Friday in Cozumel

Well, not really. The ship is here but we are docked about three miles from town!

Thursday was a truly almost lazy sea day. We had nothing planned and that is pretty much what we did! After a slow start, we wandered down to Johnny Rockets for breakfast. One of Larry's co-workers (who has been on Allure) suggested JR's as a good alternative at breakfast. Oddly, it appears to be the only place on the ship (other than the Concierge Lounge) where you can get eggs cooked to order when you actually order them! Everywhere else they are pre-cooked and on warming trays in the buffet line!



Looking down at Johnny Rocket's from the Sun Deck

 After breakfast we went back to the cabin and did…………………. nothing! Well not exactly nothing really. Monica worked on her crocheting and I read my book, until about Noon. At this point, feeling just a little guilty about all the eating and inactivity, we decided we had better do a few laps. Going from one extreme (nothing) to the other, we did 9.6 laps, or four miles, in just over an hour. In the heat, and the humidity, and very little breeze. BUT, we did see dolphins!!! Just after Noon the Captain announced there were dolphins playing off the starboard side of the ship. Of course at this point we were on the port side and a l-o-n-g way from the other side, but as we came around the stern, we could still them jumping and playing in the wake not far behind the ship. Unfortunately we didn't have a camera with us, so you'll just have to trust us on this one!

After a brief stop back in the cabin to cool off, we headed for lunch at Sorrentos, the pizza place in the Promenade, followed by a little souvenir shopping in the logo shop, followed by a return to the cabin and a return to a pleasant afternoon of doing ……………………… nothing. Again!

Our dinner reservation last night was at Giovanni's Table, which as we bet you can guess, is the Italian restaurant onboard. But before that we decided to check out one of the truly unique features of this ship, the Rising Tide Bar. This is probably the smallest bar on the ship. It has to be because you enter the bar in the Promenade on Deck 5 and it slowly rises up to Central Park on Deck 8!! We sat there for an hour and had a pleasant chat with the "pilot", a young lady from Auckland named Rina, a member of the Cruise Staff who only joined the ship on Sunday from Liberty of the Seas! And who was feeling almost as overawed with the ship as we have been!!! After riding up, down and back up again, we "disembarked" from the bar for dinner. We've got video from the trip; we'll see if we can add a couple of photos tomorrow.

Giovannis's is another of the restaurants in the Central Park area of the ship, and like the others is beautifully decorated in wood and leather. The menu covers pretty much all of the areas of Italy and is served "family style", suitable for sharing. Since that is what they recommend, we shared a platter of Caprese Salad, and the Papardelle Pasta with Proscuitto before having our entrees of Osso Buco (Monica) and Lamb Chops (Larry) all cooked to perfection and absolutely delicious.



Yes, that's two desserts. Couldn't decide between the Tiramisu and the Afogato (ice cream with espresso over the top)


Unfortunately, we also had our first "service mis-step". On Sunday evening at Chops, the server suggested that Monica buy a bottle of wine for the week "and it will follow you anywhere on the ship to any restaurant, even to your table in the Dining Room". As it happened, last night was the first opportunity to prove the worth of that statement. The Concierge now has an APB out on the ship for our lost bottle of wine! And she was most annoyed, as she e-mailed the Beverage Manager, that they are still saying it can be done, so obviously ours isn't the first "lost" bottle of wine!!

NEWS FLASH: Marina the Concierge has come through! It took until almost 5:30, but she actually delivered the bottle to our suite HERSELF! Now that's service.

Today we arrived in Cozumel, Mexico, and as we said at the beginning, we are a long way from the town. BUT, like any Caribbean port, there is a shopping plaza "conveniently" located right at the pier. So, after another leisurely breakfast, in the Solarium Café, we headed out to "shop". Monica was looking for a couple of additional Mexican plates for the kitchen which we found in the shops at the pier, thus saving us the $7 each way cab ride into town. Having no particular desire to see anything else, we spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon at the Solarium Pool and the Suite Cove, a lovely area of lounges and couches reserved for us "Suite People" above the Solarium Pool.

This evening we are trying the Chef's Table, a six course dinner, with matched wines, hosted by one of the Head Chefs and the Sommelier. Monica is going to sample the wine and Larry is going to sniff the corks!!

If this is Wednesday, it must be Jamaica…

We had a 10:00 arrival at Falmouth, Jamaica so that meant that about 6,000 people slept in after the previous night's festivities. At least if you wanted to go for breakfast anywhere it sure seemed that way. We had thought about checking out the dining room around 9:00, but there was quite a line-up. We are one deck above the Windjammer Café, so we could already hear the noise from the elevator lobby, so we didn't even try there. Ultimately, we ended up in the Concierge Lounge where, although the breakfast menu is small, the food is all excellent. And since only suite guests can get access, it isn't very busy.


Once we arrived in Falmouth, we stayed out of the way of the thundering herds racing to get off on tours and shopping expeditions. Since we were in Ocho Rios in January we didn't have any reason – or particular desire – to go again now. We had planned to just get off the ship and look around the port facility since it only opened in March. This is what we found:

So after sticking our noses into a couple of shops and seeing that the prices are just as inflated as anywhere else in the Caribbean, we headed back on board with the aim of lounging in the Solarium. The only problem we found with the Solarium is that there is very little shade where the lounges are. With the unrelenting Caribbean sun beating down and no wind because we weren't moving, the floor got so hot that we couldn't walk without shoes on, even between the pool and the lounges. Anybody for a hot-stone foot treatment? Absolutely free!!

Of course, no cruise on the larger ships is complete without at least one dip in the hot tubs that stick out over the side of the ship. Those things are huge! And they've got an infinity edge, too. Unlike that hotel Bruce stayed at in Shanghai with the infinity pool at the edge of the 58th floor rooftop, when you're on a ship there's no real perspective on just how high above the water you are, even when you're in port. Those hot tubs are on Deck 15, which would put them at least 150 feet above the sea, but there's no sensation of that height anywhere.

We had a quick lunch in the Solarium Bistro – the same room that is converted into the Samba Grill at night – and decided that the best place to relax out of the sun is actually on our 'terrace'. On the way, we wandered across the pool deck and out to the sports deck area. The kid's pool area is a good size, with pools for all ages, and even though there were quite a few children there, it didn't seem overly noisy. Farther along was the entrance to the Zip Lining, the Mini-Golf course on the other side of the Boardwalk overlook, and all the way aft is where the Flowriders are set up. We sat and watched kids and adults 'surfing' for a while. Of course, the kids were much better at it than the grown-ups; but as Larry says, 'Where there's no sense, there's no feeling. And no fear either…'

Dinner last night was at Izumi, the Japanese inspired Asian restaurant. The food and the service were every bit as good as at Silk Road, and that's saying something. Fresh-made sushi, sashimi and rolls; and we had hot rock (cook your own) fish and seafood. An excellent meal.

Our show reservation last night was in the Comedy Club. There are two stand-up comics in the show, Kivi Rogers and Bruce Gold, and both of them were quite funny. It also proved once again that comedians can be very entertaining without swearing! The venue is for adults only and some of the material is suggestive, but they both kept everyone laughing without resorting to four-letter words.

Thursday is a sea day. We'll have to see where on the ship we end up. We have a dinner reservation at Giovanni's Table, so we apparently should go easy on the food for breakfast and lunch…

Exploring Allure and Labadee

Living in a suite on Royal Caribbean comes with a bunch of fringe benefits, and having more than 10 cruises gives us even more, like exclusive lounges and events. The invitation to dine with the Captain, though, was something completely unexpected. We had originally reserved at 150 Central Park, the fanciest specialty restaurant on board, for Monday evening, but it only took a second to accept when the Maitre d' called in the morning. She also changed our restaurant reservation to the only free day we had left – Saturday. We had originally thought that having to pre-reserve everything would take a lot of the spontaneity out of the cruise, but so far it hasn't really been an issue.


There isn't a lecture program other than port and shopping talks that are, of course, geared to guests who haven't been to the ports before and need some guidance on which excursions to book and which stores to shop at for the best deals. Not exactly the level of destination education we normally look for, so we're skipping those. Labadee has been expanded a lot since we were first here in 1988, but there's still only the straw market and ship-related shopping available here.

After breakfast in the Concierge Lounge, another of the Suite perks, we spent the rest of the day exploring the rest of the ship and catching everybody up on the blog. Monica also started a new video/photo DVD project for this trip.

Oh, and we did find a tie for Larry!!

One of our big concerns about coming on Allure was the sheer size of the ship and the fact it carries 6,200+ guests. While many of Larry's clients had said that we would not notice the crowds, except around the Windjammer Café, which is the buffet, we were apprehensive. The old saying 'seeing is believing' holds true. Although the ship is full, we really have not noticed crowding anywhere. After wandering about the ship for a few hours, we stopped in the Boardwalk area for lunch at Rita's Cantina, where Larry posed for a picture with Monica's Margarita before we both demolished a large platter of fajitas. This vacationing really works up an appetite!!

One thing this ship has, that many ships of this type don't, is a walking/running track on Deck 5 that goes completely around the ship. Feeling a bit guilty about breakfast and lunch, we decided to walk some laps. To give you an idea of how BIG this ship is, on Crystal Serenity a mile is almost four full laps of the Promenade Deck, on this ship a mile is 2.4 laps! We did five laps, or just over two miles, in about 30 minutes, after which it was time to get ready for dinner.

The Crown Loft Suites are located on the top-most deck in a self contained area that can only be accessed with your keycard if you live in the area (to keep the riff-raff and the curious out we guess!). One of the other "perks" for this area is its own lounge open for pre-dinner drinks. The lounge is hosted each evening by a different senior staffer. The first night's host was the Senior Guest Relations Officer and last night's was the Bar Manager. While both have been with RCI for years, we pre-dated both of them and they were really interested in hearing first hand about the 'old original' ships like Song of America and Song of Norway. Did make us both feel kind of old though!

The Pinnacle Lounge

Then it was time for dinner. We met the Head Waitress outside the Dining Room by 8:15 to be escorted to the Captain's Table. The Dining Room is actually three separate rooms over three decks and each has its own bar area. If you are getting the idea this ship revolves around booze, you are not too far off. The 'picture of a picture' is our table (notice Larry's nice new tie??) and it turned out to be a bit out of the ordinary.

The couple sitting beside Larry was from Texas, by way of several of the bars onboard, and left the table shortly after the picture was taken as the lady was not feeling too well. The empty chairs to the Captain's left were for the couple who never showed up (after being invited only that morning!!) and the older couple were from Florida and on their 98th cruise, half of which have been on RCI!

Although things started off rather awkwardly, Captain Zini proved to be a very personable host and a great conversationalist. Although he is in his early forties, he has been with RCI for 20 years and has been the lead Captain on at least one of the new builds of every class of ship in the fleet in that time. He has a wicked sense of humour too! What looked at the start as a very uncomfortable dinner ended up being a really nice time.

Yesterday, Tuesday, was our first port stop, Labadee, RCI's 'private beach resort' on the north coast of Haiti. RCI was the first cruise line to come up with the concept of a 'private island' when they leased 350 acres on a peninsula from Haiti in the mid-80's. While Labadee started life as a day at the beach, it has evolved over the years to the point where we are reasonably sure that 'Labadee' actually means 'place to separate tourists from their money'! When we were last here in 1991, the place consisted of two beaches, a bar and a buffet and RCI brought in all the food and drink from the ship. With the coming of Oasis in 2009 and Allure in 2010, they built an enormous pier and while they still bring in all the food and drink, there are now four beaches, a fleet of seadoos, snorkelling, scuba, parasailing and the biggest zipline in the Caribbean at over 1000 yards long!! And of course, most of it all costs extra to use.

As yet another perk, one of the beaches is reserved for Suite guests, and as Monica had a 2:00PM spa appointment, we availed ourselves of a couple of lounges and spent a few lazy hours at the beach before returning to the ship for lunch. Larry did actually go into the water, but we only have that on video. Show you later.

For the sail away at 4:30 we were invited to attend (yet another) special Suite perk, a cocktail party on the heli-deck right at the bow of the ship. All of RCI's large ships have a helicopter pad at the bow which is usually open to all guests, weather permitting. But because of the design of Oasis and Allure, the pad area is not easily accessible, so needless to say we were the envy of everyone on the Pool Deck for the sail out. We even got our picture taken with a 'local celebrity'!!

This evening we had dinner in the Samba Grill, a Brazilian Churrasco Steakhouse along the same lines as Copacabana at home, where once again we strolled in and rolled out!!

After dinner, we had a reservation to see the aqua show, Ocean Aria. Once more, we were completely amazed at what RCI has managed to do with the entertainment program. It is a non-stop acrobatic and diving show with fountains, lights, music and some spectacular sportsmanship. Two high divers actually dove from the very top of the arch structure that you can see on the aft end of the ship. The pool isn't all that wide to begin with; it must look miniscule from up there, especially on a moving ship! Here are a couple of photos to give you an idea of how it looks:





Look for the diver just off the top platform

Tomorrow we visit Falmouth, RCI's brand new port on the north coast of Jamaica.

Boarding Day…O-M-G!!!

Hopefully it isn't an indicator of the effect the current crop of tropical storms, but it started pouring rain while we were in the Avis shuttle bus headed toward Port Everglades. We got there ahead of the rush, but there is also a separate entrance at the port for suite guests – yes, they do have lots of suites of various sizes – so there was virtually no lineup and we were on the ship within a few minutes. That's when it started…

Even having been aboard Explorer of the Seas and Navigator of the Seas did not prepare us in the least for this ship. But we'll get to that later. We started off with a tour of our Sky Loft Suite (one of only two on the ship). This is without a doubt the biggest 'hotel' (floating or otherwise) room we've ever been in. The only thing to keep in mind as you look at the pictures is that the suite is actually designed to take up to four people, so the couch would be converted into a second bed. There are actually two full bathrooms, with double showers in each, two vanity areas and two full sets of closets and drawers. As for the rest, take a look at the pictures:

View from the door - vanity and bath to the left

From the terrace door

The sleeping loft - full vanity & bath up here, too



Yes, this is all ours. Two chairs, full table and two lounges at the other end




Bath with two person shower

 The big screen TV is also where you check your pre-booked schedule for each day. Royal Caribbean, on these ships, doesn't issue you tickets for your tours or reservations. Instead, all of your reservations are recorded on your keycard and they just use a reader when you show up at the venue to confirm your booking. If you have a confirmed reservation for a show, you can arrive any time up to 15 minutes before the show starts. At that point, they start allowing in people from 'standby' to fill the rest of the open seats. It seemed to work quite well when we saw Chicago last night.

Once we got used to the idea of a cabin half as big as our house, it was time to explore the ship itself. More WOW!!!

The open design certainly does make the ship feel a lot less like a ship, especially in 'Central Park'. Mom would be in heaven on this ship, just looking at all the tropical plants in this area alone. The more exclusive restaurants are here, like Chops Grille where we had dinner last night, 150 Central Park and Giovanni's Table. It looks and feels very lush; that's because the plants get all of the humidity and the rain when it falls. It's the oddest thing, knowing you're on a cruise ship, looking out a window toward the INSIDE of the ship, and seeing people walk by with umbrellas!! They actually have umbrella stands outside each venue and at the elevator lobbies where you can pick up an umbrella when it's raining and drop it into another stand when you get out of the rain.

Then there's the Boardwalk, which has the carousel in the middle, and places like the Ice Cream Parlour, Candy Shop and Johnny Rocket's. The Aqua Theatre, where they do the water shows, is located at the aft end of this area. The Boardwalk has a much more casual feel than Central Park, especially in the evening. That's not to say that the dress code on the ship is exceptionally formal, but the restaurants that have dress codes all seem to be in Central Park.

Another neighbourhood on the ship is the Royal Promenade. The shops are all here, as well as some bars, the Promenade Café, Bow & Stern Pub, Sorrento's Pizza and a cupcake shop. Whatever you might need or want seems to be available from somewhere along here. Of course, not everything is complementary – if you want cupcakes or Starbuck's coffee, those aren't included in your cruise fare.

All that and we haven't even got to the Pool and Sports Decks yet! We'll show you those next time.

This morning we got quite a surprise. We've been invited to dine with the Captain at the Captain's Table tonight. Now Larry just has to go see if he can buy a tie….

Saturday in Vero Beach

Well, we started our day out with a trip to the Harbour Cafe, the little diner where Mom and Monica had breakfast 5 days out of 7 in February. Although it has changed ownership in the meantime, the food is still just as good as it was then. Now Larry knows what we were raving about - and it's a lot less expensive than the buffet at the hotel.

We headed up to Larry and Mary Klausner's outside of Vero Beach, about a two-hour drive up the I-95 and very easy to get to. They have two Jack Russell terriers and one they're puppy-sitting, so it was quite a rambuctious welcome.

They live not far from the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, which is now affiliated with Florida Atlantic University. Yesterday was a public open house, so we went over there to see what they had. Unfortunately, we couldn't get on any of the organized tours, but there was a very interesting lecture about wild dolphin resuce and health in the Indian River Lagoon. This is one of the major research areas for the institute, and they are on a mission to teach the public about the dangers of fishing lines, nets, and boats to these wonderful mammals.

We had a wonderful afternoon and BBQ rib dinner before heading back to the hotel. Thanks again to Larry and Mary for having us; we hope to see them soon, maybe on a cruise or just another visit to Florida.

Today is boarding day and Allure is the only ship in port. She looks a little lonely sitting out there, or as lonely as a 225,000 tonne, 1,500 foot long ship can look anyway! We just got back from breakfast (guess where!) and plan on leaving the hotel at about Noon and with luck we should be onboard by 1:00. More on that, with photos, later.

Ho, Hum…Back in Ft. Lauderdale

Sorry there's no Thomas shot to start the blog this time. He has become a "seasoned traveller" just like us, and "getting there" has lost some of its attraction. We even put the suitcases on the floor and he showed no interest at all in investigating. So instead we'll start with a picture from our hotel room, looking north along the Intracoastal Waterway.

Fortunately the trip down was completely uneventful; the plane wasn't even full! So we settled ourselves in the hotel, changed (since the temperature here today was 29 C with a humidex of at least 40 C) and wandered down to the Pelican Landing in the marina for a snack to get us through to dinner.

We had already arranged to meet Susan for dinner at Truluck's, a seafood and steak restaurant in the Galleria Mall across the street from her marina. We had a great meal and got caught up with what she's going to be doing in the next little while. After attending a friend's wedding in Tallinn, Estonia, she's heading to London, England to write her Superyacht Management course final exam. Best of luck, Susan!

Of course, we had to send her off with her favourite dessert, Key Lime Pie.

Tomorrow we're headed up to Vero Beach to visit Larry and Mary Klausner, whom we met on our Silversea cruise last year. But for now, we're going to sit out on the balcony and watch the planes landing at Ft Lauderdale airport for a bit. Good night!