Allure Sept 30, 2012 - The Most Disorganized Review Ever

[Arizona Laura]

"But on the way to Rita's, we got sidetracked...”

 

What a teaser to get us to read on! Of course I will!

 

Laura

[danzur]

great review...keep it coming. We're boarding Oasis Saturday...this is getting me ready! :)

[out2sea]

I was on your sailing. This was my third time on the ship. Had a great time! Live your review so far. Not impressed with the new menu change. I was kind of made famous on the cruise as the "lady who fell and broke her ankle in St Maarten"! Maybe you know me? Lol. Ill get my review out as well. Staff was great only encountered a few that were just ok and a few rude pax but you get that anywhere. If any questions just ask ill try to answer as well :)

[LimmyL]

Great review so far! And you're definitely not alone in creating the color-coded vacation spreadsheets! :)

[swwake]

I was on your sailing. This was my third time on the ship. Had a great time! Live your review so far. Not impressed with the new menu change. I was kind of made famous on the cruise as the "lady who fell and broke her ankle in St Maarten"! Maybe you know me? Lol. Ill get my review out as well. Staff was great only encountered a few that were just ok and a few rude pax but you get that anywhere. If any questions just ask ill try to answer as well :)

That is awesome that you were on our sailing. I wonder if we crossed paths. I did not hear about you or your ankle. I am sad to hear that. What happened? I hope you're recovering ok and not in much pain. I know one of our roll callers had an injury in St Thomas. I was so sad about that too.

 

Feel free to chime in wherever you'd like. Your comments will also be valuable to future cruisers.

 

Let me know when you get your review started. I'll be anxious to follow.

[ALSEAU]

I was on your sailing. This was my third time on the ship. Had a great time! Live your review so far. Not impressed with the new menu change. I was kind of made famous on the cruise as the "lady who fell and broke her ankle in St Maarten"! Maybe you know me? Lol. Ill get my review out as well. Staff was great only encountered a few that were just ok and a few rude pax but you get that anywhere. If any questions just ask ill try to answer as well :)

 

 

out2sea was your cabin number 8706 by any chance?

 

 

 

That is awesome that you were on our sailing. I wonder if we crossed paths. I did not hear about you or your ankle. I am sad to hear that. What happened? I hope you're recovering ok and not in much pain. I know one of our roll callers had an injury in St Thomas. I was so sad about that too.

 

Feel free to chime in wherever you'd like. Your comments will also be valuable to future cruisers.

 

Let me know when you get your review started. I'll be anxious to follow.

 

Hi Susan enjoying reading your review.

 

You really need to post a picture of you and Chis. You are a good looking couple.

 

Sorry Jan and I didn't run into you and Chris after the M&M.

 

We were traveling with three other couples and during the day we pretty much went our own way. Rarely ran into them the whole week. Fortunately we shared dinner and had the same show reservations where we met.

[jebl]

I am enjoying your review. We will be on Allure in Dec.

 

Could you please post a link to your panning spreadsheet if posssible and if you don't mind. I am not very proficient in Excel but can use it somewhat.

 

Thanks in advance and keep it coming.

[swwake]

Hi Susan enjoying reading your review.

 

You really need to post a picture of you and Chis. You are a good looking couple.

 

Sorry Jan and I didn't run into you and Chris after the M&M.

 

We were traveling with three other couples and during the day we pretty much went our own way. Rarely ran into them the whole week. Fortunately we shared dinner and had the same show reservations where we met.

Al! Good to see you! How is Jan doing? I am so worried about her.

 

I'll get some pics of both of us posted later in the review, but thanks for the compliments.

 

I am enjoying your review. We will be on Allure in Dec.

 

Could you please post a link to your panning spreadsheet if posssible and if you don't mind. I am not very proficient in Excel but can use it somewhat.

 

Thanks in advance and keep it coming.

Thank you for reading along. I will try to figure out how to post the spreadsheet when I get home tonight. I had a couple of different variations.

[lori450]

I'd also love a copy of your spreadsheet.

[swwake]

I found it on my work computer. This was my final version, used to book our dinners. The gray items are options. Blue means Flowrider is open. Yes, we did book our dinners around Flowrider operating times.

 

[swwake]

Here's an earlier version of my spreadsheet. This one is not as pretty and quite cluttered. Blue and bold means we had reservations. The rest gives options, alternatives, and info on events we considered "not to be missed" (like "twenty"). This one also includes the dress code for each evening.

 

 

I should mention that the information about parties at the bottom, and the Flowrider open hours were all estimated, based on review of the 9/2/12 cruise compasses.

Edited October 10, 2012 by swwake

[SnappyNappi]

 

Ooooooo! I love your spreadsheet! I am going to steal it! DH and I are leaving on the Oasis one month from today and I am, like you, a spreadsheet geek! This looks like a good one to keep me from double- or triple-booking... because you know it will happen. :)

[cherylroslyn]

Great review so far.......

 

I just read your entire Oasis review from 2010..... over my lunch hour, Nice job except for the ENDING????? lol

 

I am taking my 23 year old daughter on OASIS December 8, 2012. You have gotten me very excited about the flow rider...not for me, for my daughter.

 

I booked her a lesson and I could not believe how limited the choices are and it is two months from now.......

 

 

I am glad I made the decision to book her the first night at 7:30pm. I was reluctant because I knew she would have to leave dinner a little early. But I think it is best to have the lesson under her belt so she can enjoy the flow rider earlier in the week.

Edited October 10, 2012 by cherylroslyn

[swwake]

Great review so far.......

 

I just read your entire Oasis review from 2010..... over my lunch hour, Nice job except for the ENDING????? lol

 

I am taking my 23 year old daughter on OASIS December 8, 2012. You have gotten me very excited about the flow rider...not for me, for my daughter.

 

I booked her a lesson and I could not believe how limited the choices are and it is two months from now.......

 

 

I am glad I made the decision to book her the first night at 7:30pm. I was reluctant because I knew she would have to leave dinner a little early. But I think it is best to have the lesson under her belt so she can enjoy the flow rider earlier in the week.

I know. I didn't want to get off the Oasis. I guess that's why I didn't give it a proper ending :(

 

The early lesson is a great idea. Has she ever ridden before? I recommend that she go at 1pm on Day 1. There won't be any lines and she can get her "sea legs" back (or get a little early instruction if she's never tried it). It will be better for her going into the lesson with a little practice.

 

We did ours the morning of Day 2 and it was excellent. More about that coming up soon...

[LROB2433]

Loving your review so far. We are on the December 16th sailing and are counting down the days.

 

I did not book a flow rider lesson for my kids (17 and 19). I think I read it was $60.00 per person for a group lesson.

 

Is it worth it?????

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Soooo much fun! I am hanging on to every word.......more, please.:D

[swwake]

Loving your review so far. We are on the December 16th sailing and are counting down the days.

 

I did not book a flow rider lesson for my kids (17 and 19). I think I read it was $60.00 per person for a group lesson.

 

Is it worth it?????

I can't really answer that question for you. If your kids have never done the Flowrider, they won't need a lesson. If they get on the ship and try it out a few times and become addicted to it and want to improve, lessons will be available and you can book onboard.

 

For beginners, the sports deck staff helps them get up and running, and helps them improve each time with little tips. Lessons are good if you really want to improve during your cruise. But I don't think they are necessary at all.

 

You are correct on the price. Group lessons are 4-8 people, so you get more time with the instructor than during open surf time.

[lori450]

loving your review so far. We are on the december 16th sailing and are counting down the days.

 

I did not book a flow rider lesson for my kids (17 and 19). I think i read it was $60.00 per person for a group lesson.

 

Is it worth it?????

 

yes! To me, it's not about the "lesson" it's about having the flowrider to yourself with a limited number of other people. More rides! It used to be max 6 people then it went up to 8 people, don't know what it is now. If it's more than 8 people, then it's not worth it.

Edited October 11, 2012 by lori450

[lori450]

Thank you for the wonderful spreadsheet! I am already trying to figure out how to duplicate it. Very simple and elegant. Easy to read. I especially love the flowrider times highlighted!

[Eng23]

Hi Susan! You beat me to the punch on doing a review. I am still organizing notes to post my reivew. You are doing a good job so far! :)

[swwake]

yes! To me, it's not about the "lesson" it's about having the flowrider to yourself with a limited number of other people. More rides! It used to be max 6 people then it went up to 8 people, don't know what it is now. If it's more than 8 people, then it's not worth it.

Still max 8. I'm not to that part of my report yet, so I don't want to spoil it, but let's just say we had an excellent experience and LOTS of personal attention :)

[swwake]

Thank you for the wonderful spreadsheet! I am already trying to figure out how to duplicate it. Very simple and elegant. Easy to read. I especially love the flowrider times highlighted!

Birds of a feather... When are we going to cruise together? :)

 

Hi Susan! You beat me to the punch on doing a review. I am still organizing notes to post my reivew. You are doing a good job so far! :)

Harold! I've already mentioned you! Mine won't be very organized and won't have many photos. I can't wait to read yours.

[MrFunInTheSun]

Great review and pictures. Thank you for sharing your cruise adventure with us. Congrats on winning the cruise too, thats awesome!

[swwake]

But on the way to Rita's, we got sidetracked...

 

As we walked out onto the Boardwalk, we recognized the familiar carved horses in various stages, Zoltar was calling for us, and the carousel was in the distance. But we were a little hungry, and we could smell...

 

The Boardwalk Dog House!

 

(We had stopped by Park Cafe looking for a famous roast beef sandwich while in Central Park, but the lines were pretty long already, so we waited.)

 

TIP: The touch boards at the elevator banks will list the dining venues and how busy they are at any given time. They don't list the Boardwalk Dog House. So chances are you can always get a hot dog pretty quickly.

 

We checked out the menu - who even KNEW there were 7 varieties of hot dogs in the world? I got a Coney Island Dog and Chris got a Big Apple (chicken with apples in a parmesan/cheddar baguette). Mine was a hot dog. And that's all I needed at the moment. Chris liked his dog, but said the bread was extra hard and hurt the roof of his mouth.

 

We enjoyed it, and we stopped back by later in the week for another (different) dog each. I had the German (pork and marjoram in a caraway seed baguette). I thought it was good. I didn't get the saurkraut with it, and I'm sure that would have changed the flavor, depending on your liking.

 

Bellies full, it was off to Rita's. We checked in at the podium, and they took our reservation (selected night and room number), handwritten on a napkin. We kept checking our Personal Calendar on our TV after that (a few times a day) and never saw the reservation. We checked at the Guest Services desk one day and they said "those TVs don't always work right. You'll have to check at Rita's." So we went back to Rita's and asked someone. She said she was sure our reservation was fine, but she didn't have access to it so she would ask her manager to verify and he would call us later that night or in the morning. We never got a call, and the TV never showed it. When trying to make a new reservation on the TV, it showed sold out for our selected night. We'll see how that goes when we show up on Day 4.

 

Ok, so all dinner reservations made, we explored the ship a little and when it got close to 1pm, we headed to check out our room (and drop off our backpacks, change to swimsuits, etc.). This was our first cruise as Platinum members, and this greeted us:

It was a nice surprise. There was some kind of astronaut food (dried fruit) or something (never opened), some shortbread cookies (which were yummy and hit the spot later in the week for a quick carb fix), and a nice "welcome back" note.

 

There were a few other paperwork items, like our Cruise Compass, Meet & Mingle invitations, and maybe more. And there was a note with a refillable soda mug saying our pre-ordered drinks had been fully delivered. One problem. I had ordered and paid for 8 bottles of water. So when our room steward, Hopeton from Jamaica, introduced himself and asked if everything was ok, he said he would get right on it. He had to contact Bar Services. We left our room before the water situation was fixed, but left a note on the note they had left us, and by the time we returned to our room that evening, we had our water.

 

Time to check out our room. We had Superior Ocean View Stateroom #8624. Starboard side. Between the humps.

 

The room was great. On Oasis Class ships, the rooms alternate between bed by the balcony and bed by the closet. Our bed was by the balcony.

 

 

We loved everything about our room. Nice size. Clean. Easy to move around. Lots of storage. The view was great and the humps forward and aft did not obstruct the view. We loved being on Deck 8 - so convenient to Central Park and our favorite bar, the Trellis Bar.

 

Negatives: It was a long, boring walk from either the forward or aft stairs/elevators. After experiencing this, we would choose a room closer to the stairs. If you need to walk the length of the ship in that case, at least you can choose to walk it on a deck with some activity (promenade, Central Park, even the pool deck), rather than a long hallway full of doors.

 

The only other negative was that our "soap holder" (for lack of a better descriptor) was broken and wouldn't hold our toiletries. By about Day 3, they got that fixed and we were fine. Nothing really to complain about.

 

Now, for the moment we'd been waiting for...(I bet you can guess)

Edited October 11, 2012 by swwake

[SailingSiren]

Thanks so much for your review! We're on the Allure in 9 days for our honeymoon :D