

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  • 3 weeks later...

We are officially down to the single digit countdown, so we figured it was time to get our butts in gear.  Today, we finished packing and did our pre-cruise spring clean.  Now, we are just trying to decide if we want to leave Friday or Saturday.  We will be driving from Tennessee, so it is a twelve and a half hour drive, but with babies, it usually takes much longer.  If we leave Friday, we can finally try La Bamba.  We will be staying at Holiday Inn Express and Suites Airport West in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday, and if we leave Friday, we will just find a hotel when we get tired.

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On 10/18/2019 at 8:46 PM, Tiffeven said:

Here is a screenshot of the list we sent Alan.  He read through it and said everything would be taken care of.

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Thanks for sharing this was really interesting. Maybe someday we'll be able to go star class. The highest suite we had has been sky class

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47 minutes ago, Srp431 said:

Thanks for sharing this was really interesting. Maybe someday we'll be able to go star class. The highest suite we had has been sky class

We always watch for good deals and book when we find them or reprice during good sales.  When we were on Allure in September, we were chatting with a couple who was Sky Class.  They were new to Royal and didn't know about Star, so when they saw our genie, they asked us about it and how much we paid.  Turns out they paid more for Sky Class than we did for Star. 

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On 11/8/2019 at 11:13 PM, Lovetocruise2002 said:

My vote is for leaving Friday. ??

We’re dealing with a similar conundrum right now for our end of November cruise. We arrive in FLL around 2 and can’t decide between staying nearby or heading down to Miami right away. Staying in Ft Lauderdale would allow us to try La Bamba, but heading to Miami always feels more comfortable, and after reading some reviews I’m really interested in trying out the Select Service on the BrightLine train. It even drops off right by the area where the JW, Intercontinental and others are. Plus what’s not to love about a departure lounge and having two or three drinks in a 45 minute train ride. 
https://onemileatatime.com/brightline-train-review/

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16 minutes ago, Andrew72681 said:

We arrive in FLL around 2

We debated the same thing for March for Oasis.  We are flying to FLL because it is way cheaper.  We even went so far as to book two hotels at the moment, Intercontinental and the Holiday Inn Express on 17th St.  In the end, I am pretty sure we will be staying in Fort Lauderdale.  It's hard to find a La Bamba substitute, we've tried over the last year.  The drive on a Sunday morning to Port of Miami should not be too bad, especially not around 9am.

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It was so much cheaper for us to fly into FLL as well.  I’ve always wanted to go to South Beach, so we are staying there for the night.  We also arrive around noon, so wanted something active for the kids to do all day.  I’ve booked cars transport.  We have 7 in our group-so I find multiple Uber’s just a pain.  With all that being said-last time we stayed in Ft Lauderdale and it was no trouble getting to the port in the morning.  

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20 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

We debated the same thing for March for Oasis.  We are flying to FLL because it is way cheaper.  We even went so far as to book two hotels at the moment, Intercontinental and the Holiday Inn Express on 17th St.  In the end, I am pretty sure we will be staying in Fort Lauderdale.  It's hard to find a La Bamba substitute, we've tried over the last year.  The drive on a Sunday morning to Port of Miami should not be too bad, especially not around 9am.

It’s a no-brainer for us. The southwest companion pass means anytime we fly as a family we go southwest. 

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On 11/10/2019 at 7:27 PM, Lovetocruise2002 said:

We debated the same thing for March for Oasis.  We are flying to FLL because it is way cheaper.  We even went so far as to book two hotels at the moment, Intercontinental and the Holiday Inn Express on 17th St.  In the end, I am pretty sure we will be staying in Fort Lauderdale.  It's hard to find a La Bamba substitute, we've tried over the last year.  The drive on a Sunday morning to Port of Miami should not be too bad, especially not around 9am.

It’s settled, just booked the brightline train and the JW Marriott Marquis for Saturday night. For almost the same price as an Uber XL for three of us we can take the train with food, drink, and get vacation started early. Now to find a good place for dinner in Miami. 

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6 hours ago, Andrew72681 said:

It’s settled, just booked the brightline train and the JW Marriott Marquis for Saturday night. For almost the same price as an Uber XL for three of us we can take the train with food, drink, and get vacation started early. Now to find a good place for dinner in Miami. 

Let me know if you find a good place. I am still holding two reservations for March ?

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On 11/8/2019 at 5:53 PM, Tiffeven said:

We are officially down to the single digit countdown, so we figured it was time to get our butts in gear.  Today, we finished packing and did our pre-cruise spring clean.  Now, we are just trying to decide if we want to leave Friday or Saturday.  We will be driving from Tennessee, so it is a twelve and a half hour drive, but with babies, it usually takes much longer.  If we leave Friday, we can finally try La Bamba.  We will be staying at Holiday Inn Express and Suites Airport West in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday, and if we leave Friday, we will just find a hotel when we get tired.

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My wife and I will be on our Oasis cruise for November 4, 2020 sailing. This will be our first time on an Oasis class ship.

 

 

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9 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Let me know if you find a good place. I am still holding two reservations for March ?

While I won’t be reviewing the cruise here (cough, cough, not RC) but I’ll be sure to put a review of the brightline train up as it could be a cool way to get between the two cities. 

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On 11/12/2019 at 11:13 AM, Dimension said:

My wife and I will be on our Oasis cruise for November 4, 2020 sailing. This will be our first time on an Oasis class ship.

I'm really looking forward to the November 4th sailing on Oasis.  I can't wait to see her after amp.  You will love the Oasis class ships.  They are beyond amazing.

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We decided to take everyone's advise and leave Friday instead of driving all day on Saturday.  This should make the drive a lot more bearable and also means we can leave a day early and out run the cold.  We got about two inches of snow which is nothing for most of y'all but for this Southern girl, that is way too cold.  Steven, being originally from Maine, didn't mind it and the kids enjoyed playing in the snow.

We also got an email from RCI today stating that we would be leaving at 2am Monday morning instead of 4:30pm Sunday afternoon.  This is due to routine maintenance and does not impact when we can board the ship or our itinerary just the time that we leave Port Everglades.

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1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

That schedule change will suck for casino players.  The casino will be closed the entire first day and night.  I understand the need ...hopefully some of the prop issues will be resolved.

I agree.  We aren't big casino players, but enjoy playing the quarters machine and a few slots here and there.  We almost always hit the casino the first night after dropping the kid's off at Adventure Ocean, so it is a little disappointing having to change our usual cruise traditions.  Speaking of changes, I messaged Alan to see if there would be any changes with muster drill time and opening time of Adventure Ocean, and he informed us they would occur at the usual time.  Right now, it seems the biggest changes will be not getting to watch sail away (2am is way past our bedtime) and the casino and shops opening.

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2 hours ago, AshleyDillo said:

Yuck!  Port Everglades isn't a pretty port to sit and stare at either.  At least you'll have plenty to do and eat! ?

Have a safe drive down!

Thanks.  Yeah, it's kind of a bummer.  Guess, we'll have to console ourselves with food.  Thankfully, there is plenty of that.  Star Class food coma here we come!

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1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Be afraid.  Be very afraid

Last time, I was sure that I would be atleast 10 lbs heavier than when I left, but, to my surprise, I didn't gain any weight.  I guess I can thank the long trek from the aquatheater suites for that, especially since Adventure Ocean is completely forward on the ship. 

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We left this morning around 10am and were immediately met with a 50 minute construction delay in the Great Smoky Mountains.  After finding out Alan loves chocolate, we stopped in Asheville to visit the Lindt Chocolate Shop.  We got him a cute champagne bottle of assorted Lindor truffles.  Now the kids are wired on chocolate, and I should be wired between the chocolate and the Starbuck's venti caramel brulee frappuccino I just had, but all I want to do is nap.  Wish I had half the energy, that the kids have.

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We are on the road again.  Today, we only have about a 6.5 hr drive, but between stopping for the kids and the bad weather, it will probably take us closer to 9 hrs.  Alan emailed us last night with a tentative schedule, and we responded back with any modifications that needed to be made.  This was a welcome surprise, since last time, Jay didn't give us our schedule until we were onboard and there was a lot of last minute changes that had to be made.  Another difference between Jay and Alan is Alan also sent us a list of the entertainers and their biographies today.  Perhaps Jay didn't because it was the shortened Allure cruise due to Hurricane Dorian and everything was out of the ordinary.  I am going to attach the list of entertainers.  We plan on seeing the comedians but usually skip the Headliner.  This time we are thinking about seeing the Headliner.  Are any of you familiar with him or the other comedians?  If so, would you recommend them?  We are getting very excited for embarkation tomorrow and are extremely pleased with Alan's communication thus far.

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1 hour ago, emsff02 said:

Ronn Lucas was just on our Navigator Cruise in September. He was pretty funny then.

Thanks for letting us know.  I think we are going to play it by ear and decide if we want to see him once we are onboard.  Last time, Jay had us so busy that we had to tell him to tone it down, so we could have time to relax.  

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We are here and checked in.  We are staying at the Holiday Inn Express and Suites Airport West, and this is definitely a one and done hotel for us.  We always book suites that have atleast one or two bedrooms separated from the living room.  With four kids, having a separate bedroom after being in a car all day is definitely preferred.  When we booked this hotel, we were told it was a suite with two queen beds in a bedroom and a separate living area with a pullout sofa and there was a door separating the rooms.  Much to our dismay, that was not the case and there is no separation.  At this point, we are tired and just going to let it slide.  To further add to the issues with this hotel, they are doing parking lot repair, so everyone is having to park in the the WaWa parking lot.  If we would have known this, we would have booked elsewhere, because it is a pain having to lug two pack n' plays, 4 kids, and about a million bags from a different parking lot.  Then, the cherry on the cake was when we got to the room, our seven year old asked me what was on the dresser, and what she brought me was marijuana rolling paper.  Everything else, we let slide but that was the final straw.  I called and asked for the manager, but they won't be in until tomorrow.  By the time they are available,  I will be onboard and probably enjoying myself too much to worry with Holiday Inn.  Think I will just take it as a lesson learned and book elsewhere next time.  Maybe, it's a decent hotel and we are just the outlier, but I'll attach a picture of the room in case anyone is curious.  Rant officially over.  Now that that is off my chest and the kids are all asleep, I'm going to call it a night.  One more sleep!

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