FAm Report by Robin Paul

Allure of the Seas/Checca Lodge Islamorada, FL

I went to Florida a few days before my cruise and stayed in the keys. I went to Islamorada and stayed at the Cheeca Lodge. This is a 5 star full service Resort Hotel .My stay was for 4 nights and while I was there I did a site inspection. I stayed in a 1 bedroom suite w/ a full kitchen. The suite was immaculate. The design style was Tommy Bahama, rich cherry wood furniture and tones of beige and green. (Pictures of palm trees and parrots everywhere). The kitchen was state of the art w/ stainless steel appliances and brand new granite countertops. There was complementary coffee and tea issued daily. The suite had a wonderful screened in balcony and the view was of the adult only pool and spa. All of the suites are resort vies and pool view. This resort is right on the water and had ocean front bungalows with Jacuzzis on the deck and privacy curtains. Here are some of the specs. The resort has: 214 rooms 1 Family pool 1 Adult only pool 3 first class on site restaurants Jack Nicklaus designed 9 hole par 3 golf course Unlimited use of fishing equipment, sea kayaks, bicycles, and tennis equipment Camp Cheeca program for children Amazing spa and fitness studio Oceanfront Tiki bar Full service water sport facility This was a wonderful resort with some of the most beautiful landscape I had ever seen. If you’re looking for a beautiful 5 star resort in the keys, the Cheeca Lodge won’t disappoint. Before I start to talk about the “Allure of the Seas”, I would like to share my thoughts before the cruise with you. About 3 days before the cruise, I thought “What the heck are you doing? There are 5400 people on this ship; I’m going to be around nothing but crowds of senior citizens and small children. I’m going to be in lines for 8 days. What was I thinking???” I couldn’t have been more wrong… Embarking on the ship was smooth, no crowds no lines. The dining venues were all spread out and there were never any lines or crowds no waiting. I dined at 3 specialty restaurants, all were amazing. The service was impeccable. Advanced reservations were not necessary. The main dining room was run very professionally. The service and food were very good. I did 3 shore excursions, and once again disembarkation and embarkation were not an issue. There were 3 days at sea,. I thought the pool area was going to be a nightmare., once again I was proven wrong.. There were plenty of lounge chairs and beach towels, the wait staff was constantly coming around. There is an adult only area called “ The Solarium”. This is an area where adults can kick back and lay in the sun, go into a hot tub or just play cards around one of the many comfy tables and chairs. .This area is large and very spread out., and well monitored,. Royal Caribbean makes sure that the solarium is adults only. The shows were amazing,. There was a broadway production of “ Chicago”, WONDERFUL !!! I saw a comedy show and laughed for two hours. You do need to make advanced reservations for the shows, they do sell out. I had a junior suite and the balcony was 80 square feet. There was plenty of room in the cabin. The cabin steward was great and remembered everyone’s name. . This 225,282 ton, 5400 passenger ship was amazing. This was my first Royal Caribbean cruise ( I’ve been on Holland America, Disney and Celebrity).This was the best cruise I’ve been on.. Beautiful boat, lots of fun things to do for all ages. Please contact me if you have any questions. Robin Paul

FAM REPORT – Kris Levy, East Greenwich

NCL Getaway – St. Maarten, St. Thomas, Bahamas October 25-November 1, 2014

I was eager to travel this NCL cruse since the Getaway, headquartered out of Miami, is a brand new vessel and it became immediately clear that it was a great choice as everything from the rooms to the decks to the lounges and all the restaurants were sparkling new

We flew into Miami and stayed at the Westin in Hollywood. Very nice hotel, pool area and very enjoyable pool bar. The weather was terrible on that day so we took a short drive top the Adventura Mall – incredible if you are into shopping that area. The mall was simply endless with 80% of the shops being very high end.

The ship:

Like I said, all brand new. Stateroom was a pretty typical layout, not huge but comfortable. WiFi is available in packages sold in minutes. A bit expensive but in case one needs to stay in touch daily, it’s very convenient. The WiFi is accessible throughout the vessel.

The Getaway is very children and young adults friendly. Plenty of things to keep kids and teens busy. There were not a lot on board since we traveled during school dates. The ship has a kids nursery and playschool, a young adult area with teen events, an arcade area and bowling lanes. Plus the pools, water slides, rock climbing walls, and a rip line area – also fun for the adults. One upper deck is devoted to aerobics, basketball, shuffle board, etc. Nickelodeon character party, circus workshop were also featured.

Basically only two negatives that we all shared as being in agreement with – #1 was that the balconies were unusually shallow. Literally unable to walk by someone if they were sitting on their balcony chair. Only one swimming pool was the other somewhat negative thing we found.

Night entertainment was phenomenal. And that’s coming from a couple that is not 100% cruse show oriented. A dinner magic show was out first night – The Illusionarium. Amazing!. Howl at the Moon Dueling Pianos was great. But the best was Burn the Floor which we saw twice – a Latin/Cuban music and dance presentation that I rated an A+++ [get a front row seat and enjoy]. The show makes Dancing With The Stars look like a rookie presentation. The Grammy Experience features music and memorabilia of past Grammy winning shows. The ship presented a Newlywed Game, live comedy, a Mr. Sexy Legs competition, a 70’s Disco night, Deal or No Deal, Jeopardy and a Michael Jackson tribute night. Plus a Fiesta Latina latin dance night and a Jazz evening at the Grammy Experience. Legally Blonde, the Musical was presented and the evening of day 4 the ship had an 80’s Party with fireworks.

Day entertainment. Too many bars to speak of [all the bars offered a special daily drink each day], music everywhere, all the time. A great reggae band at poolside. Very comfortable library and card game room. Dan took a $90.00 Behind the Scenes tour of the vessel – backstage from the shows, the main galleys, the laundry area, the environmental area, recycling and water treatment] and best of all – the bridge! It’s very seldom, due to security concerns that passengers are allowed on the bridge but that’s where his tour ended and where the most time was spent. It was really a worthwhile expense to him. Shopping and casino were pretty typical. We did take advantage of some very low prices on high end vodka that they were offering. The standard bingo, trivia contest, etc. were also presented.

Dining. We took a specialty restaurant dining package that allowed us access to any of the specialty restaurants. As a result we did not experience any of the main dining rooms but I did inspect them at off hours and took a look at the daily menus which appeared excellent. The dining areas were beautiful. But I must say, for the price of $—- that we paid for the specialty restaurant package, it is highly recommended. They include Cagney’s Steakhouse, La Cucina Italian, Le Bistro French, Moderno Brazilian Churrascaria, Ocean Blue seafood, Tepanyaki Japanese hibachi, Raw Bar and Wasabi Sushi Bar [great for lunch]. We dined at Le Bistro twice. Cagney’s was outstanding as was the Brazilian steakhouse. We did Tepanyaki our first night with friends. Very good, but kind of typical hibachi. Breakfast was at the main buffet area that also serves buffet lunch but we preferred a quitter area – also breakfast and lunch called Flamingo Bar & Grill. We also had lunch twice and watched the Pats on Sunday at O’Sheehan’s Pub. We were invited to a “meet the crew” cocktail party where drinks and hors d’ouvres were served and where we had the chance to mingle with other guests and talk to the Captain, 1^st and 2^nd Officers, Hotel Director and Cruise Director [and some of the entertainers].

Itinerary:

Day 1. – sail from Miami

Day 2. – sea day

Day 3. – sea day

Day 4. – St. Maarten

Day 5. – St. Thomas, USVI

Day 6. – sea day

Day 7. – Nassau, Bahamas

Day 8. – Disembarkation