The highlight of our cruise for me was learning to surf on the surfrider. The kids loved boogie boarding as well. The staff is amazing and taught the most clumsy people (namely me) to do barrel rolls, surf on our knees and do fancy tricks with a good mix of expertise, humor and empathy. The lines for this get longer every day so I highly recommend going the first day if possible. Morning sessions are less busy as well. I took a lesson and as the lessons are a night, it gets very cold. TIP: Book any lessons on the days that you are the most south, ideally at the end of the day from Labadee. The water will be warmer as well.

Allure and Oasis vs. Freedom and Independence

The Allure and the Oasis have two FlowRiders which is a definite advantage as the lines are long, it takes about ½ hour wait for a 3 minute ride. However, most people don’t mind waiting as it’s rather entertaining watching the others take their turns. Despite having 2 flowriders I’m told lines are the same on all four ships by a frequent cruiser. The main advantages is that you have more open hours for surfing and boogie boarding as they run simultaneously, so you get to surf more.