Periscoping LIVE From Allure - May 15, 2016!

[pharaoh]

Thank you for posting the photo Kat!! Love it. It was so nice to meet you and the other friends from our roll call. Everyone is so friendly. :)

[packercruising]

You finally found Kat!

[pharaoh]

Hey all! Thanks to all of you who followed along with my stroll around Central Park this morning. One of you asked about the Dialysis at Sea... They are basically a travel agent so I am not sure if I am allowed to post their link, but if you google dialysis at sea, they will come up. If you have any questions about it, feel free to ask and I will do my best to answer. :)

 

Woke up early this morning, since my mom had to have her dialysis first thing at 6AM. It was before sunrise, so I lounged around in the cabin for a little while, and then started getting ready for my day once the sun came up.

 

Since tonight is formal night, AND my birthday, I wanted to get ahead of my hair situation, hahaha. So I decided to forego the pools for today, and I washed and fixed up my hair this morning so I wouldn't have to fuss with it before dinner. After that, I was ready to start our first day at sea.

 

After my walk around central park this morning, I headed to the On-Air lounge for the Meet & Mingle with my roll call friends at 9:30AM. I finally got to meet CruisingKat -- we kept missing each other all day yesterday! There were 125 people signed up for the M&M, but only 70 or so showed up -- not surprised since it was so early. I was expecting less people, to be honest.

 

The M&M only took about 30 minutes. They gave us a couple of minutes to shout out our usernames, and then they raffled off some prizes, and that was that. I did not win a highlighter, and I am mad. One day, SOME DAY, I will win a royal caribbean highlighter. A few of us stayed around to chat a little bit more, and then I went back upstairs to check on my mom after her treatment.

 

At 11AM, it was time for Celisse's Lucky Birthday Slot Pull EXTRAVAGANZA!!! Hosted and organized by Dave & Lisa (PsychCruiser on CC) on our Roll Call. There were 47 of us who played, it was a $15 buy in, and we each went home with $7. LOL. Not so lucky, but it could have been worse. I usually play a slot or two every year on my birthday if I can get to a casino, so later tonight I'll probably try again and see what I can walk away with. Probably nothing!

 

While I was gone, apparently, my mother, who was supposed to be RESTING, was zipping all over the ship in her scooter and I literally lost her for a good 20 minutes. It is easy to lose someone on this giant ship. By the time I found her, my hair was a mess. :( :( :(

 

We were both STARVING by that point. It was around noon, and neither of us had eaten anything.

 

How, HOW, does one manage to be on a giant cruise ship and eat nothing until noon? I don't know, but that's what we did. It was HORRIBLE. You know in movies where theres a man crawling in a desert and he tries to squeeze water out of a cactus because he's so deprived of food and water? That was basically me with my birthday margarita because I was so hungry. Totally the same.

 

Mom insisted we have lunch at the Windjammer, and it was not good. We don't mind the windjammer usually, but there wasn't anything tasty today, besides some delicious mashed potatoes. Umm....

 

I'll be back later this evening for FORMAL NIGHT!

[A&L_Ont]

Happy Birthday!!!!! You could not celebrate in a better place.:)

[pharaoh]

I will post compasses for those who care about compasses. :)

 

Allure of the Seas Compass, Western Caribbean - Day 1: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ao8v7xdk3q5d04x/AABo8XXjNuyGQqBbfnX2-i_Qa?dl=0

 

For tonight, after dinner I am planning to do 80s music trivia with Kat at the schooner bar, and then I want to see the Finish that Lyric game show in dazzles. Does anyone want me to periscope that? That might be fun. :)

[pharaoh]

Happy Birthday!!!!! You could not celebrate in a better place.:)

 

 

 

Thank you! I try to have epic birthdays if I can. I have birthdayed (it's a word) in Shanghai, Disney World, and now Allure of the Seas. Will next year be Harmony?!!

 

Probably not. [emoji30][emoji30][emoji30][emoji30]

[A&L_Ont]

Thank you! I try to have epic birthdays if I can. I have birthdayed (it's a word) in Shanghai, Disney World, and now Allure of the Seas. Will next year be Harmony?!!

 

Probably not. [emoji30][emoji30][emoji30][emoji30]

 

I'd say this year your are have an Alluring Birthday. :D

[A&L_Ont]

I will post compasses for those who care about compasses. :)

 

Allure of the Seas Compass, Western Caribbean - Day 1: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ao8v7xdk3q5d04x/AABo8XXjNuyGQqBbfnX2-i_Qa?dl=0

 

For tonight, after dinner I am planning to do 80s music trivia with Kat at the schooner bar, and then I want to see the Finish that Lyric game show in dazzles. Does anyone want me to periscope that? That might be fun. :)

 

Yes, scope it. We will provide you with the winning answers, I hope. It could be considered cheating but you might get that highlighter you were looking for.:D

 

Edit: maybe we shouldn't do it. I don't want you to be put off the ship in Labadee for the proverbial "Deflate Gate" of 80s music trivia.

[pharaoh]

Hi guys! Thanks for tuning in to my scopes today, I had fun doing a double scope with Kat today, and showing some of the love and marriage game tonight.

 

Unfortunately my phone completely died in the middle of the game. I tried to use another phone, but it wouldn't connect to the wifi. Eep! Just consider that a little teaser trailer. [emoji81] it was a lot of fun so I'm glad I could share some of it.

 

Tomorrow morning I'll post a daily review and some photos from today's shenanigans. :)

[jrmama496]

I noticed in the picture you posted earlier of you and Kat, you were both wearing some very pretty lanyards. Where did you get those?

[INCHARGE]

Thank You for scoping! My favorite is the long post from the Boardwalk! I can see my future cabin, and I am just loving that one. I feel like I'm out there already. Will this be saved, so that I can get my daily "fix" of that area? I have until October, and I'm hoping it will stay up until then! :)

 

I'm so glad your mom is able to get her treatments on the ship. Kat seems like a sweet lady, and you all hit it off perfectly.

 

Have fun, and I wanted to also tell you that you have a beautiful, soft voice. I am going thru some pain right now, and just being able to stay calm by looking at the videos really help. I can project myself onto the ship and relax a bit. For that, I say thank you!

[pharaoh]

I noticed in the picture you posted earlier of you and Kat, you were both wearing some very pretty lanyards. Where did you get those?

 

 

 

The bling bling lanyards are available all over the ship, and even in the terminal before you board. Specific places I have seen them are in the gift shop on the boardwalk (which is where I got mine), and in the gift shop on the promenade.

 

I believe they are also available in the shop next to the wipeout cafe, where they also sell sunscreen and sunglasses and things.

[pharaoh]

Thank You for scoping! My favorite is the long post from the Boardwalk! I can see my future cabin, and I am just loving that one. I feel like I'm out there already. Will this be saved, so that I can get my daily "fix" of that area? I have until October, and I'm hoping it will stay up until then! :)

 

 

 

I'm so glad your mom is able to get her treatments on the ship. Kat seems like a sweet lady, and you all hit it off perfectly.

 

 

 

Have fun, and I wanted to also tell you that you have a beautiful, soft voice. I am going thru some pain right now, and just being able to stay calm by looking at the videos really help. I can project myself onto the ship and relax a bit. For that, I say thank you!

 

 

 

Thank you for following along and the nice compliment! :)

 

I have used #save on all of my posts, which I believe is supposed to save it forever, but it is a new feature on Periscope and it has been working only on and off for people. So, we'll see! If it ever disappears, I have it on my phone so I can upload it to YouTube, but it won't import the comments. :)

 

You will love your cabin and being on the Allure. The boardwalk is such a great location!

[pharaoh]

Good morning, friends! It is Day 4 (our cruise hump day WAHHHH), and we are pulling into Falmouth, Jamaica! In my never-ending quest tog get the perfect timelapse video, I am in the Solarium and I have my poor little phone lodged into a greasy window railing. We'll see how it goes, sigh. While my phone is doing its thing, I thought I'd sit down and tell you about the last couple days.

 

DAY 2 - FORMAL NIGHT

 

So, when I last posted, it was our first formal night (Day 2), and after dinner, I had plans to meet with Kat for 80s trivia, and then go to Dazzles for the Finish that Lyric game.

 

Well, I forgot that we also had reservations for the Ice Show. I have all of my reservations and plans for EVERYTHING on my iPhone calendar. On my last cruise, I was really good with keeping up with it, but this time around, I don't know if it's that I'm tired and just want to relax, or I'm just losing track of all the things, but I keep forgetting about things. Whoops!

 

But first, it was dinner at.... GIOVANNI'S. Again! Yes, I had lunch there on embarkation day, and then we returned the very next day for dinner. I can blame it on not keeping track of my reservations, but I do really like Giovanni's, so I'll go with that instead!

 

This time around, I had the scallops appetizer, which was delicious and buttery and yummm, and I had the veal. I felt really bad about it, though, I swear! It was also very good. We feasted like kings!

 

For dessert, the staff brought me a little chocolate cake and sang me Happy Birthday which was hugely embarrassing. Thanks mom! The service tonight was very slow, even though our reservation was VERY early, we were there at 5:30PM. The time in between our appetizer and our entrees was about 30 minutes. We got to know our table neighbors very well during that time. :)

 

After dinner, we made a pit stop to take some photos. I was wearing a pink cupcake of a dress for my birthday, and wanted to show it off!

 

 

 

 

And then we ran off to Studio B for Ice Games.

 

Ice Games was SO FUN! We missed this show last year so I made an extra effort to get to see it this time. The skating and stunts were awesome, and my mom loved all the songs they played. The performers did a great job and were entertaining, hilarious, and energetic. The guest performer, whose name I stupidly forget, did a beautiful hoop routine and it was wonderful. Do they change out the guest performers often?

 

My mom wants to see it again, she liked it so much, so I'll have to check the schedule to see when it is happening again. Great show, I totally recommend it.

 

After that, we RAN (scooted, in mom's case) to the Schooner Bar to meet Kat for 80's trivia, but she wasn't there! Womp womp.

 

We stayed anyway and teamed up with a friendly German couple, and we lost, because of course we did. One of these days, I will win a coveted highlighter. But not today.

 

FINALLY, after dropping Mom off at the cabin because she was about to turn into a pumpkin, I went to Dazzles for the Finish that Lyric game.

 

BUT the house was packed and I couldn't find a good place to periscope from, so I left and went to bed too. Turns out, I was about to turn into a pumpkin myself. :)

Edited May 18, 2016 by pharaoh

[pharaoh]

We're docked in Jamaica and look who parked right next to us.

 

 

The Disney Fantasy! UGH! I am a hardcore Disney fanatic, y'all. I love the Allure but I am forever dreaming of the perfect Disney cruise that I will never be able to afford [emoji24][emoji24][emoji24]

 

Do you think if I ask really nicely they'll let me take a tour of their ship or possibly stay forever?! HAAAAA just kidding.

[pharaoh]

DAY 3 - Labadee

 

We rolled into Labadee with a thick haze of fog and cloud cover overhead. Once again, I tried to get a good timelapse, but was thwarted by the fog. One of these days!!! *shakes fist at the sky*

 

Sidenote, I am not a photographer. The only camera I brought with me on this trip is my iPhone 6s Plus. It has a great camera, so I do my best, but at the end of the day, I’m just stickin’ my phone in window railings and hoping for the best. This is what I got:

 

https://vimeo.com/167192485

 

We ordered breakfast from room service, which arrived just around 7AM. It was surprisingly delicious. The fake powdered eggs were EXTRA fresh this morning. [emoji23][emoji23]

 

 

For our Labadee day, we had the Discover Haiti Coastal Cruise booked. I booked it because it looked like a calm cruise around Labadee, which would have been stress-free for my mom. But, my mom was tired and not feeling well from her Dialysis the previous morning, so I wanted to run down to the excursion desk to see if I could exchange our tickets for something else.

 

Unfortunately, the desk was closed when I went down there, so I decided to just go on the tour by myself.

 

Before I got ready to leave, I did a little scope from behind the Aquatheater. CruisingKat was able to find me and we did a little double scope which lots of you were able to view. It was a lot of fun.

 

I got some photos overlooking the Aqua Theater, and Labadee.

 

 

 

I want to stay here FOREVER!

 

I headed up to the room and grabbed my beach bag, slathered myself in insect repellant and SPF 1,000,000,000,000, because despite living in Miami, you’d think I was allergic to the sun.

 

I headed down to the gangway and I was on my way! A perfect day greeted me as I stepped off the ship.

 

And then I took this cliche but awesome shot of my home until Sunday:

 

 

The Discover Haiti Coastal Cruise was just as calm and interesting as I expected. We went all along the coast of Labadee, while our guide, Tony, told us a bit about the history/discovery of Hispañola, some Haitian history, and showed us lots of the guest houses and beaches along the coast line, all only accessible by boat. He also showed us Labadee village, where the locals who work on Labadee live.

 

Some fishermen approached the boat to show us their catch. I made friends with this gigantic lobster. Tony said that the locals call them giant shrimp, because they don’t have any claws.

 

 

The tour lasted about 90 minutes, we left around 9:30AM and we were back by 11AM. I decided to look around Labadee for a bit, so I watched the zip liners coming in for a little while, and roamed around with a Labadoozie, trying to decide if I should go back to the ship or not.

 

I saw lots of people in wheelchairs and scooters, which was my mom’s big concern about making the long trek on the pier. If you’re traveling with someone who has mobility issues, I would not worry when in Labadee, there were plenty of staff available with wheel chairs, and, as previously mentioned, I saw quite a few folks in scooters going along the paved path ways.

 

After grabbing a little lunch at the barbeque, I decided to head back to the ship. The rest of my afternoon was spent lounging at the Solarium, my favorite pool area, and taking a few photos to make my friends back home very jealous.

 

My mom and I got ready for the evening, and after perusing the shopping down in the promenade, we took what felt like an ENDLESS ride on the Rising Tide. Actually, the ride itself was very short. But the waiting for the ride took absolutely forever. The operator couldn’t figure out how to get it running, and someone else had to come in to take us on our giant elevator of drinking.

 

I’m embarrassed to mention that I went against everything I stand for, and bought a selfie stick. I have no idea how to use it. Am I selfie-ing correctly?

 

 

After Rising Tide, my mom and I ran (scooted) around getting photos taken, and then it was time for dinner.

 

This was our first ever dinner at the MDR. How did it go?! Stay Tuned!

[pharaoh]

DAY 3 - Dinner

 

On our last cruise on Allure, my mom and I had dinner at 4 specialty restaurants:

 

Giovanni’s

150 Central Park

Izumi (Hibachi)

Samba

 

The first three were really great, the last one was terrible. The rest of the week, we either snacked for dinner, or ate at the Windjammer.

 

This time around, after much deliberation, we decided that we would do one specialty restaurant (Giovanni’s, for my birthday dinner), and then havte dinner at the MDR for the rest of the week.

 

We didn’t have dinner planned for embarkation day, we ended up having Sorrento’s after Mamma Mia. Day 2 was Giovanni’s, so that made Day 3 the day we finally set foot in the American Icon dining room for our MTD reservation at 7:45.

 

I have read lots of mixed reviews on CC about the MDR, but historically on all of my past cruises, I have only eaten at the MDR and have had only wonderful experiences. I’ve been on 6 or 7 cruises and, seriously, never had a problem in the MDR.

 

So, when we arrived at the MDR, were sat down at a very tiny two top, and ignored for 20 minutes, I was disappointed.

 

Long story short, after the 20 minutes waiting to even be acknowledged by anyone in the MDR, someone brought us bread. He didn’t introduce himself, just brought us some bread.

 

Our server came by, FINALLY, and, again, did not introduce herself, just poured us some water and ran off in a hurry.

 

She returned a few minutes later to take our order, did not explain the menu or make any recommendations, we might as well have been at a Denny’s.

 

After that, it was a whirlwind of plates appearing and disappearing from our table. She didn’t say a word to us the whole time, but the bread guy was a little friendlier. Thank you, Bread Guy.

 

In terms of the food itself, I had the Strawberry Bisque, wonderful. I should have had the lasagne, but I had the roasted pork shoulder instead. It looked and tasted like deli meat. The potatoes were good at least.

 

Mom had the tiger shrimp. She was enjoying it, when all of a sudden our anonymous server lady came by with another serving of the tiger shrimp, put it down on the table and said “your portion is very small, here is another.”

 

Um, we didn’t ask for another one, but thanks? My mom doesn’t eat much, and was happy with the portion she got, but okay.

 

After dessert, we jetted out of there and are now regretting letting ourselves be spoiled by the excellent specialty restaurants onboard the ship.

 

After dinner, we headed to the Love & Marriage show, which is always hilarious. Some of you asked over periscope who won the show, since my broadcast got cut off.

 

It was the older couple, because of course it was. Russ and Jackie from Georgia, married 60 years.

 

I’m pretty sure the couple married 29 years are getting a divorce, they were a HOT MESS. I bet someone is getting left in Jamaica….

[APDMOM]

Hi, Celisse! I posted a message for you on our roll call- if you don't mind helping out [emoji846]

 

Your dresses are beautiful! Hope to run into you tonight- we are going to the 'How to train your dragon' ice show now.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[pharaoh]

I just took care of that for you. :)

 

Let me know how the ice show is! Are they showing it again later in the week? We might want to catch it

[pharaoh]

Tonight I am going to try to scope the 70s party for y'all. [emoji5]

 

I am charging my phone as we speak so I don't have a repeat of last night. [emoji52]

[A&L_Ont]

Tonight I am going to try to scope the 70s party for y'all. [emoji5]

 

I am charging my phone as we speak so I don't have a repeat of last night. [emoji52]

 

Enjoy the dance party. As for your phone dying last night, the show was just starting to get good. Periscope does use up a lot of battery power as I have personally discovered. Have fun at the disco dance party.

[packercruising]

DAY 3 - Dinner

 

 

 

 

I have read lots of mixed reviews on CC about the MDR, but historically on all of my past cruises, I have only eaten at the MDR and have had only wonderful experiences. I’ve been on 6 or 7 cruises and, seriously, never had a problem in the MDR.

 

So, when we arrived at the MDR, were sat down at a very tiny two top, and ignored for 20 minutes, I was disappointed.

 

Long story short, after the 20 minutes waiting to even be acknowledged by anyone in the MDR, someone brought us bread. He didn’t introduce himself, just brought us some bread.

 

Our server came by, FINALLY, and, again, did not introduce herself, just poured us some water and ran off in a hurry.

 

She returned a few minutes later to take our order, did not explain the menu or make any recommendations, we might as well have been at a Denny’s.

 

After that, it was a whirlwind of plates appearing and disappearing from our table. She didn’t say a word to us the whole time, but the bread guy was a little friendlier. Thank you, Bread Guy.

 

In terms of the food itself, I had the Strawberry Bisque, wonderful. I should have had the lasagne, but I had the roasted pork shoulder instead. It looked and tasted like deli meat. The potatoes were good at least.

 

Mom had the tiger shrimp. She was enjoying it, when all of a sudden our anonymous server lady came by with another serving of the tiger shrimp, put it down on the table and said “your portion is very small, here is another.”

 

Um, we didn’t ask for another one, but thanks? My mom doesn’t eat much, and was happy with the portion she got, but okay.

 

After dessert, we jetted out of there and are now regretting letting ourselves be spoiled by the excellent specialty restaurants onboard the ship.

 

 

We do MTD most of the time and our experience has very positive. Generally, what we do is make a reservation for the time we want to dine. If we like the wait staff we specifically request them the next time.

[pharaoh]

Just got back from the disco party. What on earth is this?!

 

 

Mom got a light up ring which was her mission tonight. Gordon from our roll call scavenged it for her like the delightful prince he is. [emoji4]

 

[CruisingKat71]

Just got back from the disco party. What on earth is this?!

 

 

Mom got a light up ring which was her mission tonight. Gordon from our roll call scavenged it for her like the delightful prince he is. [emoji4]

 

 

 

My Hubby is guessing a Cell phone Tower?

I have to say, never saw a towel Creation like that lol!!! You will have to enlighten me with what your Steward is like at lunch tomorrow. Was great to hang out with you tonight, and looking forward to lunch tomorrow. [emoji4]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[pharaoh]

I just discovered this little loungey area by the solarium bar on deck 16. I had never been up here before! I knew there was a bar, but I like to be close to the pool so I never venture up here. This is very nice and relaxing. Ahhhh.