Atlantis - Allure of the Seas 2017

Will the third time be a charm? Looks like Atlantis is chartering the Allure for January 22, 2017 and the pricing looks better than 2011. It will be interesting to see how this plays out, seems like a lot of negative feedback from last time.

I remember the first T-Dance in the Aqua Theater, it was crazy, here is a pic from my Boardwalk balcony:

That's insane! How do you even move in that? :(

That's insane! How do you even move in that? :(

Well, you can't and that's why people complained about the dance venues on the Allure when they did the first charter cruise on Allure compared to the smaller RCI ships. Atlantis countered the following years with improved dance venues; however, the damage was done and they didn't sell out the cruise. I'm really surprised they are going back to the Allure, but I can only speculate that RCI gave Atlantis a great charter contract in 2017 they couldn't turn it down. Don't get me wrong the Allure is a fabulous ship; but it seems like such a huge risk to charter.

Well, you can't and that's why people complained about the dance venues on the Allure when they did the first charter cruise on Allure compared to the smaller RCI ships. Atlantis countered the following years with improved dance venues; however, the damage was done and they didn't sell out the cruise. I'm really surprised they are going back to the Allure, but I can only speculate that RCI gave Atlantis a great charter contract in 2017 they couldn't turn it down. Don't get me wrong the Allure is a fabulous ship; but it seems like such a huge risk to charter.

Now that Allure and Oasis are not the new kids on the block but rather Harmony OTS will be, I'm thinking RCI did give them a break on it. It's one less cruise RCI has to sell. Speaking of taking a hit on the contract, look at Anthem. They're still pushing that cruise like crazy and have a ton of availability. The sailing into the storm and breaking the ship probably didn't help with booking either as people are not going to think the ship is safe, even with the damage to the propulsion pod and the cosmetic damage.

Charter business is risky business for sure! :cool:

I love the Solstice-class ships but Atlantis seems to only charter those for Europe. The one sailing out of San Juan is usually one of the older Millennium class ships which are also nice but not as spacious as the new Solstice-class I found.

Guess we'll have to see what else Atlantis has up their sleeve for 2017.

What's even weirder about the Anthem charter is that Rich Campbell, CEO of Atlantis Events, swore up and down he'd never do a charter out of New York again (per his comments at an "Ask Atlantis anything" meeting I've attended on several of my charters. According to him is seems like Atlantis chartered a NCL ship out of NY a long time ago and it didn't sell. The ship arrived back on Gay Pride weekend and many people out of the northeast simply didn't want to go on a cruise during gay pride week. Atlantis almost went out of business due to lack of sales. What change his mind about chartering a ship of out NY somewhat baffles me. RCI must have gave him a good deal; but as you see sales are lack luster in the mid-priced balcony cabins. Suites/inside/outside cabins are pretty much sold out so there is some demand. I do believe people from the NE would like a cruise out of NY because of convenience; but for someone like myself from the west coast...why would I want to fly to NY to take a cruise to Florida and the Bahamas? That makes no sense to me. I think if if the price were lower I might consider it; but of course Atlantis charges top $$$. I think in Rich's defense he probably though (mistakenly) that the Anthem would sell out quickly due to it's a new ship, it's amenities and that it didn't conflict with any other major events. You can see how risky a charter can be when you really can't predict demand. Who knows?...there's still a few months to sell it out.

I'm very surprised that Rich decided to charter the Oasis size ships again. He must have gotten a very good price, but even so, I'm surprised given the concerns with crowding that were expressed in the past. The Oasis class ships are not really built to have the very large parties and crowds that Atlantis has. Rather, the ships are built to spread passengers around the public spaces throughout the various 'neighborhoods' like the Boardwalk shown in the picture, Central Park, the Solarium, Royal Promenade. I would not want to be on that ship with all of those people crowded in one area.

We were on both of the Allure sailings - loved every minute. I'm in that picture somewhere. The perspective of this photo is misleading: While it wasn't spacious, there was no trouble getting back and forth to the bars. We've just booked on the Bearracuda cruise in Feb 2017, otherwise I'd be back on the Velour of the Seas in a heartbeat.

With almost everyone crammed in that part of the ship, the rest of it should not be that crowded at all... I usually dont attend events like that. I go to other parts of the ship to avoid the crowding.

Not all that excited over the itinerary, either.

Will the third time be a charm? Looks like Atlantis is chartering the Allure for January 22, 2017 and the pricing looks better than 2011. It will be interesting to see how this plays out, seems like a lot of negative feedback from last time.

 

I remember the first T-Dance in the Aqua Theater, it was crazy, here is a pic from my Boardwalk balcony:

We were on the first Atlantis charter on the Allure and really liked the ship. Glad to see it back in the lineup!

Thought a boardwalk balcony could be fun for a change, but wasn't sure how high up to book. We booked on deck 9. Bloom9, it looks like you had a view of the water as well. Which deck were you on? And did you like the location of the room? Any other pluses or minuses to consider? Thanks!

I'm all booked and ready to go! Third Atlantis cruise here!

Booked this one while on the Atlantis cruise in Tahiti. 16th cruise with Atlantis, and 2nd time on Allure with them. Love the ship and looking forward to sailing with Atlantis on her again!

 

I remember the first T-Dance in the Aqua Theater, it was crazy, here is a pic from my Boardwalk balcony:

Yikes! Is that a gay cruise or a GOP convention? The sea of white male bodies is startling!

We just booked. This will be our 6th with Atlantis, but our first on one of the mega ships. We are not so much into the party scene so looking forward to what the rest of the ship has to offer. We are both in our early 50's, been together for 31 years. Looking forward to meeting others!

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Sauna and steam rooms are essentially non existent on this ship. Small and very cramped! :eek:

Milton and I have booked this cruise. We have been on the Allure of the Seas in 2013 and posted video on youtube, "Sylvan and Milton's Vacation 2013 Allure of the Seas." It was a wonderful ship and we had a Central Park balcony cabin. The downside was that we didn't see any other lgbt people on that entire cruise. On the last day, we did see a posting on the promenade for a "Friends of Dorothy" meeting but it was at the end of the cruise and I think it was too late by the time we saw the post. I felt like I was back in the small town America of my childhood and felt kind of isolated.

We took our first gay cruise with R.S.V.P. in 2014 and we loved it! (Our youtube video of that cruise is "Sylvan and Milton's First Gay Cruise.". The cruise was on an M.S.C. ship, though, which had some problems. The pillows felt like bags of laundry and the staff was not very friendly. We would not go on an M.S.C. ship again.

We took our second gay cruise with R.S.V.P. on the Princess Divina. (our youtube video, "RSVP Vacations 30th Anniversary Caribbean Cruise." Again, we had a wonderful time with R.S.V.P. but I thought the Princess ship left some to be desired. I probably wouldn't choose a Princess ship again. It was the only time I have gotten sick on a ship and I believe it was from something I ate.

The upcoming Allure of the Seas vacation is our first cruise with Atlantis. I was concerned about being older and less in shape than the models in the RSVP ads but Milton kept assuring me that there would be people our age on the ship and sure enough, there were!! I am hoping the same for Atlantis!!

Milton and I have loved all the dancing on the R.S.V.P. cruises!! They have the best d.j.'s! We love all the other entertainment, too. Royal Caribbean does a much better job of entertainment than any of the other cruise lines we have been on, (Carnival, MSC, Princess, and Norwegian). Adding the Atlantis entertainment on top of that should be great!!!

We were a bit concerned because it looks like the ship had not been selling well. It appeared that had not sold more than half of the cabins but when I called, they said they had actually already sold 80% of the cabins. If that is the case, it would still be about 4,000 passengers.

We are always taking a lot of pics and video for my youtube channel. If you see us on the cruise, come and say hi! We are both kind of reserved, quiet and shy but are friendly, too! :cool:

I just got off the Allure two weeks ago and it was great and the staff is very excited for us to come on board. I've done more RSVP than Atlantis but they are both a lot of fun in different ways. You won't feel out of place. There are definitely more younger pretty boys but theres a very diverse crowd, which you'd never guess from their ads. A few weeks ago they had over 4000 booked so it should be a nice crowd.

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Joey here. I am going. Middle aged man looking for others to hang with. Cruised RSVP and Atlantis RSVP skews older but I had a great time on both cruises. No cabin # yet. Hope to cross paths with Y'all

Would anyone be interested in sharing a charter plane to Chichen Itza? The Royal Caribbean excursion is almost a 2 1/2 hour bus ride + 45 minute ferry ride each way for only about an hour on site. That's way too long. We would like to charter a plane, and can take four additional guys with us. It would only be a 45 minute flight then we would have about a two hour time period at the ruins, and beat all the other tour crowds. It includes a stop to swim or explore at Cenote. We would be back to ship around 2:30. I would have to have a commitment as they require a deposit. Contact me if interested, need to know ASAP. See details:

Cessna 207: 6 persons: $1750.00 USD ($292/person)

Plus Airport Tax: $25.00 per person (collected in cash at departure)

INCLUDES

Private Flight Round-trip

Ground Transportation to/from ship to Chichen Itza

Side trip to cenote

Entrance Fee and Private Guide at Chichen Itza

Entrance fee at Cenote

Mexican Lunch

Water on board

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g150809-d8747110-Reviews-Fly_Cozumel-Cozumel_Yucatan_Peninsula.html?m=19904

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