Headline says it all. Here’s a link to the booking site and the T&C’s of the promotion.

I’m sure you all get the emails from time to time from your favorite mileage program about booking cruises with them. Most of the airlines have a similar program. Generally, you earn 1 mile per dollar paid for your cruise, with occasional bonuses like this one. Basically, the programs outsource the booking to a travel agency who books your cruise. These agencies operate much like any other online travel seller. If you are looking for a few miles, and you are going to take a cruise, this can be a good way to add a few miles to your account for something you are going to do anyway.

I prefer to book my cruises with my travel agent, a person I’ve actually met, and trust. While I’ve never used one of these programs to book a cruise, I’m not opposed to doing so. Perhaps I’ll try one in the near future as a test and report the results here! If any readers have experience earning bonus miles through these cruise programs, comment about your experience.

Yes, the rumors are true. I, Marshall Jackson, am a cruise-a-holic. An avid cruiser. A cruise junkie. Take your pick. I love cruising and I don’t apologize to anyone for it. Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, I think it’s time to talk about my latest cruising adventure aboard Royal Caribbean’s Navigator of the Seas.

Several months ago, I was lamenting that I would really love to find a way to get out of DC during the cold winter months of January and February. As it turns out, our winter has been kind of weirdly mild, but that’s neither here nor there. Mrs MJ on Travel and I had a “Next Cruise” open booking just waiting to be used so I rang our great travel agent, Michelle, at McCabe World Travel in McLean, Virginia, and booked the January 15, 2012, Navigator of the Seas cruise from Port Everglades.

Finally, it was time to sail. Before we get going on the review, I should say that I informed a very small number of people that we were even going on a cruise. That was on purpose. I really needed to disconnect from the world for a few days, and that’s exactly what I did.

Getting There

It makes the most sense to fly into Fort Lauderdale (FLL) for a cruise from Port Everglades, I suppose, but hey…this was all about being different. I booked our flight into Miami International from DCA on American Airlines. Nothing against flying into FLL, it’s just that the fares were so cheap into MIA, $145 per person roundtrip. Even the hassle of getting to and from Port Everglades did not outweigh that fare. Turns out, getting to the port and back to the airport in the end was no hassle at all. More on that later.

We flew down on Saturday afternoon, the evening before the cruise. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, that’s the cheapest travel insurance you can buy. Better yet, even as a mere AAdvantage Gold, our upgrades cleared at the 24 hour window. Thank you Saturday afternoon flights! I also want to take a quick opportunity to give a quick shout-out to ExecuCar, the sedan transportation arm of SuperShuttle. This is the 3rd or 4th time I’ve used them for airport transportation and I couldn’t be happier. Clean, late model cars, courteous drivers, and a reasonable price, hard to beat. They picked us up at home right on time, in fact, they were there early, and delivered us to DCA in fine form. I won’t hesitate to use them again. In any event, our flight down to Miami was great, and right on time. It was operated with a newish 737-800 with GoGo inflight wi-fi. Dinner was served, and our inflight crew was outstanding. Preflight, we enjoyed a couple of cocktails in American’s great Admirals Club at DCA. Marcos, you rock!

Pre-cruise Hotel and to the Port

Our pre-cruise hotel was the JW Marriott Miami. A classic Marriott family hotel, this was my second visit to the JW. We arrived late, ran out for dinner, slept, and left, so I don’t have anything in the way of pictures or an extensive review. Just know that I thought the hotel was fantastic. Great check in personnel, comfortable room, and all around great. I won’t hesitate to stay again.

I booked a 10:30am departure with Carey Transportation for the ride from our downtown Miami hotel to Port Everglades thinking the trip would take us 45 minutes or so. Our driver was waiting by the door when we exited the hotel, graciously greeted us, and then moved the car over to load our bags. With that, we were on our way to Port Everglades. On Sunday morning, the drive from downtown Miami to the Port took exactly 27 minutes!! Remind me to think about flying into Miami for our next cruise from Port Everglades.

Check-in

Arriving at Port Everglades, we were required to show our picture ID’s to enter. We both had our passports handy, so that’s what we used. Security required our driver to pop the trunk for a quick inspection, and shortly thereafter, we were on our way to Terminal 29 at Port Everglades. There was plenty of security to guide us to the right drop off point, and within a minute or two, we were handing our bags to the porter who pointed us towards a short line at the terminal. We followed instructions and camped out in line, not far from being inside there terminal. Our line quickly grew behind us, but we crept forward every few minutes. Finally we made it all the way to the door when when we were directed to move to another door that actually said “Entrance” over it. Not sure what the problem was or what happened to all the other people that actually made it inside the other door, but within a few minutes things “broke loose” and we were standing in front of the metal detectors. After making it through there, it was on to check in.

Our line was only 4 or 5 deep, and within a few minutes we were directed to check in with a gentleman who seemed nice enough, but was either suffering from technical issues with his computer or a lack of training…..or perhaps both. This was my 24th Royal Caribbean cruise, and I don’t think the check-in transaction has ever lasted more than 5 minutes. In this case, it took about 20 minutes, and by the end of it, I was kind of hacked off (silently). Seriously, I’m not all that demanding, but don’t put your least experienced employees in the line marked “elite check in.” The agent beside ours checked in 2 couples and was halfway through another before ours every got around to the point where it was time to go get our SeaPass cards. I’m a tolerant guy, but don’t be the person that delays my embarkation on a cruise ship. Just don’t do that. FINALLY, we had our SeaPass cards in hand, and were on our way to the ship. After getting through our struggling check-in agent, the trip from the counter to the ship was only a couple minutes.

We boarded, and went directly to Chops Grille to make our reservations for dinner. Then, we were off to the Windjammer. After a really good lunch (even if it was buffet), we headed down to our stateroom.

The Room

Our stateroom, 1690, was a port side aft balcony room on deck 10. While not as large as 1688 or 1388, the room was above average in most ways, especially the balcony. It was lengthy, had a near full size sofa, and the balcony was just huge. It was a great room, and really enforced the old saying that if you “cruise aft, you won’t go back.” I loved our first aft balcony, and believe me, this one just reinforced my positive perception. Other than the slightly more spacious stateroom and much larger balcony, our room was pretty standard Royal Caribbean. The bath was the same size as any other average cabin and included a circular shower. Here are just a few shots of the room.

Setting Sail

After a well-organized muster drill, we headed back upstairs for sail away. After hanging around outside for the slow sail down the long channel from Terminal 29, we decided to head upstairs to the Viking Crown to watch most of sail away. It was just a tiny bit chilly out, and it was nice to sit in the comfort of the Viking Crown and watch as we made our way out to sea. For those unfamiliar, the Viking Crown is the signature lounge on Royal Caribbean ships that sits up high and is surrounded by glass. Here’s a good shot of Navigator’s Viking Crown from the pool deck.

After moving upstairs, we had really great views. Here’s a shot of Allure of the Seas as she exited Port Everglades.

And here’s a shot of Port Everglades and Fort Lauderdale as Navigator headed out to sea at sunset.

Around the Ship

I did not take nearly enough pictures of Navigator, the Promenade, and the public areas of the ship. This is mostly because I really did what people should do on vacation. To be honest, I checked out. But I did snap a few photos.

The Itinerary

Our Western Caribbean itinerary included stops at Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Falmouth, Jamaica, and Labadee, Haiti, with a day at sea on each end. After 26 cruises, we usually no longer book shore excursions through the cruise line unless it’s something really special, but in this case, we booked them in 3 of 4 ports. Why? Because they were really interesting! So interesting, that I feel like I need to share some of the details with you here on the blog.

My favorite of the week was tequila tasting. Don’t laugh! We actually had to learn a little something about Tequila before we got to taste it, but what a great time we had. First, I’m totally impressed that the excursion even took place because only 3 of us booked it. Tequila Tasting at Discover Mexico (CZ05) was one of the best ship excursions I’ve ever taken. Not only was the entire Discover Mexico Park impressive in it’s own right, but our Tequila tasting seminar was just awesome. Our guide, Diego, expertly guided us through the history of Tequila. Frankly, I had no idea how Tequila was made, but I do now. What else did I have no idea about? I had no idea that you could sip Tequila like fine wine and enjoy it, but I do now! What a terrific time we had. Not only did the excursion include tasting several different kinds of Tequila, but we got a great authentic Mexican lunch too. If you are thinking about booking this excursion, don’t hesitate to do so. I’m even a certified Tequila taster now!

Diego presenting my certificate. Not sure why the picture is a little “slanted.”

After Cozumel, it was on to Grand Cayman. This was our 5th cruise to Grand Cayman, but only our 2nd actual success at getting there. The “harbor” at Grand Cayman is unprotected and there is no cruise ship pier. Basically, the ships pull in close to shore, and then you tender in. Tendering is always a pretty joyless experience and this particular tendering event was especially sucktacular. (More on that later). Skipping the tender drama, our shore excursion, the Cayman Bicycle Adventure (GC87), was phenomenal. For what it’s worth, this is the same shore excursion we’ve had booked on every cruise we’ve taken to Grand Cayman that we were unable to get there, so we were very excited to finally bike around the island.

Our 7.5 mile bike ride included stops at the Dolphin adventure park, the Tortugas Rum Cake store, and most importantly, Hell…..that’s Hell, Grand Cayman. Here’s why they call it Hell.

Apparently, Hell used to be underwater, and that is dead coral that takes on the color of fire in the right kind of heat. Just in case you were doubting they really call this place “Hell,” here’s another picture.

After Grand Cayman, it was on to Falmouth, Jamaica. Falmouth has really come a long way in the last year. Frankly, the port area is gorgeous. Our driver, Foster, referred to the area inside the fence as America and the area outside as the real Jamaica. Our shore excursion for this port was the Chukka Zipline Canopy at Rose Hall (FY12). Yes, I went zip lining through the tree canopy. After a 30 minute or so transfer from the port, we arrived at the zip line launch point. Be warned that the last few minutes of the trip are “off road” but you won’t regret it once you get there. After a thorough safety briefing and being outfitted with the necessary equipment, we were loaded up in an open air truck and transported higher up into the mountains for our zip line adventure. I’ll spare you the picture of me in my zipline gear, but the scenery was just beautiful.

After departing Falmouth, Navigator sailed for Labadee, Haiti, Royal Caribbean’s private island paradise, and a favorite port stop of mine. Thankfully, Royal now has a pier at Labadee, so there’s no worrying about tendering to shore. I first visited Labadee in January 2005, and I can’t believe the changes that have taken place in 7 years. It’s obvious that Royal has invested a lot of money in the island, and I really enjoyed our time there. We spent the day relaxing by the beach and nothing else. Sorry to be boring! Here’s a picture of Navigator of the Seas docked at Labadee.

MJ’s Favorite Things About Navigator

There was plenty to like. With Navigator, Mrs MJ on Travel and I have now sailed on 3 of 5 Voyager Class ships, and we are fans. Our dining room waiter, Darwin, was second to none. We enjoyed all of our meals in the dining room. No Royal Caribbean cruise would be complete without a trip to a specialty restaurant where offered and Navigator’s choices did not disappoint. Chops Grille and Portofino were both divine. Special shout out to Portofino manager Jennifer, for going out of her way to ensure some special dietary needs for Mrs MJ on Travel were met on short notice.

Other things to like, the Concierge Lounge. As Diamond Plus members of Royal Caribbean’s Crown & Anchor program, we have access to concierge lounges on all RCL ships that have them. Our Concierge, Karen, was great. And I have to give a special shout out to our Concierge Lounge bar server, BeBe, who was nothing short of awesome.

The Vintages Wine Bar is always a favorite spot for us, and this one was too. We did not have quite the caliber of service in Vintages that we enjoyed on Allure of the Seas, but we were reasonably well served. The complimentary tapas platter provided on some nights was excellent! Two Poets Pub was another great spot for enjoying the evening and people watching. One of our favorite servers was actually working there in the evenings.

Finally, I have to talk about the Connoisseur Club, Navigator’s cigar lounge. I don’t smoke often, but do occasionally enjoy a good cigar, especially when on vacation. I’ve wandered through the cigar lounges on a lot of Royal Caribbean ships, but I’ve never found one to match the experience on Navigator. What a great group of people hanging out there in the evenings. Chicago, Canada, New Jersey, Florida, North Carolina, Scotland, and of course, D.C., what a fun bunch we were. It wasn’t unusual for me to wander in there at 10:30pm, and then glance at my watch and find that it was 1:00am! I really enjoyed my time in that lounge. I’m sure our wonderful server, Olga, was a big reason that we had such a great time. So Olga gets an MJ on Travel shout out for being awesome!

MJ’s Not So Favorite Things About Navigator

The list is short, but a little constructive criticism can go a long way. Tendering in Grand Cayman was a bit of a pain. Sorry, but it just took way too long to get off the ship and then way too long to get back on in the evening. I’m obviously not an infrequent cruiser, and my expectations for tendering experiences are quite low. There were some noticeable swells rolling into port, and the gangway between the ship and the tender boat was jumping up and down. I also heard (could be a rumor) that we were one tender short from what was promised. All good reasons to explain why tendering SUCKED in Grand Cayman. Still, not acceptable.

I was less than happy with our check in experience in Port Everglades. We obviously arrived a little early, but once check in started, there’s no reason for it to last more than 10 minutes. Ours took at least 20, and it was because our agent either was untrained, or not provided with functional tools to process us. I don’t know which. Nonetheless, I would think that Royal Caribbean would place its best, brightest, and well equipped agents in the elite check in line.

I have to mention that some very nice people we met on board were very unsatisfied with certain portions of their cruise, especially the dining room. Fortunately, we had good food, and good service. I’m convinced that they did not. Furthermore, their suite balcony was rendered unusable during a portion of the cruise because of painting and cleaning. There may be more that was wrong, but that’s what I captured. For what it’s worth, our balcony had been painted the day we boarded, but that did not prevent us from using it.

Disembarkation

Sadly, our cruise, like all good things, eventually came to an end. I purchased transfers from Royal Caribbean for transportation from Port Everglades to Miami International. The cost was $30 dollars per person. When I purchased those, I was given the option of an early or late departure from the ship. With a 2:40pm flight, I picked late which meant a 9:45am departure from the ship. Within 15 minutes of that time, our tag numbers were called and we walked off the ship into Terminal 29. The baggage claim and customs area looked like a refugee camp but the look was worse than the reality. After queuing up in what seemed like an endless line, things started moving, and we were through Customs and headed for the bus within 20 minutes. Our ride to Miami International was a brief 26 minutes and with that, we went from cruise mode to flight mode.

The Bottom Line

I enjoyed our cruise on Navigator of the Seas. Overall, it was a great experience and I would not hesitate to sail on Navigator again. Good food, mostly great service, and an escape from the cold. Joy. The good things were great, and the not so good things were not enough to prevent me from enjoying myself. I’ll look forward to my next cruise aboard Navigator of the Seas.

My heart goes out to the families of those lost in last week’s tragic accident involving the Costa Concordia. It’s obviously disconcerting to read about such a tragedy, especially to those who have never cruised before. I have received numerous questions in the last few days about cruising safety and why I like cruising so much. I can’t comment to the safety procedures of Costa or Carnival Corporation as I’ve never set foot on one of their ships. Believe me, I wouldn’t hesitate to do so given the right set of circumstances, but I’ve frankly been so happy with Royal Caribbean and Celebrity that I just haven’t felt the need to. I’ve never felt anything less than well cared  for and safe aboard any of the cruise ships I’ve sailed on (26 cruises with many more to come).

Much the same as on any aircraft, I never ignore safety drills aboard cruise ships. While remote, there is always the possibility that something unplanned could happen, and I want to be ready. This accident, while tragic, has no deterring effect on my desire to cruise much like no aircraft accident has ever deterred my desire to fly. Fortunately, such accidents are exceedingly rare.

Today, I received separate emails from both Royal Caribbean and Celebrity reiterating their commitment to safety, a commitment I never doubted. A link to a video was included and I wanted to share it with you here. Is it one company’s opinion of itself? Yes. But I’m confident that it’s true. So yes, MJonTravel will continue to cruise and I hope you will too.

Royal Caribbean has joined the American Express Cruise Privileges Program for Platinum and Centurion Card holders. I first heard of this several weeks ago when a posting on Cruise Critic caught my eye. However, the Amex website was not updated to reflect the change, so I did not mention it. Today, I took a quick look at the Cruise Privileges website, and Royal Caribbean has appeared as a partner.

According to the site, Cruise Privileges participants will receive the following amenities with Royal Caribbean:

• Two-category stateroom upgrade OR up to a $300 dollar on board credit (depending on ship and category booked)
• Complementary dinner for 2 in a specialty restaurant (or a $50 dollar spa credit on Grandeur, Legend, Majesty, Monarch, Rhapsody, and Vision (in other words, ships without a specialty restaurant))
• Bottle of premium champagne

I’m a big proponent of the American Express Platinum Card for travelers, and here’s one more reason why. For a guy like me, this is obviously useful. So if you find yourself wanting to take a Royal Caribbean cruise, and you carry an Amex Platinum or Centurion card, be sure to claim your Cruise Privileges benefits.

Reader G. writes:

“Can you do a post on how you go about booking cruises? Do you use a trusted agent? Or do it online? Can you explain your process in the near future? I am a complete newbie when it comes to cruises but I am determined to blow our Capital One points on a RC cruise in 2012.
Always put it off as traveling by air with miles and staying in nice hotels w/ pts seemed so easy:-)

One more question: Any RC to avoid? Any RC ship that is above the rest? They all look fine to me but, like I said, I am a newb.

Thank you.”

First of all, thanks for your question. This is one I get from friends from time to time, and I’m happy to discuss it here on the blog because I expect a lot of people have the same question. First of all, how do I book? Typically, I book our cruises with our travel agent. I haven’t always used a travel agent to book, but began exploring the possibility in advance of MrsMJonTravel and my honeymoon a few years ago. After seeking a little input on Flyertalk.com about thoughts on using American Express Platinum Travel Service, an experienced traveler commented to me that I should find myself a Virtuoso Travel Agent and stick with them. I did a tiny bit of research on travel agencies and discovered that Virtuoso catered to travel interests that typically mirrored my own. While I kind of suspect that I’m in the middle income range (at best) of a typical Virtuoso customer, I’m pretty certain that our “DINK” status affords us the opportunity to spend a higher portion of our income on travel than many. Rather than word of mouth, I simply submitted my information on Virtuoso’s website and I was contacted the very same day by the person whom it turns out we would be working with still today.

My thinking on travel agents has evolved over time. I certainly don’t need one to book an average 7-night cruise, but I always book through an agent. Frankly, I can list what I believe our next 2 or 3 “big” vacations will be in the next 3 years, and all of them can benefit from the services an experienced, and better yet, connected travel agent can provide. There is no way I would have been able to replicate on my own the experience we and our 4 friends enjoyed on our private tour of Ephesus, Turkey last year with a good Google search and a review on TripAdvisor. So…my advice, find yourself a good travel agent and work with them. If you have friends who have a trusted agent to refer you to, all the better.

There are a lot of online agencies out there, and not just the one’s you know…Expedia, Travelocity, etc. Some online agencies actually specialize in cruises. I’ve never used one, so I can’t comment positively or negatively. I sometimes see deals offered from online agencies that I doubt a typical agent can or will replicate, and I’m ok with that. From my perspective, if you are going to book with an “online” agency, you may as well just book direct with the cruise line.

Which brings me to the next way to do things…yourself. I don’t mind or fear doing things on my own, especially for simple trips. In fact, all things, being equal, I probably prefer some things that way. There’s nothing wrong with any particular method of booking your cruise, I’ve just found something that works for me. The cruise line websites I’ve used are not nearly as well developed at selling their product as your typical airline site. Most of them I’ve looked at are frankly, kind of clunky. That said, they usually work, and our first several cruises were booked directly with the cruise line. In fact, our next big cruise was booked directly with the cruise line, on board our last cruise. That’s an “in person” booking with the onboard booking specialist. In our case, our booking was immediately transferred to our travel agent to manage between now an the cruise next November. That’s a good way to do things because there are typically some perks provided, such as in this case, a $300 dollar on board credit, and we get the benefit of working with our travel agent throughout planning for the trip. Everybody wins.

Regarding your question about Royal Caribbean ships to avoid. I have to admit that I am a special case when it comes to cruising. I love all the ships, from small to large, Flowrider or no Flowrider. Royal Promenade or a simple 3 to 4 deck centrum…. I just like being at sea. That said, I am always a little leery of recommending someone take their first cruise on a ship like Allure of the Seas or the next smallest ships of the Freedom Class. But I have to admit, I’ve become something of a junkie for the Royal Caribbean ships that offer at least a spectacular Royal Promenade, lined with shops, bars, and entertainment. I would not say you should “avoid” any ship, just be aware that the older ships don’t offer the same number and quality of amenities that the newer and larger ships do.

I typically recommend that someone who has never cruised before begin with a shorter cruise….a test sail if you will. One of the best for that is the 4-night cruise aboard Majesty of the Seas from Miami. Majesty is not the newest ship in the fleet, but is well cared for, fully renovated this century, staffed with a great crew, and the ports of call in Nassau, Coco Cay, and especially Key West are great ones to get your feet wet with cruising. That’s by no means a recommendation you have to follow to do this right, just something to think about. If you take your first cruise on a ship like Allure of the Seas, I’m not sure anything else will ever measure up. Just sayin’. You won’t go wrong with any of the Royal Caribbean Radiance Class ships either. No matter what you decide to book for your first cruise, I hope it’s a great one!!

Thanks again for reading, and by all means, comment to the blog with additional questions.

It’s no secret that I like to cruise. Frankly, if I ruled the world and had unlimited funds, I’d spend the majority of my time at sea…granted, on my yacht and not a cruise ship…but still! I love cruising. That’s why I was extra excited to finally have the opportunity to sail aboard the largest cruise ship in the world, Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas. Better yet, MrsMJonTravel and I would be sailing on Allure for not one, but two cruises, 14 nights total.

Suffice it to say, both of us have been anticipating our back to back (B2B) cruise for a long time as we booked it over 1 year before we sailed. Why 2 weeks? Well, we figured with a ship so large and so chock full of things to do, we would need that much time to sample everything. That idea proved to be a wise one. There was plenty to keep us entertained on board. In fact, there was a 7 day stretch that we did not leave the ship other than our brief “in transit” exit between cruises. No, I didn’t get bored. By the time the cruise was done, I was partying until 2am every night. Don’t laugh…I’m not 20 anymore so that’s an accomplishment! This ship was just so great in so many ways that I hardly know where to begin. But there is one thing I want to get out of the way at the beginning. I want to dispel a few myths, rumors, suspicions, fears, and made up worries about a ship so large.

I remember quite well sitting in the computer lounge of another RCL ship a few months ago listening to some crank gripe on and on about Allure. “I’ll never sail on Allure. Too many people. Too crowded….blah blah….” First, Royal Caribbean has obviously given some thought to crowd control. During our first week, there were over 6,300 guests, and nearly 2,200 crew onboard. Did I ever feel overwhelmed with people? NO! Not once. Did the elevators get a little busy after a show….sure! Were the promenade parades packed? You bet. But they always are. The public spaces on the ship are so well laid out, that crowding was never a problem in my experience.

The most amazing statistic from 2 weeks aboard this beautiful ship? For me, it was the fact that we never had trouble finding a pool chair. When was the last time you could say that on a cruise? Not only are the onboard spaces well designed for managing large numbers, but the embarkation/disembarkation process was well planned throughout. Terminal 18 in Fort Lauderdale is huge, with security lanes and check in desks as far as the eye can see. Curbside to cocktail time for us? 25 minutes. And 10 minutes of that was spent waiting in the wrong line behind some people with way too many questions. There, I feel better now that I’ve gotten that off my chest!! So let’s dive in.

Booking the Cruise

We booked with our Travel & Leisure A-List super-duper Virtuoso travel agent, Michelle Bemis, of McCabe World Travel in McLean, Virginia. You know how I feel about travel agents. Find one you like and stick with them. Can I book a basic 7-night cruise by myself? Sure! But wait until you see what we’ve got booked for next year! Work with an agent, even if it’s just a simple cruise. They’ll have your back, and when it’s time for a more extensive vacation, they’ll have a better idea of your tastes when you’re about to embark on a more complicated adventure.

Getting to the Cruise

We flew into Fort Lauderdale the night before on US Airways. Sometime between booking and travel, US Airways dropped the afternoon nonstop to Fort Lauderdale on Saturdays, and moved us to the 10am nonstop. That just would not work for us, so I called the airline and they put us on a connection via Charlotte departing Washington National (DCA) at 3pm. That worked fine, but we were just a tiny bit later arriving Fort Lauderdale than I would have preferred. In other words, our late arrival limited the time available to enjoy our great pre-cruise hotel, the W Fort Lauderdale. At least we were there. NO WAY would I ever risk flying in the day of for a trip like this. Do yourself a favor and fly to your port the day before you depart. That’s the cheapest kind of travel insurance you can buy.

Pre Cruise Hotel – W Fort Lauderdale

I’m not nearly pretty and cool enough to love W Hotels as much as I do, but somehow they just work for me. So when I was able to snag a reasonable rate at the W Fort Lauderdale, I jumped on it. After grabbing our bags, we cabbed to the hotel, arriving about 15 minutes after departing the airport. The place was hopping. No sweet suite upgrade for us, but we did get a pretty nice “Mega Room.” After dumping our bags we headed down to Steak 954 for dinner. We were both famished after our flight, with US Airways’ famous snack basket not really fitting the bill for dinner! I won’t review the meal, but suffice it to say that Steak 954 rocked! I can’t wait to go back. Since this is a blog about a cruise, I won’t spend much time on a hotel review, but here are a few shots of our room.

It’s Time to Cruise!

I reserved a car to pick us up at the hotel at 10:45am on the morning of October 23rd. It was a typical morning, slightly overcast, and not too warm. Regardless, we were about to see the biggest cruise ship in the world, Allure of the Seas!

I don’t know if my iPhone 4S does Allure justice, but I snapped a photo from the street as we drove by anyway! The anticipation was building. By 11am, we were unloading our bags, and walking inside Terminal 18 at Port Everglades. The terminal, obviously built for a crowd, was huge and handled our 6,300 guest sailing with relative ease.

Royal Caribbean has obviously made plans to deal with a crowd. The number of security lanes and check in positions is large and guests are processed very quickly. Everything is handled at your first check in point, including pictures for your SeaPass card. Once you check in, there’s no stopping (except for a welcome aboard photo) until you are onboard the ship. It was during boarding that I noticed the first benefit of our new Crown and Anchor Diamond Plus status. The lines getting onto the ship were starting to bog down just a tiny bit, so personnel were asking customers to have a seat in the waiting area for “just a few minutes.” When they saw our SeaPass cards with “Diamond Plus” on them, they just waived us on ahead. Within minutes, we were walking aboard the world’s largest cruise ship!

And then, it was time for the first cocktail! The world’s biggest margarita aboard the world’s biggest ship. How fitting. Came with a price to match, but hey, we were on vacation!

You can read more about day 1 here.

Our Stateroom

Our Central Park Balcony stateroom, 11197, was a standard balcony room. While efficiently designed and comfortable, I found it to be slightly smaller than other standard balcony cabins I’ve experienced. I’ve read about a lack of storage space onboard Allure (and Oasis), but I did not find that to be the case. Perhaps that’s because we’ve learned how to pack appropriately, or maybe storage space is like food, subjective. We had plenty of closet, shelf and drawer space to unpack our belongings, and we simply put our empty luggage underneath the bed. If you’re prone to travel with a super-sized bag, it might not fit underneath so laying it in the closet might be an option. I also noted a few bags stored on balconies. My favorite little feature? A dual iPod/iPhone charging dock and alarm clock. Here are a few pictures of the stateroom.

For the second week of our cruise, we chose to switch to a Boardwalk Balcony stateroom, 14325. The room itself was identical to the stateroom photographed here. Of course, the vibe from the Boardwalk is different, and a good bit more lively. If you don’t like a little noise, don’t book a Boardwalk stateroom. Central Park on the other hand was almost eerily quiet except for the piped in bird noise. The only exception to that rule was when the pool band was playing. The music wafted down, throughout the park, and frankly, I liked it. If you can’t stand cruise ship pool band music, keep your balcony door shut. Since the rooms were essentially identical, I didn’t bother with photographs. But here are a few shots of the Boardwalk.

The verdict on our staterooms is that next time, we will stick with an oceanview balcony. We wanted to try both of these options because they are something you can only enjoy on Allure or her sister ship, Oasis of the Seas. We enjoyed both staterooms, but if I had a complaint, it would be that you lose your connection with the sea. We could actually see the ocean from our Boardwalk balcony, but our Central Park balcony could have just as well been a room at the local Marriott looking down on a courtyard. Central Park was extremely quiet, and since the ship barely rocked at all, it would be easy for one to forget that they are on a ship at sea. Don’t let this scare you away from either of these stateroom types, just be aware of what you are getting. Either are worth trying once, and who knows, you may prefer them. One other note, if at all possible, from now on we will keep the same stateroom for a B2B cruise. Having to pack your stuff on the last night of cruise 1 takes away from part of the joy of a B2B.

Dining

There will be no lack of food aboard your Allure of the Seas cruise. There are over 20 dining establishments of some description on board, many of which are included in the price of your cruise. Others require a small, or sometimes not so small upcharge. Many disagree with me, but I always advocate at least one visit to a specialty restaurant when cruising on ship that offers them. For a reasonable fee you can enjoy a 5 star meal that would cost far more on land. In other words, our meal in Chops Grill which cost $30 dollars each plus a bottle of wine, would likely have cost $300 dollars at the local Morton’s Steakhouse.

During the first cruise, we were assigned to a table for 2 on deck 3. Our servers were very nice and obviously worked hard to deliver their service. During the meal on the first formal night, we both received appetizers of escargots and lobster bisque that were less than hot. I let the head waiter know. They weren’t so cold that I sent them back (should have in retrospect) but they just weren’t up to par. The head waiter certainly offered to replace them, but I really just wanted her to know that they had an issue moving the food from the kitchen to our table in a manner that ensured they arrived at the appropriate temperature. The next day, I received a call from the maitre’ de apologizing again, and even offering to move us to a different table. I let him know that was not necessary, but I appreciated the phone call. We did not receive any additional “cool” food for the remainder of the cruise.

The highlight of our main dining room experience came during the second cruise. Not only was the escargot hot, we were blessed to be served one of the best waiters we’ve ever had, Steve (Table 148, October 30, 2011 voyage in case RCL is reading). I can’t say enough good things about Steve and the service provided during our second cruise. You can bet we noted this in our survey at the end of the cruise too. My favorite dining room foods for the week were escargot, lobster bisque, lobster, and prime rib.

We tried 2 of the 3 “high end” specialty restaurants on board, Chops Grille ($30 dollars per person), and the uber chic 150 Central Park ($40 dollars per person). We just didn’t have time to get to Giovanni’s Table, the Italian restaurant. I know….14 nights just wasn’t enough. If you are a “foodie,” you will likely love 150 Central Park. Our 6 courses were expertly presented and tasted wonderful. I really loved our main course of venison. But for me, the highlight of our specialty restaurant experiences was Chops Grille.

I love me some steak, especially high quality cuts of beef expertly prepared to my liking, and that’s exactly what I received in Chops. Better yet, we were served by Sharlon, who must surely be one of the top waiters at Royal Caribbean. He happened to be on Voyager of the Seas 6 years ago when we sailed that ship, and I’m convinced he served is in the Portofino restaurant on board. He’s still great! Here are just a few pictures.

Yes, that’s red velvet cake. You might wonder what happened to the steak? Well, I was so excited I just dove right in without snapping a picture first. I figure you can get along without a picture of a half eaten steak on here. I’ll try to do better next time!

Another favorite spot of ours was the much less formal, but very tasty Rita’s Cantina. Open for lunch and dinner most days, we enjoyed our welcome aboard lunch on day 1 at Rita’s as well as that gynormous Margarita you saw earlier in the blog. Our best visit to Rita’s came on day 1 of the second cruise, also known as MrsMJonTravel’s birthday. We booked ourselves and the 4 cruising companions that joined us for the second half of our journey into Rita’s Fiesta for dinner on night one. Rita’s Fiesta is a package deal offered several nights of the cruise. For $20 dollars per person, you receive chips and salsa, and a 3 course dinner along with 3 cocktails. That might be the best deal on the ship that isn’t free. They turn up the party a bit, and it was a good way to celebrate a birthday. No, this isn’t me. I just watched from behind my margarita.

Another dining highlight of the cruise was our favorite drinking establishment, Vintages. While several Royal Caribbean ships feature the Vintages Wine Bar, Oasis and Allure were the first RCL ships to introduce a tapas menu at Vintages. Tapas are purchased a la carte at Vintages, but that did not dissuade us from trying them. In fact, we ate dinner at Vintages on 2 of our 14 nights onboard Allure. Here are a few pictures of the wine bar.

The service we received in Vintages was among our best on the ship. You can enjoy your wine inside the bar or outside at any of the several tables. We enjoyed at least one glass of wine in Vintages on most nights of our 14 night vacation.

The Cruise Experience

This blog will be structured a little differently than most of my cruise reviews as I actually managed to write a blog most days of the cruise about that day’s activities. Here are the links by day. Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, and Day 11. For the last few days of the cruise I decided to disconnect from “the grid” for a bit and really relax, so I’ll cover St. Maarten and our last sea days here. But really, this cruise was far more about the ship than the itinerary for us, so that’s where my thoughts are focused. But not to be forgotten, I did make it to my favorite little dive bar in St. Maarten, the Get Wet Beach Bar.

No, I didn’t just drink the Heineken at the Get Wet. MrsMJonTravel and I did a little shopping. In fact, we stopped by our favorite jeweler in town, Joe’s Jewelry International, home of both our wedding bands. We like Joe’s a lot. Quality and service have been excellent. Not to mention, they send us Christmas cookies every year. So do stop by Joe’s if you’re in St. Maarten.

After St. Maarten, the final 2 days of the cruise are spent at sea. Some people don’t care for sea time, but I love it. It’s a true opportunity to relax and enjoy yourself. Suffice it to say, there’s plenty to do aboard Allure of the Seas. MrsMJonTravel zip lined high above the boardwalk while I watched.

Then there was pool time…at our favorite…. the Beach Pool. Did I mention that we were always able to find a pool chair? Of course, a final glass of wine at Vintages, and a great dinner with our new favorite waiter Steve. Our 14 amazing nights on Allure drew to a close way too rapidly.

Disembarkation

Much like boarding, disembarkation was a breeze. We requested a later time slot as our flight wasn’t until 2pm. We spent part of the morning in the Concierge Lounge, and the rest in the Amber Theater. Sometime before 10am, our tag number was called, and we walked off the ship. Our bags were waiting, we collected them, and queued for Customs. In a flash, we were outside the terminal and in a taxi for the short ride to FLL. Once our tag was called, the exit process was approximately 15 minutes. Back to life, pouring my own wine, and waiting in line for a taxi home at DCA.

Parting Thoughts

I can’t close this post without mentioning our awesome AWESOME concierges, Marina and Rahim. Never before have I been so well cared for. Not that we had a lot of issues to tackle, but they graciously and expertly went about fulfilling any request we had. I can only hope we have the pleasure of sailing with them again. Also deserving of mention, our stateroom attendants Evelyn and Sen, Sarita in the spa. All of these fine people went out of their way to ensure we are happy. I wish service like that we experienced on Allure of the Seas existed everywhere, especially in Washington, DC. Oh well, all the more reason to cruise again soon!

If there’s one thing I could instill in anyone that reads this blog because they are curious about cruising on the world’s largest cruise ship, it would be this. Do not be intimidated by Allure’s statistics, size, and sheer awesomeness. OK…Silversea and Yachts of Seabourn, this is not. But open your mind just a little and go into this cruise knowing it won’t be like any other. Even if you find yourself preferring more intimate ships, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing you tried something different. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. Allure of the Seas is…..shockingly awesome!

Back to reality, baby! I’m camped out aboard Allure of the Seas in Port Everglades as 6,000 of my new best friends disembark. The process seems to be moving along. We are purposely in the later group to disembark as our flight isn’t until 2pm. I owe you 2 days of blogs about the ship, and of course, my overall summary which will include many more pictures. And of course, I’ll be back on other travel topics too! One thing I can say now. Allure of the Seas and her crew are absolutely the best.

Day 11 (Wednesday) was spent in beautiful St. Thomas. Allure of the Seas arrived early, but we had no plans other than a little light shopping, so we slept in and let the masses escape the ship. That was a good plan as it made for a low-stress disembarkation. Allure of the Seas docks at the Crown Bay cruise terminal, which is a $4 dollar taxi ride from downtown. Taxis in St. Thomas are usually pickup trucks converted to carry 15 to 20 people.

Truthfully, we did not accomplish much in St. Thomas other than walking around and a little lite shopping. In addition to Allure of the Seas, four other ships were in town, including NCL’s Norwegian Epic. In other words, it was crowded, and the weather was pretty lousy. We escaped a driving rainsquall by heading into Bones Rum and T-Shirt Shop.

Raining in St. Thomas

After a little more shopping we made our way back to the ship to rest and get ready for the Aqua Theater show, Oceanaria. I did snap a pic of some of the local wildlife hanging out near the ship though!

Just Doing a Little People Watching

This was the rescheduled viewing of Oceanaria as our original booking was postponed due to inclement weather on the first night of the cruise. Oceanaria was a very interesting production, kind of hard to explain. Amazing acrobatics and diving (The Aqua Theater is equipped with a pool with a depth of up to 17.9 feet). Unfortunately, a little over half-way through the performance, the large outdoor video screens switched to say the performance was canceled due to technical difficulties. Something had seemed off in the seconds leading up to this, and we would soon learn why. An announcement was made for paramedics to head to the Aqua Theater. I don’t know the details, but one of the performers was injured. In fact, we were delayed by about 40 minutes departing St. Thomas so they could be tended to. Hopefully, they are ok.

With that, we had nothing to do but go on with our evening, which included Tapas for dinner at Vintages with our friends who were cruising with us this week. I’ve become a fan of Vintages and the great staff there…not to mention, the Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon. On to St. Maarten. One of my favorite spots in the Caribbean.

Day 10 (Tuesday) aboard Allure of the Seas can only be described as relaxing. Why? It was a sea day as we made our way at close to top speed to St. Thomas. We did not spend a great deal of time out by the pool. There was plenty of sunshine, but a 15 knot headwind combined with our 20 knots of forward speed made for a breezy day outside. Not to mention, we’ll get plenty of beach time in St. Marten as I absolutely intend to spend that day out by Maho Beach and the airport! Should get some good pictures that day.

In any event, we enjoyed a fun day. MrsMJonTravel slept in for a bit while I wandered around, worked out, and started the rest of the day with a Venti bold from Starbucks. After breakfast in the Windjammer I basically wandered around the ship until time for lunch, which MrsMJonTravel and I enjoyed in the dining room. The shrimp and crab soup was excellent, as was my Mexican tortilla salad.

We spent the afternoon wandering around, watched a few brave zipliners, etc and then returned to the stateroom for a nap! Yes, today was one of those days. I am not much on napping so after a bit, I went ahead and prepared for dinner at Chops Grille. Yes, that’s twice!! After getting cleaned up, I was more than ready for my first drink of the day so I went to Vintages and enjoyed a very nice glass of Caymus Cabernet to kick off the evening.

The highlight of the night was of course, Chops Grille. To start, I enjoyed a crabcake, which was excellent, and followed that with the Chops signature salad. For the steak, the waiter mentioned that they had a bone-in ribeye, which was not on the menu so I went with that. The flavor was excellent, but my friend’s Porterhouse looked too tempting, so I think I would go with that in the future. There’s also the always-great Filet Mignon as well.

We ended our evening with a nightcap at Vintages. I’m sure you’ve picked up by now that Vintages is probably my favorite spot on the ship.

Allure of the Seas spent day 9 (Monday) in Nassau, Bahamas, arriving around 7am, and departing promptly at 3pm for St. Thomas where we will arrive Wednesday morning. MrsMJonTravel and I spent the day by the Beach Pool with our friends, electing not to get off the ship in Nassau….again. Nothing against Nassau, just been there a lot and have no real need for any shopping type items there this visit. If Allure spent longer in  port, perhaps we might have trekked over to Atlantis, but no such luck. No worries….a day on Allure beats a day at Senor Frogs anytime!!

After an afternoon by the pool, it was time to head to the room and get rested for a really fun Halloween. MrsMJonTravel went with a tiara and a sash as “Miss RCCL” and yours truly…well, I spent 20 bucks on eBay for a former President Bill Clinton mask. Don’t roll your eyes, I could not have fathomed how popular I’d be!

Monday evening was also our first visit to the main dining room as a party of 6. We had a new table, 148, on deck 3, not far from the Captain’s table. Our new server, Steve, was tremendous. There were a few missteps outside of his control, but he was working so hard, I can’t possibly care. Not to mention, they were obviously outside his control. I dined on the filet of beef, which was cooked perfectly, flavorful and tender. I should mention that my appetizers of escargots and lobster bisque were wonderful as well, and most importantly, at the right temperature and not cold like the week before.

After dinner, we explored the Royal Promenade, which was extremely crowded in anticipation of the Halloween costume parade. Unfortunately, I did not arrive in time to enter, so I just watched. I never would have expected my Bill Clinton mask to be such a highlight, but I had untold numbers of people yelling my (well, his) name (happily, not angrily) and asking for pictures with me. Seriously, I was shocked. Don’t know if it’s a testament to our current economic or political climate or not.

After the parade, the ship hosted a huge “Monster’s Ball” in the ice skating rink known as Studio B. The ice floor was covered with a dance floor, and there was a really great (for a cruise ship) band. A good time was had by all. There was more party going on at the ship’s dance club Blaze, and Boleros, the Latin Nightclub as well. In short, it was one late, but fun night aboard Allure of the Seas. They really went all out with the Halloween party, and the ship was decked out too. I’ve noticed that many of our fellow cruisers have even decorated their balconies and stateroom doors for the occasion. I highly recommend Halloween on Allure of the Seas!

Tomorrow, dinner at Chops Grille! YUM!!!!