Lionesss

Even with voom being excellent and speedy I need a favor. Begore I go and fill out a US Gov custom firm can one of my loyal followers research for me the amount (of cash) it has to be filled out for. A few years back I had to do it for a $15,000 jackpot. I need to know if I have to do it and be prepared. Thank you. Off to chair hog but in a different way. 💤💤💤💤💤💤💤💤💤💤💤💤 I won’t be seeing you. ❤️

Good morning. (Ha). Well even lack of sleep, 4 hours total of sleep. We are on a cruise so all is good. We had one phenomenal attention getter thunder and lightning storm at sea. Bright and loud!!! Breakfast at CK. My eyes are awake but my body says ”….. now I lay me down to sleep…..” Sea ya.

So now it is 3:45 am. I. have been up for 24 hours not to my liking. Fully awake. Spouse sleeping. Frustrated as all heck. I have the curse of restless legs and they are going overtime. Walked the stairs 10 times Took my Requip. Still doing the jumping. Some observations 1. CK has less waiters. Matre D. Taking drink orders, serving those then delivering bread and butters. 2. CK. Hourdevours the best display I have ever seen. 3. We initially had early dinner in MDR. Us as well as others shared this occurrence. However since we’re in a suite the officers decided on their own to put suite guest in the my time dining plan. Saw on sea pass card. And this ticked off many people when a few couple’s questioned this change going into effect Without any notification is unfair treatment. The staff said why? You always eat in CK. Anyway. when asked if they could have their time back the response was you have no time. And it’s not going to change. 3. The casino COVID cleaning is none existent. 4. The new smoke less casino looks like an open room. Wide spaces. All computer machines. Free drinks today for everyone who gambled there. There was a card in our room. 5. Still have that crappy shampoo/conditioner in both bathrooms. I brought my own. (Big purple suitcases ). 😜 6. So far only 2 people remember us. Marva a cabin attendant ( she is not ours) And one of the waiters 7. You really have to walk thru the promenade with blinders on. Crew every pushing dining, drink package and spas. More than ever I have seen. 8. We had to do our phone safety info 3 times after we were on ships WI-FI. And it still did not Regis. So when we checked in we told them and they said don’t worry about it. 9. The suite entrance door by CK is now locked at all times. Last cruise roving packs of kids were using it for play (😳) at all hours. Ok time to do stairs again I want to cry!!! Sleepless in ( wherever we are). Oh The T-shirts. After my third slot machine win I asked for one and got 2. From Mark. Casino host.

Even though the mass COVID era is winding done we are being very careful with trying to follow those ever present social distancing as well as washy washy hands. But, we found one mode of transmission not being addressed and I will present it to one of the house keeping officers. We shall call it “germs on the move”. Meet Alluria. Our very own dirty critter. If I had a cup I would have put it on it to isolate it. At this time. He is still a survivor. Good night. Or should I say good morning. Sea ya.

Well Greg. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. Tonight was a winning night. including the 2 T shirts I WON $7,264. Now the question on yours and everyone else’s mind is how much did you invest. I left the casino with just under $6,000 So I invested approximately $1275 ish and still had money in my purse in addition to winnings. So Susie did good. So it was a very profitable night. Sea you.

We received our email on Memorial Day. I made my request and got a response and all requests fulfilled within 24 hours.

Every live thread I like to post our current location using find my phone. So

Casual. many in men’s shorts sneakers T shirts izod shirts sandals baseball caps no jackets.

Ok I’ll work on it. CK Dinner menu

You are so right. Sometimes the most obvious eludes me. ty.

Love our CLS. Suitcases arrived one left to unpack. Chillin till dinner. Must be something new for Allure. 3 suites down their CLS has a private butler. I called my spouse to see. At first he told me. “ I’m not snooping” But the sadder the eyes got the guilt worked. So eventually inch by inch and step by step he checked it out. He comes back in and tells me to put my glasses on. Now he tells me it’s not a butler but ship security. Now that must be the record for an onboard guest to be on naughty list. And you know we will never know why. But I’ll try Sea ya.

Yes Since we are in a suite we have first of three shows offered tomorrow. 7:30 pm We requested when concierge sent his letter and we got. Those not in a suite we’re sent an email by RCI to request a date and time they wanted. They had only a brief period to respond (24 hours?????)not exactly sure on time frame. If not forfeit there advance chance on reservation. Many scrambling at reservation areas or once Wi-Fi. Many opportunities.

We have arrived. Traditional WJ lunch.

Well on our way. Speed limit 50 mph Except for buses Yup 75-78 mph. Making up time. Street sign tells you how high the flood waters are.

I have never met a kinder more organized group of workers organizing the check in for the shuttle. Now the shuttle departure is dependent on a few variables. 1. The bus getting everyone on board at port after their thru customs, and traveling to Houston. 2. Travel time. Road conditions, traffic delays weather to name a few. 3. Everyone on bus at Houston Bush 4. Road traffic back to port. So we are still at airport. The bus that we are sitting on arrived later than usual for whatever reason. But we are currently waiting for 2 passengers hiking from terminal A then get their luggage and boarding. All is good. We’re going on a cruise The couple just boarded. WERE LEAVING!!!! Sea you.

Arrived back to George Bush airport to take RCI shuttle. Now how it works is you have to check in at “C” concourse near escalator by door 105. upon checking in you are given a ticket with a number. Our numbers guaranteed us a seat on first bus. Now the bus comes from port dropping off previous cruisers and then takes us down. Your reservation on the bus getting a seat is first come first serve basis. That is why we get here early. The checkin counter opens opens at 8am. Your ticket number is just that and not a seat number. We have 2 of the few seats with a very nice couple next to us. ( waiting at airport). The airport removed the seats last week so the majority of people just stand and wait. So far so good. Sea ya.

A view of the ship compliments of the Galveston cruise cam.

So I was sleeping so soundly until 12:49am. Was awoken by one loud and long thunder rumbling that shook the windows. Man it caught my attention. The spouse slept thru it. Since then on and off sleep. We set our alarms for 7 to go to breakfast then come back pretty ourselves up organize the suitcases. Since we keep the travel documents in them ( hee-hee) we will move them to back pack. Once to port we will check the two big bags and one carryon. This way we only have to lug around one carryon, one backpack, one purse and 2 drink mugs we will pick up. Since we do not need to book any dining venues or shows we will mozy around until cabins open and have lunch. Depending on crowds it will be either CK, WJ or Solarium for lunch. Then get our steps in roaming the ship and refreshing our memories. Once we can get in our cabin hopefully luggage there so we can unpack and then store the suitcases in the back of one of the 2 closets Then go to guest services and get sea pass punched. Now, after dinner in CK maybe hit one of the shows and end up in casino visiting old friends. Access my “free play” and maybe have a drinky drink. Since I am up now obviously this will be a long day. So it won’t be a long night. Monday early breakfast, then head off to one of the pools, stake out a claim. We do not just save pool chair’s especially now that they are enforcing chair hogging ( or so the rumor is). We nap on them or if not —only away for a quick dunk in the pool. We pack up and go to lunch, then back to cabin and shower and get ready for trivia. (As long as it’s not Beatles trivia). Dinner at chops then comedy show, and if I did not lose my budgeted $$ back to casino. If I did lose my budgeted money then yup, back to casino 😜. Sea ya

Earlier in the thread I stated that I would share our actual cost to cruise the Allure on a “Free” casino comped cruise. Last October 22, 2022 I received an offer for a free cruise for 2 on the Allure in a Grand suite. After doing some research and comparing previous cruise fares we decided what the heck. Will leave our comfort zone of Florida cruise embarkation and travel to Texas. So we had our TA call and they accepted her to book for us. Now mind you cruise fares were still very low at that time. So our TA was able to get us upgraded to the CLS. Ok keeping it simple our cost for new cabin was less than $1250. Total cost for both of us. ($625 per person). The usual fees not covered by your free cruise that we had to pay———- Now we are in a suite so gratuities for the both of us is $224. Taxes fees and port expenses $277.08. Now When I get home I will include cost of Cleveland hotel, Houston hotel, and since I’m keeping records meals, shuttle tips…… JUST AN FYI: The cost of this cruise had one price reduction in November. After that the price just soared. More to come. Sea ya

So after dinner we walked and enjoyed the evening. Not too hot or humid. So I said let’s check out the pool. Well. If you plan on swimming to cool off, just know it’s not going to happen at the Hampton. The pool is in a drought. Only a puddle of water. sea ya.

We put our walking shoes on and headed over to the Doubletree hotel to eat in their restaurant “747”. approximately 1/4 mile from Hampton. Strawberry daiquiri s to start We split a Caesar salad I had chicken fajitas Spouse had New York strip veggie’s potatoes. Way too much food. Unfortunately over half was wasted. Highly recommend eating here. Now to walk. or Waddle.

Getting ready for dinner and turned TV on and you will never guess what movie is on. Nothing but the most reassuring before you cruise. Yup. Titanic.

I was able to watch the news for about 90 min. (😜) During this time I kept hearing the same noise over and over again as in every 42 seconds. Here the Hampton is underneath the runway for the airport take offs. That tiny speck is a plane. Glad I brought my ear plugs. Sea you

We rode the shuttle 7 minutes to the Hampton. Upon arrival the room requested was not ready. We said ok. Then as we were going to offer to pay for a room for the day the manager goes. I will give you one of our suites, no extra fee. And enjoy your stay. So, a little unpacking A little ironing ( gotta look pretty for the picture of ship with us in front of ) which by the way we never get. Nap time. Exploring time. Got to get the rest of my steps in. Oh. Their breakfast buffet was still available so I got fruit for the room. Sea you.

HISTORY LESSON. So when we booked this cruise over a year ago, the date of what would become our air flight was the day my aunt ( my moms sisters) military plane she was on crashed, and no survivors. Today is the 60 th anniversary of that misfortune. I was apprehensive about flying. Yes. Today I said many a rosary. When we landed I finally could share the plane crash with my husband. I am sure she was looking down upon us for a safe flight. Aunt Elaine (Vodhanel) continued prayers for you. Safe travels.