Simply the Best! Allure of the Seas E. Caribbean March 3rd-10th with pics!!

[stahlee]

That is too cool! Small world huh? We were in and out of the room so much during our cruise. Very awesome to know we were deck mates. It would have been lovely to meet you. :-)

 

Sorry our paths didn't cross, but I'm glad you enjoyed your first cruise!

[cruisin_cutie216]

Hey Friends! Thought that this would be a good post for some tips and tricks for St. Thomas and Maarten port days. Hopefully this helps you all in your cruise ventures to these ports of call on your next sailing.

 

St. Thomas

 

*Once the ship is docked, if you plan on visiting other islands [st. John], its best to locate the taxis early on in the port visit. If visiting St. John, it can be more than over a half an hour to forty five minutes of travel time to and from the island. Some of them require a land taxi then a water taxi transfer to the island itself. Plan accordingly for when you disembark the ship and for when you must be back for re-embarkation.

 

* I say this in every tip section but HAVE A WATCH SET FOR THE SHIP'S TIME! It will prevent you from missing the ship or having to pier run. That's not always convenient nor is it fun to have to make travel arrangements while not on the ship. Not to mention, it can be rather costly. Most times there are RCI agents near the dock that can give you an up to date time reading. Don't be afraid to ask.

 

*There were TONS upon TONS of jewelry stores in St. Thomas. Onboard the ship, about a day before the St. Thomas port, they will have a port shopping seminar that offers coupons and deals on the shore. Also, its a great way to learn how to decifer good jewelry quality from being stiffed. Very helpful and a must see if you plan on doing any shopping for jewelry in port.

 

*Returning to the ship can be the best thing ever! This is the best time to explore a practically empty ship, visit the pools, or grab a bite to eat. We did find that lots of the food venues had inconsistent hours as of to when they were shut down or open during port days and this tended to be the most frustrating when we wanted a quick bite but still wanted plenty of options. Take advantage of the empty ship and it can almost feel kinda cool being the "only ones" on the ship.

 

*Shopping in St. Thomas is about a 20 minute taxi ride into town so be prepared and plan accordingly. Taxis are generally available and are not too far from the pier. Rates were about $7 per person one way.

 

 

 

St. Maarten

 

* The beaches in this port are AWESOME! Don't be afraid to explore the beaches and spend a decent amount of time.

 

*Taxi rides are 30-45 minute rides and they will take you to several of the beaches. Be prepared to leave early both from the pier and from the beach back to the pier to allow yourself time to re embark the ship.

 

*On our beach we visited, Bikini/Orient Beach, it apparently is a topless beach {DISCLAIMER: we DID NOT know this upon visiting and you can only imagine the shock we had when we saw just....yeah....I'm going to use my best judgement here and not add a description}. None the less, it didn't stop us from enjoying the weather.

 

1. They have water sports! Jet skiing, parasailing, and banana boat rides. The jet skiing was $60 per 1/2 hr and 120 per hr. No charge per person, just per hour. This was amazing because so many places that we had researched before leaving the states had jetskiing at a per person rate.

 

2. There is a nice cantina restaurant/bar that serves awesome food! Makes for an amazing relaxing time at the beach with good food and drinks. The prices were not bad either. For the two of us to eat and drink alcohol it was about $22 bucks for both of us.

 

3. There are showers availible if you want to get the sand off of our feet. They are little spigots that are near the entrance to the beach and have cool water for hosing off footsies.

 

4. They do charge for you to sit in the chairs on the beach but the price isn't bad. We got two chairs with a table and an umbrella for $14 for our entire stay.

 

 

Long story short, St. Maarten was my favorite port that we visited!! Amazing swimming, beaches, water sports, and memories. Hope my tips helped! Let me know if you have any other questions about ports or the ship!!

 

Another entry coming soon!

 

xoxo Missy

[silygirl77]

Your review makes me want to go on the Allure... hopefully sooner rather than later! Thanks Missy!

[FirstCruise2331]

Thanks for taking the time to post. I've just read it start to finish. I hope to go on the Oasis when she comes to Europe in 2014 and your excitement and insights are great.

[Breelee88]

Missy..Do you get to pick a thermos for your beverages or do they just give you one? thanks for your help..sailing on allure in 28 days !:D

[cruisin_cutie216]

Missy..Do you get to pick a thermos for your beverages or do they just give you one? thanks for your help..sailing on allure in 28 days !:D

 

I did get to pick a mug when we signed up for the drink package. They had red, blue, and some other color as well (I got red and Rob got the blue). There's options on the table when you go to enroll in the package.

 

 

FirstCruise: You will LOVE it! Its going to really be the time of your life! I didn't know Oasis was going to Europe. That's pretty cool.

 

sillygirl: so glad you're enjoying it! I have more to come but I seem to have misplaced my notes that I had for the remainder of my week *head desk* . Here's hoping I find them soon!

[penguin1515]

How was the shopping in St. Maartin? Any good jewelry stores? Thanks!!

[cruisin_cutie216]

How was the shopping in St. Maartin? Any good jewelry stores? Thanks!!

 

We honestly didn't check out many of the jewelry stores in St. Maarten. There were mostly small shops/stalls for picking up souvenirs and light snacks from what I remember. If anyone else can weigh in on this that would be great!

[Breelee88]

where are you Missy! we miss your fun stories! :p

[cruisin_cutie216]

I am here!!! Been so tied up this week with keeping up with the b/f and with work.Going dress shopping with my madre today! Will have some more postings later tonight.

[bluecruisin]

Great! I've missed your reviews.

[Breelee88]

no pressure just look forward to your fun tales! thanks for keeping me entertained :p

[rednancy1]

Missy, I am really loving your adventures with Ziggy. :)

[Dawniepoo]

I'm reading your review instead of studying for my exams. How irresponsible of me! Imagine my disappointment when I just got to the end so far. Darn it:D

[cruisin_cutie216]

Chapter 11: Feels like it flew by didn't it!?

 

Ahh Friday. It was our second to last sea day onboard the Allure and I was really starting to feel ever so sad. I wasn't ready to leave and I feel like I hadn't done everything that I truly wanted to do. So Rob and I were up early to have a go at some of the activities that we may have missed out on earlier on in the week. We headed to the pool and sports deck early on in the morning as I really wanted to try the zip line. Rob had done it earlier on in the sailing but I was not so brave.

 

We made it to the line that wasn't very long at all (maybe about 3 people long ) and we got to the front of the line where they scan your sea pass and you're fitted into a harness. I volunteered to go first and Rob would be the photographer of the event.

 

THIS IS WHERE IT GETS INTERESTING

 

 

I had watched the zipline all week and it looked so tame and easy that I thought 'Heh, this is nothing!" BOY, was I wrong!

 

I made it to the point where you get all hooked up and set up with a harness, helmet, and for those of you rockin sexy specs,a strap for glasses, and I was ready to head over to the launch platform. I was SO nervous that I was literally shaking in my shoes. I headed to the platform, had the crew member strap me into the harness, stepped onto the platform, and I made the one mistake you should NEVER make when attempting to zipline....

 

 

You guessed it, I looked down.

 

I looked down and saw the Boardwalk below me and I froze. I could NOT do this. It was much too terrifying. I began to hyperventilate and absolutely loose it on the top platform. The crew member reassured me that everything was going to be fine and to not look down but just go for it. I could not be convinced. My brain was too wrapped up into being afraid that all out thrill and experience had been lost. Dejected, I headed down from the platform in tears and shaking with fear. Let me just say for the record, the crew were WONDERFUL in making me feel comfortable about the situation. I even had my fellow passengers cheering for me and trying to encourage me to do it. Many of them gave me kudos for getting to the top platform. Turns out, the zip line just wasn't for me.

 

Next up on the zip line was Rob and he was very excited about it. He gets into his harness with ease and before I knew it, he was already across to the other side. No fear with that one!

 

 

After our zip line excursion, we decided to venture to Windjammer to grab a late breakfast before the buffet changed over to lunch. Had my ususal breakfast of sausage, bacon, Frosted Flakes [you get the drill!]. We did decide to have Ziggy join us as he was curious to see the ocean on a sea day (he had been sea sick along with me and it was lots of fun holding his mane as he was very very sick).

 

 

 

After our breakfast we met up with the family to take a ride on the carousel all together. We had been waiting for just the right time in the week to gather everyone for our carousel rides and now was the perfect time! Rob and I had ridden the carousel last for our photos that we had taken at the Picture This studio in the middle of the week. It was lots of fun to ride the carousel with everyone and there was NEVER a wait to ride (talk about awesome!).

 

 

Smile and wave ladies....smile and wave.... (brownie points if you know what movie that quote is from!).

 

After our carousel rides, Rob and I headed back to get swim suits on as I wanted to give the FlowRider a shot. I wasn't too confident that I could manage the stand up classic surfing one so I decided to settle for the boogie boarding instead. We headed back up to the pool and sports zone and got in line for the flow rider. After not waiting for too long of a time, it was finally my turn to try. I didn't do too bad!!! It left me pretty sore but it was very much worth it. Except I did forget about the little bit about having a pretty fresh surgery on my foot and of course whammied my photo decently hard when I wiped out (YOUCH!!!). I was able to go 3 times in a row as the instructor wanted me to keep trying, said I was a natural.

 

After I had tired of the FlowRider and was soaked (yes you WILL get soaked), we dried off and head back to the room to shower and have a quick lunch at WJ. We built our own salads and they ended up being okay. My stomach was beginning to feel a smidge unhappy so my lovely presented salad didn't even seem the slightest bit appetizing.

 

It was getting late and I wanted to have a quick nap before dinner and knew I would need extra time as this would be our final formal night and given the fact that I had recently acquired chlorine soaked hair, I would need to wash, blow dry, straighten, and style said hair. Rob and I agreed that he would pick me up around 8 for dinner so that we could take our stroll through Central Park all dressed up (he's such a romantic!)

 

Nap came and passed and I was up and preparing for dinner with the rest of the girls. Holly, as usual, left early with Zack leaving Sandy, myself, and Sarah to get ready for dinner. Rob arrived at eight o'clock sharp and he looked rather handsome in his suit. We took our usual stroll through CP and made it to dinner at around 8:25.

 

Tonight would be lobster night, and many of us were looking forward to this. It would also be the night that baked alaska would be offered on the menu for desert!!! I could hardly wait to try lobster for the first time!!!

 

 

 

I ordered the shrimp cocktail for my appetizer (cannot remember what Rob ordered this particular night) and the lobster for the main course. The lobster wasn't too bad but I was a bit disappointed. Having never had lobster before I was having to figure out the most "'appropriate" way to consume my meal without being tacky or rude. But the attempt was thrown out the window when Sara picked up her lobster tail and proceeded to make it "swim" and "dance". It was quite funny to watch! I did end up having to ask for more butter for my lobster as it was a smidge on the dry side.

 

 

Finally it was time for the Baked Alaska but alas, to my dismay, it didn't arrive at the table flamming but nonetheless it was still very tasty! It was my first time having the dish and I must say, it was very delicious. I reccommend it!

 

After dinner, Rob and I headed downstairs to the Promenade for the 70's disco party and boy was it a PARTAY!!! It was loads of fun and the music was amazing! The cruise director was in an afro wig and bellbottoms one minute and then the next he was the indian from the Village People. It was a riot but it was indeed the best party! We danced until my poor feet could no longer handle being in high heels any longer and then I headed back to my stateroom. Upon entering, I recieved quite the shock. I thought for sure that someone [other than Holly] was now occupying her bed....turns out someone was....

 

 

 

A towel someone! Our room attendant had made us a towel person and it tended to freak out the girls and anyone else who visited our room. Of course I had to grab a photo with our new "friend"

 

 

Unfortunately, being that it was close to bed time, he didn't last very long and was promptly dismantled by Holly. I headed to bed almost instantly this particular night as I was starting to feel very sea sick once again. none the less, friday was an amazing day! Couldn't have asked for anything better!!!

 

Thank you to everyone for the wonderful feedback!!!

 

Dawn: that's exactly how I felt reading my fellow CC'ers reviews as well!! They can be really awesome but really distracting.

 

Rednancy: Thanks! He was a great cruise critter for his first voyage! Can't wait to take him on our next sailing in September!!!

 

Bree: Aww thanks! I like sharing my adventures with you all!!

 

Keep the questions coming!

 

xoxo Missy

[Familygoboston]

I thought when you started- "oh good a review before we leave"; but we leave tomorrow, so I probably won't make it to the end!:(

 

DO you happen to remember when they changed over to lunch in the WJ? My girls were just asking because they like to sleep in on sea days.:D

 

Thanks for sharing!

[cruisin_cutie216]

I thought when you started- "oh good a review before we leave"; but we leave tomorrow, so I probably won't make it to the end!:(

 

DO you happen to remember when they changed over to lunch in the WJ? My girls were just asking because they like to sleep in on sea days.:D

 

Thanks for sharing!

 

On sea days from what we observed they had changed over the buffet at around 11 or so. The WJ is divided into two sides so one side was still breakfast where the other had been changed over to lunch. As they were changing both sides over they did have a mix of lunch and breakfast offerings.

 

Have an AMAZING cruise on the Allure! I cannot wait to hear how you guys liked it!!! Feel free to PM me if you want any other details or have any other questions before you sail! Be safe and have fun!

 

xoxo Missy

[Luetta]

I had a question about the photographer. Was it expensive? did it include prints? worth it?

 

Love the review.

[cruisin_cutie216]

I had a question about the photographer. Was it expensive? did it include prints? worth it?

 

Love the review.

 

our photos that we took at the Picture This studio did include the prints. There were a bunch of different packages and they were really expensive. The most expensive that we saw was I believe $3,000 dollars (that was for an album full of pictures, a DVD of the shoot, our proofs, etc). We were on a bit of a budget. We got the cheapest one ($575 for 4X6; 8X10s; and a large photo for us to frame on the wall). There wasn't a charge for the sitting and we were able to choose what we wanted from all our photos we took during our shoot.

 

I thought it was worth it because they got some amazing shots of us and they looked gorgeous! We were going to have some sunset photos taken but it ended up being too late by the time our appointment rolled around. We still got some amazing photos done. I'll have to share them with you all!!

[Cruz77]

Ha!!! I love that I am hearing DH here. I have to stop myself from typing it here as I was worried folks wouldn't know what I meant. In my world DH means darling or disney husband. Love to see this.

[cruisin_cutie216]

Ha!!! I love that I am hearing DH here. I have to stop myself from typing it here as I was worried folks wouldn't know what I meant. In my world DH means darling or disney husband. Love to see this.

 

YAY!! I'm not the only one who uses the abbreviations and what not!!! Welcome to the party!!!

[Eng23]

Hi Missy! I'm still following along. I finally have a picture of my new cruising buddy that will be going with me next month. Here is Andy:

 

 

He will be going to the Bahamas with me and 5 friends. I think Andy and Ziggy would be great friends! :D

Cheers. Harold.

[centurycruiser]

If you got sea sick on the Allure you may want to look for a bigger ship next time instead of a smaller one. Oh, wait! There are no bigger ships!

[cruisin_cutie216]

Hi Missy! I'm still following along. I finally have a picture of my new cruising buddy that will be going with me next month. Here is Andy:

 

 

He will be going to the Bahamas with me and 5 friends. I think Andy and Ziggy would be great friends! :D

Cheers. Harold.

 

Oh my goodness! He is adorable! I think he and Ziggy would be good friends! Absolutely! hope he has bunches of fun on your Bahama trip! Post pictures please.

[cruisin_cutie216]

Chapter 12: Saying goodbye.

 

Saturday had come sooner than we thought and today would be the day that we would start packing up our things from our "home away from home" for the past week and prepare to disembark to head back to the mitten. It was a very emotional and bittersweet day for me. I wasn't ready for it to end. I felt like I was in the greatest dream of my life and I so badly didn't want to wake up. This was our final sea day and final day for me to check out some of the things that I had missed or things that I wanted to do over again. Waking up much earlier than normal, I decided to have a personal stroll through Central Park on my own and none the less, I had forgotten how tranquil it was inside the park. It was a calming and serene feeling that cannot be put into words. I snapped some wonderful shots of the park and got a little teary eyed knowing that come tomorrow, I wouldn't be walking down into the park for breakfast or to go for a walk. I would be going home.

 

 

the place we had called home

 

 

I simply LOVE this walkway! Especially when it was lit at night.

 

Now I know it has been a bit since Ziggy had made a cameo appearance so I used this opportunity to grab a few photos of my favorite cruise critter!

 

 

He was a bit shy in this photo.

 

 

Watch your step ladies and gentlemen!

 

I was still feeling a bit under the weather from my sea sickness ordeal and come to find out it was due to us sailing rather near a storm cell which made for the seas to be choppier than usual. This of course didn't stop us from going to WJ for our last breakfast together onboard the Allure. It was unusually empty in the WJ this morning, probably due to the fact that most of our fellow passengers were in their staterooms packing their bags or shopping for those last minute souvenirs to bring home. Worked well in our favor cause the table choices were endless!

 

After grabbing our breakfast, Rob and I decided to head down to Amber theatre to play a round of bingo. We had snagged some free bingo cards at the 70's disco party the previous night and wanted to redeem them at today's game. We also had acquired the "secret password" that was given out so that we could snag a bonus card. I think we paid about 25 bucks to play bingo. They had bingo machines available that would play several cards at once and alert you to a bingo should you have one. We opted out of purchasing one of these as we were being a bit budget conscious.

 

BINGO was fun onboard and the staff did great with keeping it entertaining. Unfortunately, Rob and I walked away empty handed with no winnings but none the less, it was a fun moment together.

 

It had gotten to be a bit later in the morning/early afternoon so we headed back to my stateroom so that I could finish up some packing that I hadn't completed already. I had begun to pack little bits at a time starting on Thursday leaving less work for me to do come saturday so I had plenty of time to enjoy the rest of my time on the ship. Our party opted for self debarkation due to us having an earlier flight so we would NOT be placing our bags outside our stateroom at night. We carried our luggage off in the morning and through customs. [more on that later]

 

After I had taken some time to pack, I laid down for an hour nap. Now we had a bit of a "situation" here. I had mentioned to Rob that I had really wanted to see Ice Games one last time and after the show had wanted my picture in front of the rink as this had been something on my bucket list. IceGames was at 3:30 and he was going to come and wake me around 3:15.

 

I awoke at what I THOUGHT was 3:15 and headed with Rob down to the rink to find that it was closed. I was puzzled. The show was at 3:30, no way had we missed the seating. After checking with a crew member on the promenade, we were informed that it was 4:30 and the show happend an hour ago. I had forgotten that the time had changed over night and it was now an hour later than I thought. I was crushed. I was angry. I was done. I had been seasick, miserable, homesick, and now I had missed the one thing that I had wanted to see for the last time. No picture for me. Unfortunately, I took my frustration out on poor Rob who tried to empathize with me but to no avail. Frustrated and sad for me, he decided to head to the Boardwalk so that I could at least get my face painted ( I had wanted to do that so badly!!). Buut, to add insult to injury, we were too late for that too. Now I had steam coming out of my ears. Rob, as patient as he could be, decided that I wasn't feeling well and took me back to the room.

 

I wasn't feeling up to going down to the Park Cafe for lunch so I opted to order room service one last time. I ordered the famous "honey stung chicken", a caesar salad, and a glass of iced tea. My order arrived in about 20 minutes or so and I sailed right into it. It actually didn't taste too bad! Gobbled up the chicken but wasn't a fan of the sweet potato fries.

 

 

After my delicious lunch in bed, I decided that continuing my nap was the top priority on my list and decided to continue it before getting ready for our last dinner.

 

 

will pick this up in a few! Uploading more to photobucket! Coming up next: final dinner, farewells, upsets, and the closing chapter.