Allure OTS Photo Heavy Trip Report – The “allure” of the Eastern Caribbean

[Fouremco]

Mercifully for you guys, this is the last batch of underwater pictures. Luckily the thread rolled to a new page or else the previous page would have been all fish - and I never found Nemo! :-)

After a number of years of great photos with my Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS4, it went missing last November during a snorkel outing. I subsequently replaced it with a TG-4, but I haven't had it in the water yet, so I'm interested in your shots. Do you recall what settings you used? I assume that you were in the underwater mode, but what about the sub mode?

[pudy68]

I have done airport mode sometimes like when I took that snapshot. Most of the time now I turn off Cellular Data instead. On an iPhone it is under Settings / Cellular / Cellular Data. I never answer the phone when it rings - unless it's from a number that could imply an emergency. By doing it this way, I can still receive text messages and reply back if needed (with my AT&T plan it is free to receive text messages and 50 cents each if I need to send one).

 

Interesting! I also have an iPhone with AT&T, so I can follow along with your steps. Thx.

[A Pisces]

Thanks for taking the time to do the review! I love reading them all!

Kathy

[A Pisces]

I am really enjoying your review, the humor! My sister is going on the Allure this Sunday, and I am getting excited for her, especially with all of the pictures that you posted!

When you mentioned the Rainbow Reef tour, I thought, "maybe we will try this in March, when we go to Nassau on the Anthem". But then after reading about the cold water, and seeing that one picture of the boat in the high waves, I think not. I guess I'll wait and see if it is warmer and calmer, when our trip is closer.

[fletch1027]

After a number of years of great photos with my Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS4, it went missing last November during a snorkel outing. I subsequently replaced it with a TG-4, but I haven't had it in the water yet, so I'm interested in your shots. Do you recall what settings you used? I assume that you were in the underwater mode, but what about the sub mode?

 

I for sure had it in underwater mode, but I cannot remember any of the details beyond that. It is a great camera. I got my TG-4 a year ago to replace an older Nikon Coolpix S31 that I had. Definitely an upgrade!

 

I would suggest the camera board here on CC (if you haven't already) to find some posts about the TG-4...

[fletch1027]

Interesting! I also have an iPhone with AT&T, so I can follow along with your steps. Thx.

 

Glad I could help! Just be careful that you do not accidentally re-enable cellular data. I always checked a few times a day due to paranoia mixed with OCD... :)

 

 

Thanks for taking the time to do the review! I love reading them all!

Kathy

 

Thanks for taking the time to follow along with my ramblings! :)

[fletch1027]

I am really enjoying your review, the humor! My sister is going on the Allure this Sunday, and I am getting excited for her, especially with all of the pictures that you posted!

When you mentioned the Rainbow Reef tour, I thought, "maybe we will try this in March, when we go to Nassau on the Anthem". But then after reading about the cold water, and seeing that one picture of the boat in the high waves, I think not. I guess I'll wait and see if it is warmer and calmer, when our trip is closer.

 

I think in this case the cold was partially related to time of year, but also the weather that day. If you notice in the other photos the palm trees are all catching a lot of wind. Between that the the overcast skies. Also, due to the Allure's "early in and early out" port times @ Nassau, we were out there snorkeling before 9am! :eek: I'm guessing it may have gotten warmer as the day went on...

[fletch1027]

The boat took a different route back to Nassau than it did on the way out. The way back took us right past and around the back side of the Allure and I thought it was awesome to see just how big she is when we have the perspective of sitting on a tiny boat in comparison!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

to be continued…

 

[fletch1027]

After passing Allure and docking, it was odd to me that the tour concluded way over by Senior Frogs and the Straw Market. It may have had something to do with security, since we were out on a boat, we were not allowed back into the secure area without going back through the customs / security area. My cynical side thought there was a side deal to make us all walk the gamut of vendors & stores before getting back to the ship. :-)

 

Interesting horse taxi. They seem to pretty much know where to go on their own to line up

 

 

 

Allure in port. She was barely too big to get all of her in one shot

 

 

 

TIP: Before heading back to Allure, I wanted to share a tip that has saved my life on at least two occasions (Labadee this trip) when out and about at a port, and that is a waterproof “wallet”. I have one that looks identical to the one in the photo below and have had it for the last 5-6 years. When we go to a port, we each have one of these and mine always contains these items:

 

• Seapass

• Cash that I will need while in that port

• One credit card (different than the card that my Seapass account is tied to)

• Photocopy of my passport

 

The great advantage of this is that it’s only what I need for that trip to port (rest is in room safe) and it’s waterproof so it can always be with me. That really came in handy on this trip when I was traveling alone so there was no one to “watch my stuff”. Where it also saved me is that it FLOATS. Somehow while snorkeling, it worked its way out of my swimsuit pocket which was also closed with Velcro tabs. I’m in the water treading around when I feel something tickle the back of my neck. Being naturally afraid of stuff and in the ocean, I freaked out a little. I then turned around to see my water wallet floating next to me! In the future, I need to find a way to lock it onto my suit with the carabiner. They are pretty easy to find on Amazon or local sporting goods stores.

 

 

 

OK, so back on ship and the three of us congregate in the cabin to plan lunch. Another advantage to our Central Park balcony is the view of the Park Café. We looked down and saw that the line was very short so we headed down.

 

 

 

After the salad and roast beef sandwich, I got a couple of my favorite cookies that I can only get on cruises – the coconut ranger cookie! My wife doesn’t like coconut, so I load up on them when we cruise!

 

 

 

Spying the café line from the balcony works. Here’s the line after we got back from lunch! :-)

 

 

 

 

to be continued…

 

[fletch1027]

My DD is a natural athlete. Many years as a gymnast and four years of high school track doing pole vault, so she also has little to no fear. That being said, we all headed up to the top to do the zipline. Jen passed, but DD and I gave it a shot. It is a pretty short ride, but fun anyway and a good use of the open space on the ship. Sorry the photos are poor quality, they are paused screenshots of iphone video. :-)

 

DD looking smooth

 

 

 

 

 

Dad looking not so smooth – remember to raise your legs at the end! :-)

 

 

 

 

 

After that, we headed down to the rock wall. I guess on Harmony the slide is a good shortcut, but no red slide on the Allure (for better or worse). DD of course sailed up the wall like Spider Man. I decided to take a pass on it… :-)

 

 

 

 

 

to be continued…

 

[cruisinrealtor]

Those cookies look amazing. Don't think I had any on our last cruise.

[Dianka25]

Thanks for posting! I will be on the Allure next month. Can't wait!!

[JamesEM]

Enjoying your reports and photos, been on both the Allure and the Oasis.

[fletch1027]

Those cookies look amazing. Don't think I had any on our last cruise.

 

They are really great, but look a little complex to make. Here's the recipe:

 

Coconut Ranger Cookies Recipe

 

 

Thanks for posting! I will be on the Allure next month. Can't wait!!

 

She's a great ship - hope you have a great time!

 

 

Enjoying your reports and photos, been on both the Allure and the Oasis.

 

We have a cruise booked for next month on Freedom. After that I am thinking we will be giving Oasis a try since Port Canaveral is the easiest drive for us...

[fletch1027]

I haven’t spent a lot of time dwelling on things like the MDR quality, the MDR vs. the WJ, etc. On this cruise we were in the MDR 6 of the 7 nights. We had a great wait staff who took great care of us. Yes, the quality of the MDR has gone down over the years a little, but they still have the things I like and it’s nice to not have to get up and get my own food. :-)

 

That being said, here is my standard bread order that they had down pat (as in pat of butter?) by night 2 – three savory bites and a sourdough!

 

 

 

These next few pictures serve two purposes – giving me a chance to play with night mode on my camera and also show off how cool Central Park looks at night!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It wouldn’t a be one of my trip reports if I didn’t include photos of towel animals! Here is tonight’s selection

 

 

 

 

 

to be continued…

 

[fletch1027]

Sea day between port stops we ate breakfast at Johnny Rockets on the way to the Captains C&A Welcome party at the aqua theater. With one quick scan of the C&A crowd, our DD performed the quickest disappearing act ever!

 

It was a typical C&A event. There was a half dozen or so Pinnacles in the house. We proudly stood with the rest of the lowly Golds – update – we are now Platinum; however, I don’t feel any different. :-)

 

Apologies again with the photo quality on these. iPhones take great photos until you zoom in. The “fake” zoom turns the pics into something less than desirable

 

 

Shrek stalking the crowd beforehand

 

 

 

 

 

Acrobats – these guys define core strength!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then heard from the Captain who seemed very cool. He also unfortunately explained that the seas were not calm enough to have the divers perform. This would be an unfortunate recurring theme throughout the week…

 

 

 

 

to be continued…

 

[fletch1027]

After the C&A welcome, the rest of the day was a pretty uneventful day at sea. Took some random pictures, sat around the pool. Played some trivia, etc.

 

 

Making progress on the trail to St. Thomas (using Voom not Cellular @ Sea)

 

 

 

My view for most of the day

 

 

 

I have heard stories of birds flying into the trees in Central Park while in port, then getting brought along for the ride but this is ridiculous…

 

 

 

MDR dinner – one of my go to’s – the strawberry soup (aka smoothie in a bowl)

 

 

 

 

to be continued…

 

[fletch1027]

St. Thomas is what I consider a “late arriving” port, pulling in at 10am. At least with the next port being a short hop to St. Maarten it is also a “late leaving” port at 7pm. With us not getting there until 10, we had plenty of time to eat breakfast at the WJ, then head up to the bridge wings to watch us pull into port.

 

With this being our first cruise that wasn't Western Caribbean, this was our first time in a port where our cell service was free (here and Puerto Rico).

 

Got a few shots as we pulled in. I love islands like this where there are "mountains" and beach. It makes for an amazing contrast. Back home I am used to either beach (Florida, Hilton Head, etc) or mountains (Utah) but not both.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Passing Havensight on the way to Crown Bay

 

 

 

House with a mini-lighthouse?

 

 

 

Somebody forget where they parked their boat?

 

 

 

 

to be continued…

 

 

[Ocean Boy]

Not trying to be picky but that wasn't Havensight you were passing on the way to the dock at Crown Bay, the land on the Starboard side of the ship is Water Island. That cabin cruiser has been sunk there for years!

[BillOh]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Passing Havensight on the way to Crown Bay

 

 

 

House with a mini-lighthouse?

 

 

 

Somebody forget where they parked their boat?

 

 

 

 

to be continued…

 

 

Normally I hate it when someone quotes 6 pictures and adds a short, "Great picture!" So I'll add a couple of sentences. If the debate comes up on whether or not to get a balcony, the sailing into St Thomas and St Martin are good examples of why I get a balcony, and especially into these two ports. The view is really nice for about an hour into each port. This series of photos captured that.

[jimbri]

Great review and photos! Thanks!!

[fletch1027]

Not trying to be picky but that wasn't Havensight you were passing on the way to the dock at Crown Bay, the land on the Starboard side of the ship is Water Island. That cabin cruiser has been sunk there for years!

 

Correct - I wasn't relating the cabin cruiser to Havensight, I was meaning more in general as we were heading left to Crown Bay as opposed to moving towards Havensight. I have some photos of Havensight coming up in a few posts... :)

 

 

Normally I hate it when someone quotes 6 pictures and adds a short, "Great picture!" So I'll add a couple of sentences. If the debate comes up on whether or not to get a balcony, the sailing into St Thomas and St Martin are good examples of why I get a balcony, and especially into these two ports. The view is really nice for about an hour into each port. This series of photos captured that.

 

You're correct, there are times like this that a balcony is awesome! Assuming of course that your balcony is on the good side of the ship for whichever particular view is best.

 

 

Great review and photos! Thanks!!

 

Thanks - glad to have you along for the ride!

[fletch1027]

In the last post I mentioned that we passed Havensight port and docked at Crown Bay. There are two ports in St. Thomas and this is a summary of each one that I have gleaned from various posts on CC:

 

Havensight – Great port that everyone loves to shop at with easy access to town to do more shopping and stuff. A big majority of CC posters prefer Havensight.

 

Crown Bay – Former Navy base that has been converted into a cruise ship port to handle ships too large to fit in Havensight (Oasis class, QE2, etc). This port is more out of the way and a treacherous walk into town so a cab is required. As of recently, all RCI ships will be docking at Crown Bay and a big majority of CC posters are not pleased.

 

Luckily for us we have never docked in Havensight, so we don’t know the difference. There is a shopping area in the port with all of the usual suspects (DI, TI, etc) so maybe they are building it up. Anyway, there is also a small convenience store there with reasonable prices for things like cold or headache medicine that you don’t want to pay ship prices for.

 

It’s a beautiful day here in St. Thomas! It says rain possible but we didn’t see any. Also, notice that the Cellular at Sea was replaced with the familiar AT&T

 

 

Here’s our tour ticket. Second RCI excursion on the same trip. New high for us. Again after much study on the CC boards, we landed on this for a beach day excursion. It’s called “Secret Sands Beach Exclusive and Skyline Drive”. The cost was $52 per person and it was well worth it as you will see. There are two times to choose from (morning and afternoon with a slight overlap. We chose the afternoon, which left at 1:00 from the port. The beach outing is first with the Skyline Drive part on the way back.

 

 

Another pair of Allure pics – she sure seems to be very photogenic! :-)

 

 

 

 

 

Fake but cool looking windmill at the port. Comes in handy as a landmark. Meet me at the windmill…

 

 

 

One of the cool things about this excursion is that the size is limited to around 20-30 people. We all gathered, met, and piled onto the covered but open-air transport for the drive to the beach. It is around a 30 minute drive as you will see in the next post, but that was ok because we got to see the city as we went. One thing I did notice was the gas price, which was $2.93 at this station which was almost a dollar a gallon higher than the US average that month. I guess the flip side is that with a small island, you drive less to get where you are going, and also you are living on a tropical island so you may not care. :-)

 

 

 

to be continued…

 

 

[fletch1027]

Part of the reason for the smaller excursion size is that the beach we are going to is actually a state park and they want to keep the crowds smaller.

 

 

 

Smith Bay (Lindqvist) Beach is very pretty and very secluded (guess that’s where the clever “Secret Sands” comes from). :-) There are resorts on either side, but both are a good distance away. Here’s the location on a Google map to give some perspective as to where on the island it's located (red arrow is Crown Bay and Blue dot is the beach):

 

 

 

Good facilities are always a concern. There are brand new restroom facilities that were kept in pristine condition the whole time we were there. In comparison, similar in size to the restrooms in Labadee near Columbus Cove but newer and cleaner (and no one is in there asking for a tip for handing you a paper towel) :-)

 

 

 

Another concern people have sometimes is getting dropped off on a beach with no shade in sight. Not a problem here with sun or shade options. The shade even has picnic tables

 

 

 

Here’s a photo of our host. He spent most of the time at the beach hustling around setting up beach chairs for everyone as well as supplying drinks to us. Drinks were included with the price of the excursion. He did an awesome job!

 

 

 

There’s even chickens there hanging out by the beach. Why was he crossing the road? I guess to get to the beach side! :-)

 

 

 

to be continued…

 

 

[fletch1027]

Some photos of the surrounding views from the beach. This one is looking out to the left with the neighboring resort in the distance

 

 

 

Thatch Kay is the island over yonder

 

 

 

Grass Kay & Mingo Kay out there with a tiny gap in-between

 

 

 

Condos to the right of us with St. John back there in the distance

 

 

 

Couple of shots looking back at our beach area. If you see a ton of light blue towels you know you are in the right place. :-)

 

 

 

 

 

to be continued…