ALLURE OF THE SEAS JUNE 30 2019--THE CURSE OF BRANDON

[WisconsinFan]

Thanks for sharing! Very funny writing, and it sounds like you love Brandon very much! Glad he can see the humor in his misfortune. Keep writing.

[No Bananas]

I joined CC earlier this year and read the reviews. I enjoy them all but this has so much info on RCL that it is like RCL for Dummies. Did Brandon's ancestors kill the Gypsy King with the Apple Cart to have such bad luck? If you can't finish the cruise review, how about a review of your local Wal Mart, Shopping Mall, your writing is hysterical!

[Lionesss]

Lunch break.

 

But, It is time to get closure on this thread.

 

But as usual, before I share the stow aways, a little ground work.

 

I know you remember I posted earlier, about how I had a little talk with Brandon and daughter about how RCI has a zero tolerance and to behave.

Well included in that talk was a little dissertation about how you are on a family vacation, you are not with the "jocks" 

I want you to continue being kind and I laid down the rules.

 

-Be the gentleman your parents raised you to be..........

-Do not display that one hand gesture in any pictures.............

-Do not use any foul language, control yourself

-Do not pass gas as you leave an elevator for those entering on next stop.

 

And Brandon, we traveled with you before ...........................please in the event you have to be excused and take a private moment.......please do not announce.................you  have to take a dump---- for all to hear.  Nor, do I want you to say, when you come back you dropped a load.

 

Years ago, when I would travel with  my mom, she would also enlighten us.

 

Note:  My grandparents center of conversation when we visited was centered around daily routines, and always included this in the conversation.  I guess as you get old and are in routines you have little new news to share............. (may they RIP)

 

So, one comedian on comedy central once made the comment, when nature calls just say.

". . . excuse me I have to make a phone call".

 

Ok not to the matter at hand. And the above will come into play in the closing.

 

"Just stating the facts Mam"

 

Thursday was a day at sea

Did the behind the scenes tour.

Lunch

Rain

4 strawberry daiquiris

nap time

 

Off to coastal kitchen for dinner 7pm.

Seated by the window a couple tables away from bar. 

CK crowded, not one empty table.

 

First course Shrimp Cocktail for me, Daughter and spouse.

Yummmy.

 

Brandon did not order shrimp ordered Caesar salad.

But he waited to start till we finished our shrimp and got our salads to dig in.

 

So

Second course on the table

all of a sudden BRANDON, puts down his knife and fork and stares at me.

OMG He is staring trying to talk but is just gazing.

I felt like I was gonna get vaporized like GORT the Robot did to people in the movie THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL.

 

Finally he comes up for air.

He goes there is a beetle in my salad. 

I go, no, are you sure it is not something from the dressing.

So he picks up a leaf, and low and behold, yup a beetle.

I did not know what to do or say, and finally the DH trying to make light of the situation, goes at least it is intact.

Hope you did not eat any of his relatives.

 

I do not know what was so funny but we started drawing attention to ourselves and we thought we should chill.

This was not a laughing matter.

 

So we called over our waitress and she calls over  JOSE, showed him and he called over his boss the officer, now both are looking at the beetle at our table.

Staring gauking, as did other diners.

Next thing you know out comes the chef.

 

They are so apologetic, and offer Brandon another salad.

Thank God he was raised right and just said he would pass.

They asked if there was anything else they could do, he said no, it was ok  "stuff' happens.

 

Now I enjoy salads especially Caesar, and I figure what are the odds of another  beetle, so I take a bite of my salad and now the DH goes "There's a fly in mine".

Now I am gagging, and no where to remove the salad from my mouth,  I just grabbed the napkin under my drink and deposited in there.

 

Ok so the meeting of the minds happens again and all 4 of the powers that be return to our table.

They scrutinize the salad, like we were just causing trouble.......not!

They see the fly take Rick's plate offer him another.

He graciously passed.

I go I am afraid to look, you could take mine.

And the next thing you know they tell all the staff to pull all the salads.

 

So if You ate in CK Thursday on our cruise, you could have had some extra added Protein.

 

So the rest of Thursday, Friday and Saturday I cannot tell you how RCI went out of there way to re-assure and just be there to set our minds at ease over the situation.

RCI, you really know how to go overboard and deal with unusual situations.

We did not expect any special favors, nor did we ask for any.

 

So our little stowaways were the insects.

 

 

So now onto Saturday.

No salads, no roughage, no....................well you get my drift.

I am not happy for another reason.

 

So once again back at CK, final dinner at sea......

All of a sudden, yup...................excuse me.......I left the table.

Now mind you I do not know how long I was gone but upon return  I guess it was from all that pent up good behavior someone not mentioning any names.

 

". . . . . GEEEEE Sue, you were gone sooooooooooo long, did you have to make a donation at sea or was it  a long distance phone call...."   Did he say it softly, uh, no............now once again yup center of attention.

 

We did not ask for anything, the chef offered to prepare anything offered on board for us, but we declined, we were having a relatively fabulous time, and did not ask for or expect anything else .Management also wanted to compensate us, and we declined.  Why?  We  look forward to sailing again in the future with RCI.

And we recommend them to all our friends.

 

But, man, did people in CK over the next 2 days during suite lounge  cocktail hours tried to get us to share what happened , we declined addressing it, it was a closed issue ..................as Brandon would say  "stuff happens"

 

Ok, I will be preparing my final post on this thread and will share shortly.

It has absolutely nothing to do with cruising, well sorta not..............

 

I had to play down the drama about the stow aways out of respect for RCI, because they handled the situation very well.

 

So thank you for taking the time to read this.

 

 

 

 

[Lionesss]

So

we are not cruising till next summer and will be sailing the Harmony,. Booked two cruises actually. 

We have our fall get away to Disney. 

After all will need to replenish the stock. 

 

Yup we do take a lot of showers. 

 

Safe travels to all. 

Edited July 12, 2019 by Lionesss

[ownedbypets]

27 minutes ago, Lionesss said:

So

we are not cruising till next summer and will be sailing the Harmony,. Booked two cruises actually. 

We have our fall get away to Disney. 

After all will need to replenish the stock. 

 

Yup we do take a lot of showers. 

 

Safe travels to all. 

 

Great review!  This looks very similar to what we bring home.

[Merion_Mom]

39 minutes ago, Lionesss said:

So

we are not cruising till next summer and will be sailing the Harmony,. Booked two cruises actually. 

We have our fall get away to Disney. 

After all will need to replenish the stock. 

 

Yup we do take a lot of showers. 

 

Safe travels to all. 

 

Sue, everything in the bins looks familiar.  What are the six pump bottles in the back?

 

[Lionesss]

15 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

Sue, everything in the bins looks familiar.  What are the six pump bottles in the back?

 

They are the 300ml bottles that are provided upon the asking in suites.  Shampoo, conditioner, and skin lotions ....the same brand that comes in the little bottles.

 

Actually this was the first cruise we got them, never knew they existed.

Might be a star class thingie, we were sky, but when I told Catman (cannot remember his name)--we take many showers these appreared.

 

later

Edited July 12, 2019 by Lionesss

[ownedbypets]

15 minutes ago, Lionesss said:

They are the 300ml bottles that are provided upon the asking in suites.  Shampoo, conditioner, and skin lotions ....the same brand that comes in the little bottles.

 

Actually this was the first cruise we got them, never knew they existed.

Might be a star class thingie, we were sky, but when I told Catman (cannot remember his name)--we take many showers these appreared.

 

later

 

The large pump bottles are what we got in Star Class.

[kay1864]

1 hour ago, Lionesss said:

I felt like I was gonna get vaporized like GORT the Robot did to people in the movie THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL.

This is excellent writing.  Sheer joy to read your posts.

 

1 hour ago, Lionesss said:

He goes there is a beetle in my salad. 

Was it a ladybug?  Cause I hear they're good luck. 😝

 

 

 

Still waiting for a picture of LIONESSS and DH if you must

[kidless]

Oh my that’s it! I want more! Could tell do you need another cruise immediately? Take Brandon he sounds like a nice kid! 

 

Thanks Sue

[Hoopster95]

2 hours ago, Lionesss said:

So, one comedian on comedy central once made the comment, when nature calls just say.

". . . excuse me I have to make a phone call".

 

Lol!! I'd have a few more to share but I think they're probably way too crass for this forum 😂

Great stuff Lionesss! Thank you for coming back to finish this up 😃🐜🐝

Edited July 12, 2019 by Hoopster95

[SRV FAN]

Wow! Very nice of you to not take the “compensation” offered. I sure would have. Once we were unhappy in the MDR over something much less than bugs in our food & they gave us a $250 each (yes 2) voucher off a future cruise.... we gracefully accepted it. Didn’t ask for or expect it.... but did take it. And yes, that is what keeps us loyal to Royal.

 

Thanks for your stories... will be sailing on Allure (our first time on a BIG ship).... and we’ll even be in a suite... so will spend time in the CK! I’ll order my salad minus the bugs... j/k. 😂

[irishgal432]

2 hours ago, Lionesss said:

They are the 300ml bottles that are provided upon the asking in suites.  Shampoo, conditioner, and skin lotions ....the same brand that comes in the little bottles.

 

Actually this was the first cruise we got them, never knew they existed.

Might be a star class thingie, we were sky, but when I told Catman (cannot remember his name)--we take many showers these appreared.

 

later

We asked for some when 4 ladies shared the 2 bedroom GS and was promptly told no.  I guess there is better luck on 17 since they have access.  Good to know!

[bobmacliberty]

1 hour ago, Hoopster95 said:

Lol!! I'd have a few more to share but I think they're probably way too crass for this forum 😂

 

Go for it Hoopster!  Those who are easily offended can self-censor.  💩

[chawkjewel]

That was well worth the wait.  At work reading this and everyone wonders why I am sitting her chuckling away.  Thank you for coming back!!!

[dreamer976]

Simply stated...

 

BRAVO!!!👏👏👏

very entertaining, Lionesss

 

Thank you

[RazorbackIslandGirl]

👏👏👏👏👏 Great job! AWESOME review! I actually snickered, giggled & belly laughed out loud several times. Can't wait for your next review! 

[packerpegster]

Thanks for the fun review!!  Keep it up...and...I agree the Disney soaps, shampoo etc...my FAVORITE...sadly the stash is gone...AND we know what that means!😃

[retiredgram]

Thanks for the great review.  Our only stowaways have been birds.  They would have liked your little friends.

 

[GUEST71919]

On 7/9/2019 at 11:51 AM, lovelife said:

I know who you are talking about.  We have been able to get her to converse a little.  I just keep smiling at her and have even gotten some return smiles.

 

And @Lionesss

 

Ok, so now I am curious! We had this odd little “friendship” (not sure what else to call it) on the Allure with a older, solo female pinnacle. My joke had been that I came upon my career because I can charm a curmudgeon (at least in person 😂) and people tend to talk to me easily and habitually tell me things “they have never told anyone.”  This was one of those times - she was not a woman who was warm, but did warm up to us that week for some reason.  

 

I wonder if it’s this same woman....  Of course the woman in the story almost seems unreachable even by people making significant effort and thus it may be a. entirely different person. That said -  the woman we met had darkish hair and was rather shorter side (we are tall, so this might be an issue of relativity).  She also insisted on the same table each evening (one that was to the right as you entered, near the front; it is in the seating that has many 2 person tables with a chair on one side and the couch seating against that right wall on the other). She was clearly well known and everyone did cater readily to her.

 

P.S. We love the concierges on the Allure. And if there is danger nearby while I am on the Allure, I am going to hide behind one of them (with the other one) 😬😂 The are professional and effective.

Edited July 13, 2019 by 2Beeze

[A&L_Ont]

9 hours ago, Lionesss said:

After all will need to replenish the stock. 

 

Yup we do take a lot of showers. 

 

Sue, did you happen to bring Henry home too.😉

 

As for Brandon, next time just tell him that you “dropped a deuce”.  I’d be curious to his reaction. 

 

Thanks for brining us along.

[sellwingri]

Absolutely love your picture of your “stash”.  DH takes as many little soaps as he can get his hands on.  I find them in every drawer and in every cabinet in the bathroom.

 

I’m on Allure in 14 days and will keep my eyes open for the stowaways.  

[Lionesss]

13 minutes ago, sellwingri said:

Absolutely love your picture of your “stash”.  DH takes as many little soaps as he can get his hands on.  I find them in every drawer and in every cabinet in the bathroom.

 

I’m on Allure in 14 days and will keep my eyes open for the stowaways.  

 

Enjoy.

 

Miss seeing you.

 

Our Alaskan adventure was a great time and dinner was a blast with all of us.

 

Maybe one day in the future we will sail together again.

 

Be safe

[sellwingri]

1 minute ago, Lionesss said:

 

Enjoy.

 

Miss seeing you.

 

Our Alaskan adventure was a great time and dinner was a blast with all of us.

 

Maybe one day in the future we will sail together again.

 

Be safe

OMG!  We sailed together before!  You’re “the Sue” from our cruise last year when I sailed with Amy!   She doesn’t read Cruise Critic but I’ll have to tell her.  We really had a great table and had a lot of fun.  I have our group pic on my dining room table.  We’re sailing together again on Anthem in Nov and to Europe on Explorer (again) next year.   Hope we sail together again as well.

[RickinStl]

On 7/8/2019 at 3:11 PM, Lionesss said:

Being the strict catholic school  girl that I am (drink, gamble, ex smoker), and realizing times have change I said yea go ahead.

And besides I think I will be baking cookies in the near future for those of you who get my drift 🙂

For those of you who do not, your not from Ohio.

 

Sounds like my Catholic upbringing except I tend to cuss a lot lol