Indescribable! (But I'll try): My Allure Photo Review

[BonTexasNY]

Chrystal, although we never met in person, I never saw you look more beautiful than in these pictures. Oh and Wes looks good too! Ha! You both look so well rested and content. As others will tell you, this look won't last after the baby is born. What you will have then will be sleepless nights, spit up all over your clothes and not enough time in the day to relax. BUT magnify the happiness you will feel when your son is born and then smiles at you for the first time. That's just a fraction of the joy you will have as new parents.

Edited October 28, 2012 by BonTexasNY

[ellie1145]

Hello, Chrystal, from the UK.

 

Thank you for your wonderful report and all the great photos. Congratulations on the new baby, too.

 

I have a question about Labadee, if you could help, please?

 

The little beach with the new cabanas, is this only for cabana guests? Is it now shut of to other passengers? I do hope not as this is one of the main reasons I wanted my son and daughter to come with us on Allure. They will be so disappointed if they aren't able to swim here.

 

Thanks!

[Host Faith]

Love your dress and it looks great on you!

The pic of you and Wes is a treasure!

 

Laura

 

Thank you, Laura! :)

 

Very nice dress. Can't wait for more.

 

Thanks! :)

[Host Faith]

Chrystal, Your dress is gorgeous and the formal photos are really great!!! You 2 look great !!! Your going to make a wonderful mommy!!!!

 

Patty

 

Aww, thank you Patty! We're looking forward to being parents :)

 

 

Such a fabulous review! Thanks so much for sharing it with your fans :D Happy to hear about your Baby boy and sad about your Grandmother.

 

You have given such great detailed info on Labadee. We have booked a cabanna (I was calling it a hut until I saw the price) and am looking forward to it!

 

Thanks again for sharing your time with us!

 

Thank you so much, it's my pleasure to share as much as I can. Enjoy your cabana, you're in for a treat!

[Host Faith]

To be honest, ignoring the itinerary changes from Hurricane Sandy, the rest of the cruise was pretty disappointing. Service was not as good, food was not as good. The ship was nice, very comparable to the Destiny & Victory which we enjoyed as far as the layout goes. We think the lack of effort was due to the ship going into dry dock next week but it was pretty bad. It just felt like they were doing us a favor by having us there. Very different atmosphere from our first two cruises. We have been wanting to try the Allure or Oasis so it was a nice push in that direction.

 

Yeah I had a nice time on the Glory, but Royal is really the cruise line we prefer. I liked the Fish and Chips station in the buffet though. And the steakhouse was great.

 

Gorgeous photos. I love the colour of your dress! Great choice!

Awww I love the one of you and Wes together. He looks a very proud Daddy-to-be too! Cute shoes - A girl can never have too much sparkle!!

 

Thank you! He can't wait to meet his son. He has that grin whenever I mention the baby, it's so sweet. And I agree with you- we can never have too many shoes or too much sparkle :-D

[Host Faith]

Chrystal, although we never met in person, I never saw you look more beautiful than in these pictures. Oh and Wes looks good too! Ha! You both look so well rested and content. As others will tell you, this look won't last after the baby is born. What you will have then will be sleepless nights, spit up all over your clothes and not enough time in the day to relax. BUT magnify the happiness you will feel when your son is born and then smiles at you for the first time. That's just a fraction of the joy you will have as new parents.

 

Aww thank you so much, Bonnie! The cruise was the perfect chance for us to rest and connect before our little guy arrives. I'm so glad we went on the cruise. Trying to gather my strength for his arrival since I'm sure we'll be exhausted in the months (and perhaps years! :-D) following. But I know it will be worth it. :)

[Host Faith]

Hello, Chrystal, from the UK.

 

Thank you for your wonderful report and all the great photos. Congratulations on the new baby, too.

 

I have a question about Labadee, if you could help, please?

 

The little beach with the new cabanas, is this only for cabana guests? Is it now shut of to other passengers? I do hope not as this is one of the main reasons I wanted my son and daughter to come with us on Allure. They will be so disappointed if they aren't able to swim here.

 

Thanks!

 

Thank you! Our cabana was on Barefoot Beach, which is accessible to suite guests and anyone who has a cabana. You can rent cabanas on Barefoot, or on Nellie's beach, which is open to everyone. So if you have a cabana on Nellie's, you can walk over to Barefoot whenever you please :)

 

If you want them to have access to Barefoot with you, you would need to either rent a cabana, or they can book a suite.

[Darkingnj]

We walked around a little while longer. Here are some more shots of the area:

 

 

 

 

 

I found my Walkerswood Jerk Seasoning in the duty free store. Yay! I've cooked with it already and it really packs the heat! Not quite the same as jerk chicken in Jamaica because of the way it's cooked, but it's still good.

 

 

Congratulations on the pregnancy and condolences on the the loss of your grandmother. As always I'm enjoying your trip report. I use Walkerswood Jerk Seasoning, discovered it at a local Caribbean restaurant in Burlington. Out of curiosity, how much did you pay for the jar in Jamaica? I pay $3.50, locally, but have seen it as high as $8.50 in Myrtle Beach and Virginia Beach.

[Host Faith]

Congratulations on the pregnancy and condolences on the the loss of your grandmother. As always I'm enjoying your trip report. I use Walkerswood Jerk Seasoning, discovered it at a local Caribbean restaurant in Burlington. Out of curiosity, how much did you pay for the jar in Jamaica? I pay $3.50, locally, but have seen it as high as $8.50 in Myrtle Beach and Virginia Beach.

 

Thank you! I paid $6 per jar. Where in Burlington do you get the seasoning? We live very close to there.

[iheartshoes]

Question - did you see if the Margaritaville was close to opening in Flamouth? Love the review!

[e01061]

And this, my friends, is the #1 reason why DH and I love having a balcony when we cruise:

 

 

 

 

It's become a tradition- we almost always have room service breakfast on our balcony each morning when cruising, unless it's way too hot out there. In that case, we have breakfast in bed, lol. Leading up to the cruise, we'll remind each other about our breakfast tradition. We really look forward to it. Besides the fruit that I brought down from the Solarium (mango and pineapple), the table is filled with the types of food you can expect from room service at breakfast. The other fruit plate is on the room service menu too:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I see they still have the grilled tomatoes on the new menu, too! It wouldn't be the Allure without the grilled tomatoes! Loving your review! Wish we were there with you!

[Darkingnj]

Thank you! I paid $6 per jar. Where in Burlington do you get the seasoning? We live very close to there.

 

Ok, I remember you posted something not too long ago about relocating to the Princeton area. The restaurant is called Sam Lords Caribbean Bakery & Cuisine located On Route 541 (exit 47A 295) across from the Burlington Center Mall, in a strip mall with a Dunkin Donuts and a Dollar Tree.

[JetSet2B]

What a great report! You are absolutely stunning! Love the formal night pics.

[Prairie_Gal]

Chrystal, I am absolutely loving your trip report! I hope to go on either the Oasis or Allure someday. Maybe in 2014. The photo of you and Wes is absolutely gorgeous!

[Host Faith]

Question - did you see if the Margaritaville was close to opening in Flamouth? Love the review!

 

Honestly, I don't recall seeing anything under construction. Then again I wasn't looking, so it's possible they're building right now. Can anyone chime in on Margaritaville?

[Host Faith]

I see they still have the grilled tomatoes on the new menu, too! It wouldn't be the Allure without the grilled tomatoes! Loving your review! Wish we were there with you!

 

Haha! Yup, they're available for breakfast. Actually, we never asked for them but they were served with room service each day.

[Host Faith]

Ok, I remember you posted something not too long ago about relocating to the Princeton area. The restaurant is called Sam Lords Caribbean Bakery & Cuisine located On Route 541 (exit 47A 295) across from the Burlington Center Mall, in a strip mall with a Dunkin Donuts and a Dollar Tree.

 

Perfect, I know right where that is. We did live in the Princeton area for a few yrs, but we both grew up in S. Jersey and decided to come back before our baby arrives. We want him to be very close to his grandparents and aunt (Wes' sister).

[Host Faith]

What a great report! You are absolutely stunning! Love the formal night pics.

 

Thank you so much! *blushing* :)

[Host Faith]

Chrystal, I am absolutely loving your trip report! I hope to go on either the Oasis or Allure someday. Maybe in 2014. The photo of you and Wes is absolutely gorgeous!

 

Thanks, Judy! When you sail one of those ships, please be sure to come back and let us know what you think! :)

[shonandsuzie]

Honestly, I don't recall seeing anything under construction. Then again I wasn't looking, so it's possible they're building right now. Can anyone chime in on Margaritaville?

When we were there a few weeks ago, they had signs outside of a brick building at the end of one of the shopping strips. It looked Open so we went in but it wasn't "open-open". They had pictures on the walls but no tables, etc. It looked too small to be a Margaritaville to us though. You could take pictures on the Margaritaville props there.

 

[beachbuddy]

Perfect, I know right where that is. We did live in the Princeton area for a few yrs, but we both grew up in S. Jersey and decided to come back before our baby arrives. We want him to be very close to his grandparents and aunt (Wes' sister).

 

Oh, your not that far from us.....we're in Bordentown.

[eclecticpanthers]

When we were there a few weeks ago, they had signs outside of a brick building at the end of one of the shopping strips. It looked Open so we went in but it wasn't "open-open". They had pictures on the walls but no tables, etc. It looked too small to be a Margaritaville to us though. You could take pictures on the Margaritaville props there.

 

 

[/size ]From the other reviews, it will not open until Jan or Feb 2013

[Cygneagile]

We are booked on the Allure on January 13.

Can you tell me if the Market Place in Falmouth Jamaica is close to the port or do we have to get a taxi into town?

The food photos are marvelous. Mmmm good enough to eat. This is going to be such a cruise we are so excited about it. Just wish we could get a decent air fare from Toronto to Fort Lauderdale without paying an arm and a leg and a piece of toast. LOL.

[Just The 3 Of Us]

And now, for a very girly moment....I LOVED my formal night dress. LOVED it. I didn't think I would be able to find something that didn't look like a potato sack, lol. Most formal maternity dresses I saw looked like they wanted you to hide the fact that you're pregnant. I like form-fitting cocktail dresses, and wanted to celebrate being a mommy-to-be. And I found the perfect dress. It was emerald-green with a large brooch on the side. And I wore some (albeit comfortable) sparkly silver heels.

 

 

 

Loved it so much that we actually went around to a couple of the photo backdrops to take formal night pictures. We didn't really have to wait in line since we went after dinner. Each of the photographers was excited to help me figure out some poses to show off my tummy, and they asked me how I was feeling and how far along I was. I was so happy with how the photos turned out:

 

 

 

 

This one is my absolute favorite:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OMG - YOU LOOK ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!! Just beautiful!!!

Barb

[LTyler]

Beautiful pics of u congratulations!!