clskinsfan

Oh boy. Yeah. My wife will be watching that one alone. 🙂

Really enjoyed your review. Sorry to see your time almost winding down this week. But that makes me one more week closer to getting on Allure myself. 🙂 Thanks for the Heads up on breakfast at the wipeout. We are staying on deck 6 so Johnny Rockets will probably get our breakfast business most mornings. But it is nice to know there are other options to avoid the madhouse that is Windjammer.

When we were younger? Absolutely they made a difference. Our first few cruises we basically followed the CD around for party time. It doesnt matter anymore to us though. I will say it is amazing the energy CD's have. They bounce all over the place all day long. The really good ones you have no idea if they even sleep at all.

We used to feel exactly like you. Cruising used to be the best value in a vacation bar none. I am not sure that is the case anymore. We did a 10 night AI in the Dominican during covid and it was amazing. The food was incredible, Suite was huge and beautiful, entertainment was great and the service was top notch. Now we are not experienced in doing AI's. In fact it is only the second one we have done in our almost 40 years of marriage. But the trip was fantastic. And it was actually cheaper than our upcoming 7 nighter on Allure after adding in the drink package. If what we experienced is the norm for "higher end" AI's we may just go to them more often and cruise less. We still love being on the sea. But as I said I am not sure the value is there anymore.

I had likes and went to check them out and all of the sudden "I wasnt allowed to view that thread". Thought I was either going crazy or someone in the thread didnt like me.

Depends how public you want it to be? You could get someone from the entertainment staff to help you if you want to do it on a stage. If you want something more personal and quieter maybe get a waiter at a specialty restaurant to help you out. Regardless. Congrats on your future engagement.

How was the Balashi? I always make it a point to get a local beer in the ports we go to.

We used to remove auto gratuities and tip at the end. But with the hassle of dealing with guest services and not really remembering everyone who served us and deserved a tip at the end we just leave the auto gratuities on now. I am not positive how it is split among those that deserve it. But it just makes our experience better in the end.

Just curious why you didnt wait to see what would happen in the future? You had almost a year. And at that point you could have paid $100 PP and moved the cruise out to 2025 if needed. Seems like a smarter choice than just eating $1500.

That is a pretty incredible shot. Shows just how huge the Allure really is. Makes Horizon look like a toy.

We booked a GTY oceanview one time. We got a room right over the anchor chain. Will never book a GTY again 🙂

I always print the paid in full page and the page with anything we have purchased before the cruise. Better safe than sorry. I also always print out copies of our passports.

Thats what we paid for our upcoming Allure cruise in October. But we booked the cruise and bought the package a long time ago. Like a year ago. As was mentioned above, our itinerary had a lot to do with it. Our cruise stops in both Labadee and Coco and the package transfers to both of those ports. So we really only have 2 port days where we wont use it.

Just wanted to say your phone or whatever you are using takes great pics. Most of the pics I see from Allure make it look really bright and washed out. Yours are fantastic.

14 more booked? Goodness. I wonder what the record is for most booked cruises?

They dont. I think that is kind of the point. They want testing gone as well.

We are the 29th as well on Allure. So happy we have one less thing to worry about.

If you dont mind me asking was your 3 day dining package cheaper on the ship or before boarding. We are contemplating getting a dining package for the first time and are not sure when is the best time to gbuy it.

I hope so. That is my favorite thing about NCL ships.

Just a heads up. I was able to book MTD times on the app for my cruise in October. I am not sure how soon after payment you can book them though. I just booked us for 7 every night. Dont know if they are legit reservations. But I did receive email confirmations.

In fairness there are lots of options for fun and sun when it comes to vacations. If you are going to spend money on it. You should expect to get some value for the money you spend. That is where cruising used to be number one. Value. Not so sure that is the case anymore.

Well I guess I am lucky I am sailing on Allure in October. It wasnt listed there. 🙂

We did a 10 night Alaskan on Eclipse. And I agree with you. She is a beautiful ship.

This is us as well. We prefer Celebrity. But it does tend to be a bit older crowd. So I would keep that in mind if you are looking for late night partying. I also think the food is better on Celebrity. Especially the specialty restaurants. But we like both lines. And are doing our first Oasis class cruise on Allure in October. NCL isnt bad either. Although I hear they are going to a set menu in the MDR. That would turn us off to them. I do love the Waterfront on their ships. It is a great place to chill out after dinner and have a few drinks. We started with Carnival when our kids were young. It was cheap and a fun family vacation. But we have outgrown that craziness. 🙂