⭐Live Allure TA 🚢 March 1, 2020 - Time to rub the lamp 🧞

[sgmn]

6 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

Time for an observation.

 

I'm wondering if in the near future, we'll see airlines leaving the middle seats open for social distancing.🤔

 

That's what BA did on our flight to LHR so we could be considered Business Class. 

I know that's a lot of revenue, but it might be necessary

 

However, I wasn't a fan of the semi permanent tray covering the middle seat

 

I've never worked for BA, but once worked for Finnair, and they had a moveable curtain for business class. The ground engineer would reduce or expand the business class section depending on the booked load. To give the business class pax more room, the three seats each side were made into two by expanding the size of the window and aisle seats leaving a small unusable middle seat 

Edited March 30, 2020 by sgmn

[dani negreanu]

9 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

The loose change thing has been going for years.

 

Indeed -- "small change make a big difference".

 

[Ocean Boy]

1 hour ago, grapau27 said:

On Friday at 8pm millions of UK citizens went outside to clap their hands for our NHS doctors and nurses on the front line against coronavirus.

I personally have massive respect for them and they were marvelous to me in December when I was in hospital after my heart attack.

Best wishes to the person who is close to you too.

That is very cool.

[dani negreanu]

1 hour ago, grapau27 said:

On Friday at 8pm millions of UK citizens went outside to clap their hands for our NHS doctors and nurses on the front line against coronavirus.

 

We had it here too. It was very moving to see all the neighbors clapping on their balconies.

 

[dani negreanu]

6 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

Pat was impressed. First time up front

 

This configuration seems similar to the 787 (Dreamliner). I found it very narrow and uncomfortable, especially in the "flat" mode.

 

In speaking with my flight attendant son, he told me lots of passengers complain....

 

[bobmacliberty]

In my experience, business class on regional jets in Europe has always been the same coach class seats with the middle seat left open.  I prefer the wider US first class seats.

 

LHR has one of the best lounges that I've ever been in...Virgin Atlantic's Upper Class Wing in Terminal 3.  Separate entrance where they meet you when your car pulls up (chauffer service included with business class).  An agent greets you and takes your info while someone takes your luggage from the car and checks it in.  Excellent lounge area with great food and drink.  Separate security lanes when you're ready to head to the gate.  If you ever get a chance to fly Virgin out of LHR, business class is worth the experience.

[bobmacliberty]

15 minutes ago, dani negreanu said:

 

This configuration seems similar to the 787 (Dreamliner). I found it very narrow and uncomfortable, especially in the "flat" mode.

 

In speaking with my flight attendant son, he told me lots of passengers complain....

 

 

Agreed.  A380 upper deck. 👍😁

[dani negreanu]

1 minute ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

Agreed.  A380 upper deck. 👍😁

 

The upper deck on 747 was also nice 😁

[BlueHerons]

On 3/16/2020 at 9:36 PM, James4me said:

LMAO, no not Mr. 1750 🤣.  First and foremost I am a female, lives to dance 💃. I don’t think I’d quite get along with Mr. 1750 LOL.  BTW I am married to a very high end executive who likes to cruise on our own (rented 🙄) yacht.  RCCL certainly has some beautiful suites on her newest ships.  

Just to sound more credible, you rent a boat and charter a yacht.  You don't rent a yacht.  You cruise on your own charter.

 

John&LaLa, I've really enjoyed reading along.

 

BTW, I just followed you on Insta so if you get a notice from someone in FLL, that is me!

 

I think every cruise ship in service is anchoring off the coast of Florida.  We went out on the boat yesterday by Port Everglades and there are about five docked and three anchored offshore.  The Something Princess has been docked for weeks now.

Edited March 30, 2020 by BlueHerons

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, dani negreanu said:

 

The upper deck on 747 was also nice 😁

 

It was quiet. Did it on Lufthansa last year

 

I enjoyed the pods on American. 

[John&LaLa]

1 minute ago, BlueHerons said:

Just to sound more credible, you rent a boat and charter a yacht.  You don't rent a yacht.

 

John&LaLa, I've really enjoyed reading along.

 

BTW, I just followed you on Insta so if you get a notice from someone in FLL, that is me!

 

I think every cruise ship in service is anchoring off the coast of Florida.  We went out on the boat yesterday by Port Everglades and there are about five docked and three anchored offshore.  The Something Princess has been docked for weeks now.

 

Welcome to the club

[John&LaLa]

BTW, not sure if everyone has noticed, there is a new app for CC Forums.😱

Frankly, I've gotten used to the Web version

 

I haven't tried it yet, but it's on both Apple and Google

 

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tapatalk.boardscruisecritic

 

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cruise-critic-forums/id630594073

 

I may play with it later in the week.

[John&LaLa]

Created a Friends of Bell page in Floataway Lounge

 

Feel free to stop by

 

[John&LaLa]

March 31, 2020 - 34 days later, time to go.

 

I've put this off long enough, need to finish before the month ends.

 

Pros

Laura's birthday party

Weather

Mama Mia

Johnny Rockets

Cabin Steward - Ronaldo

Beer Selection

Laundry Service

Cup Cake Class

Aqua Theater

Aqua Suite and balcony

Malaga/Cordoba

Air2Sea getting us home

Dazzles

Boleros

 

Neutral

Genie - Jay

Specialty Restaurants

Coastal Kitchen Lunch

 

Cons

Pre cruise STAR experience

Boarding

Sail away 

Room Service

Cost

Suite location

COVID 19 - I don't blame Royal

Departure

 

Summary

In hindsight, STAR just wasn't a good fit or value.

Plus the service just wasn't there, and that is supposed to be the big draw.

 

We would have been totally fine with just enjoying our Pinnacle perks in two balcony cabins, three if Pat had come

Buying food and drink ala carte would have been thousands less

We just could not eat and drink 24/7 to get our moneys worth.

Even if we had gone pkg's, we probably would have spent under 7 grand for 3 cabins

So at the end of the day, we spent around 5 grand for a Genie and a awesome balcony

Plus we probably spent $1200 extra in tips between deliveries, Genie, and cabin steward

 

Jay did get Pat a crystal block, but I could have given him the one we got (Allure was our 140 pt milestone)

And before M8 jumps in, the Genies always give some sort of gift to their passengers.

Jay also got us a 10% FCC for the disaster that was room service. Other than the letter, I haven't heard anything from Royal yet.

So honestly, we really didn't need a Genie for much

 

So in the future, which honestly seems totally up in the air, we'll stick to JS's or two cabins and pay for services as we use them.

 

It was fun entertaining you all for a month.

Damn, missed deadline by 5 minutes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 1, 2020 by John&LaLa

[Tee & Chilli]

Great review. Thank you 

[sgmn]

Thanks for a great review John. Your reviews are always positive, lighthearted and fun. I will miss this one now it has ended. I hope it won't be too long before we have the pleasure of another John&LaLa review. 

[JamesEM]

Thanks for your great review and photos, looking forward to your next review when we can get cruising again..

[grapau27]

4 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

March 31, 2020 - 34 days later, time to go.

 

I've put this off long enough, need to finish before the month ends.

 

Pros

Laura's birthday party

Weather

Mama Mia

Johnny Rockets

Cabin Steward - Ronaldo

Beer Selection

Laundry Service

Cup Cake Class

Aqua Theater

Aqua Suite and balcony

Malaga/Cordoba

Air2Sea getting us home

Dazzles

Boleros

 

Neutral

Genie - Jay

Specialty Restaurants

Coastal Kitchen Lunch

 

Cons

Pre cruise STAR experience

Boarding

Sail away 

Room Service

Cost

Suite location

COVID 19 - I don't blame Royal

Departure

 

Summary

In hindsight, STAR just wasn't a good fit or value.

Plus the service just wasn't there, and that is supposed to be the big draw.

 

We would have been totally fine with just enjoying our Pinnacle perks in two balcony cabins, three if Pat had come

Buying food and drink ala carte would have been thousands less

We just could not eat and drink 24/7 to get our moneys worth.

Even if we had gone pkg's, we probably would have spent under 7 grand for 3 cabins

So at the end of the day, we spent around 5 grand for a Genie and a awesome balcony

Plus we probably spent $1200 extra in tips between deliveries, Genie, and cabin steward

 

Jay did get Pat a crystal block, but I could have given him the one we got (Allure was our 140 pt milestone)

And before M8 jumps in, the Genies always give some sort of gift to their passengers.

Jay also got us a 10% FCC for the disaster that was room service. Other than the letter, I haven't heard anything from Royal yet.

So honestly, we really didn't need a Genie for much

 

So in the future, which honestly seems totally up in the air, we'll stick to JS's or two cabins and pay for services as we use them.

 

It was fun entertaining you all for a month.

Damn, missed deadline by 5 minutes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fantastic review John.

Great detail and enthralling reading.

Thanks for your summary too which was very helpful.

Take care of Laura,Pat and Bella and yourself too.

 

[Missusdubbya]

Thanks for the review John

[A&L_Ont]

John you did not rate the free laundry with Star Class, or as a Pinnacle do you already get this?

[Lady Hudson]

Thank you, John, for taking the time to keep us all informed.  When you and your family left on your adventure the world was a different place.   I think I can speak for all when I say I can’t wait for “normal” to return.  Again, thank you, and best of health to you and your family.  Katherine

[marci22]

7 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

So in the future, which honestly seems totally up in the air, we'll stick to JS's or two cabins and pay for services as we use them.

Probably best bang for your buck. 

 

Most I've done is OS and will probably never do STAR, but enjoy reading about others' experiences. I do not think I would appreciate the extras that are STAR.

 

Maybe I'll find STAR glitch pricing one day.

[FlowBroTy]

John Thanks For The Awesome Review Of Your Cruise.

 

Tyler

[Ocean Boy]

It has been fun. The only thing that I would change on your "pro" list is the cup cake class. I would make that a definite "con" snd you know why!😉

[bobmacliberty]

Great review...and it hopefully won't end here.  This is one of the few CC threads that is mostly not Covid-19 related, even if (or especially if) the content tends to deviate a bit.  That's what makes it fun.

 

STAR class is still on our list of things to do.  I'm afraid though that we would be one and done.  As you noted, you can buy a lot of ala carte stuff and miss out on the service, for a lot less.  We don't have all of the P benefits but we really enjoyed a CLS on deck 17.  More expensive than a JS but definitely cheaper than STAR.  Will (hopefully) be in a balcony on Harmony next January with 3 other couples.  So long as I have a place to breath fresh air and see the ocean...