Allure 12 Feb

[Cactus527]

1 hour ago, ScottD said:

Now back to staring at a bunch of cruises from NJ that I'm just not excited about...but will probably book anyway, lol.  

I AM DOING THE SAME WE ARE NOW WOE TWINS 

[jbrinkm]

4 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

 Could I have gotten this in the MDR ?  I don't know.  Maybe.

I feel skeptical about the MDR doing this for you - two years ago, yes! But now, I think not likely. Not because the servers wouldn't want to make you happy but because it feels like their hands are tied now with new restrictions.

2 hours ago, ScottD said:

Now back to staring at a bunch of cruises from NJ that I'm just not excited about...but will probably book anyway, lol.  

I'm so irritated that it is Symphony. We've never been on a Quantum class ship and with such high prices now for cruise + flights, I'd only splurge for Norway if I need to fly so I was eyeing the Bayonne departures. I'm on Symphony in March, and while I know many of you go on the same ships over and over, we cruise only once a year and I would have loved to try a different (particularly Q-class) ship.

[OCSC Mike]

8 minutes ago, jbrinkm said:

I feel skeptical about the MDR doing this for you

Agreed. They made some small substitutions for my wife on Allure in October (like giving her the mashed potatoes meant for one entree as a side with a different entree) but nothing that required a ton of effort.

[MaryS]

3 hours ago, ScottD said:

Now back to staring at a bunch of cruises from NJ that I'm just not excited about...but will probably book anyway, lol. 

I've been doing the same thing today.

[Lovetocruise2002]

24 minutes ago, jbrinkm said:

we cruise only once a year and I would have loved to try a different (particularly Q-class) ship.

Odyssey is in Bayonne from Nov 2025-Feb 2026...

[WAAAYTOOO]

We had quite a shipwide quest for lunch munch.  As I’ve said before, we rarely eat lunch at all….especially since we eat an early dinner, but b/c we CAN, I guess, we HAVE been eating lunch on this cruise.

Dan wanted to go to the Suites sun deck for a bit - but failed to find it so ended up lounging with the poors somewhere.  Who knows where.  When he came back to the room I told him that I would go with him to FIND the SSD since I haven’t been on one in a very long time.  So we trekked to the front of the ship, entered the forbidden zone, did a perimeter check and realized that the bar up there isn’t open (in port today) so decided that since we are on a ship we MUST eat ( @OCSC Mike Must be subliminally messaging me) so we began plotting where this meal would transpire.  I am one of a handful of adults in the world who really enjoys the dogs at the Doghouse so my vote was for a dog.  Dan is shunning nitrite-infused junk food so he turned up his nose at the notion of a dog.  He wanted ELF (as if that is any healthier ??) (I await @asquared17 reaction) but I vetoed that one.  We were at an impasse.  He finally blinked and said he would go with me for a dog, a miscommunication b/c I thought he had changed his mind about eating there…but instead, he meant that he would go with me but NOT eat so I ended up eating a dog (sans the bun).  That left him hangry.  Hmmm.  I decided to return his generosity by going with him to ELF. BUT the line at ELF was endless and it wasn’t moving.  Ok. Plan C.  We decided to see if the CK was open for lunch on port days.  We didn’t know.  Up to 17 we went.  By now it’s 1:15.  They were open but closing at 1:30.  Dan finally got a Caesar salad and I looked on with love and support.  Waaay more work for lunch than was necessary.  Somewhere in this long tale Dan acquired a margarita which was pretty tasty. Now it’s nap time.

[asquared17]

15 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Dan is shunning nitrite-infused junk food so he turned up his nose at the notion of a dog.  He wanted ELF (as if that is any healthier ??) (I await @asquared17 reaction)

i, too, shun nitrates!!!!

ELF can be healthy!!! )

(at times )

16 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I decided to return his generosity by going with him to ELF. BUT the line at ELF was endless and it wasn’t moving

this is becoming too common an occurrence.

16 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Dan finally got a Caesar salad and I looked on with love and support.

ah, well done

17 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Somewhere in this long tale Dan acquired a margarita which was pretty tasty

a man after my own heart!!!!

[Cactus527]

22 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Somewhere in this long tale Dan acquired a margarita which was pretty tasty.

It sounds like you stole Dan's drink! Poor guy, how is he supposed to stomach a salad without a margarita? I mean, I'm just asking for a friend...

[jbrinkm]

45 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Odyssey is in Bayonne from Nov 2025-Feb 2026...

We are on school schedules  (holidays are on land with family, no Feb break) - partly why it is so expensive for us

[OCSC Mike]

25 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

 @OCSC Mike Must be subliminally messaging me

LOL. I might have subliminally guided you to 3 different places for lunch b/c we often go to more than one. Sorry about your long journey.

[Lovetocruise2002]

20 minutes ago, jbrinkm said:

We are on school schedules  (holidays are on land with family, no Feb break) - partly why it is so expensive for us

Ah, I get that. That is like us too. We are totally stuck with high season cruising always.

[jbrinkm]

49 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

 Somewhere in this long tale Dan acquired a margarita which was pretty tasty. 

The "somewhere...acquired" is cracking me up  - like he just found a missing margarita in a random place 

[Sweety]

8 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Ah, I get that. That is like us too. We are totally stuck with high season cruising always.

How did you go on Icon. Was school in session. 

[jbrinkm]

9 minutes ago, Sweety said:

How did you go on Icon. Was school in session. 

They left their freeloaders at home for Icon

[WAAAYTOOO]

1 hour ago, Cactus527 said:

It sounds like you stole Dan's drink! Poor guy, how is he supposed to stomach a salad without a margarita? I mean, I'm just asking for a friend...

“Stole” ?  Nah…just a wee taste. . Yesterday we both got a margarita at the Sabor bar and they were really horrible.  They tasted bad plus they had ice boulders in them !  This one today came from a pool bar (can’t recall the name) and it tasted like a margarita is supposed to taste plus - no ice boulders !

[Lovetocruise2002]

46 minutes ago, Sweety said:

How did you go on Icon. Was school in session. 

 

36 minutes ago, jbrinkm said:

They left their freeloaders at home for Icon

You are right @Sweety, normally I cannot because I am stuck teaching during those times, and my own kids have school during those times. However, every few years, I take a year off teaching, and Icon inaugural happened to fall into this year that I am off teaching. I started doing this when I went back to work and the kids were little. It gave me a chance every few years to slow down and spend more time with them. Those who teach know that your days are a blur and sadly, you sometimes spend more time with the kids in your classroom, more than your own. Anyway, with the freeloaders now almost 16/18, this is my last "year off". The next time I am off, I will be sailing my "hell to the bell" cruise! Looking like 2030 at this point. Cannot wait. No more sailing during high season at that point.

@WAAAYTOOO apologies for the hijack

[Ampurp85]

The margaritas at Sabor on Allure were so bad. I only drink at home on 2 occasions Christmas and new years. But I love a good marg, prosecco or daiquiri and I know quality. Idk who taught them at Sabor but they need to go back to school.

The lines for ELF on Allure were crazy and nobody washes their hands. Also I was looking to sail out of Bayonne in Oct 2025 and them prices are bananas.

[OCSC Mike]

On 2/14/2024 at 4:58 PM, Ampurp85 said:

The margaritas at Sabor on Allure were so bad.

That's crappy. I only had one from Sabor in October but it was good (jalapeno cucumber). My favorite is the jalapeno pineapple one from Playmakers. Still need to try the Desert Pear one from the Schooner Bar that's got some weird black salt just b/c it looks interesting. I'm no expert though.

I have my go-to drinks but I like using vouchers to try new things.

[asquared17]

2 hours ago, jbrinkm said:

The "somewhere...acquired" is cracking me up  - like he just found a missing margarita in a random place 

or they had such a time that the actual acquisition details are… blurry

[WAAAYTOOO]

Ok...so we're home.  Fairly uneventful last couple of days.  I will just throw out some random thoughts.

The Shows

Aqua Theater show:  I had forgotten what a real Aqua Theater show is like.  Allure reminded me.  It was all about the diving and the water talents and less about aerialists, stomping and splashing.  While nothing beats Aqua80's on Oasis (primarily b/c of the musical arrangement), I think OceanAria is a close second.  I almost decided to skip it.  I'm glad I didn't.

Ice Show:  Blades is very different from what I am used to with ice shows.  I liked some of it and I hated some of it.  I think the hardest part for me was that I was unfamiliar with some of the music and that made it hard to enjoy.  It is what it is.  The skaters are all very talented and  that's always fun to watch.

Blue Planet:  I was very surprised to find that a great deal of this show has changed since the last time I saw it !  This is another one that I nearly skipped but I'm glad I went if only to see what has changed.  I suppose someone must have fallen from the living tree at some point and they basically quit having the performers "hiding" up in the tree.  There were still some performers "hiding" in the roots section of the tree but primarily the performers "coming to life" in the tree branches is now GONE !  They also changed the music.  I recall there being a whole section of Beatles music which is  also gone.  There are parts of the show that are little changed but great parts of it have changed significantly.  No wonder this show is now a "snoozer" to some.  I felt it was a snoozer, too.  

Mama Mia:  I enjoy the Abba music but I have always hated the "plot" of MM.  We DID skip this one this time.  One and done for us.  Stupid and pointless with the music being the only redeeming part of the show.

 

[WAAAYTOOO]

Coastal Kitchen

As you may recall from my earlier posts, they would not permit us to use our BOGO coupons except for the first night and since we wanted to enjoy the filet on night #1, there were no other chances to do any specialty dining unless we wanted to pay full onboard prices.  Uh...no.  So we decided that we would eat in the CK every night since the Maitre'd said that we would have no problem making reservations for all 4 nights.

We had 4 dinners, 3 breakfasts and 1 lunch in the CK.  Believe it or not, that one lunch that we ate there is the one and only time we have EVER had a lunch in a CK on any ship !  We have always either been Star Class or GenPop on an Oasis class ship and before becoming Pinnacle, we had no access to the CK unless we were in a suite and the only suites we've ever had on an O class ship, were SC suites and we were eating our lunches in specialty restaurants for the most part.

The service in the CK was amazing.  The Maitre'd, restaurant manager and our own personal server (Anelyne) were just spectacular.  I could not have asked for better service.  Period.  

The food was hit-or-miss for me.  Dan was a cappy hamper the whole time.  He loved everything that he got and so he was in heaven.  I did not care at ALL for 2 out of the 4 menus that we had. I've already discussed the night that they gave me the wonderful a la carte options from the kids' menu.  That was really a good recovery for that night and I thoroughly enjoyed my low budget chicken parm.  But the last night.  Ugh,  Dan had his beloved lamb shank but there was absolutely nothing on that menu that even sounded remotely good to me.  I finally opted for the cauliflower fried rice and it was....not good.

The breakfasts were very good but it'd kinda hard to screw up breakfast.  Standard stuff.  Nothing amazing.  The lunch was fine.  Nothing spectacular.  Dan and I split a chicken sandwich and fries.

I guess this immersive CK experience reminded me that I am not, and have never been, a huge fan of the CK.  It's not awful but it's nothing special EXCEPT for the views and the extraordinary service, both of which we have always appreciated.

[Sweety]

On 2/14/2024 at 3:12 PM, Lovetocruise2002 said:

 

You are right @Sweety, normally I cannot because I am stuck teaching during those times, and my own kids have school during those times. However, every few years, I take a year off teaching, and Icon inaugural happened to fall into this year that I am off teaching. I started doing this when I went back to work and the kids were little. It gave me a chance every few years to slow down and spend more time with them. Those who teach know that your days are a blur and sadly, you sometimes spend more time with the kids in your classroom, more than your own. Anyway, with the freeloaders now almost 16/18, this is my last "year off". The next time I am off, I will be sailing my "hell to the bell" cruise! Looking like 2030 at this point. Cannot wait. No more sailing during high season at that point.

@WAAAYTOOO apologies for the hijack

Thank you!!! 

[WAAAYTOOO]

Casino

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the casino was insane most evenings.  Like @Ampurp85, I seem to have better luck during the days when the casino is fairly slow.  Once things start getting crazy at night, my luck goes bye-bye.  We played more video poker on this cruise than we have ever done in the past.  It's kind of Dan's new "thing".    We even played some kind of pig game (can't remember the name of it) which was fun.  We needed just a few points to get to the 2000 level so we sat down there and got what we needed.  I find the whole video poker thing to be too stressful.  I have to "think" too much and I got bored really fast.  But then I get bored with any kind of slot machine.  They just aren't my favorite way to lose money. 

As [bad] luck would have it, we found absolutely NO good luck on the non-smoking side of the casino.  We opted to spend more time on the smoking side and that just doesn't agree with me anymore.  I am a former smoker but I just can't tolerate it now....plus you go home stinkin' to high heaven.  UGH

So we made our 2000 points (we only used Dan's card in the machines so the cert is in his name, not that it matters) so we got a very nice certificate and have already booked an 8 night Oasis cruise in January 2025. I got a $$ of cert so we combined them to help with the cabin upgrade and other associated expenses.  A free cruise can get very expensive !  

[Ampurp85]

Wait.......I didn't know you could combine a money off with a free cert . I thought they had to be the same. So I can upgrade an interior/balcony cert to a balcony/suite with a money off ???????

I think you might have played raking bacon, which is my favorite game on allure, it is located by the bar. 

[Ndfan89]

I have read you can’t use the annual prime certificate on the Wonder of the Seas.  We did last year.  By chance do you know if this has changed? I am trying to plan for later this year because we have two certificates.  Thank you for any information.

[WAAAYTOOO]

You can use your annual tier certificate for any ship that has been in active service for at least 1 year.  We used an annual tier certificate to sail on Wonder this coming May.

[Ampurp85]

I used mine last year for a Wonder sailing this year and I'm hoping to use this year for Icon.

[WAAAYTOOO]

11 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

You can use your annual tier certificate for any ship that has been in active service for at least 1 year.  We used an annual tier certificate to sail on Wonder this coming May.

Oops...I made a mistake about the date for Wonder rezzie for our annual comp.  We actually used Dan's annual Club Royale tier comp for our August Wonder cruise.  The upcoming (May) cruise on Wonder is our Pinnacle cruise.  Forgive the old brain.

[Sweety]

4 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Oops...I made a mistake about the date for Wonder rezzie for our annual comp.  We actually used Dan's annual Club Royale tier comp for our August Wonder cruise.  The upcoming (May) cruise on Wonder is our Pinnacle cruise.  Forgive the old brain.

I love the way Dan and you cruise. 

[WAAAYTOOO]

1 minute ago, Sweety said:

I love the way Dan and you cruise. 

[Lovetocruise2002]

9 hours ago, Sweety said:

I love the way Dan and you cruise. 

Me too! That’s goals for me right there! 

[AshleyDillo]

On 2/17/2024 at 7:45 PM, Ndfan89 said:

I have read you can’t use the annual prime certificate on the Wonder of the Seas.  We did last year.  By chance do you know if this has changed? I am trying to plan for later this year because we have two certificates.  Thank you for any information.

Most of the Wonder sailings were specifically on the exclusion list they attached to the tier cruise. I know a lot of people did get to book Wonder, but I don't know if that was allowed before the exclusion list came out or not.  I'm expecting that this year they will exclude the Icon sailings after her 1st birthday.