Training for Allure: 10/15/23-10/22/23

[Ampurp85]

@OCSC Mike I don't understand the logic of anything when it comes to Royal.

[asquared17]

26 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

I also plan to try to RUB so I might see her anyway.

THE WAY I AM HERE FOR THIS!!!!!!!

[OCSC Mike]

27 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

He is going to get it again tonight so he can fill his bento box for the long train ride.

Well played by him yet again.

I'd have a gallon ziploc of cookies (I take one of those home even though I only have an hour drive) and whatever other random items I thought would hold up well from Park Cafe or WJ or wherever.

[SweetPea]

58 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

Joking aside, that's kind of bizarre to me. I don't really care but don't they have their own suite lounge? Why would they be given a special area in the CL as well?

I was thinking the exact same.

56 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

My brother said he will play the $41 I earned him on the penny slots. Last time he turned his $8 freeplay into $26.

Lol, i think your brother could sell some of his luck for your next cruise.  

[melmar02]

I'm sorry your trip is almost over. Just when you started to unwind, too. Hopefully everyone will still be worn out so the train ride back will be uneventful. 

[Ampurp85]

Lunch was at Chops. I got the Ceasars salad with steak and the red velvet

Its been some weirdness with this entire cruise and policies in general.

I am just mostly packing up before my NextCruise appointment.

[Ampurp85]

Just an FYI they will no longer book casino certificates at NextCruise, you buy an open booking and have to call in.

[Sweety]

1 hour ago, Ampurp85 said:

Lunch was at Chops. I got the Ceasars salad with steak and the red velvet

Its been some weirdness with this entire cruise and policies in general.

I am just mostly packing up before my NextCruise appointment.

Red Velvet Cake!   

[ScottD]

On 10/20/2023 at 8:26 PM, asquared17 said:

i’m defecting!! next april!! and then i think @ScottD is going on the seaside too

Fellow defector here. I'm doing Seascape..which is the newer version of Seaside. The original plan was September, but now that we booked the Liberty cruise for July, I think I'm going to push Seascape back to early December.  I get "one free change" with my reservation, so hoping it's as easy as it sounds and I can just push it back. Tried the other day but the lady sounded very confused, but according to the MSC folk over at CC, answers vary depending on who you get on the phone. Sounds familiar, huh?

[Ampurp85]

We went to the Crown Lounge and it was empty. They had a nice spread. I forgot to mention this one has an actual bar, so drink service was fast.

Well the cruise us pretty much over. It went fast and I didn't fully get to relax. There is lots to say and I will mention it all when I do a recap.

The original ice show was scheduled at 7pm but for some reason it was changed to 8pm. Since most of us have a very long train ride we had planned to be in our rooms by 9 with full bellies. None of us went to the ice show.

There was some misbehaving teens on the boardwalk and cruise police were out in full force. We got JR and Izumi to go as that would last and hold out in our bento boxes for lunch tomorrow. 7hour bus ride to the train before we could get hot food and why not take as much advantage of the UDP as possible .

 

[SweetPea]

1 hour ago, ScottD said:

I think I'm going to push Seascape back to early December.

If you could go ahead and live blog Seascape for me, that'd be great. Via DM is fine.  Thanks so much. 

36 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

There is lots to say and I will mention it all when I do a recap.

I, for one, can't WAIT!!!

36 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

We got JR and Izumi to go as that would last and hold out in our bento boxes for lunch tomorrow. 7hour bus ride to the train before we could get hot food and why not take as much advantage of the UDP as possible

This is HOW YOU DO IT!

I think i speak for many when i say, I'm bummed your cruise is over! I feel like i have so many friends here, and I'd love to sail with so many of you some day! Not that it would be a What About Bob sitch. I'm no stalker!

Have an uneventful disembarkation, but please, sadly, I'm now living for your train ride home so ....

[asquared17]

1 hour ago, ScottD said:

Fellow defector here. I'm doing Seascape..which is the newer version of Seaside

wait me too!! i always get them mixed up rip me 

we are going end of april/beginning of may, i believe.

34 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

We went to the Crown Lounge and it was empty. They had a nice spread. I forgot to mention this one has an actual bar, so drink service was fast.

a dream, really.

34 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

There is lots to say and I will mention it all when I do a recap.

i am LIVING for this. 

also im sad your cruise was not nearly as relaxing as we’d hoped it would be once you got aboard.  i’m glad you get another shot at allure, but hope things settle at home so you can decompress because it sounds like… you really need (and deserve!!) it. 

[Sweety]

May peace be your journey home.

[Ampurp85]

Disembarkation.....

It's is almost 8am. My brother has been to the WJ and is now packing his carry-on. I recall the lounge being open on today but it isn't, the last couple of times I got OJ and pastries there before leaving. Weather is pretty good.

We will be 6 on the train ride back. I didn't want to be rude and get plane tickets for my brother and I, so I am suffering through this ride. The new vintage spent over $5k in Effy jewelry , so she didn't want to fly back.......plus they loved the ride.

We are tag 43, and they have called up to 8. Hopefully it's smooth sailing from here on out.

[OCSC Mike]

1 hour ago, Ampurp85 said:

I recall the lounge being open on today but it isn't

I have read they started closing it on disembarkation morning. If vouchers are no longer issued for the last morning either, I guess I'll have to suck it up and drink the basic coffee.

Safe travels home! Hopefully the shenanigans are kept to a minimum (as much as we enjoy reading about them).

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

Have truly enjoyed following along on your trip…from home to train to bus to ship…and looking forward to traveling bus and train all the way home!  I’m sure your recap will be entertaining as well as informative.   
Safe travels to you and your group!

 

[SweetPea]

1 hour ago, Ampurp85 said:

I didn't want to be rude and get plane tickets for my brother and I, so I am suffering through this ride.

I hereby dub you Saint Alicia ...

 

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

12 hours ago, ScottD said:

Fellow defector here. I'm doing Seascape..which is the newer version of Seaside. The original plan was September, but now that we booked the Liberty cruise for July, I think I'm going to push Seascape back to early December.  I get "one free change" with my reservation, so hoping it's as easy as it sounds and I can just push it back. Tried the other day but the lady sounded very confused, but according to the MSC folk over at CC, answers vary depending on who you get on the phone. Sounds familiar, huh?

A very dear friend of mine is a TA and she has been gung-ho for MSC for the past few years.  She has tried to get me to book several times but I am desperately trying to somehow get myself to, at the very least, Diamond before I “meet my maker “!       I will be Emerald after my upcoming Indy cruise .    Also, I have already defected to NCL once and will be sailing Carnival next year immediately after my Utopia cruise!   That should be interesting!
Anyway, she showed me videos of the Seascape and it looks lovely.  My brother cruised with her in May out of Barcelona and he was not a fan of their food or the ambience of the ship.  However, he is a huge Royal fan so takes a lot to get him to like something different!

Just my thoughts….

[ScottD]

2 minutes ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

A very dear friend of mine is a TA and she has been gung-ho for MSC for the past few years.  She has tried to get me to book several times but I am desperately trying to somehow get myself to, at the very least, Diamond before I “meet my maker “!       I will be Emerald after my upcoming Indy cruise .    Also, I have already defected to NCL once and will be sailing Carnival next year immediately after my Utopia cruise!   That should be interesting!
Anyway, she showed me videos of the Seascape and it looks lovely.  My brother cruised with her in May out of Barcelona and he was not a fan of their food or the ambience of the ship.  However, he is a huge Royal fan so takes a lot to get him to like something different!

Just my thoughts….

Well if you hit diamond, MSC will match that for you- I got a nice little discount on mine once I gave them my C&A number...and I'm no where near Diamond. The ship does look beautiful, if anything we figure the ship itself and the ports we visit will all be worth it alone, then we just hope the food and service is at least good. 

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

4 minutes ago, ScottD said:

Well if you hit diamond, MSC will match that for you- I got a nice little discount on mine once I gave them my C&A number...Wow I did not know that!  and I'm no where near D  The ship does look beautiful, Yes it does!!   if anything we figure the ship itself and the ports we visit will all be worth it alone I will agree with you, then we just hope the food and service is at least good. 

Please let us know!  Much better getting details from our loyal readership here…my opinion!

Edited October 22, 2023 by PPPJJ-GCVAB
Added info

[ScottD]

10 minutes ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

Please let us know!  Much better getting details from our loyal readership here…my opinion!

I'll certainly report back- but @asquared17 is also sailing this ship before me, so hoping to get her insight, as well! 

[asquared17]

29 minutes ago, ScottD said:

I'll certainly report back- but @asquared17 is also sailing this ship before me, so hoping to get her insight, as well! 

wait. do we have a non-RCI group section for liveblogs??? i would do it for you guys!!!

also we are going on a windstar cruise next month and would try to do that as well but i hear the interwebs are quite spotty

[asquared17]

2 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

I didn't want to be rude and get plane tickets for my brother and I, so I am suffering through this ride.

my friend, you truly are a good egg. i would have gotten that flight SO FAST

2 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

The new vintage spent over $5k in Effy jewelry

WOWZERS. maybe she could hang with @Lovetocruise2002 !!!!

 

hoping your disembarkation goes well enough and there are no major snafus.

[SweetPea]

1 hour ago, asquared17 said:

wait. do we have a non-RCI group section for liveblogs??? i would do it for you guys!!!

also we are going on a windstar cruise next month and would try to do that as well but i hear the interwebs are quite spotty

If we don't, we need one! I need to read this!

[Ampurp85]

We are in the bus to the train. Getting lyft was hell!!!!!!! We disembarked at 8:30 and waited over an hour. To top that off 6 drivers cancelled because they couldn't get to the Lyft area, they wanted us to walk to the luggage area.......but we still had 17 bags. The blind gentleman is already flying home from Hobby.

The worst part of this is a vintage couple fell on the escalator. She busted her leg open and his arm. Blood was everywhere and they had to close it down for then to get medical attention. This slowed everything down but of course there was pax complaining about it. This also made traffic at the port horrible. 

Originally we were taking 2 Lyfts but mine kept canceling and after 45min my brother's driver called. He had a car that sat 8 and a hitch, praise sweet baby Jesus........we and the luggage all fit. Made it to the bus stop less than 10min later at 10:16.

Bus was on time and we had the same driver, who was supposed to be off on this lord's day. This one would be full and there would be 3 stops instead of two. The JR came through as the barely warm burger was needed.

[Lovetocruise2002]

5 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

The new vintage spent over $5k in Effy jewelry

Effy!!! Smart lady! lol

Thanks for blogging another one! I am glad you found some time to relax near the end. Hopefully the train ride home will be smooth and uneventful.

I have done MSC Seaside, when they first came to Miami back in 2018. I'll be honest...as someone who is pretty loyal to Royal, they were just ok. Full disclosure, we did Yacht Club. I'm trying to find right words to describe MSC. The ship was beautiful, however, the food was blah, the shows were even more blah. Aesthetically, the public spaces beat out many of Royal's public spaces. However, that is all that's there. Once you peel back that layer, IMO Royal still has the edge over most other things. I did blog it, but not here since it's not Royal Caribbean. But I can send the link to anyone who is interested. Just PM me and let me know.

[OCSC Mike]

6 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

I did blog it, but not here

Hey! Didn't you threaten to ban me for just mentioning "the site across the street?"

Talk about hypocrisy! Is Matt looking for new mods? At least I only sail RC!

[Lovetocruise2002]

32 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

Hey! Didn't you threaten to ban for me for just mentioning "the site across the street?"

In my poor defence, that was 5 years ago! Lol

[melmar02]

That poor couple! What a terrible way to end a vacation! 

Thanks for taking us along - can't wait for the next one!

[OCSC Mike]

27 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

In my poor defence, that was 5 years ago! Lol

Oh no, this was recently! I wasn't active on here 5 years ago.

It's OK, I forgive you.

[Ampurp85]

So we are at a rest stop. According to the app the train is over an hour late.

This bus ended up completely full. The family we met on the first train ride is on here and their children are bad and screaming.

 

[Lovetocruise2002]

3 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

Oh no, this was recently! I wasn't active on here 5 years ago.

I meant when I strayed over there to blog lol

[Ampurp85]

Bus made it to the train stop on time. But guess what......a train in front of ours derailed,  so the train is now 2hrs late. The bus driver took whomever was hungry to get Texas bbq and we got Sonic slushy,  we have an hour left before we depart. This is the travel from hell.

[Neesa]

I'm sorry this is travel from hell, but I'm so happy you are safe. I second you the assertion here that you are a Saint, I would have booked a flight and figured out how to pay for it later. I know my tolerance and I couldn't be as amazing as you are with the vintage brigade! I hate travel days normally but this one would have me rethinking, maybe I should move closer to some cruise ports! You have packed your patience and I'm rooting for you to arrive home soon. 

Thanks so much for bringing us along, I just wish it was better for you.

I can't believe there were so many kids, don't they go to school? I had previously booked a sailing for spring break 2024 but the school board changed the date. I had to cancel because kiddo was horrified I would take her out of school, she wasn't having it,

Have an uneventful evening our newly minted D+ Alicia!!

 

 

 

[OCSC Mike]

31 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

I meant when I strayed over there to blog lol

Oh, lol. You’re forgiven either way.

[OCSC Mike]

12 minutes ago, Neesa said:

I can't believe there were so many kids, don't they go to school?

Apparently it’s more & more common for parents to take kids out to sail when it’s more affordable.

[OCSC Mike]

@Ampurp85 I’ve had no words this whole time & nothing has changed.

Don’t know how you handled it before, during, or now. I’d say I hope the rest of the trip home goes smoothly but that sounds stupid at this point.

[LandstromCruise]

7 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

Apparently it’s more & more common for parents to take kids out to sail when it’s more affordable.

Guilty as charged!  

[ScottD]

12 hours ago, LandstromCruise said:

Guilty as charged!  

SAME... our last two cruises have been during school. We finally have an RC cruise booked for next Summer, but that's only because we already have that MSC cruise planned during the next school year, lol.  

@Ampurp85I REALLY hope the rest of your trip home has been better. This sounds like a nightmare and the worst way possible to end an already fairly stressful trip!! 

[WAAAYTOOO]

Derailed train ?  Remind me to never travel with you !  LOL