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Allure B2B **Double** Trip Review 5/4/14 - 5/18/14 (lots o' pics)!!!

AZAficionado
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AZAficionado

AZAficionado

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Do you remember how much they charged you for the Caymus Vineyards Cabernet that you ordered in Chops? Trying to see whether it is within reason or not. Thanks,

Nope, but that's why I take pictures.;) Same price at Chops, Vintages, Champagne Bar, and I expect everywhere else on board:

 

Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon: $92 per bottle

Caymus Special Selection Cabernet Sauvignon: $142 per bottle

 

I think it is pretty reasonable when compared to land-based restaurant prices.

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Ti2m

Ti2m

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Thank you for all your efforts in putting together this review. I'm happy you had such a positive experience and shared it with us. Happy sails to you both ... Timm

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SolsticeAZ

SolsticeAZ

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Thank you for all your efforts in putting together this review. I'm happy you had such a positive experience and shared it with us. Happy sails to you both ... Timm

Thank you very much! I had a great time working on the review, and I am very glad others enjoyed reading it!

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SolsticeAZ

SolsticeAZ

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Great Review well done!

Thank you very much -- appreciate the kind words!

 

Thank you so much for the detailed review. Now I am really getting antsy for our trip!!

You're more than welcome. Based on your signature, it looks like you're pretty close to your turn on the Allure...but I know it probably seems like July will never come...:D

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Miryam1234

Miryam1234

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Thanks a lot for your report! I loved every word and photo. Doing a B2B is on my bucket list which actually has not so many items on it.

Thanks for both of you! You make me insist on fulfilling that wish one day.

 

I have a question: You stated that you made calculations and decided not to have any drinks package as you estimated that it would not be of great value to you. Since you've posted many photos of delicious drinks, glasses of wine etc, can you elaborate how much you spent on alcohol during your B2B? I mean, your habits seem similar to many (except for being so expert on wine & cognac), so it would give a rough idea to us others.

I do understand if you prefer not to answer, as this is personal thing, but I'd still thought I'd ask.

Please also pardon my not so perfect English, as is not my native language. I do not want to sound impolite in my direct question.

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Vanilla

Vanilla

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What a wonderful action packed review from both of you. Thank you so much! I will be on the western in 9 days, so I really looked at the cruise compasses from those days. I kept seeing the compass say to stay on " ship time " while in the ports of Jamaica and Cozumel - can you recall the time difference for ships time verses island time? I normally don't worry about this as we do our excursions with the ship, but this year we are venturing out on our own and I certainly do not wish to be running nor standing at the dock watching the ship leave me.

Thanks again for the review and all the tips you provided.

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AZAficionado

AZAficionado

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Thanks a lot for your report! I loved every word and photo. Doing a B2B is on my bucket list which actually has not so many items on it.

Thanks for both of you! You make me insist on fulfilling that wish one day.

You are most welcome and I'm really happy that you enjoyed it!:)

I have a question: You stated that you made calculations and decided not to have any drinks package as you estimated that it would not be of great value to you. Since you've posted many photos of delicious drinks, glasses of wine etc, can you elaborate how much you spent on alcohol during your B2B? I mean, your habits seem similar to many (except for being so expert on wine & cognac), so it would give a rough idea to us others.

I do understand if you prefer not to answer, as this is personal thing, but I'd still thought I'd ask.

Please also pardon my not so perfect English, as is not my native language. I do not want to sound impolite in my direct question.

What I did was to go back to my Freedom of the Seas review from last year, which has pictures of just about every drink. I also found a drink price list for 2013 online. Then I looked up the base price of each drink and added up each day's worth of drinks. Keep in mind that cocktails over $10 only count $10 towards the drink package, wine over $13 (or $14) per glass are treated the same. Bottles of wine only count as 20% - with a package, you end up paying the other 80%. Then I compared that to the price of the drink package, less 15% because it includes tips, which is something like $48 per day. Out of 14 days on that B2B cruise, there were only 6 days where I "broke even" and overall, it was cheaper to pay for everything rather than buy a package.

 

I drank plenty on that cruise, so how did the package not work for me? The real killer is the bottles of wine each night. A $75 bottle of wine, split between two people gives each person 2.5 drinks (there are roughly 5 glasses of wine in a bottle). However, the package only gives 20% off ($15 or $7.50 each). That works out to just $3 per glass towards the package and $60 out of your pocket. Next is the "cheap" drinks - $3 mojitos during the specials, $6 Makers Mark, etc. And then there is every drink off the ship (except at Labadee and Coccay), which don't count towards the package.

 

Here are the total alcohol costs from this cruise, which includes additional tips on top of the standard 15% (I believe in "tip well and tip often", but that's just me). Some of this would not count towards the package.

 

Week 1: $965.34 (two people) or $482.67 each

Week 2: $883.10 (two people) or $441.55 each

 

I didn't do the math for this cruise, but I'm betting that the above numbers when adjusted for what's covered in the package would not work out in my favor.

 

Thanks for the great question! I'm glad you enjoyed the review!

What a wonderful action packed review from both of you. Thank you so much! I will be on the western in 9 days, so I really looked at the cruise compasses from those days. I kept seeing the compass say to stay on " ship time " while in the ports of Jamaica and Cozumel - can you recall the time difference for ships time verses island time? I normally don't worry about this as we do our excursions with the ship, but this year we are venturing out on our own and I certainly do not wish to be running nor standing at the dock watching the ship leave me.

Thanks again for the review and all the tips you provided.

You are most welcome! I'm glad you enjoyed reading it.

 

As for the time, I believe both Jamaica and Cozumel are one hour different. I highly recommend you bring a watch and just keep it set to ship's time (Eastern Time) - ship's time does not change during either itinerary. If you are at the pier at the right time according to your watch, everyting be all right, mon!:D

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SolsticeAZ

SolsticeAZ

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Thanks a lot for your report! I loved every word and photo. Doing a B2B is on my bucket list which actually has not so many items on it.

Thanks for both of you! You make me insist on fulfilling that wish one day.

I am so glad you enjoyed, and I hope you get to do a B2B in the very near future!

 

Please also pardon my not so perfect English, as is not my native language. I do not want to sound impolite in my direct question.

As far as I can tell, your English is better than mine, and it is my native language! Your question was a very good one, too. Since AZAficionado has already answered, I'll just add this: Yikes! I drank that much on the cruise?!:eek::D

 

What a wonderful action packed review from both of you. Thank you so much! I will be on the western in 9 days, so I really looked at the cruise compasses from those days. I kept seeing the compass say to stay on " ship time " while in the ports of Jamaica and Cozumel - can you recall the time difference for ships time verses island time? I normally don't worry about this as we do our excursions with the ship, but this year we are venturing out on our own and I certainly do not wish to be running nor standing at the dock watching the ship leave me.

Thanks again for the review and all the tips you provided.

Thanks for the kind words! As to the ship time/local time issue, another option (if you don't want to wear a watch) is to do what we did -- if you have a smart phone, set it to ship time and keep it in airplane mode. That way, it will stay on ship's time no matter what port you are in.

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rlthng

rlthng

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Do they have water activities at this beach? We are bringing our 15 year odl son who would like to jet ski or banana boat.

 

Some shots of Dawn Beach

 

DawnBeach1_zps9459611a.png

 

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DawnBeach3_zps7ea7cce5.png

 

Dinner was at Izumi. We paired our dinner with a bottle of the Bride of the Fox sake. It was not nearly as spectacular as the Ty-Ku Ulta Premium sake we enjoyed the previous week, but it had a mellow, clean flavor that paired well with all the dishes we had.

 

SolsticeAZ's Art Corner

 

Art2_zps284dcdd3.png

 

Art1_zps85f0ef57.png

 

Art3_zps63670ac1.png

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SolsticeAZ

SolsticeAZ

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Do they have water activities at this beach? We are bringing our 15 year odl son who would like to jet ski or banana boat.

I can't say for certain, since I did not check, but I don't believe so. I didn't see any jet skis or other water-type activities going on, nor did I see any place that would provide equipment for it. It is a pretty quiet, laid-back beach.

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AZAficionado

AZAficionado

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Do they have water activities at this beach? We are bringing our 15 year odl son who would like to jet ski or banana boat.

There are no water activities like that at dawn beach. I saw jet skis at the beach downtown and maybe other beaches have that kind of stuff.

 

The Eastern itinerary is tough for that kind of stuff. At St. Thomas, Magens Bay doesn't have any of it (that I remember) and Coki Point only had snorkeling and a banana boat.

what a fabulous review!

 

Thank you so much for sharing. I really enjoyed both of your points of views.

Thank you for taking the time to read it. I'm glad the dual angle worked out - I was kinda worried about that.

I loved your photos and explanation. Can't wait to try out the Allure now!

Awesome!!! We get a 1% kick-back from RCI for all new Allure passengers who read this review... Oh wait. No we don't. D'oh!!

 

I'm really glad you enjoyed the review.

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SuitCaseBears

SuitCaseBears

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Early on I said this was the Best Review Ever, and now I'll say it again.

 

I linked to it on my roll call for anyone who's not been on the Allure (and even those who have been).

 

But the biggest complement I can give is from my DH, who doesn't read CC and when I point him to a good review says "just tell me what they said."

 

BUt last night he sat through this whole thread.... OK, I skipped through the comments and questions, but he stuck through the review.

 

Of course I cheated and told him there was mention of Remy XII, which sold him.

 

Seriously, thanks for a great read.

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SolsticeAZ

SolsticeAZ

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Early on I said this was the Best Review Ever, and now I'll say it again.

 

I linked to it on my roll call for anyone who's not been on the Allure (and even those who have been).

 

But the biggest complement I can give is from my DH, who doesn't read CC and when I point him to a good review says "just tell me what they said."

 

BUt last night he sat through this whole thread.... OK, I skipped through the comments and questions, but he stuck through the review.

 

Of course I cheated and told him there was mention of Remy XII, which sold him.

 

Seriously, thanks for a great read.

Wow...thank you for your extremely kind words! And thanks to your husband as well, for making it through the whole review (it's quite an endeavor even without the comments, and even with the incentive of cognac mentions :D). I am very glad you enjoyed!:)

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JohnGaltny

JohnGaltny

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My first ever reading a tag team review and a great job by both of you. Kind of the WWE comes to Cruise Critic.

 

Along with Sailor Jack and one or two others, you are now listed on John Galt's "Watch List". It's similar to TSA's but with more competence and fewer strip searches.

Edited by JohnGaltny
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