Allure Sept 30, 2012 - The Most Disorganized Review Ever

[swwake]

We woke up Wednesday, October 3 approaching St. Thomas. For some reason when I'm on a cruise, I wake up with the sun.

 

Our calendar plans for the day:

8am-11am - flowrider

Mid-day - ashore in St. Thomas, get a Bushwacker

3pm-6pm - flowrider

8:30pm - 10:30pm - Rita's Fiesta

10:30pm - Headliner show

We went to the flowrider right at 9am for the Advanced session (1 hour). I thought it was really cool to be surfing the flowrider in St. Thomas, with the mountains (hills?) in the background.

Here's our friend Dave dropping in from the top, mountains and a few Crown Loft Suites behind him.

The (non) line with St. Thomas water and islands behind them. 9:05am on a port day. A great time to surf!

Anchored vessels from the flowrider.

10:45am, Chris dropping in from the top for one of his first attempts. By the end of the cruise, he did this almost every time.

The flowrider closed at 11, and I think we went to change to dry clothes and grabbed a bite to eat somehwere on the ship, before heading out to St. Thomas.

We walked through the Crown Bay shopping plaza, and unfortunately we saw Janet from our roll call being taken back to the ship. We later found out that she had suffered a tumble and had a few stitches. She had a few bumps, bangs and bruises, but her husband Al says she is healing well and the stitches are now out. She's apparently ready for Allure again, as they just booked a(nother) Back-to-Back for next Sept/Oct. (I'm a little jealous!)

We grabbed a group taxi for $4 per person (I'm sure we gave the driver a $10). We were dropped off near the outdoor market in Charlotte Amelie, and were immediately approached by a nice man peddling tours. We told him we had done an island tour before and weren't interested this time. We did ask him about Blackbeard's and Bluebeard's castles, since we hadn't seen them in 2010 when we were there. He pointed both of them out and told us they are basically ruins and not really worth the trek to see. We appreciated the advice and offered him a couple of dollars, which he refused to accept. He said we were very nice to him, and that's more than most tourists do. He appreciated us stopping to talk to him instead of shoo-ing him away.

Since we had U.S. cell phone service, I turned on my data plan and checked email real quick on my phone, then I called my partner and checked in at work. I also returned a call to my cousin Kellye from Boca, to make plans for debarkation day back in Ft. Lauderdale. While I was doing this, Chris was watch shopping at Little Switzerland by Emancipation Park. A couple of pieces caught his eye, and I shopped a little (I like shiny blue and teal-colored jewelry - it's on my wish list), but neither of us bought anything.

We walked down Main Street with a mission. Both of us wanted new boardshorts (for the flowrider) and Chris wanted another rash guard. We found a Billabong store. Ok, interesting fact here. When I was looking over my credit card statement after we got home, it showed up that we had spent $200+ at "Carribong". I thought long and hard and wondered if Chris had wandered off into a back alley to buy from the Bongman. I finally figured out it is the Caribbean Billabong retailer. Too funny.

We picked up a few items, checked out the Nixon watches in the back, and walked leisurely down the street and up an alley, toward the water.

We had asked the clerk at Carribong (I'm going to call it that now, because it's funny) where we could get a frosty beverage, and I wanted a Bushwacker, the official drink of St. Thomas (I guess?). She suggested Big Kahuna's on the water.

After being haggled by a few people handing out cards for jewelry discounts all over town, we found Big Kahuna's. Tangie was working behind the bar, and she was super friendly. It was a small, open air place with a bar and some high tables, and several pre-mixed frozen beverage machines (much like Fat Tuesday's in New Orleans). I had a Bushwacker and Chris had something else frozen, sweet, and full of alcohol. We each took a couple of sips of our drinks, and then each other's, and quickly realized that they were way too sweet for us. I think we ordered Coronas and left the frosty drinks sitting. We also ordered an appetizer of "Shark Bites", which were breaded tilapia with a sauce I don't remember (why even mention it, right?). They were decent and good for the purpose at the time.

I noticed that Tangie was wearing several bangle bracelets and immediately recognized them as different forms of a bracelet my hair stylist had told me to buy in St. Thomas. I asked her about them, and she told me they are pirate's hook bracelets.

Legend has it that, in the days of pirates, they could not wear rings, for they would get caught in the nets. So they commissioned their wives to make them "hook" bracelets. If you wear a hook bacelet with the horseshoe points toward your heart, your heart is protected, and you are taken. If you wear it with horseshoe points away from your heart, your heart is open, and you are available.

Tangie said we could get them "anywhere", but the closest place was right next door. When we left Big Kahuna's, we went next door and talked to the owner, who said "don't worry about price, I'll give you the best deal!" (yeah, right) He sized me and polished the bracelet for me. Mine is sterling with gold plate. I figured Katie might want one, so I bought her one a size smaller. The two together were just about $100. I was happy with the purchase. I like to have souvenirs that have a meaning and (supposedly) can't be purchased just anywhere.

When we got back to FLL on debarkation day, I texted this photo of my bracelet to Katie, not saying a word. She texted back that it was really pretty and cool. I told her the meaning and she said "can you only get them in St. Thomas?" I said "yes" (darn!). She came to Austin last weekend, and I gave her her bracelet and she loved it!

After a leisurely couple of hours in St. Thomas, we easily caught another shared cab and went back to the ship. Hmm...what would we do for the rest of the afternoon? I have no idea...

Edited October 20, 2012 by swwake

[swwake]

Susan, you make the words so entertaining the pictures are an appreciated bonus. Thanks so much for doing this review. Very much enjoying it. :D

Thank you! I really appreciate the compliment. And I'm glad you're enjoying.

 

Love the puppies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)

We're empty-nesters now, and they are our babies :)

[swwake]

Enjoying your review.

 

Harold is MIA.

 

Jan is healing excellently. Just had all her stitches removed Wednesday. Hands and nose totally healed. Still some redness on the upper lip and knee has a couple more weeks before it will be back to normal.

 

Susan you would love a B2B on either the Oasis or the Allure. Besides the shows on Oasis the only difference would be the Samba Grille and the Dog House which I don't believe interest you.

 

How does two weeks of Flowriding sound? The only good tip I can give is to book early to make sure you can select a category room and location you want for both weeks.

 

Since you posted this I have booked another B2B on the Allure. Guess what it wasn't early enough for me to get the same cabin both weeks. I would have to pay for an upgrade to get the same cabin and it wouldn't be on the deck I prefer.

I think we located Harold. He was back in the sun. I am so glad Jan is doing well. I included that update in my most recent post :)

 

Sold! I think the B2B will be our 2013 vacation. More on that at the end of my review. It's not booked yet, but as obsessive as I am, it may be booked by the time I finish this review.

 

As I have said, I'm jealous! Do you prefer Deck 8? I think that's our preference after this last cruise. I just love being so close to Central Park.

 

Ok... This review itself was already great, with tons of good info and very entertaining and witty commentary. But adding not only an adorable dog picture, but Goldens at that, makes it officially the BEST REVIEW EVER as far as I'm concerned :D

Thanks so much. Are you owned by a Golden? I have been owned by at least one golden every single day of my 45+ year life! I do work with our local golden rescue group. We got Harry through them in 2007 at 1 year. Sandy will be 2 this December and we got her through the breeder who bred my show dog when I was 11. We buy "pet quality" dogs from her.

[JackieJ]

We were seated at at two-top, but close to another couple. We tried to be polite and leave them alone during dinner, but toward the end, somehow we started chatting. Very nice couple, and we had a good time talking to them near the end of their dinner. We would see them again later on the cruise.

 

 

 

Hi Susan,

 

That was us! Funny, we wanted to say hello when you sat down next to us, but whispered to each other that we should let you enjoy your dinner.

 

We did check you both out on the flow rider, pretty impressive!

 

Sounds like you enjoyed this cruise as much as we did!

 

Jackie

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review!

[swwake]

Hi Susan,

 

That was us! Funny, we wanted to say hello when you sat down next to us, but whispered to each other that we should let you enjoy your dinner.

 

We did check you both out on the flow rider, pretty impressive!

 

Sounds like you enjoyed this cruise as much as we did!

 

Jackie

Jackie and Bill! I apologize for not mentioning your names. So funny how things happen. Had we known, that dinner at 150CP may have been dinner for 4. Maybe next time! I also forgot to mention that we saw y'all at the M&M and a few other times onboard our paths crossed. Are you addicted yet? Have you booked your next cruise?

 

Thanks for the review!

You are welcome! I am enjoying writing. Edited October 20, 2012 by swwake

[out2sea]

Glad to hear Jan/neighbor is doing well!

St Thomas is my favorite port. We were hoping to go to Sapphire Beach but now that its a ship tour, way too crowded. We cabbed it to downtown for some shopping and possibly to check out the new Magic Ice Bar. We went inside and planned to go back since they had gear to cover my feet and legs but we ended up at the old cruise port (Fat Turtle) and took a cab back to ship and forgot. It was hot after walking all that way to get to the other port.

I wanted a hook bracelet but the stores I went in were about $800 guess I didn't find your lucky store : ( we were in and out of watch stores too but hubby couldn't decide if he wanted to spend the money or not.... Always SXM!

Lol forgot about the Bushwhackers too but tried 2 "local " beers which were supposively made for STT and STJ but right on the bottle they are Shipyard and made in Maine :)! Oh well they had Caribbean names. Today we had a very late lunch of nachos and I think hubby grabbed pretzel dog. FFs and of course wouldn't be complete without ice cream cones.

Someday would love to do a B2B but also want to get over to Australia (if I can survive that flight)! Lol

Keep the review coming - reliving it. Friends are sailing this weekend

[Eng23]

There you are!!!

 

Hey, question for you. Have you taken advantage of the discounts for firefighters? We have a firefighter friend, and I just noticed this week that discount.

 

Oh that's exciting. I sure hope we can pull off a B2B! Seeing every small wonder is a fun goal! I may have to try that.

 

You are quite welcome. Sorry the next update has no photos :(

Hi Susan. Yes I have seen the firefighter discount but it is not always offered. I have only been able to get it on one cruise. :)

[pikester]

swwake~~I love reading your review. The hubbs and I have been of FOS twice and and will be shopping for our next cruise in 2014. Looking at IOS or the Allure not sure yet. Love seeing pictures of the Disney Dream again. Our oldest daughter and I went on her this past June. No husbands or kids, just us. It was awesome. Can't wait to read more about your trip.

[swwake]

Glad to hear Jan/neighbor is doing well!

St Thomas is my favorite port. We were hoping to go to Sapphire Beach but now that its a ship tour, way too crowded. We cabbed it to downtown for some shopping and possibly to check out the new Magic Ice Bar. We went inside and planned to go back since they had gear to cover my feet and legs but we ended up at the old cruise port (Fat Turtle) and took a cab back to ship and forgot. It was hot after walking all that way to get to the other port.

I wanted a hook bracelet but the stores I went in were about $800 guess I didn't find your lucky store : ( we were in and out of watch stores too but hubby couldn't decide if he wanted to spend the money or not.... Always SXM!

Lol forgot about the Bushwhackers too but tried 2 "local " beers which were supposively made for STT and STJ but right on the bottle they are Shipyard and made in Maine :)! Oh well they had Caribbean names. Today we had a very late lunch of nachos and I think hubby grabbed pretzel dog. FFs and of course wouldn't be complete without ice cream cones.

Someday would love to do a B2B but also want to get over to Australia (if I can survive that flight)! Lol

Keep the review coming - reliving it. Friends are sailing this weekend

Wow $800? Did it have diamonds? That's crazy. Thanks for adding your experience. I may have to try one (or both) of those "local" beers next time. Thanks for reading along!

 

Hi Susan. Yes I have seen the firefighter discount but it is not always offered. I have only been able to get it on one cruise. :)

Hmm...I was wondering that. I did a mock booking on Allure with the FF discount selected, and it didn't price differently from a regular booking.

[swwake]

swwake~~I love reading your review. The hubbs and I have been of FOS twice and and will be shopping for our next cruise in 2014. Looking at IOS or the Allure not sure yet. Love seeing pictures of the Disney Dream again. Our oldest daughter and I went on her this past June. No husbands or kids, just us. It was awesome. Can't wait to read more about your trip.

Thank you. We love Freedom class. I'm sure you'd love Allure, but Freedom class is more "intimate" (if you can call it that). Thanks for reading along!

[jackogolf]

Hi Susan just finding this! Your review is great! keep it up.... I was with you guys at Chefs Table (The not 245yr. Old Andrew Jackson):) We had a good night!.......You would love doing a B2B. We have done it twice now on Allure and I'm not sure if I can go back to "just one week"

You will be a flow rider expert after that!

My wife also had a fall in Saint Marteen riding on a Segway. Only had a scraped knee at the time but on disembarkation day shoulder started to pain still not 100 percent, but will do it again.....We had a ball on the Allure!

 

 

Andrew

[swwake]

Hi Susan just finding this! Your review is great! keep it up.... I was with you guys at Chefs Table (The not 245yr. Old Andrew Jackson):) We had a good night!.......You would love doing a B2B. We have done it twice now on Allure and I'm not sure if I can go back to "just one week"

You will be a flow rider expert after that!

My wife also had a fall in Saint Marteen riding on a Segway. Only had a scraped knee at the time but on disembarkation day shoulder started to pain still not 100 percent, but will do it again.....We had a ball on the Allure!

 

 

Andrew

Andrew Jackson! I am honored that you posted and are reading along. I wish we had had more time to spend with you or had bumped into y'all later in the cruise among the 5998 other passengers. I do believe you are correct about the "just one week". We are addicted and I am already scheming (I mean planning) our next cruise. I sure hope Ms. Jackson feels better soon. Sorry to hear that she had a fall :(

[swwake]

Readers, do you know how hard it is for me to resist booking our next cruise? I have discussed with my husband and have gotten buy-in from him, but we're just not 100% yet on dates. We have the time and money budget, but he thinks I'm a little obsessive-compulsive (ya think?). I have researched pricing and using Amex points, getting our daughter from Colorado to FLL for the 2nd leg of a back-to-back, everything! Must. Resist.

[joand452]

We bought hook bracelets our first trip to STT, too. No where near $800, though! We bought four at Cardow at Havensight -- one for each of our three daughters (like yours) and one for me (a little different--more gold). It was around $200 for the four! The next year I won some $$ at bingo so bought one on Mariner (yet a different design). I had read there were really fancy ones in Aruba, but I never saw any.

 

I still wear my two every day and only take them off if I'm going through security somewhere.

 

Enjoying cruising along with you, Susan!

[mslaabs]

We too have had the coast guard escort... I think there was 4 or 5 on the 1st Oasis cruise... Still dont know why i take a pic of them on each cruise lol

 

Sent from my Speak & Spell using Tapatalk

 

You are not alone. I could make an entire album out of the Coast Guard escort photos and those of pilot boats (which all look the same as they speed towards the ship).

 

SWWAKE - I'm enjoying the review and photos. Thanks for taking the time to do this.

[sailing75]

I found it on my work computer. This was my final version, used to book our dinners. The gray items are options. Blue means Flowrider is open. Yes, we did book our dinners around Flowrider operating times.

 

 

I am making a similar sheet. I was wondering how you knew the flow rider hours for your sailing ahead of time? We are headed to the Oasis in December and I cannot seem to find it but my son will want to be there when it is open. It is probably obvious, those are the ones I always miss. :rolleyes:

 

Great review!

[swwake]

Back at the ship, I snapped this photo. Allure is so huge that it is hard to get her all into one frame. You can tell the scale by how small Chris (in his new hat from Carribong <<hehe>>) looks.

On Landscape, I could better fit her in the frame. Look at that weather! Awesome!

We asked why the flags were flown at half-mast and the cab driver didn't know. I get the feeling that it might have been for an American reason, but the island folk don't really pay much attention to all of that.

Back onboard, here are a couple of shots from our starboard balcony. We were Room 8624, Deck 8.

I don't think it was quite 3pm yet, and time for the flowrider to open, so we probably checked email for a bit before heading up there.

I remember at about 4:30 I started getting hungry, so I grabbed a hot dog from the Wipe Out Cafe, which is the closest place to the sports deck to get food. I wrote about this on my RC comment card at the end of the cruise; it was one of the very few issues I had, and it is more of a recommendation than a complaint. The set-up of Wipe Out Cafe is like a buffet. Guests enter the door, then turn to the right to get to the start of the buffet, which runs from right to left. There are trays, silverware and plates at the end. The first "station" is tacos and nachos. Naturally, it takes self-servers a little time to carefully stack and stock their nachos and tacos. After that station, there are pizza, fries, burgers and dogs. Think about it. It takes a self-server (I made up a new word!) just a short amount of time to pick up a slice of pizza (or 9, as some people tend to do on cruises), or a bun and hot dog or burger. So the line gets backed up at the very beginning with a bunch of hot dog self-servers :D like myself waiting oh-so-patiently for people to pile junk on their tacos and nachos. The venue is very small, so sometimes the line goes out of the door. I think they could fix this issue by flipping the stations.

I ended up at Wipe Out Cafe 4-5 times during the cruise, and I eventually figured out that I could grab a plate and step out of line, around the taco station, and to my beloved hot dog. I hope I didn't make people mad with that behavior, but I'm sure some would complain.

Incidentally, Wipe Out Cafe is one of three free soft-serve ice cream stations. The other two are out by the sports pool and H20 zone. I don't eat ice cream, but this might be helpful to some.

 

The flowrider was open until 6, but I had to leave early. I had something far more important to do. So I left Chris surfing and headed back to the room and took a quick shower, then down to the Vitality Spa!

 

I had booked a combination treatment with a seaweed wrap followed by a 60-minute Swedish massage. I got 15% off with my Crown and Anchor coupon booklet, but it was the same 15% off anyone could get on a port day. The treatment took 2 hours and was fabulous! There was a soft sell for a seaweed body mask package at the end of the treatment, but she just recommended it and told me the price, never asked me to say "yes" or "no". That was nice. For me, the price was about the same as a moderate (not low-end and not high-end) spa on land, and the treatment was a real treat! Worth it after hours and hours of surfing and walking.

 

When I walked out, Chris was in the Vitality Cafe, having just been to the gym. We went back to the room to shower and get ready for dinner. We had, or at least we thought we had, a reservation at Rita's Cantina for the Mexican Madness Fiesta from 8:30 to 10:30.

 

(why do the photos suddenly seem so huge??)

[swwake]

We bought hook bracelets our first trip to STT, too. No where near $800, though! We bought four at Cardow at Havensight -- one for each of our three daughters (like yours) and one for me (a little different--more gold). It was around $200 for the four! The next year I won some $$ at bingo so bought one on Mariner (yet a different design). I had read there were really fancy ones in Aruba, but I never saw any.

 

I still wear my two every day and only take them off if I'm going through security somewhere.

 

Enjoying cruising along with you, Susan!

I love the bracelets and I've been wearing mine most every day. Thanks for the compliment and for reading along!

 

You are not alone. I could make an entire album out of the Coast Guard escort photos and those of pilot boats (which all look the same as they speed towards the ship).

 

SWWAKE - I'm enjoying the review and photos. Thanks for taking the time to do this.

Thank you!!

[swwake]

I am making a similar sheet. I was wondering how you knew the flow rider hours for your sailing ahead of time? We are headed to the Oasis in December and I cannot seem to find it but my son will want to be there when it is open. It is probably obvious, those are the ones I always miss. :rolleyes:

 

Great review!

Hi there. The hours I posted on my spreadsheet for the flowrider were my best guess, based on Cruise Compasses I found here from about 3 weeks before my cruise. If your itinerary is Eastern, they will probably be very close to the hours I posted. If Western, assume the following:

Sea Day 9-10 Advanced stand-up, 10-6 open surfing

Port Day 8-9 Advanced stand-up, 9-11 and 3-6 open surfing.

 

Since Nassau is a short port day, they open the flowrider at noon.

 

I am not sure the hours for the boogie board side, but let me know if you want me to look it up in my Compasses.

[gambee]

 

(why do the photos suddenly seem so huge??)

[/font][/size]

 

When you upload them to which ever photo hosting site you're using try to tell the site to stay under 1024x800 that will make them nice for most screens. those pictures are at 1600x1200 a little too large for the average screen, like mine lol.

Edited October 21, 2012 by gambee

[swwake]

When you upload them to which ever photo hosting site you're using try to tell the site to stay under 1024x800 that will make them nice for most screens.

I've been copying and pasting from my blog, so I'm not sure why the size changed. I'll see if that post is still edit-able and try to fix. Thanks!

 

ETA: too late to edit :( I'll be more careful next time.

Edited October 21, 2012 by swwake

[d4nigirl]

This is great! We're looking to book Allure for our honeymoon!

[gambee]

I've been copying and pasting from my blog, so I'm not sure why the size changed. I'll see if that post is still edit-able and try to fix. Thanks!

 

ETA: too late to edit :( I'll be more careful next time.

 

lol, that was my thought. In any case it was the perfect picture to come up in that size, it really shows off the ship

[swwake]

This is great! We're looking to book Allure for our honeymoon!

Thank you! You will love this ship!

 

lol, that was my thought. In any case it was the perfect picture to come up in that size, it really shows off the ship

Thanks anyway for the help. I sure wish I was sailing Allure in 14 days! Hopefully I'll finish my review before you board. I was just looking through my St. Martin pics and I have a ton. That day will take me several posts!