Prepared Saturday evening, November 16th
Oh my. Another day at sea. Did we have the energy to survive it? I'll admit...we were wearing down a bit, but unwilling to give up. We were having so much fun!!!
Once again, we stopped by the Diamond Club for lattes, and then went to the Adagio for breakfast. We're finally hitting our stride on this, and figuring out our logistics on this monster of a ship. I have to comment here about the three story dining room on the Allure...it's not quiet, and it's not calm, but it is really the friendliest dining room I've ever seen. By the time we get to our table, we are greeted by name and welcomed to the dining room at least four times. It's kind of like having a meal with a large family; it's not elegant, and it's not restful, but it's fun, and they have the system down where it's actually quite efficient.
After breakfast, we wandered over to the future cruise desk and considered buying two more Next Cruise Credits, but opted not to. We already have two that we purchased on the Mariner OTS a few years ago, and although we're certain to take another Royal Caribbean cruise, it's less likely that we would book multiple cruises at one time.
Our next stop was the Boardwalk where we ticked another complimentary eatery off our list by having donuts at Boardwalk Donuts. Mine was Key Lime and delish!! I love watching the little kids on the Boardwalk. There's been a face painter and balloon artist out there for a few hours on every sea day, and evenings on port days. The face painter does really exotic stuff, and it's fun to watch the kids contemplate and consider when choosing what how they want to be painted from her slew of photos. For the really little ones, she'd paint their forearms instead. And the balloon artist was incredible- the most exotic balloon animals I'd ever seen. Both experiences were free, and, along with the carousel, make the Boardwalk a fun place for kids and a charming place for adults.
While we were back there, cruise director Ken, Captain Johnny, the Hotel Director and Chief Engineer were having a Q&A session in the Aqua Theater, so we walked up a level to the side of the climbing wall that was not currently in use to sit in two comfortable looking teak chairs we saw up there. And made another find; there are several teak chairs up there around the side from the climbing wall that were quiet and shaded and totally unused. I don't think people know they are back there. If we were to do another cruise on this ship, we'd start out on Day 1 familiar with "our" places on this ship and that would be so much easier!
Since we were so close (and that's a consideration on this ship; we find ourselves planning our day geographically instead of being impromptu), we went down to the walking/jogging track and walked a mile. It's not that we don't get plenty of walking simply going from Point A to Point B; we simply enjoy the walking track on this ship. While we were out there, in those few bump outs where we could see the ocean, we saw lots of flying fish. It's nice to feel connected to the ocean while on this ship
Once again we found ourselves on the Sports Deck on Deck 15 at the back of the ship, and spent at least an hour enjoying the flow rider. I knew that I couldn't try it as it would drive my contacts right off my eyeballs, but I think G was considering it. In the end, he didn't, but he wants it known that he almost did. He had already decided to bypass the climbing wall, though, simply because we have easy access to one at home.
We went to the Windjammer Buffet for lunch, and sat right at the back while we enjoyed watching the zip line. I can't state enough how much we enjoyed watching people do these activities, even when not participating in them ourselves.
Back down to the Boardwalk, where the Allure OTS orchestra was playing jazz, and that was a joy. These guys are so talented and so much fun. When they announced at the end that they'd be back at 3:30pm to play marches, we knew we'd have to be there. And we were. There was a pirate festival and a family talent show in the Aqua Theater and the whole atmosphere was so much fun. I liked it all far more than I ever thought I would.
G went back to the cabin to prepare for the evening, but I went first to a Beyoncé dance class in the Royal Promenade (30 years married and I can still strut to Single Ladies). What a blast. Finally I had to break away to get to the Amber Theater when the doors opened for our final entertainment performance of the cruise, Blue Planet. We had 5pm reservations for this show, and though the time wasn't the best for us, we knew we had to see this show, which people have said is the best production show on any cruise ship EVER. We had been advised to sit in one of the first few rows in the middle, and so we did.
Honestly, we didn't know where to look first. Aerialists were coming from the ceiling of the theater, swinging out over the audience, trampoline artists were bouncing side to side and up and down. At one point, a sheer blue fabric screen was pulled up in a semicircle fashion to cover the stage, and aerialists behind it appeared to be swimming under the water as images of fish and jelly fish and bubbles were projected on the screen. Absolutely stunning. I'll do an entire post of photos from the show, as it deserves its own billing.
Then, free drinks in the Diamond Lounge with our, by now, good friends Gus and Karen and Jeff and Candy, then dinner (no reservations, we were quickly seated with our same wonderful waitstaff), then to a final comedy show at 10:30pm in the Amber Theater. It was 11:30pm when we finally made it back to the cabin to pack.
Yes, pack (which, frankly, we get a bit more sloppy at every time we do it on this trip). We're on the move again. Stay tuned!
Photo 1: the Japanese menu at breakfast. The Allure features menus in 9 different languages.
Photo 2: face painting on the Boardwalk
Photo 3: putt putt was busy today!
Photo 4: finally, a glimpse of the Royal Princess which left St. Martin before us but ended up behind us.
