Very late Allure review with family of 12

First, my apologies for such a late review of the Allure Western 3/5-3/12. Second, thank you to all the CC members who provided the excellent advice for a memorable vacation!

Best CC Tips:

Always check for price drops -- call RCI or go online and get the discounts! Apply for "refer a friend" OBC and stock benefit.

Check your cruise planner often and make reservations for MTD and the shows as soon as they are available. We saw people turned away at every meal and at every show.

Book CC member recommended, private shore excursions.

Be kind and generous to the wonderful RCI staff.

Always ask CC and listen to Bob and Clarea.;)

Best RCI tips:

The Allure reservation system will not allow the RCI staff or you to tweak anything. For example, if you need to reserve a table for 12, you need to break up your group into 8 and 4 with reservations at the same dining time. Once onboard, go to the MTD Maître D (early-- like, soon after you board) and they will set up a table for 12. Our table was in the center of the floor and we had the same waiters every night!

Adventure Ocean is awesome. There is a huge playroom that kids can use anytime as long as an adult is supervising them. As soon as we were on board, the mom of the two year old DGS went to Royal Tots and reserved the times that she knew we were going to Chops, etc.. (thanks CC tipster -- the Royal Tots has limited space and children without reservations were turned away)

Luggage -- The zipper on my DH's suitcase broke. We asked the room steward if there was any duct tape available. He was able to damage out the suitcase and replace it with a new bag to get us home.

Champagne Bar-- The best champagne cocktails and fabulous, creative bartenders! Try the Alexandra --yum!

Who we are:

Traveling were my DH (age 63) myself (age 62) our four children and their spouse (ages 25-35) and our DGD (age 4) and DGS (age 2) We live in three different cities and met in FLL the day prior to our cruise. I was the Cruise Planner and I knew that trying to keep a family of 12 together for 8 days would be like herding cats. So we agreed that we would meet for dinner each evening and attend the shows together. Most of the time, we were together anyway at the pool, trivia, etc. :)

Pre-Cruise:

We began arriving on Friday and throughout the day on Saturday. We stayed at the Hyatt 17th Street (per CC--excellent choice), cruised on the Water Taxi and met at a Bar for Happy Hour along the strip by the beach. Originally we had planned to have dinner at Lulu's Bait Shack, but the restaurant allowed smoking ( Most of us didn't care, but we had toddlers with us) so we did "call ahead" seating at Bubba Gump. They seated our group of 12 at a large oval table in a private dining room with an excellent, funny waiter. Not our first choice for restaurants but the food was tasty, reasonably priced, and we had a blast.

Embarkation:

While waiting for cabs, my DSIL struck up a conversation with a van driver who was waiting to take people to the ship. We cancelled the cabs and took his van for only 5 dollars per person. It was so much fun to be together and to hear the cheers of our family as the Allure came into sight. Boarding was simple, but entering the ship felt very crowded and busy. We took refuge in the faux English pub and began to use the drink packages that we had all purchased. We sat at a long table by the window and enjoyed some libations while eating Sorrento's pizza. It was very nice.

Food:

We used MTD every night except one evening when we went to Chops. The Main Dining Room was quite good with the exception of the strip steak and Chicken Marsala. Because we had the same dining time and table each night, we had the same wait staff. They brought a cheese sampler every evening and would simply put bottles of wine on the table. The kids would have fruit cups waiting for them, and several times they were surprised with "Shirley Temples"

Chops was awesome! We all enjoyed the ambiance as much as the food!

Other food selections -- everyone loved Park café (especially breakfast burritos) and Johnny Rocket Breakfast sandwiches.

Ports:

Cozumel -- We went to Nachi Cocum and loved every minute. We were greeted with glasses of champagne and escorted to our chairs. The staff was fantastic and even brought bottles of beer into the ocean for our children and their spouses. When we were leaving, they gave each of the grandkids a souvenir tee- shirt.

Jamaica -- Six people went to the Blue Hole on an RCI excursion ( I know, we should have booked private, but we were concerned about timing) They enjoyed it very much. DH, DD/ DSIL did the Jamaican Culinary Tour and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. I stayed on the ship with DGD and DGS -- they had the playroom in AO to themselves and we went to a movie in the AO theatre.

Labadee -- DH, myself , DD/DSIL did the Haitain Coastal Cruise. We sat on the upper level of the boat and enjoyed the narrative and the scenery. I was particularly interested in the Haitian Citadel which you can see in the distance. I don't know how to post a link but if you google Haitian Citadel, there are several you tube videos that document the fascinating history.

The rest of the day was spent at Columbus Cove (Per CC) -- a relaxing day. One word about the vendors selling souvenirs -- when I spoke to them in French, the aggressive behaviors that are often documented on CC disappeared. So if you speak French (even a little) you could have a lot of fun interacting with the merchants.

Service:

I truly cannot say enough good things about the crew. Everyone we encountered was helpful and smiling. One afternoon I was sitting in Central Park with my very tired DGD who was leaning against my shoulder. An officer stopped, asked if she was "OK" and did we need anything. When I said "Thank you, no, she is just tired" he smiled and wished us a happy vacation.

Debarkation:

We walked off our luggage at 7:00 and were at the airport and through Security by 8:30. Our flights were at 10:30, so we had time to spare

Thank you CC members for helping me to plan this wonderful trip for our family!

Great review! Please let know if kids felt any sickness during the ship?

Thank you for your feedback!

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Thanks for the report. Glad to hear Nachi Cocom is still delivering the excellent day we've always experienced.

Thank you for taking the time to post! It is always fun to read others experiences, yours sounds like a very happy one. Glad you were able to corral your family together for such a wonderful time.

Great review. We will be on her on the 18th of this month. Family of 6. Glad to hear the Park Cafe has breakfast burritos. We usually hit up the WJ but I'm trying to talk my husband into skipping it for breakfast. I a light eater in the morning and he tends to eat too much since its a tad overwhelming with all the options.

Glad to hear your trip was good. I leave next month on her. I'm glad to see you made your 10:30 flight. We have a 10:50 flight on disembarkment day.

Thanks for your review Annie! It was very timely for me.

I am thinking about doing something similar in about a year and a half. There will also be 12 of us. The four grandchildren children will be 4, 3, 3, and 2 years old. Right now I am trying to decide between an Oasis class ship or Disney. How did you decide on the Allure?

Thanks for the review. We are a group of 14 on Allure April 2018 and doing MTD. I was figuring we could eat together if they split into two tables, which would be fine for us.

Thanks for sharing such an awesome review, glad everyone had as fun and safe cruise