We took a few photos of the Opal theater.
That is the set for Cats.
For some reason these remind me of Alice in Wonderland.
We decided to head upstairs and get a few pictures of the Spa. That is something that I failed to do with my Allure review. Then again, I was just getting started in my blogging career.
Here are the prices of the Spa products.
There was one nice lady at the counter, I asked her if we could tour around. She said, sure, but she was not sure if it was open. One thing that I noticed was that they did not have any private tours here like all the other cruise lines do. Maybe it was because it was still rather early? I am not sure, but in the end, I like it better this way than the high pressure sales tours.
I thought the spa and the gym were both sub-par at best. I have no idea why they decided to place them all the way down there, so hidden from sunlight. And instead place the kids clubs on the top decks, where the spa is usually on other vessels. I am sure the kids don’t appreciate the natural sunlight, as much as the people attending the spa would. It was just a little odd to see it like that.
The Gym did have some windows, but they are portholes vs the full glass ones on the other ships. Oh, no hydrotherapy pool on this ship either.
So mom and I started our self guided tour just walking around. I forgot to tell you, I still had that 30lbs backpack with me. So yeah, I tried to make it quick. The rooms were supposed to open @ 1pm.
Here is the tour.
I asked to take my bag down the stairs. Nope, that was a no go, she just gave me that look, LoL.
I am really not sure their thermal suite is worth it. Granted, it is half the price of NCL ones, but the NCL ones are 6x the space and amenities.
I will let you be the judge.
It is a rather small area for a ship this size, don’t you think so?
Around the corner is the Gym.
Like I said, why isn’t this area up on top? That is beyond me, the Gym is not even that big.
The Gym can be accessed from the running track, that is a really nice feature. Although one that I did not partake in 
We finished our tour and went back out to the Spa waiting area. There is a little smoothie there and I got a few pictures of the area and what they offer.
Redbull $4.50…. They are really maximizing their profits.
With our rooms being not ready yet, we decided to go to the kids clubs and check it out.
I was dying to get rid of my backpack!
On Deck 14 you have a nice view of central park.
Kids compass
The younger kids club is on deck 14, on deck above the bridge, and one below the Solarium. Like I said, this is prime Spa area!
That said, the area was well appointed and decorated.
Get ready parents, you will be broke by the end of the cruise LoL
We just walked around.
We decided to head upstairs and get some drinks to get our vacation started .
Well, It had started long ago, but you get me.
Ok, let’s talk drinks. Most liquor is around $9.50 to $11.95, plus the 18% gratuity. But here is the issue, most drinks are weak. Please note that I say most, there were a few which were very strong. But that really depends on the bartender. My rule would be if you plan on drinking more than 5 drinks a day, just go ahead and buy the $55 a day package. You will end up saving money in the end.
Also keep in mind that the last few days of the cruise, they offer select packages with a certain amount of drinks (on our cruise it was 10 drinks, I read different amounts for different cruises). That narrows each drink down to $9.33 including the tip. Which is not bad, if only it had been offered to me on the second to last night, right after I bought a $18 martini
.
I guess that it all depends what kind of drinker you’re, and how you can manage your wallet the best day possible.
These two drinks were one of the few good ones. They were on fire, I loved them.
Mom’s
and mine!
I usually leave a little extra cash, sometimes it helped, and others it did not. By help I mean stronger drinks of course.
This is a new for me, I will be posting some of my checks. I think it will better help people plan their upcoming vacations, and whether or not they have to buy the package. I hope it helps.
Drinks have really gone up in price since our last cruise on the Allure. Great bartender by way, nice fellow 
We took our drinks and started walking to the boardwalk to wait for our room. My bag was really heavy, and I needed a break.
Mom with the drink in one hand and the phone in the other, her natural state, LoL. She is going to kill me
We sat down and started to relax and enjoy our drinks.
Then I decided to take out my go pro and take a few pictures. And that is when I noticed this.
I have to admit that I was a little upset, why could it not had broken a few days before then. I did not even take one picture, and the housing was completely broken. I still had hope that I purchase one on-board, or on a port of call. But I guess at least it was not a major breakdown from my main camera.
I hid my frustrations from mom, I would not let something like this tear down my cruise. But yeah, I was pretty pissed off for a few minutes 
Piece of crap
Once our room opened up, we headed there to drop-off the back pack. The room was nice, and we knew exactly what to expect. We also met our room steward Putu, and asked him for a few specifics that we like. Nice fellow, always there to help.
Notice all my Norwegian cups, lol, traitor
OMG that shower is a dream!!! And then the worst part is that I have to come home to my stream of water leaking from the roof
RCCL spoiled me!
Mom relaxed on balcony for a little while. By relaxed I mean she took out all her electronics and was wired to the world
While I tried to book our Cats show, but the only one that we could go to was sold out already.
More people boarding.
Mom liked the way the painted those water tanks. They look pretty.
At one point mom spotted our bags, they took quite a while to get onboard.
After we relaxed for a little while, we left the room and went towards the teens club section.
We went into the arcade area, they had a really nice setup there. Plenty of games to keep kids occupied.
There is a little store across from the arcade. It was closed at the moment.
I saw a few fedoras there, and regretted not brigging mine. That won’t happen again!
We walked towards the aft of the ship, and I took some more shots.
They usually have the same food here, and I think it is tailored towards the younger crowd.
This is when I know that I take way too many pictures, I just found out they had ice cream there….
They have table tennis setups there. They also hold tournaments and such. I do not recall these on Allure, are they new after dry dock?
An amazing view
They have these really cool chairs, which are actually really comfortable in the teen area.
Such a happy photo, the excitement of many memories to come
We headed towards the flow rider. This guy brought his own boards, we saw him in the park cafe having lunch. He was quite good. He actually came in second on the Oasis tournament on the last day of the cruise, albeit my mom said he should have won. She said the judges were not fair.
While mom enjoyed the view, I went to the aft bar to get a refill on my drink. The old one seemed to have whole in the cup.
At one point the couple next to her asked me to get a picture of them. On day Gambee, one day, patience pays.
Someone asked to get the price of Black Label. It is $9.50, like I said all drinks stay in that range.
The flowrider was quite busy already.
Of course mom said she did not want another drink, but we all know how that goes
Mom was feeling a little hungry, so we started heading to the windjammer.
On our way there we finally found the teens area.
How cool is that?
The teen area seems nice, but I still think the one on Breakaway is the nicest one that I’ve seen. Although the recording studio is a really nice touch to enjoy with newly made friends.
Then we made it to the windjammer. It was quite busy as expected.
We found a nice table towards the back of the buffet.
Damm soda machine took my ice away
Mom got some risotto and fries. She did not care for either
. But no worries, we do find good stuff in the buffet later in the cruise.
That pic pic came out funny
Mom ate her not so tasty snack, and then we headed to the room to relax for a little while before Muster. Our bags were already there so mom did some organizing.
Me? I guess I was just being my lazy self.
Muster was pretty quick and pointless as usual. Lots of people talking, making nearly impossible to hear what the loud speakers were saying. But you know you have to be there. I can only help but wonder what happens under a real emergency…. Anyway, better not think about that.
Our muster was on the promenade deck, near the champagne bar.
People were still boarding the ship, close call if you ask me.
I bet those peps won’t be as relaxed on a real emergency, I am sorry, just my cynical side.
