Traveling with the Jones — Sharing Travel Discoveries

A Look Around the World’s Largest Cruise Ship, the Allure of the Seas

by Janis on July 30, 2014

A few weeks ago, over the 4th of July, we sailed on Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas from Ft. Lauderdale.

At 225,000 gross tons, 1,187 feet long and 208 feet wide, the Allure is one of the two largest ships at sea.

Technically, the Allure was built exactly the same as its sister ship the Oasis of the Seas. But, SOMEHOW, the Allure measures 2 inches longer than the Oasis.

So it’s the world’s largest cruise ship. At least until the Oasis III and Oasis IV ships are launched. It will be interesting to see if they end up three and four inches longer than the original.

Here’s a quick look around the Allure of the Seas

Lots of action occurs on Deck 15 of the Allure. In the photo above you can see the zip line over the Boardwalk (Deck 6) below. The Boardwalk leads into the AquaTheater. Deck 15 is Sports Zone with two Flow Riders, a mini-golf course, basketball court and many pools and hot tubs.

This is a view of the kid’s pool area and the Baby Splash Zone on Deck 15. There are activities for every age of cruise on the Allure, making the ship ideal for multi-generation cruising families.

Deck 15 also features two hot tubs that cantilever out over the ocean off each side of the ship. All of the hot tubs are for adults only.

The Solarium is at the front of the ship on Deck 15. It is a relaxing oasis reserved for guests who are 16 years of age or older. There are two levels, a pool and several hot tubs, with many lounge chairs for relaxing. The roof is partly covered and partly open, so you can get sun or shade depending on where you sit. This was a very popular location on our cruise, but when the ship was in port in Cozumel, it was empty, and very enjoyable.

The photo above was taken from the AquaTheater stage during the complimentary backstage tour. You can see the two rock climbing walls, and some of the AquaTheater seating looking back towards the Deck 6 Boardwalk. These balconies are part of the boardwalk-view balcony staterooms.

One of the highlights of the Boardwalk is the Carousel, with it’s hand-carved animals. The Carousel usually operates most of the day and evening on sea days, and during the late afternoon and evening on port days.

At the aft end (or back end of the ship) on Decks 3, 4 and 5 you will find the three-level Adagio Dining Rooms, where breakfast and dinner are served daily, and lunch is served on sea days.

On Deck 5, a jogging/walking track circles the ship. 2.4 laps equals one mile.

While you cannot see the ocean from most of the jogging track (lifeboats block the view),there is a nice viewing spot at the back of the ship on Deck 5.

Deck 8 features the unique Central Park, with 12,175 plants and 56 trees. This was one of our favorite parts of the Allure. The balconies that you see in the above photo are considered a Central Park View Balcony Stateroom.

Along Central Park there are a number of specialty restaurants such as 150 Central Park shown in the photo above, Chops Grille steakhouse and Giovanni’s Table Italian. There are some upscale shops such as the Coach store.

Our two favorite destinations in Central Park where the Park Cafe for breakfast and/or lunch, and the Vintages Tapas and Wine Bar.

We booked our cruise very last minute, about a week before departure. We were in an interior stateroom on Deck 11 on the forward part of the ship. Here’s a look inside cabin 11533 on the Allure.

Have you sailed on Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas? If so, what is your favorite part of the ship? Please share in comments below.

I’ve also sailed recently on Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas. Check out these posts to learn more about that ship…

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5 Fun Facts You May Want To Know About Suva, Fiji

by Megan Bryde on July 29, 2014

Suva is the capital of Fiji, the island nation in the South Pacific Ocean. Built on a peninsula with three side reaching out into the sea, Suva is Fiji’s second largest city by population.

Fiji_map Tourism is a mainstay of the Fiji economy, and Suva is a popular, remote cruise port.

5 Fun Facts About Suva, Fiji

1. Suva was made the capital of Fiji in 1877 when the Levuka settlement’s geography proved to be too restrictive.

2. The original intentions for the city of Suva were for it to be developed as a cotton farming industry to pay off the debts owed to the United States by the Bauan chieftain, Seru Epenisa Cakobau. But, the land and climate proved to be unsuitable for growing cotton.

3. Suva is the commercial and political center of Fiji.

Photo Couresy of Jay 2602

4. Suva contains six city wards, each of which is an administrative unit of a city region, starting from the city center, then going north, and then in a clockwise rotation.

5. Suva has a tropical rainforest climate and averages 3,000 more than 118 inches of precipitation a year.

Have fun in Fiji!

Learn more about Suva and Fiji with these resources:

Insight Guides: Explore Fiji

Lonely Planet Fijian Phrasebook & Dictionary

This post is written by Megan Bryde, a forever student of the world while also finishing up her bachelors in English at Truman State University this semester.

Involved in too many activities, she sings as loud as she can, writes, cooks, bakes, and drinks a lot of coffee. Check out her blog and LinkedIn page to see more about what she does.

Megan is currently completing an internship with VentureTime Travel and aspires to be teaching English someday.

Enjoy learning about far away destinations? Here are some other destinations to consider:

Destination Discovery: Alupka Palace, near Yalta, Ukraine
A Spring Walk Through Bruges, Belgium
A Walk Around Downtown Perth, Australia
Destination Discovery: Fernando de Noronha, Pernambuco
Visiting Switzerland? Top 5 Things to Do Around Interlaken, Switzerland
Cruising Bermuda: Views from the Royal Naval Dockyard

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7 Not-So-Conventional Ways of Traveling Across the Country

by Megan Bryde on July 28, 2014

Everyone is quite familiar with boarding a plane, or driving a car, or perhaps even sailing to their desired destination.

But some people may be interested in those other crazy people who make it across the country or ocean in other ways.

Ever wonder “How do they do it?”

My only answer can be, “They simply do.”

Many people may also wonder, “Why do they do it?”

There may be many answers related to the experience, or saving money, or moral issues.

Here are 7 Not-So-Conventional Ways to Travel Across the Country.

1. Some people still take the train to travel long distances.
I took this picture out the window when I was leaving Kansas City, going back to Kirksville, Missouri by train. NOTE: You take the Amtrak train from Kansas City, Missouri to La Plata, Missouri (2 hours), followed by a 15-minute Truman shuttle from La Plata, Missouri to the Truman State University campus.

2. Some people bike more than 180 miles to get where they are going.
Ok, so it wasn’t 180 miles, but it was four miles away from my house. Yes, those are some cows in a nearby field…This is where my tire blew out and I had to have someone come and get me. Fun times…

3. Some people go by cargo ship or freighter to travel across seas.
I have to say that this is definitely on one of my bucket lists.

4. Some people couch surf. Couch surfing is a way to save money on where you are staying in another country if you don’t have anyone to host. But, be careful. There are definitely risks involved.

I JUST got started….The day before yesterday. Wish me luck!

5. Some people ride in a buggy.

Photo Courtesy of TheCadExpert

One time I found one of these driving through my neighborhood in Kirksville. Which is something you definitely do not see everyday, but you will commonly find them going along the highway.

6. Some people take the bus for long distances. Usually this is called taking the intercity bus service.

I’ve only taken one of these once. And it was for to take a large group of kids to Columbus, Ohio. And I have to say, it was rather enjoyable. I honestly couldn’t imagine taking that many hyper kids on a airplane.

7. Canoe camping. It is the practice quite similar to backpacking where one will canoe for great distances, and then set up camp on on the shore of the body of water that they are canoeing.

Photo Courtesy of Mwanner

Some of these ways of travel are adventurous (even dangerous) and I wouldn’t recommend most of them if you aren’t fit and active or able to take care of horses.

However, you may want to consider all of these unusual methods of transportation to make your tip more adventuresome.

You may be able to see more sights this way or discover something more about yourself. Whatever the case may be it will certainly defy conventional modern travel, and will definitely push you to your limits.

What other ways do you know how to travel across the country? Care to share with us?

This post is written by Megan Bryde, a forever student of the world while also finishing up her bachelors in English at Truman State University this semester.

Involved in too many activities, she sings as loud as she can, writes, cooks, bakes, and drinks a lot of coffee. Check out her blog and linkedin page to see more about what she does.

Megan is currently completing an internship with VentureTime Travel and aspires to be teaching English someday.

Want to search for other ways in which to make your travels more exciting? Look at these posts:

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Two Weeks Later, How WDS14 Is Still Impacting My Life

by Janis on July 26, 2014

Two weeks ago today I was just getting into the thick of WDS14 in Portland, Oregon.

WDS is the World Domination Summit, an annual gathering in its fourth year designed to bring together people who are seeking answers to this question:

How do we live a remarkable life in a conventional world?

WDS focuses on three values:

Adventure – taking risks and doing new things
Community – connecting with interesting people
Service – making the world a better place

The event is hosted by Chris Guillebeau, a guy who set out to lead a non-conformity movement and visit every one of the world’s 193 countries by the time he was 35. And he achieved both goals.

This was my second year attending WDS, which I awkwardly describe as:

“going to Portland with 2,500 other people of all ages and backgrounds from around the globe to attend thought-provoking TED-like talks and participate in quirky activities.”

Why?

For me, WDS is a weekend of inspiration.

WDS14 poster created by cartoonist Gavin Aung of ZENPENCILS. An inspiring speaker, Aung gave each attendee this artwork at the close of his presentation.

WDS is a weekend of gleaning new ideas from thought leaders, some well-known, and some not-so-well-known.

WDS14 speaker Dee Williams, author of The Big Tiny, talked about striking a power pose with a superhero cape when you need the courage to get started on big ideas. (In this case, the cape is a red blanket from a Delta airlines flight.)

WDS is a weekend of meeting people –very unique people– who all are already doing, or who want to do something out-of-the-ordinary with their lives.

WDS offers many opportunities to connect with interesting people – from St. Louis (left) to Tokyo, Japan (right).

What’s most impressive about my attendance at WDS14 is what I’m doing differently in my life two weeks after the event.

After all, it’s easy to go to conferences or training session or weekend retreats and get excited with new ideas.

It’s another thing to go home and put them into action.

It’s especially challenging to keep at those new ideas when the going gets a little tough.

Because, sooner or later, life happens, and the energy to keep working on pursuing new things becomes diluted.

Two weeks after WDS14 I’m happy to report that I’m 12 days into a 30-day Green Smoothie Challenge, inspired by speaker Jadah Sellner, co-founder of Simple Green Smoothies. Even more impressive is that fact that Mr. Jones, despite his I-was-raised-in-Alaska-with-only-canned-vegetables-so-I-don’t-eat-them mantra, is also enjoying a daily green smoothie.

The take-away from Jadah’s presentation was not about converting to the green smoothie tribe. Her presentation was about overcoming difficulties in entrepreneurial businesses, and about taking consistent, ninja-focused actions, and trying new things to see what sticks. She mentioned that Simple Green Smoothies started with sharing recipes via an Instagram account, so my take-away was to check out her feed. Those fabulous photos and easy directions made me want to try this green stuff. Plus, when I bought Chia seeds I learned that a spoonful a day was the power food of the ancient Mayan warriors. If you’ve ever been to Chichén Itzí¡, you know how impressive the Mayans were both in strength and brain power.

Now, thanks to Jadah, not only are we consuming more vegetables and fruit every day, we are thinking about how to better harness the power of Instagram for sharing travel discoveries.

While I’ve followed Michael Hyatt’s Intentional Leadership blog closely for several years, I was surprised how he shared a “new” story during his presentation at WDS, about the challenges and impact of his father’s drinking problem. Michael shared about falling into the drifting life, where you just kind of drift along. He also described the opposite, the driven life, which can result as an over correction, to the point that live has no meaning or joy. The third alternative is the designed life, the one in which you determine what’s most important, and what brave decisions you have to make each day to get the designed life that you want.

Be brave was a continual theme of WDS14.

We are fairly adventurous in our travel, and most would consider “brave” about trying new things. But it’s always good to have a reminder.

Author AJ Jacobs spoke about his “quest” books such as The Year of Living Biblically where he spent a year trying to follow every rule in the bible.

Jacobs claims that he’s not naturally brave, but he’s forced himself to 1) be bold, 2) be experimental, and 3) be strategic. No one achieves much by staying home or avoiding risks. Now I’m reading My Life as an Experiment: One Man’s Humble Quest to Improve Himself. I’m intrigued by the idea that “it’s easier to act your way into a new way of thinking, than to think you way into a new way of acting.”

Besides embracing living experiments, my take-away messages from Jacobs are to: “try new things”, and “don’t over think if the action will or will not work; instead, throw yourself into the action and see what happens.”

Another WDS14 take-away was a preview copy of Chris Guillebeau’s newest book coming out this September. In The Happiness of Pursuit: Finding the Quest That Will Bring Purpose to Your Life, Chris shares the stories of his own quest to visit every country in the world. He also shares the stories of a number of other people’s quests. Just reading the “sneak peak” has made us set a couple of new major quest goals, which we will be sharing on this blog in the future.

I’ve already signed up for WDS 2015. If it seems like something that you might be interested in, you can get the details of when tickets for WDS 2015 go on sale here.

Are you pursuing a quest related to travel? If so will you share in comments below?

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