Worn out mailman

It's a lose/ lose situation. You either have an enormous amount of time to kill, or you pay substantially more to fly. I'm gonna end up paying $100 extra to leave SJU at 1:30 pm as opposed to 3:30.

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On our one and only sailing from Port Canaveral I arranged for a private shuttle from mco. Our flight was late out of Philly, was late getting to mco, and took nearly 25 minutes just to taxi to it's gate. I was having a panic attack thinking we'd miss our shuttle. While running through the airport to baggage claim, the shuttle service called me to let me know they were fully aware of the flight not being on time. My panicking was for nothing. I was so relieved.

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On our 2011 cruise on Serenade, we had a table for two right along the edge of the second level, looking down at the first level. If the table arrangement is still the same, these tables are back to back, not side by side, and there are not many of them. If you're assigned my time, find the maitre d ASAP after you board and maybe you'll get lucky.

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Don't forget, unless your a carb avoider, you may end up eating two (or 3)tasty pieces of bread while waiting for your one or two appetizers. You'll be adequately full.

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Thank you for your comparison. I always wondered about Enchantment's non - expanded sister ships.

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Tomorrow is a day at sea. DH has strict instructions to head up to the pool deck at the crack of humanity and save me a chair [emoji41]He will be sitting in it until I get there so it's not chair hogging if he's only saving one chair right??

 

It's time to turn in for the night... it's been a fabulous first day onboard. Thanks for joining me! See you in the morning! [emoji4]

 

 

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Bless your husband. I thought I was the only person on Earth who did this. Actually, I think it's necessary on Oasis class ships, right? They actually have deck police who confiscate unattended belongings after a half hour or so.

Welcome to LIVE from the Allure of the Seas!

 

I am excited to finally try an Oasis Class ship - I need to see exactly what I've been missing and decide for myself if bigger really IS better?! ;)

 

As many of you already know, I really enjoy reporting live from the ship. I try and respond to every question, and hope to bring a little bit of the Caribbean to you wherever you are. I'm a little nuts in the sense that I update a lot, so be sure to check this thread often! I won't be posting the Cruise Compass (unless someone asks a very specific question), and I won't be posting the MDR menus as we have pre-purchased the 3 night dining package, and will probably add a 4th specialty restaurant once onboard. I did register for My Time Dining, so it is possible we may visit the MDR once or twice during the week.

 

I post primarily from my iPhone 6, and upload pictures often in "real time". I will be bringing my Samsung tablet along as well. I like the picture quality on my iPhone, and I just dumped 3645 pictures on to my PC, so I have a lot of space to fill with pictures of just about everything :cool:

 

We are booked in a Superior Ocean View balcony on deck 11 (I already know the bed is near the closet, thanks to our amazing expert Clarea!). I guess this is a good time to mention who I am cruising with! Accompanying me on this trip are my DH, and my 20 year old DD who has just completed her 3rd year of university :)

 

We are flying from Toronto to Fort Lauderdale tomorrow on Air Canada, and expect to arrive at our pre-cruise hotel at about 6PM. I sailed on the Freedom in February and stayed at the Fort Lauderdale Marriott North, it is a great hotel that has been renovated from top to bottom and that's where we are staying this time as well. I got a super deal with breakfast included, and because I am a Gold Elite rewards member, they have upgraded us to the Concierge Level. We have reserved a car that we will pick up, and then return to the airport on Sunday morning. The Marriott North is about a $45 cab ride from the airport and then $45 again to the port, so we were able to rent a mid size SUV for $109 total and it just made perfect sense. My DH and DD have never been to Fort Lauderdale, so we will definitely head down to the Las Olas beach area, and do a little sight seeing on Saturday.

 

My suitcase is half packed, and I just printed out our boarding passes. Time to grab a bite of dinner and finish all the last minute preparations before we leave for the airport tomorrow.

 

I can't wait to start this vacation and bring you all along with me! :D

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9576 is my cabin on choice on Radiance class ships. It's got a large balcony, is sheltered from most of the centrum noise and musters in the Schooner Bar! :D

I agree with the post above. 9576 thru 9580.

Hi! Great review F27.

Chops is a regular thing for us but reading your review may make us think twice. I was glad to read they still offer the premium items in the MDR. We've enjoyed those offerings on past cruises.

I've caught cold on one of our cruises. On all of our subsequent cruises I've been sure to pack my zinc and C supplements and take them religiously while onboard, as well as never touching a stair rail (always hands in pockets while up and down stairs), and diligently using hand sanitizer.

Glad you enjoyed yourself. :)

When there's money in it?

 

Seriously, though, the staff probably feels like they can't win. On the one hand, you have those complaining about the lack of chairs. On the other hand, you have those who feel it's their right to hold chairs. Making one group happy will anger the other. The path of least resistance is to do nothing, which often seems to be what happens. Nothing.

 

One option, is to beat the chair hogs at their own game. Grab an early breakfast, then stake your claim, by sitting in one chair and putting your stuff in the other(s). The rest of your party can then be a bit more leisurely, and join you when ready. It's worked for us.

 

When fights start breaking out, that's when staff has no choice, but to get involved. To not do so is bad for business. Especially in this day and age, with everyone being armed with a camera.

Amen about actually being in the chair early in order to reserve it. One person for every two chairs. Get your butts out of bed people. [emoji42]

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I think I remember reading on these boards that RCCL stopped selling staterooms that sleep more than two passengers to parties of two, at least I guess until close to sail date. If a stateroom sleeps 4, they want 4 cruise fares. Hence the much more limited availability for parties of two.

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Just because you book outside of hurricane season doesn't mean you won't encounter one. Witness Anthem Feb 2016. I know, I was there. I've also sailed her twice since then and I'm booked for this Sept. I'd say, go with the date that is convenient for you and an itinerary that appeals to you.

Conversely, even if you can avoid a hurricane, you're also more likely to have rainy/overcast days in port during those months. A rainy day in port is much like money flushed down the toilet.

Pretty good review. Keep in mind that a few clouds can ruin the overall impression of a place, esp. a beach in the Caribbean. Only full sun brings out the beautiful color and full clarity of the water. You may have enjoyed St Thomas more without the clouds. April kinda begins the rainy season. We've had our best luck in March overall.

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I was nervous as hell on our last St Lucia tour, it was Ambrose, a big tour operation. Same story, a little too much waiting around before we got started on the driving portion, waiting too long for a boat to take us to the beach between the Pistons, then later waiting MUCH too long for a boat to complete the tour and return us to the port. It was very much done on the fly by the operator. From now on I'll stick with cosol who had us with one guide all day.

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Hi folks. I've cruised on RCCL 7 times (4 classes) and on Princess 4 times (1class). The one thing that draws me to Princess over RCCL is the greater availability of food (and edible pizza). That's one of the areas where RCCL has cut back the most, and late night snacks are important to me. Still tho, for me nothing beats Royal's southern routes out of SJ, and Princess bailed on SJ after 2012, regrettably.

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Another negative, the big ships never hit as many islands. So, whereas Adventure stops at 4 or 5, will Freedom stop at only 3 or 4 in order to conserve fuel? One of the reasons to fly to SJ are the port intensive sailings, IMHO anyway.

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Huh. So much for my morning coffee on the balcony.

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If you book a starboard stateroom, and you wake up early enough, the approach to port in Antigua is quite nice.

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Hi folks. I actually booked a cruise yesterday. Used Chrome. Got all the way to the "pay now", then it failed. After a second and third attempt, I finally called and paid through human interaction. Windows 10 consistently asks me to use Edge, but Edge doesn't allow my Norton toolbar, so I won't use it.

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Question of the hour... did your health or perhaps your trip insurance cover at least some of this?

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Plus if you are flying that is where you get burned. You have to be on your A game to book the cheap flights first or any savings goes into 2x airfare prices. We book southwest direct flights and make sure to call the airline to find out when your flight will show up on the site. It is usually +/- 6 months before the cruise.

You're quite right about the airfares really ramping up the cost of the vacation. My favorite cruises are the Southerns out of San Juan, but it costs so much to fly there round trip, and sometimes we cant leave SJ for Philadelphia until after 1 pm. Unfortunately, my girlfriend doesn't earn enough vacation time to take a 10 day with me out of FLL (which would be perfect), at least without giving up our Ocean City NJ vacation, which we also love.

Hopefully we'll hit the lotto and then, all bets are off.

Hi everybody. It's been awhile since I've posted. I'm just past the week during which we were supposed to have cruised (but had to cancel). Now I'm itching to book something for next spring (Regal eastern) but the prices this far out are making me hesitate. I wonder what kind of price drops anybody has received for a midship or slightly forward/aft stateroom on deck 9 or 10.

Also, for any of you who have sailed on Royal or Regal who happen to enjoy main pool deck activities on sea days, is the one pool on the main deck enough? Was the movie screen audio muted during the day? I realize there is another pool but those areas are too removed from the action for my taste.

Thanks all.

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We've used this service a few times and have liked it. Not only do they check the bags, they check you in and print your boarding pass. Sure it costs some but eliminates some hassle.

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I should add that the ride to Red Hook passes Havensight. We went to Trunk Bay that day

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I suggest you change plans. I remember it taking at least 20 minutes in the cab to reach Havensight from Crown Bay. Round trip that made for us 40 fewer minutes to spend enjoying our day.

This Crown Bay news is indeed disturbing.

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Hi there. I'll share one moment with you from my Allure cruise that astounded me.

In order not to surrender to our awesome poolside loungers on the very crowded sea day, my girlfriend and I lunched one at a time (so the other could guard the seat).

I ventured to the buffet, picked my lunch and tried to find an open table. What I found was in the very back of the buffet, dead center. The view was of the entire aft quarter of the ship. It was amazing. Looking back to the left, I watched kids playing basketball, and a little farther back people were on the flow rider. Looking back to the right, people were miniature golfing, and farther back folks were on the other flow rider. Looking straight down, I saw the aqua show performers rehearsing for the evening show and above that, a zip liner user whizzing toward me. And behind it all, I watched the huge wake that our ship was creating.

All of those people doing all those things, all of them in their own moments unaware of everyone else, all of this happening on just the rear quarter of the ship (knowing the rest of the ship was just as bustling) made we aware how awesome these huge ships are.

I suggest you take a quiet moment to observe from this vantage point.

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