Saturday night Brent and I left at midnight from SLC and flew all night long to Atlanta, Georgia and then on to Ft. Lauderdale to board the newest Royal Caribbean cruise ship, now the largest in the world. Many of you may not remember me telling you about this trip, some of you whom I never told can't remember. For those of you who didn't 'care' to remember: eat your heart out! (If it makes you feel any better, we had 'jet lag' the whole trip... and I still can't see straight!)
Our first night we watched the most amazing diving show into this tiny pool (that happens to be 18 feet deep). It also has elevating floors in the water... I'll tell you why! One minute acrobats were diving 3 stories into the pool, and the next minute someone was running across the water. The audience just gasped! It was the coolest trick I ever saw. They also raised acrobats slowly out of the water on one of the elevating platforms, one holding the other in an acrobatic formation. It was an amazing performance. Scuba divers were in the water the whole show helping the divers or assisting the acrobats who had to hold their breath as they were slowly raised out of the water.
Our room wasn't on the outside of the ship, it was on the interior, overlooking the Boardwalk deck. We were suprised the ship was so large they had different decks on the interior. Not only was there a Boardwalk, but a Central Park interior. Our cabin balconies overlooked these decks. It was just amazing to be in the open air and look down and people watch, and then look up at the blue sky too!
We took this photo on the Promenode deck. It was on deck 5 under Central Park on deck 8, 3 floors above. You felt like you were in such an open space like you do in a mall. It had shopping, restaurants, bars, lounges, etc. You could still see Central Park up out through a beautiful atrium window... impressive!
This is a snapshot I took looking down from our balcony onto the Boardwalk. Here there are more shops for kids, ice cream & candy stores, hot dog and hamburgar joints, with the water show amphitheatre at the end.
In this shot you can see the stage better for the water show. I love that I can still see the ocean from my window. You don't have that advantage overlooking Central Park because its enclosed on all sides, although you still can see the sky.
There are a total of 16 floors on the ship, with over 2,000 rooms. Above the 'Allure' sign is where people can ride down a zip line. This is deck 15 where on both sides of the zip line there are 2 flo-rider pools where you can surf. Also on deck15, you can play on a mini-golf course, or on the other side of that, a play on a basketball court. Deck 15 also had many pools and hot tubs towards the center and front of the boat (and the main dining place for breakfast and lunch at the back.) I will never know how they can get so many pools on the highest decks of ships!
I watched these clowns perform for passers-by. Kids would just love this area. Brent said we had to try the 'Johnny Rockets' Hamburgar joint right where the clowns were. They had music playing over the Boardwalk all day. It was fun such a fun atmosphere, and where we spent most our time out in the open air.
The weather was so warm and perfect at 80 degrees, I felt like I was in heaven!
Here was the zip line I mentioned before, I watched all while sitting on my balcony. Cool, huh! Did I mention Adam Sandler was filming his new movie while we were here? Yeah, we saw him... pretty cool!
Looking down on the balcony... whose foot is that! Oh! I must have had a great pedicure at the amazing spa on the ship... oh wait, I did! Do I sound like a travel agent yet?! Thats what happens when you marry one!
The ship featured the Dreamworks characters, so we kept seeing Shrek and Fiona walk by along with some of the creatures from Madagascar. Hence, the photo we took in front of this backdrop.
I told Brent not to sit on the props but he said it was a seat, and he was gonna sit.
These are the rock walls, one on each side of the back of the deck. This is where the water show amphitheatre is. We watched the sun go down here one night. So relaxing and beautiful! Brent asked if I was going to rock-climb to which I responded with usual sarcasm, "not after all the free food I've just eaten!"
We are here on the Boardwalk where we took most our pictures. This is the Johnny Rockets' patio where we are ready to go eat! I just never stopped eating! (After engorging ourselves on the free hamburgars and fries we passed the hot dog stand and Brent bet me $100 to put down 2 hotdogs - gross!) But after he left for a travel agent seminar, I went up to Deck 15 and helped myself to another plate of shrimp, salad, and 2 desserts! Did I say 2? Yes, its true! I never stopped eating, and so can you! Woo hoo! (Lol!)
The clowns are at it again... they had a little kids holding 6 plates all spinning on sticks. I made Brent jump up to grab a shot but he waited too long and the plates dropped. But kids loved it and their families got involved with hula-hoops and other games!
Our room looked right over the top of the carousel. The Boardwalk was just my favorite place. The kids would have just had a blast on this deck with all the shops and dining and fun. I could have stayed another 5 days!
You can see the tip of the carousel in this shot, while I sit on the balcony of our cabin.
Our room was cozy, but the bed was amazingly comfortable! We are getting ready to have dinner with the VP of Sales, Joanne Schimelman, from Royal Caribben. She said they sell the mattresses to guests because they love them so much! Agreed! I'm gonna get right on that!
This is the Promenade Deck, 2 floors under the Central Park. I stole this photo off the Allure of the Seas website. I really wanted to portray how spacious it is in here, full of eating spots, shopping, lounges, bars, entertainment, etc.
This picture is just to give you an idea of the size of this ship. I think its just beautiful!
This is our Chef who cooked our 6 course meal at the most beautiful restaurant, '150 Central Park', where we ate dinner with Joanne, who was such a sweetheart, btw! The Chef, Maureen Brandt won her position in an 8-week contest this summer for a one year contract on the ship. She came over after the meal and talked to us for a minute. I immediately thought she looked like 'Punky-Brewster'! (Or the young girl actress from the movie 'Beaches'! Totally!) Yes, the meal was amazing, by the way!
These are images I found online of the Central Park and surrounding balonies. The VP of Sales, Joanne, said they had a hard time selling the interior cabins on the ship because only the exterior cabins on most ships have windows or balconies. People didn't want to book these because they didn't know they have balccony views of the Central Park, or at our end, the Boardwalk. They were pleasantly suprised to find these were open aired and overlooked such beautiful decks. The lights at night make it all the more amazing!
We had such a fun time for just 2 days! I didn't mention the ice skating show we saw or the comedian who made me laugh harder than I have ever laughed in my life! I was so sad to leave after just 2 days! Maybe we can go back together as a family vacation for 2012! Every body chant... 'Family cruise', 'Family cruise'!
I had to add this last photo for good measure, of the Solarium on the front of the ship on Deck 16. One of the best (and favorite places) for adults! So beautiful to look out over the ocean and lounge around while reading a book or sit in a hot tub and do nothing! C'mon people: "family cruise! family cruise!"
