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Review - Allue OTS - Sept 29 - Oct 6, 2013 w/ photographs

Cuizer2

By Cuizer2,
in Royal Caribbean International

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Cuizer2

Cuizer2

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Wednesday, October 2, 2013 – St. Thomas

 

We arrive in St. Thomas at 10am and dock in Crown Bay, not Havensight where most of the ships dock. It is a nice place to dock if you like shipping containers, but not so great if you want to be near anything touristy. We are the only ship here today. Havensight is completely devoid of cruise ships.

 

 

This morning I received quite a surprise on my balcony. Something was stuck under the table and when I went out to investigate I realized it was a little girl’s underwear. Good thing I am traveling solo. Finding something like that on one’s balcony could be rather hard to explain. It obviously blew in overnight. So I figure it belongs to someone in a balcony cabin forward of me. However, my room steward tells me that there are no little girls in his section.

 

 

 

Since I just want to go to Coral World I am in no hurry. Eventually I head out around 11am and find out that the taxis don’t want to leave without a full load. So it is close to noon before I actually am on my way to Coral World with a group of about nine people who are going to Coki Beach (which is right next door to Coral World). On the way to Coral World I get a good view of the Havensight dock and that is when I realize that we are the only ship visiting St. Thomas today.

 

 

Coral World reminds me of a miniature Aquarium of the Pacific (which is located in Long Beach, California) but without the big aquariums. Coral World has aquariums, but none that are super sized. The entrance fee to Coral World is $19 and a locker rental is three dollars plus a ten dollar deposit. Coral World has a building that is out in the ocean and surrounded by a reef. Downstairs are glass windows looking out into the reef and the wild fish that call that reef home. It is a great idea, however, this is ocean water (not filtered water) and though the water is fairly clear, it is not crystal clear. So the view into the natural world is not that great today.

 

 

 

After that I went into the lorikeet enclosure. Even before I bought any nectar I had three lorikeets on me. They were friendly and hungry (or perhaps friendly because they were hungry).

 

 

There is also a stingray pool, a touch pool and a shark encounter pool. However, though they let people walk in the shark exhibit (for a price), they will not allow people to put their hands in the water while standing outside the exhibit, which eliminated any photographs I wanted to take (I have a waterproof camera).

 

 

 

After touring Coral World I head next door to Coki Beach. It is a nice crescent shaped beach with rocks that attract fish at each end. The beach vendors were selling dog biscuits to people that want to feed the fish (I didn’t see any dogfish). The only problem is the dog biscuits are the same color and shape (more or less) as my skin. So a parrot fish came over to me to get a snack, only I didn’t have any biscuits (dog or otherwise). Since parrot fish make their living by munching on coral, I decided that for my finger’s sake it would be a good idea to gently chase away the fish.

 

 

 

So after walking up and down Coki Beach (in the water) I head back to Coral World (the admission ticket is a wrist band which includes in and out privileges) to shower in fresh water and change back into street clothes and wait for our taxi to come back, which it does when the driver said she would be there. On the way back the taxi driver stops at a well-known place for obtaining pictures of both Havensight and Crown Bay.

 

 

 

Once back on the ship I take another shower and rest until dinner time.

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Cuizer2

Cuizer2

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Thursday, October 3, 2013 – St. Maarten

I must be more tired than I thought, because when I wake up we are docked. Not only are we docked but we backed in, which means the ship made a 180 turn, which requires the thrusters, without waking me. It is looking like a real nice day outside and a take a few pictures of Great Bay, which is where the cruise ships dock.

 

 

 

 

The first time I was in St. Maarten I wanted to go to Orient Beach, but it was raining and I didn’t feel like going across the island in a rain storm (it never cleared up). The second time I went to St. Maarten I went to Maho Beach (where you have to duck each time a plane comes to land). The third time I went to St. Maarten I finally got to Orient Beach, but it was really windy. It is supposed to be a very beautiful beach and it really wasn’t that impressive to me. I figured perhaps it was all the white capped waves. That was in early March this year, so I hoped that in early October it would not be so windy. I’ll be in St. Maarten again in January 2014 and I want to go to Maho Beach again with a better camera than I took with me in 2008.

 

 

 

Since I was headed there on my own I didn’t feel the need to rush out of the cabin this morning. At least in St. Maarten the rate changes with the number of passengers (it goes down as the number of passengers goes up) so that a taxi driver is willing take only one person. So it cost me eighteen dollars to get there and seven dollars to get back (there were three passengers coming back).

 

 

 

At any rate I should have looked up before I got in the taxi, because then I would have noticed that it was getting darker. Instead it started raining while I was in the taxi on the way to the beach. I thought of just staying in the taxi and returning to the ship, but I also knew that the typical tropical rain storm last ten to twenty minutes and then it gets sunny again, and that is exactly what happened.

 

 

 

Last time I was here I rented a jet ski, got a little disoriented and went way too far down the beach. I had to have someone guide me back. I had no interest in repeating that experience again. So I walked up and down the beach (again, in the water) a couple of times. Of course since it rained earlier the beach was not very crowded.

 

 

 

The only rocks are in the clothing optional beach. There are plenty of fish, but the people are a little camera shy on that side of the beach. So I had to keep the camera hidden until I could take it out of my pocket under water. After my second trip up and down the beach I stopped at a snack shack for fish food. They didn’t have any bags of chips but they did have nachos and cheese for seven Euros. I was able to get some nachos to go, without cheese, for five dollars. I now have lots of friends, but they are still in St. Maarten swimming around those rocks at the clothing optional beach.

 

 

 

After feeding the fish I headed back to the ship. During the day I had developed a mild cough. It started out as nothing and builds into an annoying, but mild cough. That along with the heat and humidity was more than enough for me. I took a shower and hit the sack. There was a Crown & Anchor event at 7:45pm and dinner of course was at 8:30pm. I was up in time for the Crown & Anchor event, for about twenty seconds. I decided it was more important to rest than it was to attend the event and went back to bed. At 8:20pm I decided that I would not make it through a full three course dinner and went to the Windjammer for dinner (which closes for dinner at 9pm). I was in and out in thirty minutes and went straight back to the cabin and fell asleep watching the baseball playoffs.

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Friday, October 4, 2013 – Day at sea

I wake up feeling much better. The cough is back to the level it was 24 hours ago – barely noticeable. Today is another day of rest. I have nothing planned except taking sea day pictures and perhaps a dip in the pool. I get my sea day pictures, but again the heat, the humidity, all the running around and my little cough have made me very tired. So after a shower I spend some time on this and just rest.

 

 

Most of the pictures I took today are of the four pool areas. There is a sports pool, a family pool, a "beach access" pool and the H2O Zone for the kids. The beach access pool does not really have a beach access to the pool. There is a long shallow slope where eventually the water level is up to your ankles. However, at this point there is a vertical drop off of more than four feet deep, so I would not refer to this as "beach access".

 

 

 

At least the pool in the H2O Zone is kid friendly. On the Freedom of the Seas the kid's pool is 69 inches deep (5' 9" deep). That is much too deep for children (and most adults). On this ship the kid's pool is 41 inches deep (3' 5"), which is much more kid friendly. There is even a pool just for babies in swim diapers (as there is on the three Freedom class ships). The baby's pool has a separate filtration and water source so that any accidents will not cause problems in the other pools.

 

 

I decide to have lunch at Johnny Rockets again today so that I can get my free shake. Well, there seems to be a catch. They only keep track of the shake purchases for the day, so I have to pay for the second shake. However, as I write this I now realize that I didn't get charged the $4.95 cover charge.

 

 

 

Well, since not much is happening today, I thought I would describe my cabin. I have an ocean view balcony cabin. Now on most ships all I have to say is I have a balcony cabin. But on this ship there are three broad categories of balcony cabins. The least expensive are the Central Park view balcony cabins. These cabins look down on the Central Park neighborhood. You will not be able to see the ocean at all. One level up is the Boardwalk view cabins. You will have an obstructed view of the ocean by looking aft. Also, more is happening on the Boardwalk than in Central Park. Central Park is a quiet place filled with restaurants and stores. Boardwalk has a merry-go-round and a view of the Aqua Theater. The most expensive balcony cabins are the traditional balcony cabins with a view of the ocean.

 

 

 

When I first entered the room it seemed a little smaller than I expected. However, my last two Royal Caribbean cruises in February 2012 and March 2013 were in junior suites and my last Royal Caribbean balcony cabin was in June 2009. So perhaps I have just forgotten what a typical Royal Caribbean balcony cabin looks like.

 

 

This is a connecting cabin and the place where the closet normally is has a door to the adjoining cabin. The closet was moved next to the couch and was facing the balcony. Thus the closet was taking up some of the main cabin space in the sitting room, which is the likely reason the cabin looked smaller. The cabin of course does not have separate bed and sitting rooms. It is all one area with the bed next to the balcony and the couch and desk between the bed and the bathroom and entry way. Other than looking smaller, the cabin worked out well for me.

 

 

 

I liked the lighting set up. There was a main switch near the entry door which would turn off ALL the lights (including the bathroom light). With the main switch in the on position there were three other switches that control the lights in the cabin. There was a switch for the main cabin lights, a switch for the lights above the paintings (one painting is on the wall behind the couch and one is on the opposite wall at the foot of the bed). I like using this switch when I wanted the cabin to be dark with some light. Finally there was a switch for the bathroom. Interestingly enough, even if the bathroom light was off, it still glowed, so if you left the bathroom door open, you could find the bathroom without turning on any other lights. There were two switches near the bed that would also control the main cabin lights and the lights over the paintings. Finally there were two reading lights with separate switches near the bed.

 

 

 

The balcony seemed to be a good size. It was as wide as the cabin but seems a little deeper (perhaps by only a few inches) than typical. The balcony furniture consisted of two chairs and a small table.

 

 

 

The bathroom was small, but well laid out. It had the clam shell door shower that I didn't like on the other ships because there was not enough room for me to raise my knee to a full ninety degree angle. However, this shower is a little wider and I could raise my knee past a ninety degree angle, so I was happy that I didn't have to open the shower door to wash my lower leg and feet.

 

 

 

The desk space was adequate and the mirror had side lights. The electrical outlet had receptacles for three 120 volt plugs. Royal Caribbean finally figured out that people bring a lot of battery powered things that need to be charged at night. That said, I have never had my extension cord or three plug extension confiscated (though some claim their power strips have been confiscated). I recommend bringing the short (six to twelve inch long) extension cords if the plug for your charger is integrated into the charger. The three plugs are at a 45 degree angle and right next to the mirror. So in one direction anything longer than a few inches will hit the desk, in the other direction it will hit the mirror. Anything longer than three inches might not fit which is solved with the short extension cord.

 

 

 

One thing that I have to deal with is the cabin stewards (from all lines) keep putting everything back where they want it and I then have to keep moving those items back where I want it. Typically this is the trash can under the desk which I normally locate with my shin. So I always move it under the table, only to have my shin discover that the cabin steward moved it back under the desk.

 

 

 

Well, in this cabin the trash can is under the table. But the need to move things back was carried to an extreme with a different item. You can play games on the TV (it is an HD TV with a open HDMI input and an open three cable AV input (one cable for video and two cables for the stereo sound). There is a wireless keyboard/game controller on the shelf above the TV. I moved the keyboard to the right side of the shelf and put something where the keyboard was. The room steward moved the keyboard back and moved what I put there to the right side of the shelf. I left it that way.

 

 

I did make it to the second formal night dinner. Lots of rest and drinking lots of water and I am feeling much better. So until tomorrow, good night.

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