thrifty99

Bob - Thank you.

I also called Royal Caribbean and they said it was not available on the Allure as of this time.

Looking forward to eventually having higher speed available.

I will be on the Allure Nov 6th. Does anyone know if the Allure has the new high speed internet available yet?

Thank you.

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Thanks for the responses. Yes, I've seen the generic "there may be a minimum number of guests" but not a specific number.

Looking forward to giving the Royal Family Suite a try... will probably seem too big for just 3 of us but it was cheaper then smaller suites.

Booked a Dec 14th 7-day Southern Caribbean cruise on the Adventure in the Royal Family Suite. Have never stayed in that suite - but it seemed like a great deal. About 45% off the first 2 guests and the regular rate for the 3rd person. Under $3,600 for 3 of us. Going to double check today that it was truly a good deal.

I was also surprised it let us book that suite for only 3 of us. Had seen somewhere it was a minimum of 4 guests. Maybe since it was this close to the cruise they allowed it.

Is there some place that shows the minimum requirement for certain suites and will they change that as a cruise date gets closer and they have not sold a suite?

Thanks in advance.

I just mentioned this on another post.

I bought a PacSafe bag a few years ago and take that on trips for larger items (camera, lenses, laptop, etc) or when the room safe is very small. When empty it is very flat and takes up no room in my luggage.

I lock it around anything permanently attached in the room or something large like the bed frame.

While we would like to think our belongings are safe while in our cabins, I've seen doors open too many times when being cleaned. In March on the Allure my 17 year old son accidentally walked into the wrong room (was on the next floor up). It was being cleaned and he walked right in, looked around, figured he was in the wrong room after a minute, and left. No one even noticed him. He could have easily grabbed something. He made sure his camera equipment was locked in the bag after that.

The bag also works well when at a beach - lock it to your chair so you don't have to leave items unattended if running into the water for a quick dip.

http://pacsafe.com/travelsafe-12l-portable-safe

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I bought one of these PacSafe bags a couple years ago and take it with on all trips. When empty it lays flat / takes up very little room in my suitcase. I found it on sale for about $50.

I lock it around anything permanently fixed in the room or around the bed frame that can't be easily removed from the room. Great for larger items like camera bags or when you have a small safe that won't hold your ipad / computer.

http://pacsafe.com/travelsafe-12l-portable-safe

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I'm not sure about on the Freedom, but on the Allure (sailed in March) we could get soda from the CL at lunch and at Happy Hour. We were able to order lunch in the CL on Allure each day so drinks were also available.

I also needed my "soda fix" a couple times a day and being able to have a soda at lunch and later during Happy Hour worked fine for me and I did not need to purchase the soda package.

The CL staff would also ask if I wanted a "to go" cup for my soda. It was a medium sized styrofoam cup w/ a lid. The CL lounge did not have any cans of soda.

If you need soda more frequently in the day, you may be best off with the soda package where you can get it anytime / anywhere. And if you need that early morning soda... bring an empty plastic soda bottle with you (maybe 24 ounce size). Get your soda at night from the machine and fill your bottle with that. You can put the cap on and I would think it would hold its carbonation.

Maybe I'm in the minority but I prefer to sit on the upper deck. Still near enough to the pool for a swim but I love sitting where I can see the water. Leaving for the 1st time on Allure this Sunday & am hoping I will still be able to see the sea from above the pool.

 

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Yes, in the chairs above the pool level, you should have no problem seeing the sea.

We like being near the pool so we can take a quick dip when we overheat sitting in the sun. I usually have my iPad at the pool and would not want to leave that on the deck above while taking a quick dip. We did know some who had 2 iPads stolen from a backpack on a chair on our cruise.

The other problem with the upper decks is the wind. The pool deck is better protected and much less windy. We were in a suite on our last cruise on the Allure and used the private sun-deck for suite guests. It is 2 levels above the pool. VERY WINDY. Certainly no problem with overheating due to the wind. We would have used it more, but a few days it was cooler and with the wind it was too cold to sit up there.

THIS IS MY EXACT PROBLEM! Thank you for articulating it so clearly. I am definitely a "rule follower" but I'm afraid that by following the rules I will be SOL in getting a chair on a sea day on Freedom :( I still haven't decided if I'm going to "play the game" or not...

I am a fellow "rule follower". I was on the Allure last month and was frustrated by all the chairs saved by towels / personal items before 8am. I could not get a lounge chair by the pool when I arrived at 8am. There were plenty on the deck above the pool, but I arrived early to sit near the pool. I would say 80% of the saved chairs were still not occupied an hour later.

I sat in an upright chair and observed one man with 6 empty lounge chairs next to him (3 on each side). After over 45 minutes I asked one of the pool attendants if there was a way to get two of the chairs that had been unoccupied for over 45 minutes. He approached the man who then started yelling that their baby just had an accident and had to be taken to the room to be cleaned up. I told him there had been no baby here and the man changed gears and started yelling about other chairs with towels and why was he being discriminated against. He was so nasty to the pool attendant and to us. Since you can't win against losers like that, we just walked away. It was over 30 minutes later when his friends arrived... and no baby in sight.

Based on my past cruise, the rule followers are definitely out-numbered. It was frustrating to see how many only thought about themselves. I don't really want to take the "if you can't beat them, join them" approach, so here is what I will do in the future:

1. Go to the pool earlier to get my chair.

2. If even arriving earlier and I find chairs are all "saved", I will mention to the pool attendant that I will wait 30 minutes to see which chairs are still vacant. After 30 minutes, I will then take the chairs we need by asking the pool attendant to remove any items on the chairs. If there are personal items, they usually take them to the towel stand.

3. If a person shows up I will simply say pool attendants were clearing chairs vacant for over 30 minutes and putting items at the towel stand.

Note: the pool attendants did not mind removing towels that were saving chairs but seemed hesitant to remove personal items (some will do it, others will not). You may need to take those to the pool stand yourself and say you found them on the ground.

If others have suggestions for good ways to get around the "chair savers", I would be interested in what you do.

Except for the homeless people on the bench and the muggers, it is perfectly safe.

 

:rolleyes:

Ever since the mounted police started doing security sweeps in Central Park the homeless and muggers have decreased dramatically. Unfortunately this required converting the Aqua Theater into stables for the horses.

Seriously, I always felt safe in CP no matter how late I was walking thru it. There are not really any hidden areas off the pathways to worry about.

We have always chosen the two rooms / two bathrooms when our two kids travel with us.

The only other consideration would be if you wanted the double cruise points for the suite and if you wanted the benefits of the suite (for example, concierge lounge w/ free drinks).

For our cruise 2 weeks ago on the Allure, we arrived at the terminal about 11:00. We had a suite for this cruise and waited in the suite lounge until 11:30 when they allowed us to board the ship.

We had some friends not in a suite and they boarded about 10-15 minutes later.

There were 3 in our party a couple of weeks ago and we had our own table. I wasn't paying a lot of attention, but it all seemed to be small groups at each table. There were several tables with only 2 people.

You could go 15 minutes early to be sure you got your own table if it was something that concerned you. And yes, it was family style.

On the Allure a couple weeks ago they showed some of the college basketball playoff games (final 4) in the Studio B (ice rink) on the big screens. Not sure which channels these were on.

This depends if the ship has access to the channel. If they do, they will show it somewhere and maybe even set up a larger venue for many to view it.

It would be fun to watch the hockey playoffs in the ice rink on the Oasis / Allure.

When you did the "Hot Rock" at Izumi, did the food get cooked completely? I ask because we might go there because my son likes sushi but I do not and have never heard of hot rock cooking. Thank you.

Yes it cooks it completely. I am not a fan of sushi either. I had the seafood hot rock which included salmon, scallops, and shrimp. It comes with white rice or fried rice. The rock stays hot for a long time so you can cook it as much as you want. I actually over-cooked my salmon a bit.

They have a couple of complimentary items on the menu such as edamame and miso soup. Otherwise you pay per item on the menu.

What about special restaurants? Worth it ?

We were on the Allure 2 weeks ago and ate at the following specialty restaurants:

Samba Grill (Brazilian steakhouse): liked this a lot.

Chops: This was an average steak (did not purchase the higher priced, dry-aged steak).

Izumi: did the "hot rock" which was a lot of fun. 575 degree rock put in front of you and you cook your veggies / meat on it.

Rita's Cantina: did the Fiesta party meal. Fun w/ dancing on the Boardwalk after appetizers. Mexican meal: Good appetizers, chicken & steak Fajitas, selection of deserts. You get 3 alcoholic drinks or 3 non-alcoholic depending on the ticket you buy.

Johnny Rockets: always a good burger, cheese fries w/ bacon, onion rings, and shakes.

Only one I would have skipped is Chops Grill. Enjoy your trip!!!

I'm on the Navigator currently and have the 2 device unlimited and only have one user ID. We logged both devices with the same user ID with no issues.

Thanks for the correction. We were told it would be 2 separate ID's but it appears that is not the case.

I would assume if you try to connect a 3rd device it logs one of the other ones off automatically. If you can try that, I'm curious if it gives you any choice of which connection to terminate or if it just logs one off arbitrarily?

We have six family members, each addicted to at least one internet connected device. Is the unlimited-two device plan sharable among lets say 10 devices, assuming people log off when they are done? Is there a timeout where it will log you off automatically?

 

Of course, it will remain to be seen if the family can actually share...

I was on the Allure last week and had the one device unlimited. With the 2-device you get two login ID's.

We used the one device plan and shared it between 4 devices. Never needed to log off - signing onto a new device just kicked the prior user off. So you definitely need to set up some ground rules or specific times for each person.

Thank you for sharing your Allure experiences in such a user-friendly review. :)

 

Just one note: You can go to Johnny Rockets and JUST order a milkshake and pay only for the milkshake without paying the cover charge.

 

:)

Thank you... I did not know you could just order / pay for a milkshake at Johnny Rockets without the cover charge.

Now I have a reason to book my next cruise and try it out :)

OOOO it was you that answered those questions on the other thread sorry call it senior moment thanks.

 

Seems like customs does take a long time for this ship...is it possible to sit in the windjammer a bit later than 10am, our flight isn't until 1:55.

I believe the latest time for departure was 10:40-10:50 so you could stay on a bit longer.

Thank you for your review!

 

I do have some questions I ask everybody as everybody has different opinions...

 

1- Did you find the stateroom to be warm in the middle of the night?

 

2- Did the cabin steward shut off the master switch in the cabin after cleaning, so the ac and lights all go out?

 

3- What time did you disembark, you said it took 45 minutes just curious what time you started getting off the ship?

Hi,

I have answered your first 2 on another thread when you asked, but here are the answers again:

1. No, room was actually cold at night when set to the coldest setting. We turned it up a little so it was not so cold.

2. No, the steward did not turn off the master switch. She was the one who warned us NOT to use that switch as it would turn off the air conditioning.

3. We left the ship at 10am. We waited in line about 10-15 minutes to get down the escalator to the luggage / customs area. We quickly found our luggage and then stood in line for about 30-45 minutes to get through customs. This can vary greatly as I noticed that the line behind us was only about 1/2 the length when we started by the time we made it to the custom booth.

We cruised on the Allure last week and wanted to share our experience. We have also sailed twice on the Oasis and in the past couple of years done the Baltic Sea and Mediterranean cruises if you have any questions on those. I’ll try to share some general cruising tips we have picked up along the way. Some of the things we did / suggest reflect our personal preference… the great thing with cruising is you can tailor it to your own style.

Pre-Cruise:

We always sign up for shows and port excursions prior to sailing. You can change these on the ship, but it is good to have something reserved ahead of time. Some of the shore excursions do fill up… if you wait it may not be available.

We fly in the day before departure to be sure we don’t have travel delays that could mess up getting on the ship. It makes for a more relaxing departure day on the ship.

Boarding the ship:

I’m not sure when they tell you to show up at the ship, but they begin to let people on at about 11:30am. You will not have access to your cabin until about 1:00, but some of the restaurants are open and you can enjoy the pool. Since your luggage will be delivered to your cabin, be sure to have a carry on bag with anything you may want to use prior to 1:00 (swim suit if you want to swim).

Staterooms:

When traveling with our 2 kids (now 17 and 22) we will do two rooms. We have done 2 connecting balcony rooms and one balcony / one inside stateroom directly across the hall. They won’t let you reserve a room with 2 minor kids… just put one adult and one kid in each room when you reserve it. When you check in you can request extra keys (no charge) for both rooms so everyone has access to both rooms.

If you are on a busy itinerary (long days in ports every day), we found it better to have an inside stateroom across the hall for the kids - just to save some money. They were only in it to sleep and could come over and sit on our balcony at any time. If you have several days at sea (like our Baltic cruise) that would be the time to have the connecting balcony rooms.

We have done some recent cruises with just our son (3 of us cruising). To build up our C&A points, we have been choosing a Junior Suite to get double points. Note that the Junior Suite does not give you full suite privileges. More on this below.

As for stateroom location, we like to have one not far from an elevator and towards the middle of the ship. The long walk down a hallway can get tiring after a while if you are far from an elevator. Also be aware of what you are above / below. For example, if below the sports deck I have heard you can hear the noise from activities on the sports deck. We like to have staterooms above / below us.

Suites:

On the recent Allure trip last week we decided to try the Grand Suite along with all the privileges for full suite members. The Junior Suites DO NOT include most of these items. The full suite privileges include:

• Gold sea pass card
  
• Special waiting area on departure day before you are allowed on the ship. Comfortable seating area, but I was surprised they did not have anything to drink here (even water would have been nice). But I suppose they really don’t want people showing up too early.
  
• balconies have tables/chairs and lounge chairs.
  
• robes to use on the cruise (can’t keep them)
  
• Access to the Concierge Lounge. The lounge offers a nice breakfast and lunch menu and appetizers from about 5-8pm nightly. At lunch and dinner you can get free soda, beer, wine. We are not big drinkers so I’m not sure what all is offered for drinks. Some mixed drinks (free) are also served at happy hour. They don’t have the blended / fruity drinks. The lounge also has a couple of computer stations you can use if you purchase internet time / packages. They have concierge staff at certain hours who can help you with reservations.
  
• Expanded breakfast menu for room service. We enjoyed some peaceful breakfasts on our balcony.
  
• Full dinner menu from main dining room for room service. I did use this to get the lobster on Friday night when it was formal night and we did not want to do formal dinners in the main dining room on this cruise.
  
• reserved seating area for shows (they open it up to anyone 10 minutes prior to show starting)
  
• private sun deck (deck 17 on Allure) with a private bar. We used this one day when the area around the pools was very crowded. Note that it tends to be more windy on this deck as it is higher and more exposed. But the lounge chairs are more comfortable, there is some nice shaded sitting areas (with big comfy chairs), there is a private restroom, and the private bar / bartender is nice to have.
  
• Fresh fruit bowl delivered twice during the week.
  
• Special invitations to events during the week for suite guests. I am not sure what were for suite guests versus us being Platinum members. We had a champagne toast on the helipad when departing St. Marten which was fun — this is normally closed to passengers on the Oasis / Allure.
  

Was having the Grand Suite versus a Junior Suite worth the extra money? On the Allure, I don’t think so. I believe the price difference for the 3 of us was about $1,300. While it was nice to use the Concierge Lounge, for less money we could have done a Junior Suite, had the alcohol package to get drinks at any bar on the ship, and could have eaten at all the specialty restaurants. After all that, we still would have been several hundred dollars ahead. I think that would be the better deal. I had some issues with the service in the Concierge Lounge (felt ignored by some of the staff) so did not feel it was worth a lot.

Dining / Food:

We decided to avoid the main dining room on this cruise if possible. We did go the first night to let our waiter know we would not be there the remainder of the week. Here is a review of the dining on the ship we have used. I will start with the free dining areas.

Main Dining room: only did the one night. You have a selection of several appetizers, entrees, and desserts. You are free to order a couple of appetizers and even more than one entrée if you want. You typically share a table with another family. We have had good and bad experiences with those we are seated with. Some are lots of fun and others it is a chore to keep a conversation going. This is why we decided to skip the main dining room this trip. We also did not want to bring a lot of formal clothes on this trip.

Windjammer (buffet): We avoided this the entire week, which for me is amazing. I have always had a lot of meals in the Windjammer, but was trying to eat healthier / avoid the buffets as I tend to over-eat. I also think there is a greater chance of picking up germs / getting sick as everyone is touching the serving utensils. However, I have no problem recommending it as a place to eat. The food in the Windjammer is buffet style and they do have a great selection.

Solarium. I had a couple of breakfasts and some lunches here. Food is healthier…for example, turkey sausage and turkey bacon at breakfast. Always a good salad bar and a nice selection of fresh fruit.

Park Cafe: Our favorite place for lunch. They have made to order salads and grilled sandwiches along with a nice selection of other items (3 bean salad, chips, fresh fruit, pre-packaged shrimp w/ noodles, etc.).

Sorrentos Pizza: great place to grab a slice of pizza or make your own personal pizza. My only complaint is some of the ingredients on the “make your own” are odd and they don’t usually have some of the normal ingredients.

Promenade Cafe: they have some small pre-made sandwiches and desserts that are very good (brownies, cookies, etc.). They also have some coffee drinks for a charge.

Wipeout Cafe: this is back near the sports courts. I have only grabbed some food at lunch time. Good hot dogs in a pretzel roll and a good burger bar / fries. They also have some pork wraps that are delicious. This is one of the places you can get a self serve ice cream cone. I typically would have 2-3 of these a day, but was good this trip and only had 2 the entire week.

Boardwalk Dogs: My favorite “grab and go” food. I believe there are 6 different types of sausages / hot dogs. You can get them with grilled veggies, grilled onions, or sauerkraut. They also have coleslaw and potato salad.

Donut stand: Self-serve rack with a variety of donuts (located on the boardwalk). I skipped this to avoid the carbs this trip. The donuts are not the lighter / fluffier ones I prefer. These are more dense / heavier.

That is the end of the “free” dining options. Below I will review some of the specialty dining we did. We did not eat at 150 Central Park or Giovanni’s Table. Some friends ate at Giovanni’s and said it was very good.

Samba Grill. They transform the Solarium into the Samba Grill for dinner. This was my favorite meal of the week. It is a Brazilian steakhouse style of dinner where they bring around 9 cuts of meat for you to eat. It was not quite as good as those I have gone to at home (Chicago area), but pretty close. They had various cuts of beef, lamb chops, chicken, sausage.

Chops: This is the steakhouse. The steaks included with the normal up charge are not high end steaks. You can pay extra to have a dry-aged steak that would be closer to a better steak house. I had the porterhouse steak and it was pretty good. They have a nice selection of side dishes and desserts.

Izumi: This was a fun meal. We ordered the “hot rocks” where they bring your raw food and a rock heated to 575 degrees. You then cook your food on the hot rock. It is not a lot of food, but a fun, interactive meal. I’m not a sushi fan so I can’t comment on the quality of that.

Ritas Cantina: Mexican food. We signed up for the Fiesta that included 3 drinks, food, and dancing. It was a fun time and something different. After appetizers you go out on the Boardwalk and do some group dances together.

Johnny Rockets: typical burger and milkshake joint. I aways enjoy a good burger, onion rings, and chocolate shake.

CupCake Cupboard: small charge for cupcakes.

Ice Cream Parlor: small charge for ice cream. If you only want a milkshake, cheaper to get one here versus pay the sitting fee and milkshake cost at Johnny Rockets.

Starbucks: typical Starbucks menu… not sure if the prices are higher than on land.

Beverage Packages:

You can sign up for a variety of beverage packages. Since we had access to the Concierge Lounge this trip, we did not look into any beverage package.

Here is a link I found that does a good job of explaining the various beverage packages available:

http://www.******************.com/royal-caribbean-beverage-packages

Crown & Anchor Perks / Coupons:

They did away with printed coupon books. A list of the discounts will be in your stateroom when you arrive. If you have a smartphone, take a photo of it so you can remember what they are.

They will automatically apply any coupon / discount so be careful. For example, if you have a "buy a drink / get one free" discount and go to a bar to order a mixed drink and a coke for your child, you may use your “free drink” on the coke when you may have preferred to use it on an alcoholic drink later. I prefer the old method of having the printed coupons so you could use them when you wanted and it was easier to keep track of what you had / had not used.

Internet:

There are some changes coming to the Oasis / Allure that will bring high speed internet. Oasis may already have this. Allure did not have the high speed internet yet. I am an active trader of stocks / options so needed to have access during the week to manage my accounts. I purchased the one device unlimited internet for $189 ($160 after the Platinum member discount). The speed was not fast, but acceptable for what I needed. I never had a dropped connection which was an improvement over past cruises. I could use iMessage for texting back home via my iPhone, iPad, or MacBook. Audio / Video communication via FaceTime would not work. Uploading photos was also very slow.

Tipping:

I see too many debates here about tipping, but I wanted to point out an option you have. I believe they are automatically signing passengers up for a certain $$ amount a day to cover all your tips. You can go to Guest Services to have this removed and do your own tipping. Since we ate mostly at specialty restaurants and tipped extra at those places, we did not need to be tipping the main dining room staff for the entire week. We then did our own tipping for the other staff who assisted us during the week.

Entertainment/Activities:

Chicago: I had not seen the movie / show anywhere else and enjoyed this. I heard some complaints about the quality of some of the singing, but I am not too picky and thought it was a great show.

OceanAria: this is the show in the Aqua Theater. It has a nice combination of water effects, diving, trampoline, etc. Very enjoyable show.

Blue Planet: this is a “Cirque du Soleil” type of show. Some cool special effects and very enjoyable.

Headliner: we were exhausted and skipped this show. I believe it was a Frank Sinatra style of entertainer and our friends said it was a great show.

Ice show: this is geared more towards kids, but was better than I expected.

Comedy show: this is for 18+ crowd and was a good show.

The Quest: this is also geared towards 18+ crowd. They can get a little crude at times so I would not take younger kids. It was a lot of fun and a high energy show. They basically divide the room into groups based on where you are sitting. Then your “team” has to do what Ken the cruise director yells out. For example, he asked for 2 bras so the leader of your team has to run up to him with 2 bras.

We also did a lot of the small entertainment activities: karaoke, trivia, name that tune, etc. These are always enjoyable.

Parades. They have a couple of parades on the promenade during the week. If you want to have a chance of seeing anything, get there 30 minutes in advance to find a place to sit / stand.

Casino: typical for a cruise ship. I enjoy donating some money to the slot machines.

Bingo: played this for the “win a cruise” prize. Was one of the first ones standing, but did not win. Best value is the $67 bingo package where you get 30 games on the automated machine plus some manual paper games. Hint… a few minutes before they begin, they announce they have a limited number of “extra” automated machines (30 games) they will sell for $20. Stand back by the sales table if you want to grab one of these.

Fitness Center / Spa: wife enjoyed some pampering and seminars at the spa. She also did a couple of spin classes (cost for these).

Running track: One of the nicer tracks on a cruise ship. 2.4 times around is a mile so it is a nice sized track.

Pools: unfortunately too many still get up early and reserve pool lounge chairs with towels and personal items. We saw many chairs sitting not used for hours. The pool staff did very little to enforce the “no saving” rule and there are too many selfish guests.

Ports:

I won’t go into details of excursions, but will list what we have done on our Allure / Oasis trips.

Nassau: typically stay on the ship. We have spent a week at Atlantis and the water park is the best we have ever seen. I have used free wifi at the welcome area at the port.

St. Thomas: have done the helmet dive, Buck Island catamaran / snorkel, and just walked around the downtown area. I did not find any free wifi near the ship but there were some downtown. Note that if you are with AT&T, St. Thomas is part of your normal cell territory so you can make calls / use data as you would back home. But be careful if you take any boat excursion off the island (like to St. John) as you will then enter a roaming area.

St Marten: have done the Beach Rendezvous at Orient Beach and the Lotterie Farm zip line course. You can find some free wifi around the shops near the ship.

Departure:

Just a note that it can take a while to get through customs as the lines can be long. We spent almost 45 minutes waiting in line to get through customs. Give yourself plenty of time to catch your flight.

That is it... if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

2 questions if you don't mind:

 

1) what is this main switch people are asking about? Does it just cut the lights and outlets or the air too?

 

2) do you know if they would have correctly put the drink package sticker on the card where you would have picked up the freestyle mug?

 

Thank you!

1 - it does cut the air conditioning also (our stateroom attendant warned us not to turn it off), so don't use that to turn off all the lights or you may return to a warm room.

2 - our friends pre-ordered the drink package and it was imprinted directly on their cards. Their cups for the soda machines were waiting for them in their stateroom. If for some reason your sea pass card does not have the drink symbol on your card, when you board there are drink stations on the promenade and they can check your name on a list and put a sticker on / give you a glass at that time. You can also sign up for it at that time if you have not pre-ordered.

I have sailed on Oasis twice and Allure once. I find them to be less crowded than any other ship (and I was expecting the opposite).

Only places/times I have found crowded:

- during the Safety drill when everyone is going to / from their areas.

- "At sea" days the seating areas closest to the pools are always crowded. But there are plenty of chairs once you move away from directly next to the pools.

- During the parades on the Promenade.

- Meal times near the key dining areas

Note that these places / times are crowded on ANY ship.

Other than above, I never felt the ship was "crowded" and definitely was never bumping into people. There are so many areas to spread out in.

There are no extra charges to use the ice rink, rock wall or flow-rider. You can pay for some private / semi-private instruction time on the flow-rider. I would suggest doing the 1-hour shared flow-rider lesson early on your cruise. I think it was about $50-$60. There will be 4-8 people in the lesson and is a great way to learn to use the flow-rider.

Back in 2011 when my son was 14, he tried the flow-rider for the first time. We signed him up for the 1-hour lesson. By the end of that week, he was doing some incredible tricks. He was invited to compete at the end of the week and won second place on the ship. He was so excited.

Definitely consider what you are wearing. Loose / skimpy bikinis can come off in the water. Best to have a swim shirt/shorts to help cover up unless you want to give the spectators a show.