WillTravelForFood

Which sailing on you on? My dad and I are on the July 14th sailing and hoping to sit with other people too! We actually have the 8:30 seating as well.

Just off the Allure with a group of 6 booked in three neighboring cabins. My card was in an envelope outside the door. My boyfriend's card was laying on the bed. My sister's card was outside her door in an envelope but my dad's card was no where to be found. He had to go down to guest services to get a card. They printed out the wrong card so he had to go back and have it fixed. Very odd. I didn't mind this new process. My card was printed correctly with the DX package marked on the card (a first for me!) so this process was a time saver. We were able to hit the bars and use our set sail pass to order drinks. For my dad, it was a pain.

Loving this so far! Can't wait to read more!

Having just done this on Sunday, I would say be cautious. We queued at 6:30 but they didn't start letting people off until 6:45 am. Our flight was at 9:05 so we got nervous when we saw that the line went from the Royal Promenade, through the MDR, out the side of the ship and around the back. Around 6:50 we started moving and were eventually through customs by 7:20. We made it to the airport by 7:30 and through security by 7:50. Our plane started boarding at 8:35 so we had enough time for breakfast.

We got lucky though. Allure/the terminal has been having issues with one of the ramps exiting the ship and some of our fellow cruisers reported that the closed a ramp around 7:30 due to it being unsafe for guests to stand on (a little worrisome) which would add a lot of time to the disembarkation process. Customs was fast for us be we had friends on the same sailing waiting in line for 2 hours. Actually, by the time our flight landed in NJ at noon, we still had friends waiting in customs at the port. Crazy!!

You can do it if you have a perfect disembarkation but I wouldn't do it again. To me, it was almost the same amount of stress as flying in the same day. This time we got lucky (and probably avoided weather delays at the airport due to Alberto) but I don't want to end vacation on a stressful note haha.

Good luck! Enjoy your cruise!!!

We prepay everything and use the deluxe drink package and never have anything to pay for on the ship. On occasion we've stopped for a scoop at Ben and Jerry's making our bill come out to $5 or $10 at the end of the cruise. That is one of the reasons we love cruising so much! Carefree/stress free since everything is paid for upfront!

When in doubt I wear lots of black with pops of color.

Good advice!!! I have a black blazer I might bring along this time!

Just woke up after Day 1 yesterday and wanted to start my review so I don’t forget anything! Welcome to my little review of our Spring Break vacation in Anthem.

 

Hubby and I are in our early 40s from CT. We are with our 4 children, ages 15,13,9, and 7. We are in 11510 and 11508 connecting ocean view at the front of the ship.

 

Rooms- HUGE!! 11510 is a huge corner room with an awesome porthole window. It’s plenty big enough for the 4 kids. 11508 is also a good size with a nice big porthole as well. You can feel a good amount of movement here at the front but it’s a gentle rocking and not making us sick. The connecting hallway is pretty awesome and gives us even more room to spread out. Our room steward Berata is very nice and we like him so far!

 

Embarkation- got to the port about 1015 and it was busy already. Lots of people leaving still so I think that added to the chaos a little. Dropped luggage and parked. About 5 minutes in line through security. They took my sons power strip. Then another 5 minutes in line to check in. While in line to check in they announced boarding. We were near the suite access lounge so they told us to go in that way which was nice. Slow moving to get in on the gangway.

 

Once on we spent about 30-45 minutes at the box office theatre trying to change reservations for ifly. Once we took care of that we headed to the Windjammer for lunch. Had a nice lunch.

 

Next we rode the bumper cars. About 15 minutes in line waiting, not too bad. They were a ton of fun. We laughed a lot. Headed to our room and checked it out. Stopped by dining to request window seat.

 

We went to muster drill and sat through the videos and then headed up to sail away.

 

Next up we had Ifly- what a fun and awesome experience. I highly recommend it. A little tip- break your group into 2. We did this so that my husband could record and photo myself and my oldest while we did it and then we recorded him and the younger kids while they did it. It made the whole experience 2 hours doing it back to back sessions but it was worth it for the photos and videos. The youngest was scared and backed out. Staff told us if he changes his mind and decides to do it later in cruise to come find him and he’ll get him in.

 

Dinner was next. I had to remind them at check in of the window request. They honored it and we have a great table for the week in American Icon. Our wait staff was awesome. I had the prime rib and it was yummy. But of a rowdy party near us. I’m all for fun but one of these guys had way too much and was getting mad at someone in his group. Also barely anyone dressed nicely. Everyone dressed for the windjammer but eating in dining room. I guess I’m a little old fashioned and like to follow the guidelines.

 

After dinner we walked around a little and then dropped the 2 youngest at kids club. Glad we got there early. This is a kid heavy cruise with all of the northeast on break. I am sure they hit the limit and turned people away. Line was long as we left from dropping off.

 

Hubby and I went to the welcome aboard show. Teens took off. Cleo is the cruise director and she seems funny. The comedian Rondell Sheridan is funny. Looking forward to his whole show.

 

Picked up the kids and hit bed. Didn’t sleep the night before the cruise due to excitement so we turned in early.

 

 

Please let me know if you have questions and I’ll try to answer at next update.

 

 

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Loving your review so far! We are also from CT (New Milford!!).

Thank you. Sounds like I need to add a day time casual coverup to my night time coverups. As a woman, we do have to coordinate a little. You men get away so easily. Does not sound like it is arctic cold. I would expect cold for the ice show. I will wear one on my flight.

So true!! I honestly make a spreadsheet of what I am going to pack so that I don't miss anything. The only thing I never manage to bring is a night time cover up because I don't find one that works with most of my outfits. My boyfriend has it so much easier.

PS, we'll be on the sailing right after you!! Boarding May 20th!!

I usually bring a light jacket to wear during the day over my normal summer clothes. It is a light weight hooded North Face fleece. I've found the air conditioning can be a bit chilly and this helps. Same at dinner but I just put up with it there. The worst is if you are going to an ice show but that is to be expected.

Awww nuts,we are on the May 20th sailing and was looking forward to visiting Roatan again! Hope we get another port in its place.:(

Us too! Another at sea day would be alright but I’d love another port.

We are on the Allure May 20th so my guess is we won't be stopping there anymore. I wonder if they will replace it with another port or if we will have another sea day?

We went to Samba in May 2017. It was alright but I wouldn't go back. If you've been to Texas de Brazil or Fogo de Chao (or similar restaurants), you'll most likely be disappointed. I was expecting more but got mediocre.

I wish someone would do this for Allure!!!

Love this idea, I might try to make my own modified version for my group to use on the AOTS. Last time we just made a list and checked off each place we went. This is way more fun!

Unlimited drink packages for the win!

I not a fan of the new way they will hand out the sea pass cards.

In the past, we always had issues with our seapasses (missing drink stickers, etc.) so it was nice to get them when we checked in because we could head to guest services or the drink sales stands to take care of it. We are usually at the terminal around 11 am so we'd fix our issues and then head to lunch. This time around, I guess we'll grab drinks and lunch first and fix our issues later on.

I thought it odd when I first read about it but it and didn't think I would like the system but it really is no big deal. Your seapass cannot be tampered with without you knowing it. It is located in an envelope that resembles a small, think FedEx, type package that has to be ripped open and there is no way to re-seal it. It is a small matter and not worth being concerned about. And if anyone did try to tamper with it I would not want to be them when they are identified on the cameras in the passageway.

I feel more reassured now! And since I found out that we can use our boarding passes to order drinks, I guess it really shouldn't be an issue. Thank you so much for all your help!

We definitely think it is worth it. Got it for the first time in 2015 and haven't ever questioned getting it on every cruise since then. Between the bottled water, soda, smoothies, specialty coffee and booze, we easily break even. Typically, we have a few drinks during the day, some wine with dinner, drinks at a show and then we hit the night club. On port days, we do a couple of bottled water runs before leaving the ship and are usually back on board in time for afternoon trivia before the dinner/show/party combo. Not only is it convenient to pay one price up front and have a stress free vacation, it is nice to not feel pressured to finish a drink you didn't like so it wasn't a waste of money. I experiment with new flavors and if I don't like something, I can order something new.

Yes, this is new for Allure. The ship has joined the list if Oasis and Quantum class ships that are using this system to distribute seapasses. One card will be outside the cabin door in a sealed cardboard like envelope and the rest will be inside the cabin.

Thanks! Not sure how I feel about this change but I guess we'll find out if we like it in May :)

Allure is older than Quantum.

I guess my real question is, is this something new they implemented on Allure? This wasn't how we received our cards last time and I am trying to get an idea of what to expect in May.

Thanks again! Sorry my phrasing wasn't clear before.

It's been the way they have distributed SeaPass cards for all new ships since Quantum.

Hmmm we went on Allure last May and got our cards at the terminal.

Yes, they have one on the door and one inside for the other guest.

 

They also leave all of your “tree mail” on the door as well.

 

 

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Is this something new Royal is doing?

Please tell what’s in the blue Hawaii

It is a pina colada with blue curacao added.

:)

3 different cruises this year and 3 different scenarios. I always prepay the Royal refreshment package since I don’t do much alcohol.

1st time on the Radiance, the RR notation was printed on my seapass card.

2nd time on the Liberty, no notation. I went to the nearest bar, where they can look you up, and the bartender placed a RR sticker on my card.

3rd time on the Liberty, the RR sticker was placed on my seapass card when issued at check-in.

The thing to note is that if your card does not identify your package, you don’t have to go stand in line at guest services because any bar will have a list to verify your purchase.

Glad I'm not the only one who has had this issue in the past!

Almost every time I have boarded, my seapass has been missing the sticker. Everyone in my family gets theirs but for some reason, my card gets left out haha. I used to wait in line at guest services but the last few times, I was told to go to any table promoting/selling the drink package to get my sticker. They have a paper list with names and room numbers that they can look up and give you the sticker. A minor inconvenience since they are usually located right outside a bar ;p

Mine took two weeks which included mail time. I lived in Nashville at the time. Mailed in the application with my passport. It was returned to me with the visa two weeks later.

We were on the Freedom last August and saw some teens going around and drinking from people abandoned glasses. Deck patrol caught them pretty quickly and later we walked past them waiting at Guest Services as security called their families. Not the norm but it happens.

I packed last night! We are driving to Jersey tonight and flying down to Ft. Lauderdale tomorrow! See you Sunday :)