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


Ampurp85

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22 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

We had several crew members comment about how nice we were and that they appreciated the tips. It made me feel a smidge sadden. They mentioned some rude entitled guest. One day new vintage had to "curse out" a guy because he was berating the crew at JR over some bacon. We saw that guy do it in Giovanni's and then Chops and on the last night when we were getting takeout from JR. That's when she lost it, I thought the crew member was going to cry. He was so happy she stood up for him he brought her a double sundae.

and i’m back in the camp of new vintage!! she rocks!!

22 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

They also didn't enforce any rules with us. The blind gent can eat. He got multiple entrees at Chops, 150CP and Izumi. They never limited us. After that first day we weren't charged for drinks at any place. I never used my D+ vouchers and my brother would get sodas each night to use his. At Chops our waiter John cut up the blind gent's food and made sure we got everything we wanted. The crew are always outstanding, but they went above and beyond. They even took the blind gent on a special tour so he could get acclimated to the ship.Β 

BECAUSE YALL WERE BEHAVED AND COURTEOUS AND TIPPED WELL!! i should be so fortunate to sail with such fellow pax πŸ₯²πŸ₯²πŸ₯²

7 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

about how our group really set standards. I thought it was gratitude for tipping, but it was mainly about how kind we were to everyone.

πŸ’šπŸ’šπŸ’šπŸ’šπŸ’šπŸ’šπŸ’šπŸ’š

6 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

The Evian water was so good

EVIAN OR BUST!!!

6 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

I am not saying you are required to tip but if you are doing the most, say thank you with your mouth and/or cash

πŸ’―πŸ’―πŸ’―πŸ’―πŸ’―πŸ’―πŸ’―πŸ’―

6 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

I must mention again the lack of couth in attire.......so many butt cheeks......old, young and in-between just hanging out. I am not policing anyone's clothes but that has to be a sanitation issue. If you sit down and your butt ends up bruised or bleeding, then that outfit is not for you.Β 

Bathroom behavior is always insane to me. Both my mother and brother saw people bring food into a bathroom and were appalled. The new vintage said she saw a lady finish her dessert while waiting in the bathroom🀒. 

oh….. my god. i don’t know if i could have contained myself. truly.Β 

6 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

I am 83 days away from my next sailing and 328 days from a sailing with the vintages. I know I said I wouldn't plan anything else for them, but they told me they had the time of their lives and wanted me to plan them something even if I don't go with them. I set some ground rules and thankfully I have removed the headaches (bff and his mother.......and possibly mine) from this sailing.

as wild as this sailing was, i feel like it was almost good β€” BEAR WITH ME β€” to show the vintages the extreme behavior of WHAT NOT TO DO.Β 

also i feel like it showed them how good they have it with you and with your knowledge and experience. i am glad they recognized your INCREDIBLE value and generosity. this is a better outcome than i could have hoped for (all things considered)

11 hours ago, Neesa said:

*Shout out to @asquared17Β for teaching me this perfect descriptive….

demon ship truly is the best descriptor in times like these!!

i will admit i am glad our cabin is at the end of the corridor on oasis in february… lord only knows what we are walking into next.Β 

27 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

Plus, I couldn't be mad once they gave me all the accolades for planning such a wonderful trip.😍πŸ₯°πŸ˜‚πŸ€£

THE ACCOLADES YOU RIGHTFULLY DESERVE!!!!

you are a saint and i am better having known you and lived through this (from afar). πŸ’šπŸ’šπŸ’š

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Not sure if anyone cares, and didn't know where else to post, but don't think I'll be blogging from Allure.

Got kinda hectic being a last minute cruise and then having our itinerary switched yesterday so I had to make new plans (going to Cozumel instead of Labadee and CocoCay was moved) and have to try to change dining reservations onboard now that the sea days and port days are reversed.

Not a relaxing start but once I get everything settled, maybe I'll change my mind.

Just praying they truly deep cleaned the ship. πŸ™ˆ

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34 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

Not sure if anyone cares, and didn't know where else to post, but don't think I'll be blogging from Allure.

Got kinda hectic being a last minute cruise and then having our itinerary switched yesterday so I had to make new plans (going to Cozumel instead of Labadee and CocoCay was moved) and have to try to change dining reservations onboard now that the sea days and port days are reversed.

Not a relaxing start but once I get everything settled, maybe I'll change my mind.

Just praying they truly deep cleaned the ship. πŸ™ˆ

If you change your mind, I'll be following in preparation for my Dec cruise. πŸ™‚Β 

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@Ampurp85Β Was your door the ghost magnet? I saw you posted a picture and my kids loved that magnet and that's how we knew we were in the right corridor until we got our bearings a bit. We thankfully never really had any issues, other than the strong weed smell on our balcony the first few days. I played Craps after kids were in bed a few times and never ran into issues there either so I missed most of the chaos. I am hopeful your next adventure will be much more stress free.Β 

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2 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

Not sure if anyone cares, and didn't know where else to post, but don't think I'll be blogging from Allure.

Got kinda hectic being a last minute cruise and then having our itinerary switched yesterday so I had to make new plans (going to Cozumel instead of Labadee and CocoCay was moved) and have to try to change dining reservations onboard now that the sea days and port days are reversed.

Not a relaxing start but once I get everything settled, maybe I'll change my mind.

Just praying they truly deep cleaned the ship. πŸ™ˆ

Since you already had a blog title πŸ˜ƒ, of course i care! Sorry your itinerary was changed; i missed the deets on that. While i would prefer visiting Labadee, we do love Cozumel, if you can get over to the East side of the island, out of the commercial mess. Will at least look forward to a post report if you're up for it!

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1 minute ago, SweetPea said:

Since you already had a blog title πŸ˜ƒ, of course i care! Sorry your itinerary was changed; i missed the deets on that. While i would prefer visiting Labadee, we do love Cozumel, if you can get over to the East side of the island, out of the commercial mess. Will at least look forward to a post report if you're up for it!

No worries, we like the change. The wind and seas looked rough with the old itinerary. I was afraid we'd miss CocoCay.

We had no interest in Labadee. I only like long stays at a beach/pool if comes with included food and drinks (like CocoCay) and the Labadee food looked awful

We're going to Nachi Cocom for the aforementioned food and drink so I'm happy... except that I'm now spending money instead of going to Labadee for free, lol. Nah, I'm happy, we've always meant to try Nachi but never did... and they're raising their prices by $10pp on 10/31 so it was meant to be. 🀣

Off to pick up my wife from work in a bit and deal with whatever parking mess is waiting for me at PC with 3 ships sharing Terminal 1 this week, then I have to move our specialty dining b/c of the itinerary changes. Just want to get all that behind me and have a drink in hand and food in my belly.

I'll definitely report on the trip one way or another.

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2 hours ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

Β 

Β 

TheΒ blind gent is going to do SOS from Port Liberty with his son andgrandchildren

Oooo…or May 16? Β 

Β 

Β 

Lucky! I'd have loved the 8 night, but as much as I'm an unfrugal idiot, i couldn't justify the crazy price increase for the one extra night. I'd actually have loved the 9 night, but Royal knows what that extra day or two does and charges handsomely for it. I should've done it anyway. I'm jealous!

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3 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

No worries, we like the change. The wind and seas looked rough with the old itinerary. I was afraid we'd miss CocoCay.

We had no interest in Labadee. I only like long stays at a beach/pool if comes with included food and drinks (like CocoCay) and the Labadee food looked awful

We're going to Nachi Cocom for the aforementioned food and drink so I'm happy... except that I'm now spending money instead of going to Labadee for free, lol. Nah, I'm happy, we've always meant to try Nachi but never did... and they're raising their prices by $10pp on 10/31 so it was meant to be. 🀣

Off to pick up my wife from work in a bit and deal with whatever parking mess is waiting for me at PC with 3 ships sharing Terminal 1 this week, then I have to move our specialty dining b/c of the itinerary changes. Just want to get all that behind me and have a drink in hand and food in my belly.

I'll definitely report on the trip one way or another.

OMG, you leave today?! Have an awesome time!

I didn't realize it was so soon and that Allure had moved that quickly from Galveston to PC. Nice!

Β 

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The crew should be given hazard pay for the deep clean. I was on the September 15th cruise and of all our cruises this was the worst and totally from the "Island" cruisers. I cannot express the rudeness and behavior that was on display last week and the total disregard for other passengers and crew. I can say it was not the total group but there were enough that it made me think if we wanted to continue sailing with Royal. We thought we were on a C....l cruise. I hope they are refused passage in the future from RCCL but money talks and if we find them on another of our cruises (believe me we are checking now on who is large group cruising with us) we will walk.

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38 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

What?! I was seriously looking forward to the Mike's Food Blog from Allure lol

I bet you’d just skip ahead to Giovanni’s & Sabor. 🀣

You’ll get a food report, it just may not be live.

Joking aside, we actually may wind up in the MDR the other 3 nights. Alicia’s brother made the WJ sound terrible. We plan to do MDR tonight then see how bad the WJ looks before we have shows booked if we can get out of the MDR in time. Then we’ll decide what to do.

Maybe I’ll start a semi-live blog anyway & if I don’t post a lot, nothing lost. I’ll figure it out later once settled.

Have I mentioned how much I hate not being on our normal routine of having plans set & on the ship before 11am? I’m not a β€œgo with flow” type guy. That’s my wife’s department. She’d prefer to plan but she can deal better than me.

EDIT: Jeez. People were onboard as early as 9:45 & staterooms were ready as expected after the relocation. That should have been me! 😭

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15 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

Β 

EDIT: Jeez. People were onboard as early as 9:45 & staterooms were ready as expected after the relocation. That should have been me! 😭

I would say for you missing this opportunity the wife owes you a visit to next cruise this weekΒ πŸ˜‚

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@CrznTxnΒ Is there a website or somewhere specific to research group take overs? I think especially with large groups taking over venues unsuspecting other cruisers should be made aware. Twice on Oasis we were "booted" from specialty dining lunch that we previously paid for because a "group" booked it, we were never told until we went to check in at the podium, I thought that was very fresh.Β 

Another time there was a college "take over" yikes that one was wild!Β 

Also maybe it's a group I would be interested in joining, I like the TCM sailings but they are doing them on DCL so no thanks.Β 

I guess what I'm asking is there a central location or website to peruse for these special offerings? Thanks so much, and BTW so sorry your sailing was not enjoyable we have 2 more with Royal and for us if things don't improve our family is moving on as well. Here's hoping for the best!

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41 minutes ago, Neesa said:

@CrznTxnΒ Is there a website or somewhere specific to research group take overs? I think especially with large groups taking over venues unsuspecting other cruisers should be made aware. Twice on Oasis we were "booted" from specialty dining lunch that we previously paid for because a "group" booked it, we were never told until we went to check in at the podium, I thought that was very fresh.Β 

Another time there was a college "take over" yikes that one was wild!Β 

Also maybe it's a group I would be interested in joining, I like the TCM sailings but they are doing them on DCL so no thanks.Β 

I guess what I'm asking is there a central location or website to peruse for these special offerings? Thanks so much, and BTW so sorry your sailing was not enjoyable we have 2 more with Royal and for us if things don't improve our family is moving on as well. Here's hoping for the best!

I don't know, but I do see that this same company has another big group cruise for Super Bowl Sunday on Indy..so just a heads up for anyone booked.Β 

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Thanks for sharing your experiences @Ampurp85.Β  You have a lot of patience and I would have gone nuts dealing with everything you went through in the planning stage.

I love Allure and have done the same trip on her last May out of Galveston.Β  Give Galveston another go sometime without all the "Vintage" tagalongs and I bet you will enjoy the port more.

Glad you made it home.Β  Looking forward to the next adventure!

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2 hours ago, SweetPea said:

Lucky! I'd have loved the 8 night, but as much as I'm an unfrugal idiot, i couldn't justify the crazy price increase for the one extra night. I'd actually have loved the 9 night, but Royal knows what that extra day or two does and charges handsomely for it. I should've done it anyway. I'm jealous!

I actually just did the 7 night on Oasis end of July >Aug with my kids and grandkids. Β It was an awesome family vacation. Β This one includes one of my daughters and her 2 sons ( her hubby and mine are staying home). Β Also coming along are 3 friends of my youngest grandson and their respective families. Β The boys loved Oasis and learned the layout of the ship almost immediately! Β So they should really enjoy Symphony and showing it off to their friends! Β Having a different itinerary (no Nassau and adding Labadee) is good for them too! Β My grandsons, in May, will be 11 and 12! Β The other boys will also be 11 and one has a sister 9. Β 
I was actually surprised my daughter and the other parents were ok with taking their kids out of school for that period of time! Β But they are all excellent students so perhaps that helped.

Here’s hoping we both enjoy absolutely beautiful weather on our respective cruises!

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3 hours ago, DevilDog84 said:

@Ampurp85Β Was your door the ghost magnet? I saw you posted a picture and my kids loved that magnet and that's how we knew we were in the right corridor until we got our bearings a bit. We thankfully never really had any issues, other than the strong weed smell on our balcony the first few days. I played Craps after kids were in bed a few times and never ran into issues there either so I missed most of the chaos. I am hopeful your next adventure will be much more stress free.Β 

No but I talked to them because I loved it. I was on deck 12, I had my last magnets stolen. So, I have only been getting the cheap ones, they continue to be taken, it must be the cats. I will also say that it was most of the chaos at that smoking table by the bar. I think it was craps, it was the one Jadakiss frequented.Β 

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1 hour ago, Neesa said:

Is there a website or somewhere specific to research group take overs?

Cruisetimetables.com has a list of full ship charters. These would be the ones where they take over the whole sailing and if you were booked, you would be cancelled. https://www.cruisetimetables.com/full-cruise-ship-charters.html

That same website used to have a section for partial ship charters, but they have since gotten rid of that. That's the type of charter I think this Allure sailing was. As far as those go, sometimes a simple FB search or Google search with the sail date and ship can reveal if there is a partial charter on your sailing. However, I did try to look for this one but came up with nothing. Good detective work @ScottD!

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Just now, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Cruisetimetables.com has a list of full ship charters. These would be the ones where they take over the whole sailing and if you were booked, you would be cancelled. https://www.cruisetimetables.com/full-cruise-ship-charters.html

That same website used to have a section for partial ship charters, but they have since gotten rid of that. That's the type of charter I think this Allure sailing was. As far as those go, sometimes a simple FB search or Google search with the sail date and ship can reveal if there is a partial charter on your sailing. However, I did try to look for this one but came up with nothing. Good detective work @ScottD!

Β 

22 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

@ScottDΒ thanks for finding the travel agency.

It is a black-owned agency, and they had lots of themes planned. Based on some research, the cruise fare was deeply discounted and now I know why it contained so many trifling individuals.Β πŸ€£πŸ˜‚Β 

Thank you- one thing I can do is track someone down on Facebook...lol.Β  I guess they aren't considered charters or partial charters, but just large groups.Β 

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36 minutes ago, SweetPea said:

Now do you think the Zoom calls will continue?! They've never met IRL before the cruise, right? Did the cruise spoil their relationship or enhance it?

This was their first IRL meeting. I think it enhanced it, since he is willing to sail with us, minus the new vintageπŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚, again.

Well, she has continued to talk to him. He said she was a good person and he enjoyed her, so they are still friends.Β 

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1 minute ago, Ampurp85 said:

Well, she has continued to talk to him. He said she was a good person and he enjoyed her, so they are still friends.Β 

I wonder if she get his name right when she greets him on future video calls!Β πŸ˜†

Can’t wait to hear about Alaska! Do your two sailings have any alternating ports?Β 

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4 hours ago, DDaley said:

I wonder if she get his name right when she greets him on future video calls!Β πŸ˜†

Can’t wait to hear about Alaska! Do your two sailings have any alternating ports?Β 

She will never get it right......she calls me leesha even though she knows I hate it and it is not my preferred nickname.Β 

I believe it is the same ports. We plan to do all our excursions the first week and enjoy the ship the second week. I have already narrowed my excursions down, so my cost isn't nearly as bad as I was expecting. I used that CP hack to send the vintages a CP to look at so they can choose excursions......it's all about the whales for them.Β 

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I did nothing but sit here and catch up on this and I AM EXHAUSTED!

I don't know how you manage to always be around the drama but this time you were around ALL the drama! LIKE ALL OF IT! a whole year's worth!

I get now why Chicago had a random summer day this week - it was god giving you the break you DESPERATELY needed after all of that!

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