Live - Allure of the Seas - Jan 6-13 Star Class!

[Allura_317]

 

10 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

🤔 Wouldn't there be 48 possible Star guests in the (6) 2 bedroom Aqua Suites? Don't they hold 8?

 

2 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

 

They do have Pullman’s don’t they in the one bedroom?  If so then 2 in the main bdr, 4 in the second bdr, and 2 on what should be a pullout in the living room. I’m sure someone told me it was a pullout. 

Yes, you two are correct, there are 6 Aqua suites with 8 guests per each, I miss counted, sorry.  That raises the count to 70 on Oasis and Allure, 76 on Harmony, and 84 on Symphony, assuming I added correctly.

[ryanbarckley]

On 1/10/2019 at 9:41 PM, Sixtynifty said:

You are enjoying my favorite room of all my cruises! My daughter and her family and I had the best time on Allure in your cabin. John was also our excellent cabin attendant. Susan was our genie. I have booked same cabin for us on Harmony in March.

Enjoying reading your posts! Thank you!

 

Glad you are enjoying! I LOVED the room and will absolutely book an ATS again soon.

 

On 1/11/2019 at 2:06 AM, gkbiiii said:

I hope you try Chef's Table, I can't wait to hear how it is!

 

Originally we didn't have chefs table (I wasn't sure my family would be interested), but, my sister saw all the signage about it and asked, so we went one night, in short, I loved it, more thorough review coming when I get there though!

 

On 1/11/2019 at 6:20 AM, driftersdream said:

Your girlfriend is hooked now, isn't she???  I see many cruises in your future!!! 

 

She tried to get me to book another on board, so, yes she's hooked. We'll be back in star class again soon!

 

On 1/11/2019 at 12:42 PM, john9543 said:

Following and enjoying your live review!  

 

I'm assuming there is only one safe in the room, can you confirm?

 

There were 2 that I counted (one in the living room, one in the master bedroom) I know someone else said that there were 3, I never got around to looking in the 3rd closet but its entirely possible.

 

On 1/11/2019 at 2:43 PM, A&L_Ont said:

Ryan, are you all OK out there?  Hopefully you haven't fallen into the Star Class food coma.  I've been close, but never never succumbed to it. LOL.

 

After Star Class, it is hard to go back.  However, if it is just the two of you. a Sky Class Crown loft on deck 17 would be perfect. Looking forward to your next update.

 

I fell in to a star class food coma combined with a cold that started setting in on the last couple days. It didn't screw up my vacation at all, but I've been home resting since we left the ship. I'm here to finish the review though!

 

On 1/11/2019 at 2:53 PM, buckeye rob said:

Andrew, are all deck 17 suites now Star Class.  I thought they were just the large corner and forward suites.  Regards, Gerry.

 

I know you guys got in a whole discussion about this (I'll follow up on those in a moment) but, I believe what you all said was correct, most of deck 17 is sky class with 1 or 2 exceptions. One of those exceptions being the Royal Loft Suite. We actually got Charlie to show it too us on the last day after that family had left.

[ryanbarckley]

On 1/11/2019 at 4:24 PM, mac_tlc said:

We had room 8330 on Oasis and there were three safes in it, one in each closet.

 

mac_tlc

 

I never checked the third closet (for the second bedroom) in ours, but there were definitely 2 in ours.

 

On 1/11/2019 at 11:30 PM, Dave85 said:

Really enjoying your review.  Thanks for taking the time!

 

I'm glad it's proving enjoyable. More to come!

 

On 1/12/2019 at 8:45 AM, Ourusualbeach said:

Lol, the food coma.  We felt the same way by the last day aboard the Allure with the UDP.  

 

So. Much. Food.

 

On 1/12/2019 at 9:32 AM, ownedbypets said:

 

We raised the white flag about mid way through the cruise!  We told our Genie to please not send any more snacks to our suite.  So much was being wasted.  We tried but failed.  Maybe we will succeed next time!

 

Charlie only really sent a small plate of snacks for us each day, and even those we barely touched. THERES SO MUCH FOOD.

 

On 1/12/2019 at 11:29 AM, A&L_Ont said:

 

Ryan, sorry for interrupting your thread.  Hopefully you have recovering from the meat sweats.

 

 

Gerry, if I remember the actual Chefs Table is included but the wine pairings are not. Sea food tower is included at Chops. Coffee at Starbucks is but food items are not. We have had some smaller informal gatherings and we never had an up charge, including food from Sabor for example  pop, basic beer and wine. No bartender etc, but you can get that at a cost for drink and bartenders time. 

 

As for the Grand and Owners Panoramic cabins they are spacious, but they have no loft and the balconies are smaller.  They do have a hot tub but it also takes up space from your balcony. I have attached a pic for you to see where they are located.

 

I think I am mostly recovered at this point! Chef's table was included, wine pairings were not, there was a $25 charge for those (including any tip charge). Starbucks food items, and caviar in coastal kitchen were the only other things not included. Everything else they just gave us as soon as they saw a black card.

 

On 1/12/2019 at 11:29 AM, A&L_Ont said:

 

On 1/12/2019 at 12:47 PM, A&L_Ont said:

We just got our email from Charlie today. Hopefully Ryan’s missing status means that he is relaxed under some shade, with a drink in his hand. 

 

Ryan, you guys surviving? 

 

We Did survive! Many many drinks in hand, relaxing, and now recovering. More to come soon though!

 

On 1/12/2019 at 11:29 AM, A&L_Ont said:

On 1/12/2019 at 1:51 PM, buckeye rob said:

Wonder if Charlie will be around in September ?  Sooo far off.  Maybe Ryan is so "Star Classed" he is having Charlie finish his review !  LOL.  Gerry.

 

I laughed when I read this, and seriously considered asking Charlie haha. We are facebook friends now so maybe I still could?

 

On 1/12/2019 at 11:29 AM, A&L_Ont said:

On 1/12/2019 at 10:16 PM, sprout76 said:

I’m sailing  in the 4 bedroom villa suite on Symphony in March, so very excited to read your review so I can get even more excited about what I have to look forward to! My only fear is that I will not want to sail any other way in the future 😀  Hope the rest of your cruise was amazing.

 

Yup. That's the same problem I now have. Star Class or bust. My gf is the same way, she said she'd send me some money from each paycheck to save up for it because boy is it worth it. I sadly agree.

 

On 1/12/2019 at 11:29 AM, A&L_Ont said:

On 1/13/2019 at 7:49 AM, A&L_Ont said:

 

Hope so.  Hopefully Ryan will return and finish off his thread.  It would be nice to hear how the rest of the week went.  When you have so many friends and family together, which is the real focus, it can be hard to continue a thread. Here’s hoping he returns. 

 

I will finish! Don't worry! Just spent a little time recovering, but I'll be finishing over the next day or two.

 

On 1/12/2019 at 11:29 AM, A&L_Ont said:

On 1/13/2019 at 1:11 PM, Paulette3028 said:

Who was the Activity Manager on board?  I keep a listing on Cruise Critic of the Activity Managers and the best information comes from cruisers.  Thanks in advance.

 

Our activities manager was a gentleman named Flavio. But! during quest he mentioned that he was checking out after this cruise, and the new activities manager was a Jamaican woman, I did not catch her name.

 

On 1/12/2019 at 11:29 AM, A&L_Ont said:

4 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

 

They do have Pullman’s don’t they in the one bedroom?  If so then 2 in the main bdr, 4 in the second bdr, and 2 on what should be a pullout in the living room. I’m sure someone told me it was a pullout. 

 

 

Yes pullman's are in the second bedroom. 2 in the master bedroom, 4 in the second (2 pullmans and either 2 twins or the royal king) and 2 in the living room on the pullout couch (though I did see in a thread on here somewhere that they were able to make up the other little seat in the living room as a bed as well for a smaller person (think teen or younger), we didn't do that but I think that is also possible (for comfort or space, not an added capacity to the room).

 

[ryanbarckley]

On 1/12/2019 at 1:51 PM, buckeye rob said:

Wonder if Charlie will be around in September ?  Sooo far off.  Maybe Ryan is so "Star Classed" he is having Charlie finish his review !  LOL.  Gerry.

 

I forgot to mention in my original reply. Charlie has been on board for almost 2 years continuously. He said he's not sure what's next for him he may establish some roots on land, so he may be off in April when his current contract is up (but TBD). I hope to see him again on some more cruises!

[ryanbarckley]

2 hours ago, jnamadison said:

I know to excuse Ryan's absense. We did a ATS (8330) on Oasis last year. I had every intention of keeping the board updated, and then fell into the vacation of it all. Then you get back and just trying to remember you don't have a genie anymore to make things wonderful takes a bit of time. Definitely the best experience! We had Smitha and she was/is fantastic.

 

This was the first ship where I can honestly say there is too much to do! I had done Anthem and Freedom class before and felt like I got it all in, oasis class got me though. I mean that as a mostly positive thing, there are SO MANY choices, but this was the first time I really couldn't do it all.

 

[buckeye rob]

Thanks Ryan, we knew you would be back.  It does seem Andrew and others, that some ships charge,  ie suite setups for guests and others do not.  Ryan, I believe said they did not for his soiree.  ( unless you got a surprise upon debarkation Ryan )?  How was the  daily afternoon cocktail hour ?  Did you partake of that ?  That one intrigues me !!   Can't wait to hear more.  Thanks Ryan.  Regards, Gerry.

[lovescats5]

We were in 8330 on Oasis and never had noise from the climbing wall or any place else.  The balcony was awesome and if I ever sailed on an Oasis class again it would only be in an A1 or A2.

[ryanbarckley]

21 hours ago, buckeye rob said:

Thanks Ryan, we knew you would be back.  It does seem Andrew and others, that some ships charge,  ie suite setups for guests and others do not.  Ryan, I believe said they did not for his soiree.  ( unless you got a surprise upon debarkation Ryan )?  How was the  daily afternoon cocktail hour ?  Did you partake of that ?  That one intrigues me !!   Can't wait to hear more.  Thanks Ryan.  Regards, Gerry.

 

Yeah officially they are supposed to Charge if there is anything that is not for the suite guests. They get around that by just "ordering food for you". Sometimes they can get away with more, sometimes not. With mine, we just had a couple small plates, so it was easy (that's all we needed and it worked out well).

 

19 hours ago, lovescats5 said:

We were in 8330 on Oasis and never had noise from the climbing wall or any place else.  The balcony was awesome and if I ever sailed on an Oasis class again it would only be in an A1 or A2.

 

I'm already pricing out some A1 or A2s for next year, I loved it and can't wait to be back.

[RFerrington]

21 hours ago, buckeye rob said:

Thanks Ryan, we knew you would be back.  It does seem Andrew and others, that some ships charge,  ie suite setups for guests and others do not.  Ryan, I believe said they did not for his soiree.  ( unless you got a surprise upon debarkation Ryan )?  How was the  daily afternoon cocktail hour ?  Did you partake of that ?  That one intrigues me !!   Can't wait to hear more.  Thanks Ryan.  Regards, Gerry.

We have had 4 cabin crawl receptions on Star Class cruises before and never been charged a dime except for the sparkling wine that we purchased (at a very good price, IMA).  They usually bring meat trays and desserts from Jaimie's and bring all of the water, soda and beer we ask for.  Food service brings plates, napkins, silverware, glasses, serving utensils - everything we will need and then comes and picks it all up when the event is over.

 

I think where the extra charges start coming in is if you have any liquor brought in or if you have any servers to help. We never do either of these and the events have always been free, even though they know very well that our guests are not in suites.

 

Maybe it will be different on Anthem.  I guess we'll find out soon !

[ryanbarckley]

Alright! Let's continue this party. It's time for Cozumel! We woke up to the rumbles of the ship docking in Cozumel, and were excited to be somewhere new that I hadn't ever been. We stepped out on to the balcony and were welcomed by sun and the longest pier ever.

 

 

We were also docked next to Aida Luna, which I sometimes see in the New York Harbor. Theres a Carnival ship somewhere near us too, you just couldn't see it from our balcony.

 

 

After forgetting to order things for room service every day so far, we opted to not order any sort of breakfast room service. I knew we had an all inclusive lunch coming to us for our excursion, and was starting to really feel the amount of food we were having in general. I opted to walk with my sisters and get protein smoothies from the spa cafe (which are delicious, and included with star class! Normally the protein is extra).

 

After a quick call to Charlie to confirm towels would be available on the gangway, we were off to go swim with the dolphins. We headed downstairs via the elevators, and pushed the gangway button. I expected to be let off on deck 2, but the elevator shouted GANGWAY EXIT HERE on deck 3, and then we had to walk down the stairs, it would not go to deck 2 for whatever reason. I hadn't ever seen that before and it functioned differently on other days, so it felt a bit confusing. The tv monitors in the elevator lobby on deck 3 did point everyone where to go, and it was easy from there. As we were coming up to the gangway to actually scan out, they were reminding everyone over 18 to please have a government issued photo ID, and that any minors needed to be with a parent. When my sister scanned out they very quickly stopped her, and looked to me for confirmation that I was her parent (I am not, but I quickly pointed to my mother who was there, and we were on our way. We also had a letter notarized from both my mother and father allowing me to make decisions just in case). I was a bit confused as in the past when getting towels for leaving the boat, they had them set up near the gangway on board. I asked and they said they were available at the bottom of the ramp. We walked a bit, and didn't see anything, and only after walking most of the way down the pier, near the other gangway, and not at all labeled, did I find a tent set up with towels. We asked for ours and as soon as they saw our black cards, we were quickly on our was without scanning, towels in hand.

 

Approaching the end of the pier, and entering the port area, I noticed a nice bottleneck of people. I quickly realized that officers were stopping everyone with a dog to smell any bags being brought IN to the port. This was a first time getting stopped heading off the boat. The dog quickly smelled our bag and everything was of course fine. We walked through the port area looking for a taxi, and found that area quite easily. There were plenty of shops, but no one really bothered us beyond the normal generic calls to anyone passing by to come in. We got to the taxi area, and saw the line, and several different people were asking where we were going and if we had a reservation. Once I told them we needed to get to Chankanaab, they waved us in to the line. There were signs up clearly listing the prices for common destinations, and quantities of people. I had originally read and been told via email (from Chankanaab) that taxis would only hold 4 and that we'd have to get 2 separate ones but they had plenty available that would seat all 6 of us and we were quickly in one on our way. The driver quickly brought us there, and dropped us at the entrance. He never actually asked to be paid, but I handed him the money (with a few dollars tip) and he seemed satisfied.

 

It was about 10:15 at this point, so we were one of the only people there, it was very quiet. After going to a ticket window and letting them know I had a reservation for the dolphins, we were quickly told to go to a small podium off to the side. A woman checked our names and gave us wristbands to enter the park and said to check in at the desk at 11 am (our reservation time). She also let us know that this gave us access to the whole area including beach, bathrooms, lockers, lunch (in the "VIP" area), and the sea lions show which was at 10:30, 12:30 and 2:30. We walked in, noted where the desk was and decided to try and find the sea lion show. We were one of maybe 10 people in the show area, and sat and waited, and waited. 10:40 rolled around and I saw a couple people moving around, but no evidence that any show was actually starting. I was beginning to think something was wrong but someone started talking in Spanish over the microphone. I speak a bit of Spanish, but the sound was so muffled I couldn't understand what was going on at all. I thought they might be doing a sound check, but it seemed like they were starting the show? The whole thing was very awkward, and didn't make any sense and finally around 10:50 we actually saw a sea lion come out. It jumped in the water, got out, while they spoke mostly in Spanish (every 3rd or 4th sentence was English, and very muffled, I'm normally decent with understanding accents).

 

 

After that, they took this sea lion that had just barely come out, and put it away in the back. They introduced another one and wanted us to cheer for him to come out, but after another 5 minutes of waiting, one never came, they said he was "sleeping" and introduced a different one instead. They said anyone who wanted a picture with the sea lion should come line up. They of course brought out their photographer, and made it impossible to take a photo with your phone and got everyone who wanted one through, this was my view of my sisters:

 

 

We decided to leave the show at this point, since nothing was happening. We walked over to the area they had told us to check in at, and just kind of stood there. There were no signs, I asked someone if we needed to do anything and they said just wait. Someone finally came over with a whole bunch of papers and spent a few minutes differentiating between the several different types of dolphin swims they had (interaction, Royal, Royal VIP, manatees, etc) and separated everyone in to groups. This was very confusing both for the staff member and us. We got separated appropriately, and got put in to life jackets. They were quick to remind us NO PHONES, we'd have "Spanish paparazzi" with us.

 

They walked us out on the pier and again separated us, and asked us to wait for a few minutes and someone would come get us. They had some water set up with limes in it which we had some of and BOY are the fresh Mexican limes more pungent than we get in the supermarket here in the US, they were delicious. Someone finally came over and spoke to us and explained a little about the different things we'd do and then someone in a wet suit came and said to follow her. All the staff seemed continually just a little confused, not so much that anything got messed up, but still confused. We walked out on to the pier, and then were turned around and directed elsewhere, and then finally landed at a spot. Sandals off, walk in the water and we were on our way! Heres what the whole pier area looked like, they had A LOT of dolphins here, more than I had seen at many other "dolphin swim/interaction" type places.

 

 

The water is very rocky at the land, but out where we swam it was fine. We went in the water and each of us was able to pet, kiss, hug, "shake hands", have a dorsal tow (where you hold their dorsal fin and get pulled through the water), and have a foot push (they push you up out of the water superman style). It was lots of fun, and the dolphins were very friendly. They of course took LOTS of pictures the whole time (more on that later).

 

Now, when I had been looking in to this, they had listed on their website the dolphin swim, sea lion interaction and manatee interaction. My gf LOVES manatees so she wanted to meet a manatee THAT is why we were here. I had emailed to see if there were any "deals" doing both a manatee interaction and dolphin interaction, which they said we could save a bit more money doing both. After some back and forth and a "Black Friday" deal, they offered me the following: Royal Dolphin Swim VIP plus 15 minutes with the manatees for $80 each OR, just a manatee interaction for $60 each. It seemed stupid to pass up the dolphin swim, AND open lunch for $20, so we went for it. I made it clear in my emails that I cared about the manatees and thats why we were there, and the woman said the 15 minutes with the manatees were the same as the interaction, and we could ask and they'd let us feed them.

 

So, after the dolphins I asked about our manatees, and they led us over to the pool with manatees. As we were walking in, I said to our "Mexican paparazzi", make sure to take photos of my gf with the manatee, we'll buy them! We were in the water with them for no more than 5-10 minutes, they walked them by us and almost wouldn't let us pet them (they were almost pushing us out of the way), and let my gf give a small piece of lettuce to them. No photos were taken. They got us out of the water and QUICKLY ushered us in to the photo area where they wanted $300 for "all of our photos" some of which were very nice, but no way am I paying that much. As we left the guy came and offered us a "deal" for $200 for all the photos, still no, and I told him we only had one photo we cared about, which I specifically told our photographer, and they didn't bother taking it!

 

My gf was a bit upset, and wanted to let them know why (she works in customer service, so she didn't yell), they told her that they don't offer photos with the manatees, which she said should have been made clearer ahead of time (I agree, I'm not sure I would have done this). The next part was confusing, they offered to let us do a manatee interaction at a discount? Why would I want to give you more money to still not get what I asked for? We let it go and decided to go enjoy lunch. We went to the "VIP" area and were quickly given a seat and our waiter asked what wed like to drink. He brought us as many drinks/shots as we wanted and we were able to go to the buffet they had set up. The tequila was good, margaritas were just ok. The buffet was kind of what I expected for a cheap included lunch. It looked fine, but was nothing to write home about. Here are our tacos and nachos:

 

 

 

The buffet was small and situated off to the side, very close to all the dolphin stuff, but very far from the beach and anything else in the park (they had other things you could pay more for on the beach).

 

 

 

Just off to the right of everything, you can catch the docked ships in the distance

 

 

We decided to walk down and see what the beach was like. On the way we of course snapped some pictures of the very nice dolphin sculpture that they had.

 

 

We found a small beach area and got a few open seats.

 

 

If you walk a bit further down, theres a much larger open area of the beach as well

 

 

I decided I wanted to do a bit of snorkeling. They had guided snorkels and snorkels available to rent, but I had brought my own (they're $30 on amazon, well worth it even if you want to just do it once, they cost the same to rent most of the time, mine had the tube that didnt allow water to come in, and mine was clean). I should also note, the entrance to the water here is VERY rocky. I didn't have many issues, but plenty of people would dislike it. They have stairs to avoid most of it, but it should be noted. While snorkeling I brought my phone in for a bit to take some video (I have an iPhone XS max, which is waterproof for this basic sort of stuff), here's a clip:

 

 

 

After I snorkeled, we decided to head back to the boat. Exiting the park was similar to entering it, there weren't many people around. There were a few souvenir shops who were shouting at us to come in and get our "Free item just for doing the dolphin swim". I went to walk over toward a group of taxis I saw off to the side but was quickly told I should talk to a gentleman who was basically hiding off to the side, he quickly called us a taxi and we were in and on our way. Again, no one ever said a price to me, I just assumed it was the same price as going to the park, and paid the driver the same, and again he seeemed satisfied. We were quickly back in the port and walking out on the worlds longest pier again:

 

 

 

There was just a liiiiittle bit of rain, not enough to cause any trouble, as we were boarding again. We got back on and were all tired, and hungry, so I believe we went through Johnny Rockets real quick. Then it was time to leave Cozumel, here's a couple pictures I snapped from our balcony during sail away.

 

 

I'm not sure why, but I always love looking at the ships wake.

 

 

 

Dinner tonight was at Samba Grill, which is the Rodizio style restaurant in the Solarium. Sadly I was already very full so I didnt each much. We were one of the first customers in for the night, so the buffet was VERY well stocked, and there was plenty of meat ready.

 

 

 

 

Everything was DELICIOUS, I really wish I was more hungry as the meat was excellent. If you're a meat lover (you all know I am at this point), it's highly recommended. Charlie stopped by during dinner to confirm we'd be going to the shows that night, and then we were done. I almost felt bad for our waitress she seemed disappointed that we didn't eat more.

 

We went and relaxed and then got ready for the headliner show. We had The Beatle Maniacs on board. Charlie had seats for us right up front, and it was lots of fun. There was a little issue with the lights for about the first 30 seconds of the show (they didnt come on!) but otherwise everything was great and fun.

 

 

 

Immediately after the show it was time for the 70s Party on the promenade. My gf and sister decided they wanted to change in to some more "70s" clothes right after the show. Of course, that took what would have been a 30 second walk up to the promenade, and turned it into a 10 minute plus elevator ride/walk to our room and BACK to the promenade. On our elevator ride up I saw Charlie patiently waiting for us at the top of the stairs in the promenade from the theater, I felt bad I didnt want him to wait! My gf and sister quickly changed and we raced back to the promenade. Charlie was still patiently waiting for us, with some light up rings and glow sticks in hand, and then it was time to party! We talked with Charlie for a little and took a moment to take a selfie!

 

 

Shortly after that, the bridge unfolded over the promenade and it was time to disco!

 

 

 

We had a great time at the party, and then headed back to our room for the night. John made us a monkey!

 

 

And that's it for Cozumel day! More soon, these take longer to write than I thought! Ask any questions you might have, I hope you're enjoying as much as I did!

[A&L_Ont]

Ryan, welcome back!  Glad to see you wrapping up your cruise experience.  Sometimes we lose people mid cruise and they never make it back. Thanks for posting the picture with Charlie. A week Sunday we will get to meet him first hand. 

 

Glad to read you are are feeling better.  A cold sucks, at home and more on holidays. 

[ryanbarckley]

Ok, ok, I disappeared. Well, I've been sick for about 3 weeks now and the meds have been knocking me out (since the moment I got back if you're keeping track). I'm hoping I'm finally wrapping up the sick part but, I PROMISE this thread is getting finished somehow! Writing about my next day now, if any of you are still getting notifications.

[MzShae]

Sorry you've been sick; I'd like to read about the rest of your trip.

[Madsofa]

Just finished reading your review and am enjoying it. Can’t wait to read the rest. We’ll be on the Allure in March. 😁😁

[ryanbarckley]

Alright, let's talk about Roatan. I think this port was the best one for everyone in my group, I REALLY enjoyed it. Here we go!

 

We arrived right on time to a beautiful sunny day in the port. I think this port was the only port we sailed in to where I walked outside and went, alright, I'm on an island. I really felt like I was somewhere different. My gf was a bit taken back, as she hadn't ever seen anything so far from the first world we live in.

 

 

 

 

We had a busy day in Roatan, so we got up early and stopped by the windjammer for breakfast. No pictures, just a quick standard windjammer meal. We got off the boat with no problem, and made our attempts at navigating the port.

 

This port is SMALL, so it was packed with people. We had a "best of Roatan" private tour booked through Bodden Tours. They did send us directions on where to find them, they weren't perfect, the signage in the port wasn't perfect, but there's really only one are where they have all the taxis and tour people lined up, and Bodden is the first kiosk there so we didn't have many issues. There were LOTs of people talking fast and offering tours and experiences and asking us what we wanted to do. Most of them if you ignore them just move on, a couple we had to say we're all good, and they moved on. As a result of all the people looking to pull people in for tours, this area can get quite noisy and people are moving quickly, it didn't bother me but I'm sure it would throw some people off. 

 

After finding the Boddens tour desk, they quickly checked that my name was already on our list, and they asked us to stand by off to the side, and said a driver would be assigned to us shortly. After 5 or so minutes, Victor Bodden himself came over and introduced himself and wished us a great day in Roatan. Victor ushered us toward a vehicle and introduced to our driver/tour guide Jerry for the day. He noted what things I had requested for our tour to our driver, and we were off. We were in a standard looking van, with air conditioning, no issues that I had with the car at all. 

 

I grabbed a couple shots of Allure while we were driving up on to the island:

 

 

 

Jerry first took us to our first stop at the zip line and "Victors monkey business." Here's the very small parking lot:

 

This is run by Victor Bodden as well, so this is where we paid for our Zip lining, monkey visit, and our tour for the day. That WAS noted in the emails that were sent to us, but not very well explained when we arrived, so I was briefly a bit confused when she asked me for $340. I confirmed this was for both and we were all good very quickly, I think they may have over charged me by $20, but not purposefully, I think think there was some confusion about how many of us were zip lining and I didn't even realize it until later, not the end of the world, the prices were very reasonable in the first place. I made sure Jerry knew that the sloths were a big priority for my sister (we're talking Kristen Bell on Ellen levels of love, if any of you have ever seen that video), and he said we'd be zip lining first but all would be good for the sloths (the "go to sleep" at 11 am, and you can't hold them any more, only take selfies near them). Jerry walked us to the zip line staff, and quickly got us a guide, and told them we had horseback riding at 11 so they should get a move on! The guides were very friendly, got us all set up in to our gear and sent us walking toward the first zip!

 

 

There are I believe 12 total zips at victors, of varying lengths. There's a short walk up to the first one, enough to get me out of breath (maybe 5-10 minutes depending on your speed), but not bad. This was at the beginning of our walk, you can see some of the zip lines at the top oo the picture there:

 

 

All the platforms looked well built, equipment seemed fairly new, and we did NOT ever have to "brake" ourselves. Some zip lines in the islands require riders to wear gloves and apply the brakes themselves toward the end of the zip, this can prove quite scary, and not always successful for people who are scared, so this was good! We had multiple guides with us (generally 2 + a photographer who joined after the first 2 zips, though we did have as many as 4 a couple of times, the staff moved themselves among the zip lines VERY quickly). All the staff spoke English fairly well, and were incredibly friendly, and encouraging, especially with my mother who has anxiety. She's zipped before but she did get some anxiety part of the way through, the staff was able to calm her down very well, and keep her having a great time. As I mentioned, we did have a photographer with us who was taking pictures, the staff was more than happy to take some with my phone as well though, this isn't like the dolphin experiences where they rob you to get a picture. 

 

Heres a picture of the first zip of the group:

 

Throughout the zip lines, there are briefly some walks and stairs throughout, nothing required as much as the first hike up though, I found myself enjoying the movement, but was still a bit out of breath (I am not at all in shape, for those of you curious for comparisons, I don't "work out" at all). There was also a rope bridge, which they had us stop and pose for a picture on:

 

 

There are briefly some views during the walks, and even better ones during the zips themselves! I wasn't ever brave enough to have my phone out during our zips, but here's one small view I enjoyed while we were walking:

 

 

We also encountered a cow while we were moving between lines! He looked at us briefly but wasn't at all bothered by us, and we weren't bothered by him:

 

 

The zips were sometimes "in" the trees and sometimes through some big open fields with trees below and around you. I really enjoyed the variety and the views we had. This photo is of one of the longer zips they had that crosses down a big field.

 

 

There was some brief rain in the forecast for today (your standard island rain of 10 minutes and done), it happened just after we started zipping. It was very light, and actually wound up cooling us off during one of the longer zips, I actually enjoyed it and it certainly didn't put a damper on our day. 

 

Some of the zips they offered to have us go with a partner (I managed to go with my gf, sister, and mother, so we all got to go with each other at one point or another). They also offered to let us go upside down on one of the zips. My sister was particularly excited with that:

 

 

My mom got a bit of anxiety on this one and said she wouldn't, but our guide quickly calmed her down and promised he'd go with her and that she could do it! They both enjoyed the zip, despite the odd positioning.

 

 

My mom wound up zipping with one of our other guides as well, who was just as friendly and helpful.

 

 

Toward the end of our zips, our main guide paused to tell us a few things. 1. that the last zip was VERY short and quick, so the breaking there is sometimes a bit abrupt, he said not to worry, just keep your legs up and it'll be fine (I wasn't at all jostled by it, but I understand why its mentioned). 2. to thank us for being there and that they hoped we enjoyed everything. and 3. the standard, hey we work for tips, and any tip is appreciated speech. I of course planned on tipping them, but I didnt love that they said "the best way to tip us is with 20s". They're working hard and they went above and beyond what I thought they were required to do though, so I was more than happy to tip. 

 

After the last zip, theres just a guy with a laptop sitting there. He asked us if we wanted to see some of the pictures they had taken of us. I was prepared for the pricing to be astronomical, but we looked through and some of the pictures were good so I asked. He said for $25, you give me your email, and I send you an email later tonight with every single one. Done! That seemed downright reasonable. He said "great, you'll receive an email tonight, and if not tonight, tomorrow, and if not tomorrow, then the next day, until you get your pictures." I laughed at the humor and paid the man! We had our pictures almost as soon as I was back on board, everything was very quick. And as a note, the last 3 pictures above came from them, and these next 3 did as well. They're not perfect, but it's also hard to grab a picture when we're zipping along as fast as we were, so I'm quite happy with what we got.

 

 

 

 

After we got off the zip line, we found Jerry, who got us a guide to walk us through the monkeys and sloths. They have all sorts of animals here, and we were able to go inside and pet/interact with Monkeys, Sloths, lemurs (they were asleep) and parrots. We had plenty of time to get pictures with them all, and our guide was very friendly and had lots to say about each of the animals they had.

 

We visited the monkeys first, they told us their names, and brought us in, we left our bags in a small area that we entered first before going in with the actual monkeys, make sure you do this if you ever visit them! They grab at EVERYTHING. 

 

As soon as we were in with the monkeys, they were all over. They're clearly looking for the little kernels of food that the guide had, and quickly got them all over us, putting them in our hands and pockets. I giggled each time the monkey came and checked my shirt pocket. The monkeys seemed very happy and well kept.

 

 

 

Next we were off to the birds! We walked in, talked about them a bit and then were able to hold one and were encouraged to bring it up and kiss it if we liked, the birds were very calm and happy to be held.

 

 

 

 

Next we walked by a some other monkeys

 

 

and then in to the lemurs, they were sleeping, so we just pet them briefly and took a couple of photos.

 

 

Of course, we said hello to our friend toucan sam

 

And then, it was time for the big moment, the sloths. Now, I was not joking when I said my sister loves sloths. She merely saw someone else holding one and immediately burst in to tears

 

 

 

They brought us over 2 sloths, and we were all able to hold one and take plenty of pictures, they were so calm and friendly, it was nice to be able to hold one for a little. My sisters reactions to the sloth even got a big smile from the staff who get to see this every day.

 

 

 

 

And that was that! So worth it, it was really enjoyable and we all had a good time. The sloths, though slow, were more than happy to pose for some pictures. We tipped our monkey guide and took a few minutes to look through the gift shop they had on site. They had some very nice stuff, that part of me wishes I had bought a little of, but I'm also happy to have saved some money. There was a woman in the gift shop who was happy to talk about anything they had, and I'm sure we could have haggled a bit.

 

After a quick bathroom break (as a note, the bathrooms were nothing fancy, and there was no toilet paper that I saw, something thats fairly common in islands like this, but may be a bit, odd to some here), we spent a couple minutes looking for Jerry, and were on our way. He had our car cooled off and ready for us. At this point, 4 of the 6 of us WERE supposed to go straight to horseback riding (we had booked it for 11 am, and it was, 11 am). But Jerry let us know they were running a bit behind, and that he had already talked to them and we'd go meet them in a little bit. We got in the car and told him we wanted to do a little sight seeing, and possibly grab some lunch. He took us down by the water, to what definitely looked still fairly "local" but definitely a more tourist friendly area. 

 

 

After talking with him for a little about life on the island, and what he does for a living (he jumps between being a tour guide, and working on various cruise ships, he's normally a cook and has been on several Royal ships, and a bunch of others), it was time for lunch. At first, Jerry was suggesting the more standard tourist options, but after we talked with him a little we emphasized that we wanted to go wherever he likes to eat lunch. After a bit of reassuring that we meant somewhere not necessarily for tourists, he did a u turn and drove back in to the island a bit, after a short drive we arrived at "Omar's local food stand"

 

 

Jerry parked the van, quickly got us seated, asked what we wanted (he basically turned in to our waiter!) and jumped behind the counter and helped the staff with our food. THIS was exactly the type of place we were looking for.

 

 

The place was small, with locals, and everything was fresh and home made. We were offered either short ribs or fried chicken. After a bit of talking, we chose to get a couple of both, and my sisters husband (he's Peruvian, so he speaks fluent Spanish) also found out they had fish, and opted to get that. Jerry brought us our food, and a big bottle of island soda, with cups.

 

 

He also sat and ate lunch himself after we were taken care of, we paid for his lunch as well, a tip part 1 I suppose! Everyting was AMAZING. I never knew I could enjoy rice and beans as much as I did here. They also gave us some hot sauce, that was excellent. This was my short ribs, everything was served with plantains, rice and beans, and a potato salad.

 

My sisters husbands fish took a bit longer, and was also EXCELLENT.

 

 

I didn't get any picture of the fried chicken, but I enjoyed that as well. A gentleman came through while we were waiting for food selling banana bread, we were really hesitant at first, but bought one slice. I wish I had bought more as it turned out to be the best banana bread I've ever had, bar none. It was so moist and fluffy, I loved it. Jerry was surprised when we had banana bread later, and asked where we got it.

 

 

After lunch, Jerry took us to another spot for a nice view. There was a shop for rum cakes (we didnt go in), a different zip line experience near by, a few gift shops and a small gift shop perched at the top of the mountain we were on, with a beautiful view. The shop was set up like a light house where you climb up and could go outside the top (3 floors) for a view, and they had anywhere on the ground blocked off so the only place you get the view is inside. We walked in and went upstairs and were THEN told that going upstairs requires admission of $2 each, which was posted on a sign. I gave the guy a few dollars (less than $2 each) and he said it was fine. It was a really beautiful view out at the top and we took a few minutes to take some pictures and look around much of the island.

 

 

 

 

 

And of course you can't have a view like that and not take a cute couples picture

 

We came down from the view, and it was time to go horseback riding. Jerry took us to meet up with our horses. We had booked this through "El Rancho Barrio Dorcas", which was recommended on Bodden tours website. They're a separate company, but have clearly dealt with Bodden tours many times. Jerry told us he had told them to meet us a bit further up the hill than they normally start, since were were already in that direction. I think that saved us from a few minutes ride up a roadway that a few people have mentioned in their reviews riding with this company. We basically pulled over on the side of the road, and met up with the horses. Jerry took my sister and her husband to do some alternate activities while we rode, since they did not want to ride (he took them to a couple different island shops, and they came back with some really nice 100% real cocoa butter that they paid like $5 for, that would be quite expensive here in the states). We were quickly set up with our horses, and met Roosmarie, who we emailed with to set up our scheduled time. We found out she does not own the horses, the gentleman who was with us when we arrived named Sharkey (not sure if I'm spelling that right) owns and takes care of them, Roosmarie manages the website and scheduling for him, and comes down to Roatan to vacation a few times throughout the year. The ride was just the 4 of us, along with Roosmarie and our guide (who did not speak a lick of English, but Roosmarie translated for us when necessary). After getting set up, they asked if anyone had ridden before or not, when my girlfriend said she hadn't ever ridden, Roosmarie had our guide "lead" her horse (basically the guide sits on her horse and has a leash back to my gfs horse), after a few minutes of this my gf asked if this was required, she wanted to ride by herself, and she was able to do so.

 

The ride took us along some local roads (past a school, and plenty of local homes), we said hello to the locals who were sitting, and they happily said hello back. We rode out on to the beach, and in to the water a few times. Our guide offered to take my phone and take some photos a few times as well.

 

This was one of the roads we rode along.

 

The beach views were wonderful

 

 

and as I mentioned we saw some local kids a few different times.

 

My sisters horse wasn't being very cooperative with her, so our guide swapped with her, minor issue, quickly fixed. She didn't make it in to our first group picture since the horse wouldn't come over.

 

We got plenty of nice pictures though, Roosmarie is the one on the far right in this one

 

 

 

 

I of course managed to take a couple bumpy selfies and pictures throughout our ride as well.

 

 

Once we were done on the beach, we walked off, stopped briefly for the horses to get some water, and then our guide took us up to a bit faster speed (a quick trot), nothing too fast, but a little faster for us to experience.

 

 

There was a storm heading our way, so I think she took us back a bit early (the ride is normally 1.5-2 hours, we were out for just over an hour). Since there was clearly some rain coming, I wasn't at all bothered by it though. We arrived back where we started, Roosmarie asked one of the other people waiting with the horses to call Jerry and have him come back, and we got off the horses, paid Roosmarie, and then had a few minutes to wait. We took a few minutes to pet the horses and take a few pictures. My gf really took a liking to hers (and she seemed to like her too).

 

 

 

Jerry arrived shortly after, and we got in the car with my sister and her husband. It was starting to rain and everyone was quite tired at this point! We had a couple more brief things to do though. I wanted to stop for alcohol (Roatan is definitely not the best island to do your alcohol shopping in, but it was when I had time, so we asked Jerry to bring us somewhere). He brought us to a small shop with a decent selection, and I bought a nice bottle of Scotch to give to my gf's father (he loves his scotch!, every Friday is "Scotch Friday!" accompanied by a nice post on facebook). We also stopped briefly at the Stone Castle Cameo Factory. I wanted to see this but by the time we arrived they were mostly closed for the day. They still happily took out a few trays of cameos for us to look at, and we bought a bag of sugar cane from a gentleman outside. That stop was a bit of a disappointment for me, as I was thinking I'd buy something but, not a big deal.

 

After that Jerry took us back to the port, we offered some of our sugar cane to him, and he laughed and showed us the bag he had bought himself. We pulled in right where we had started, said goodbye to Jerry (with a tip of course) and walked back to the boat. 

 

More in a moment! I'm getting worried about how long this single post is!

 

 

 

 

[ryanbarckley]

Alright! now, back on board, we all washed up and decided to relax. We had a couple of hours to kill until dinner time. Tonight was the Chef's Table for 4 of us! We hadn't originally been scheduled to go here, but my sister and gf saw some info in chefs table on board and really wanted to go, so we opted to switch our dinner form the Mexican restaurant on board (I'm blanking on the name, it's 2 am here) to this. Charlie had no problem doing this, and confirmed that the wine pairing was an additional $25 for us (I don't think it should be, and I know sometimes star class isn't charged for it on some ships, but there's Royal's consistent policies for you!). We had originally been set up for a 6 pm dinner and an 8 pm ice skating show. I was worried we wouldn't be able to see ice skating but Charlie said we could do the 9:30 show instead! We received an invitation the night before (I dont think I grabbed a picture of it) and were asked to meet in the library at 6:20 pm. Now, my gf had thrown my only khaki pants in to be washed that morning, and since we hadn't told John that we needed it back for dinner that night, I didn't want to cause a fuss (I'm sure I could have called and they would've made a fuss and gotten them for us, but since this was our mistake, I didn't feel right doing so), so, I wore a nice pair of khaki shorts to dinner, I really wish I hadn't, but, no one seemed to be bothered by them.

 

We arrived in the library right on time and just sat for a little and talked amongst ourselves, I know the intention is for the very small group to become friendly and meet new people, but everyone kind of just sat in silence. A few minutes later our waiter came in with "special champagne" for everyone (it was a Kir Royale), they also had the non alcoholic option ready to go for the 2 guests there who were not 21 (one of which was my sister). Then they asked us to follow along through the secret door in to the Diamond Lounge, up to the closed off second floor for our meal.

 

We were greeted with a beautifully set table, and personalized menus for the evening.

 

 

Now, the menus were clearly printed on a laser printer that needs a good cleaning, so they were a bit marked up, a minor issue but still, the dinner is normally $100 so you'd think they'd be nicely printed.

 

We were seated for a bit and introduced to the chef, and our waiter for the evening. They came to clear out the set plates, and we were greeted to a surprise from Charlie under each of our plates! 

 

 

A very sweet surprise, and definitely one that made me smile. At first, I thought my gf had slipped something under my plate (and she thought I had done the same to her) until we realized this was Charlie's doing! 

 

While we were waiting for food to arrive, I very quickly realized it was time for the diamond happy hour downstairs. Our cruise was defiantly not full, but the noise coming from downstairs was SO LOUD. It wasn't any one or two particular people, it was just very noisy, which I didn't really love to have for the bulk of our "quiet intimate dining experience".

 

Shortly after, our first course arrived, everything was served and the chef explained the course, delicious scallops. I really enjoyed this one, it might have been my favorite course.

 

 

Next was a smoked tomato soup

 

At this point, they also took our order for the main entree. We were offered a choice of the filet mignon, roasted Bronzino or truffle tagliatelle. Now, just about everyone ordered the filet. My sister tried to order the truffle tagliatelle, but the waiter quickly said, we'll serve you the filet and bring a side of the truffle tagliatelle for everyone! It's much better that way (he did confirm she eats meat as well).

 

The next course was a lobster tail. This was easily the best lobster I've had on board, and also one of the better one's I've had period. A small observation (I go to higher end restaurants as frequently as my wallet allows (sometimes more than it should allow)), the lobster was served with the plate longways with the tail completely facing away from me. The waiter did seem to be taking some care with how the plates were presented, so I found it odd that they'd basically hide the star of the plate, far way and out of view when it's presented. This photo I turned the plate around.

 

 

Next was our entree, an excellently prepared filet mignon, which they came around and confirmed that it was cooked to everyones liking shortly after we had cut into them.

 

 

They also brought out plates of the truffle tagliatelle for every 2 people to share. I found it to be the perfect portion size for me to try a bit, but not feel TOO full.

 

 

Now, at this point in the meal we've been there for 2.5 hours, and the alcohol has been FLOWING. So a few stray observations here.

 

1. Charlie stopped by at some point during the meal to confirm that we'd all be at the skating show later that night, so he'd have seats for us. As well as to say hello and see that we enjoyed his note!

2. Everyone was being quite rude to the chef and our waiter when they were attempting to explain the wine and food courses to us. They politely tried to get the groups attention multiple times, and were often ignored by several of the diners continuing to talk, which was just plain rude. My gf had to loudly shout "go ahead" (we were at the far end of the table) at one point, and even then one of the diners kept talking over him STILL.

3. Around this point, a conversation at one part of the table broke out about politics. Now, I am not here to say I have any problems with anyones political feelings, or anyones right to express them, or to say who is right or wrong. But, the group VERY LOUDLY (it was impossible to ignore) started discussing how "stupid Americans" are for electing Trump and how much more educated they were (I found it ironic, because I work a bit in politics in the US, and they didn't understand how things work as much as they were boasting that they did, but I wasn't there to get in an argument). They weren't from the United States (I forget where). Now, I happen to despise Trump for several reasons, but the way they were speaking was flat out rude, and completely obnoxious, especially for a public setting were they did not know everyone's feelings on the matter. This conversation really left a bad taste in my mouth and I didn't enjoy it. 

 

Moving on, it was 9 pm at this point, and we told our waiter a bit earlier that we had a show to get to! The first part of desert was presented to the table, and we scarfed it down, it was a delicious Chocolate dessert with some ice cream.

 

 

Our waiter rushed to bring us the second part of desert, as well as the check for our wine pairings. Personally, I felt like the time between each course was just a LITTLE too long, and the meal could have been just a little shorter, and we wouldn't have had to rush (while still having the full "chefs table" experience). I didn't run the meal though, and thats something you may want to be aware of going in to it. Overall, I REALLY enjoyed this meal, it was one of my favorites on board. Everything was definitely fresher and prepared with more attention than one would normally get in the MDR or even many of the paid restaurants. The meal is absolutely wroth paying some money for, $100? I'm not sure, it depends on you, but if they're running a good deal, jump on it, it's a great meal and good time (annoying guests we had aside). Here was the last bit of our dessert, which we brought with us to the theater! (it's slightly blurry, I took it in the rush of leaving the table).

 

 

Now, we left the chefs table and RAN down to make the ice show. We found Charlie who was relieved to see us (my mother and sister were already there and in seats, he had front row seats for us). He waved us in and pointed to our seats, and something odd happened. Right as we were going down the aisle toward our seats, the lights went down and the show started, one of the ushers was walking up the stairs and we went and sat in our seats, no issues there. But! about 30 seconds in to the show, everything stopped and they said due to a technical difficulty they had to stop, they would restart shortly. So, after all that running, my sister and I decided to use that extra time to use to the restroom. As we were walking up the stairs, that same usher who we saw coming up the stairs as we were going to our seats saw us and quickly looked at my sister and said "That was very mean. I was telling you to stop." Now, its entirely possible we did not see her saying something since the lights were going and Charlie had just pointed us to our seats, but, our Genie had told us to go ahead, and we had no reason to think there was a problem, so it seemed quite rude to be speaking that way to us. She wasn't shouting, but was speaking in a bit of a raised/upset voice. My sister was confused and said "oh im sorry we were pointed and told to go to our seats" and she said "that was very rude there was a cast member coming through you don't do that" and my sister again said "I apologized, we were told to go to our seats, we didn't know." She didn't seem satisfied with that but at that point we walked away, we ran in to Charlie outside the theater who was confused to see us, but we explained what happened (he was confused by her reaction as well), and were off to the bathroom. We made it back to the theater just as they were about to start, and saw the same usher. I (admittedly somewhat sarcastically, but also as a genuine question) asked if I needed to wait again since they were starting now, or if I could go, and she said to go ahead, but quickly. I made it to my seat without issue, and found the water and fresh popcorn Charlie had gotten for us (as an aside, their popcorn is VERY good). We had a great view, and the rest of the show went off without a hitch, except for a small patch of ice that several skaters seemed to fall on, maybe they should check out that area of the rink!

 

 

 

After the show, we headed back to the room to sleep. We came back to find our towel animal for the night:

 

Is it just me, or were the towel animals much simpler several years ago? I don't remember them having googley eyes or other props, they'd sometimes just use my sunglasses as a prop for them, am I wrong? (this is meant as a nice compliment not a complaint).

 

We also had another nice note, and a box of chocolates from Charlie.

 

That's all for Roatan! Costa Maya next, but tomorrow, it's 3 am here and I somehow spent the last 3 hours writing just about Roatan.

 

 

[Allura_317]

I'm enjoying your review!  Sorry you have been sick but at least it wasn't during your cruise.

[A&L_Ont]

Ryan, nice to see you back to finish up the review.

 

We just sailed out Jan Juan and we have Charlie.  He is amazing.

[RFerrington]

Charlie is so great.  He is my favorite Genie so far.  Too bad to hear that he is leaving Royal and pursuing another opportunity.