RobInMN

Here's the thread for discussions related to the Allure Amplification:

6 hours ago, ONECRUISER said:

Smaller older Ships, after they started adding the Freestyle Machines they were not going to spend the money add them later. Think there was also something to do with trouble/cost stocking the Machines on Ships back then for the Ships went overseas from US part of the year. This was while back. Also wasn't that long ago a New Ship might be sold off or spun off to another Cruise Line in 15-20yrs like previous Class Ships were

It's a strange mix on the ones that don't.

3 of the 4 Vision class have it, The oldest of the fleet. Vision is the only one not on the list, and while the class namesake, it's technically the newest.

Only the last Radiance class has it, Jewel. Brilliance and Serenade were built after 2 Voyager class ships that do have it

Only the first Voyager class doesn't have it. Voyager.

The middle Freedom class doesn't have it (Liberty), the other 2 do. And weren't these were all built after they started doing Freestyle?

Of the Quantum Class, only Spectrum doesn't have it. Now I believe that was built for the China market, so maybe that's why, but then again, so was Wonder. So....??

You didn't say which ship you are on, but not all ships have the Coke Freeestyle machines. I have no idea why, makes no sense to me. On ships without them, you have to just have the cup filled at the bars. Or, just just leave it in your room, as indicated, the bar will just give you a glass of soda.

Since you are in Australia, Taking a guess that your 14 night cruise is in the Australia & New Zealand area. If so, it looks like Quantum & Ovation have them, but Voyager does not.

Ship list:

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/what-are-coca-cola-freestyle-machines

• Adventure of the Seas
• Allure of the Seas
• Anthem of the Seas
• Enchantment of the Seas
• Explorer of the Seas
• Freedom of the Seas
• Grandeur of the Seas
• Harmony of the Seas
• Icon of the Seas
• Independence of the Seas
• Jewel of the Seas
• Mariner of the Seas
• Navigator of the Seas
• Oasis of the Seas
• Odyssey of the Seas®
• Ovation of the Seas
• Quantum of the Seas
• Rhapsody of the Seas
• Symphony of the Seas
• Utopia of the Seas
• Wonder of the Seas

And then there's the AmaMagna cabins.... 🙂 

We got upgraded to an SA. It was amazing!

2 hours ago, chfenton said:

I think the OP is referring to a different type of shoreside Genie which I believe is new.  This is one that reaches out before hand to handle various requests like your onboard would do.  The ones that meet you once you arrive at curise terminal are referred to as the Pier Genies (or at least that is what our onboard called them).

Ah! you're right. I just looked at my email from our Genie, and he referred to "Terminal Genies". (close enough) 🙂 

"Shoreside" could very well be something different.

3 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

Because.

Oh! He's Centerfield

1 minute ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

Third base!

Why?

6 minutes ago, taglovestocruise said:

What is the name of the guy on second?

I don't know

Plus a tub. My wife much prefers the tub over the shower tube for shaving.

2 hours ago, Ken at the beach said:

I would assume that they are going to put the Mason Jar in the same place that they put Portside BBQ on Oasis. 

 

Ah! I've never been on Oasis, so didn't realize that's where it was. Sounds logical to me.

1 hour ago, GTO-Girl said:

We have AT&T as our cell phone carrier.  We purchase the ship’s WiFi pkg…..turn on airplane mode…..turn on WiFi calling and then use our phone for calls and text just like we were at home.

 

we have been doing this for about 10yrs.  In fact it was an AT&T rep that told us how to do it…

In the last few years, we've converted over to using RCS rather than the older SMS texting. However, in our experience, regular SMS texting seems to work much better than RCS on cruise ships (an internationally).  RCS chats will sometimes convert to SMS screwing things up and if they stay as RCS, the delivery can be very delayed (even by days).

We have switched to using WhatsApp exclusively when traveling outside of the country. Both between ourselves as well as with those back home. WhatsApp is also how some friends of ours who are retired and traveling all over the world a month to 3 at a time are keeping in contact with people.

We have had zero issues with WhatsApp no matter where we have travelled. It seems to be the most widespread and stable communications platform.

Also, if you are in Star class, your Genie will want to use WhatsApp to communicate with you. 

We've only done Star class once. Fall '23 on Allure out of Galveston. We got the initial "survey" 3-4 weeks out, and then we got an email from our Genie about a week out. All interaction was with our actual Genie (Jay, he was so awesome!). We were never contacted by a Shoreside Genie, nor was there any mention of trying to. Out Genie had very detailed directions of exactly what to do on arrival, which mentioned where to meet the shoreside Genie. Once she confirmed who we were and gave our bags to a dedicated porter, she just escorted us right up to the suite lounge flying through security and bypassing any line. Jay then met us there in like 5-10 minutes.

In our one and only experience, the SSG was really nothing more than a crew of special guest services people dedicated to getting Start class from the curb to the lounge where the met their actual Genie.

I suppose different ports, and maybe different ships can have different experiences

2 hours ago, alfaeric said:

This is a good idea, but one thing I would suggest is to look at your devices to see if they can already run off of 220.  Every single USB charger we have can run 220, so I just need a cheap Euro-US plug converter without any transformer in it.   Like that really cool 7 USB plug you posted can run off of 240V.  So you only need a cheap converter like this- https://www.amazon.com/Lenink-Fireproof-Portable-European-Converter/dp/B0D9BH5QKQ/ref=sr_1_4?crid=2C1Y9JP57EYUY&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.J0L_EgkZtV09mYzKtwhhwisX9X1j1tEHO5PArGQZshf4XxVRbCElyoihIXTopYJLKJY7SEAMTqY6fdmKPmhLobi3TUWRxCac55ElgRBFtgWilZnm9Bnyr6lkq0SragcAXfmhlaMX02wUgvOlOL6Afp5bcyadN-horpe6Y4jEnRu-ytWA2uvU9yxFKNzKFWxrLcDYThaVCUGtjxac2mv3G6wvJKkktdj0v6Lf50jbJifhLdovYn1ZrWO1CExVs9Ir-o-IL4kftbVADf1ftzo7KJGyin_Zh7bPaoC1s4C5fY4.Jwpu8JV-Q6-BtXvCdMaXdXuaIhYPArQUDzKyaqqX-ik&dib_tag=se&keywords=us+to+europe+plug+adapter&qid=1726175748&s=electronics&sprefix=us+to+eur%2Celectronics%2C111&sr=1-4

 

Somehow, I've managed to collect a bunch of those over the years....  

Yes, that is a good point. You always need to check the the thing you are plugging in. Any charger type device that converts to USB power will be dual voltage (at least I have yet to run across one that is not). Some hair dryers are, but not many.

The ones you posted are essentially just like the round plugs I posted (first picture/link).

The second picture/link is also just an adaptor, it just has a couple USB ports on it also.

Both of these are just adaptors (no voltage conversion - other than the USB ports).

32 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

Yes they show college games in Playmaker’s. However, RCI does not carry the major networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX). These networks broadcast a lot of college games that are not shown on ships. When I was on Utopia last week they literally did not show one college game I had any interest in watching. 

Not to mention that some games are carried on conference channels that the also don't carry, like The Big Ten Network. ACC and SEC have their own, not sure about others. I think it was a Freedom cruise a few years ago, the only games on were on the 3 ESPN channels and ABC (both Disney). This did include the "SEC on ESPN" channel. I assume this is the SEC conference channel, and only available since it's part of ESPN. So 5 games total at a time out of up to 10 or 12 that are on at any given time. Any they had no ability to change to any other channel. So even if I was the only person in the venue, they could not turn it to the game I was interested in. So I watched it on my phone.

Depends on the cruise line. And even on those that allow them to be brought on, you may be limited on their use, and then it's up to you to be aware of the rules in any country you visit.

From the Royal Caribbean FAQ:

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/can-guests-bring-drones-onboard

13 minutes ago, orville99 said:

We travel with a Roku stick - works great on every ship we've been on. I like the case you use. Where did you find that. I'm still using a ziplock bag😪

Sorry, didn't think of linking those. Amazon.

Medium: 1 for charger and cables, and 1 for Firestick and remote

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09RHZYDND

Large: 1 for power adaptors, and 1 for magnets:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B6HS3D73

Whenever we travel to Europe or cruise ship, we travel with these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0058EG0KC

and a couple of these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07YDF8GCT/

And whenever we travel anywhere, we take this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BX3V6ZZX/

(Similar to @orville99. We only have 1 or 2 devices that are not USB-C, so this has 5 USB-C's, 2 of which are 65W). Even if the room has USB-A ports for charging, they will not be highspeed, they will be very slow. You are better off with your own charger.

And we always travel with a Firestick (and a universal remote).

Bought a few of these to organize them all:

7 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Job security... create problems that need fixing.

There was already a multi-page thread on this that has apparently been removed by the moderators. The interpretation of this report runs counter to the previous reports as to the circumstances that led to the "fall".

If you carefully dissect the article, it never mentions the circumstance of the 12 year old. The article refers to them early on as "pre-teen" and only said that they "fell".

Everything from "The news comes after a 16-year-old boy also fell to his death on the ship back in 2019." is referring to that incident. They refer to that person as a teenager, and it's that incident where they are reporting that the teen tried to climb up on the balcony when they fell. The reference to the Broward County ME "...confirmed to PEOPLE in a statement at the time...". This is indicting they are referring to an even in the past (the 16 year old), not the recent one (12 year old).

25 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

No. Follow the 2026-27 deployment thread - all will be reveled/discussed there.

Here's that thread:

For 1 datapoint, the Fall 2025 TA on Allure (26-OCT-2025) was released 13-FEB-2024.

Yes.

Check out these threads:

And there's plenty more

I absolutely dread going to the MDR on the last night because of this and the yelling into the crappy audio quality PA system during the staff parade.

Can't really disagree with @smokeybandit, but I would say maybe.

Not any of the other Sky suites. But for Star, it would depend on whether you are interested in the Deluxe Beverage Package and the Unlimited Dining Package. These have actual intrinsic value. Plus gratuities are included (but you should tip your Genie). You already have Voom included being in a CL. You can also try to put a value on just the experience of a Star Class and having a Genie. But even so, I'd only go for the cheapest 2, the 2 BR Aquatheater and the Star Loft. The minimum bid on the 2 BR AT is less than the intrinsic value of the included perks, but it's at the far aft of the ship and might not have that same feel as if you were in the suites area.  

The only Star Class experience I've had was we found a great deal on a 2BR AT for 4 people. $2100/p for a 7 night. It was Allure out or Galveston last fall.

2 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Rough weekend for you then

Yeah, let's not talk about it. 🤣

Although, I imagine Michigan fans are feeling worse

Oh, I should add college football is so much worse than NFL games since there's so many more games, which is why this is a big deal to me. I'm a college football guy, BigTen. Specifically the Iowa Hawkeyes.