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

[harryfat1]

What a fun read!

Your exuberance and your lovely family made the posts great entertainment.

Thanks for taking us along!

 

Hi,

 

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

 

I noticed that you are not planning to sail on the Allure so you just read it for the entertainment value of the posts. I always feel honored by people such as yourself spending their precious leisure time to read about our boring little cruise family vacation; especially it’s such a long post.

 

Appreciate you dropping by and leaving a nice comment.

[Folk Singer]

Looking forward to the next Report. Thank you and Happy Cruising.

 

Don

[harryfat1]

Looking forward to the next Report. Thank you and Happy Cruising.

 

Don

 

Hi, Don,

 

Thanks for the kind words. You do realize many times the sequel of any book/movies sucks when compared to the original so you should set your expectations low for my sequel. I plan just to go to MS Word to find and replace the word "Allure" with "Freedom", but keep the same dumb jokes and add in few pictures of food and dirt from the cruise and call it a day.

 

The only saving grace is that it’ll be 18+ months form now and people won’t remember anything from the original report so I will just say it’s a “new and improved” report version 2.0

[laymay325]

WOW! What an amazing review. Has to be the best ever. Great pictures and better reporting. Now all reviews I read here will be judged against your standard, all falling short I'm sure.

I'm sailing on the Allure in January and found this review so full of tips and ideas that I'll need all this time to review and implement them.

Also... on a side note...

While we can all appreciate a little "urinal" humor... we can also agree that "what happens in the owners suite, stays in the owners suite:

"(CHEAPO DAD SCORES IN OWNERS SUITE!)….Remember, the more negative on your trip report, the cheaper I can get the cabins so start bad mouthing ASAP... (Did I mention I am cheap?" :p:p:p

 

Thanks again for the great review.

[harryfat1]

WOW! What an amazing review. Has to be the best ever. Great pictures and better reporting. Now all reviews I read here will be judged against your standard, all falling short I'm sure.

I'm sailing on the Allure in January and found this review so full of tips and ideas that I'll need all this time to review and implement them.

Also... on a side note...

While we can all appreciate a little "urinal" humor... we can also agree that "what happens in the owners suite, stays in the owners suite:

"(CHEAPO DAD SCORES IN OWNERS SUITE!)….Remember, the more negative on your trip report, the cheaper I can get the cabins so start bad mouthing ASAP... (Did I mention I am cheap?" :p:p:p

 

Thanks again for the great review.

 

Hi,

 

Thanks for the kind words. You are inflating my ego way beyond its natural limits. Don’t come close to deserving such accolades. There are many people out there which can write more eloquently and take better pictures I ever can. The only thing I did differently is I have more of everything. Classic case of quantity over quality. I wrote my report like a giant buffet. Just provide a little of everything and maybe someone will like a small part of it.

 

Yes, I do hope people will say bad things about the Freedom of the Seas as that’s my next cruise so the hope is there will be 10,000 bad trip reports the next 12 months and that will force the prices down. Owner’s suite at $500 is ok by me. Bad trip report is a good trip report in the financial sense.

 

Nowadays no secret will ever stay in one place – whatever happens on a cruise will stay on the cruise/YouTube/cruise critics and some weirdo’s blog page for life.

 

Have a great cruise next year. Hopefully you can get thousands of people to come to the boards and bad mouth Allure and you can get a suite at a heavily discounted price.

 

Go start a new post - "Allure sucks" and hopefully enough people will jump on the bandwagon to help you out...

[aqc]

Hi!

 

I'm immensely loving your review. I was initially doing deep research on what to do/ expect etc when on the Allure of the Seas but I ended up reading everything even if I'm not going to the Caribbean. It's like a TV series for me that I looked forward to the weekend (like today) so I can do a marathon!

 

I'm not on Page 26 and I can't wait to continue. I just had to reply to say thanks for sharing your story telling talent! I have a blog but am nowhere near your creativity yet so I hope that one day, you won't mind me trying out some of your writing styles. Just let me know if you've copyrighted it already hehe

 

My sailing would be Sept 20 this year in the Mediterranean. I'm very excited and I do try to plan everything in advance but nowhere near your Excel skills! I'm already thinking of getting an OJT in your "Friends of Excel" group haha! This review of yours is the most in-depth, complete, entertaining of all the reviews out there!

 

Thanks again and looking forward to reading on.

[harryfat1]

Hi!

 

I'm immensely loving your review. I was initially doing deep research on what to do/ expect etc when on the Allure of the Seas but I ended up reading everything even if I'm not going to the Caribbean. It's like a TV series for me that I looked forward to the weekend (like today) so I can do a marathon!

 

I'm not on Page 26 and I can't wait to continue. I just had to reply to say thanks for sharing your story telling talent! I have a blog but am nowhere near your creativity yet so I hope that one day, you won't mind me trying out some of your writing styles. Just let me know if you've copyrighted it already hehe

 

My sailing would be Sept 20 this year in the Mediterranean. I'm very excited and I do try to plan everything in advance but nowhere near your Excel skills! I'm already thinking of getting an OJT in your "Friends of Excel" group haha! This review of yours is the most in-depth, complete, entertaining of all the reviews out there!

 

Thanks again and looking forward to reading on.

 

Hi,

 

Thanks for the compliment. Glad you find the info helpful/entertaining. There’s a soap opera in the US called “Days of Our lives” and many cruise report is effectively a retelling of what happened on our cruise on a daily/hourly basis.

 

Have fun with your blog. I have no style of writing that I would remotely consider my own special style. I think I copy/steal from other writers as well.

 

Just like cooking - you take a simple chicken recipe from someone else and then you add something that is your own and then someone else looks at your recipe and add/subtract something else. For me, the main thing isn’t about me (us) on the trip but what info we learned from our trip that we can pass along to future cruisers that can make their cruise 0.0001% better.

 

Have fun reading the rest of the info – come back with questions if you have any. Have a great cruise on the Allure in September if we don’t talk again.

 

I noticed that you will be sailing on the Mariner after the Allure. We were on the Mariner as well back in 2010. You will need to come back and tell me how it feels to go from a big ship to a smaller ship as we will be doing that next year. In looking at the Royal Promenade of the Freedom, it already looks so narrow compared to the Allure so I think I will need a mental adjustment on the next cruise.

[aqc]

Hi,

 

Thanks for the compliment. Glad you find the info helpful/entertaining. There’s a soap opera in the US called “Days of Our lives” and many cruise report is effectively a retelling of what happened on our cruise on a daily/hourly basis.

 

Have fun with your blog. I have no style of writing that I would remotely consider my own special style. I think I copy/steal from other writers as well.

 

Just like cooking - you take a simple chicken recipe from someone else and then you add something that is your own and then someone else looks at your recipe and add/subtract something else. For me, the main thing isn’t about me (us) on the trip but what info we learned from our trip that we can pass along to future cruisers that can make their cruise 0.0001% better.

 

Have fun reading the rest of the info – come back with questions if you have any. Have a great cruise on the Allure in September if we don’t talk again.

 

I noticed that you will be sailing on the Mariner after the Allure. We were on the Mariner as well back in 2010. You will need to come back and tell me how it feels to go from a big ship to a smaller ship as we will be doing that next year. In looking at the Royal Promenade of the Freedom, it already looks so narrow compared to the Allure so I think I will need a mental adjustment on the next cruise.

 

Hi again!

 

It helped me a lot indeed! Although I don't have full control of the schedule on our next cruise because we will be there with the entire clan of around 20+, I'll make sure to flaunt to them that I have officially cruised "virtually" on the Allure because of your trip report (..and maybe email your TR link to some of my cousins.)

 

In 7 days, I finished your report. It felt like a real trip to me.. fun and excited at the beginning and the usual sad feeling when the virtual trip was about to end. Can I just say that I can't wait for your next cruise? It's like waiting for the sequel of a novel to be released (I did refer to it before as a TV series, am I confusing you? hehe)

 

Here are the things I am most excited about:

- Checking the secret balcony (or the lack thereof. or maybe new ones)

- Checking on the small wonders list you uploaded if it is still located in the same place

- Checking on new features/ places to visit (since we are going after the dry dock)

 

Yup, going on the Mariner OTS before the year ends and now, I'm starting to read your Mariner review (via your signature). Sure, I'll tell you how I felt and I hope I can be as clear and elaborate with how I feel as you are.

 

If we don't talk again? I'll be active in this thread (lurking or replying as needed.. but mostly luking or reading the entire report again from Day 01) haha. It's like THE Allure of the Seas official thread! :p

 

Thanks again for being generous with your time and sharing because I know thinking what to write and uploading photos takes a lot of time.

 

Alvin

[abisha]

Hi Harry...I was reading another thread about the Allure, and someone posted a link of your review. I read through it in about a week. What a fabulous review. You seem to have a lovely family.

 

I love your sense of humor. I typically do not spend too much on the "extras" when cruising...only when there is OBC involved.

 

I'm going on Allure end of May 2016 as a grad gift for my twins college graduation. I am definitely in the "peasant" section...two insides down on deck 6. But what the heck, I'll be on the ship and on vacation!

 

I do have a question for you... did you feel Allure's public areas were a bit more "closed in"? All of the neighborhoods and many other public areas are in the middle of the ship with little or no views of the ocean whereas many other ships and new-builds are offering the opposite with more public areas with ocean views and out in the open (like dining venues and lounges that are literally outside on deck).

[harryfat1]

Hi Harry...I was reading another thread about the Allure, and someone posted a link of your review. I read through it in about a week. What a fabulous review. You seem to have a lovely family.

 

I love your sense of humor. I typically do not spend too much on the "extras" when cruising...only when there is OBC involved.

 

I'm going on Allure end of May 2016 as a grad gift for my twins college graduation. I am definitely in the "peasant" section...two insides down on deck 6. But what the heck, I'll be on the ship and on vacation!

 

I do have a question for you... did you feel Allure's public areas were a bit more "closed in"? All of the neighborhoods and many other public areas are in the middle of the ship with little or no views of the ocean whereas many other ships and new-builds are offering the opposite with more public areas with ocean views and out in the open (like dining venues and lounges that are literally outside on deck).

 

Hi, Abisha,

 

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

 

Keep an eye out for any price drops, even after the final payment. That was how we upgraded to the balcony view cabins. We made our final payment just with the basic central park view cabins but when the prices kept falling two months prior to sailing, it made sense to upgrade. Especially if you can convince 10,000 people to bad mouth Allure in reviews and giving it a 1 star, then RCI will lower the Owner’s Suites for $500/pp on your sailing…

 

There have been many complaints from fellow cruisers that the Oasis class ships are too enclosed and less open. If you look at my pictures from day 4 where we walked outside the track, you can see many of the areas on the RP have no views of the open sea. Whereas some other smaller class hips have open glass elevators looking at the open seas, these mega ships have you looking in.

 

Did that bother us? Not really. We had access to water views elsewhere but I can see some ocean loving view people are not happy with the design. To me, I just enjoyed the various neighborhoods for what they are – unique and one of a kind – instead of comparing them to the conventional ship designs and lament that they are not the same. You can sail on 15+ ships that has the more open designs but you can only sail on two (soon to be three) of the Oasis class ships. Enjoy the Oasis ship as is instead of wishing it was like the plain vanilla ships.

 

I see you sailed on the Carnival Holiday as well. That was my very first cruise ship twenty years ago. Cruise industry has come a long ways since then.

 

Have a great cruise with your family next year if we don’t talk again but come back with any questions between now and then. We won’t go on another cruise until 18 months from now and I don’t plan that far out so I won’t think about cruises until 2016.

[abisha]

Hi, Abisha,

 

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

 

Keep an eye out for any price drops, even after the final payment. That was how we upgraded to the balcony view cabins. We made our final payment just with the basic central park view cabins but when the prices kept falling two months prior to sailing, it made sense to upgrade. Especially if you can convince 10,000 people to bad mouth Allure in reviews and giving it a 1 star, then RCI will lower the Owner’s Suites for $500/pp on your sailing…

 

There have been many complaints from fellow cruisers that the Oasis class ships are too enclosed and less open. If you look at my pictures from day 4 where we walked outside the track, you can see many of the areas on the RP have no views of the open sea. Whereas some other smaller class hips have open glass elevators looking at the open seas, these mega ships have you looking in.

 

Did that bother us? Not really. We had access to water views elsewhere but I can see some ocean loving view people are not happy with the design. To me, I just enjoyed the various neighborhoods for what they are – unique and one of a kind – instead of comparing them to the conventional ship designs and lament that they are not the same. You can sail on 15+ ships that has the more open designs but you can only sail on two (soon to be three) of the Oasis class ships. Enjoy the Oasis ship as is instead of wishing it was like the plain vanilla ships.

 

I see you sailed on the Carnival Holiday as well. That was my very first cruise ship twenty years ago. Cruise industry has come a long ways since then.

 

Have a great cruise with your family next year if we don’t talk again but come back with any questions between now and then. We won’t go on another cruise until 18 months from now and I don’t plan that far out so I won’t think about cruises until 2016.

 

That's a great way to look at it..just go and enjoy the uniqueness of the ship and it's neighborhoods.

 

I honestly don't think I can get any better of a deal for our inside cabins. I booked last year when they first came out with the BOGO 1/2 off sale. This was before they raised the rates. I booked my large interior cabins at $1,696 (for 2 with the BOGO sale). I checked today, and same category is priced at $2,483 (for 2) with the 30% off sale, and that's the lowest I've seen it for awhile. I cannot imagine that they would decrease the price more than $787.

 

Royal ran the BOGO sale for about a year and kept raising and raising the price and tricking people that they were getting a great deal (very sneaky...and sorry for those who didn't really know any better).

 

Yes..great cruise on the Carnival Holiday...such a different cruise experience back then and a lot of fun.

 

I've loved all of my Carnival cruises, especially the Breeze...lovely ship and really nice updates and enhancements.

 

I recently tried Princess, and they are my favorite so far.:)

[harryfat1]

That's a great way to look at it..just go and enjoy the uniqueness of the ship and it's neighborhoods.

 

I honestly don't think I can get any better of a deal for our inside cabins. I booked last year when they first came out with the BOGO 1/2 off sale. This was before they raised the rates. I booked my large interior cabins at $1,696 (for 2 with the BOGO sale). I checked today, and same category is priced at $2,483 (for 2) with the 30% off sale, and that's the lowest I've seen it for awhile. I cannot imagine that they would decrease the price more than $787.

 

Royal ran the BOGO sale for about a year and kept raising and raising the price and tricking people that they were getting a great deal (very sneaky...and sorry for those who didn't really know any better).

 

Yes..great cruise on the Carnival Holiday...such a different cruise experience back then and a lot of fun.

 

I've loved all of my Carnival cruises, especially the Breeze...lovely ship and really nice updates and enhancements.

 

I recently tried Princess, and they are my favorite so far.:)

 

I think the key moment on the price drop is around the final payment time. That is when people either pay up or bail. So if you get enough people to cancel their deposits, then Royal would be stuck with hundreds of unfilled cabins that they will need to fill in next 2 months. That’s when you might see some big price movements.

 

I pulled out our Allure cruise docs from last year. We paid the full amount about 3 months out. Then 2 months before sailing, the price dropped and we upgraded to Boardwalk balcony cabins for $1,672 per cabin or $3,344 for the 4 of us in 2 cabins. The upgrade itself was $40/pp for us ad $20/pp for the in-laws to go from Central park window view to Boardwalk balcony. The in-laws were cheaper as they had the less desirable cabin closer to the cross bar that blocks their view. After few weeks, when the cabins started to fill up, the price shot back up.

 

Obviously every sailing has its own pricing depending on supply and demand but just keep an eye on the prices when you are close to(after) making the final payments. If you join the roll call for your sailing, others will likely check prices also so they might alert you to a specific sale based on your state of residency.

 

Personally speaking I think the current promotion RCI is having is a joke. I booked our cruise couple months ago on the Freedom for next year. Then few weeks later, I checked again when Royal switched to a different promotion and our cruise price actually went down by $35 per cabin so I quickly got the TA to switch to the lower pricing. Then with the so called promo now, our cabins are $200 more than previous promotion. Yeah, whatever, good luck to RCI in trying filling the cabins at these prices. There will be better sales later on.

 

Oh, by the way, to set the record straight, I didn’t call people staying in inside cabins “peasants”. I was sarcastically referring that for the first time cruisers as I was comparing the comfort level of the seats in the waiting area between gold level members versus the newbies. I have nothing against inside cabin folks. In fact, for the Freedom cruise, we are booked on Promenade view inside cabins again (similar to Mariner) so I appreciate the money saving opportunities the other cabins offer. Because I am sensitive to motion sickness, I need at the minimum some window to look outside to help me with the inner ear imbalance but inside cabins are fine.

 

If you like Princess cruises, they had a promo on YouTube awhile back attacking specifically the Oasis class ships by saying “Are you tired of the amusement park theme cruises? Do you want a real pampering cruise experience? Then come to Princess to get away from that…” Had to chuckle when I saw that as the video showed carousels and water parks and saying that is not a classic relaxing cruising experience. You will decide what if that ad hold true for your family.

[Ourusualbeach]

I think the key moment on the price drop is around the final payment time. That is when people either pay up or bail. So if you get enough people to cancel their deposits, then Royal would be stuck with hundreds of unfilled cabins that they will need to fill in next 2 months. That’s when you might see some big price movements.

 

I pulled out our Allure cruise docs from last year. We paid the full amount about 3 months out. Then 2 months before sailing, the price dropped and we upgraded to Boardwalk balcony cabins for $1,672 per cabin or $3,344 for the 4 of us in 2 cabins. The upgrade itself was $40/pp for us ad $20/pp for the in-laws to go from Central park window view to Boardwalk balcony. The in-laws were cheaper as they had the less desirable cabin closer to the cross bar that blocks their view. After few weeks, when the cabins started to fill up, the price shot back up.

 

Obviously every sailing has its own pricing depending on supply and demand but just keep an eye on the prices when you are close to(after) making the final payments. If you join the roll call for your sailing, others will likely check prices also so they might alert you to a specific sale based on your state of residency.

 

Personally speaking I think the current promotion RCI is having is a joke. I booked our cruise couple months ago on the Freedom for next year. Then few weeks later, I checked again when Royal switched to a different promotion and our cruise price actually went down by $35 per cabin so I quickly got the TA to switch to the lower pricing. Then with the so called promo now, our cabins are $200 more than previous promotion. Yeah, whatever, good luck to RCI in trying filling the cabins at these prices. There will be better sales later on.

 

Oh, by the way, to set the record straight, I didn’t call people staying in inside cabins “peasants”. I was sarcastically referring that for the first time cruisers as I was comparing the comfort level of the seats in the waiting area between gold level members versus the newbies. I have nothing against inside cabin folks. In fact, for the Freedom cruise, we are booked on Promenade view inside cabins again (similar to Mariner) so I appreciate the money saving opportunities the other cabins offer. Because I am sensitive to motion sickness, I need at the minimum some window to look outside to help me with the inner ear imbalance but inside cabins are fine.

 

If you like Princess cruises, they had a promo on YouTube awhile back attacking specifically the Oasis class ships by saying “Are you tired of the amusement park theme cruises? Do you want a real pampering cruise experience? Then come to Princess to get away from that…” Had to chuckle when I saw that as the video showed carousels and water parks and saying that is not a classic relaxing cruising experience. You will decide what if that ad hold true for your family.

 

Harry,

 

Check the prices for the Freedom cruise (December) on July 1'st. Royal is starting yet another promo. Going back to the BOGO and with ours it qualifies for free gratuities for the first 2 passengers.

 

I checked the base fares for our cabin from when I booked it to now and they are still exactly the same (we are in promenade cabins) it's just more expensive currently as they are only discounting insides. Hopefully they don't raise the rates to compensate for the free gratuities. Anyway it's worth 5 minutes of my time to check.

Edited June 27, 2015 by Ourusualbeach

[cj_one2000]

Harry, thank you for your time and dedication to posting your beyond thorough review, and so glad you and your family had an awesome time! Seeing the overwhelming following and responses to this thread is testimony to your skills as a writer. I wasn't sure if an Excel spreadsheet support group here on CC actually exists but if you happen to know it does, can you post?

 

I do have a question on the process how you got all the events into your spreadsheet -- was it simply from previous cruisers posting their Allure a Compasses? I'm organizing my family reunion group of 38 people for a November 2016 sailing out of Galveston on Liberty and would like to do a similar process of scheduling a few activities, especially the shows, for our group ahead of time to try and be somewhat organized. Excursions on the other hand are going to be interesting as we have a few family members that call themselves penny pinchers and will do whatever is free or cheapest.

 

Price drops will be interesting to follow but a chunk of our group have booked two royal family suites so almost half of our group will have suite perks and the rest won't, so that'll be interesting. I don't know how that will work out with seating to shows and tenders and embarkation/disembarkation.

 

I know you did your party of six, but I think you had a lot of lessons learned that can apply to family reunion and other groups. So thank you for that! Last question, what would you recommend for hotels when you have a group -- would it work to use the last minute deal site you used or is that not recommended when you are booking 10+ rooms?

[harryfat1]

Harry,

 

Check the prices for the Freedom cruise (December) on July 1'st. Royal is starting yet another promo. Going back to the BOGO and with ours it qualifies for free gratuities for the first 2 passengers.

 

I checked the base fares for our cabin from when I booked it to now and they are still exactly the same (we are in promenade cabins) it's just more expensive currently as they are only discounting insides. Hopefully they don't raise the rates to compensate for the free gratuities. Anyway it's worth 5 minutes of my time to check.

 

Hi, Ken,

 

Thanks for the heads up on the new Royal promotions. I will check on the prices next week. These guys are like the local used car dealerships, one sale after another. Never a break with “just normal pricing”.

 

I will be more involved with the cruise planning maybe later on this year. Right now I am planning for the “on again/off again” 3,000 mile road trip this summer. Once that is done, maybe then I will work on the future cruise planning but I can certainly check the cruise prices between now and then.

 

I see your December 2015 cruise is TBD. I have been looking at prices off and on for December 2015. Found nothing cheap on the holiday week – nor do I expect them to be at this point. Can’t convince the wife to take the kids out of school 2 years in a row for a cheap pre-holiday cruise so I don’t hold out much hopes in sailing this year. Maybe we’ll just go to Disneyland for the holidays as they are having their 60 year anniversary.

[Ourusualbeach]

Hi, Ken,

 

Thanks for the heads up on the new Royal promotions. I will check on the prices next week. These guys are like the local used car dealerships, one sale after another. Never a break with “just normal pricing”.

 

I will be more involved with the cruise planning maybe later on this year. Right now I am planning for the “on again/off again” 3,000 mile road trip this summer. Once that is done, maybe then I will work on the future cruise planning but I can certainly check the cruise prices between now and then.

 

I see your December 2015 cruise is TBD. I have been looking at prices off and on for December 2015. Found nothing cheap on the holiday week – nor do I expect them to be at this point. Can’t convince the wife to take the kids out of school 2 years in a row for a cheap pre-holiday cruise so I don’t hold out much hopes in sailing this year. Maybe we’ll just go to Disneyland for the holidays as they are having their 60 year anniversary.

 

We may see you in Orlando. Just in the process of booking some things. Looks like we'll be at Universal. Who knows maybe a last minute 3 or 4 day cruise if the price is right but most likely Orlando for 7-10 days.

[harryfat1]

Harry, thank you for your time and dedication to posting your beyond thorough review, and so glad you and your family had an awesome time! Seeing the overwhelming following and responses to this thread is testimony to your skills as a writer. I wasn't sure if an Excel spreadsheet support group here on CC actually exists but if you happen to know it does, can you post?

 

I do have a question on the process how you got all the events into your spreadsheet -- was it simply from previous cruisers posting their Allure a Compasses? I'm organizing my family reunion group of 38 people for a November 2016 sailing out of Galveston on Liberty and would like to do a similar process of scheduling a few activities, especially the shows, for our group ahead of time to try and be somewhat organized. Excursions on the other hand are going to be interesting as we have a few family members that call themselves penny pinchers and will do whatever is free or cheapest.

 

Price drops will be interesting to follow but a chunk of our group have booked two royal family suites so almost half of our group will have suite perks and the rest won't, so that'll be interesting. I don't know how that will work out with seating to shows and tenders and embarkation/disembarkation.

 

I know you did your party of six, but I think you had a lot of lessons learned that can apply to family reunion and other groups. So thank you for that! Last question, what would you recommend for hotels when you have a group -- would it work to use the last minute deal site you used or is that not recommended when you are booking 10+ rooms?

 

Hi,

 

Thanks for the compliment. I just had to laugh when you say “beyond thorough”. Being cynical, that’s a nice way of saying I am anal. Too funny. I know that’s not what you meant but I just like to look at the sarcastic side of things as you can tell from my trip report.

 

I will steal your words next time I want to tell someone else is anal but too polite to say so.

 

As I said in m trip report, I write the way I would like to read the reports myself. Being anal and a pre-planner, I like to know details of every step on a vacation. So when I read a report that someone started from point A to get to point B, I often wondered what is in-between and how do they go from A to B so when it came to my time to write my report, I tried to fill in as much of the blank space as possible.

 

Perhaps it’s like making sausage – it’s not a pretty process and not many people care to know that much detail. But I just put them in and people can skip the details if they chose to.

 

As far as I know, there is no official Excel spreadsheet support group. Just something silly I added while I was writing the trip report since various people had commented on my spreadsheet inclusion in the beginning of the report. You are welcome to start your own for your next cruise or talk to people your roll call or at the Meet and Greet to see if anyone else fits the bill. I believe for Royal, you can just post your own meetings on a card and post it by Guest Services for others to read and join?

 

As for how I populated the events in the spreadsheet, it’s a combination of looking at previous cruisers daily compass and getting a Showtime schedule from their web site (see attached for the 2014 shows). I think someone had said Royal has stopped updating this for 2015 so you will then need to print out your own from your sign in page from the reservations web site.

 

There have been some comments whether a spreadsheet is really necessary on a cruise or as some think that I have gone off the looney bin to the far side. I don’t think it’s needed for a couple but for a large party as yours, I can’t imagine not doing on prior to the cruise or else you will forever be standing around asking what we are doing now. You can always change your mind and not follow the schedule when you are on vacation but at least plan/decide on something ahead of time instead of wasting time saying “I dunno know. What do you want to do?” If everyone of the 38 people in your group takes 1 minute to go through this daily exercise, you would have wasted 38 minutes daily trying to decide.

 

If you are booking large number of hotel rooms, I think you can use Last Minute Travel or any other booking engines. I would call instead of booking online as many would give you a group discount if you block off a large number of rooms. Also try to call the hotel directly to speak to a manager about getting a block of rooms as you might get a better deal that way.

 

Last Minute Travel name is a misnomer. You can book things months out ahead of time so once you are set in your travel schedule in early 2016, I would call them up and book a block of cabins ASAP. May not always be easy to get 10+ rooms together if you travel around holiday periods in November.

 

Hope this answers all your questions. If not, let me know.

 

Have a great cruise next year if we don’t speak again. I think you will need a second vacation after being on a cruise with 37 other people (especially family members). Maybe on that next cruise you will just veg in the solarium while staring at your belly button all day and no Excel schedule….

Allure of the seas showtime.pdf

[cj_one2000]

Hi,

 

 

 

Thanks for the compliment. I just had to laugh when you say “beyond thorough”. Being cynical, that’s a nice way of saying I am anal. Too funny. I know that’s not what you meant but I just like to look at the sarcastic side of things as you can tell from my trip report.

 

 

 

I will steal your words next time I want to tell someone else is anal but too polite to say so.

 

 

 

As I said in m trip report, I write the way I would like to read the reports myself. Being anal and a pre-planner, I like to know details of every step on a vacation. So when I read a report that someone started from point A to get to point B, I often wondered what is in-between and how do they go from A to B so when it came to my time to write my report, I tried to fill in as much of the blank space as possible.

 

 

 

Perhaps it’s like making sausage – it’s not a pretty process and not many people care to know that much detail. But I just put them in and people can skip the details if they chose to.

 

 

 

As far as I know, there is no official Excel spreadsheet support group. Just something silly I added while I was writing the trip report since various people had commented on my spreadsheet inclusion in the beginning of the report. You are welcome to start your own for your next cruise or talk to people your roll call or at the Meet and Greet to see if anyone else fits the bill. I believe for Royal, you can just post your own meetings on a card and post it by Guest Services for others to read and join?

 

 

 

As for how I populated the events in the spreadsheet, it’s a combination of looking at previous cruisers daily compass and getting a Showtime schedule from their web site (see attached for the 2014 shows). I think someone had said Royal has stopped updating this for 2015 so you will then need to print out your own from your sign in page from the reservations web site.

 

 

 

There have been some comments whether a spreadsheet is really necessary on a cruise or as some think that I have gone off the looney bin to the far side. I don’t think it’s needed for a couple but for a large party as yours, I can’t imagine not doing on prior to the cruise or else you will forever be standing around asking what we are doing now. You can always change your mind and not follow the schedule when you are on vacation but at least plan/decide on something ahead of time instead of wasting time saying “I dunno know. What do you want to do?” If everyone of the 38 people in your group takes 1 minute to go through this daily exercise, you would have wasted 38 minutes daily trying to decide.

 

 

 

If you are booking large number of hotel rooms, I think you can use Last Minute Travel or any other booking engines. I would call instead of booking online as many would give you a group discount if you block off a large number of rooms. Also try to call the hotel directly to speak to a manager about getting a block of rooms as you might get a better deal that way.

 

 

 

Last Minute Travel name is a misnomer. You can book things months out ahead of time so once you are set in your travel schedule in early 2016, I would call them up and book a block of cabins ASAP. May not always be easy to get 10+ rooms together if you travel around holiday periods in November.

 

 

 

Hope this answers all your questions. If not, let me know.

 

 

 

Have a great cruise next year if we don’t speak again. I think you will need a second vacation after being on a cruise with 37 other people (especially family members). Maybe on that next cruise you will just veg in the solarium while staring at your belly button all day and no Excel schedule….

 

 

Harry, only compliments from me sir! But really, thank you for your reply and description of how the show and activity planning works. Will have to work on this closer to our sail date and once our roll call gets momentum I'm sure there will be tips there too. I think you are on to something though as after the reunion I'll move to platinum level with C&A and I'll need to take a vacation from my vacation! Wine usually helps too ;)

 

For what it's worth we are sailing on a Sunday, arriving back on a Sunday but the week before Thanksgiving while kids are still in school. They will miss a week and with one of our kiddos in high school it'll be a challenge but worth the quality spent, especially with my grandparents who are in their 80s now. The hotel thing and our flights will be interesting. We were going to go on the Thanksgiving cruise but family noticed the 30% difference in price and by using the 3&4 passenger 50% off sale last month, those folks in the suites got an incredible deal at under $700 a person for 8 people in the Royal Suite.

 

My hubby and three kids aren't in one of the Royal Suites with my mom or uncle so we won't have the treasured gold cards so I'm guessing if the peasant folk in our reunion group don't have them we can't sit next to them in their reserved show seats? And get different tender times? Yep it'll be interesting.

 

Random question, but does RCI have rules about balcony decorations as I saw you had some on your windows? I've always been in an inside or promenade room so this will be our first stay in an outside stateroom.

 

In advance, thank you for being willing to share whatever you think is relevant.

[stevedeccaman]

Hi Harry and your dear family !

 

Hope you did not think I meant cost wise blah blah ! ;)

 

Always searching on cc forum however Harry we are the lowest of the low and use Thomson Cruises (tiu) they do the Med stuff and Carribean

Good staff etc shows brill. But the ships they have are well past there sell by

We have done a few around the med and one repo 10 day cruise from Egypt to Marmaris thru the Suez canal blah blah (that was good )

 

Oh yeh and one with NCL from Miami down to Mexico (think it was a steamer in those days !) think on reflection it was called Seaward ? :confused:

Come on u say get to the point !....................

.

The reason is have always looked at the reviews and posts and always been interested in the new ships being built (the mind boggles)

 

Having never been on a vessel with more than 1,500 people I thought no way

 

However I found your thread by accident when searching for today’s posts

 

You show a new perspective on the cruise (disembarking excepted )

 

found it !(the thread) about 3 days ago 26TH June)

 

Harry I now have to have new reading glasses and my wife has left me !

 

Your review was the most interesting and informative that has kept me going from page to page and the humour you have put into it (not blah blah )

 

Maybe being a bit thick still not got my head around the aunties and uncle thing is it shopping and photos ?

 

I wish you and your family good wishes for future vacations and thank you for the time you took to do it all

 

Bits of rubbish to follow

 

Images of ye old Thomson Dream

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=thomson+dream&biw=1536&bih=672&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=jVuNVdboGsSwsQGltYH4CA&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ ..and still in service ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Will be at the Glastonbury concert this weekend watching the Who and Lionel Richie on Sunday 28th (well will watch it on BBC TV) cheaper !! No tent no charge !

 

 

 

 

Best wishes

 

 

Stevie from the UK in Lancashire (red rose county)

 

Ps if changing jobs at anytime see this link for interview tips

 

http://www.thepoke.co.uk/…/03/20-essential-job-interview-t…/

 

PPS

if in stress mode at home or job watch this

 

[harryfat1]

Harry, only compliments from me sir! But really, thank you for your reply and description of how the show and activity planning works. Will have to work on this closer to our sail date and once our roll call gets momentum I'm sure there will be tips there too. I think you are on to something though as after the reunion I'll move to platinum level with C&A and I'll need to take a vacation from my vacation! Wine usually helps too ;)

 

For what it's worth we are sailing on a Sunday, arriving back on a Sunday but the week before Thanksgiving while kids are still in school. They will miss a week and with one of our kiddos in high school it'll be a challenge but worth the quality spent, especially with my grandparents who are in their 80s now. The hotel thing and our flights will be interesting. We were going to go on the Thanksgiving cruise but family noticed the 30% difference in price and by using the 3&4 passenger 50% off sale last month, those folks in the suites got an incredible deal at under $700 a person for 8 people in the Royal Suite.

 

My hubby and three kids aren't in one of the Royal Suites with my mom or uncle so we won't have the treasured gold cards so I'm guessing if the peasant folk in our reunion group don't have them we can't sit next to them in their reserved show seats? And get different tender times? Yep it'll be interesting.

 

Random question, but does RCI have rules about balcony decorations as I saw you had some on your windows? I've always been in an inside or promenade room so this will be our first stay in an outside stateroom.

 

In advance, thank you for being willing to share whatever you think is relevant.

 

Hi, CJ,

 

I did read in some posts last year that people had decorations on their balconies and was asked by the ship to remove it as a safety concern. I don’t know what the problem was so you may need to ask on the general boards on people’s experience with this. I would assume anything you hang up that is over the railings with potential to drop and injure people walking underneath (Boardwalk/Central Park) will not be allowed.

 

From our limited experience on two RCI ships, you can decorate the window with no problems. It’s what you do outside that might have problems.

 

Yeah, the key to getting discount is to cruise during school periods. This is why we won’t cruise this year because we won’t be taking them out two years in a row. Our future 2016 cruise should be during their winter break.

 

Given the size of your party, I would check with RCI early on the dining arrangement (they make them 7 weeks out)to make sure they have all your party as one group. You wouldn’t want to leave out one or two people out of the 38 nor do you want some other strangers to be seated with the family (as RCI tried to group us last year). Also be sure to check on the dining table assignments when you are on board to see if you have all the tables next to each other in the dining area.

[harryfat1]

Hi Harry and your dear family !

 

Hope you did not think I meant cost wise blah blah ! ;)

 

Always searching on cc forum however Harry we are the lowest of the low and use Thomson Cruises (tiu) they do the Med stuff and Carribean

Good staff etc shows brill. But the ships they have are well past there sell by

We have done a few around the med and one repo 10 day cruise from Egypt to Marmaris thru the Suez canal blah blah (that was good )

 

Oh yeh and one with NCL from Miami down to Mexico (think it was a steamer in those days !) think on reflection it was called Seaward ? :confused:

Come on u say get to the point !....................

.

The reason is have always looked at the reviews and posts and always been interested in the new ships being built (the mind boggles)

 

Having never been on a vessel with more than 1,500 people I thought no way

 

However I found your thread by accident when searching for today’s posts

 

You show a new perspective on the cruise (disembarking excepted )

 

found it !(the thread) about 3 days ago 26TH June)

 

Harry I now have to have new reading glasses and my wife has left me !

 

Your review was the most interesting and informative that has kept me going from page to page and the humour you have put into it (not blah blah )

 

Maybe being a bit thick still not got my head around the aunties and uncle thing is it shopping and photos ?

 

I wish you and your family good wishes for future vacations and thank you for the time you took to do it all

 

Bits of rubbish to follow

 

Images of ye old Thomson Dream

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=thomson+dream&biw=1536&bih=672&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=jVuNVdboGsSwsQGltYH4CA&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ ..and still in service ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Will be at the Glastonbury concert this weekend watching the Who and Lionel Richie on Sunday 28th (well will watch it on BBC TV) cheaper !! No tent no charge !

 

 

 

 

Best wishes

 

 

Stevie from the UK in Lancashire (red rose county)

 

Ps if changing jobs at anytime see this link for interview tips

 

http://www.thepoke.co.uk/…/03/20-essential-job-interview-t…/

 

PPS

if in stress mode at home or job watch this

 

 

Hi, Stevie,

 

Thanks you for the kind words and the various links. You read pretty fast in able to finish the whole report in 3 days – with or without the wife and reading glasses. I am honored that you read the report for its entertainment value as I only read other people trip reports when I am researching for my own cruise.

 

Matters not if you have sailed on the older ships as the itinerary you have described is very intriguing. Someday I wish I will be able to see the Suez Canal – part of my long bucket list. In these situations, it’s the ports that matter and the ship is just mode of transportation. As long as the ships are safe and clean, then it’s all good because the destination as what’s important here.

 

The auntie and uncle reference is pure American culture reference. Ross Perot said it as one of his famous Presidential campaign speeches:

 

http://www.lifequoteslib.com/authors/ross_perot.html

 

You can just Google the phrase – “crazy aunt in the basement” and see other results. But don’t Google “prison uncle” as that is just my sarcasm, that isn’t part of the regular American pop culture. I just needed a second relative to talk about shopping and opposite of aunt is uncle.

 

The idea is that we all have “weird” relatives in our family tree that are considered to be the black sheep of the family. Everyone in the family knows about them but they are never discussed in family reunion gatherings as they are an embarrassment to the clan.

 

So I took that idea and morphed into my trip report by saying that on every cruise, many people shop for ship based photographs or buy souvenirs (you see the lines at the shops and photo area), but I seldom see them show up on cruise critic’s trip reports. Everyone knows there are shops and photographers on the cruise ships. They are part of the experience but nobody talks about them (perhaps they are not sexy or exotic enough to wow the people back at home) so I made it a point to include them in whenever we had our pictures taken or we bought something as they were part of our cruise experience and I didn’t want to ignore them.

 

Hope this answers your question on the crazy aunt. I do forget sometimes that the reading audience on cruise critics is worldwide so the humor/cultural reference is different between cultures and my dumb jokes at time would make no sense to some.

 

You have a fun time enjoying your free TV concert – I grew up listening to the Who and Lionel Richie. I think that’s the best way to enjoy the concert anyway. No crowd and the camera get you right up there to see their faces. I have been to Europe couple times in the past (including England) but those were land based trips, not cruises. Maybe someday we will cross the pond and do a Med cruise but the cost to bring a whole family out is crazy expensive.

 

Enjoy your next cruise, wherever it may take you. Safe travels.

 

Cheers,

[cj_one2000]

Hi, CJ,

 

 

 

I did read in some posts last year that people had decorations on their balconies and was asked by the ship to remove it as a safety concern. I don’t know what the problem was so you may need to ask on the general boards on people’s experience with this. I would assume anything you hang up that is over the railings with potential to drop and injure people walking underneath (Boardwalk/Central Park) will not be allowed.

 

 

 

From our limited experience on two RCI ships, you can decorate the window with no problems. It’s what you do outside that might have problems.

 

 

 

Yeah, the key to getting discount is to cruise during school periods. This is why we won’t cruise this year because we won’t be taking them out two years in a row. Our future 2016 cruise should be during their winter break.

 

 

 

Given the size of your party, I would check with RCI early on the dining arrangement (they make them 7 weeks out)to make sure they have all your party as one group. You wouldn’t want to leave out one or two people out of the 38 nor do you want some other strangers to be seated with the family (as RCI tried to group us last year). Also be sure to check on the dining table assignments when you are on board to see if you have all the tables next to each other in the dining area.

 

 

I figured too that actual objects on/outside the railing would be an issue but wasn't sure if we could do something fun like that window paint you see people use on their car windows? I'll check the boards on that one.

 

Our reunion group used RCI's group booking department and they have everyone at the early dining seating together since all out reservations are link because of being a group. I know there is no way to have 38 of us at one table in the MDR but we'd like to have tables all next to each other and I'll do exactly as you suggested and double check with the powers that be to ensure we are seated next to each other for meals all week.

 

Another random question, did you use passports for your boys or just birth certificates and ID? We have Honduras and Belize ports so I'm thinking we'll need passports for our teens and other kiddos as well.

 

Cheers!

[harryfat1]

I figured too that actual objects on/outside the railing would be an issue but wasn't sure if we could do something fun like that window paint you see people use on their car windows? I'll check the boards on that one.

 

Our reunion group used RCI's group booking department and they have everyone at the early dining seating together since all out reservations are link because of being a group. I know there is no way to have 38 of us at one table in the MDR but we'd like to have tables all next to each other and I'll do exactly as you suggested and double check with the powers that be to ensure we are seated next to each other for meals all week.

 

Another random question, did you use passports for your boys or just birth certificates and ID? We have Honduras and Belize ports so I'm thinking we'll need passports for our teens and other kiddos as well.

 

Cheers!

 

Hi, CJ,

 

As for the seating with the group, I’m pretty sure Royal will be able to link everyone to the group. The thing that caused us problem was they added extra people to our 3 cabins link. So be sure to check that your party of 38 don’t all of sudden become party of 40+. Once the other people are assigned the table number to be part of your group's table, it's not so easy to "undo" the damage as their sail card says they will be sitting at that table.

 

Another thing I learned while standing in line at the podium talking to the dining manager (instead of walking around enjoying my first day on the ship) is that regardless of what HQ says your table assignment will be, by time the passenger manifest shows up at the ship, it’s the workers on the ship that has the final say in seating you. The local wait staff overrode what HQ has assigned us and moved us to another table so do double check.

 

Given the size of your party, it might be good to email the dining people 7 weeks out and just request an area of the ship you might want to “take over”, perhaps one of the corners or the sides so the entire area is your private party. Maybe check out a YouTube video on the dining area to have an idea on which deck and section you prefer.

 

As for passports, yes, both the kids have passports. It’s such a rip off process. The kids passports’ are only good for 5 years (instead of 10 for adults) and it’s not cheap to do it. If you are near Costco, go do the passport photos there. Cheaper than anywhere else.

 

Also call the local passport office (most likely post office or city hall, depending on where you live) and try to schedule an appointment. Saves you time if there are many people in line. Finally, BOTH parents must show up at the application place or have notarized statement saying one of you can’t show up. So plan your time accordingly on when the parents and the kid can show up at the site the same time.

[cj_one2000]

Yes we have two Costcos in our city so we'll have to try that out. I agree, passports are so expensive. At least our DD1.5 has her passport since she was born in Germany, the Air Force base and U.S. consulate in Frankfurt processed it, weird way of doing it but we had to have it to move back to Alaska after hubby retired from the Air Force last year. Mine got lost in the move but I had a command-sponsored one that expires this year so will need to get one to replace my lost one anyway.

 

I'll double check but will encourage everyone in our group to have a passport anyway for this trip. The ports may require RCI to make it mandatory for passengers too, just like our two Mediterranean cruises. I want to say at least 75% of the people in our group already have their passports as our family members are unusually very adventurous and world travelers already. But only about 25% have cruised before so there will be a lot of newbies :)

 

And I'll add contacting the dining powers that be and you suggested; that does sound scary to have all the sudden extra people in your seating reservation that don't exist. Crazy. As the MDR in the larger RCI ships are similar and we're on Liberty, is there a dining deck level you suggest for a large group? I'm curious if they put large groups on certain levels on purpose or if it's random.

 

The last two cruises we had MTD and the section they had us on was not near any windows. At least the MDR is pretty so it's not that bad to not be near a window. But there is something to be said about stuffing your face with delicious whatever, a glass of wine and watching the sunset on the ocean horizon :)

[harryfat1]

Yes we have two Costcos in our city so we'll have to try that out. I agree, passports are so expensive. At least our DD1.5 has her passport since she was born in Germany, the Air Force base and U.S. consulate in Frankfurt processed it, weird way of doing it but we had to have it to move back to Alaska after hubby retired from the Air Force last year. Mine got lost in the move but I had a command-sponsored one that expires this year so will need to get one to replace my lost one anyway.

 

I'll double check but will encourage everyone in our group to have a passport anyway for this trip. The ports may require RCI to make it mandatory for passengers too, just like our two Mediterranean cruises. I want to say at least 75% of the people in our group already have their passports as our family members are unusually very adventurous and world travelers already. But only about 25% have cruised before so there will be a lot of newbies :)

 

And I'll add contacting the dining powers that be and you suggested; that does sound scary to have all the sudden extra people in your seating reservation that don't exist. Crazy. As the MDR in the larger RCI ships are similar and we're on Liberty, is there a dining deck level you suggest for a large group? I'm curious if they put large groups on certain levels on purpose or if it's random.

 

The last two cruises we had MTD and the section they had us on was not near any windows. At least the MDR is pretty so it's not that bad to not be near a window. But there is something to be said about stuffing your face with delicious whatever, a glass of wine and watching the sunset on the ocean horizon :)

 

Hi, CJ,

 

I tried to look through my cruise pictures but I don’t think I have good pictures of the table layouts for you to see what sections would be suitable for your family. If I had to choose for a family of 38, I would pick a whole section way in the back of MDR on either deck 3 or 4 (since 5 is MTD) so that there will be no strangers coming to the area. Only people there would be your family.

 

Certainly wouldn’t want anything in the front or the middle of the MDR as you will constantly have people coming in and out of your family area.

As for window sunset viewing, in theory it sounds good but in reality it’s not as easy to achieve as in the movies. Besides being seated next to the window, you also have to be facing westward by the window to see the sunset.

 

The final hurdle is daylight savings time. When we sailed in December, it was dark after 5:30 and our early seating dinner was 6 PM nightly so even though we had a window table, we saw nothing but darkness on all but one night when we were in Cozumel – that was only because the ship is one hour ahead of local time. So you may need to re-think your window strategy for the November cruise.