Trips, Pics, and Tales

Ok....we're finally sailing! And we're getting ready for dinner. Here's where the planning gets a bit crazy.  If you've never sailed on one of these big ships, this is something a bit unique.  With all of these passengers on board, if  you want to really see specific shows and  eat either at specific restaurants or at certain times, and if you have kids that may be going to the kids or teen clubs, there is a huge puzzle as to how it will all play out!  At first you think, sure - I can just book my dining and the rest will just fall into place.  Well, think again!    I started reading some reviews and I then I realized how the Entertainment on the Allure worked. How the shows may only happen once or twice during the cruise. And then, what about the teen club? How do I fit in dining if the kids want to dash out for activities at night? Usually when we cruise, Megan has been in the "kid" club and really doesn't participate. Alex on the other had leav...

It was time to go check out our cabins, and then get ready for our sail away from Ft. Lauderdale! We were on deck 9, and as I mentioned, we had cabins right across the hall from one another, a Boardwalk Balcony for the kids and an Ocean View Balcony for Keith and I.  When we went in to drop off the carry on bags and do a quick "check out the cabins" we were lucky enough to have our luggage be dropped off already! By the time stamps on the pictures it was about 3:45, so we were lucky that it came so early!  Just a couple of pictures of our cabin And a picture of the bathroom, sort of! It's pretty difficult to actually get a picture of the bathroom, but I'm guessing most of you have seen the pictures before! I don't have pictures of the kid's room, but it was exactly the same as ours, although we did have their beds split apart. At some point I know I have a picture of them sleeping, which I will post    and they'll love me for that! So...

We were just about to board! Finally! It seemed we had waited forever back at the hotel. Only one thing left to do, that's right - I'm all about the pictures! My family puts up with me. I don't even know why I bother since most of them don't turn out very well, but you never know when you get a good one! So, that brings up the picture package! On some of the cruise lines you can pre-purchase a picture package of either a set number of the ship photographer pictures, say 10 or 20 photos, or you can get ALL of the pictures they take. I thought about pre-purchasing the picture package before the cruise. But I did that before and we really didn't make very good use of it. And it's expensive if you don't like the pictures or if you don't make the time to get many pictures taken. But on the other hand, if you like even maybe 10 or so pictures, the package more than pays for itself.  It's a delicate balance here!  In the end, I didn't pre-purchase the...

The time had finally come!  February was finally here and it was time to sail! We flew out of BWI the Saturday before the cruise left, stopping for lunch at the airport! We flew Southwest, and had a bit of time at the gate before boarding. The flight was on time and from BWI to FLL was a quick trip. We booked the Residence Inn Airport and Cruise Port Hotel. I picked this specifically because they indicated they had rollaway beds available. At this age my kids won't share a bed at all. Not even for one night. So when I can find a rollaway, it works out best for all of us. I also got a really great rate. We left the airport, and took a cab, although I later found out the hotel offered a shuttle, which I didn't see offered on their website. But again, I heard from other guests the shuttle ended up taking them more than an hour due to heavy traffic. So, we arrived at the hotel only to be told that  no  they don't have rollaways, they never have and it...

We were heading out again! It was just a month ago that my family and I were sailing along on the wonderful Allure of the Seas....and I wonder, how could time have gone by so quickly? Reality has set back in already and it's almost as if we never were on board. So, that must mean it's time to relive that vacation, and what better way, than by sharing it here on my blog with those here in a hopefully, super detailed trip report!  Sailing along is myself (Shelley), and I'm totally addicted to traveling. I'll pretty much go anywhere and it really takes quite a lot for something to make a vacation go wrong for me. I tend to roll with the punches, go with the flow. Of course, there will be issues, but let's work them out and move on! That's just how I am. Then there's my husband, Keith, he absolutely hates to go on cruises. Funny right? But he tolerates them because that's what works well for our family. As much as in his mind he says he hates them, every si...