I wrote this before our Allure cruise to help me keep track of things. Ha, best-laid plans..I never looked back at it and was going crazy trying to figure out where on earth I put that information! Silly me. I decided to leave it here for future reference. You can read the review I wrote with our new best friends here:
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1737708
This is going to be our next cruise
- the Allure of the Seas on October 14, 2012.
I just wrote a post on Cruise Critic with suggestions to help get the cruise organized, and decided I'll post it here for myself - giving me a place to start my planning:
" Really, planning and research is the key. I know a lot of people will say that this is their vacation and they don't want to have to plan or be on a schedule, but to not be overwhelmed you are smart in wanting to have it all planned and get organized just so you CAN have a relaxing time! I personally feel that because of the size and wealth of things to do, you can't go into this one 'unrehearsed'.
For excursions of course, check the CC Ports of Call boards. Ship excursions:
- Nassau: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findac...tionCode=CARIB
- St Thomas: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findac...tionCode=CARIB
- St Maarten: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findac...tionCode=CARIB
Paul and I are leaning towards:
- Nassau - Fish Fry for lunch and possibly hanging out at Junkanoo Beach (both minutes from the ship) for an hour or two - or just making it a ship day.
- St Thomas - ship excursion to St. John's...probably Trunk Bay for beach and snorkeling.
- St Maarten - Bernard's Tour (not a ship excursion).
Read every review you can to get a sense of what there is available and what appeals to you. BrianAlt wrote 'The Almost Complete Food Lover's Guide to the Oasis' almost 2 years ago, and although it's not totally comprehensive for us because of the differences on the Allure (Rita's, Dog House, Samba Grill), it's a good starting point (it's 23 pages long, so you need to skim over it!). http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1243807. Follow that up with his more recent "The Significantly Less Complete Food Lovers Guide to the Allure of the Seas": http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1616438.
This review by DarthGrady has some amazing photos...I think a lot of people are going to buy the same camera as his! We have a similar camera as his Panasonic Lumix, but our Optical Zoom is only 6X compared to his lens with 16X Zoom!:
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1513962
QTMichele's Allure Reviews are outstanding. Her recent one is of the Western itinerary, and was also her sister's wedding and some family surprises, so it doesn't help so much for the planning but it's fun:
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1578035.
She sailed our itinerary last year, so this will be very helpful:
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1388090
nenner1 wrote an excellent review of her Eastern Allure cruise with her adorable family:
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1490579
The Preisman's travel website is a great resource with the compasses, food and cocktails menus, and review of the Eastern Allure:
http://www.thepreismans.com/
I've already started a calendar with the things I know will be on our personal schedule
- Sunday - Muster Drill 4:30pm, Sailaway (I like the 'not so secret Deck 14) 5pm, Ritas's Fiesta for dinner if we can get reservations.
- Monday - Nassau 7am-3pm, 1st formal night.
- Tuesday - at sea, Meet & Mingle (usually 10:15 or 10:30am) to meet all you people, Love & Marriage show 10:30pm.
- Wednesday - St Thomas 9am-6pm, The Quest 11:45pm.
- Thursday - St Maarten 8am-5pm
- Friday - at Sea, 2nd formal night
- Saturday - at Sea, squeeze in everything we didn't do!
- Sunday - I don't even want to think about having to get off the ship
Then I 'try' to fit in at least 1/2 hr walk around the track every day so I can fit into my clothes by the end of the week, time for ziplining and a ride on the Carousel, plenty of evening strolls in Central Park, and then all the rest should be the 'hang out by the pool with a Margarita and relax time'!
As it gets closer I'll start penciling in the shows as they stand - I put all of them down, then figure out what we really want to see and what times work best for us. I'm sure that I'll sail this class of ship again (unless the upcoming Sunshine class becomes my new favorite), so if I miss something, I'll get to it another time...better to plan a new cruise than to stress and overdo this one.
Even though they don't have our showtimes and excursions released yet, you can start watching the schedule. Actually, I'm surprised at the differences between the Feb and Mar show schedules here, but we can start watching to see if there's a pattern to it:http://media.royalcaribbean.com/cont...owtimes_AL.pdf
To me, this is the best part (the planning), because the actual week just goes by too fast!
- the Allure of the Seas on October 14, 2012.
I just wrote a post on Cruise Critic with suggestions to help get the cruise organized, and decided I'll post it here for myself - giving me a place to start my planning:
" Really, planning and research is the key. I know a lot of people will say that this is their vacation and they don't want to have to plan or be on a schedule, but to not be overwhelmed you are smart in wanting to have it all planned and get organized just so you CAN have a relaxing time! I personally feel that because of the size and wealth of things to do, you can't go into this one 'unrehearsed'.
For excursions of course, check the CC Ports of Call boards. Ship excursions:
- Nassau: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findac...tionCode=CARIB
- St Thomas: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findac...tionCode=CARIB
- St Maarten: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findac...tionCode=CARIB
Paul and I are leaning towards:
- Nassau - Fish Fry for lunch and possibly hanging out at Junkanoo Beach (both minutes from the ship) for an hour or two - or just making it a ship day.
- St Thomas - ship excursion to St. John's...probably Trunk Bay for beach and snorkeling.
- St Maarten - Bernard's Tour (not a ship excursion).
Read every review you can to get a sense of what there is available and what appeals to you. BrianAlt wrote 'The Almost Complete Food Lover's Guide to the Oasis' almost 2 years ago, and although it's not totally comprehensive for us because of the differences on the Allure (Rita's, Dog House, Samba Grill), it's a good starting point (it's 23 pages long, so you need to skim over it!). http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1243807. Follow that up with his more recent "The Significantly Less Complete Food Lovers Guide to the Allure of the Seas": http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1616438.
This review by DarthGrady has some amazing photos...I think a lot of people are going to buy the same camera as his! We have a similar camera as his Panasonic Lumix, but our Optical Zoom is only 6X compared to his lens with 16X Zoom!:
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1513962
QTMichele's Allure Reviews are outstanding. Her recent one is of the Western itinerary, and was also her sister's wedding and some family surprises, so it doesn't help so much for the planning but it's fun:
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1578035.
She sailed our itinerary last year, so this will be very helpful:
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1388090
nenner1 wrote an excellent review of her Eastern Allure cruise with her adorable family:
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1490579
The Preisman's travel website is a great resource with the compasses, food and cocktails menus, and review of the Eastern Allure:
http://www.thepreismans.com/
I've already started a calendar with the things I know will be on our personal schedule
- Sunday - Muster Drill 4:30pm, Sailaway (I like the 'not so secret Deck 14) 5pm, Ritas's Fiesta for dinner if we can get reservations.
- Monday - Nassau 7am-3pm, 1st formal night.
- Tuesday - at sea, Meet & Mingle (usually 10:15 or 10:30am) to meet all you people, Love & Marriage show 10:30pm.
- Wednesday - St Thomas 9am-6pm, The Quest 11:45pm.
- Thursday - St Maarten 8am-5pm
- Friday - at Sea, 2nd formal night
- Saturday - at Sea, squeeze in everything we didn't do!
- Sunday - I don't even want to think about having to get off the ship
Then I 'try' to fit in at least 1/2 hr walk around the track every day so I can fit into my clothes by the end of the week, time for ziplining and a ride on the Carousel, plenty of evening strolls in Central Park, and then all the rest should be the 'hang out by the pool with a Margarita and relax time'!
As it gets closer I'll start penciling in the shows as they stand - I put all of them down, then figure out what we really want to see and what times work best for us. I'm sure that I'll sail this class of ship again (unless the upcoming Sunshine class becomes my new favorite), so if I miss something, I'll get to it another time...better to plan a new cruise than to stress and overdo this one.
Even though they don't have our showtimes and excursions released yet, you can start watching the schedule. Actually, I'm surprised at the differences between the Feb and Mar show schedules here, but we can start watching to see if there's a pattern to it:http://media.royalcaribbean.com/cont...owtimes_AL.pdf
To me, this is the best part (the planning), because the actual week just goes by too fast!
