Hello from Allure 1-5-2020 to 1-12-2020

[Pratique]

1 hour ago, xpcdoojk said:

Yes, we are skipping Coco Cay due to storm coming from the ocean, per the captain.  He is a rather large human being by the way.  Sounds on the speaker, like he might sell me a used car.  (Please try not to be offended I do not know the man, nor am I likely too, he probably is the greatest captain of all time in real life.)😅

Captain Ron 👍 yes he is 😅

[John&LaLa]

16 minutes ago, xpcdoojk said:

According to Gemma (from UK sports staff) they will be replacing both flowriders after the TA during dry dock.  Things on the ship such as our balcony furniture, the cabin furniture, the diamond lounge furniture, all looks like it could use replacing, Hopefully they will.

 

We're on the TA. I'll try and learn more

[John&LaLa]

1 minute ago, Pratique said:

Captain Ron 👍 yes he is 😅

 

I understand his uncle John was large as well😉

Edited January 8, 2020 by John&LaLa

[Pratique]

On Oasis they replaced the balcony furniture and soft surface furniture during dry dock.

[Pratique]

8 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I understand his uncle John was large as well😉

Those Canadians are well fed and good ship captains too. 😉

[Sherri914]

18 hours ago, Johnamac123 said:

Are you serious that the staff didn't speak English well? I'm sailing on her next November 29th on a western  route, and I certainly would have a problem with the crew not being able to understand me. Or, are you just kidding? 

 

I'm going to be on that sailing too!  

[xpcdoojk]

Yesterday was St Thomas, it was humid with off and on light showers.  Disco party was last night, probably enjoy the 270 lounge better than the Royal Promenade for that event, although it was a high energy event as the CD and asst CD did a good job and really got involved.  Of course, my sports staff guys all played the Village People as usual.  I think they practice while I surf, just to throw me off.  The line for advanced yesterday was the good ole regular 5, but the afternoon session at 4 quickly deteriorated to 15, I did two runs in the afternoon.  The wave and my board squeak all the time, very weird kind of makes me cringe as it sound a bit like nails on a chalk board.

 

The Ultimate Dining has gone well, but I am officially tired of Giovanni’s and Chops and 150 are closing in.  I miss my escargot.  Day one while I was flowriding, they gave our friends who are diamond free wine as a count towards their three evening drinks.  In Chops they poured me a nicer wine in Chops one night and the friend a sauvingnon blanc.  I have have yet to have a real breakfast on the cruise because of my flowriding habits.  The group has mostly been eating in the Solarium for breakfast.

 

Today in San Juan.  Surfing from noon to 6.  I am sure it will be a mob scene, so not sure how much I will play today.  We are just going to wander to the fort and back this morning.

 

jc

[John&LaLa]

On 1/9/2020 at 6:50 AM, xpcdoojk said:

Yesterday was St Thomas, it was humid with off and on light showers.  Disco party was last night, probably enjoy the 270 lounge better than the Royal Promenade for that event, although it was a high energy event as the CD and asst CD did a good job and really got involved.  Of course, my sports staff guys all played the Village People as usual.  I think they practice while I surf, just to throw me off.  The line for advanced yesterday was the good ole regular 5, but the afternoon session at 4 quickly deteriorated to 15, I did two runs in the afternoon.  The wave and my board squeak all the time, very weird kind of makes me cringe as it sound a bit like nails on a chalk board.

 

The Ultimate Dining has gone well, but I am officially tired of Giovanni’s and Chops and 150 are closing in.  I miss my escargot.  Day one while I was flowriding, they gave our friends who are diamond free wine as a count towards their three evening drinks.  In Chops they poured me a nicer wine in Chops one night and the friend a sauvingnon blanc.  I have have yet to have a real breakfast on the cruise because of my flowriding habits.  The group has mostly been eating in the Solarium for breakfast.

 

Today in San Juan.  Surfing from noon to 6.  I am sure it will be a mob scene, so not sure how much I will play today.  We are just going to wander to the fort and back this morning.

 

jc

 

How have the seas affected your ride?

[dani negreanu]

On 1/8/2020 at 1:32 AM, Merion_Mom said:

I feel no empathy for your flowrider tsuris, but I am sorry for your suffering. 😉😄

 

On 1/8/2020 at 2:10 AM, John&LaLa said:

 

tsuris🤔

 

Oh, it's Yiddish

I would have guessed Latin 

 

Knowing MM sense of humor, I''ve been also "wavering" between Yiddish and Latin...

My mother used "tsures", which comes from the Hebrew "tsarot". End of lesson😁.

[Tree_skier]

Enjoying the review JC...

 

[xpcdoojk]

22 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

How have the seas affected your ride?

 

Not much.  Nothing like the first day in the Atlantic on the Symphony TA last year.  A few times the wave will swing due to ship movement but nothing particularly alarming.  The flowrider was tolerable yesterday line wise in the morning, but the 4-7 shift, I only did one ride as the line was 20+ long.  

 

On the Ultimate dining package, I was starting to miss MDR items, so we ordered escargot around our group of 6 in Giovanni’s and Raul the manager brought them to us.  Yesterday, our friends toasted us with two bottles of the widow Cliquot for our 39th anniversary in their cabin. I have given up telling her while I love fine wine, I am quite fine with the sparkling in the diamond lounge and blasting through $200 worth of champagne is an unnecessary splurge.  

 

The Aqua Show the other night finally happened after being canceled the first night out.  It was very good.  If I didn’t mention before Mama Mia was great. We skipped the ventriloquist but our friends said he was good.  Comedy show was good.  I don’t know if I was tired or just over served with the champagne, but I thought the production show Blue Planet was not very good.  The singers who were good in Mama Mia where seemingly lost in the songs of the other production.  Especially the lady who played the tall woman in Mama Mia and who was the lead in Blue Planet, the ways she stylized the songs drove me nuts.  

 

Tonight I think we are dining in either 150 or Chops.  Forgot to mention we ate in Hibachi the night before it was very good.  They were very accommodating with allergy issues, which my wife was worried about.  They did an excellent job, too much food but very good.  

 

The DL concierge is pretty worthless, but very friendly.  The staff other than one 28 year veteran is very inexperienced, he however makes up for everything else here.  The machine has not broken down one time when I have been in the DL, which I think is some kind of record.

 

Best of the Best is today, there are 5 of us who could win.  I won’t be participating but will probably watch.  There is no flow show for some reason.

 

ciao for now

 

jc

 

[xpcdoojk]

O, I almost forgot, we got a Crystal Block again, and I had to explain again to the DW why they give us such “awesome gifts” that we have to lug home and thru airports.  

 

We will be grabbing two rental cars and driving to Key West when we get off in the morning.  I bought the DW a necklace in St Thomas for anniversary.  

 

JC

[Ocean Boy]

5 minutes ago, xpcdoojk said:

O, I almost forgot, we got a Crystal Block again, and I had to explain again to the DW why they give us such “awesome gifts” that we have to lug home and thru airports.  

 

We will be grabbing two rental cars and driving to Key West when we get off in the morning.  I bought the DW a necklace in St Thomas for anniversary.  

 

JC

If you are tired of lugging blocks let me know and I'll find a way to relieve you of the burden.

[xpcdoojk]

I don’t have a place for them.  I collect too much stuff that I like, and I am not quite sure what I can do with them so, they end up in the bedroom where we pack for the next trip in the box, then sometime a year from now I will open the box and go, O that is that thing again.

 

jc

[Ourusualbeach]

50 minutes ago, xpcdoojk said:

I don’t have a place for them.  I collect too much stuff that I like, and I am not quite sure what I can do with them so, they end up in the bedroom where we pack for the next trip in the box, then sometime a year from now I will open the box and go, O that is that thing again.

 

jc

Ebay

[KALCJ1]

Great review...keeping me going until our Harmony B2B 2/9!  We enjoy cruising for a week and then going to Key West for a week.  That's the best...enjoy!!

[xpcdoojk]

I may be done for the cruise on the flowrider.  The line was 20ish long after advanced stand-up.  Went til 15 to noon.  Ugo a youngster from New Caledonia who is quite good, wants me to do the BOB with him.  I said, no Ugo, old dude like me against you I have no chance.  I wasn’t; doing it anyway.  It conflicts with the diamond happy hour.  The flow staff have mostly been good.  The ladies Gemma and Amy let us have really long rides to end the session this morning.  Richard from Quebec, did over 4-1/2 minutes and I did three before I felt guilty and did a triple spin and crashed on purpose.

 

I just got called out on the balcony by the DW, we are sailing past a lighthouse with no significant island.  Looks like a very low island and shoal. What would that be as we sail from Labadee to Port Everglades?  I guess I will have to turn on the map after this post.  According to our friends with binoculars it is a sailboat, very odd that it looks like a lighthouse, must be heading directly at us or away from us and very very large.  

 

Good cruise, lunch in Chops after I hope in the shower

 

jc

[xpcdoojk]

Definitely a lighthouse. My map not connected to cellular thinks I am in the North Atlantic.    South of the Ivory Coast and Lagos. IE west coast of Africa.  So that is reassuring.  
 

jc

[A&L_Ont]

56 minutes ago, xpcdoojk said:

we are sailing past a lighthouse with no significant island.  Looks like a very low island and shoal.

Was it maybe 40’ square and nothing else such as no trees etc. If so we have sailed past it as well but not for years. 

[xpcdoojk]

Yes. Literally not a single tree or hill. 
 

jc

[Ocean Boy]

17 minutes ago, xpcdoojk said:

Yes. Literally not a single tree or hill. 
 

jc

There is a lighthouse that marks the Old Bahama Channel. It looks like it comes out of nowhere in the middle of the ocean. So you are sailing back with the Bahamas off to starboard and the Florida keys off to port.

[xpcdoojk]

1 hour ago, Ocean Boy said:

There is a lighthouse that marks the Old Bahama Channel. It looks like it comes out of nowhere in the middle of the ocean. So you are sailing back with the Bahamas off to starboard and the Florida keys off to port.

That is the one. Thx OB

 

jc

[Ourusualbeach]

3 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

There is a lighthouse that marks the Old Bahama Channel. It looks like it comes out of nowhere in the middle of the ocean. So you are sailing back with the Bahamas off to starboard and the Florida keys off to port.

@ckrobynwould be very happy that you are letting others know exactly where they are. 

[ckrobyn]

1 hour ago, Ourusualbeach said:

@ckrobynwould be very happy that you are letting others know exactly where they are. 

Actually I'm not. He is MY personal GPS.

[Johnamac123]

1 hour ago, ckrobyn said:

Actually I'm not. He is MY personal GPS.

Hey Robyn!!! Hope u are well...