Click here for details. Act soon as this deal goes away May 31, 2012. Just note that you have to enter code SIG3 during the booking process, and the credit for the child’s fare will be applied by June 15.

1,000 Royal Points (choice of one)

• Ten dollar ($10 USD value) donation to one of our partnering charitable organizations for Haitian Relief (multiple donations may be requested if earned).

5,000 Royal Points (choice of one)

• Fifty dollar ($50 USD value) onboard credit toward onboard purchases i.e. Spa, Shore Excursions, Gift Shop, Bar, etc (multiple onboard credits may be applied to a reservation if earned)
• Onboard amenity (choice of one)
• Two Royal Caribbean International robes ($100 USD value)
• Domaine Chandon and strawberries delivered onboard ($50 USD value)
• Upgrade on a 3 or 4 night sailing for two, (interior stateroom to minimum available oceanview, boardwalk view or central park view stateroom). Value of upgrade may not exceed fifty dollars ($50 USD value).
• Royal Packet – includes 2 Royal Caribbean International towels, 2 disposable cameras, and 2 messenger bags ($50 USD value).
• Royal Wear – includes 2 Royal Caribbean International Polo Shirts and 2 baseball caps ($50 USD value).

15,000 Royal Points (choice of one)

• One hundred and fifty dollar ($150 USD value) onboard credit toward onboard purchases i.e. Spa, Shore Excursions, Gift Shop, Bar, etc (multiple onboard credits may be applied to a reservation if earned).
• One hundred fifty dollar ($150 USD value) Cruise Discount off any ship and itinerary.
• Upgrade on a 4 to 8 night sailing for two, September – May (interior stateroom to minimum available oceanview, boardwalk view or central park view stateroom). Value of upgrade may not exceed three hundred dollars ($300 USD value).
• Onboard Grand Romance Package – This package includes a bottle of chilled Veuve Clicquot champagne upon arrival; a fresh bouquet of flowers in your stateroom; two of our signature robes; a tray of elegant canapés delivered before dinner and decadent petit fours after dinner on two formal evenings; breakfast in bed one morning during the cruise vacation; and a silver-framed, 8” x 10” keepsake portrait. ($150 USD value).

25,000 Royal Points (choice of one)

• Two hundred and fifty dollar ($250 USD value) onboard credit toward onboard purchases i.e. Spa, Shore Excursions, Gift Shop, Bar, etc (multiple onboard credits may be applied to a reservation if earned).
• Free Companion Fare on a 3 or 4 night sailing (minimum available oceanview, boardwalk view or central park view stateroom). Value of free companion fare may not exceed five hundred dollars ($500 USD value).
• Upgrade on a 4 to 8 night sailing for two, June – August (interior stateroom to minimum available oceanview, boardwalk view or central park view stateroom). Value of upgrade may not exceed five hundred dollars ($500 USD value).

50,000 Royal Points (choice of one)

• Five hundred dollar ($500 USD value) onboard credit toward onboard purchases i.e. Spa, Shore Excursions, Gift Shop, Bar, etc. (multiple onboard credits may be applied to a reservation if earned).
• 3 or 4 Night sailing for two (minimum available oceanview, boardwalk view or central park view stateroom). Value of cruise vacation fare for two may not exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000 USD value).
• Five hundred dollars ($500 USD value) Cruise Vacation Discount off any ship itinerary.
• Upgrade on a 7 night Alaska sailing for two (interior stateroom to minimum available oceanview, boardwalk view or central park view stateroom). Value of upgrade may not exceed five hundred dollars ($500 USD value).
• Upgrade on a 4 to 8 night sailing for two (oceanview, boardwalk view or central park view stateroom to minimum
• available balcony, excluding suites). Value of upgrade may not exceed five hundred dollars ($500 USD value).
• Upgrade on a 7 to 12 night European sailing for two (interior stateroom to minimum available oceanview, boardwalk view or central park view stateroom). Value of upgrade may not exceed five hundred dollars ($500 USD value).
• Upgrade on a 9 to 12 night Caribbean sailing for two, (oceanview stateroom to minimum available balcony stateroom, excluding suites). Value of upgrade may not exceed five hundred dollars ($500 USD value).6. 75,000 Royal Points (choice of one)
• Free Companion Fare on a 7 night Caribbean or Mexican Riviera sailing (minimum available oceanview, boardwalk view or central park view stateroom). Value of free companion fare may not exceed fifteen hundred dollars ($1,500 USD value).
• Upgrade on a 7 night European sailing for two (balcony stateroom to a junior suite). Value of upgrade may not exceed eight hundred dollars ($800 USD value).
• Upgrade on a 7 night Alaska sailing for two (balcony stateroom to a junior suite). Value of upgrade may not exceed twelve hundred dollars ($1,200 USD value).

125,000 Royal Points (choice of one)

• Free Companion Fare on a 7 night Caribbean sailing (minimum available balcony stateroom excluding suites). Value of free companion fare may not exceed twelve hundred fifty dollars ($1,250 USD value).
• Free Companion Fare on a 7 night Alaska sailing (minimum available oceanview, boardwalk view or central park view stateroom). Value of free companion fare may not exceed twelve hundred fifty dollars ($1,250 USD value).
• Free Companion Fare on a 9 to 12 night Caribbean sailing (minimum available oceanview, boardwalk view or central park view stateroom). Value of free companion fare may not exceed eighteen hundred dollars ($1,800 USD value).
• 5-7 night Caribbean or Mexican Riviera sailing for two (minimum available oceanview, boardwalk view or central park view stateroom). Value of cruise vacation fare for 2 may not exceed twenty-five hundred dollars ($2,500 USD value).

250,000 Royal Points (choice of one)

• 7 night Caribbean or Mexican Riviera sailing for two (minimum available balcony stateroom excluding suites). Value of cruise vacation fare for 2 may not exceed twenty-five hundred dollars ($2,500 USD value).
• 7 night Alaska sailing for two (minimum available oceanview, boardwalk view or central park view stateroom). Value of cruise vacation fare for 2 may not exceed twenty-five hundred dollars ($2,500 USD value).
• 9 to 12 night Caribbean sailing for two (minimum available oceanview, boardwalk view or central park view stateroom). Value of cruise vacation fare for 2 may not exceed thirty-six hundred dollars ($3,600 USD value).
• Free Companion Fare on a 12 night European sailing (minimum available oceanview, boardwalk view or central park view stateroom). Value of free companion fare may not exceed twenty-five hundred dollars ($2,500 USD value).

Shew! Glad that’s out of the way. Some of the rewards sound pretty nice, specifically, a free Caribbean cruise at the 250,000 point level. Then again, I can frequently buy a 7-night Caribbean cruise for 2 for less than the $2,500 maximum dollar value allowed. Now, the person that led me to write this post only uses her Royal Points for onboard credit. 5,000 Royal Points = $50 dollars in onboard spending money. Not the worst thing in the world on the surface, but here is where things break down for me with the Royal Caribbean Visa. Unless I’m spending with Royal Caribbean, I’m only earning 1 point per dollar. If I don’t buy a cruise during that spending period, I’m dropping $5,000 dollars for 5,000 Royal Points.

Let’s imagine for a second that I put that spending on the Chase Sapphire Preferred (Disclosure: my affiliate link) card instead. In a typical month, I might spend $250 dollars on restaurants (2x Ultimate Rewards points) and purchase $250 dollars worth of travel services (also 2x Ultimate Rewards points). For the purposes of this discussion, we’ll say the rest is $500 dollars on other items for a total of $1,000 dollars in spending per month. For that $1,000 dollars, I receive 1,500 Ultimate Rewards points. Let’s take that thought out over the next year….I’ve spent $12,000 dollars, but I have 18,000 Ultimate Rewards points. In 2 months, assuming the same spend rate, I can redeem 20,000 Ultimate Rewards points for a $200 dollar Royal Caribbean gift card, and a have 1,000 points left over to get me started on my next reward. Total spend: $14,000 dollars. In 14 months of spending on the Royal Caribbean Visa, I would have amassed 14,000 points, enough to redeem 2 $50 dollar onboard credit awards (5,000 Royal Points each). Perhaps if I had purchased a Royal Caribbean cruise during that time (2x points), I would have had enough Royal Points to redeem for 3 $50 dollar rewards. In this case, I think the Chase Sapphire Preferred card is a better deal.

Another good option could be the Fidelity Investment Rewards Amex Card. Why? It earns 2% cash back on ALL purchases. Basically, you earn 2 WorldPoints per dollar for purchases. You convert WorldPoints into cash at the rate of $50 dollars per 5,000 points. The catch is that you must have a Fidelity account and the rewards are deposited there. In this case, that $14,000 dollars in 14 months would equate to 28,000 WorldPoints. Redeem 25,000 of those for a $250 dollar deposit into your personal Fidelity account.

I’m torn here. I’m very “loyal to Royal” myself, and appreciate that they offer a credit card product. But I’m having a really hard time justifying a case for carrying the Royal Caribbean Visa. In defense of the card, it carries no annual fee, so its cheap to carry. In this case, I lean towards the Chase Sapphire Preferred card because of the flexibility of Ultimate Rewards points. On the other hand, it’s hard to argue with cold, hard, cash from the Fidelity Amex if you are singularly focused on earning “cash” for spending on cruises (as the person behind this post is) whether it’s onboard spending money, or cash in the bank to use on your cruise. What do you think?

]]> http://boardingarea.com/blogs/mjontravel/2012/04/16/is-the-royal-caribbean-visa-the-right-card-for-a-frequent-cruiser/feed/ 8 http://boardingarea.com/blogs/mjontravel/2012/04/07/saturday-morning-musings-cards-cruises-etc/ http://boardingarea.com/blogs/mjontravel/2012/04/07/saturday-morning-musings-cards-cruises-etc/#comments Sat, 07 Apr 2012 14:41:57 +0000 Marshall Jackson http://boardingarea.com/blogs/mjontravel/?p=4699 Sitting here on the front porch in NW DC pondering the day ahead over coffee and my MacBook Air. Of course, I’m flying out this afternoon for Ohio, but other than that, I’ve been perusing the blogs and message boards for information. The big news of the 50,000 point Amex Business Platinum was only good for one day (yesterday), but the bigger news was the reemergence of the 100,000 Avios British Airways Visa (now my affiliate link!) (Hat tip to Gary) 100,000 Avios is pretty snazzy, biz class across the pond anyone? Unless I change my mind, I won’t play this time. I’m pretty much loaded up with all the credit cards I can manage for the moment. But if you are in a good spot with your credit and spending, you should consider this offer.

You will have to do some work for it. You get 50,000 Avios with your first purchase, then 25,000 for the next $10,000 in purchases and the final 25,000 with the following $10,000 in purchases. In other words, you have to spend $20 grand in a year to get the full 100,000 Avios. The card does have some extra bennies that make it worth considering. Companion certificate, chip technology for spending abroad, and no foreign transaction fees. I could make the spend if I tried, but I just did a Citi AAdvantage application and am working on meeting the minimum spend for that card now. Not to mention I really want to hit $25K in spending on my US Airways MasterCard this year for the 10,000 preferred qualifying mile benefit. Living 15 minutes away from US Airways’ large operation at Reagan National (DCA), it’s just too handy to have US status, and anything I can do to keep it and build on it, I will. All this coupled with most of my dining/travel expenses being charged to my Sapphire Preferred card, and there’s only so much money I can throw around.  But that’s just me. If you’ve got the spending capability, I’d jump on this BA offer right now. You never know how long it will be out there.

In cruising news, Royal Caribbean has a pretty good deal available for a limited time. If you book by April 15, you can book a European cruise AND air fare starting at $1,349 dollars per person. Seriously, if I didn’t have a big vacation commitment this fall, I’d be on this one. As you know, I think cruising represents an amazing vacation value, especially in Europe. See fantastic sights, but use the ship for your “hotel and restaurant.” Cruising can also be a great way to sample the fabulous Mediterranean and Europe to give you an idea of where you might want to take your next land-based vacation.

Well, that’s all for my Saturday morning musings. Time to get ready for the airport. Next post will be from the Southwest Airlines elite lounge at BWI aka the Vino Volo with a cheese plate and wine.

Disclosure: The credit card links in this post are not my affiliate links and I do not receive any kind of referral bonus if you apply for and receive the card products mentioned. These simply represent the best available offers that I am aware of for the card. Updated on 4/11/12 to note that the BA Visa offer is now my affiliate link. It is the best offer available to my knowlege.

]]> http://boardingarea.com/blogs/mjontravel/2012/04/07/saturday-morning-musings-cards-cruises-etc/feed/ 3 http://boardingarea.com/blogs/mjontravel/2012/02/21/cruise-ships-take-mechanical-delays-too/ http://boardingarea.com/blogs/mjontravel/2012/02/21/cruise-ships-take-mechanical-delays-too/#comments Wed, 22 Feb 2012 02:55:23 +0000 Marshall Jackson http://boardingarea.com/blogs/mjontravel/?p=4387 Yes, you heard it straight from me. The self described frequent floater, avid cruiser, cruise junkie, cruise advocate, and promoter of the cruising lifestyle will admit that things don’t always go well. No, I’m not talking about the obvious….that being the tragic Costa Concordia accident. I’m talking about something a little more mundane. Ships, much like airplanes are extremely complicated mechanical contraptions that sometimes fail. Case in point, Royal Caribbean’s Enchantment of the Seas, scheduled to sail from Baltimore this past Saturday, February 18. You can read this thread on Cruise Critic (the Milepoint/Flyertalk of cruising) if you’re really interested in the details, but the short story is that Enchantment had a mechanical issue that impacted her propulsion system.

Even after reading the thread, I’m still not clear if it was an engine issue, a propeller issue, or something in between, but what I do know is that the ship could not sail as scheduled and actually spent the first night of her cruise tied up at the pier in Baltimore. In fact, Enchantment did not sail until the next day and I even caught a glimpse of her sailing down the Chesapeake Bay as my flight on Sunday descended towards Baltimore around 1pm. From what I can tell, the onboard services were not impacted by this issue so there was plenty of booze and dinner was still served on Saturday night as if nothing was wrong, it just happened while sitting in port. When the ship finally did set sail, it did so at reduced speed and some of the ports of call were deleted from the planned itinerary.

After an initial offer of onboard spending money to help make up for the problem, it is my understanding that Royal Caribbean will be refunding the price of the cruise for all passengers. I should be so lucky as to have been on this cruise!!! That’s easy for me to say as an experienced cruiser, but I’m certainly sympathetic to those on board who may be first timers, and really have no idea that sometimes things can go wrong with ships as they can with airplanes. Frankly, I think this offer is more than fair, but I have to wonder if the compensation offered for those impacted by this would have been as generous prior to the Costa Concordia accident. In any event, I think Royal Caribbean deserves a shout out for handling things they way they did. I wonder if there are some passengers onboard Enchantment right now who are feeling less charitable than me?

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.