roseoftx

Houston is looking to be warming up by then. 60s for low, low 80s for highs so that should make the whole cruise warmer than February.

Full review available on the review site https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=696196

A lot depends on when you sail. This time of year, the weather is all over the place and is controlled by the jet stream. This year has seen more colder days over all. When we left on the 5th it was on the 60s and while not swimming weather, it was very pleasant. The next day it had started warming up and people were out and about on deck. On the 2nd sea day, people were hanging out by the pool and by the time we reached Roatan, it was in the 80s It stayed nice until we left Cozumel for the way home and then for the last sea day we were in the 50s with 60 mile per hour winds. Once you get to late March/April, Houston/Galveston area is going to be in the 70s and 80s and it will be a bit warmer as you go south but for this itinerary, will get into the high 80s.

Taken during our cruise last week. It was still pleasant, but not quite the tropical garden some people expected.

The events seem to open up during the month before not necessarily 30 days before. Since yours was late in the month that would be consistent with that. For shows, they will have a standby line and since “reservations” are free, they do have a lot of no shows so you have a chance of getting in.

We sailed once around Daylight Saving and they avoided changing the clocks on the last day to make us more comfortable on docking. I noticed most independent excursion list start time as 1 hour after ship arrival rather than a specific time.

First time Royal Caribbean cruiser with previous sailings pre-Covid on Carnival and NCL. The app Install the app and learn how to navigate around it. Don’t assume that your cruise will match the cruise compasses floating around. In our case, the headliner show was on Monday/Thursday although previous sailing were on Sunday/Monday. The app is the best source of info for the week ahead. Bag drop off We arrived just before 11 and there was a fair amount of traffic. There were 2 lanes but only 1 said it turned but the traffic guy kept telling people to get in the other one so we used it. They switched traffic between the cruise drop off and the passenger drop off but both had porters so don’t worry which way you go. It moved quick. We parked in the North lot and it was very convenient (although more expensive than some but they do regular $20 off promotions). Boarding Check in and boarding was pretty fast. No lines at all. They retook our pictures even though we uploaded during checkin. Drink cups If you purchased a drink package, you can pick up the cup as soon as you get on the ship even if you don’t have your sea pass yet. Solarium for lunch The solarium was perfect for lunch. Nice view, not crowded and a good selection although less than Windjammer but good enough. Sea pass / cabin key Cabins became available at 1pm. Your sea pass will be found on your door stuck under your cabin number. Clocks When sailing south, we were close to Cozumel on the 2nd key day and if your phone/watch was set to automatically set the time, it moved 1 hour ahead but the ship time stayed on Houston time. A lot of people were up earlier than expected and confused for awhile. You should set to manual time when you first get on the ship and reset back once you get off. The TV and the app always display ship time. Electrical The light in the bathroom was bright when on and had a dim setting when off. It did not turn completely off. We did not need a night lite in there although we used a small one in the main room plugged into the desk. The master switch turns off the AC too so leave it on. It was a switch and did not require a card in it to keep it on like on the Harmony. There was one outlet under the bed. We had requested an extension cord and water for a CPAP but didn’t need the cord. Note that RCI doesn’t allow you to bring your extension cords but we did have a plug replicator so we could plug in our charger block in here too. Picture packages If you are going to buy photos, buy the package online before the cruise to save the most. But if you decide to buy more on the ship, they will charge an upgrade fee. We bought the 10 pack and the upgrade fee for 10 more was more than buying the complete package beforehand. Picture kiosks In the photo shop, they have kiosks to view the photos online. They also print them all and place in a tower identified on your sea pass. The printed one were easier to compare. The kiosks were good to identify if there were any missing. Ice cream The soft serve ice cream in the wipeout cafe could get very busy. It was the only one available although they used to have others based on some videos I watched. Boarding at ports There were small lines to get on the ship in Roatan and Costa Maya but the lines to return to the ship in Cozumel were incredibly long. They wrapped all the way around the shopping mall. Everyone made it on the ship but there was a lot of anxiety and people were trying to cut into line and apparently some kind of fight which was crazy since they weren’t going to leave anyone that was in line. Elevators There are only 2 sets of elevators in the front and back with one set of 8 on the port side and another on starboard. They can get very busy at key times like meals, port arrival and after shows. You occasionally saw people getting on going on one headed the opposite direction and coming back just to get a spot. The elevators periodically had a mind of their own where only one key pad would work or reset before reaching the desired floor. But they did a reasonable job considering how many people were on the ship. There is no midship elevators which means that rooms midship had a longer walk to reach places on the promenade or Central Park. Our cabin was near the aft elevators which was great for accessing windjammer, boardwalk and the aqua theater. We booked for next year near the front elevator which provide quick access to Solarium, spa and fitness and shows. Deck 7 The aft elevator bay on deck 7 does not go across from port to starboard (there is a cutout for the Boardwalk sign. If your cabin was on that floor, you learned pretty quick to use the right set of elevators. Sometimes you could get turned around and get on the wrong one and have to go up or down one floor to get to the right side (as opposed to waiting for an elevator on both sides) Departure was quick. We did bag assist which meant leaving out the night before. We signed up early in the app and were in the first group after self assist and were off the ship just after 8:30 ahead of our schedule time. They give you a tag for your carry on and were checking and holding back some people trying to leave early. Face recognition passport control was quick and bags were ready.

Its back showing again, it was a quirk in the planner it seems. Note that even when it did not show in the planner, if you went your profile and selected show all reservations, it was listed.

per other threads, there is an omelet station in Solarium (well technically a place to order omelets).

I have seen much discussion about booking beverage packages, etc. in advance since you can cancel if the price goes down. From my personal experience, I think it is best to book one thing at a time. I had several problems with the items where I had booked more than one. First, one time I wanted to cancel both and I could not cancel the 2nd. It would give me an error and say to try later. It was not that much of a savings so I just kept it. Second, the refund from that purchase took a long time to get. It was much longer than some other single items I canceled after it. And it turned out that when the credit did come in, it went against my cruise fare which caused me to have to pay it back (just learned about it so not sure how that will go). I might have just been unlucky but since there is no real advantage to placing multiple things in your cart, going forward I am going to do 1 at a time.

Question for you regarding the comedy show - we sail in 2 weeks and the show is not listed on the planner anymore. In fact, if I look at the planner for your cruise, it isn't listed either. Do you see shows listed in the app for later this week?

Been researching the same thing, the credit varies greatly by where you book. We are not in the $600 category, more like $100 which isn't a big motivator. It also seems to say that you have to pick that cruise within 2 months or lose the credit, just leaving a reduced deposit which is "nice". In your case, if you wait, the cabin selection might be reduced by April especially if its a popular destination. And the reduced deposit wouldn't help you much since your final payment would be due soon.

How was the walk off the ship to the Native Choice office. I have read a few posts that they make it a bit difficult?

based on several posts of the Cruise Compass, that is it for show times, no secret ones beyond those. One matinee for Mamma Mia but the rest are evening shows

They all had similar information, but the cruisemapper was the easier to find the information for me.

This was posted on another similar thread. Might change a bit by February/March. Also, as noted, the Allure is one of the ships that is supposed to allow you to book (approximately 45 days) prior to boarding so you can plan ahead if you want.

if anyone in your group is getting the basic soda package, the combination brings the price down to $11. Basically 2 for 1 versus list price, In our case, we were planning to buy 2 soda packages and planned to share a single Voom but at that price, it makes it a lot easier to just get 2.

Photo from Nov 13th https://photos.app.goo.gl/rDHQQxsYuYpHww9h9

Our TA put in the request when we booked.

I used this code and have a couple of hints. If it says the code is invalid or expired on the price page, you entered it incorrectly. Make sure there isn't a space at the end. When it works, it just goes to the price page. What was not obvious was that the prices listed were still the original price. Once you picked one, then it shows you the price with the discount. Another tip is that if you join the loyalty program, it gives you 50 points which is another $5 off. So in my case, the final price was $141 so that was a lot better than the $168 it originally listed for the North lot. Still not cheap, but comparable to a couple of others I checked.

Thank you - I was using the web version and they weren't showing and I switched to the app and they came right up, thanks.

I know that it is not going to be relevant to our cruise next year. You have the UDP, but did you see the onboard rates for the specialty restaurants? We are trying to decide which route to go, but being a first time cruiser on the Allure (and RC) we don't have anything to base it off of. Every now and then you run across a post that mentions the price but they are lower than I know they are currently at (that's how things go these days).

I searched the topic and found articles that said RC doesn't allow any kind of extension cord on it like the one you show? Hopefully, just something created by the people that sell ones that are not corded?

A couple of really helpful posts, thanks again to everyone. It's funny because while I agree, they never run out of photos, they are one of the more expensive ones. so when I see $112 for 10 photos (25% off), it still sounds expensive but again with nothing to compare it to, it might be a good deal. But the "they won't run out of it" gauge is probably a good place to start. I get I can buy it now and re-book it again when its lower and have already done that for some things. And certainly, will book anything left by end of November.

I guess that is why the post started with "new to RC". Several of the answers have been very helpful and some less so, but thanks to everyone.