Another cruiser just off the Allure

[Dolby1000]

Just a quick note or two:

The coupons for Crown and Anchor members were still in booklet form.

We loved the aft cabin, we were close to the aft elevators and stairs and it was a great location for us.

 

Day 2 is a sea day. We love sea days. One of the attractions of this cruise was the 3 full sea days. You can sleep in or get up early and just do nothing or attend many of the activities available on the ship. Today we did a mix of a few activities but mostly just wanted to relax.

 

Breakfast, we need something breakfast. And, this is one of the few times I did some food porn. Can you guess where we got our breakfast? Hint, not from Boardwalk on deck 6, and no, KansCocoa, you may not guess as I got the suggestion from your Allue review. And, they are as good as the look. Neither DW nor I are breakfast people, so this was enough to start the day.

 

 

Our morning view, is there any better view than this?

 

 

Today was Meet and Mingle day. Here I wasn’t very appreciative of RCCL’s timing on this. It was at 9:30, in Dazzles, but the returning cruisers party was at 10AM in the Aqua Theater. IMHO, this is too early of an hour to have this party and the fact that maybe twenty people showed is due to this early hour. However, those that did, including Paul, John, and more names than I can remember, all had a good time. I even won a raffle prize of various RCCL goodies. Now, far too late, I remember there being a picture taken of all of us, but I never found it. Truth be told, I don’t remember looking for it. Anyone on our cruise remember this picture and get a copy of it?

 

Boardwalk from Dazzles:

 

 

They did end the M&M right around 10AM so we all scampered to the Aqua Theater for the return cruisers party. Yes, a lot of RCCL cheerleading goes on, but a couple of cool moments included:

Some high diving

A bit of the OceanAria show

The Captain and the Hotel manager initiating a bit of the Aqua show

Being able to walk on the Aqua Theater stage and get really cool pictures

Being able to speak with the Captain

 

Diver in mid-air:

 

 

Don't know how to explain these guys, part of the OceanAria show:

 

 

Last diver:

 

 

Continued. . . . .

[Dolby1000]

More pictures from the returning cruisers event:

 

Captain and Hotel Manager showing off a bit:

 

 

Fountain going as high as the diver platform:

 

 

Us on the stage:

 

 

Looking back at the Boardwalk:

 

 

Aft balconies:

 

 

DW with the captain:

 

 

You couldn't speak with the Cruise Director, Ken Rush, because he immediately disappeared after performing his duties. I’ll have more to say on Ken Rush later in the review, but at this time, I looked over to DW and said that there was something, and nothing I could put my finger on yet, but something about Ken I didn't like. It took several more days, but I did figure it out by day 6.

 

So, I took several pictures and noticed that it was well after 11 by the time we were done. We didn't want to settle in at the pool since we would be needing lunch in not too soon of a time, so we went to deck 5, the Promenade and browsed the stores. We then went back to the cabin to relax a bit on the balcony and for some reason, just enjoy the sounds and sights (namely the color blue) of the ocean passing beneath our balcony.

 

Continued later today.

[Dolby1000]

Time for lunch.

 

This time I had made the decision well before hand, today was going to be THE day. I had read about it. I had heard about it. I watched the Travel Channel show that demonstrated how they made it. I read the debates on line on whether it was over-rated or not. Today was going to be my day to take the test, to make my observation.

 

I’m from Chicago, well the suburbs, but still, the Midwest of the US of A. We KNOW beef. We are all about beef. Beef is KING. So what kind’ve beef could the Park Café have that would impress a decent Midwesterner?

 

It is called the Kummelweck. It is roast beef slowly roasted for 14 hours and then served on a caraway seed roll. Said roll having been baked on the ship. It is served with a bit of au jus and horseradish or mustard. Many on this board have testified as to its greatness.

 

It is found at the Park Café in Central Park, on deck 8, only 30 seconds from our cabin. There was a short line. I noticed that RCCL tried to bribe me into liking the sandwich by offering my favorite cheese and sour cream Ruffles chips. No matter.

 

We took our sandwiches back to our cabin, along with our chips, fruit cups (we love fruit cups) and a couple of cookies. Of course, no food porn, the camera was forgotten (besides others have posted pictures of the sandwich, so do a search and I’m sure you can find one). Mine had mustard on it and DW’s was plain, only the au jus.

 

I will say it certainly looked good. I took the sandwich in one hand, thinking about, relishing the moment, would the sandwich hold up, could it meet the mountain of expectations the Cruise Critic boards had set?

 

Silence. Nirvana. Heaven on bun. The Dream Sandwich. I cried a little. OMG this thing is good. Well, beyond good. Has anyone seem the movie Defending Your Life? Albert Brooks shows us a mid-life between here and the next one and one of the running jokes of the movie is that the food in this mid-life is far better than anything we've ever had here. The Kummelweck sandwich is Defending Your Life good. I’m still having withdrawals.

 

Why, well for me, a devotee of roast beef sandwiches, here in Chicago all I can get are Italian type sandwiches. Similar to the Kummelweck except the spices used to roast the meat are different and they are served wet, I mean the meat sits in the juices and the bread falls apart very messy wet type sandwich. And you can find many places around Chicago that serve a mean Italian Beef sandwich.

 

But, sometimes, I don’t want the wet fall apart spiced stuff, I want just a plain solid type sandwich, really, what I want is the Kummelweck. Even DW was very impressed. Of all the good food we had during the week, this item was by far my favorite and we visited the Park Café often.

 

Okay, enough about the sandwich.

 

What else did we do that day? After lunch, we parked ourselves by the Beach Pool for the balance of the afternoon. It was a beautiful sunny and hot day and it was time for swimming, a drink or two and kindle reading (the Wheel of Ice by Stephen Baxter for me, The Wizard of Oz books for DW).

 

At 3 PM I went to the casino to try my hand at the Texas Hold’em poker tournament. The one where the winner gets the “free” cruise on the Oasis in December to participate in the bigger tournament.

 

Readers, I’m now going to go into a bit of a poker paragraph, feel free to go to the next post when we go to dinner at Giovanni’s table.

 

There were 8 players and surprisingly, they split us up into two groups of 4, with the winner of each group moving onto the final table on Saturday. It costs $100 to enter for $1000 in chips with the initial blinds at $25/$50. During the first four rounds you could re-buy for $50 another $1000 in chips at any time you had $1000 or less. The blinds went up every 10 minutes and they went up very quickly.

 

So, I was in position three, there were two gentlemen to my left and a woman who pretended to speak very little English to my right. She immediately did a re-buy and started with $2000, this was allowed. The men decided to start at the $1000 and see what transpired. Obviously, the purposed of the re-buys was to try and build higher pots and more payouts. The casino needed to make “X” before the tourney qualified for the free cruise. There would be two more qualifiers, on Thursday and Saturday, before the final table at 5PM on Saturday.

 

The woman (she was no lady based on her language) used her $2000 to initially bully the table and take the first 4 or 5 hands in row. Not an uncommon strategy but not one I normally take. Initially, I take a very conservative stand and try to get reads on my co-players. I will play strong hands, but I won’t take too many risks.

 

After she won the first few hands, other players began to call her, including myself. We began to erode her lead and player 1 and player 3 (me) began to be up in chips. Player 2 began to have poor luck as he had several good starting hands that ended up being second best. He did a rebuy during the third blind. I caught a straight and took a large sum from the woman and she lost a lot of her chips to player one on a stupid play. I knew player 1 had a strong hand and if she had been paying attention, she would have saved herself some agony. On the river, she had position, and he checked, but after he checked I noticed that he moved his hands towards his chips, in anticipation of her betting, which she always did. He had lain a trap for her and I saw it coming. She put in a strong bet and he came of the top and went all-in. Without really thinking about his play, she went all in and got beat. He had trips (pocket Queens with a queen on the board) to her two pair. She failed to play the player and player only her hand. We now knew her weakness and player 1 and I took the rest of her chips.

 

In between, player 2’s luck didn’t change. By the end of the fourth round, he was out and it was just us three. You could do an add-in of $1000 in chips at this time and the three of us did so. Blinds were now $200/$400, so it was moving fast.

 

Shortly after the break, player one did in player 4 and it was down to us two. We traded chips for several hands, neither gaining an advantage. But, I noticed the types of hands he was playing, raising on any medium hand and slow playing stronger hands. I don’t play a lot of poker, but what I have learned is to understand and play your opponent is as important as playing your hands. For example, I was dealer so he would be first to play. Blinds were at $500/$1000 and we were about even in chips of around $5000 each. He raised to $2000. This told me he had a medium hand. I had played my normal tight poker and I knew he knew that about me. I had the 6 of clubs and the 3 of diamonds. Fold, right, the strategy says that to play 6/3 off suit is not a smart play. But, I’ve also learned that sometimes, you have to play such a hand, to let others see that you don’t only play Ace/King and such. One on one, well, I decided, it was time to play something different.

 

The board came up with Ace/Four/Eight, all different suits. There was no obvious straight on the board and no flush. He made the mistake of checking, which he had done anytime he missed his mid-range hand. If he had bet there, I likely would have folded, but he showed weakness. I did not put him on an Ace. So, here is where the bluff was set up. I immediately went all in. Nothing, no hemming and hawing, just showed some impatience, like I couldn’t wait to bet. He believed I had an Ace since I had played those types of hands. He immediately folded and I took a bit of a chip lead. This is called a bluff. I rarely am able to bluff my friends in my monthly games, but since we didn’t know each other, I pulled it off here beautifully.

 

So, the next hand I had Queen/Nine of hearts and raised it $1000. He called. The board flopped Nine/Five/Two, of which two were hearts. I had a pair of nines with a rather strong queen kicker. I went all in and after a minute of thinking, player one called. He had Nine/Ten off suit. I had him out-kicked. The turn and river blanked, I avoid a ten, which meant that I had now qualified for the final table and only invested $150 to get there. We played for 75 minutes and I had a great time. Any time I play poker, I learn more about reading my opponents and today’s game had some good lessons. And, I was one step closer to that free cruise.

 

The three of us, the woman and player one met up in the bar. The woman went on and on boasting how she was number one on sort of poker online site. Don't ask me which one, I've never heard of it. Well, I thought to myself, if you are that good, you would have wiped the floor with me, so I knew she was telling fish stories. I don't play online because you can't get a read on your opponent, something she had failed to do, with all her experience and all. Just goes to show, poker is mainly a game of luck and I had some good luck on this day.

 

Continued. . . . .

[Dolby1000]

Dinner that night was at Giovanni’s table. Before I get into the dinner, here is where I gave RCCL another small point deduction. We had tried to make reservations ourselves for this night, but the only time available were 5:30 and 8:30. Either too early or too late. Using the concierge, we were able to secure a spot for 6:30. Here is what I can’t figure out. The place was empty. At 6:30 and throughout our 2 hour dinner, there was no one around. Tables sat empty and yet you couldn’t get a reservation for these times. The same for Chops and others in Central Park, no reservations available yet so many tables sat unused. Can’t figure that out.

 

Anyway, we sat outside at the furthest and most private outdoor table. We watched the sky above slowly go from blue, to dark blue, to purple to black as the sun set. The lights slowly came on in the park. It was a very romantic setting. It was also formal night. Now, DW and I have done our fair share of formal nights and I know that is an ongoing contentious debate here. So, we decided to fall somewhere in between. With weight limits on luggage, and let’s face it, suit jackets are a heavy item, we did not do the dresses and full suits. However, just jeans and a polo wasn’t really correct either. So, I went with black slacks and a black and gold dress shirt and DW went with slacks and a floral top. We didn’t bring any special shoes either, as, who looks at shoes? Our regular shoes (which had finally dried) were just fine. This saved us a ton of weight when packing.

 

Of course, I forget the waiters name. We had beef carpaccio, Caesar salad, papardelli pasta, veal ossobuco and cannoli. The food was outstanding. We shared everything and especially notable was the pasta and the ossobuco. This, I believe, is the last of the food porn pictures that I have.

 

Beef Carpaccio:

 

 

Caesar Salad, note that they use shredded Parmesan cheese, I much prefer the shaved cheese we got on our last cruise.

 

 

Ossobuco:

 

 

 

Somehow, I missed the pasta, which was really good.

 

Lantern outside at the restaurant

 

Dinner was great, really, the whole evening was great. We then went to see Chicago. No, not our hometown silly, RCCLs take on the Broadway play.

 

DW and I are avid theater goers. We’ve been to NY and seen several Broadway shows and we are subscribers to two theater packages here back home. However, of all the shows we’ve seen, somehow Chicago never made it on the list, so this was a new play for us. We learned that this was the cast’s last week and a new cast was coming aboard, so it was a bit bittersweet for them.

 

Well, we enjoyed Chicago very much. An excellent play to choose since the staging and costumes are so minimal. The talent was not minimal, it was outstanding. They reduce the play to one act, but since we’ve never seen it, I can’t tell you what they cut out to bring it down to that time limit. There didn’t seem to be anything missing and the performance was totally 100% professional. This was our second show and it seemed to me that in only 2 days, we had seen the 2 best, not-to-be-missed shows. And if you do sail on the Allure, really, these are not-to-be-missed shows. Make reservations, this is what you are paying for and you don’t want to miss it.

 

Chicago ended around 11:30 or so and it was time for our nightly visit to deck 15 and deck 16 for our end of day walk. We liked to look at the moon and, for this cruise; there wasn’t much wind on the decks most nights.

 

Now, I wasn’t sure I was going to share this part, but it was so funny for us, that I figured, what the heck.

 

If you’ve been on the Allure or the Oasis, you can picture that between either the main pool or the beach pool there is a walkway where you can look into Central Park. There is a large bench used to by swimmers to sit by the pool and the pools here are over 4 feet deep. There are shallow ends on three sides but this side goes directly to the deep end.

 

We varied our walking paths and, if I remember correctly, there was classical music coming up from central park. So, on our 3rd or 4th lap, we walked by the beach pool on that middle walkway to gaze into central park to see if we could figure out where the music was coming from. After listening to the music we decided to head back to the cabin to retire for the night.

 

I don’t know what came over me, but as we headed back, I jumped up on the wooden bench thing by the pool and kept walking. I should say here that we had not changed from dinner, I was still in my slacks and shirt. DW, substituting the word “devilish” for “dear” took it upon herself to give me a shove into the pool. I had no idea she had this in mind and it is something she has never done before. DW rarely shows any impulsive behavior. I was caught totally off guard and was thoroughly soaked. DW ran off, laughing all the way. There was no else around to see my predicament and I quickly left the pool and ran after W, not so sure about the D now. She continued to laugh. Finally, I couldn’t help but laugh too. Heck, it was warm outside and the pool was warm too and it was only water and we had plenty of time for my clothes to dry. The only thing in my pocket was my seapass card, no phones or wallets were involved.

 

Yes, I did drag her back to the pool and allowed her to take her shoes off and then she jumped in with me and we both were swimming. While we were swimming, both the deck patrol and security guy walked right by us and didn’t say a thing, so behavior of this type must not be all that unusual. Truth be told, seeing DW having fun in a very different way filled me with glee, her being silly and impulsive was what this trip was to be about, and, In the end, swimming there in the pool after she pushed me in was a whole lot of fun.

 

After we had dripped our way back to the cabin and were met by this guy:

 

 

Day 2 was a terrific day, met wonderful people, we discovered a terrific sandwich, I got lucky in poker, a great dinner, an outstanding show and a moment of merriment we are still laughing about today and ended the day joining a certain club and that's all I'll say about that. :D

 

Coming up – Labadee, or does Barefoot beach really mean bare feet.

 

Good evening everyone

 

OWD

[jakesmom04]

Enjoying the review....we were leaving the ship on the day you boarded her!

[tarajean1962]

I'll say that was a terrific day!!:) Hope you'll write more soon.

 

Tara

[Dolby1000]

Day 3 – Barefoot beach doesn’t mean bare feet.

 

Today will be a day of a lot of pictures and a lot less action. I took over 100 pictures on this day alone. No, I won’t be posting them all.

 

Here is what we woke up to, mooring in Labadee. Although it was a bit cloudy, by the time we left the ship the sun was shining brightly.

 

Arriving at Labadee:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Continued. . . . .

[Dolby1000]

Our plan was to enjoy the dragon coaster and then spend time at Barefoot beach, the one for the people with the gold cards, as we had because we were in a suite.

 

So, we got off the ship, and as you can see, the clouds had done away.

 

 

 

We paid for a coaster ride, signed the waiver and took the training. This ride is a lot fun and I recommend getting the day pass as you will want to ride it several times, if you like this sort of thing.

 

Going up the hill:

 

 

Almost to the top:

 

 

A quick second to see this view (you are not supposed to stop):

 

 

Another cool part of the gold card is that there are golf carts to get your around. We got several lifts across the area which saved us a lot time.

 

We ran into this area with a familiar name:

 

 

Shortly after arriving, they had to close the pier so a medical evacuation helicopter could land on the helipad. A guest needed to be sent back to Florida. The Captain said this was only the third time they had used the helipad. We said quick prayer for the guest and their family. I think it was heart related, but I’m not 100% sure.

 

Continued. . . . . .

[Dolby1000]

After coastering, we decided to hit the beach. Barefoot beach was chosen to be the suite guest beach due to it being the closet to the pier. There can’t be any other reason. We showed our Gold Cards at the gate and an attendant found us a nice shady spot (remember, allergic to aloe, so I have to be careful in the sun) to relax for the balance of the morning. Once again, we hit our kindles and then decided to hit the beach and go for a brief swim.

 

Now, you would think that something name Barefoot beach would be aptly named. Well, it is not. A more appropriate name is “Not so Barefoot Beach”. The beach is very rocky with sharp stones along in front of where the waves break. It actually takes several steps into the ocean before you might encounter a somewhat sandy area. You really need water shoes here.

 

Here are some pictures of the beach area. We did not rent a cabana and I have no regrets about not doing so. We had a shady spot and I really didn’t see an advantage to having the cabana, other than the free water. But $200 (or more) for water and a chair with some shade seems a bit steep to me.

 

From our seats:

 

 

Just entering the water:

 

 

A couple of the over the water cabanas:

 

 

Looking the other way:

 

 

What a beautiful day!

 

 

Last one, the ship from the beach:

 

 

Continued. . . . .

[Dolby1000]

After our swim we ordered up some beverages and relaxed some more. Really, we didn’t have much else going for today.

 

One nice thing about the Barefoot Beach area is its own lunch area. We did not have long lines for lunch as this beach area is not crowded. It was the “upscale” lunch with steak and sea food skewers, of which we both tried. The food is grilled right there so it is freshly prepared. We enjoyed our lunch, and this is one meal where I have to admit I ate more than my fair share, as I love grilled foods and the burger, steak and seafood were quite delicious, as was the fresh fruit and the desserts.

 

So, it was time to walk off lunch and we toured the island area. I took several pictures and noticed that any beach not named Barefoot Beach was a lot sandier and lot less rocky than the one named Barefoot.

 

Nellie's beach:

 

 

 

Columbus Beach - play park. The water slide ends here.

 

 

I forget the name of this beach, maybe adventure beach? You can see the ship in the distance.

 

 

 

After taking pictures, my camera battery died. Since I had only the one, I had to go back to the ship to charge it. I also noticed that our cabin was now in the shade and I could tell I had had enough sun. I needed to recharge the battery since we were invited to the helipad for sail and I wanted pictures of that.

 

We did not do any shopping in Labadee. Not that the vendors didn't try, though. I had to learn to ignore them. I don't like to be rude, but if you show the slightest bit of interest they, figuratively, crawl all over you and that made me uncomfortable.

 

Returning to the ship:

 

 

 

We spent the afternoon on our balcony loungers, napping, reading, relaxing, watching wave runners and people return to the ship. My camera and my internal battery re-charged nicely.

 

Continued. . . . .

[Dolby1000]

We then did the sail away from the Helipad. We were scheduled to leave at 5PM, however, everyone was on board by 4:30 and we had hardly arrived on the pad when the thrusters were engaged and the Allure pulled out. By now, the sun had disappeared and the temperatures dropped a bit. As we sailed away, low clouds came in and obscured much of the island passageway. We stayed on the helipad for about an hour.

 

Here are pictures from the helipad:

 

DW, the two fisted drinker.

 

 

Backing away, or, siding away:

 

 

It got very cloudy:

 

 

Hey, look who showed up:

 

 

Look how calm the sea is, they were like this all week:

 

 

We returned to our cabin and we parked ourselves on our balcony to watch the Allure pass an island to the north. What I thought were buoys were actually small sailboats, fishing I imagine. It was pouring rain in the channel, but the balconies are protected by the overhang from deck 15, so we stayed dry.

 

 

Continued. . . . .

[Dolby1000]

We weren’t hungry so we skipped the main dining room that night. Looking to the NW, I noticed the sky begin to clear as we made our way past Haiti. Mother Nature put on a heck of a show, with a sunset that glowed right before us. The sun peeked out of the clouds. There was a rain band just to the south that stayed dark. There was a patch of blue sky just overhead and high clouds to the north. It was a spectacular sunset as all the light was being reflected in the northern sky. These pictures hardly do it justice. I had a hard time limiting this to just these 6 pictures:

 

Sun just peeking out from the clouds:

 

 

So many colors, clouds and sky textures:

 

 

All the light reflecting to the North:

 

 

Just above the horizon:

 

 

Waited for the fabled "green flash" but didn't see it.

 

 

Finally set:

 

Continued. . . . . .

[Dolby1000]

After sunset we did eat at the Windjammer for dinner. It was nice and quiet. It was Italian and Thai food night, what a combination, huh. Enjoyed the pork roast carving station, the egg plant dish and a couple of others. Nothing to write home about, but we weren’t that hungry to begin with. Might have been a nice night for Johnny Rockets, but didn’t have the appetite for burgers and fries. Here in Chicago, over the last few years, a plethora of really good burger places have opened up that blow away Johnny Rockets (who moved out of the area years ago), so I know we didn’t miss much.

 

After dinner it was time to laugh. We had pre-reserved tickets to the comedy show and this is about the only way you will get in. It is a very small venue, so even though there are about 15 shows to choose from, without reservations you may wind up missing out on the laughs.

 

We had two excellent comics, what was good was that they had very different approaches. Larry was an in your face sort of comic and David was very laid back people observer. We had a great time and Vicki, one of the RCCL reps running show said we were the best audience of the week (so far).

 

We did our evening walk, avoiding the pools this time, and ended our evening with the fountain show at the Aqua theater. These are fun.

 

DW went to bed and I went to the casino to play in a $1/$3 sit and go poker game. It was done on a machine and I lasted over an hour, but truth be told, I really don’t like playing poker on a machine. I didn’t play here again. I walked away empty handed losing with 3 jacks to a straight.

 

So a fairly quiet day, but no less enjoyed than our previous days.

 

Coming up – Day 4 – we do nothing at all, really, it will be a short review day. We do less on day 4 than any other day on the cruise.

 

OWD

[Peeker28]

I love the sunset pictures :D

[tarajean1962]

Nice pics! We haven't been to Labadee in quite a while and I hear that it has changed quite a bit!

 

Tara

[KansCocoa]

 

Breakfast, we need something breakfast. And, this is one of the few times I did some food porn. Can you guess where we got our breakfast? Hint, not from Boardwalk on deck 6, and no, KansCocoa, you may not guess as I got the suggestion from your Allue review. And, they are as good as the look. Neither DW nor I are breakfast people, so this was enough to start the day.

 

 

OMG, they look so good! They're bringing back fond memories!!!

 

I'm loving your review! The photos are excellent, and I love your sense of humor...! ;)

[Dolby1000]

So, I missed posting yesterday, work and MIL issues took up my entire day.

If I'm lucky, I'll get two days posted today. Do you want more pictures, well then, you're in luck, I have more.

 

Day 4 – Falmouth Jamaica – We do nothing at all, really, or, there is always one

 

Breakfast today was at Johnny Rockets. If you sail the Allure or the Oasis, don’t forget that this is open for breakfast and there is no fee. The advantage of breakfast here is that the eggs and potatoes are made fresh and are not sitting in the buffet for any length of time. I had scrambled eggs with potatoes and a hamburger patty (chopped steak) and an English muffin. It was all hot, fresh and very good. DW had the egg sandwich with potatoes and she really enjoyed it. JR is highly recommended for breakfast and was not crowded at all. This was a very large breakfast for us, we normally are not real breakfast type people, but we didn't know how well the Hilton lunch would be and we decided to “stoke” up. We sat outside under an umbrella. Not for the rain, no, but to keep us in the shade.

 

For you see, it was another beautiful day, as the pictures will attest. Other than the rain yesterday, which didn't impact us at all, we had great weather on the trip. All the days had sunshine and warm, yet not too hot temperatures. Here are some pictures of us docking in Falmouth. What was odd to us, and probably only to us, was that all the flag poles were empty. No flags. Not even at the main entrance building. If I didn't know we were in Jamaica, well, there was nothing at the port to tell me where we were, was there? Fly the flag! Don’t you listen to Eddie Izzard? (Google that).

 

First view of Jamaica:

 

 

See, no flags.

 

 

Initially, we didn’t plan anything for this day. We were not really interested in Jamaica and none of the excursions really interested us. I did not want to sit on a bus for a couple of hours just to climb a water fall and visit a tourist attraction. We had agreed that this trip was not to have hours on end on buses, it is just too exhausting.

 

So, let me give another shout out to another poster here. Probably all of us have read Gambee’s 5 star Allure review and he then posted another 5 star Celebrity cruise review. From this review I learned about a web site called Jamaica for a day (you can easily find it using Google). Several not too far hotels offer day passes. Gambee and his Mom, on a not so nice weather day, had a day pass at the Hilton.

 

Normally, being the conservative types we are, day 2’s events not withstanding (my shoes had finally dried for the second, and thankfully, last time), we only do RCCL excursions, because, then, you can’t miss the ship. But, there are hundreds of posters out here who do their own thing and easily make it back to the ship. So, with a deep breath, we spent the $99 per person which included:

Transportation to and from the hotel, which in and of itself, was a pretty good bargain (the trip was only 30 minutes, so it did not meet the dreaded “hours on the bus” standard we were avoiding)

Full use of the pools, hot tubs, beaches, non-motorized sea crafts (kayaks, that sort of thing)

Drinks, and I mean real drinks, not just soda and water, beer, mixed drinks, frozen drinks

All towel provided (we did not need to bring any towels from the ship)

Lockers

We packed our backpack, and being the risk adverse person I am, included the passports, a credit card, threw in our bathing suits, DW’s meds and met up on the pier shortly after docking. We would be sharing this day with 44 other people off the Allure.

 

It seemed like we waited a long time on the pier for everyone, especially since DW and I were the first two to arrive. Also, remember that Falmouth is one hour behind ships time. Thankfully, the people running the tour know that and adjust accordingly.

 

We were walked over to the buses and I grabbed this picture of the aft portion of the Allure. I don’t know who said it, and I admit someone else said it first, but this still makes me laugh:

 

Does my Aqua Theater make my aft look big? :D

 

 

Continued. . . . .

[Dolby1000]

It took about 30 minutes and we were here. The Hilton got us checked in, put on the obligatory wrist band, and we’re off. Gambee, I know you had terrible weather here, but we had just the opposite. It was a perfect day, the sun was out and it was so nice.

 

He hit the pool area, found some loungers (none in the shade though) and hit the pool. We did the lazy river, the water slides, the swim up bar, swam in the ocean, took a walk, had more drinks, did more slides (I really enjoyed it, it was a good fast fun ride), relaxed on our loungers, had some Kindle time, took a nap, had lunch, had drinks, talked to friendly people, DW tried Jerk Chicken from the Jerk Chicken cart, yes they have a Jerk Chicken cart, DW liked it but told me it was far too spicy for my taste and I trusted her on that, took pictures, went down the slide, had drinks, swam in the ocean again and did a final ride on the slide. All in that exact order. Hey, I took really good notes on this trip. The woman at the top of the slide, after our 6th or 7th ride said to us, “you two are in really good shape” referring to the now seventh climb of stairs. She said it in a friendly manner and we took it as a compliment.

 

Hilton main pool:

 

 

Pool with water slide exit and lazy river:

 

 

Looking north from the fishing pier:

 

 

Beach area:

 

 

Beach from the water:

 

 

You could play golf here, not included with the package though, this a green.

 

 

 

No lunch pictures, I had a very good chicken sandwich and DW had nachos.

 

Oh, if you are still reading Gambee, nothing touched us in the beach, but I will agree that the water is very cloudy here. Warm, inviting, but not clear. Snorkeling here is not recommended, you won't see much of anything.

 

So, at 5:00 ship time (4:00 local) you are to meet up to go back to the ship. The same bus driver and the same comfortable air conditioned bus came to pick us up, right on time. We were due back on the ship by 6:30 PM for 7PM sail away. 43 people were right on time. 43. Remember the number I said earlier was going on this excursion. It was not 43 (hey, shout out to Richard Petty you Nascar fans). We needed 44. Isn’t there always one? His buddy, #43 was on the bus, but he had somehow separated himself from his friend. So, the bus driver went off to try and find him, and then, the buddy left the bus to try and find him. So, now we were down to 42 and no bus driver. Sigh. Double sigh. Say, is thing an automatic? Thankfully, only a few minutes later number 44 was found, he connected up with number 43 and the driver, and we were off, back to Falmouth.

 

Continued. . . . .

[Dolby1000]

We had a really good day. For us, who are beach and pool people, having access to the water slide, drinks, beach (I love the beach) and just having a relaxing time in the sun is just what we needed. We were back at the port by 5:40 which did give us a little time for shopping. I did end up buying a Piranha Joe shirt, as I have a few of those and I really like their little logo.

 

We returned to the ship around 6:20, so others did not get a “race to the ship” video of us.

 

All I can say, the next time we cruise to Falmouth, we will do the exact same excursion. It was well organized and just gave us the perfect day. If we ever decide to visit Jamaica, sans ship, I would stay at this resort. It was clean, fun and a great time. Also, Gambee, if you are reading this review, thanks so much for the idea, it made our day.

 

Since we were now Platinum and this was our 6th cruise on RCCL, we were invited to an extra event in the main theater at 7:45. It was nearing 7PM as we got back to our cabin. Decision time, go to dinner or go to the event? We really weren’t hungry and DW's numbers were good, so we cleaned up and went to the event.

 

We met up with some other CC friends and had some complimentary drinks (we really didn’t need more, but free beer is free beer). As part of the event, the main cast from Chicago came out and did several songs, with the live band. It was cool seeing these fine performers out of costume and see how they really look. The cast was leaving, as apparently, they only get to do this for 6 months and the songs they performed for us was their actual final performance on the Allure. They actually got a bit teary eyed and emotional. We enjoyed the company around us and had a good time, but I will admit, the long day in the sun and the drinks were getting us a bit of the head-nods. You know what I mean. :p

 

It was now 8:30 and we had reservations for Tony Tillman around 10 or 11, I think. We didn’t know who he was. No idea. None. How can it be called Headliner Showtime if, like, you have no clue about the entertainer? So, not knowing, and not wanting to be rude if we were not so much entertained, we sat in the balcony, towards the back so we could make a polite exit if he wasn’t our cup of tea.

 

Oh wait, dinner, or supper, we hadn’t had any. DW, being a diabetic, skipping any sort of meal wasn’t really a good idea. Even though it was nearing 9PM and we, for some odd reason, still weren’t really hungry. But, we had to have something so we went to the Promenade café for sandwiches and such. Since the Allure makes its own bread, they were good and just enough as we weren’t looking for anything heavy. Pizza was another option, but, again, it didn’t look that appetizing to us so we went the sandwich direction. Being in a suite we had had two, not one, but two fruit plates delivered so we munched on some fruit with our sandwiches.

 

Back to Tony. Remember, our plan was to leave as soon as we didn’t appreciate his act. We never left, and we never did the head-nod thing either. He is a singer/dancer, African-American, who has played Sammy Davis Jr. in a show in Vegas. He did songs from Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, James Brown, and some 50s and 60s rock and roll, some classic R&B and bit of jazz, quite an excellent variety and he excelled at them all. I also liked the fact that the songs he chose from those artists were some lessor known ones, such as Sir Duke from Stevie Wonder. He did this with a live orchestra. Tony did songs from our era, classics and he did them very well. When he asked the teenagers in the audience (he did a rated PG show, nothing racy or too adult) what they wanted to hear, he did a bit of something, not sure what, Beyonce, maybe, I have no idea, but after about 1 minute he stopped and said he couldn’t go on as that wasn’t music. He then parodied Justin Bieber, which was hilarious, especially since I hate Justin Bieber. When the teenagers yelled for more he told them that he didn’t have to listen to “them” as “they” weren’t the ones paying for the cruise! We found Tony to be very much a perfect hit for Headliner Showtime. I won’t give away what he finished with, suffice to say, he had the audience in the palm of his hand by then and also had everyone on the floor with laughter. If you get him on your cruise, even if you aren’t familiar with him, spend the hour or so, it is highly worth it.

 

After Tony, we were done. Really done. So, of course, we did our customary three laps on Deck 16 first, then hit the hay. I was even too tired for the Casino. I had a budget for it, and other than the Texas Hold’em tournemant, I hadn’t even touched it yet.

 

End of Day 4, tomorrow, Day 5, at sea: Zip-a-dee-doh-da or, this bar goes where?

 

OWD

[beachlovergirl]

Enjoying your review and pictures. Love the sunset pics!!

 

Dee

[Poorplaya]

Great review here, awesome pictures and so much detail, cant wait to read the rest

[Dolby1000]

Day 5 – Zip-a-dee-do-dah

 

Today was a day at sea. We could already feel the vacation ending noose in the air. And there was so much on the ship we hadn’t done.

 

Such as another breakfast in the Park Café. This time I got the RCCL version of the Egg McMuffin sandwich and I found this to be as addicting as the beef sandwich. Somehow it was really fresh and delicious. DW had the same thing. However, the Park Café also offers fresh bagels, other breakfast sandwiches, fresh fruit and muffins. Today we brought the goodies back to the room and enjoyed them there.

 

We spent the morning around the main pool. The only drawback to this pool is that this is the smoking side. We tried to endure for a while (neither of us smoke and the smell of it makes us sick) until we gave up and tried to find spots on the Beach pool side. Another morning of swimming, relaxing and kindle time. My book at had gotten quite interesting and I was in a rush to finish it.

 

I should say that at this point, it had become a habit to try and keep our drink cups full. My goal was to try as many diet flavors as the Freestyle could offer. On the Promenade, there are two machines. By day 2, the one on the right was broken. They kept trying to fix it and it didn’t come back to rather inconsistent service until Day 5. The left machine worked fine, had all the flavors, but never had any ice. Several times I would take the ice from our room, or from the Park Café and use that in our drinks.

 

DW was stuck on Diet Coke with Lime. Always Diet Coke with Lime. Never Diet Coke with Raspberry, or Orange, or Diet Mr. Pibb, or Fanta Zero, Diet Coke with Lime, I didn’t even ask. As an aside, why does the machine offer Coke Zero with Lemon but not Diet Coke with Lemon? Not that the machines were out of it, but on all 5 machines, (the other three being 2 in the WJ and one in the Wipe Out café), the lemon offering was only on Coke Zero, how odd. Going to have to go to Five Guys locally to see if the same is try there.

 

Anyway, by now, I had tried all the Coke Zero flavors (Coke Zero is my favorite), all the Diet Coke flavors and all the Mr. Pibb Zero flavors, one of the Sprite Zero flavors (Strawberry) and I started on the Mello Yellow (think Mountain Dew) flavors. All were good, except for the Melllo Yellow grape which was rather awful and the Coke Zero and Diet Coke Raspberry, being that the berry flavor was much too strong.

 

Overall, we rarely had to wait more than one person to use a machine and we definitely got our money’s worth. It also was not uncommon for us to use a local bar to just get Diet Cokes when the machines were just too far away and the available bar to convenient.

 

After a morning of doing nothing, and loving it, lunch, was of course, the Park Café. You know what we had.

 

We had brought a board game with us and since our balcony was so big, and out of the wind, we played that for a while and returned to the pool deck and went aft. As yet, we had not tried the zip line. Or, to be more specific, I had not tried the zip line. DW is normally not the thrill seeking type, but she knew I had to try it since I’ve done it in Colorado and Hawaii.

 

We had signed the waivers before ever boarding the ship, so I got in line, about 5 people in front of me. DW stood along the rail, and I prayed her thumb was not over the lens.

 

So, here I am, preparing for and during my whopping two seconds over the boardwalk.

 

 

 

 

 

To my surprise, DW then handed me the camera and said “my turn”. I gaped in surprise, you are really going to try this, I asked. She got in line, which was even shorter now, and to her credit, and her are the pictures to prove it, my DW did her first zip line. I was so proud of her. This was the second time she took me off guard and I loved her even more for it.

 

Getting ready:

 

 

She's off!

 

 

And she's here (she was just barely all enough):

 

 

Continued. . . .

[Dolby1000]

We went off the see the Rising Tide bar. How many of you think that the design of the Rising Tide bar comes from this vehicle from Star Wars – Return of the Jedi.

 

 

DW and called it the Star Wars bar all week. So, we used a coupon for 2 for 1 beer and toasted our zip line achievement. Here are pics of the trip on the Rising Tide Bar:

 

 

Looking Up:

 

 

DW celebrating her Zip Line achievement:

 

 

Car from the Rising Tide:

 

 

Looking up to Central Park:

 

 

 

While traveling on the slow rising tidal star wars bar thingy, which we had pretty much to ourselves, we spoke with the RCCL rep controlling our ride, Nicki. Nicki, who also hosts the comedy show, lives in Miami and it was a real treat talking with her.

 

Let me just say that this was the case with all of the RCCL associates on the ship. We found them uniformly friendly, social, and welcoming to the passengers. I understand it is a job, but spending 5 or 10 minutes just talking, learning where they are from, asking about the ship and just being there was well done on the Allure. They, and I mean all (but one) went out of their way to make us feel welcomed on the ship. Kudos to the staff of the Allure, you make me want to come back, and that is a good well done.

 

This includes our cabin attendant, Jean (I got it wrong earlier). We almost never saw him. Now, that does not mean he wasn’t doing an outstanding job, it just means he went about his business while being invisible. Neither DW nor I really have any special needs, just bring us lots of ice and clean towels and we’re pretty happy. Make the bed and leave us towel animals as often as you can and we’ll get along just fine. And we did.

 

That night, while returning from dinner, we finally actually ran into him as he was finishing up our room. Like all the other RCCL family, he had a warm smile for us. He English was “none to good” but it didn’t matter. We told him that we were sorry we didn’t see him much but the ship was so wonderful, we were enjoying that. Jean was very nice and said that we were one of the easiest people on the ship as we never left our room messy. DW and I don’t like to live like that at home and we never left clothes lying around and less a mess in the bathroom. Although the little cord you can use to hang wet suits on broke on day 1, the recoil mechanism stopped working so we just let it hang there all week.

 

Continued. . . . .

[Dolby1000]

We went to the Boardwalk and took several pictures of that area.

 

 

 

Me dancing with a statue:

 

 

Caught a quick picture of the Rising Tide bar leaking.

 

 

Car and Rising Tide:

 

 

We were finally returning to the dining room.

 

This time there was no wait at all and things appeared much calmer. We got sat at a table for two in Mary Lee’s (waiter) and Noriel (asst. waiter) section. Unlike the first night when things were really slow, Mary Lee and Noriel kept things hopping and let the dinner run at a more normal pace. She was cheerful, knew our names after we introduced our selves, efficient and fun. This was service more like we expected in the dining room. We also had the fortune of sitting next to other tables of two and enjoying the company of other cruisers.

 

Tonight we enjoyed the fruit soup, salads, DW had the lobster and I had prime rib, as it was the second formal night of the cruise. I forget what we had for dessert. I have no notes on that, so I imagine it was good if not memorial. Upon exiting the dining room we asked to be seated in her section for the rest of the cruise. I like being taken care of and Mary Lee and Noriel were prime examples of how it should be done.

 

Before going to the show, the moon was rising, this is the best picture I could get of it:

 

 

We then proceeded to Ice Games. This is the thinly veiled salute to areas on the Allure played as a large game of Monopoly. It is a stretch, theme wise, but it is not a stretch talent wise. On a very small rink RCCL one again provided a top notch show. The paired dancers were particularly fascinating. At one point, the male skater has the female skater by the ankles and is twister her around and around, and I mean, really flinging her, her head was missing the ice surface by fractions of an inch. What trust. This was right in front of us and I’ve never seen it done so perfectly.

 

The only thing that impacted our enjoyment of the show was the 2 year old getting sick about 3 seats over, one row behind us. It landed on the man in front of her. Ewwwwwwww. They did leave, but the mess was all over. When the show ended I told DW don’t touch the handrails as I couldn’t be sure the family that left didn’t touch them, I was leaving nothing to chance. The parents of the couple didn’t even apologize. We quickly washed our hands upon exiting the theater.

 

This was 50s and 60s rock and roll nite. Ken Rush kept appearing as Elvis and pushing the shows of the night.

 

Time out.

 

Let me take a moment to address Ken Rush. I didn’t take to him at the start and I couldn’t figure out why. As the cruise moved along, I took to him less and less. Let me try to explain.

 

By know I’ve spoken about the wonderful crew, Mary Lee, Jean, Noriel, Vicki and the many others who went out of their way to ensure we had a good time. We could talk with them, visit with them, ask them about the ship, their homes, families and I don’t know, talk as people talk to each other. They didn’t put on an RCCL face, they were just themselves. I really liked that.

 

Everyone except for Ken Rush. He wasn’t real, he wasn’t personable, he wasn’t approachable by any means – and he ensured that by always being “on stage” and rarely coming down off that “stage” to meet anyone or to talk to anyone.

 

At both return cruisers events we attended, when the party broke up, the Captain and many of the officers would hang back and visit with everyone, anyone who wanted to shake a hand and say hello, take a picture or to thank them for a great week. But not Ken, as soon as the event was over, he rushed back stage, never said hello to anyone. The two times we saw him off stage he wore dark sunglasses so you couldn’t see his eyes and he made no real effort to engage anyone. It was as if he expected us to have our autograph books out so he could sign them. Really, that is how he presented himself. I could tell he was a real egotist.

 

If you’ve never cruised before, you would think that he did a great job at the shows, like Love and Marriage (more on that in a below) or Belly Flop. However, if you have cruised before, then you’ve seen his show, over and over again. It was rehearsed, practiced, old hat and he had nothing original to bring to any of the shows or hosted events.

 

So, professional, yes, he was never unprofessional, but I found his act to be false, fake, too practiced and I never felt that he engaged us as an audience. Ken was the “star” of the show and made sure everyone else knew it too. In fact, I’d bet that behind the scenes he must be a bit of a jerk.

 

Why would I say that, well let’s look at the tape. Although we did not attend the Love and Marriage show, we did catch it on the tube later during the week. Now, this can be a good show, but you have to have the right couples. Apparently, the audience choses which couples will appear. Well, they need to have an override. Hey, audience, the drunk (not lightly inebriated) couple, of which the wife hardly speaks or understands English, made worse by her drinking may not really be the most appropriate couple. If you saw our show, the newlywed couple had this woman. All she did was not respond to the questions, either not understanding them or being too drunk to understand them, and then constantly move about and get in the way with the other contestants.

 

I watched Ken try and handle this woman and I could see his face turning red and see him get on the Activities director to control this drunk. I could see the anger brewing under the surface. We would have walked out of the show for two reasons:

A – This woman was out of control and it wasn’t funny.

2 – The questions and Ken’s shtick was old hat, it was rehearsed, forced, as in it didn’t always fit the circumstances and just plain not funny.

 

This is when it dawned on me that Ken expected to be star, not the couples on the stage, but Ken, everyone look at Ken and see how (un) funny he is. It was always about Ken. Every intro, every show, every appearance it was always about Ken. Ken, Ken, Ken and I quickly tired of him.

 

Now, I must be in the minority, as Ken is well respected in the RCCL community, as he had been off the ship the week before for the Quantum announcement. And, like I said, he wasn’t unprofessional, I just found him too busy being a “personality” while all round me the rest of the crew were just being themselves. Ken, turn off the personality and get off the stage and put yourself around the passengers, you might re-find some real energy and put some originality back into your act.

 

Time in

 

Where was I, oh yes, the word. Grease is the word. Grease came out during my sophomore year in high school, so of course, I’ve had a crush on Olivia Newton John ever since and Grease remains one of my all-time favorite movies. DW and I had plans to go to the Sing Along Grease at the Aqua theater just after the 50s and 60s music and dance party.

 

DW was tired, bone tired. She begged off. Now, I am not too proud to admit it, I went anyway. I got there about 30 minutes early and I have to say, the rock and roll band for the dance party was really, really good. In fact, on the record, all the live music on the ship was impressive, and this music was everywhere. From the piano player in the Schooner bar, to the violin and guitar on Central Park, the rock and roll band here, the orchestra on stage, RCCL provides tons of live music to enjoy. We’ve always found that to be true on RCCL, and Allure continues this tradition.

 

So, yes, the movie started late, 11:45, or 11:15 in the evening. I stayed up anyway and sang, with many others, to the pop hits of Grease. I hadn’t seen it in years and it was like visiting an old friend. By then end, well after 1AM, there were only a few of us left, but I think we all had a great time. A little bonus event on what has been a truly wonderful week.

 

Somewhere along the line, after the Ice Show, I think, we did our customary walk. Since it was formal night, I once again was in my dress shirt and slacks and DW in her dress slacks and blouse. This night, there was no surprise swim. See, fooled you, I bet you though that there was.

 

End of Day 5 – Tomorrow – Who is Olympia and why did we fall in love with her.

 

OWD

[bluecruisin]

Enjoying your review, thanks for taking the time to write it!