sharse

Yes you can use your credit cards there no problem.

Sadly Maya Chan is not an option for me next month.  I was thinking my plan B would be Yaya Beach because they're in Shore Trips and I really trust Shore Trips.  But I'm thinking maybe I should just wing it and wander up and down the Boardwalk?  Stop in and have a cold one... wander to the next place... find a third place for some tacos... 

Would it be unwise to arrive without a plan?  Are there plenty of places where I could enjoy the beach without booking one of the all day all inclusive?  I'll be by myself wandering at my leisure.  Thanks for your thoughts and advice. 

I'm sure this question is out there, and I promise I did a search, but in this new format maybe I did something wrong because I got zero results returned.  My question is one that everyone asks:  How early of a flight can I get?  I've never sailed MSC, or debarked in or flown from Barcelona.  Is a 10:30 am flight possible?  Impossible?  What is the earliest flight you'd recommend?  

OOOOO I can help with this as a fellow hop head. When I was on board in June, the Sand Bar up by the pool had a Terrapin in a can that I've had at home and just love. It was the only bar where I found it, however. The bar right upstairs did NOT have it! I don't think it is well known what beers they have at each bar so I'd suggest that he just ask wherever he goes. He may find a hidden gem. It might also change frequently. I recall a bartender at Sand telling me that they didn't sell much of the Terrapin, so it may not be there any longer. But they can't sell it if they don't tell their passengers they have it, right?!

I enjoyed your review of Allure, and wish you safe and fun travels on the next one!

Thank you so much! You too.

Your kids will LOVE it, as you will also. Something for everyone on this ship. I think a lot of people go in, thinking it is like the Oasis class and are disappointed, as it does not have the promenade deck. One has to realize this is a whole different class of ship. Even though my kids are older than yours, they LOVED it.

Oh, and yes, the drink package it worth it. :')

Thanks for the response. I totally didn't care for the Royal Promenade on Allure. Probably my least favorite part of the ship, so maybe I'd LOVE Quantum class!

I've been on Vision Class, Radiance Class and Oasis class. I wasn't terribly excited about Quantum class because I seem to recall a fair amount of people who say they didn't particularly care for it.

As a family of 4 with two teenage boys, I do think it might be a lot of fun for us. But I'd love to hear from others (and please share whether or not you brought teens on board) who were a bit underwhelmed. Thank you!

p.s. Also, is the drink package worth it? :') I AM ONLY KIDDING!!!! :evilsmile:

The deck on 7 aft still exists. You can get there from the very end of the hallway, or there are stairs by the Aqua Theater where you can get there. There is also still the sun deck on 14 all the way forward. Port side. But it was locked the entire week I was on board in June.

Now I have an unwanted guest to take on my cruise in three weeks. A "roll-about." It's a knee scooter to keep me non-weight bearing. CBW.

Oh that's a bummer. But yes... CBW. At least you're still going! Enjoy.

Would you possibly have the regular CC available for the western itinerary. We are going in October and all I have seen posted are the eastern itinerary.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I do indeed and would be happy to email them to you. Will I get in trouble for posting my email address here? Or if you give me yours? I don't want to get in trouble but would be most happy to share with you!

Fantastic news Nerd!

 

Loved your report and we roll the same way! What we call each other sometimes out of love, I'm not going to post, you can take the hit for all of us LOL

 

We sail in two weeks with my family of 20 (including my dh, dd-24, ds-20) and cannot wait!

I love it! We often say to each other, "gosh, if someone actually heard how we talk to each other they'd think we hated each other?!!!"

Have a blast when you sail!!

Well, if I knew how to post a picture of the Mother's Day card my son gave me I would. Rather than writing "Mom" on the outside of the envelope it said "Nerd". That's just how we roll.

Anyway, I came back to let anyone know who might have been curious, trip insurance did in fact pay my claim! They will reimburse me the $377 I paid Southwest to change my flights from 8:00pm to 9:45am on the day of embarkation. Yippee!

I strongly disagree. have ben to Belize twice, booked private tours both times. Last time was a 3 stop snorkleing tour that included snorkeling with nurse sharks and it was TERRIFIC. Small group, excellent guide who made sure we weren't swindled at lunch with the exchange rate, took special pics for us and kpet us very safe. Much better than any ships tour

Good to hear. Would love to know the name of the tour operator you recommend if you get a chance to share it. Thanks!

I have a copy of the teen planner from the western itinerary a few weeks ago. Other than a "prom" where the kids could dress up nicely, I don't really remember any other special events that would require particular outfits. I'd be happy to email you the copy I have if you'd like.

I can understand your trip with your youngest while your husband and older son are on a scout trip. My husband was Scoutmaster for 5 years and he and my son had been going on BSA High Adventure Trips and Summer Camps for years.

Then you will also understand this: They went to Northern Tier. We all joked for months before the trip that "our boat" will be a little bigger and a little better than "their boat".

The whole family is back together again, we celebrated my oldest son's birthday yesterday, and Nicholas and I have vowed to never again cruise without them! Next April: all 4 of us on the Carnival Magic. Stay tuned for THAT trip report. :cool:

Somewhere in between Day 6 and Day 7 I woke up at 3:00am hoping and praying I could get back to sleep. I did NOT want to start my day at 3:00am. Tossing, turning, stressing... It took a very long time, but eventually I did get back to sleep. My body does this to me when I know I have an alarm set. I wake up wicked early because I'm afraid the alarm won't go off, I'll oversleep, whatever.

And for good reason. The 5:30 wake up call never came! I woke up about 6:20am. We had successfully received a wake up call when in Roatan so I assumed it would work this morning too, but nope… not today. I woke the boy, who immediately had another nose bleed! After about 5 minutes it finally stopped, and we said it CBW. We threw everything else in the luggage, filled out the mobile passport app (because you can’t do it more than 4 hours of getting off the ship), skipped breakfast, grabbed our final folio printout and took off running. We walked straight off the ship at 7:00am, into the terminal, and there was a line at customs. It was not moving. I got the sense from some of the port personnel that customs hadn’t opened yet, so we were lining up. Very quickly after we arrived, however, the line started moving pretty quickly. I opened up the mobile app on my phone and headed to what I thought was the mobile app line, only to be told that they don’t start using the mobile app until 8:00am. Nobody told me that! In fact on the ship they really pushed the mobile app and never once said that if you're one of the first off the ship, don't bother. I wouldn’t have spent the 15 minutes it took setting that thing up. Especially when I was already running late.

Thankfully the line moved quickly and we were in a cab, at the airport, luggage checked and through security by 7:47am. Time for breakfast at Margaritaville right there after security. At breakfast I took the time to look at my folio charges and saw that there was NO charge for any of the medical services. I expected to be charged a few hundred for the visit. I wonder if it because I got hurt on the ship, rather than elsewhere?

Flight 1 to Orlando was uneventful and fast. Flight 2 from Orlando to IAD was a little less uneventful. It was SUPER bumpy due to weather and I was freaking out but trying to keep a brave face for my son. Once we got to our cruising altitude and it calmed down, he looks at me and says “That was FUN!” Ha! No. No it was not. Thankfully the rest of the flight was uneventful and I didn’t toss my cookies. It was really touch and go there for a few minutes.

The cab dropped us off around 3:00pm and I must admit I’m glad to be home. I feel the need to sleep for about 3 days and thank my lucky stars that the trip was NOT worse. My goal was to make memories with my son, and I must say we were successful. VERY successful.

Thank you all for the kind words. Some of you may recall a few pages ago when I mentioned that the reason it was just Nicholas and me on this cruise is because my husband and oldest son were on a Boy Scout trip elsewhere. They are in the air right now and will be home very late tonight. The first time our full family will have been under the same roof in 2 weeks, and I'm so excited I can barely stand it. Since I'll likely be confined to the laundry room this weekend dealing with all things smelly from their trip, I'll post tonight the final installment. I will gladly come back when I can to read any comments and answer any questions, but it might be a day or two before I find my way out of the laundry room!

Nothing wrong with getting old so long as you keep on getting older!

OMG, I totally love that: Sharse, me, #theboy, and #theblocker

 

Count me in!

Day 19, or was it twelve? Maybe 6? I've lost track, but this is our last sea day before docking in Fort Lauderdale tomorrow.

Nicholas wanted one last breakfast at Johnny Rockets, so he checked the Compass to see that it would close at 9:30. We were out the door about 8:30. For those of you who've been on the ship you know that, unless you're coming down the secret stair off deck 7 Aft (which cannot be done in a wheelchair) you happen to pass Boardwalk Donuts on the way to Johnny Rockets. #theboy stopped in for a donut. It was gone before we made it to Johnny Rockets. Pancakes, eggs, the largest glass of OJ I'd seen in my life, and the World Cup on the screens in the Aqua Theater. We sat there a while trying to take it all in, one last time.

After breakfast Nicholas wheeled me to the spa for my daily juice. After looking at the monitor by the elevator which lists, among other things, what is happening right then, I saw that The Captain’s Corner was about to start. I always enjoy that, so we wandered down 2 decks to the Comedy Club where it was being held.

This reminds me of something I had seen in the Compass a day or two earlier. There was note of a religious service to be held in the Comedy Club. I cringed a little bit, wondering if that was blasphemous?

Anyway... after the Captain's Corner Nicholas wheeled me up to 15 to sit on deck in my shady spot. We were just north of Cuba and while it was a little hazy, I'm pretty sure I saw the skyline of Havana. I also saw a small boat near us and I watched it for a while, having heard of many instances where ships picked up refugees who were afloat. Apparently that was not the case here as the boat never got very close to us. Nicholas went to the teen club and found friends to play Wii and hang out with for a few hours. I grabbed a little lunch in Wipeout; Caesar salad with grilled chicken. I didn’t want the burgers or dogs or fries in there. Not my cup of tea. Nicholas went to Wipeout for a few slices of pizza. He said it is better than the pizza at Sorrentos. (I didn’t know it was any different, but he insists it is.)

After a few beverages and a few hours, I wheeled myself back down to the cabin to begin packing. I learned that wheelchair assistance doesn’t start tomorrow until 7:30. Too late. I guess I will be walking off the ship.

After a little packing, I wanted to head to Schooners because they had a new “band”… a gathering of some of the musicians from the other venues. They said this is the first time they'd all gathered to play together. A guy with ponytail whom I’d seen at british pub. The girl (Shovan? Sioban?) I’d seen on the piano at Schooners. Another guy on bass that we'd seen in Jazz on 4, and an awesome guitarist whom I was told played in Mama Mia (which I didn’t see). They played some blue grass and folk and were terrific.

After they were done, we went back to the cabin to shower and head off to the last supper. Nicholas had fish & chips which he said were ok, could have been worse, and he only ate half. I had the lamb shank and it was probably the best dinner I had on board. It was tender and tasty. I’m wrote this in my notes less than 24 hours after the meal and can NOT for the life of me remember what I had for dessert. I guess that tells you something.

After dinner we joined our frineds in the Amber Theater for the family-friendly comedy. The first guy was ok, but a little heavy on the potty humor for my taste. The second guy was much funnier. Maybe because he was from Boston, so I got his sense of humor and his accent, which while by no means super thick, added to the amusement. After the comedy show we went back to the cabin because we had a very early morning coming up as we had planned to self-assist debark. We finished packing, called for a 5:30 am wake up call, and went to sleep.

Speaking of over TP, I’ve gone through two rolls waiting for the unwanted guest to appear.

:')

The wheelchair was the unwanted guest.

Very unwanted. Took up more space in the cabin than my son!

I must begin with a confession. I messed up. The unwanted guest (not the tears... the one coming in THIS post) actually arrived on Day 5. Costa Maya. All the days started running together. Sorry!

OK, so back to Costa Maya, Day 5. After I burst into tears having been yelled at for boarding an elevator where NOBODY was making any movement to get off on that floor. GGGRRR... the memory of it still makes my blood boil because that is one of my pet peeves! I ALWAYS do my best to determine if anyone is trying to get off before I get on. And I teach my children to do so as well. But I must move on and banish that grumpy old bat from my memory.

I finally composed myself, mostly, and hobbled into the Windjammer. I asked the "washy washy" girl (is that an Allure thing or do they all say "washy washy" while trying to get you to use Purell?) if there was someone that could help me since I couldn't exactly hold a plate. She very kindly found someone to walk with me. I told him that I'd like some scrambled eggs and a ton of fruit, which he quickly put on a plate for me. While I was standing there waiting for him, another staff member asked if I needed help and exhibited such kindness and concern. These two gentlemen led me to a seat, dropped off some coffee and some water, and I was overwhelmed again. I shed a few more tears, hoping nobody noticed, and then ate my breakfast. I told myself to just get through breakfast and then I could go back to the cabin and have a breakdown to get all the emotion out. And that’s exactly what I did.

My son consoled me by snuggling up, rubbing my back, holding me close, and I finally recovered once I'd let it all out. I told him about the bat in the elevator. I told him it was much harder getting around this ship on crutches than I had expected. (He was on crutches in January. He gets it.)

So I swallowed my pride. I acquiesced. It was time to invite the unwanted guest into my life. We went downstairs to guest services to order the wheelchair.

The gentleman at Guest Services was very helpful. He looked like he'd had a few too many beverages the night before, and not nearly enough sleep, but he didn't let it interfere with his job. He ordered the wheelchair (wheel chair? One word or two?) to be delivered to our cabin, and I told him I was interested in purchasing VOOM. Partly because I needed to contact my travel insurance company and partly because Nicholas and I were going to be doing a lot of sitting around. He said, "No, you don't need to spend your precious money. I will let you make a free phone call to your insurance company." He brought over a chair so I could sit by the phone and he set it up so I could call out.

--Always get travel insurance, my friends. ALWAYS. --

My travel insurance company told me that an injury such as this typically is covered under "Trip Interruption" when I asked her if the policy would cover charges to change my flight home to an earlier one. Originally we were on an 8:30pm flight out, which is why I had asked Margaritaville if we could come back on Sunday and hang out there before heading to the airport. And they gave me a Nope Sandwich. But HA! The joke was on them. I hurt my foot and got to go home early!

So I did purchase the voom package and spent $377 to change us to a 9:45am flight on Sunday. I also wanted voom so that I could communicate with family and friends, and give Nicholas something to do since he was now my chauffeur.

Later that day, he parked me on 15 starboard by the Sand Bar, sat with me a while before he needed to head inside to air conditioning. I sat on deck for a few more hours looking at the ocean, drinking the drink of the day, icing my foot, and people watching. He came back to get me at our agreed upon time and wheeled me back to the cabin so we could shower and head to the second formal night.

We sat in a new section of the dining room near an Australian couple with whom I discussed the virtues of the US and Australian healthcare systems. Very interesting conversation. For me at least. For Nicholas, maybe not so much. He had tenderloin again and it was same as before. Good enough. I had lobster tail. 2 kinds, neither of which were New England. Not that I expected New England lobster on a ship in the Caribbean. Just trying to make a note of it for anyone curious. While I was searching my plate and the table for some drawn butter, which is an absolute necessity, the waiter came back with it. Twice they offered to pull the meat out of the tail for me. Twice I politely declined. I’m from New England. I got this. The Australian gentleman laughed and noted that they didn't want to take "no" for an answer.

Dessert. Nicholas ordered the chocolate cake again, but they brought him the molten lava cake. He was glad they made that mistake because he enjoyed it. I had ordered the baked Alaska, which was...well, let's just say I wouldn't order it again.

After dinner Nicholas stepped up like a champ, took pride in taking care of me and pushed me all around. He wanted to go to Jazz on 4, which we found to be almost empty. The music was decent and we had a good time. Next we went up to Central Park, but we arrived too late as the musicians had finished. I asked Nicholas to wheel me into Vintages to meet Gemma. I had met her a few days earlier, and we had talked about our sons. She is from the Philippines and only gets to see her 12 year old every 7 months or so. She did tell me they get to talk every day, though. Can you imagine what it must have been like for crew 8 - 10 years ago, before the ships had any connectivity? Gosh. It is humbling the sacrifices the crew members make.

Gemma brought us 3 dessert bites on the house, chatted with Nicholas for a bit, and she commented to me that she could tell Nicholas was smart and good hearted. Isn't that the highest praise? Well, the good hearted part I mean. If I kid is smart but a total *******, that's not something to be proud of. After a glass of wine and that little chat with Gemma, Nicholas and I decided it was time to head back to the cabin to bed.

The day started out pretty rough but got progressively better, and my spirits were on the mend. It most certainly could have been worse.

And now I must go about submitting my claim to my insurance company, before I forget!

Rude is rude. We have all been rude at times. There are no good excuses. There are only sincere apologies.

While I'm thankful there are many of you reading and enjoying, I'm sorry if I can't keep it at the pace you'd prefer. Obviously I was on vacation last week and I've got lots of work to catch up on, not to mention laundry, grocery shopping, feeding Nicholas...

Which leads me to one other explanation. As those of you who have teens have probably experienced, they speak a different language. They don't use full works. They use letters. Or they say things like, "Can I get a 'hashtag' XD?" (Whatever the heck that means.) So, if you ever heard my son speak it would become clear that the use of the hashtag is actually quite appropriate.

Day 5 – Costa Maya

I slept until about 8:00, and with a little bit of wind we were experiencing the roughest seas we’ve had all week upon docking in Costa Maya. I love feeling the rocking of the ship when I'm in bed, and this was the first we'd really felt. My son was still sleeping, my foot was still hurting, so I left him a note to tell him where I was, and I finally decided to head down to medical to have it checked out. This was my first ever experience with medical care on a ship.

I checked in with the nurse, told her I was there because I'd twisted my foot on deck 14 two days ago... blah blah blah. She asked if I wanted ibuprofen. No, I said, I've been taking plenty of that and it isn't really doing anything. "How much pain are you in?" she asked. I honestly rated it a 5 out of 10. She asked if I wanted to see the doctor. I wasn't quite sure how to answer that, because, well, isn't that why we go to medical? Yes, please. I'd like to see the doctor. Or, more specifically, I'd like for her to see ME. The nurse gave me a form to fill out where I'd describe exactly where on the ship the incident happened, how it happened, were there any witnesses, etc. They did NOT, however, ask if I'd spilled half my drink during the incident.

As I was sitting in the waiting room completing this two page form, Goran, the Chief Safety Officer -- a freaking 3 stripe officer -- came to talk to me. Seriously, I'd been sitting there MAYBE 2 minutes. I realized quickly that Royal takes it VERY seriously when someone falls on the ship. I'm sure his interest was a combination of (a) is she going to sue? and (b) is there any way we could ensure this doesn't happen to anyone else. (I come from an insurance and risk management background. I get it.) I explained to him that it was my own dang fault for looking ahead down the long corridor, rather than down at the stairs. Since I had the deluxe drink package, I didn't feel the need to ask him to reimburse me for the half of the mojito that was now on the carpet upstairs.

After maybe 15 minutes I saw the doctor, got x-rayed, and she confirmed it wasn’t broken. Just sprained. She said I needed to stay off it to let it heal. "Uh, doc... this is a HUGE ship. How the heck am I supposed to stay off my foot, short of staying in my cabin for the remainder of the cruise?" She gave me crutches to use in the cabin, and told me to use a wheelchair, which I was supposed to obtain from Guest Services, everywhere else on the ship. I told her my son and I were planning to get off the ship and head to the pool at port. She told me to call Guest Services and someone would wheel me off.

Geez. I'm old. But am I THAT old? That I need to be wheeled off the ship?

I was released from medical about 10:00 am. A crew member wheeled me and my crutches back to my cabin, where Nicholas was still asleep. I hobbled inside, waking him. I hadn't eaten yet and was begging him to come with me to get some grub. He gave me that Nope Sandwich, so I left the cabin by myself on my crutches, defying doctor's orders regarding the wheelchair, and set off towards the Solarium for breakfast. By the time I got there it was closed. Dang. Thought it was open until 11:00am.

That left only the Windjammer for breakfast, so I crutched my way Aft. Once aft, I needed to get from deck 15 to 16, and being on crutches, not wanting to try the stairs, I hit the elevator UP button. The doors open, I hustle toward the elevator, moving at my snail’s pace, and see that nobody is moving toward the exit as I’m looking to enter. A few people graciously move to allow me some room to get on, and the doors close. All of a sudden a woman yells “open the doors!” Someone at the front pushes the "open door" button, and this woman on the elevator makes her way forward and barks at me, “it would have been nice if you had let me get out first!" I was shocked. Speechless. This was the first evidence of any rude behavior on this massive ship, and it was directed at a woman moving at a snail’s pace on crutches. Apparently it was MY fault that this old bat wasn’t paying attention to what floor we were on. A man on the elevator said “Hey… that’s uncalled for. This lady is on crutches.”

We get to 16, exit the elevator, and I started to cry. This pierced the emotion I was holding in, trying to process all of the stress of the trip. Out it comes. The first unwanted guest... tears.