Allure of the Seas Inaugural Sailing and Maiden Voyage

Allure of the Seas Inaugural Sailing

I originally booked the inaugural sailing on the Allure of the Seas while I was on board the Freedom of the Seas last year. Once I got home, I received a call from Royal Caribbean that they had added a 4 night pre-inaugural sailing and would we like to change to that sailing. We decided to do both, turning it into an 11 night sailing.

As it got closer to the sail date, I was lucky enough to get invited to a 2 night sailing pre pre inaugural sailing now turning my cruise into 13 nights.

As with the Oasis of the Seas, the boarding process is a breeze. It took all over 10 minutes to go through security, check in, get the room key, take your embarkation picture and get on the ship. You do not want to miss the embarkation picture, as this ship has facial recognition and you can get your photo snapped anywhere on the ship and it will end up in your own photo album easily located for you to view or purchase.

We were handed a welcome glass of champagne as soon as we boarded and were in awe of the beauty and design of the ship. At each elevator around the ship, there is a flat panel touch screen which has a room finder, things to do around the ship, restaurant guide, etc. If you type in your cabin number, it will give you directions with a map giving you the shortest route back to the cabin.

There are many dining venues around the ship all with beautiful preparation and display. The staff has been extremely friendly and helpful in getting us acclimated to the ship.

We went to the ice show called “How to train your dragon” and you are up close and personal with the skaters. My recommendation is always get to any of the shows about ½ hour prior to the start of the show to get your choice of seats. You are allowed to prebook your shows on line. 10 minutes before the start of the show, they open the seating up to the general public to let anyone that didn’t make a reservation come in. You are only allowed to prebook the show once to give everyone a chance to see all the shows.

Food in the dining room has been excellent. The chicken in the chicken Marsala was as moist as it could be and the fillet of beef was like butter.

One afternoon we decided to eat a “Johnny Rockets” and there is a $4.95 cover charge which was well worth it. It is a typical old fashion diner with mouth watering burgers and the best onion rings I have ever tasted. When you first walk into the diner you are greeted with a shout out from all the waiters. While you are eating, the waiters breakout in a song production. Do not miss this.

Tonight we decided to eat at one of the specialty restaurants called 150 Central Park. There is a surcharge of $35.00 per person. I did not realize that it was a fixed menu and there are no choices to be made. However it is a 6 course meal and it is displayed magnificently. I opted to have one of the specialty martinis which I saw Kathy Lee and Hoda have on their show. This is the only restaurant on board the ship that has this particular martini. It has basil, sour mix, cucumber and grey goose vodka. The drink was delicious but I should have asked the price as it was $15.00. Most martinis’s cost around $7 to 8.

The bread is served with sweet butter and 6 different types of saIt and I ended up eating too much bread. One of the salts taste like bar-b-que, one tasted like eggs, one tasted like sage. It was the first time I ever ate flavored salt and each course was delectable and the blend of flavoring was beyond belief. The courses were unusual with a sweet potato veloute soup, duck egg roll, sea bass and short ribs of beef with filet of beef and Swiss chard. The last course was a chocolate raspberry mouse, served with a caramel ice cream. I thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere and the food however; my husband and our friends were not thrilled. Although they appreciated the tastes and the preparation, they thought it was over priced and they would have preferred to make their own choices. The bill for 4 people and 2 rounds of drinks was over $200.00. You really don’t expect to get a bill that high on a cruise ship. I am glad that I went but I don’t know that I would go back.

During the week there is a parade called “Move it”. The show is through the Royal Promenade. We did not get here early and although we were standing, we didn’t have the best view in the house. However, since we are on this ship for 3 different sailings back to back, the 2nd time they did the show, I went about 1 hr 15 minutes early, got myself a table by Sorrento’s Pizzeria, brought my book, had some coffee and had an up front and person view. The “street got crowded” but I had prime viewing. During the hour it is a fantastic time to people watch and this is the only time it felt crowded on the ship, as 5000 people want to see the parade. Dreamworks does it right and there were all the dreamworks characters including Shrek and Fiona. Fiona is the Godmother of this ship. You cannot even believe you are aboard a ship with the production of this parade. People young and old love this parade and were cheering. At the end there is confetti flying.

One night we ate at Chops Grill specialty restaurant and athough my fillet mignon was delicious and tender my friends had a veal chop that was full of fat. They had many waiters however our drinks were slow in getting to us and the waiter didn’t bring back the right drinks. They never put bread on the table and although we prepaid the meal($25.00 per person) we had to pay for our drinks. When we received the bill we were charged an extra $12.00. We had been drinking the same round of drinks every night and after 10 days of being on the ship, we knew what it should cost. I told the waiter the price was wrong and he insisted that it was correct. I was more upset at principal then at the price and I took it up with Customer relations who took the $12.00 off the charge. When we ordered 2 vodka martinis the waiter rang it up as two martinis and 2 shots of vodka. Chalk it up to getting the kinks worked out on the maiden voyage.

The day that we were in Labadee,Haiti (Royal Caribbean’s private island) we walked around and rented a float for $12 for the day and just bobbed around the water. Royal Caribbean puts on a bar-b-que for their passengers and not only did they have the standard franks and hamburgers, but they had lobster tails for 5,000 people. This was a real treat. On this Island you can ride a roller coaster or go zip lining ($90) and take a tram around the island. There is a little flea market area and the locals sell their crafts. Royal Caribbean is still brining in supplies to Haiti and takes up a collection on the ship to help the local economy.

Due to the fact that we were on the inaugural sailing and maiden voyage, ever night we got back to our room when got a present. One night we got inaugural sailing towels, one night tote bags, one night baseball caps, one night a cookbook, just to name a few. We loved going back to our room at night to see what treat was on our bed. Speaking of bedding, the European bedding was so lush and luxurious; I never wanted to get out of bed. I loved getting into the bed at night. The mattress was like sleeping on clouds.

The location of our cabin was near the rear elevator. This turned out to be a great location as the boardwalk and dining room is towards the rear of the ship as well as the sports deck. We were easily able to get to Central Park and the Royal Promenade so I definitely think cabins located near the rear elevator are much better than being midship. The spa, gym and adults only pool are located at the front. Although I did go to the gym and the spa I went to the dining room to eat a lot more.

One of the very cool things to do on this ship is send a video postcard. They have a recording studio where you can go in and record yourself and send it to about 6 people. There is no charge and I recommend that you send yourself a copy and this way you can forward it to whoever you want to. I must have gone in there about 7 times.

I was too chicken to go zip lining but thoroughly enjoyed watching other people do it. There was a 90 year old man who did it and I almost got the courage after seeing him do it, but I can’t take the initial 1st step off with a drop of 10 floors.

By the boardwalk area there is a full size carousel and a couple of times during the week they do a family festival for the kids, with clowns, balloons, face painting and all kinds of activities for the kids.

Our friends who traveled with us have been on over 25 Princess cruises and the last time why had gone on Royal Caribbean was 13 years ago on the Nordic Empress. I finally got them to go on this ship and they were truly in awe of this ship. It is like nothing you have ever seen aboard a cruise ship.

Every night in Central Park they had a musician playing and you can actually stroll through the park and sit on a bench with birds chirping. They just thought of everything.

Several times during the week they had 3 D movies along with the usually things aboard a ship like a men’s belly flop contest, trivia, name that tune, line dancing, salsa lessons, etc.

The disembarkation process was so well organized that we were off the ship by 7:30am. You are assigned an area to wait in, and the flat panel screen tells you the actual time within 15 minutes that you will be called. It was very efficient.

In closing, I would not hesitate to take the whole family on board this ship. It is a great ship for multi generations and I can’t wait to go on this ship again.

Oasis of the Seas Review

My first impression pulling up to the pier was “let’s see how long this takes to get on a ship this big”. To my surprise, from the time we went through security to checking in and getting on board the ship and having our embarkation pictures taken, it was exactly 12 minutes.

This ship is breath-taking and state of the art. At the end of each hall near the elevator is a flat panel touch screen. You enter your room number and it shows you the shortest route to get to your room and shows you a map how to get there. At this screen, you can see all the dining options available. It will tell you the times they are open, whether there is wait and also a map to get there. At this same location, you can see all the activities going on around the ship for the current day, entertainment options, and all services.
Our cabin was a balcony cabin overlooking Central Park. Central Park is decorated with over 12,000 plants and tree lined streets with sidewalk cafes and stores such as a coach outlet store. Every evening at 6pm, a bagpiper walked through the street playing his bagpipe. There is no ceiling on central park so you will get a beautiful starry night just like you would strolling in the real Central Park. Every morning we ordered room service, free of charge, and ate breakfast on our balcony. However, as much as I loved the view and people watching I did miss my ocean view balcony, watching the ships pull in and out of ports and watching the sunsets. You can go up to the deck for this if you decide that the Central Park view is what you want.
On the first full day at sea, we decided to explore the ship. There is no lack of activities onboard from Zip-lining, Surfing, Bogie Boarding, Ice Skating, Rock Climbing, Basket ball, table tennis, just to mention a few and not that I participated in zip lining it was really fun to watch.
The entertainment on the ship was by far the best I have ever experienced at sea. They had the live Broadway music Hairspray several times throughout the cruise and the actors received several standing ovations. In addition, we went to the Aqua Theater to watch a water show similar to Circ Du Soleil, a Comedy Show, and an ice skating show. None of these shows were an additional charge.
Every night there is a karaoke lounge and Latin dancing in the Bolero’s lounge. One night there was a 70’s disco party on the promenade deck. Imagine 1000 people dancing in the street. It was incredible.
One of the great things about the Oasis of the Seas is that the passengers receive a cruise calendar in advance and you are able to pre-book the shows before you ever step foot on the ship. No running around having to book them on board.
Most of the food on board the ship is included in your cruise fare. There are a few specialty restaurants such as Giovanni’s Italian restaurant, Chop’s grill, and 150 Central Park. We decided to eat at Giovanni’s one afternoon for lunch. Giovanni’s over looks Central Park. The charge for lunch was only $10 per person and they served enough food for a feast.
There are 24 different dining options and we chose to eat at our assigned dining room every night. Our waiter, assistant waiter and head waiter were attentive and courteous. One night they served prime rib or lobster tail. Our server decided to make our dinner surf and turf and brought both to us without us asking.
The little things make the difference. At guest relations, there was never a line. There was plenty of staff available whenever anything was needed.

The spa on this ship is 2 stories with a gorgeous glass staircase. There is a spa restaurant which serves lighter food. The gym is state of the art and one of the largest I have ever seen aboard a cruise ship. The treadmills have a screen with a track which shows you where you are on the track as you walk or run. During the cruise, there were yoga classes, spinning classes, walk for a cure, and classes on staying fit, eating healthy, 5 minute makeovers and so much more.
This ship is a destination in itself and while we did stop at St. Thomas, St. Martin, and Nassau, there is no tendering so they just opened up the gang plank and you walked off. All the elevators have a button that clearly states “gangway”. There is no running around looking for a way to disembark. When coming back on to the ship, you go through security before you get on the ship and they point you to the closet gangway to your cabin. No getting on at one end of the ship and having to walk the length of the ship. There were plenty of security personnel and never a wait to go back on.
I would not hesitate to recommend this cruise and although the cost is a little higher than some of the other cruise ships, the entertainment alone is well worth the additional cost.

Allure of the Seas

We are getting ready to go aboard the new Allure of the Seas.  Having already been on the Oasis of the Seas,  I am expecting a great time with great food and service.  We originally booked this as a 7 night inaugural sailing.  Royal Caribbean then called and added a 4 night pre inaugural sailing.  We decided to turn a 7 night cruise into 11 nights  Then we received a 2 night offer for a pre pre inaugural sailing for special agents.  We now turned an 11 night sailing into 13 nights.  There is so much to do aboard this ship and we are really looking forward to it.  Maybe I will try the zip lining if I get the courage.

Norwegian Epic

The check in process for embarkation was extremely easy. There were no long lines and we came aboard the ship very quickly. The first thing I notice was how very beautiful the ship is with a crystal chandelier that is about 3 or 4 stories high.

The cabins were not ready yet, so you were offered to check your hand luggage so that you didn't have to drag it around. I thought this was a great feature as it gives you an opportunity to check out the ship without dragging everything with you. They had a lunch buffet but it you wanted to be served, you can eat in the restaurant called Taste. We choose Taste as we wanted to be served instead of doing the buffet, and I ordered a portabella mushroom with goat cheese served on a light tomato sauce, and Rich had the fried calamari served with a light tartar sauce. They were the appetizers and our main courses were shrimp and salmon sandwich on a soft 5 grain roll and a BLT Turkey club sandwich. All prepared and served beautifully.

The staff on board has been extremely friendly and they all seem happy to be aboard. This makes you feel very welcomed.

The designs of the cabins are the only complaint that some of the guests have, as the toilet is on one side of the room and the shower is on the other side. Both are enclosed with a frosted sliding glass door and there is a curtain that you can pull across to keep the bathroom separated from the rest of the room, but personally I don't like that fact that even my shadow can be seen inside. Some things need to be private.

Our cabin is a D2 category, cabin 12082, which is a larger balcony cabin and has a bathtub with beautiful contemporary faucets. The sink is actually inside the room but again is very contemporary looking. The stateroom is decorated in a walnut colored wood and lots of mirrors, with a large flat panel TV. You can preorder shore excursions, dining reservations, books shows, room service, all from your stateroom.

On the first night we decided to check out the "Ice Bar' which is kept at 17 degrees. We were given faux fur lined parkas and gloves. The staff escorts 25 people into the bar at one time. More than that will cause the ice to melt. It is $20 per person and includes 2 drinks from a limited menu. I had the "Caribbean dream" which had vodka with a lemony mix. It was excellent. Rich had the "Northern Lights" which was also a vodka and Blue liquor drink. The glass is made of real glass, but inside the glass is ice in the form of the glass. Your drink is poured inside the ice glass which keeps the drink freezing cold. The interior of the ice bar is of course, ice but has blue, pink and purple colored lights, giving everything a beautiful glow. They had ice sculptures in there and benches made of ice with a fur pillows. You are only allowed to stay in there about 25 minutes and at first you think that that certainly won't be enough time. However, about 15 minutes into it, you realize that it is freezing in there. It reminded me of the I love Lucy episode where Lucy got stuck in the meat locker, and had icicles hanging from her. I went in there with sandals and no socks and by the time I was ready to come out, I was shivering and my teeth were chattering. I wouldn't miss this it. It was really fun. Take a lot of pictures as the lighting makes everyone look beautiful.

One evening we ate at the specialty restaurant called Moderno's. It is a Brazilian type specialty restaurant where they keep bringing food out. We were served small rolls and we looked around for butter but didn't see any. We took a bite of the roll and realized that it had the moistest cheesy center. They were delectable. I had to restrain myself from having more than two. The meal is served with the salad bar which had everything. Large shrimps, Brie, blue cheese, olives, pasta, prosciutto ham, macaroni, etc. Once you finish with the salad bar, you are given a card that is green on one side and red on the other. When you are ready for food, you keep the green card faced up and they start bringing out the meat. Beef, Chicken, pork, rib chops, barb-qued- beef. If you need a break from eating, you show the red card. Too much food. All for a price of $20 per person.

Our first port was Costa Maya and having been there before, there is really not too much there that we haven't done. My recommendation to anyone visiting is to get off the ship and go to the pool/beach club that is set up at the pier. You should wear your bathing suit, bring a towel from the ship and enjoy the pool which has a swim up bar. As far as shopping, there are no bargains and the shop owners were not really looking to negotiate prices. They didn't run after you and didn't seem to be selling much.

We ate in the Manhattan club after our day in Costa Maya and this is one of the regular restaurants that does not have a surcharge. The food was good, although my steak was a little tough as I compared it to the steak I had in Moderno's. They have a band during dinner and each night they have one or two of the performers from the Legends show. Our night had performances by Rod Stewart and Britney Spears. The performers must look like the personality and they do not lip sync and sound exactly like the artist they are imitating.

So far the trip and the ship have been amazing. Today we are in Roatan, Honduras and did an Island tour. The beaches are very beautiful, the weather is hot and humid. The people are very friendly. There is not too much near the ports. A few stores and of course a Diamonds International with high prices. I didn't buy anything there, but there was another store that a local girl was carving cameos right on the premises. She had one that was an anchor so I bought it. It cost about $80 and I really appreciated the fact that she was carving the stones right in front of us. We didn't take the ships tour, and just walked off the ship and grabbed one of the local tour companies, and for $25.00 per person, we had our own private tour. One of the highlights was the Iguana sanctuary where the iguanas are all over the place and you literally have to step over them. We were able to feed them and they were huge. They had some other animals as well, such as monkeys, parrots, and a few others that I didn't remember the names.

The food on the ship is great and for lunch we ate a restaurant called O'Sheehan's Irish pub. It has flat panel televisions’ all over and a 3 lane bowling alley, as well as a pool table, dart board, and various video games. It is right in the middle of the ship and a great place to people watch. It is opened for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks so it is pretty much open 24/7 and no additional charge.

The ship has pizza at no additional charge at the buffet area, however you can get it delivered anywhere on the ship for a $5.00 charge. That is for the people who are too lazy to get up.

One night we ate at Circ which was a fantastic Circ Du Soleil type show. You have a choice of premium seating for a charge of $30 per person or standard seating at a charge of $20 per person. The standard seating is up higher but truthfully you probably get a better view at the standard seating. We opted for the premium seating and Rich’s had to constantly turn is back around to get a view. The food is fixed and they give you delicious jumbo shrimps and fillet mignon.

The day that our ship was docked in Cozumel, the top 200 hundred Agents were offered the opportunity to have lunch aboard the Oasis of the Seas. We were treated like royalty. From the minute we got on the ship, we were handed Champagne, Mimosas ‘, strawberry Daiquiris’ or Pina Collatas’. Royal Caribbean provided us with a special parade of the Royal Promenade and an exclusive show in the Aqua Theater. Vicki Freed, sure knows how to treat her Travel Partners, and we were definitely made to feel very special.

One night we ate in Teppanaki which is a traditional style Japanese restaurant where a production is made out of preparing the food. There is a surcharge for this restaurant but well worth it. They make the most delicious garlic fried rice and I helped myself to two bowls. The meat, lobster, shrimp and scallops were all incredible.

The last day of the sailing we found out that our next year’s conference will be aboard Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas and to say that 823 agents sailing aboard the epic were happy is an undersatement. The audience let out a scream and everyone was cheering a clapping. That evening Royal Caribbean hosted the Cocktail party and the drinks and food were flowing.

For our last evening we ate at Cagney’s Steakhouse which is a steakhouse that is similar to any fine steakhouse such as Morton’s or Ruth Chris. The steak and side dished were all excellent and again well worth the additional charge. To get this quality food and service for $25 to $35 per person is a bargain compared to paying $200+ on shore.

In closing, I want to say that this experience completely changed my opinion of Norwegian Cruise Line. The food, service, and entertainment excellent and I would not hesitate to recommend this ship.

Bringing the Proper Documentation

In all of my email correspondence with my customer's, I am adamant about bringing the proper documentation to board the ship.  Although you can sail with an Original Birth Certificate with the raised seal or certified copy  and a government issued photo ID, for certain round trip loop sailings, I always recommend a passport.
Depending I which country you are a citizen of, you may be required to bring a green card or obtain a visa.
Last week, I had a family of 4 fly from Pennsylvania to Miami, and the wife did not have her permanent resident ID card.  She left it in Pennsylvania.  Can you imagine the grief that the family felt?  They had a choice to leave the wife/mother behind or none of them go.  Insurance will not cover this.  The cruise line would not give them any money back.  They were out thousands of dollars. They also were meeting up with 3 additional cabins on board for a family reunion. 
This could have been avoided by just having the proper Identifications.  Don't let this happen to you.

Allure of the Seas

I have just come back from a sailing on the Freedom of the Seas.  While sailing, I could not contain myself and I booked the inaugural sailing of the Allure of the Seas on December 5, 2010.  I wanted to go with our very dear friends and since they were not sailing with us, I put the deposit down for them as well and sent an email.  Well I am thrilled to say that our friends are going with us. 
After I returned I received a phone call from Royal Caribbean advising us that the sailing was moved up to December 1, 2010 for a preinaugural sailing of  4 nights.  I had the option of changing my sailing to 4 nights or remain where I was for the 7 night sailing or combining the 2 and have an 11 night sailing.
I selected the 11 night and so did our friends.  I can't wait to go on the ship and see if there are any surprises in store for this new ship.

Oasis of the Seas

My first impression pulling up to the pier was “let’s see how long this takes to get on a ship this big”. To my surprise, from the time we went through security to checking in and getting on board the ship and having our embarkation pictures taken, it was exactly 12 minutes.

This ship is breath-taking and state of the art. At the end of each hall near the elevator is a flat panel touch screen. You enter your room number and it shows you the shortest route to get to your room and shows you a map how to get there. At this screen, you can see all the dining options available. It will tell you the times they are open, whether there is wait and also a map to get there. At this same location, you can see all the activities going on around the ship for the current day, entertainment options, and all services.

Our cabin was a balcony cabin overlooking Central Park. Central Park is decorated with over 12,000 plants and tree lined streets with sidewalk cafes and stores such as a coach outlet store. Every evening at 6pm, a bagpiper walked through the street playing his bagpipe. There is no ceiling on central park so you will get a beautiful starry night just like you would strolling in the real Central Park. Every morning we ordered room service, free of charge, and ate breakfast on our balcony. However, as much as I loved the view and people watching I did miss my ocean view balcony, watching the ships pull in and out of ports and watching the sunsets. You can go up to the deck for this if you decide that the Central Park view is what you want.  You can also book a Boardwalk Balcony cabin which also has a view of the ocean and ziplining and is a great place to people watch as well.

On the first full day at sea, we decided to explore the ship. There is no lack of activities onboard from Zip-lining, Surfing, Bogie Boarding, Ice Skating, Rock Climbing, Basket ball, table tennis, just to mention a few and not that I participated in zip lining it was really fun to watch.

The entertainment on the ship was by far the best I have ever experienced at sea. They had the live Broadway music Hairspray several times throughout the cruise and the actors received several standing ovations. In addition, we went to the Aqua Theater to watch a water show similar to Circ Du Soleil, a Comedy Show, and an ice skating show. None of these shows were an additional charge.

Every night there is a karaoke lounge and Latin dancing in the Bolero’s lounge. One night there was a 70’s disco party on the promenade deck. Imagine 1000 people dancing in the street. It was incredible.
One of the great things about the Oasis of the Seas is that the passengers receive a cruise calendar in advance and you are able to pre-book the shows before you ever step foot on the ship. No running around having to book them on board.
Most of the food on board the ship is included in your cruise fare. There are a few specialty restaurants such as Giovanni’s Italian restaurant, Chop’s grill, and 150 Central Park. We decided to eat at Giovanni’s one afternoon for lunch. Giovanni’s over looks Central Park. The charge for lunch was only $10 per person and they served enough food for a feast.
There are 24 different dining options and we chose to eat at our assigned dining room every night. Our waiter, assistant waiter and head waiter were attentive and courteous. One night they served prime rib or lobster tail. Our server decided to make our dinner surf and turf and brought both to us without us asking.
The little things make the difference. At guest relations, there was never a line. There was plenty of staff available whenever anything was needed.

The spa on this ship is 2 stories with a gorgeous glass staircase. There is a spa restaurant which serves lighter food. The gym is state of the art and one of the largest I have ever seen aboard a cruise ship. The treadmills have a screen with a track which shows you where you are on the track as you walk or run. During the cruise, there were yoga classes, spinning classes, walk for a cure, and classes on staying fit, eating healthy, 5 minute makeovers and so much more.
This ship is a destination in itself and while we did stop at St. Thomas, St. Martin, and Nassau, there is no tendering so they just opened up the gang plank and you walked off. All the elevators have a button that clearly states “gangway”. There is no running around looking for a way to disembark. When coming back on to the ship, you go through security before you get on the ship and they point you to the closet gangway to your cabin. No getting on at one end of the ship and having to walk the length of the ship. There were plenty of security personnel and never a wait to go back on.
I would not hesitate to recommend this cruise and although the cost is a little higher than some of the other cruise ships, the entertainment alone is well worth the additional cost.