Allure of the Seas 6/4-11

We just got back from a week on Allure of the Seas. Overall, it was a great cruise! I'll try to share our experience in a few posts. Feel free to ask any questions.

Who We Are - I am a working mother/wife in my early 40's. I sailed with DD (6), my parents (70's) and some family friends. DH wasn't able to go and cancelled about 3 weeks out (not an issue since we had 3 in our cabin). All of us have cruised several times before (15+ for me, 67 for my parents, etc.). For the first time, I ordered the Deluxe Drink Package. I don't drink a lot, but wanted to be able to try new drinks and to order a beverage whenever I felt like it. I ordered the package when it was $54/day for the drink package and surf/stream internet.

Embarkation - We live in Central Florida and drove to Port Everglades the morning of the cruise. We arrived around 11:30. It was hectic, but not too bad. I dropped my parents and DD, the luggage and my dad's scooter at the curb and parked the car. The porters were very helpful. The parking is very convenient here and I met up with them within about 10 minutes.

The security lines moved quickly and we were on to check in. My parents are Diamond, but because of my dad's scooter they did not allow them to use preferred check-in. My dad offered to wait off on the side while my mom waited in the line (and meet up with her at the counter), but the terminal staff said that he had to wait in the lengthy disabled guest check in. They even went so far as to say that his status didn't matter if he was using a scooter. DD and I used preferred check-in (we're both Platinum) at the direction of the staff. We were checked in within 10 minutes, but had to wait another 15 minutes for my parents to make it to the counter.

We took the regular photo in the terminal and headed upstairs to get DD's wristband and board the ship. We were a little concerned about the scooter on the boarding bridge, but there were no issues at all.

As soon as we were on we went over to Guest Services to address an issue with dining (we were sent there by staff). That's where we met Leo. He was, by far, the best Guest Services crew member we've ever encountered. He was so helpful with that issue, but also recognized us throughout the week and always told us to come to him if there was anything that he could do to help us. We ended up working with him the last night to resolve a small issue.

After that, it was on to Park Cafe for a bite to eat. We had roast beef sandwiches and fruit salad. DD had a salad as well. It was all very good. By the time we were done eating, cabins were available. We headed to our cabins (12307 for DD and I and 14325 for my parents). Both were Boardwalk balconies. The cabins were very clean and comfortable. Our cabin had a drop down bed that DD used.

While we liked our cabins, we all agreed that we'd prefer ocean view balconies in the future. The noise was not much of an issue to us (although I could see some people having issues on the evenings there were loud events in the Aqua Theater). Luggage did not arrive until after the muster drill so we headed off to explore and get DD registered for Adventure Ocean.

The Muster Drill wasn't bad. We were in Silk Dining Room. My parents were assigned the Aqua Theater. They went early to make sure my father had time to get there and use an elevator. It started to rain so they moved that location inside to an area that was standing only. A crew member saw my dad could not stand for that long (the scooter was in the room charging and he was using a cane) and assisted them. They had great praise for the professionalism and compassion of the crew member (a diver in Ocean Aria).

We had dinner at Giovanni's Table that night since we booked the 3 night package. We booked the package for 3 of us and were charged $10 for DD (as long as she ordered from the children's menu). This meal was disappointing. The server was very distracted. We did not see him much at all and it seemed like he could not be bothered with us. The food was good, but nothing great.

That night we had Ocean Aria. DD sat in the front row. She got soaked and loved it. It was every bit as impressive as it was when we first saw it four years ago.

Time for bed - will continue soon.

Thanks for the ongoing review! Sailing on Allure Dec 3...We're diamond and first time on the Oasis class.

Thanks for the review.

Glad you had a great cruise. Looking forward to the rest of your review.

We were on the Allure the week before you sailed and we had a great family cruise experience.

I was on the same cruise as you. My wife and I (25) really enjoyed everything about the cruise. Staff was very friendly, and the food was great. The Drink package was worth every penny! Only complaint was that we could really feel the boat shake when we docked in the different ports. I guess that's what you get for booking a cruise 2 months before you leave, and we were in the very front. Lesson learned!

Enjoyed your review. Hope to book this ship next year!

I am getting wheelchair assistance from ship . Were they also in that line do u know? Also if you have a rollator do u have to go In that line ?If you have Rollator do you have to go in that line ? Thank you for the nice review.

Howdy! We were on the same cruise as you! Missed the CC meet & greet, but we had a great time. 13 total, 5 cabins & 3 generations. That ship is amazing!

I am getting wheelchair assistance from ship . Were they also in that line do u know? Also if you have a rollator do u have to go In that line ?If you have Rollator do you have to go in that line ? Thank you for the nice review.

From what the agents in the terminal said, any passenger using a wheelchair, walker, etc. must use the disabled access line.

I have been on many cruises. I have never been on the oasis class ship. Scheduled for near future. I am very excited about this trip. We really want to see the difference in the Biggest cruise ship. Thank you for your review it sounds all positive which makes me feel even more excited about our upcoming trip

Day 2 included a short stop in Nassau. We were only in port from 7 am - 2:30 pm so we decided to shop a little in town and then enjoy the ship. There was only 1 other ship in port so it was not overly crowded.

For breakfast we went to Windjammer. There was a long line when we got off the elevator and we realized that only one side was open. Apparently someone had gotten sick near the entrance/exit on the one side so it was closed off for containment/cleaning. The supervisor quickly grabbed the back half of the line and walked us to the back of the Windjammer where there was plenty of seating. The food was good--nothing outstanding, but there was good variety and everything was at proper temperatures. They were very good at refilling dishes. My only complaint about Windjammer breakfast was that it was exactly the same every day--no variety.

After lunch DD and I headed in to town to do a little shopping. Nassau appeared to have been cleaned up a little since I was there last and we were only approached twice about braiding DD's hair (did not do it). After purchasing a few souvenirs we headed back to the ship.

We had a little bit of lunch and headed to the pool/splash area for a little while. DD loved the swim with the current pool. I know there had been mention of the new height requirement for this pool. DD met the requirement with the sign on the deck, but was about a tiny bit short of it at the pool entrance. They did allow those who did not meet the height requirement to swim with an adult (so I got plenty of time in that pool). After playing for a while and getting an ice cream cone (self service, soft serve by the pools), we headed back to get on dry clothes for our next adventure.

As we sailed out of Nassau, DD tried the rock climbing wall for the first (of many) times. She made it 2/3 of the way up. After a couple of tries at that, she went to Adventure Ocean for a little while.

My mom and I headed to the casino (like the low limit slots), but despite being over an hour out of Nassau (and all shops having been open for 30 minutes) the casino was not open yet. We waited about 10 minutes, but there was no sign of it opening so we left and wandered through the sales on the Promenade.

We picked DD up at Adventure Ocean and went to get ready for dinner. On our last cruise (Disney Fantasy) DD did not like the children's program at all. We were only able to get her to go 2 times and she cried (very unlike DD). On Disney, all children 3 -12 are together in open play with a few age suggested programs offered. On RCCL, the children are broken up 3 -5, 6-8 and 9 -12. At times they combine some of the age groups and double the staff working with them. DD LOVED Adventure Ocean.

This was formal night. We used the 2nd night of our 3 night dining package at Samba--Brazilian Steakhouse. This was an excellent meal. There was a salad bar, a seafood bar and another section with sides. There was also a section of deserts. They came around with different meats as well. The food was so yummy! We were stuffed leaving there.

DD went back to Adventure Ocean after changing and we went to the casino for a little while. I picked DD up a little before 10 (from 10 - 2 there is a charge of $7 per hour, per child for Adventure Ocean) and we headed to bed. We were scheduled to have Mamma Mia this night, but we were so tired that we knew we would not make it.

Next Up...1st Sea Day

The first sea day was spent going from activity to activity. We started with some pool time. This was followed by the parade on the Promenade, a character greeting with Poppy & Branch, face painting (free on Promenade), the rock climbing wall and a game of miniature golf.

We went to the dining room for the first time this night. There was still an issue with our dining (computer kept putting us to early seating with our friends despite always being assigned My Time and having reservations), but Karen was very helpful and took care of it all. They assigned us a table near the door so my dad didn't have to walk far after parking his scooter. Our server, Jorge and his assistant, Elvis were very good. They gave DD a fruit cup as soon as we were seated each night. Despite having the kid's menu, DD ordered from the regular menu every night. This evening was Italian night in the dining room.

After dinner DD went to Adventure Ocean and we headed to the casino and watched a performance of Ocean Aria from my parent's balcony.

Next up....St. Thomas

When we were on the Allure two weeks ago our family of four was assigned to a table that only sat two, that was our first and last to the MDR, the seating solution was unacceptable.

When we were on the Allure two weeks ago our family of four was assigned to a table that only sat two, that was our first and last to the MDR, the seating solution was unacceptable.

Did you talk to the maitre de? I am sure he would have fixed this for you. You must have gotten our table .We like the table for two,;) but then their are only two of us

WE have sailed on Royal once before and hence have a C&A number. My question is, how do I let them know that I am elite on celebrity? Is it automatic or must I tell them and if not can it be done online or is a phone call the easiest way???

Wednesday was St. Thomas. I've been there several times. The last time DD was there was when she was 2. That time we just walked around Crown Bay and enjoyed the empty ship. This time I decided that we'd make it a beach day. DD is a strong swimmer and wanted to see fish/try some snorkeling from shore.

After research and talking to DH (lived there for 6 months, years ago), I settled on Coki Beach because of the sandy beach, many fish and shallow water snorkeling. We headed to the taxi area and told them where we wanted to go. They told us $10 per person and directed us to an open air taxi. They asked again where everyone was going and we said Coki Beach again. After about 20 minutes of driving, the driver said the next stop was Coki Beach. Then, about 4-5 minutes later, he pulled in to Sapphire Beach Resort. When others and I asked about Coki Beach, his response was, "you wanted to go to Coki Beach? I didn't know." He offered to take us to Coki after dropping other passengers at Red Hook. At this point I was concerned about getting stuck at Coki with DD (he said some taxis would come by there at some point) so I decided to stay at Sapphire (figured that it would be easier to get a cab at a resort). The driver asked for $11 per person, but I held my ground and said that I had boarded a cab for Coki Beach at $10 per person--he agreed to $10 per person.

The beach at Sapphire Beach was very rocky. There were some fish visible, but it was not what we were prepared for at Coki Beach. That being said, we had a nice time. We went to the taxi area at the time our driver said he'd be back. There was no sign of him, but we were able to get a regular van with some others from our ship. The driver was very nice and stopped at a lookout for pictures. We had him drop us in downtown for a little shopping. I was surprised at the lack of shoppers--it was almost deserted. After shopping and ice cream, we grabbed an open air taxi back to the port.

We got cleaned up quickly and went to dinner. We were back at the same table in the My Time dining room. Dinner was good. My mom had the NY strip and said it was very dry and stringy--the only negative food in the dining room. We finished dinner quickly so that we could get up on deck for sail away. The sail away was at sunset and it was beautiful. It was one of the prettiest sail aways I can recall.

DD headed to the kids club again.

While we had an adventure in St. Thomas, I really have come to not like this port as much as some others. It feels like they take the tourism for granted.

Next Up....Beautiful St. Kitts

I'm super excited to get your opinion of St. Kitts. This is a port I'm struggling with trying to decide what to do. Thank you for taking the time to do a trip report.

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Great review - we will be doing this same itinerary in Sept.

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I'm super excited to get your opinion of St. Kitts. This is a port I'm struggling with trying to decide what to do. Thank you for taking the time to do a trip report.

 

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My family took a cab to Carambola Beach Club in June 2016. It was a great day there - I highly recommend it! It was approximately 20-minute ride each way.

Thursday was St. Kitts. We docked around 8 am and the ship was cleared quickly. We went to breakfast in Windjammer around 9. It was crowded, but we didn't really have a wait for a table.

After breakfast, I got off the ship and went to check out the shops quickly. There is one long pier. At the end of the pier is an area with tour operators, port information and a taxi stand. Right beyond the gates of the port is a square and a couple of streets with shops. Most are your typical souvenir, jewelry and liquor shops. I found the prices here to be the best of all the ports. Some examples are a pocket mirror that was $10 in Nassau was $6 here, a Cuban cigar that was $25 in Nassau was $15 here. Also,cigarettes were much less ($18/carton) and so was alcohol.Several jewelry shops were giving away pearl earrings or charms to get you in the door. The people in the shops were very nice. I got a few things and figured out where to shop after our excursion before heading back to the ship to meet up with my mom and DD.

One word of warning---There are men walking around with monkeys. They try to get them on your shoulder and then charge money for pictures. I remembered reading about it on Cruise Critic so we steered clear of them.

After getting my mom and DD, we picked up towels (they were always available right off the ship--on the pier) and headed to the taxi stand.

We had booked the Dolphin Swim through a shore excursion company online. RCCL offered this, but participants had to be 8 years old. Dolphin Discovery's age requirement was 6 years old as long as there was an adult in the water. The online shore excursion company was also about $20 per person less than RCCL. Some people found it on GroupOn for even less, but the company we purchased through would refund our money if we missed the port which was not an option with GroupOn.

We were able to get a taxi with some others going to the same place. The rate was very reasonable and the taxi was nice. All the taxis we saw (there were a lot of them parked waiting for fares) were in good condition. Our taxi driver was very nice. She gave us her information for us to have her called when we were done.

What we saw during our short drive was more modern buildings and business than in many Caribbean islands. Overall, everything seemed to be more modern, nicer and cleaner than other places.

When we arrived at Dolphin Discovery, they checked us in. It turns out that, rather than age, they were more concerned with height for children. DD is tall for her age and was in the height range to participate on her own. We did the pre-purchase of the photo package for 3 people. It was pricey (around $169), but included 3 photos, 3 frames and a cd with up to 160 images.

While we waited for our time, we sat on the deck of their restaurant that overlooked the water. When it was our time, we were all fitted for life jackets and given an orientation. After the orientation, we went to the water to meet "our dolphin," Mandela. We stood on a platform in the water. There were a lot of fish swimming around since these were sectioned off areas in the sea water. We all took turns kissing, dancing with, hugging and swimming with Mandela.

After we were done in the water, we headed to the shop to select our photos. They called for a taxi when we were nearly done.

We had another nice taxi and driver back to the port. We spent a little time in the shops--buying some souvenirs and a bottle of Cuban rum.

There was a large Venezuelan sailing ship docked on the other side of the dock from us. They had the ship open for free tours. DD and I boarded the ship and explored this amazing ship. Most of the crew did not speak English, but were very friendly and were proud to shop off their ship. Juan, the crew member who took us around, did not speak English, but we were able to communicate.

After exploring the sailing ship, DD and I boarded Allure. DD and my mom got a bite to eat and DD went to Adventure Ocean while I went to the spa.

There was a spa special--75 minute hot stone massage, foot and ankle massage and scalp massage. This was one area where I was not thrilled. I checked in a little before my appointment time of 3:00. After heading downstairs, I was given a form to fill out and a little while later the therapist came and got me. We got in the treatment room around 3:10 and the treatment began about 5 minutes later. The therapist was nice and it was relaxing. However, when I got dressed after the treatment, I realized it was only 4:11---not really 75 minutes.

After the spa, I headed up on deck for the sail away. It was another beautiful sail away.

DD had dinner with Adventure Ocean that evening. They take the kids to Windjammer for chicken nuggets and pizza. My parents and I ate at the same table in the dining room. I believe I had escargot and a pork dish that was very good.

That evening was the headliner show. The performer was a vantriloquest. He was good--nothing outstanding, but good.

After the show, I picked up DD and called it a night.

Overall, we really liked St. Kitts. It was clean, felt safe, was pretty modern and the people were very friendly. It was warm, but more comfortable than the other islands we visited. I'd like to go back there and explore it further. It was, by far, our favorite port on this cruise.

Next up....2 days at sea