Family Review - Allure, July 10: 4 Adults, 2 Young Kids, 1 Room

[blackforest3]

For future information, would the bunkbeds be sufficient for a teen? DD1 is 16 and about 5'5" tall. Thanks!

[figgyva]

For future information, would the bunkbeds be sufficient for a teen? DD1 is 16 and about 5'5" tall. Thanks!

 

The bunks appear to be standard twins, so I wouldn't expect any issues at all for a teen. I was actually thinking that they would probably work well for a young person that age because of the separation that they provide from the old folks. Though, it would also puts her closer to the lav, so she could pretty much take it over. :D

[kmorg1234]

After you book it with Royal, go to ctuise compete and have them give you more competitive quotes, then transfer the reservation. Royal has thevtransfer forms on their website under faqs. I have saved a ton of money this way- almost $3000 last summer on Oasis for the 3 cabins.

[seapad]

Hi Figgyva

Just another quick question. I heard some people mention that to expect a long dinning experience (when eating at MDR) - like average 2 1/2 hour experience, hence they either miss some prebooked shows or have to leave without dessert. Did you find that experience true, or simply just certain isolated experience. Those people recommend eating My-Time to allow more flexibility.

We prefer early dining at the MDR. We hope that the average is around 1 1/2 max. We eat the early 6pm seating. What's your experience?

Thanks much for your assistance.

[blackforest3]

The bunks appear to be standard twins, so I wouldn't expect any issues at all for a teen. I was actually thinking that they would probably work well for a young person that age because of the separation that they provide from the old folks. Though, it would also puts her closer to the lav, so she could pretty much take it over. :D

 

No surprise there, she does at home!

 

The trouble were having now is trying to decide between one room or two, to get that 2nd bathroom!

[LindaAndBillTravel]

ChalupaMama here on CC will attest to the fact that, when DD1 was much younger, she wasn't exactly the best dining companion. She really loved those ribs at that restaurant that will remain unmentioned and scrubbed the bones clean, but didn't really understand at the time that the floor wasn't there to be her discard pile. I agree, that's unacceptable behavior and we should have been asked to leave for it. But, we did leave a good tip as gratitude! :D

HA!!!! That was quite the mess indeed. Bones and BBQ sauce everywhere. I wish there was a picture. It would have been a great one to show every boy who ever comes to take her out on a date. :D

[figgyva]

Hi Figgyva

Just another quick question. I heard some people mention that to expect a long dinning experience (when eating at MDR) - like average 2 1/2 hour experience, hence they either miss some prebooked shows or have to leave without dessert. Did you find that experience true, or simply just certain isolated experience. Those people recommend eating My-Time to allow more flexibility.

We prefer early dining at the MDR. We hope that the average is around 1 1/2 max. We eat the early 6pm seating. What's your experience?

Thanks much for your assistance.

 

The Oasis-class ships are interesting because they have shows that compete with dinner, especially the late seating. In our experience, no dinner in the MDR went longer than 1 1/2 hours. Mariano had noted on the first night that we should just let him know if we're trying to catch a show and he would make sure that we made it with plenty of time. One evening, we did just that to make Ocean Aria, and he looked exhausted after the pace at which he got our meals to us. But, we made the Aqua Theater in plenty of time.

 

I think that if you do the early seating, you should have no problem making 8 PM shows.

[figgyva]

HA!!!! That was quite the mess indeed. Bones and BBQ sauce everywhere. I wish there was a picture. It would have been a great one to show every boy who ever comes to take her out on a date. :D

 

That would have been a classic picture. It served the restaurant right for making us wait so long for the table to begin with! :rolleyes:

 

Welcome back from your most recent cruise! I would love to do the Baltic one of these days, but DW doesn't believe that a cruise should go outside of the tropics, so she'll take some swaying.

[figgyva]

No surprise there, she does at home!

 

The trouble were having now is trying to decide between one room or two, to get that 2nd bathroom!

 

I tend to think that the second bathroom is a bit of a usually unnecessary luxury. I know that a lot of folks put a lot of merit in it, but we never had a real conflict despite six of us in the room. If there is a good cost difference, I would probably side with having the one room.

[DonnaK]

I tend to think that the second bathroom is a bit of a usually unnecessary luxury. I know that a lot of folks put a lot of merit in it, but we never had a real conflict despite six of us in the room. If there is a good cost difference, I would probably side with having the one room.

 

 

I tend to agree with your seemingly minority opinion regarding the 2nd bathroom. We only have one bathroom in our house (with two teenaged daughters) and manage just fine! On a cruise, if needed, one or two people can always use the shower in the spa/fitness area.

[figgyva]

Continuing on...

 

There is always so much discussion on CC about tipping. If it’s really a big concern, then just prepay and forget. Otherwise, I’m a firm believer that you reward folks for doing well by you. It doesn’t matter how much or how little they make. It doesn’t even really matter what some folks think is reasonable versus other folks. Since I can afford it, I like to reward some folks a bit more for giving special attention. It makes me feel good that good people get a little something out of the ordinary to demonstrate my appreciation for it.

 

Yeah, they charge 15% on drinks. At places where I expect to spend some more time, I’ll throw on an extra buck or two per drink, and at others, I generally won’t. Boleros always gets a bit extra and I like to be treated a little special as a result. Bar staff will splash a little extra, reserve a good table for you if they know that you’re coming, tolerate your kids a bit more.

 

As for the standard gratuities, we always pay the suggested. It’s what they expect and is part of their compensation calculation. I get that. Then, we always select one or two for a bit more. In this case, our stateroom attendant, Evelyn, was a recipient. She made the sofa bed/sofa twice a day, and that’s more than she would have done had we been separated into two rooms. She also spoke with the girls every day, checked with me to make sure that there weren’t any little things, and actually got her supervisor in a timely manner when there were issues. And, she brought us robes without asking (despite being lowly Gold members). All of that warranted a bit more recognition. Another recipient was Maria, our asst. waiter. Little things like having the high chair already set at the table, bringing chocolate milk for DD2 in advance of our arrival to dinner, engaging the girls, are all extras that I appreciate. Mariano, our head waiter, was just as good and attentive at his job, but Maria went beyond the norm.

 

Finally, Adventure Ocean. They are not in the standard gratuity package, but they took great care of the kids. Sure, it’s what they’re hired to do, but homemakers can probably attest to how little they feel rewarded for doing right by their kids. DD1 made little envelopes for the AO staff in her room and in the nursery, and wrote notes to thank them. The nursery staff was incredibly appreciative of receiving a little extra and made sure that I understood how special it makes them feel. That felt good, and I like feeling good as I’m about to depart.

[figgyva]

Cruises are like a drug. You get an immense high, but eventually you crash as you’re leaving the ship. While it’s a bit sad, I have to admit that I was ready for my vacation to be over. It was great and all, but to stay special, it needs to end. We have to return to the real world sometime, and one week is a good amount of time away. To keep going would have probably been exhausting, especially with young children. It was the right length.

 

Somehow, we scored #2 luggage tags. I looked around the hall, and everyone was in the 30s or higher, I didn’t see anyone with numbers so low. I hope that’s a sign that Evelyn really liked us as well, or George was just really, really sorry that we never got an extra chair for the balcony. Either way, I really didn’t appreciate needing to wake the kids up at 7:15 AM to disembark. :) So I didn’t.

 

I’ve seen posting about how you get a later number. Does it matter? Even in the most strict of environments, they’re going to let you get off the ship. As it turns out, Allure wasn’t strict at all. At around 7:30 AM, I walked down to Guest Services to check in to our flight and watched the routine for disembarkation. No one was really checking anything. I seriously doubt that they code your SeaPass account to give your group number so that the security guard can say, “Halt. You’re here early. You’re going to have to wait.” That said, who actually wants to get off?

 

So, I returned to the stateroom, got the girls going once they were awake, and headed with everyone to the Solarium Bistro to have one last breakfast. As a #2 departure, our designated location was the Gangway, so we didn’t have to worry about meeting somewhere. But, I seriously doubt that the meeting place is anything more than just something to organize folks. Forgive us for bucking the trend.

 

The Solarium Bistro was a great place to wait for disembarkation. It’s not a designated meeting place, so it was pretty clear and easy to navigate with a few carry-off bags. I strongly recommend it, especially if you’re with kids and want a bit less stress in the morning. I’m betting that WJ would have been a nightmare.

 

After breakfast, we said our goodbyes to the ship and headed for the Royal Promenade for our final departure. We got down there and headed straight out the door at around 8:30 AM. No line, no problem. It was beautiful. One of the AO staff recognized DD2 and gave her a special goodbye. She liked the attention.

 

I think that the numbers were up into the 20s at this point, so I was a little concerned about finding our bags in Customs. But, everything is incredibly well organized. All of the luggage is grouped by number in designated areas that are easy to find. We get to the #2 area (closest to the Customs officers), and collect our bags, except, one is missing. Um, that wasn’t part of the easy disembarkation plan. Of course, my first thought is that we didn’t leave on time, had no respect for the system, and now someone has run off with one of our bags and is on their way to some place very far away. DW finds someone that points her to the lost baggage desk, and sure enough, the bag was there. Apparently, the luggage tag had fallen off. Disaster averted, we got through Customs and headed on out.

 

Somehow, we were actually able to get a taxi to fit all of us an all of our stuff. They have a lot of seven seater minivans waiting for large parties, so we didn’t have to split up. That was a pleasant surprise. 15 minutes later, we’re at the airport and ready to wait for three hours until our flight. We should’ve stayed on the ship longer.

 

One hint I’ll share about the airport that I haven’t seen anyone else mention. If you’re their early, head to one of the inactive check-in counters and weigh your bags. I had thought about that little tidbit the night before, but didn’t tell DW until we were at the airport. She thought I was so smart. I basked in the glow of it. :rolleyes: We casually sauntered over to a counter, weighed the bags, then started the process of repacking all of them. 20 minutes later, we were ready to go and finish our vacation.

[terrapark7]

I am truly enjoying your review. We'll be sailing on the Oasis in Oct 2011 with our son who will be 2 1/2 yrs old at that time as well as another couple with their two young children.

 

Did you have to request the high chair in advance? I was thinking of bringing our table booster seat for our little man.

[terrapark7]

I use the live chat during the day close to 11 a.m. and always get a response. Try again - hope it works for you.

[terrapark7]

I have tried the live chat "several" times at different times of the day and it always says "unavailable please call ...". Is there a better time to use it than others? TIA

 

 

I usually use the Live Chat mid morning and find they're available. Hope it works out for you.

[DonnaK]

<snip>

 

One hint I’ll share about the airport that I haven’t seen anyone else mention. If you’re their early, head to one of the inactive check-in counters and weigh your bags. I had thought about that little tidbit the night before, but didn’t tell DW until we were at the airport. She thought I was so smart. I basked in the glow of it. :rolleyes: We casually sauntered over to a counter, weighed the bags, then started the process of repacking all of them. 20 minutes later, we were ready to go and finish our vacation.

 

 

 

This hint is one of the best I've ever read on CC!!!!

 

You really are "so smart"!

[figgyva]

I am truly enjoying your review. We'll be sailing on the Oasis in Oct 2011 with our son who will be 2 1/2 yrs old at that time as well as another couple with their two young children.

 

Did you have to request the high chair in advance? I was thinking of bringing our table booster seat for our little man.

 

I didn't even think of requesting one in advance, so that goes to show how much I really went into the planning of everything! So, no, we didn't have to request it in advance. It seemed that they had plenty of them. And since you'll be traveling outside of peak kids times, I'm willing to bet that you'll have no problem at all.

 

Have a great cruise!

[figgyva]

This hint is one of the best I've ever read on CC!!!!

 

You really are "so smart"!

 

Thanks! As DW would say, I'm generally able to find a way to be worth having around. ;)

 

All kidding aside, it really worked out great. We were checking in five bags, and two of them were over weight enough that I think they would have been flagged. Of course, because I don't like to make things easy, the airline counter that I walked everyone to was an international airline and the scale was set for metric. Out came the trusty phone, I called up the trust converter, and we balanced the bags out perfectly.

[figgyva]

Well, I suppose that my reliving of our best family vacation ever had to come to a close at some point. I know, I could have just written it in advance and then posted the whole review in one post, but what fun would that be? I tend to think that part of the fun of reading reviews is the anticipation of what will come next. I hope that you've enjoyed it as much as I've enjoyed reading those past reviews.

 

I'm fairly new to CC (thanks ChalupaMama for the pointer!), so this was easily my most researched cruise. Never before had I been so prepared for a cruise, and to be completely honest, I'm not entirely sure it made the cruise any better (or any worse, for that matter). Here are some random tangents from past cruises:

 

First Cruise - Carnival Sensation (I think) in the late '90s: This was for a friend wedding, and we had an absolute blast (at least, the parts that I can remember were fun!). Carnival is a different kind of cruise line and was perfect for a young couple (and a group of old and new pals) to enjoy. Our itinerary included Grand Cayman, Cozumel, and New Orleans. My favorite memories (other than having my first real vacation without family with my DW) include the catamaran out to Stingray City in Grand Cayman and standing in the middle of the ocean (ship's excursion) and our jeep tour in Cozumel (ship's excursion) where the tour guide looks at us and says, "There are no drinking and driving laws here, but there is one rule: Don't Crash My Jeep!" My other favorite, ahem, memory includes Bourbon Street, a lot (and I mean, a lot) of alcohol, a Hurricane explosion on the ground, a straw in my hand as I bent down to recover said Hurricane, and DW pushing me over while everyone was laughing in a drunken stupor, as we were running back to the ship. We had little to no plan, everything was spontaneous, we had no idea what to expect, and we had a fantastic time.

 

Second Cruise - Enchantment OTS: What a beautiful ship! I still have an affinity for Enchantment, despite the fact that it was something like four years ago and I've been on much larger ships since then. Our itinerary included Key West, Belize, and Cozumel. We went on a nice eco-excursion in Belize, but otherwise just hung out with ChalupaMama and her DH. It was such a relaxing and enjoyable vacation that we were completely hooked on cruising. While Enchantment doesn't have a lot of the whiz bang factor, we could hang out in Boleros all night and just dance the night away or chill on the top deck and watch the ocean go by. It has a rock climbing wall (my first time on it...see my prior comments regarding my rock wall climbing history) and it had (does it still?) that weird trampoline setup on the top deck. Pretty cool, both of them. Royal is definitely more refined than Carnival, and we appreciate the refinements as well as the people we meet on Royal ships who appreciate the same things.

 

Third Cruise - Liberty OTS: This was one of those post-charter 3-night deals last year. We had a great time, but it was way too short for such a large ship. Everyone was trying to get everything in really quickly, so the lines were long and unwieldy. But, it was a nice getaway to just chill and relax. I loved kayaking at Coco Cay and pretending to read on the jogging track deck. It was on this cruise that DW and I decided that it was time to introduce the kids to cruising. Again, we had no plan but to just chill.

 

On this cruise, our pre-planning helped us have a great time with the kids. We knew when to get to the port, where to go on Day 1 (roast beef, mmmm), and what we should do in port. That was great. But, I think that it may have added a bit to our anxiety levels. At one point, I felt like the cruise was completely dominating my life, and I wasn't even on it yet! I can't count the number of times that DW said to me, "When do you have time to do all of this?" My response was usually something along the lines of, "When do you don't?" I feel now that CC is just one of those places where we all share in each others miseries as we plan, remember, and prepare for our cruises; the misery being that we're not actually on a cruise ship...right...now! We always want to have the perfect vacation, and as a father, I want my kids to have a perfect vacation because if they have a perfect vacation, then there's a pretty good chance I will too! But, I'm pretty sure that past history shows that we would've done pretty well even if we didn't know what was going on.

 

To speak to the parents out there, my biggest piece of advice is to "just go with the flow." Kids respond to our anxieties more than to what's going on around them. At one point, I stressed out because the family wanted to go off plan in port, and it showed. It was at that point that I realized that I just needed to hand over charge to DW and let her make a few decisions, and just go with it. You know what? It worked out great for us and the kids.

 

I have never heard less complaining from them than what I heard on the cruise. Kids always have something to complain about, but they were generally too occupied to care on this cruise. At one point, DD1 was unhappy at dinner and complaining about something or other, and I said to her, "this is first vacation that you've ever had where we didn't go to see family, and you're really going to complain about something so minor as that?" She thought about it, and said, "Nope. I'm done." Wow, what a breakthrough. No wonder I want to get back onto that ship!

 

Now, what to do next? Living in the DC metro area, Enchantment is kind of calling us back. I would love to cruise on her again, if just to make a circular comparison. DW is concerned about weather and seas...but I see so many folks here on CC who have been thrilled with Enchantment cruises. I hope that we can do it without the kids, just so we can miss them a bit again. I would love to do a Radiance-class ship, and was thinking Radiance in Alaska since I have family on the West coast who want to do Alaska. This would be with kids, but I'm just not sure if the younger kids will dig Alaska as much as I would (any thoughts out there?). It seems to be more of a touring sort of adventure, and the last place I want to be stuck in with a bunch of kids is on a tour bus looking for a bear. Also, DW doesn't believe we belong on a cruise ship that isn't in the tropics. Finally, ChalupaMama wants us to go on a long (maybe 14-day) South American cruise. Could we really stay away from our kids that long? Maybe that would be missing them too much.

 

But, I can say this. I'm done with CC for a while. Sure, I'll probably go through some withdrawal and will slink back late at night to get a fix here and there, but I think that I will probably be able to separate once school starts again and I actually get busy. You have all been great, but I'm done sharing in my misery of wanting to be back out there. If I don't live my life for a while, then how will I really ever appreciate the unique vacation that a cruise provides again?

 

Thanks for coming along for the ride. I hope that all of those new families who will be cruising for the first time will gain some good perspective from this review to help them tackle this great adventure. I used to think that a family vacation is more work than play. But, after this trip, I can honestly say that I was wrong. A family vacation is work if you make it work. When you start acting like one of your kids, that's when it's not work anymore. Just as they look to you to know how to react, if you take a chance to look at them to see how they react, then you'll realize that you shouldn't have a care in the world.

 

"You're on this great, once-in-a-lifetime vacation. Are you really going to complain about that?" Indeed.

[adrienneadkins]

it make me want to trip again.

[CruisingGalPunch]

"you're on this great, once-in-a-lifetime vacation. Are you really going to complain about that?" indeed.

 

bravo, bravo!!

[VernaF7449]

I was on the same cruise as you and it was great to relive it through your posts. I was also glad I had a cabin to myself. Loved your perspective.

[masonpips]

bravo, bravo!!

 

Ditto!

 

And I've been waiting on Alaska until our kids are old enough for the "cool" excursions (dog sledding, kayaking) and I think we're getting closer. DD turns 13 in Feb and might eventually hit 75 pounds which opens up more options. Just something to think about for there

[travelpeon]

One hint I’ll share about the airport that I haven’t seen anyone else mention. If you’re their early, head to one of the inactive check-in counters and weigh your bags. I had thought about that little tidbit the night before, but didn’t tell DW until we were at the airport. She thought I was so smart. I basked in the glow of it. :rolleyes: We casually sauntered over to a counter, weighed the bags, then started the process of repacking all of them. 20 minutes later, we were ready to go and finish our vacation.

 

Figgyva, are you the one on flyertalk who posted the tip to practice slotting your carry-on in the AA metal carry-on sizer box ;) ? BTW, that's a tip I don't usually see but since I'm petite and my main carry-on just fits the sizer so it looks big in comparison. The security queue guardian actually made me prove it. There was a tense moment where she thought she'd won while I tapped on the back of the bag to pop it right in. A few minutes practice at an empty ticketing station made it look easy.

[travelpeon]

Thanks for a really entertaining trip report. Not travelling with kids but I'm still in pre-cruise prep (or live vicariously so my cruise doesn't feel so far away) mode.

 

Your kids sound like fun people to be around and polite. Kudos to you, your wife, and your support network!