Cheapo dad’s trip report on Allure of the Seas sailing December 14, 2014

[harryfat1]

Thanks for the interesting explanations and logic to your cabin choices and activities.

 

You are so right about the family friendly comic. Too late for kids, yes, but also too late for anyone who doesn't necessarily appreciate the filth that an adult show degrades into. I never understood why just because a show is labeled adult, it grants some sort of right, or there's some sort of cardinal rule among the brotherhood of comedians that every other word has to start with F. A skilled comedian should certainly be able to find ways to tell funny stories about adult situations to an adult audience using everyday language. Innuendo is funny. A barrage of crude filth is not. And because the term adult has come to equal X-rated, I would rather see the family friendly show, kids or not. Too bad Royal doesn't take this into consideration like they used to.

 

You pointed to your experience on Carnival. That is how I remember it from our first couple of RCI cruises. The family show in the evening and the adult show later. We went to both one time just to see the difference. The comedian told the same stories both shows! Yet at the 2nd show, those bleeped words found their way into every sentence. Why do they think that makes it funnier?

 

I guess I must be getting old and grumpy. No wait! I still find Harry's CPA humor and bathroom elephants funny!

 

 

I am pretty sure these comedians only have couple sets of jokes. They might add few comments here and there specially for the cruise crowd as cruise life is different than land vacation so it’s easy to make fun of that.

 

Just as I can probably get louder chuckles if I added few off color comments in my posts (notwithstanding that I will be kicked out of cc), I understand off color humor can be funnier if done properly.

 

Similar to cooking, few strong spices here and there add more flavors to the food but if you just drop the whole load of spice on the food, then you don’t taste food, just the spices.

 

Yeah, we can all get together at the next cruise and complained about this and that and have our own new support group – “Friends of grumpy old cruise critics’ members”. Just wondering if the phrase “grumpy old cruise critics’ members” isn’t redundant, like slimy politician or anal CPA…

 

We can start the meeting by first complaining the time for the meeting isn’t perfect (why they make it at 11 AM right after meet & mingle?) and then complain about the area being too dark/cold/small (my butt not comfortable in these un-padded seats) and then complain about them not providing food at the meeting (how can they expect us to talk without food and refreshments?) and complain about crowd at embarkation (you see how long that line was to get here? We had to stand in line for at least 8 minutes).

 

All in all, good time to be had by everyone as we adjourn the meeting for the day and complain about the crowd at the lunch areas as we head over there…

 

Between these and friends of excel/schedule meetings, that will be where I will spend the time on my future cruises.

[harryfat1]

Day 8 – when can we get off this ship?

 

Here again is the “as you depart” paper for day 8. First thing you will notice is that it’s a stark boring black & white paper, not the bright colors of the other days. As you are leaving the ship, they don’t need to spend $$ to give you a color paper on your last day. Cheap black and white will do – we are saving the color papers for the new coming guests that is spending new money on the ship. You old cruisers we care not as your shipboard account is already closed so off with you...

 

 

Few important things to point out for those that will be cruising on the ship later on as I mark off few areas in red. First on the left is when they will serve breakfast. Last meal on the ship stops at 8:30 in MDR and 9:30 at buffet. Then the area in the middle in the approx. time your group might get off the ship. Recall that we were originally given 12, but switched out to 66, one of the last groups.

 

Then finally on the lower right, depending on your level in the RCI’s caste system, you can go to the various places especially designated for your area or you can just go to the area designated by location of your cabin.

 

Think I had the wake-up call around 7:30 AM. Unlike the other mornings when I know I can run out to the hallway in my PJ shorts, can’t do it today as it’s the busiest morning of the cruise with people leaving. Don’t want to have bunch of people seeing me that way or people looking up from the dock to see me up there. Not good.

 

Here is a picture of the room TV screen on the progress of disembarking the ship. As of 7:55 AM, there have been no numbers called (it would show up on the bottom tray of the screen). Only people getting off are the express walk off people. Our #66 is scheduled for 10:45, along with the entire late group. After certain number, everyone is the same time. That’s fine as we are in no hurry to get off.

 

 

Speaking of calls, the shuttle people that I had arranged to pick us up at the pier to take us to the hotel called me at 7 AM and left me a VM, before I even woke up and turn on my phone and let me know to call them after I have exited the building so they can come and pick me up. Sounds good.

[harryfat1]

I am sure somebody is wondering this – if this dude is really that cheap, why is he even staying one extra night post cruise? Doesn’t that cost money? Wouldn’t he be better off going home ASAP? Good question. Time for another cost comparison.

 

We had 6 ships in port on sailing date, for approx.. 20,000+ passengers. Granted some will not need airplane flights as they will be driving but I would say more than half of the 20,000 people will be needing to fly home that day. Simple supply and demand will tell you that the planes will be packed on any given weekend, especially the busy holiday weekends when you have other land tourists flying out. So the cost will likely be higher on day when most cruisers are off the ships.

 

I did the math of comparing flying out on Sunday versus Monday. For us, it would cost an extra $90/pp to fly back on the day we disembark versus coming back the next day. Multiply that by 4 people, it’s $360. So it made sense to come back one day later and still save money as I can get a hotel room for $100+ and have extra money to spend for lunch and dinner and still come out ahead.

 

Another way to think of it is you get to extend your vacation for one more day, staying at a hotel “for free”, have lunch and dinner “for free” and still have extra cash left over in your pocket. Not like we are in a hurry to come home as the kids are off that week for their official school break. So the tip is to check for flight times/costs for the day after the cruise to see if you can eek out some savings there. Especially if you have a bigger family as every dollar you saved in not going to the airlines, you can spend it on the extra day of vacation when you 4X or 5X each airplane ticket savings

[harryfat1]

OK, time to head out to eat the last meal on the cruise. Saw all the bags in the hallway to put away the dirty sheets from previous cruise as they clean each cabin

 

 

In case you ever wondered what one of their storage area looks like, wonder no more

 

 

Artwork of rulers by deck 14 elevators

 

 

Whoa, Nelly! Whole lot of people standing by the RP area trying to get off the ship. Not sure what number they were but they are going nowhere fast. Just standing there. Not many happy faces there. It’s 8:12 now.

 

[harryfat1]

So we made our way to MDR for breakfast with a short wait. In case anyone is tracking, we ate 2 breakfasts at JR, 2 at windjammer, 2 at MDR and 1 in the balcony. We prefer places with more food options/variety and for us, the windjammer and MDR are the best choices.

 

As before, we ordered from menu as well as getting food from the mini buffet

 

 

Look at all those salmon

 

 

 

While eating, saw this guy right outside of the window by our table while we were eating. HELLOOOOOOOO

 

[harryfat1]

 

The younger one saw this on the menu and wanted to get one. Of course it’s free as cheapo dad wouldn’t pay extra for breakfast drinks

 

 

 

 

I ordered French toast and eggs from menu on top of whatever else from the buffet

 

 

Older one got this

 

[harryfat1]

So as we were eating on deck 3 of the MDR, we heard constant updates the PA system from deck 5 above because deck 5 of the MDR is where all the peasant cruisers staying in the aft part of the ship is supposed to gather to hear their numbers being called. We kept hearing the RCI lady apologizing for the delays in calling the numbers as she said there were only FOUR customs agents working at the moment and there is a huge backup line for people to get off the ship as they wait for customs.

 

Four customs agents only to process 6,000+ people? That’s not a pretty picture. Where the heck did they all go? Christmas party the night before at the Customs function and everyone had too much eggnog and now on Sunday morning, they have hangovers? Not sounding good.

 

The RCI lady is apologetic and she said if anyone has an early flight, go and see her and she will try to get them more in front of the line. Yikes, glad I am not up there sweating it out on making my flight or not.

 

 

 

OK, after stuffing our faces, we went back to the cabin one last time to get our stuff and meet up with the in-laws.

 

Here is the TV screen shot from the hallway. Note the time is 9:25 AM and they have only called up to number 8 (see the bottom number in the tray). Now go back to the previous post #878 and compare when #9 should be called – they should have been called between 8:10 and 8:30 AM per original schedule but here we are at 9:25 AM and #9 is not called yet! U-G-L-Y. Sounds like they are running 1 hour behind so far.

 

Someone better wake up those customs agents with the hangovers to get their buns over here sooner than later.

 

Every week, there is always someone writing on the boards – can I make my “XZY” plane time (fill in your time on when you plane will depart)? So if you are aggressive in wanting an earlier flight home, be sure to either do the self-assist express departure (you roll your luggage off yourself) or beg/steal/cheat your way to a very low number in the pecking system and get off ASAP.

 

For example, if you had the number 14 to get off the ship, per the original schedule, you were supposed to be off between 8:10 and 8:30. But when there is a delay and they are stuck at #8 as of 9:25, you can’t be that happy of camper if you have a flight to catch and you will be trying to get to the podium of lines trying to “jump ahead” of 9/10/11/12/13 and then #10 will want to be ahead of you and so on. So just a heads-up if you are trying to be aggressive in booking early morning flights home. Delays can happen.

 

[ewenix]

Wow, sorry to hear about the problems you encountered with the OBC on the ship. I don’t remember where I read that the OBC shows up on day 2, it was somewhere “official” while on the ship/watching TV so I know not to worry when I checked the TV on night 1 and saw no OBC. By end of day 2, all the OBC showed up. Your TA should have told you to go to guest services in the beginning instead of having you work through them to get to RCI. Hope everything gets resolved soon.

 

Speaking of tours, I need to go into the RCI web site and give a review of the Cozumel tour on there so others can read about it as they decide on what to do while in port.

 

We had a similar experience on the Oasis last year. The TA OBC didn't show up and there were also a card in the room with the wrong amount. I immediately went to guest services. There was a guy keeping people out of the line unless they spoke to him first. He assured me it would be correct the second day. Which annoyed me since I didn't feel he was taking the problem seriously and that he was just blowing me off. By the evening of the second day I went back down to guest services and found the same guy. He said it must be a mistake (no kidding buddy!) and they would check on it and get back to me.

On day 4 I get a note in my room that I should contact my TA about it.

So I spent time (and precious internet minutes) emailing the TA back and forth of the next two days. So finally by day 6 both the TA and RCCL admit that the problem was that the TA failed to purchase the OBC. However the TA kept telling me that if I'd only contacted them first they could have still purchased the OBC that first day.

So it seems to matter very little who you contact first.

Edited February 6, 2015 by ewenix

[janeyzee]

 

Both of the boys wear glasses and they won’t allow glasses on the zip line and they didn’t find it particularly thrilling if they couldn’t see.

 

I wear glasses and I wore them on the zipline. I think that's just something they put in the rules but don't enforce. I could see everything just fine the two times in a row that I zipped.

[Cruisin' Along]

"I am sure somebody is wondering this – if this dude is really that cheap, why is he even staying one extra night post cruise? Doesn’t that cost money? Wouldn’t he be better off going home ASAP? Good question. Time for another cost comparison.

 

We had 6 ships in port on sailing date, for approx.. 20,000+ passengers. Granted some will not need airplane flights as they will be driving but I would say more than half of the 20,000 people will be needing to fly home that day. Simple supply and demand will tell you that the planes will be packed on any given weekend, especially the busy holiday weekends when you have other land tourists flying out. So the cost will likely be higher on day when most cruisers are off the ships."

Thanks for another great tip. We've only cruised out of Seattle and Galveston, so not the huge cruise ports that Florida has. Good point about the flights being crazy crowded and probably more expensive with so many cruisers needing to fly home.

Seems like customs delays in the Florida ports are common. If and when we book a cruise out of Florida, we will plan to stay an extra day (or two!) Stressing about making a flight wouldn't be a good way to end a vacation.

 

As always.....thanks!

 

Edited February 6, 2015 by Cruisin' Along
typo

[harryfat1]

We had a similar experience on the Oasis last year. The TA OBC didn't show up and there were also a card in the room with the wrong amount. I immediately went to guest services. There was a guy keeping people out of the line unless they spoke to him first. He assured me it would be correct the second day. Which annoyed me since I didn't feel he was taking the problem seriously and that he was just blowing me off. By the evening of the second day I went back down to guest services and found the same guy. He said it must be a mistake (no kidding buddy!) and they would check on it and get back to me.

On day 4 I get a note in my room that I should contact my TA about it.

So I spent time (and precious internet minutes) emailing the TA back and forth of the next two days. So finally by day 6 both the TA and RCCL admit that the problem was that the TA failed to purchase the OBC. However the TA kept telling me that if I'd only contacted them first they could have still purchased the OBC that first day.

So it seems to matter very little who you contact first.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

Don’t know if there are any TA reading this, but what is the time frame on when the cruise line pays the TA and then the TA buys you OBC as a form of rebate? I want to say that one of the TA I have used told me he gets paid within 2 weeks prior to my sailing date and then he drops in the OBC few days before sailing to show up on my account on board. Don’t know all the inner workings of the travel business.

 

Not sure I would be too happy with that TA as they didn't do their job in upholding the business agreement. Shouldn't be up to you to chase down the OBC as that's why you are using the TA to do things for you. Saying you should have talked to them on day 1 is a cheap shot in shifting blame.

[harryfat1]

I wear glasses and I wore them on the zipline. I think that's just something they put in the rules but don't enforce. I could see everything just fine the two times in a row that I zipped.

 

Oh, didn't know about then not following the rules. As a tax CPA, I read and follow rules as part of the occupational hazard.

 

I have read posts of people messing up their knees and angles by not landing properly on the green pads. Everytime I look up from balconies, I see the zip line worker telling people to drop their legs to land on the green pad. Without glasses, there's no way I can see well enough to be coordinated to land properly. Didn't want to spend the rest of cruise with sprained angle.

[harryfat1]

"I am sure somebody is wondering this – if this dude is really that cheap' date=' why is he even staying one extra night post cruise? Doesn’t that cost money? Wouldn’t he be better off going home ASAP? Good question. Time for another cost comparison.

 

We had 6 ships in port on sailing date, for approx.. 20,000+ passengers. Granted some will not need airplane flights as they will be driving but I would say more than half of the 20,000 people will be needing to fly home that day. Simple supply and demand will tell you that the planes will be packed on any given weekend, especially the busy holiday weekends when you have other land tourists flying out. So the cost will likely be higher on day when most cruisers are off the ships."[/color']

Thanks for another great tip. We've only cruised out of Seattle and Galveston, so not the huge cruise ports that Florida has. Good point about the flights being crazy crowded and probably more expensive with so many cruisers needing to fly home.

Seems like customs delays in the Florida ports are common. If and when we book a cruise out of Florida, we will plan to stay an extra day (or two!) Stressing about making a flight wouldn't be a good way to end a vacation.

 

As always.....thanks!

 

 

Glad to help.

 

I will show you later on in day 8 the nice hotel we were able to get from last minute travel for $97+ tax. The same hotel that is $230+ the night before when all the cruisers are in town but when they leave, it’s different supply and demand situation.

 

Another thing to look for in flights the next day in the early morning flights out of FLL. Meaning there may be some butt early flights back to west coast from FLL that no cruisers in their right mind will take so there may be bargains to be had.

 

For example, if Oasis passengers gets off on Saturday and then stay 1 night to leave on Sunday. In theory, the Sunday flights will be full of Allure passengers when they get off the ship and therefore not cheap. But if you can find a 6 or 7 AM flight out of FLL, those should be cheaper and empty as no cruise ship passengers (Allure or any other ships docking that day) would dare book those that early morning as they are still on the ship. So anything before 9 AM on Sunday might be worth looking into…

[RCJ1]

Hi Harry

Great job, Still following along. When I first commented I jokingly wondered if you would finish your review before my cruise date. It's going to be close, we fly to Florida tomorrow. I also wanted to comment that we are also staying the extra night after the cruise for the same reasons and am looking forward to see what you did. I have looked in to the water taxis which I think you may have mentioned along the way.

 

I have really enjoyed your review (I know it's not done yet) my wife and I will most likely do most things completely different then you and your family, and like you said that's what makes cruising so fun. Thanks for all the tips and some great reading before our cruise.

 

RCJ

[janeyzee]

Oh, didn't know about then not following the rules. As a tax CPA, I read and follow rules as part of the occupational hazard.

 

I have read posts of people messing up their knees and angles by not landing properly on the green pads. Everytime I look up from balconies, I see the zip line worker telling people to drop their legs to land on the green pad. Without glasses, there's no way I can see well enough to be coordinated to land properly. Didn't want to spend the rest of cruise with sprained angle.

 

Don't blame you there! I can't see a thing clearly beyond 8 inches from my face without my glasses so I wasn't going to zip but then someone told me they don't make you take them off so I got in line.

[harryfat1]

Hi Harry

Great job, Still following along. When I first commented I jokingly wondered if you would finish your review before my cruise date. It's going to be close, we fly to Florida tomorrow. I also wanted to comment that we are also staying the extra night after the cruise for the same reasons and am looking forward to see what you did. I have looked in to the water taxis which I think you may have mentioned along the way.

 

I have really enjoyed your review (I know it's not done yet) my wife and I will most likely do most things completely different then you and your family, and like you said that's what makes cruising so fun. Thanks for all the tips and some great reading before our cruise.

 

RCJ

 

Hi,

 

Yes, I remember talking to you awhile back and I was pretty sure back then I would be able to finish before you guys cruise. Sorry about that. Missed it by maybe 1 or 2 days.

 

Wasn’t expecting any virtual cruisers that were following along reading so I added more pics for them. Hopefully you have enough info from here prior to your cruise as I got you guys up to departure on day 8.

 

Yes, originally the plan was to do the water taxi if you followed my spreadsheet but my older so got sick that morning so we had to pass on the water taxi. We stayed at the Double Tree, which was one of the water taxi stops so I had it all perfectly situated but didn’t count on him being sick.

 

Pulling ahead few pictures from day 8 to show the water taxi water areas. Very nice. You guys should check it out if you have the time.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

The water taxi stop right outside of the hotel lobby

 

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

Looking outside the Boardwalk, I see some neighbors are still hanging around the balconies like us and still people down on Boardwalk taking very minute pictures before getting off the ship. Glad to know I am not the only “last minute” photographer

 

 

 

So we checked the cabins one last time making sure we didn’t leave anything behind - anyone like me anal enough to always look underneath the beds to make sure nothing fell down and open every drawer to be sure you didn’t leave anything behind? After we checked everything, time to say goodbye to the cabin one last time. Saw the cabin steward as we walk out and said goodbye to him once more and he reminded me to do the online survey.

 

As we are all traveling light, no luggage of any type, just backpacks for all 6 of us, it was easy to go up and down any stairs. We decided to go up to 15 to see the area. By then it’s around 10 AM.

 

Here is us outside of Wipeout but we couldn’t go past that as they were washing the deck area ahead of the next cruise

 

 

 

We were not the only people up there as many groups decided to be up on top for fresh air than being inside

 

[harryfat1]

Here’s what the starboard side looks like – seldom makes it to many cruisers uploads as it’s not pretty or sexy but I am sure it makes money

 

 

 

Kids’ pool area that we never came over to swim in – the younger one didn’t want to be with kids as he is older now

 

 

 

Towel station area

 

 

Hey, look, how about that? Chairs. Bet you folks never seen chairs back where you are. Take a picture…

 

[harryfat1]

Seeing we can’t really walk around in the back and there’s no TV to tell us where they are in the process of getting people off the ship – RCI doesn’t make any announcements over PA system like other ships, you have to check yourself on the TV, we decided maybe it’s better to be downstairs instead. So we headed down to Amber theater for the gold level members since it’s been designated as “an exclusive departure lounge” per the schedule.

 

They have nice water station/pastries there in case you get thirsty while waiting.

 

 

 

OK, here we are in the Amber theater at 10:15 with a cold water drink in hand. Time for me to sit down and chill out for a while and check my cell phone’s email and voicemail that I haven’t seen for a week and then get off the ship at 10:40 per schedule. Sounds good, eh? Not exactly…

 

Within few minutes after we sat down, they made the announcement that they ae clearing out the entire area as they need to clean the place for the next cruise. And told us to just go ahead and stand in line at deck 5 with the crowd. OK, so much for resting. Time to move out once again and walk up one flight of stairs to deck 5 and Whoa Nelly, that’s a crap load of people in line and not moving. Don’t even know where the end of the line is with that many people as far as the eye can see.

 

So the wife said she rather sit with the regular crowd (aka the peasant cruisers) at Studio B rather than just stand in line and not even knowing where the line is since we are not in a hurry. Back down to Studio B on deck 4 to chill out with the peasants.

 

 

[harryfat1]

So we just sat around and watched TV (Big Bang Theory) for a while until they finally called our group number

 

 

During the commercials, I was wondering in my head what it would cost to get more customs agents to process these mega ships. Using an average of 6,000 passengers per week, assuming they charge $5 more per person of port taxes/fees, at 52 weeks and levied on both Allure and Oasis passengers, you get 5 X 6,000 X 52 X 2 = $3.1 million. Don’t know what the average salary of these guys are, but I would guess for that amount, you can hire at least a few of them to just process the cruise ship guests for Saturdays and Sundays (for Allure/Oasis) and whatever else they do on weekdays is just a bonus security work.

 

In the big scheme of life, $5 extra on anyone’s Allure/Oasis cruise fare is minimal when you are dealing with at least $700 cruise fare in addition to the other port fees & taxes, your brain becomes numb from all the numbers and $5 can’t be a deal breaker for anyone when people book the cruise, even a cheapo dad. Such that if you end up with a cruise fare of either $1,073 or $1,078/pp, you mind can’t differentiate the small incremental price adjustment of the 2 numbers.

 

That being the case, I think many people wouldn’t mind if there would be extra agents at work at the terminal on Saturday/Sunday mornings to process the extra people the mega ship carries. I know it’s dangerous to equate direct government fees with personnel increases but if they can assure the passengers that the $5 goes to speed things up in disembarking and shorter lines and having the $3M brings in a small team of customs agents to make us feel safer, I think it’s an easy sell.

 

Anyway, that’s what I think of during the commercials of Pampers diapers.

 

We now return you back to your regularly scheduled TV program…

[janabelle61]

I know you're not "off the ship" yet, but I hear the fat lady doing scales backstage. Just wanted to give you another big thank-you for all of the wonderful pictures and the great story you've shared about your family's cruise. I'll be here to the very end, but wanted you to know how much I've enjoyed sailing along with you. It looks like you and your family had a fabulous adventure!!

 

You really have single-handedly convinced me that a big-ship cruise is something we should try. I'll be reserving shows, updating my spreadsheet, and looking forward to one in the near future. Who knows - we may just book it when we're on the Serenade in a couple months!

 

(Danger - CPA/Tax Talk ahead!) Have a great tax season and take plenty of time to begin planning your next great adventure. We'll be anxiously awaiting your next report :)

Jan

[marion10]

I wear glasses and ziplined- I brought along a croaky (string to keep your glasses on)- I wasn't aware of the no glasses restriction- but I'm paranoid about my glasses falling off and one when I'm sailing, etc. When I got to the zip line, the attendant started to say something about my glasses, but the said, "oh you have a cord" and let me go.

[harryfat1]

I know you're not "off the ship" yet, but I hear the fat lady doing scales backstage. Just wanted to give you another big thank-you for all of the wonderful pictures and the great story you've shared about your family's cruise. I'll be here to the very end, but wanted you to know how much I've enjoyed sailing along with you. It looks like you and your family had a fabulous adventure!!

 

You really have single-handedly convinced me that a big-ship cruise is something we should try. I'll be reserving shows, updating my spreadsheet, and looking forward to one in the near future. Who knows - we may just book it when we're on the Serenade in a couple months!

 

(Danger - CPA/Tax Talk ahead!) Have a great tax season and take plenty of time to begin planning your next great adventure. We'll be anxiously awaiting your next report :)

Jan

 

Thanks for the compliment. Glad you enjoyed the info. I think we would have had fun no matter what cruise line we sail on. You see what we eat and do, we are pretty easy to please type of folks. Just give us food here, there and everywhere and then entertain us nightly, we are good to go because we are more port people than ship people.

 

Just that the Oasis class ships provide the extra “wow” factor not seen on other ships and we took many pictures and were happy to share them with everyone.

 

I hope you enjoy the Allure on your future cruise. Just bear in mind the mega ships have drawbacks as well - mainly crowd/space. Be sure to avoid the rush hours. We ran into it on day 8 as we were the among the last ones to get off, with thousands of people ahead of us. I don’t cruise on RCI often enough to know how food on Allure would compare to the Freedom class or the Radiance class due to its larger size – if there are any differences at all.

 

The fat lady may have a slight delay on her stage appearance. We have two family events this weekend at two different relatives place, one on Saturday and another on Sunday so we won’t be home much at all and that will likely mean a pause on the day 8 picture uploads. I will have my cell phone with me to check people posts but I will be limited on my new uploads as I can’t do it remotely.

 

I work so I can have money for vacations so I am always thinking vacations in back of my mind…

 

Have a great cruise in 2 months.

[harryfat1]

I wear glasses and ziplined- I brought along a croaky (string to keep your glasses on)- I wasn't aware of the no glasses restriction- but I'm paranoid about my glasses falling off and one when I'm sailing, etc. When I got to the zip line, the attendant started to say something about my glasses, but the said, "oh you have a cord" and let me go.

 

The rules were listed there by the zip line area. Think it depends on the worker/supervisor on how closely they enforce it. Good to know that they allow glasses cords as being secure in holding the glasses. Next time…

[cruizinawayinva]

Loving your review!! I'm only about halfway through but wanted to say it's fantastic. We sail Allure in just a few weeks and your review has been great!! Very much looking forward to trying out the big ship. We'll be on the Eastern itinerary but all your ship info is super helpful. :) Thanks so much for sharing!!