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LIVE From the ALLURE, 11 Jan 2015, With Trainman-2, Judith, and LYRIC

Trainman-2

By Trainman-2,
in Royal Caribbean International

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BillOh Holiday Sharing Rare

BillOh

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This was the messiest cruise I have ever been on!

 

My fellow cruisers tossed trash everywhere, left dirty dishes and coffee cups everywhere, and left wet pool towels everywhere too, including in the elevators!

 

The crew cleaned up as fast as they could but it certainly made a lot of extra work for them.

 

As for the towels, that is one bad consequence of the "new" towel policy, which I assume is still in effect. (dont' remember if you mentioned it) I noticed a lot of Jewel on early mornings on the top decks, where I know you spend many mornings. It really delays getting the towel's restocked.

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BillOh Holiday Sharing Rare

BillOh

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I

 

7 ships came into port Sunday and apparently the Customs People were spread out pretty thin among the 7 terminals.

 

.

 

That is probably a common sense thing, that I probably never stopped to consider. I've always had little wait getting of Allure, but we usually cruise the end of April and early May. I've departed with 7 ships, but some were going TA and some were on 3-4 day cruises, so there always has been only 2-3 in port on my return.

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gypsygal08

gypsygal08

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Wow...one smart little girl. :) That's awesome (and you should brag and be proud!)

 

Ah ok...so if 3.5 feet then my DD should be able to stand. She's over that now, so in a year, she'll be taller (she's very tall for her age...takes after DH as I'm on the shorter side). Either way, we'll definitely bring water wings or something.

 

Great to hear she had such a good time with tons to do for kids. You could tell in your report.

 

Actually Grandpa, Miss Lyric is reading Chapter books at 4th/5th grade level and doing 3rd grade language arts & math. She's up to 9's now in Multiplication. (Brag brag brag, lol). Ps:. She's 42" tall.

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Laney219

Laney219

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Actually Grandpa, Miss Lyric is reading Chapter books at 4th/5th grade level and doing 3rd grade language arts & math. She's up to 9's now in Multiplication. (Brag brag brag, lol). Ps:. She's 42" tall.

 

Hey Ally...

Had a fabulous time watching your trip on here!

 

What dolphin excursion did you do in Cozumel?

 

Thanks

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gypsygal08

gypsygal08

Posted
Posted
Hey Ally...

Had a fabulous time watching your trip on here!

 

What dolphin excursion did you do in Cozumel?

 

Thanks

 

We did the "Push, Pull, Swim" dolphin excursion in Cozumel. There was another offered that offered cruisers the opportunity to pet and get a kiss from a dolphin. I did that one 10 yrs ago and its fun but the Push, Pull, Swim gives the chance to be pulled through the water and pushed by the dolphin while laying on a boogie board, plus petting and getting kissed by the dophin. Additionally, you can pet several manatees at the end of that excursion in the same area and at the end you can buy all the cool photos they've taken of you!

 

We had time for that AND the Aqua park/beach afterwards just a short taxi ride away!

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catgrab

catgrab

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Actually Grandpa, Miss Lyric is reading Chapter books at 4th/5th grade level and doing 3rd grade language arts & math. She's up to 9's now in Multiplication. (Brag brag brag, lol). Ps:. She's 42" tall.

 

The excursion Swim with the Dolphins - do they take credit card or is it cash only for the pictures? I am taking my 6yr old daughter on our Feb 8 sailing and she is super excited!

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LuCruise

LuCruise

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Actually Grandpa, Miss Lyric is reading Chapter books at 4th/5th grade level and doing 3rd grade language arts & math. She's up to 9's now in Multiplication. (Brag brag brag, lol). Ps:. She's 42" tall.

 

Very impressive. You must be very proud!!!

She seems super cute too.

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gypsygal08

gypsygal08

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They take credit cards and have a large gift shop that also takes credit cards. There is an eatery there, a Stsrbucks, and other things, like Sea Lions, to see within the complex that we didn't explore.

 

Just make sure you are signed up for the "Push, Pull, Swim" one because the other is only petting and a kiss from the dolphins.

 

Something funny that happened as we were exiting the manatee area, where everyone was in the water with several of them, was we suddenly realized one was swimming beneath us between our legs! Some cruisers were given lettuce to feed them. We were surprised by the differences of the dolphins sleek skin and the manatees tough elephant like skin.

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Laney219

Laney219

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We did the "Push, Pull, Swim" dolphin excursion in Cozumel. There was another offered that offered cruisers the opportunity to pet and get a kiss from a dolphin. I did that one 10 yrs ago and its fun but the Push, Pull, Swim gives the chance to be pulled through the water and pushed by the dolphin while laying on a boogie board, plus petting and getting kissed by the dophin. Additionally, you can pet several manatees at the end of that excursion in the same area and at the end you can buy all the cool photos they've taken of you!

 

We had time for that AND the Aqua park/beach afterwards just a short taxi ride away!

 

Thanks so much! Parents sail Sunday and are going to do one in Cozumel too!

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Trainman-2

Trainman-2

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Ally had mentioned in an email that she had problems with disembarking and I got the quoted text below from her.

 

I suggested to her that she include a summary on her post cruise survey and mention that Guest Relations should have contacted her the moment they knew there was a problem and not simply flagged her Sea Pass with a No Disembark Code!

 

We were in line of about 100 people waiting in the dining room to leave at 6:10 am waiting to disembark @ 6:30. All was well until it was our turn at 6:40 am when they scanned my card, a buzzer went off, and the machine said ACCESS DENIED!!

 

A customs lady arrived took us into the promenade a ways, said we were "randomly chosen", studied our documents, approved them, and took us back to the head of the line. They scanned our cards again and the buzzer went off, again we heard ACCESS DENIED!!

 

We were pulled from the line again and told guest services had a message for me. I said, "What?! Now?! Why wasn't there a message on our TV or phone then??" We were escorted to Guest Services and waited in a line there to be seen. At 7 am, I was told we owed $448. I said, "You have our card acct, just charge the card. We have a plane to catch!!" She says the ship cut off my acct last night, would I like them to "try" and reactivate it? Or I could just pay the rest in cash. I said, "Just charge it, I have to catch a plane!!". She leaves for a moment and returns saying they cant reactivate it. I must pay $448 cash. I said, "I don't have that much cash on me!". She asks if I can call my bank. I said, "It's 5:45 am on a Sunday, back home, No I can't call my bank and you going to make us miss our plane! Just reactivate the acct and charge the credit card, there is still $1600 credit available on it!!". She disappears again and returns asking for a different card to use. So I give her my checking debit card but advise her it wouldnt work at 2 of the ships ATM Saturday night nor Jamaica's ATM earlier in the week for some reason. She asks me, Is there money in this account? (Its now 7:15...Now I'm getting mad). I say, "YES there is money in the account!!!. She swipes the card and it doesn't approve. So she calls some number, enters my card # and it gives her an approval code. She hands me a Zero balance receipt and says, Have a nice day.

 

Back to the disembarkation line we go and are quickly escorted to the front of the line by the same customs lady, we are finally allowed access to leave the ship, but are escorted off the ramp and to a customs officer at a desk. By this time I am so stressed about probably missing our plane and having an up-charge of $600 for a new flight that I'm in tears. She hands the customs guy our documents and informs him "She's a little stressed about missing her flight.".

 

He studies our documents and motions to her at which time she leads us AWAY from the exit and into an empty room with chairs and says " Wait here ", and she was gone when I turned around to ask Why? No doubt she did not want to stick around for what followed. It is now 7:25 am and mommy came completely unglued. I asked a customs employee outside the door "Why are were being detained??? We are going to miss our plane!!!". I got, "Wait here."

 

Eventually a Customs officer waltzes in with our documents, passes by me and asks Lyric her name, birthday and age? She answered him quickly with a matter fact "6 and a 1/2". (In the midst of all this and up until that point she hadn't made a peep since it all began) He turns to me with my drivers license in hand, studying my face, and asks "What's wrong?" "You're gonna make us miss our plane!!!!. He says, "Have you ever had an identity theft?"

 

And I instantly knew what had happened.

 

"Yes I have", I answer. To which he asks me for my PIN? I provide that from memory and he says, "OK, you can go, Have a nice day."

 

(In order to have a creditor remove a fraudulent acct off of my credit report last Spring, I had to file a police report. 2 Sheriff's deputies came to my home and advised I was now on a 5 year identity theft watch list and any major purchases or applications for credit MAY require me to provide a PIN code of my choosing. Apparently the cruise expenses on board and at the ports triggered their watch list and on Saturday the ship cut off my charge account on file. The bank had already frozen my checking acct which explained why the ATM's wouldn't work on Saturday. But rather than Guest Services ask me about it or anyone call my cell or stateroom phone they all waited until I tried to leave the ship!!! This also explained why my global roaming privileges on my cell phone abruptly stopped on Thursday. WOW! Talk about Big Brother!)

 

Its now 7:30 and our flight LEAVES at 7:45.

 

We race outside to get a taxi, that I don't even know I can pay for now because both my accounts were frozen! I ask the driver if he has an express route to the airport because our plane leaves in 15 minutes. He says YES and by 7:35 the skycap was weighing our luggage. Thankfully the Federal freeze was already lifted because my card worked to pay the taxi. Whew!!

 

Then the skycap says, "You're bag is too heavy, please take out 7 lbs." I about dropped. Our plane LEAVES in 10 minutes!! So I throw open the suitcase and remove books and files of papers I thought I might study on the trip, ha ha, that never happened, I throw the suitcase back on his scale and shout to his back, "Its 5 lbs lighter, can we go?!!". He says "Yes, tell security you're late.". Security let's us go to the front of the line and we are behind a couple with 5 trays of stuff and a stroller that won't fit through the machine. I could see our gate # 9 gates away for 7 loooong minutes until we got through the scanner. I turn to grab Lyrics hand, who again hadn't made a peep since we left Customs, (she knows her Momma well, LOL) and said, "Run sweetheart! We're gonna miss our plane!"

 

No sooner did we start running when I heard our names called over the speaker followed by, "You have 2 minutes til' the door closes."

 

We got to the gate at 7:44 with a whoppin minute to spare. LOL! We fly Southwest with open seating and were checked in early online the day before to board with the 2nd boarding group but lost that being so late. It was a full flight so the gate employee called to the stewardess to move someone so Lyric could sit next to mommy. We were told to go to the back of the plane where 2 seats were waiting for us. And Lyric, who initially said she wasn't tired, was passed out before we even left the runway.

 

Thankfully, both cards worked the rest of the day so we were able to buy snacks when we landed that we intended to buy at FLL airport and we grabbed lunch on the way home.

 

What a learning experience. WOW!!!!

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gypsygal08

gypsygal08

Posted
Posted
What was lyric favorite thing i will have my son on oasis in Feb 2016. I love the threads you post. They r very informative. Its :D

Lyric's favorite activities were the Kid's splash pad and whirlpool area, the carousel and the dolphin excursion in Cozumel.

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jjtt

jjtt

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Ally had mentioned in an email that she had problems with disembarking and I got the quoted text below from her.

 

I suggested to her that she include a summary on her post cruise survey and mention that Guest Relations should have contacted her the moment they knew there was a problem and not simply flagged her Sea Pass with a No Disembark Code!

 

 

 

OMG!!! :eek: Ally, my heart was racing as I was reading this!! And it didn't happen to me, I can't imagine how you felt!!!! :eek: :eek: Glad you made the flight, with one minute to spare... :o

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cruise2snorkel

cruise2snorkel

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Posted
We did the "Push, Pull, Swim" dolphin excursion in Cozumel. There was another offered that offered cruisers the opportunity to pet and get a kiss from a dolphin. I did that one 10 yrs ago and its fun but the Push, Pull, Swim gives the chance to be pulled through the water and pushed by the dolphin while laying on a boogie board, plus petting and getting kissed by the dophin. Additionally, you can pet several manatees at the end of that excursion in the same area and at the end you can buy all the cool photos they've taken of you!

 

 

 

We had time for that AND the Aqua park/beach afterwards just a short taxi ride away!

 

 

Thank you for the information. Did you book the excursion through RCCL? The photos posted here of you and Lyric with the dolphins, are those the ones you bought through the excursion? Will they let you take your own also?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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Kathie13

Kathie13

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WOW is the only word for your disembarkation! I would have to have a word with C&A about their handling of this as you exited the ship! They should not have left it to the last minute!!

 

 

Kathie

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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gypsygal08

gypsygal08

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Posted (edited)

We bought the cd of our images to print off on our own. Sadly it isn't all our images taken on the cruise but the package of a select few to keep the cost down. There prices are outrageous and downright shameful in my opinion. Anyhow, Inside the disc packet is a card listing a website for support issues, such as 'missing photos' which is our issue and I just found out that support.mycruisephotos.com no longer works. RCCL customer service gave me the new site address whic is

 

http://support.ourcruisephotos.com

 

On this page you enter your issue and create a support ticket.

Edited by gypsygal08
typo
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gypsygal08

gypsygal08

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Thank you for the information. Did you book the excursion through RCCL? The photos posted here of you and Lyric with the dolphins, are those the ones you bought through the excursion? Will they let you take your own also?

 

Yes we booked it thru RCCL. They don't allow cameras because everyone is in the water with the dolphins the entire time and they don't want to risk anyone dropping items into the water. We all wore life vests, which they provide for all sizes. You can keep your sunglasses on but that is the only thing you are allowed to take with you into the water. Their photographer snapped all those for every participant. :)

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