Cruising The Allure Of The Seas

Yesterday I gave you a tour of the Allure of the Seas, the largest cruise ship on the water. Now you're probably wondering where we went. 

We began our trip in Ft. Lauderdale where we ate at an awesome restaurant on the intercoastal. I had blackened salmon and plantain chips. My mom had a lot of wine.

Our cruise left Ft. Lauderdale and sailed to Nassau, Bahamas - St. Thomas - St. Maarten and we had three glorious days at sea. My fave. Not so good on the bar tab though.

Leaving Port

First stop - Nassau

View of Atlantis from our balcony

Enjoying a local brew

Everyone in Nassau seemed to be on island time and nothing was open when we got off the ship. We walked around and waited for shops to open. We shopped around and grabbed a drink.

The next day we were at sea and I spent the day lounging at the pool and we explored the ship.

Next stop 

St. Thomas

I watched as we came in port.

St. Thomas is known for low priced jewelry and electronics so we shopped around town. After some shopping we grabbed a drink before more shopping on our way back to the ship. More local brews.

After St. Thomas we went to 

St. Maarten

From our pier, we took a ferry over to town. We were on the Dutch side and took a cab to the French side to check it out.

And of course we stopped for a drink before getting back on the ship.

I didn't want to leave St. Maarten!

Dinner that night was fabulous though.

On our second to last day at sea I took a cupcake making class to get a break from the sun.

Then we had lobster for dinner.

On our last day at sea, we took a break from the pool to go to Rita's Cantina, the Mexican restaurant on the ship. I drank my sorrows away being it was our last day of our cruise. 

Then I went back to the pool and drank some more while listening to the band. 

I had so much fun on our last cruise. There just wasn't enough time in the week for the size of the ship we were on. I want to go back!! Mom? She reads my blog.

Holy Ship!

A year ago today I was leaving Denver for Ft. Lauderdale to meet my parents. 

We were going on a cruise! Not just any cruise, the largest cruise ship that is floating on the sea. The Allure of the Seas. 

I took so many pictures on our trip last year that I have to make this post into two. The ship deserves a post of her own because of the size and extravagance. Words cannot describe and pictures don't do justice for the Allure of the Seas.

We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale the day before the ship set sail. We were one of the first people in line the next morning and one of the first ones on the ship!

Waiting to get on the ship.

As soon as we set foot on the ship we were immediately on the royal promenade. 

I was in awe, and acting like the 12 year old child that I do, I wanted to go everywhere and see everything all at once. First, we made our way to the pool deck and grabbed a drink. It was 11am. Hey, we were on vacation!

This is the second of four pools that were on the ship. 

After we grabbed our first drink on the pool deck, we made our way to the Central Park deck for another drink.

Usually, a large cruise ship will have a Royal Promenade, or central deck where all of the shops and a few bars and restaurants are located. This is the deck where you can walk around the entire ship on the outside deck. 

The Allure of the Seas had a royal promenade as well as seven other neighborhoods. Central Park and The Boardwalk were just two of these neighborhoods. In each neighborhood, you truly felt like you were in a different world. For example, Central Park really felt like you were at a park. The shops were upscale, Coach, and the restaurants were steakhouses and a wine bar. You could hear birds chirping and it was very lush and green. 

View of Central Park from the pool deck.

All pictures of Central Park, the wine bar and the Coach store.

In addition to Central Park, I mentioned The Boardwalk. This neighborhood was as if you were on the boardwalk of a beach, there was a carrousel, beach shops, Johnny Rockets and a Mexican restaurant. I liked the feel of the boardwalk but it stressed my mom out because thats also where a lot of younger kids hung out.

View of The Boardwalk from the pool deck.

The Royal Promenade had a cupcake shop, a pizza place, an Irish Pub, Starbucks...that's all just off the top of my head. I'm telling you, I can't even fit the whole ship into one post.

The spa on this ship was ridiculous. And we haven't even been to the top deck yet.

Now, moving back to the top deck. The best deck, the pool deck, where I am known to spend most of my time with a drink in my hand. The pool deck gets pretty serious. During days at sea, in order to get a chair at the pool I need to be there at sunrise. I kid you not. I'll wake up and head to my chair where its pretty peaceful. I'll hang out in the early morning until my mom gets around. She'll come watch the chairs while I get around and shower. Then we begin our day at the pool.

Most importantly, the band.

There were about 4 different pools on the ship but this was my favorite one.

Moving along, there is more to the top deck then just the pools. Believe it or not! There's basketball, put-put and a flow rider. Oh yeah, and a rock climbing wall. I'm sure there is more that I'm forgetting.

Now some random pictures around the ship.

The Aquatheater

Kiddie Pool

Our Balcony

The elevator, with directions where everything was located.

Map of the ship

I could go on for hours showing you all of the pictures I have but I don't want to take up too much of your time.

Tomorrow I'll tell you where we went and what we did while we were cruising the Allure of the Seas!