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Preview/Review of Allure of the Seas - Eastern Caribbean Oct 13 - 20, 2013


7x5090g
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I was cruising with 3 other families and 2 of them never cruised before. Getting them on the largest cruise ship of all time was really somthing for them. I saw their eyes as they stepped onto the Royal Promenade..."THIS IS A SHIP?????".

 

Yes by now it was almost noon. After the Suite passengers and frequent floaters had boarded, we finally got on. First order of business.....making a beeline to Windjammer of course!!

 

Since we were the first 500 or so passengers on board (not counting the few back-to-back cruisers who were already on), the Windjammer was empty. We got ourselves a large table (with kids on a separate one at the port side corner)...LET THE EATING BEGIN!!!

 

 

 

 

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Here is a shot aft of the Windjammer overlooking the minigolf course

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12:30PM, the announcement came telling us that all the staterooms are ready for us. With the kids still eating, I took my carry on and headed down to my room (9456). I only booked a large inside stateroom for my DW and DS and fully expected to be a little cramped. But only spending my sleeping/changing time in the stateroom for the next 7 days, this was more than adequate.

 

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I quickly unpacked my carry on (took 2 minutes) before the rest of the family joined me. 15 minutes later we headed directly to deck 14 forward (conveniently located just 4 decks above our stateroom - as anticipated there was NO deck 13 on this ship)

 

 

More to come...

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Eastern. I have sailed the Oasis but this will be my first time on the Allure. We are bringing 3 other couples that have never cruised before so I'm really excited for them.

 

Ah same itinerary as mine. I will try to finish up my review in time for you then.

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Day 1 cont'd

 

Arrived at the kids center and found it relatively deserted. There were 5 kids in my party in 3 different age groups.

 

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We quickly registered all the kids and headed down to the promenade.

 

NOTE: we had a huge problem with one of the counsellors at the kids club. My son and his friend refused to go back after. More on that later.

 

Met up with an old friend on the RP

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After spending the next couple of hours watching the kids on Deck 15 (spent between the flow-rider and the current pool), I decided to head down to my stateroom again around 3:15ish. By then most of the 6000+ new passengers had already boarded. As soon as I turned the corner, I spotted my 3 suit cases sitting outside my stateroom. Yes, 3:15 I got all my bags delivered before muster drill. For a boat this size, I was impressed. I spent the next hour and 15 minute unpacking. I really wanted to get this done before muster drill AND definitely before turndown. With early dinning at 6:00, muster drill, sail-away there was no time to be had before the turndown service. In my tiny inside stateroom for 3, once they open up the sofa bed, there would be barely enough room to stand, let alone with an open suit case (I really didn’t want to lay the suit case on my turned down bed).

 

 

 

Pet peeve: I was surprised that they did not provide a vinyl cover for the bed for us to put the suit cases on. This would have been much easier for us.

 

 

 

By 4:15, DW and DS were back from the pool. We headed down to the Amber theatre (Muster Station B1) on the 4th deck. Checked in and sat down. We were shown a video of the evacuation procedure. By 4:40 we heard the all clear by the captain and it was then when the fun really began.

 

 

 

Note: Personal floatation devices are now stored in the muster stations. Gone were the days when they are stored inside the staterooms (Big plus as it frees up lots of closet spaces).

 

 

 

We headed straight up to Deck 14 forward (just above the bridge) for the Web Cam Wave. We got up there just as the bow/stern thrusters were activated, starting our weeklong vacation.

 

 

Here's a look at the CF

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Coast Guard was there to watch us (pretty darn serious with that machine gun). In the meantime, there was this tiny sail boat coming in and she was dead center in the channel where this 225,000 ton boat was going to be at. Captain gave the horn a few blows and she eventually moved out of the way.

 

 

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Then there is this guy either showing off his toy or he is just having so much fun. RCCL should look into this as an excursion. I would pay top $$ for this.

 

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More to come….

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This was where the apartment building where the Port Everglades webcam shot the sail-aways.

 

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And as we pulled out of the harbor, we all waved at ppl on the beach

 

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Heading to the main dining room where a little mishap with the table assignment. Something not RCCL's fault but boy I had a major bone to pick with my TA later.

 

More to come...

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Looking forward to re-living the cruise this week through your review and pics :)

 

I agree this was the smoothest boarding process I ever experienced...and our suitcases were by your door by the time we arrived at our cabin...I also enjoyed the muster (as much as you can LOL)...ours was in the Aqua Theatre, so it was convenient to just stay put for the sail-away party :)

 

we also had a MDR table assignment snafu, but it was RCI's fault, not a TA...it all worked out in the end for us, as we thoroughly enjoyed dining with our ultimate table mates

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As I have indicated earlier, no fault of RCCL, we showed up at the dining room finding our 4 families got assigned to 3 different tables. 2 kids were at one, 5 others were at a second table (with 4 other strangers) and my DW was stuck with the third all by herself. And of course the three tables were under the care of two teams of wait staff and the head waiter were no where to be found...and the kids were starving!!! PANIC (at least the waiters were).

 

Reason - all 30 people booked through the same TA in Toronto and they linked us all up as 1 group. 4 out of the 11 families didn't know the other 7 and by now (6:30) there were 17 unhappy cruisers.

 

Somehow the dining room staff pulled a few strings and 10 minutes later the 9 of us were comfortably seated at table 579 under the capable hands of Waiter Laurentia from Romania and Assistant Waiter Igor from Macedonia.

 

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The story did not end here. We had a 4th family with us and the MDR table assignment mix up would continue on the next night...that would be in my Day 2 review.

 

I normally have lots of pictures on what I eat. But Day 1 was such a mess I had actually forgotten about it until dessert - BBB Creme Brûlée (Bailey's Brûlée with caramelized Banana)

 

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More to come...

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After dinner we were heading to our first show - Chicago was on tonight. Made reservations online so walking in was a breeze. By now the RP was pretty packed as we made our way through to the Amber Theater

 

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I enjoyed the show but since I am not much of a musical fan and I really was tired after a long day, I kind of dozed off a couple of times and ended up leaving the theater early as the 3 out of 4 kids in my party was sleeping.

 

We had to get ready for the next morning at Nassau as we would be leaving the ship at 0700 for our Atlantis Aqua Adventure.

 

More on that tomorrow.

 

In the meantime, this was a wrap for Day 1.

 

Cruise Compass for Day 1 attached here:

Cruise Compass Day 1 Part 1.pdf

Cruise Compass Day 1 Part 2.pdf

Cruise Compass Day 1 Part 3.pdf

Edited by 7x5090g
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your day 1 was similar to ours...we also saw Chicago that first night...loved it...our MDR snafu (has never happened before) was that RCI had the wrong table # printed on my card (so they claimed)...therefore, the first night they found us a table for just the two of us (my mom and me)...the next night we got to sit with our assigned table mates, and we thoroughly enjoyed dining with them the rest of the cruise :)

 

looking forward to your recap of day 2

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When we were checking in the day before, they handed us a sheet of paper indicating that the Nassau short stay will now be shorter by 1 hour on top of a delayed arrival in St Thomas 2 days later. The reason stated was - technical issues with the ship's top speed. I was also told while on board that they want to slow down a bit to save fuel.

 

Got a bit annoyed as I booked the only excursion that my son would ever want - NS86 Atlantis Aqua Adventure.

 

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Cutting an hour out of port call means the tour was cut short. Well they claimed that it was the same 5 hours but I was sure that we didn't get a full 5 hours. Not sure if that was the reason RCCL dropped the price of this tour a month or so before the cruise but my DS cares more about time spent vs $$ paid by his parents.

 

We got off the boat as the Carnival Ecstasy was backing into the dock. It was wet as it must have rained over night.

 

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Followed the crowd over to where the folks holding the waiver forms were. After quickly filling one out we were led to the buses that would take us over to Paradise Island. Got a bit of the history of Nassau from the bus driver in the short ride over.

 

Soon they dropped us off in front of the massive resort around 8:00. We were told the 3 time slots for shuttle back onto the ship. 11:00, 11:30 and 12:00. They gathered all of us for a description of the tour etc but since we already knew the place, we headed straight for the aquariums.

 

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Weather was a little grey still from the rain the night before but that didn't dampen our stay. We have been here a couple of times but ne'er stayed over. So enjoying the facilities was a first for all of us.

 

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Hmm lost children....

 

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More to come...

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As I have indicated earlier, no fault of RCCL, we showed up at the dining room finding our 4 families got assigned to 3 different tables. 2 kids were at one, 5 others were at a second table (with 4 other strangers) and my DW was stuck with the third all by herself. And of course the three tables were under the care of two teams of wait staff and the head waiter were no where to be found...and the kids were starving!!! PANIC (at least the waiters were).

 

Reason - all 30 people booked through the same TA in Toronto and they linked us all up as 1 group. 4 out of the 11 families didn't know the other 7 and by now (6:30) there were 17 unhappy cruisers.

 

Somehow the dining room staff pulled a few strings and 10 minutes later the 9 of us were comfortably seated at table 579 under the capable hands of Waiter Laurentia from Romania and Assistant Waiter Igor from Macedonia.

 

IMGP2540.jpg

 

The story did not end here. We had a 4th family with us and the MDR table assignment mix up would continue on the next night...that would be in my Day 2 review.

 

I normally have lots of pictures on what I eat. But Day 1 was such a mess I had actually forgotten about it until dessert - BBB Creme Brûlée (Bailey's Brûlée with caramelized Banana)

 

CRU_4608.jpg

 

More to come...

 

 

That is one reason why one of our first stops after boarding is going to check out our dining arrangements. If they are not correct we can meet the Head Waiter to get in fixed before dinner!

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That is one reason why one of our first stops after boarding is going to check out our dining arrangements. If they are not correct we can meet the Head Waiter to get in fixed before dinner!

 

Noted for next cruise. We were taking things for granted and simply got so distracted by the ship herself. Our first time on an Oasis Class :p

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Here are some pictures from the park...DS and his friend was having a ball.

 

Line up for the 10:00 opening of the Rapid/Lazy River ride

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By now the sun had come back out

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What a beautiful place

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It wasn't long before I glanced down at my watch - 11:45...:eek::eek: ALL ABOARD in 45 minutes and last bus out of Atlantis was at noon. We quickly packed our bags, cleared the locker (small locker rental will run you $9 and they only take Credit Cards so do bring at least one) Cash won't do you any good in Atlantis.

 

Buses were waiting outside and we were back at the pier by 12:15.

 

CE was seen here and she had another 5 hours to park (jealous). 22 years ago, she was one of the mega "FUN" ships. Even after a few dry-docks and major expansion (like adding those balcony staterooms) and of course the giant waterslide on her top deck, she looked real tired. And at only 70000 gross ton, she was seriously dwarfed by 3 times bigger AOTS

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Here’s something interesting:

 

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ONE THING ON MY MIND at that time - FOOD. So we hurried through the checkpoint and headed back on board.

 

There were 2 line ups and apparently you will need to get into the one corresponds to your muster stations. The Forward gangways were for forward staterooms, etc. Since our room was forward, we had to walk all the way forward, got on board, then walk back aft to Windjammer. That's a lot more walking than I wanted to do after spending 4 hours of fun - I Just want FOOD!!!

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Great review! Do you think Atlantis was worth the money? We would love to do this excursion but there doesn't seem to be enough time.

 

Tara

 

If you have never been and love to hang out at waterparks, yes. Go all the way and buy the aqua adventure. 5 hours is actually short but if you spend less time walking around then you will be fine. They do have 2 aquariums and the highlight is the rapid/lazy river. To go around the entire loop of the rapid on a double tube is 30 minutes (faster on single). Then there are the slides, beach and pool.

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One of the surprises about AOTS is the crowds, or lack thereof during at sea days. With over 5,400 guests, I never felt crowded. The seven neighborhoods are at different sections and/or decks and by the second day I got it all figured out.

 

Deck chairs were plenty to be had at any time of the day. Of course the one closest to the pools were snatched up first. They do have a strict policy against saving of deck chairs - 30 mins and your stuff will be removed and placed in lost and found (although I hadn't seen that being enforced - I mean I could be in the pool for 45 mins, right?). Those on deck 16 were always deserted. I liked those due to the quietness. Deck 15 and 16 port side are designated smoking area.

 

Finally someone thought of the little cruisers and designed some deck chairs for someone their sizes.

 

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Central Park was another quiet zone to unwind. And yes RCCL has full time gardeners now on board OOTS and AOTS. I only wish I had a garden like that at home.

 

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