“LIVE” from Allure 8/20, Girls trip to the Southern Carib 🤗

[niksmom630]

6 hours ago, The sea calls my name said:

Did any of y'all get the tenderloin at Giovanni's? In the past I preferred theirs to Chops.

We did not….. mostly because we are all “beefed” out….😂

[niksmom630]

6 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Have to disagree. The 'Plank is unique to Jamie's, this seems appropriate. 

 

Vs 

 

 

And regardless, I prefer Giovanni's to Jamie's anyway

What am I missing? They are both called   “planks”….. one is simply far superior to the other  👍

[niksmom630]

5 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

By my rough count...39 in the water with one more who looks like she's about to get in.

 

 

I don't think I've ever seen a ladies competition.  Occasionally a woman who joins the guys in the bellyflop competition, but never anything dedicated to the women.

Yes, @bobmaclibertyfirst time  I’ve seen it as well.,.. seems events are changing, perhaps for the better…. No more “sexiest” competitions . Love and Marriage is still alive and well tho. And it’s still the best 😂

[niksmom630]

When did bingo get so confusing? And expensive? Oh yeah, seemingly because it’s been 15 years since or so since I played….. 

 

 

 

 

 

[John&LaLa]

46 minutes ago, niksmom630 said:

What am I missing? They are both called   “planks”….. one is simply far superior to the other  👍

 

Live and Learn 😉

[perfect match]

On 8/26/2022 at 7:30 AM, niksmom630 said:

Lines outside the MDR last night for those with MTD. Consider yourself warned 😲 

 

this is around 7 pm, which I assume is prime time for those who think 5:15 is too early and 8:15 is too late . 
 

we arrived about 10 minutes late because we were taking some photos along the way, and when we got there they had seated someone else at our early dining table. 
 

our waiter saw us leaving and quickly found us another spot in his section, and apologized profusely. 
 

we were late, so I wasn’t upset about it, but just to note they might be giving your table away if now if you are not prompt! 
 

 

Thank you for confirming my decision to switch from MTD to Traditional Late. That is our usual preference, but we chose MTD during our first two cruises following the restart of cruising because the scheduling of Late dining conflicted almost with a lot of the evening activities we wanted to enjoy. That shouldn’t be a problem on our upcoming Harmony cruise. 
 

On 8/26/2022 at 12:26 PM, Ourusualbeach said:

Vikki keeps saying that if it ever comes back to the aquatheatre she will enter just so she can dive in and do a lap around the pool.  Swimming in the aquatheatre pool is on her bucketlist

 

It’s on my bucket list too! The pool would need to be at full depth for it to qualify for the bucket list requirement though. No raising the bottom for me - although they might have to raise it to make me get out of the pool! 🤣

[niksmom630]

Worst morning view of the week 😔

 

 

[niksmom630]

My time dining update….. there are actually three podiums to check in.

 

-one for reservations 

- one without reservations 

-one for suites

 

didn't notice the suite line until last night, because there was no line there 😊 so, perhaps MTD lines won’t be bad if you are in a suite 

[DustFSU]

4 minutes ago, niksmom630 said:

Worst morning view of the week 😔

 

 

Make yourself the rubber ducky and go hide somewhere on the ship and see if someone finds you 😉 Just go room with Cayman!

[niksmom630]

One hour transpired from stateroom exit to through security with tsa precheck. 
 

there were some big back ups on the ramps exiting the ship into the terminal which were explained when we finally got into the terminal 

 

RCI rep yelling “slow it down people, I’m out of paramedics which is why it’s taking so long”

[Sea Dog]

11 minutes ago, niksmom630 said:

RCI rep yelling “slow it down people, I’m out of paramedics which is why it’s taking so long”

 

Yikes. I wonder what happened.

[clskinsfan]

Out of Paramedics? Well that doesnt sound good. 

[niksmom630]

1 hour ago, Sea Dog said:

 

Yikes. I wonder what happened.

 

1 hour ago, clskinsfan said:

Out of Paramedics? Well that doesnt sound good. 

Didn’t see any being tended to when we exited the terminal. But a ton of people (the majority) walking off with big suitcases. Myself included. 
 

I usually walk off and take the escalator down without issue, as long as you have  free hand and are comfortable doing so, it’s not usually a problem. 
 

but today I literally turned around at the last minute and went to the elevator line. The escalator looked like someone had cranked up the speed. Don’t think I’ve ever seen one move that fast at a port terminal! 😳

[niksmom630]

Finally scratched an item off my cruising “to do”list  and took a ride on the rising tide

 

 

 

 

 

[niksmom630]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 28, 2022 by niksmom630
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[bobmacliberty]

16 minutes ago, niksmom630 said:

Finally scratched an item off my cruising “to do”list  and took a ride on the rising tide

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rising Tide is a novelty to me...sort of like the Bionic Bar.  Although I've only done the Bionic Bar once and don't see myself ever doing it again, where I've ridden Rising Tide twice and could see myself doing it again at some point...maybe.

 

Edit: But definitely worth doing at least once.

Edited August 28, 2022 by bobmacliberty

[niksmom630]

16 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

Rising Tide is a novelty to me...sort of like the Bionic Bar.  Although I've only done the Bionic Bar once and don't see myself ever doing it again, where I've ridden Rising Tide twice and could see myself doing it again at some point...maybe.

 

Edit: But definitely worth doing at least once.

Had every intention of trying it on one of the last 10+ cruises on Oasis class ships and just never got around to it. We boarded it once on 8 and then there was a technical issue and we all had to get off…..not sure if I would make it a point  to do it again, but the views on the way down were cool.

 

I’ve also never tried the Bionic Bar, probably because my drink of choice is either a frozen concoction or a Beringer White Zin 😊

[niksmom630]

We never did get to scouting out the little wonders. 
 

time got away from us. But, I’ve got another opportunity because we’ll be in allure one more time in December out of Galveston 🤗

 

we did get a mini pub crawl in tho after bingo and dinner 

 

The “painkiller” 

 

  Casino bar, trellis bar, rising tide, dazzles and finally the Schooner….

 

here we are pretty damn proud of ourselves that us 60 year olds outlasted the 20 something’s 💪

 

 

 

 

[niksmom630]

A few random photos …. 
 

the schooner turned out to be a good spot to end the mini crawl because we had a good view of the promenade activities 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[LATTELOVE]

Very nice reviews and photos.

Sad it's the end.

Thanky you!

 

Safe travels home.

[niksmom630]

Our cabin(s)  location: 

 

 

I’ve sailed many  oasis class ships in a variety of cabins. As a rule,  we book ocean view balconies, but have had a few suites as well if the pricing was good or if we scored a Royal Up, 

 

Used to be a big fan of deck 6 mid-ship for a number of reasons. Easy to walk up two floors to CP, boardwalk access steps away, only one floor down to promenade, 2 to “entertainment center” and MDR. Only really need to use elevators to the pool deck. 
 

I’ve since changed my mind. deck 8 forward (particularly if you are in an ocean view balcony) is the way to go….. here’s why….

[niksmom630]

- The forward elevators are significantly less congested than the mid ship elevators. Literally never waited for an elevator for more than a minute or two….

 

Mid ship…. Waited sometimes 3-4 packed elevators worth of people before giving up and taking the stairs…..

 

- worst view ever when you realize you took the wrong set of elevators to your cabin

 

 

 

[niksmom630]

I only did that once. Day 1…..😊 then I realized the stroll

through Central Park was the best—-  regardless of whether your destination was upper or lower decks forward or mid. Only got caught in the rain once which was a plus….

 

no more looooooong hallway views 

[davekathy]

3 minutes ago, niksmom630 said:

- The forward elevators are significantly less congested than the mid ship elevators. Literally never waited for an elevator for more than a minute or two….

 

Mid ship…. Waited sometimes 3-4 packed elevators worth of people before giving up and taking the stairs…..

 

- worst view ever when you realize you took the wrong set of elevators to your cabin

 

I don't mind the long walk. My wife, not so much. When we get on and off the wrong elevator and are faced with the long walk, we call it "the walk of shame". Shame on us. 🙂

[niksmom630]

The boardwalk is fun, in a circus-y sort of way, but there’s really nothing “to go” in the way of coffee in the morning unless you go down to 5 and the promenade. 
 

Deck 8 and CP has not only coffee and breakfast sandwiches in the morning, (Park Cafe) but also the Trellis Bar, so it was easy to grab a pre-dinner  glass of wine. And then there’s the fact that most of the specialty dining venues are also there. 
 

my only complaint this sailing about deck 8 was the number of kids that were running through there in the evenings. Seemed like there were more than a few parents that took their kids their in an effort to let them run off energy while they enjoyed beverages . 
 

Except  then the rest of us could not enjoy ours. 🤨 

 

 

Edited August 28, 2022 by niksmom630
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