Cheapo dad’s trip report on Allure of the Seas sailing December 14, 2014

[UnclePaco]

Excellent review Harry! This review actually got me to register a few days ago from years of lurking only so I could comment when I finally finished it all. You should receive some sort of bonus/incentive award from CC and RCI both!

 

I am planning a cruise in less than 2 months and was fully anticipating booking the Freedom leaving out of Port Canaveral, but now I am seriously thinking about driving down to Fort Lauderdale to hop aboard the Allure before it heads off to drydock a couple weeks later. My son and I fly in to Orlando the day before, so driving down to FLL would not be a problem at all. Now that the review is over, I thought it would be easier to make a decision, but only made it much more difficult.

 

Another hopefully non creepy comment: The pictures with your youngest son are absolutely infectious! Every time I see that smile on the youngest one's face I can not help but smile also. He seems to ham it up well for the camera.

[Dosido]

Harry,

 

Thanks for the fantastic and fun review. I'm a 3 time DCL cruiser, with 14 going on Allure in November, so trying to get a handle on what all to expect. Also, just a wee bit anal - spreadsheets, over the top planning, and I'm cheap to boot, so you're just the guy to learn from!

 

A tip for planning long drives - pick up a copy of Microsoft Streets and Trips (2013 was the final version), which allows you to map routes, like most mapping sites. However, you can set start/stop times, and it will show you where you'll be when you want to stop for the day, allows you to set driving speed preferences, add stops (for specific amounts of time) and overnights as well. It also allows you to add in pit stops every xx hrs for the trip, and puts that into the time schedule.

 

I've used S&T for years for long distance drive planning, as I often find myself drive 800+ miles for vacation trips a time or two a year.

 

It's been discontinued, and tough to find, but you can be cheap, and download the still available free trial and use it for 14 days to check it out for free.

 

Brian

[harryfat1]

Harry, have loved your review. By any chance do you have a link to all your photos?

Norma

 

Hi, Norma,

 

Thanks for the compliment.

 

Sorry, no photo links as these vacation pictures are embedded with our other family photos that I prefer to keep private as I can’t separate those out.

[harryfat1]

We get palms like that here too. Look like date palms. I'm surprise you don't in California have a lot of the same palms.....

 

There are more palm varieties in Southern California, not in Northern California...we have much colder temperatures and a wetter climate. :)

 

I knew Patti would come to my rescue to explain this stuff as it’s way out pf my league.:p

 

I did do a Google search on why thy planted those palms and the explanation was since San Francisco has so much fog and cold – seldom gets above 75 degrees even in summer months, that type is supposed to be better at the colder conditions.

[harryfat1]

Great Review have been in it since page 2 seems like so long ago. I should probably get up from my desk now and shower my wife has been complaining of my smell.

 

I commented early on to have your sons post their un-dad-edited thoughts on the cruise and you asked for a reminder of this request.

 

Also after seeing all the pictures with the video camera being used, can we see some of the videos that were taken?

 

Thanks for the kind words. Yes, showering is a good thing.

 

Someone reminded me on the request couple days ago for the rest of the family to comment on the cruise and I had responded that the wife & kids passed on reviewing their thoughts on the cruise.

 

As for video, I would need to find a new web site that can host some of the videos as I don’t want to inter mingle them with the pictures I had already uploaded. I don’t want to use YouTube or other general video sites where any weirdo can come by and leave messages about my vacation video.

[harryfat1]

Excellent review Harry! This review actually got me to register a few days ago from years of lurking only so I could comment when I finally finished it all. You should receive some sort of bonus/incentive award from CC and RCI both!

 

I am planning a cruise in less than 2 months and was fully anticipating booking the Freedom leaving out of Port Canaveral, but now I am seriously thinking about driving down to Fort Lauderdale to hop aboard the Allure before it heads off to drydock a couple weeks later. My son and I fly in to Orlando the day before, so driving down to FLL would not be a problem at all. Now that the review is over, I thought it would be easier to make a decision, but only made it much more difficult.

 

Another hopefully non creepy comment: The pictures with your youngest son are absolutely infectious! Every time I see that smile on the youngest one's face I can not help but smile also. He seems to ham it up well for the camera.

 

Hi,

 

Thanks for the high praise and glad you are finally registered. Keep posting for next 6 months and then you will be such a pro at it you will be arguing blue in the face with others on cc on the pros and cons of formal wear dress codes like this guy below.

 

 

Good thing you are not the bad felon uncle in prison…

 

Nice have the dilemma of trying to go on the cruise or not. Many of us don’t even have the luxury of making that choice. I think it’s all about money and time. If you have the both, go and do it if you can get the cabin at a decent price.

 

You are around the magical point where RCI would start to discount the cabins if they have excess ones that they need to sell from people cancelling their reservations around final payment time frame.

 

Take a look at older Oasis posting back in October 2014 time frame where they list all the changes made to the ship. If it’s important enough to you to see the changes before dry dock, then do it now or wait until she comes back from Europe in the Fall.

 

Yeah, the younger one has a wonderful happy smile. Especially when he has ice cream or something yummy to eat/drink.

[harryfat1]

Harry,

 

Thanks for the fantastic and fun review. I'm a 3 time DCL cruiser, with 14 going on Allure in November, so trying to get a handle on what all to expect. Also, just a wee bit anal - spreadsheets, over the top planning, and I'm cheap to boot, so you're just the guy to learn from!

 

A tip for planning long drives - pick up a copy of Microsoft Streets and Trips (2013 was the final version), which allows you to map routes, like most mapping sites. However, you can set start/stop times, and it will show you where you'll be when you want to stop for the day, allows you to set driving speed preferences, add stops (for specific amounts of time) and overnights as well. It also allows you to add in pit stops every xx hrs for the trip, and puts that into the time schedule.

 

I've used S&T for years for long distance drive planning, as I often find myself drive 800+ miles for vacation trips a time or two a year.

 

It's been discontinued, and tough to find, but you can be cheap, and download the still available free trial and use it for 14 days to check it out for free.

 

Brian

 

Hi,

 

Thanks for the kind words. Wow, party of 14. I don’t think/want to lead a party of 14 on a cruise. You are a brave person, my friend. Have fun linking all the reservations together.

 

Thanks for the heads-up on the MS Street & Trips. I saw this being sold at Costco few years back. Even for 2013 edition, it’s pretty pricey on Amazon and eBay. I will take a look at its functions.

 

I typically just use Google map to give me an idea on how far apart the cities are and then plan the food stops at some decent yelp places. I use Tripit to track all my hotel stays.

 

Last summer we were in the Redwood country on edge of CA/Oregon border and we weren’t that far away from the freeway but couldn’t get ATT or Verizon signals on any of the cell phones so that’s why I still have hard copy maps when the GPS can’t grab the signals in rural locations.

 

Have fun with the big group on your November cruise.

[PTAngel]

I have really enjoyed going along on this journey with you. I have been following along every day since the beginning. I don't know if I'll ever go on such a big ship but at least now I have an idea of what it is like. In the meanwhile, all of my cruises have been out of Baltimore as my hubby doesn't fly. I have talked a friend into going with me a couple of times & I told her she can pick the next cruise. I think she might pick a big ship for something different.

I make a spreadsheet each cruise but mainly about things to do in a port. I track length of excursion, time of start, what we see, cost, & what time we get back. The one huge benefit of a ship excursion: the ship doesn't leave without you. We were late about 45 minutes on one excursion & they were waiting for us. My hubby hardly put his foot on deck & they were pulling in the plank.

I'm sorry to see the end of this journey. It was interesting & entertaining even for a "virtual cruiser". My next cruise is in May & I have been researching & planning for it. My spreadsheet is updated at least weekly. I don't put in the ship's activities until I'm onboard since I'm not sure what they are doing. I will need to bring my spreadsheet & update it manually.

Woo-hoo just 98 days until I'm on the ship!

Edited February 13, 2015 by PTAngel

[windjamming]

De-lurking again, as I've been thinking about why this particular review has had such a strong, loyal following that differs from others. (Don't judge, I'm an engineer. We get paid for every why and how we answer.)

 

I think it's because this review is very unique in the positive attributes it has provided to its readers. Yeah, yeah, I know - great pics, jokes, family - but I think there's more to it.

 

First, imagine every leisure activity (including reading Cruise Critic) measured on 3 axes: enjoyment, self-enrichment, and cost.

 

Some things, say gambling, are probably fun, possibly not good for you, and likely costly.

 

Eating kale, on the other hand, isn't always fun, but really healthy, and reasonably cheap.

 

But reading this review is not only fun, but educational, and best of all, free!

The trifecta of leisure activities, and thus, we're all sitting here feeling pretty good about ourselves reading the review and even wanting more.

 

So there, another roundabout way of giving massive props to you, Harry, for a really all-around high quality review.

 

And I'll return to de-lurking now (and maybe consider finally finishing my 11 month old review).

[harryfat1]

I have really enjoyed going along on this journey with you. I have been following along every day since the beginning. I don't know if I'll ever go on such a big ship but at least now I have an idea of what it is like. In the meanwhile, all of my cruises have been out of Baltimore as my hubby doesn't fly. I have talked a friend into going with me a couple of times & I told her she can pick the next cruise. I think she might pick a big ship for something different.

I make a spreadsheet each cruise but mainly about things to do in a port. I track length of excursion, time of start, what we see, cost, & what time we get back. The one huge benefit of a ship excursion: the ship doesn't leave without you. We were late about 45 minutes on one excursion & they were waiting for us. My hubby hardly put his foot on deck & they were pulling in the plank.

I'm sorry to see the end of this journey. It was interesting & entertaining even for a "virtual cruiser". My next cruise is in May & I have been researching & planning for it. My spreadsheet is updated at least weekly. I don't put in the ship's activities until I'm onboard since I'm not sure what they are doing. I will need to bring my spreadsheet & update it manually.

Woo-hoo just 98 days until I'm on the ship!

 

Hi,

 

Yes, I remember talking to you when I first started this thread. Glad you are with us to the end.

 

Every ship has its advantages and disadvantages. The mega ships didn’t build each of their theaters big enough to accommodate ½ of the ship’s guests like the more traditional ships so we all have to take turns watching the shows and that forces people to reserve everything ahead of time.

 

At the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter what size of ship you sail on – as long as you are on vacation going somewhere with loved one/family and having a great time, that’s all it counts. If you look at the popular ports during busy season, there may be 6+ ships that dock there for the day so that means anybody who is anybody can get you to a port like St. Thomas or Cozumel. The key is just being happy with the ship you are on.

 

Same philosophy in cameras – don’t need the newest and the greatest. The best camera is the one you have in your hand.

 

Even with my excel spreadsheet; I don’t populate it hour by hour like I would going to Disneyworld. I blocked off time for the shows we like to see but some events like Captain’s corners and Meet/Mingle and Character breakfast, we missed those. So not even super anal people like myself get to see/do everything on the cruise. So you can certainly take things as they come along.

 

Have a great cruise in May & November.

[harryfat1]

De-lurking again, as I've been thinking about why this particular review has had such a strong, loyal following that differs from others. (Don't judge, I'm an engineer. We get paid for every why and how we answer.)

 

I think it's because this review is very unique in the positive attributes it has provided to its readers. Yeah, yeah, I know - great pics, jokes, family - but I think there's more to it.

 

First, imagine every leisure activity (including reading Cruise Critic) measured on 3 axes: enjoyment, self-enrichment, and cost.

 

Some things, say gambling, are probably fun, possibly not good for you, and likely costly.

 

Eating kale, on the other hand, isn't always fun, but really healthy, and reasonably cheap.

 

But reading this review is not only fun, but educational, and best of all, free!

The trifecta of leisure activities, and thus, we're all sitting here feeling pretty good about ourselves reading the review and even wanting more.

 

So there, another roundabout way of giving massive props to you, Harry, for a really all-around high quality review.

 

And I'll return to de-lurking now (and maybe consider finally finishing my 11 month old review).

 

Haha, when I first saw the word “de-lurking”, I thought of Star Trek (I assume you like Star Trek, most engineers I know of like them, just depends on which generation of Star Trek). To me, de-lurking is similar to “uncloaking” by the Klingons such that you de-lurk (uncloak) to write a post (fire off a photon torpedo) and then return to de-lurking (re-cloak your bird of prey) until you see a new opportunity and repeat the process.

 

So basically you are doing a “review” of a reviewer/trip report writer? Too funny.

 

Either you have too much time on your hands to analyze things in this much detail or you must really not want to finish your old trip report that is 11 months old. I think maybe you need a hand with your trip report. As an engineer, you must work in team/groups on big projects, right? So what you need is a team environment.

 

What we can do is have you go ahead and just upload the pictures for your unfinished trip report. That’s the easy part, right? Just find the picture and upload. The hard part is trying to write what happened and make it interesting. Well, that’s where we come in – yes, I said we, not just me.

 

We (as in anyone who is still reading this) can all come over to your trip report thread (click on link below your signature) and just add what we think was happening when you took the picture. Like our version of “ghost writers”.

 

We have agricultural experts here to comment on any trees/plants/dirt pictures you have. We have chair experts to talk about any pictures of chairs you took from café or restaurants. I can talk about mooring lines and all butt jokes. God knows we have enough urinal experts that anybody can write up on your urinal pictures. Not to mention what other hidden talents we have out there in the lurkerdom. So just think, with a whole team’s effort, your trip report will be done in no time.

 

Then after your trip report is done, we will just move over to our mutual acquaintance’s trip report (Irish Cath) as her report is 8 months late. So this is just like a pub crawl or cabin crawls that you see on a cruise, but instead it’s a “trip report crawl”. We just get a group of people to go from trip report to trip report to help the writer finish faster by adding in bunch of nonsensical comments to the pictures. The more alcohol we drink during the process, the more outrageous our editorials will be. Great fun to be had by all...

 

So for the people that say it’s sad for this to end, it doesn’t have to be. We can do a “trip report crawl”. Like the quote from the famous movie, Field of Dreams – “Build it and they will come”. We will rephrase it to be – “Upload it and we will come”. So after you upload the pics, come back here and "decloak" and we can grab the gang to hop over to your post & start the drinking & editorials.

 

As for why people like to read this report, it’s similar to watching the David Letterman show with its “Stupid Human Tricks”. Except instead of watching stupid human tricks, people like to read about stupid human ideas from me…

[FishOn55]

Harry,

 

I am another Allure cruiser-to-be (March) who has also followed your review since the beginning. I agree with many others that your review is absolutely one of the most entertaining and informative I have ever followed.

 

On one of your posts you mentioned a menu change for the Western itinerary only, due to the late departure from Cozumel on Friday. My husband and I are trying to decide whether to eat in one of the specialty restaurants on Thursday or Friday. The deciding factor is which nights the Jasmine menu and Basil menu are used. I know you said in your post that they were switched. Is it possible for you to check and see which night each of them was used?

 

Thanks for your help. I really enjoyed the nightly entertainment you provided for the past many weeks!

[harryfat1]

Harry,

 

I am another Allure cruiser-to-be (March) who has also followed your review since the beginning. I agree with many others that your review is absolutely one of the most entertaining and informative I have ever followed.

 

On one of your posts you mentioned a menu change for the Western itinerary only, due to the late departure from Cozumel on Friday. My husband and I are trying to decide whether to eat in one of the specialty restaurants on Thursday or Friday. The deciding factor is which nights the Jasmine menu and Basil menu are used. I know you said in your post that they were switched. Is it possible for you to check and see which night each of them was used?

 

Thanks for your help. I really enjoyed the nightly entertainment you provided for the past many weeks!

 

Hi,

 

Thanks for the kind words. Glad you found the info helpful & entertaining.

 

I just went and checked each night’s dinner menu:

 

Day 1 – Mojo

 

Day 2 – Saffron

 

Day 3 – Pimiento

 

Day 4 – Basil

 

Day 5 – Jasmine

 

Day 6 – Shiitake (mis spelled on purpose as the cruise critic's web nanny blocks out the bad 4 letter s word)

 

Day 7 – Pomodoro

 

Jasmine is the lobster night on second formal night in MDR, which was day 5 for us. Typical other cruises I have been on have second formal night on day 6 so they switched.

 

Hope this helps. Let me know if you guys need anything else.

 

Have a great cruise next month.

[eajlsmith]

Great review. You've inspired me to follow in your footsteps when we cruise Allure in April 2016.

[sugarcubesea]

Pre-planning – I know some people don’t like to pre-plan their cruises but I do. For sure, the Allure/Oasis, it’s helpful to pre-plan at least some of the events to try to get the most out of you trip but there’s certainly no need to do the extreme level that I have done. Having said that, with the “dynamic dining” coming in 2015 to Oasis/Allure (whenever they decide to implement that), at least to me it would be helpful to track when and where you will have dinner nightly and when you want to watch the shows.

 

One of my favorite travel book series is the “unofficial guides” to the Disney theme parks. We are big Disney fans and for couple years, we had annual passes to Disneyland. Using the book’s suggested plan to tour the parks, I planned out our daily activities while we were there and then use the real time apps for the cell phone to know what the queue time for the next ride while we are in line for the current ride (just think Commando dad invades Mickey land). I typically don’t use this approach for the other cruises I have been on but for this cruise, I modified that schedule to use for our purposes.

 

It should come as no surprise that I am using Excel schedule to do this as every finance person uses Excel. It has 101 uses (102 if you use it for work). Anyway, I am attaching it as a template for anyone who wants to do a schedule for their trip.

 

 

Like I said, not necessary for those that like to “wing it” (like my wife) but I am anal. Maybe this set up will help someone else. Color coded by flights/port time/tours/activities. If you have little ones, you can even add stickers or pictures to them.

 

Of course the first question to ask if did we do all the things on the list and the answer is “of course not”. That’s OK as you can plan all you want pre vacation and when you get there, you can choose to follow the schedule or just modify things as they come. You don’t have to be slave to your own schedule. This isn’t work. I will discuss at the various points later where we deviated from the schedule.

 

I'm a Finance Manager and I'm very frugal and I love your spreadsheet.

[VA CDC]

Harry - Loved your review! I have been spending the last week and half trying to catch up and finish it. :) It brought up many pleasant memories from my trip on Oasis. Based on your report I missed a lot!

[VA CDC]

You added a lot of references for my Cruise planning. Here is one to address your complain on entertainment. You can e-mail web_reservations@rccl.com before your cruise to ask about the entertainment line up. I have done this 2-3 months before my cruise for the last few years. If you do this, make sure to post it to your cc roll call for everyone else. :cool:

[harryfat1]

Great review. You've inspired me to follow in your footsteps when we cruise Allure in April 2016.

 

Thanks for the compliment. Glad the info is helpful.

 

Hopefully you guys will have better weather than we did. Have a great cruise in couple of months.

[harryfat1]

I'm a Finance Manager and I'm very frugal and I love your spreadsheet.

 

Hi,

 

Another potential member of the “Friends of Excel/Schedule” cruiser. Glad you found the spreadsheet handy as it's more useful on the mega ships to track all your reservation.

[harryfat1]

Harry - Loved your review! I have been spending the last week and half trying to catch up and finish it. :) It brought up many pleasant memories from my trip on Oasis. Based on your report I missed a lot!

 

You added a lot of references for my Cruise planning. Here is one to address your complain on entertainment. You can e-mail web_reservations@rccl.com before your cruise to ask about the entertainment line up. I have done this 2-3 months before my cruise for the last few years. If you do this, make sure to post it to your cc roll call for everyone else. :cool:

 

Thanks for the compliment. Glad you enjoy reading the info.

 

I don’t think you missed anything on your cruise compared to ours. In any 7 day cruise, we all have 165+ hours of cruise vacation time. How we spend it is different with each family. Whatever you folks did, we also “missed a lot” as we were doing our stuff. Can’t be two/three/ten places all at once.

 

I am sure by time we do our next Oasis class cruise many years down the road; we will do different things as the kids will be older rand that will change the dynamics of what we do.

 

Thanks for the heads up on the entertainment info request. It just bugs me these cruise lines have the special email addresses for the people in the “know” to obtain info. All are “tribal knowledge” that you have to do research to find it. They can easily make it a general knowledge thing via massive spam email or post it online on your cruise reservation so everyone knows. Shouldn’t be a big secret as this info impacts your vacation planning/enjoyment.

[shay869]

Hi Harry,

 

Thank you for very interesting review.

We are booked at MED Cruise from Barcelona at next June.

We have cabin 8729, at end aft of the ship.

Can you estimate for me, how long is the walk from this cabin to the elevators?

I know it's far a way, but can you tell us long it's going to be?

We chose this cabin for the great view of aqua theater shows.

I hope we will not be disappointed.

 

Thanks

 

Shay

[griffy116]

FABULOUS review!!! Finally got caught up and able to read the entire review. Thanks for sharing your trip with us. While I could never see myself doing a spreadsheet (and my family would kill me), I applaud your organizational skills. You made every moment count and you can tell that your planning was a success with your entire family. I've enjoyed the narrative and the photos you provided. I hope you do many more cruises and share each of them here.I was sorry to see your trip end. I'll look forward to seeing them.

[harryfat1]

Hi Harry,

 

Thank you for very interesting review.

We are booked at MED Cruise from Barcelona at next June.

We have cabin 8729, at end aft of the ship.

Can you estimate for me, how long is the walk from this cabin to the elevators?

I know it's far a way, but can you tell us long it's going to be?

We chose this cabin for the great view of aqua theater shows.

I hope we will not be disappointed.

 

Thanks

 

Shay

 

Hi, Shay,

 

You’re welcome. Thanks for reading along. Just as you thought my report was interesting, I, too, thought your question was interesting. It’s as if I was back in school doing a math problem where they ask, “If a cruiser walks 3 miles per hour from the aft of the ship toward the bow…”

 

I think the biggest unknown is how fast do you guys walk? Everyone has different speed based on their mobility so there’s no way I can answer that for you. I certainly didn’t time ourselves walking from cabin to elevator and you guys are another 70 feet further from the elevator than us.

 

The entire ship itself is 1,187 feet. Minus the distance to the end and sort of eye balling the distance on deck plan from your cabin to elevator, my best guess is you are 300 feet away from elevator? So you can just time yourself at home to see how fast you can walk 300 feet.

 

Another variable is your energy level. On day 1 when you are going to see your cabin, you will be excited and you will get there in no time. But when you are coming back from those long 10 hour excursion visiting European museums, your tired legs and body will feel the 300 feet to be more like 600+ feet.

 

You guys have the much coveted XX29 end unit cabins. Not that you asked, but another consideration/potential issue with end unit cabin, especially one at the lower level is noise and lights from shows/movies at night time or daytime activities at Boardwalk with rock climbers and other events like kids face painting down below you. Be sure to bring clips to bind the curtains at night in case they don’t close tightly to shut out the unwanted lights from the Boardwalk/big screen that is on all night long.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

[shay869]

Thank you for your detailed answer.

Do you have a photo of hallway from the elevator toward the aft?

[harryfat1]

FABULOUS review!!! Finally got caught up and able to read the entire review. Thanks for sharing your trip with us. While I could never see myself doing a spreadsheet (and my family would kill me), I applaud your organizational skills. You made every moment count and you can tell that your planning was a success with your entire family. I've enjoyed the narrative and the photos you provided. I hope you do many more cruises and share each of them here.I was sorry to see your trip end. I'll look forward to seeing them.

 

Hi,

 

Thanks for the compliment. Glad you enjoyed reading the trip report.

 

As for the spreadsheet, I did it not just because I am anal (which I am) but because I am dumb and need help keeping track of things. I never did a spreadsheet for other cruises before – this was a converted one from my Disneyworld vacation.

 

These mega ships cheated in making each of their theaters smaller in terms of actual % of capacity compared to your typical cruise. Such that they force you to make reservations for the various shows as the area isn’t big enough to handle the ½ of the ship that are either traditional or late seating. With a “typical” cruise, it’s easy to just go to show before or after dinner nightly and be done. Can’t do that on the Oasis class ships.

 

If you look at the show time list I attached for 2014, they have the ice shows at 5 different times per cruise and water show 6 times. Comedy show 16 times and the other bigger shows 3 times. So if you make reservations for each of the shows on different nights, I am not smart enough to track that in my head to remember everything.

 

We have a relatively simple schedule in having no specialty restaurants and/or my time dining. If you have both of those on top of your different nightly shows nightly, you area way smarter than I will ever be in tracking all those in your head and not to do a schedule. At minimum, I would think you print out what RCI has for you online or fill in weekly planner at the ship to track things. In that sense I am anal and rather do my own 1 sheet customizable schedule.

 

Under the “FREE” cruise categories I laid out, we are big on the entertainment sector. If you don’t care about shows, then you don’t need to do a schedule as much as we do. We wanted to be there to meet the captain on day 2 and see the second night time parade. Those are higher priorities for us so we plan our time accordingly. Others are more than happy eating and drinking away at the specialty restaurants instead.

 

Not sure when we will do the next cruise. Not sure it will even be a Royal cruise as we prefer to try different ship experience every time. One and done is our preference as even if I can go on the Allure next week, not sure we will go as we already photographed enough of the ship. It would need to be another Oasis class ship with enough changes from Allure to make us want to go. Maybe Oasis 4 after 2018?

 

But it’s a given that we will try the Anthem/Ovation or whatever else in that class somewhere down the road when there’s less of a price premium to be on them. No hurry.

 

I’m all out of dumb jokes/family members to reference to so not sure my follow up trip report will be any good. Like those top 40 songs you hear once from someone and never heard from again – later on you will ask, hey, I remember that weirdo urinal guy that takes pictures of dirt, wonder what happened to him…

Allure of the seas showtime.pdf