OK, so I have now priced a trip on the FOS in a large oceanview for 4 for under $4k. I can't wait to see your comparisons of the kids clubs and other activities. I thought about a balcony but can't fight the smoke and I will be upset if I paid for a balcony and couldn't use it. You reference the independence of the Seas and you seemed to like it. The FOS is the sister ship right? Can't wait for more!
Freedom is indeed the sister ship of Independence. The only difference is the name of the venues and now Freedom has had some improvements- like Cupcake Cupboard and Dreamworks Experience. You can read my Independence TR on CC, check out the link in my signature. That should give you a really good idea of what to expect. It is an awesome cruise, a lot of things about Freedom class we actually like better than Allure. The solarium for one, Allure's solarium is beautiful but the pool is Disney Dream Tiny. And we are big pool fans. I agree about the balcony and smoke. We've rolled the dice 4 times now and this is the first time we "lost".
Following along hangin' on every word! We are set to be on the Fantasy with you next September.
Awesome! We are going to have an amazing cruise in just 11 months!!!!
We just got off our first ever cruise, 3-day Dream, last month. It took Mickey to get me to try cruising...now I'm trying to be open to cruising in general. The in-laws are wanting to do a big family reunion cruise for Thanksgiving 2013 on the Allure your TR is absolutely invaluable for me right now. If you happen to know where I can see more pics, floorplans, etc. for RCI's ships let me know. I'd really reaaaally appreciate it!
That sounds amazing, I think both you and your family will love Allure. you'll be an old pro at cruising by then!
I got most all of my info from Cruise Critic- they used to have a whole board just for Allure which made finding everything so easy, but now they only have a general RCCL board. (If you see my TR there, resist the urge to read it! LOL! That one is further ahead of this one but I promise this one will be much better!!!!)
As far as deck plans my favorite site for that is
cruisedeckplans.com They have a drag and drop feature that allows you to see what is directly above and below your room! LOVE that!!! As for pictures I aim to show you everything you'll need to see and then some. We took 4700 pics on our cruise!!! I'll probably post about 4,229 of them.....
Call me a balcony snob, too, but is that indoor/outdoor carpet I see?! We had a balcony on the Dream and the floor decking was so nice, smooth, and aesthetically pleasing. I don't want to say it was wood planking because I'm 99% sure it's a faux thing but kudos for the effort in maintaining a higher level of decor even outside on a balcony deck. Ya know? That scratchy cheap-o indoor/outdoor surface would be a serious downer. Ugh! Oooooohhhh....would the balcony deck surface be another point for Mickey???? I would be so pleased with myself if I just evened out the ballgame!!!! Go Team Mickey! ((although I'm thinking just from what I've seen there's a whoooole lot that Shrek wipes the floor with the mouse on))
Welll......as for your last comment I won't say either way but there is a point coming up where it gets really hard to compare any further...LOL! As far as the balcony flooring, no it isn't indoor/outdoor carpeting, it is a smooth hard floor. Looks textured but it isn't really.
totally want to thank you for the genius behind booking a stateroom directly across from yours for the kids. On RCI my BiL says he always gets his kids a separate stateroom. I could never see my DH sailing without a balcony room so I'm looking at those balcony room prices thinking "dang, this could hurt". Booking the boys inside across the hall is pure genius! Saves us a buck and provides a little more separation!
YES! It is a teensy bit more inconvenient to go back & forth between, but we've found it well worth the price savings. WE've done it for the past 3 cruises now (minus Indy where we all fit in one regular room!
) and it has worked out marvelously!!
OOOOh! And is there anything on Allure akin to the Wave phones? Those were essential to keep up with the boys on the Dream. I don't know what I'd do without them on a ship that's even bigger!
Again, cannot thank you enough!!!!! Your report is my new textbook to study!!!
There are phones like the wave phones, but they aren't free to use like on the Dream*. They can be rented I think for $25 for two for the week from Guest Services. I have seen posted that these are iphones but the only phones I actually saw in use on our cruise were the regular Cisco dect phones (which are like the wave phones)
*BUT you do get one free one from AO is you have a child in AO that does not have check out privileges. It may be possible and I have read of families with multiple children being able to get more than one phone from AO and then just using them to call each other with. I think that would depend on AO staff, as once we had one phone that is the one they would call us with. Can't promise it would work, but it's something to think about!
Thanks so much for reading, I promise there will not be a test at the end!! Feel free to ask any questions you have, I'm happy to help and there is SO mcuh to learn about Allure!
Note to self- never stand downwind of Ron in any situation.....
Word.
We are planning to go on whatever ship they have in Bayonne in 2013- I'd be fine with Explorer, but I have heard a rumor it might switch to a Freedom class, which would be fabulous! I would, however, REALLY miss the "How YOU cruisin" show every day with Jimmy Rhodes- he is the best CD out there, soooooo funny, and he does this show everyday about what's going on onboard that they show on the tv- he likes Wendy Williams alot, so he does that "How you cruisin" thing with his hands just like she does "How YOU doin". Anyway.......
Great, great TR- you always give sooooo many amazing details, I feel like I was there!
I wish you had been there! Can you imagine!!!! We may not have made it back to tell the story!
That would be so awesome if you got a Freedom class ship up there, Liberty is getting the upgrades that Freedom is getting (or already has) so that would be perfect!!!
Have heard great things about Jimmy Rhodes! We thought Ken Rush was pretty funny, although we didn't get to Quest...AGAIN! He isn't a big favorite on CC but I don't get the hate, really. Joff Eaton who we had on Independence was fabulous! I love cheeky Brit humor!!!
Thanks for the plantiful room photos. Shame about your smoking neighbours I am a reformed smoker but the smell really, really bothers me now (in fact, there was an old fella behind me at the cashpoint yesterday smoking and I had to give him the evil eye until he backed off a bit). I would have hated that.
It was kindof a bummer. I can tolerate it much better than Ron. We still had plenty of opportunity to enjoy it though!
Gotta admit, the kids' stateroom looked tiny with the beds pushed together
Yeah, and our SR host Anthony kept asking us if we were sure we wanted it that way because it would seem much smaller, and we said yes, it doesn't matter how small it seems, if Brendan and Savannah had to sleep in the same bed at this point, somebody would not emerge alive in the morning. LOL. I kind of think he didn't want it moved because it is harder to make the beds when they are against the well? It definitely seemed a lot LARGER once they were separated!
DH told his Mum today that 'we' were thinking of doing a cruise on the Oasis of the Seas in March 2013 (for my 40th) - my hinting/nagging is clearly doing the trick
Woo-hoo! That would be soo awesome!!!!
Oh- and I wanted to add, ITA about the DCL H2O Spa products- love the smell, and I buy it to use at home because if I close my eyes, it feels like I'm on the Magic!
YES! I always bring home extra from the cruise (curse those smaller bottles!) and save it for when I'm having a bad day I'll draw up a nice bath and lather up in my DCL H20 and ..I'm there again...ahh!
As long as you are not blowing smoke into my balcony there is no need to fear.
Ron
we've been debating taking a break too from Mickster. Sooo hanging on your every word...
If you do, this is the way to go! LOL! Thanks so much for reading!!!
Hey Jen
I want to be you when I grow up ...
Haha!
You've got a good start! Keep up the hard work and you'll be me before you know it!
We're booked on the Magic for the Easter Carribean cruise in 152 days (but who's counting??). Looking forward to hear what you did in port.
I've got some good ones for you. One that I did through RCCL but is also available through Disney- and get this...it's actually $10 cheaper through DCL! Yea Baby! That was St. Thomas. The one in St. Maarten we booked on our own and is amazing too. I promise Ill get to that part of the TR before March!
Isn't THAT the truth!!!!
Jen, do all RC ships have the same smoking rules? I thought on FOTS that it was NOT allowed on balconies? My inlaws smoke and I've already warned them that it is only allowed in a couple places (from what I've obsessively read already).
Yes the smoking policy on RCCL is fleetwide. So as far as I know unless I am not privy to any inside info specific to Freedom, smoking is OK on Freedom balconies too.
H20 products were on a discounted sale a few weeks ago at the WDW deluxe hotels. I stocked up! Love it.
Me tooo!!!
Good to know about the roast beef sandwiches...thanks for the response!p/quote[
You're welcome!!
Those RCI rooms are so teeny-tiny, but at least they are getting larger than the old Sovereign class ships...oy! I agree...the decor is lovely in your staterooms! Oasis/Allure have not been on my radar at all for sailing myself, but after reading your report, I may just have to give them a try!
You might have to, it's pretty awesome!!!
I'm going to have to bookmark the post with your door picture to use against the posters I always read claiming "I've never seen door magnets anywhere but on the DCL ships!"
LOL and we weren't the only ones! There was room down the hall from us that had a neat sign made out of scrapbooking materials (paper ones vs. the digital that I use) and it was really pretty.
I am so enjoying your TR, I started reading it on CC but I'll stick with this one![.quote]
Oh good! That one is ahead but this one will have all the funny stories, more pics and vids and all of the stuff I'm afraid to say over there. LOL!!!
I really want to try a Freedom class ship. I do have a question, are any of the restaurants on the Promenade included or are they all an extra charge?
The only restaurants on the Promeande that cost extra are Cupcake Cupboard and Starbucks.
Starbucks prices are the same as on land and Cupcakes run $2.75/each!
And wow how empty the chairs were on the pool decks! We did the Dream this summer, which was great, but talk about chair hogs! Sea day was totally full near the pools. Waiting for more!
Well. this was the first day and all but we never had trouble finding a chair right near the pool even on busy sea days.
Thanks so much for reading!!!
OK its official - I am stalking you
Can't wait for more
LOL, I will have more soon, promise!! Stinking work, always getting in the way of my fun.
I cannot get over the sheer size of that ship! Did you ever feel like it was TOO big?
To be honest, yes we did feel that way sometimes. It is a lot of walkign ...its 1/4 mile from forward to aft! Sometimes we wanted something but just did not relish the thought of going "all the way" down or up or over or across to get it. But we only felt that way sometimes, mostly when we were tired. If we had picked an aft room, I think it would have been a bit better since most everything tends to be aft. We did like being feet away from the kids club though!!
Ok guys, I know I've been slacking a bit. I promise I will get back on track here and I will have a really fun installment for you tomorrow morning or afternoon!!
I am a reformed smoker but the smell really, really bothers me now (in fact, there was an old fella behind me at the cashpoint yesterday smoking and I had to give him the evil eye until he backed off a bit). I would have hated that.
with that smilie!!! 
