30 March 2015

6 March 2015 – I boarded Virgin Atlantic’s flight to London with Claudine, a colleague of mine. Our overnight flight to London arrived early the following morning. 7 March 2015 – Our flight to Miami departed at noon. So we had a few hours to catch up with family and to get our cell-phones charged. A bonus: Heathrow Airport offers free Wi-Fi for 4 hours. It took us about 2 hours to clear through customs in Miami, and our transfer whisked us away to the Hyatt Regency Downtown. The Hyatt is an old hotel, but very comfortable with big rooms and very comfortable beds – we also enjoyed free Wi-Fi. 8 March 2015 - The following morning we went for a stroll to get some breakfast at a local roadside café and then we headed to Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale where the Allure of the Seas Ship was waiting for us to board. We went through another security check point at the harbour before continuing to check-in and where our credit cards were scanned for all on-board expenses and our on-board identification was given to us which was our room key. All passengers were seated in a huge hall (with free Wi-Fi) and we were led row by on-board the ship. I have seen the various on-board room types available, so if you have any questions then let me know. A tip – it’s a good idea to purchase an on-board drinks package which ranges from $20 to $45 per day. The $20 packages includes non-alcoholic cocktails, bottled water and speciality coffee’s (not Starbucks) and the $45 daily packages will include all beverages. In the USA, tax is not included in any of the amounts you see. They will always add tax on top of the cost of the item/beverage even if you opted to pay for gratuities on your initial package. Wi-Fi on the ship is expensive. You can purchase an unlimited Wi-Fi package for $70 for the full period or pay $30 for 24 hour unlimited Wi-Fi or $30 for 1 hour Wi-Fi, but which you can spread over the entire period of your stay (believe me that hour goes quickly). When you stop at the ship ports most offer free Wi-Fi. We visited 2 hotels in Montego Bay in Jamaica, and in Cozumel and both offered free Wi-Fi. Only in a certain part of Cozumel in Labadee there was no Wi-Fi. The destinations that you visit whilst on your cruise are fabulous. The cruise provides unbelievable entertainment for 7 days and you get to visit awesome destinations without packing and unpacking all the time. Labadee is an island in Haiti which belongs to Royal Caribbean. Royal Caribbean have transformed this into a beautiful getaway for the day. Certain cabin categories get to spend the day in one of these awesome hideaways on the beach and the rest of the ship passengers can lie on the on deckchairs and still get served their cocktails as if they were on the ship. You also do not have to go back to the ship for lunch as a barbecue is prepared on the beach by Royal Caribbean. You can purchase products from the locals & participate on the world’s longest zip line over water. Falmouth in Jamaica was our next stop. No problem...ja man… The harbour Falmouth is beautiful where you can buy Jamaican Rum and Cuban Cigars…no problem… We visited 2 hotels in Jamaica, the Secrets St James and Wild Orchid. Both beautiful adult only, fully inclusive resorts, where we enjoyed some jerk chicken and cocktails whilst playing “guess the song” with the other hotel guests...ja man...no problem. Some colleagues enjoyed white river tubing down the river and a trip to the blue hole, where they went jumping through waterfalls. You can easily spend 2 days in Cozumel. The shopping is just amazing, especially the leather goods, the silver and ceramic kitchenware. The beaches in Cozumel were also awesome with beautiful water to snorkel in. Certain beaches charge a cover charge of $12 which will include Wi-Fi for the day, fresh water showers and you can use their sport equipment, like snorkelling gear, paddling and hammocks…but if you walk a few metres down the beach you can also have a good meal and an ice cold beer for no cover charge. We went quad bikes through the jungle visiting the Mayan Ruins for $45. Some colleagues went to visit Chichen Itza, which is one of the Seven Wonders of the World, this was a 7 hour excursion, and they said it was amazing! Something to keep in mind when on a cruise regarding the excursions is, if you book a cruise excursion through Royal Caribbean and the excursion for some reason is running late, the ship will wait for you. But, if you book an excursion independently and if you arrive late, the ship will not wait for you and you will have to make your own way to the next port to catch the ship. The Allure of the Seas ship alone is just one big WOW…With 17 stories and 7 neighbourhoods accommodating over 5,000 guests and 2,000 crew and never once did I stand in a queue for anything. The ship and the entertainment is designed so well, that you never realise the number of people on-board. There is the DreamWorks parade on the Promenade and the OceanAria Aqua Show, Chicago the Broadway musical and the Boardwalk, where little ones can play on the merry go round as many times as they like and eat as many hot dogs, and hamburgers and pizzas as they like. Plus there is the spectacular ice skating show and Blue Planet aerial acrobatics show and you can also have breakfast with the Disney Characters at an extra charge. Casino Royale is also open 24 hours. There is also Central Park which is the only living garden on water. Besides the standard restaurants where you can eat daily, every day there are also other speciality restaurants, like Chops Grille, Giovanni’s Table and Rita’s Cantina where you can go for lunch or dinner (at an additional charge) Although the ship can be very busy, there are certain areas on the ship where you can have calm and quiet times. In the Solarium, (an adult only area) you can relax in a Jacuzzi, sip a cocktail or read a book on one of the deck chairs. The ship also has an internationally renowned spa which offers every treatment that you can think of as well as a beauty salon. The gym is also very well equipped and they offer yoga as well as spinning classes. For the children there is Adventure Ocean and this is the only part of the ship where the staff must have a degree. The people working here have an absolute passion for children and your kids from 6 months to 18 years old will enjoy this. In fact, I do not think I will ever see my children on a cruise holiday. This is definitely the type of holiday I will recommend to anyone. Young, old, families or couples.