Allure of the Seas May 20th sailing

Hi All....just returned from sailing Allure of the Seas (AOS) 5/20-5/27. Will share some thoughts (high points and low points) and some pics (in no particular order). We went to Labadee, Falmouth and Cozumel.

As a prelude, I'm not loyal to any cruise line, or ship. I know many are. To me, the "perks" of being loyal to any cruise line just aren't worth the limitations of being on the same cruise line over and over again. Nothing wrong with being loyal. It's just not something I value.

As such, I've sailed RCCL (2x), CCL (2X), NCL (2X) and Celebrity (1X). Fact is, I've taken 3 cruises in the last 12 months. That said, most of my comparisons will be based on recent experiences.

So, let's get on with it....:D

AOS is a huge ship. You really aren't prepared for the magnitude of it, even compared to other large ships (say like CCL Conquest, Celebrity Solstice, or NCL Epic). That's either a good or bad thing, depending on your mood. Once you get the hang of how the ship is set up, it becomes relatively easy to get around, as long as you aren't in a hurry. Matter of fact, do yourself a favor, don't frustrate yourself, and try to get anywhere quickly on this ship.

This will prove very helpful while on board, too...

To be continued.......

Look forward to your review. :)

Great start can't wait for the rest:)

Can't wait to read your review! :)

Hi All....just returned from sailing Allure of the Seas (AOS) 5/20-5/27. Will share some thoughts (high points and low points) and some pics (in no particular order). We went to Labadee, Falmouth and Cozumel.

 

As a prelude, I'm not loyal to any cruise line, or ship. I know many are. To me, the "perks" of being loyal to any cruise line just aren't worth the limitations of being on the same cruise line over and over again. Nothing wrong with being loyal. It's just not something I value.

 

As such, I've sailed RCCL (2x), CCL (2X), NCL (2X) and Celebrity (1X). Fact is, I've taken 3 cruises in the last 12 months. That said, most of my comparisons will be based on recent experiences.

 

So, let's get on with it....:D

 

 

AOS is a huge ship. You really aren't prepared for the magnitude of it, even compared to other large ships (say like CCL Conquest, Celebrity Solstice, or NCL Epic). That's either a good or bad thing, depending on your mood. Once you get the hang of how the ship is set up, it becomes relatively easy to get around, as long as you aren't in a hurry. Matter of fact, do yourself a favor, don't frustrate yourself, and try to get anywhere quickly on this ship.

 

This will prove very helpful while on board, too...

 

 

 

To be continued.......

This screen was the best feature of Allure, it saves so much walking

(usually in the wrong direction) when you can map your route on this..

Looking forward to more!

emdia....you're right. That screen was on every floor. We used it often. You hear about the size of the ship, you just can't gauge it until you see it....

I have read that some thought they never felt crowded on board. We're not one of those. From the time we stepped on board, until the time we left the ship on the last day of the cruise, there wasn't a day that went by when we weren't "shoulder-to-shoulder" on some part of the ship, on more than one occasion. You learn fairly quickly when and where to minimize the crowding.

The ship is beautiful, however. It's also kept very clean (something we couldn't say about the Solstice when we sailed her last New Year). The cleaning staff was always visible, too.

If you've seen one cabin photo, you've seen every cabin photo. We had a Superior Ocean View Balcony cabin (7726), aft. It's standard sized. Bed was comfy. Gonna go against the grain here, but I preferred the Ocean Balcony cabin on the Epic more. I believe the Epic's bathroom situation (separate toilet, sink and shower areas) were much more convenient. Plus, the shower on the Epic could very well have been twice the size of the one on AOS.

There's some unique attributes to our aft cabin, which I'll get into later. Suffice to say, we had superb seats and access to the Aqua Theater.

The following paraphrased statement didn't come from us, but did come from two couples we spoke with who either had a Boardwalk Balcony or a Central Park Balcony....."we didn't feel like we were on a cruise ship, but a floating mall/hotel because of our view". Take that as you will....either you'd like that sort of thing, or you won't.

Pic is showing a very good jazz/funk band playing on top of the Cupcake Cupboard. Windows are cabin windows overlooking the band and the top of the Cupcake place.

Love it........especially your photos!

Earlier, I alluded to our cabin (7726) being aft.

NOTE...GF will really chew me out for showing our cabin in such a mess.....

Another note....you can see the iPod/iPad speakers/charger on the dressing table. It won't work with an iPhone 4s. Not sure about any earlier versions of the iPhone.

Understand that aft cabins on the 7th floor have a very short walk to the climbing walls. In addition, there are rails and seats there that offer the perfect birds-eye view of the Aqua Theater. So, anything that went on there, we had the best seat in the house for viewing....especially Ocenaria.

Here's the view from a 5 second walk out of our cabin to go outside aft....

My opinion? Save your money on the super expensive suites and get an aft cabin to get these views!:D

Below are the balconies overlooking the Boardwalk. From what we heard around the ship, you have to keep your curtains closed, otherwise the people directly across the way from you.....

Enjoying your review and love the pictures !!

Dee

We really appreciated the artwork throughout the ship. There's even some floor mounted binoculars and telescopes throughout the ship. If you ever sail her, look out for these and be sure to look into them. They are whimsical little gems. Here is one of the floorstanding telescopes I peered into, only to see some statues looking back at me....

Even some of the stairs are symmetrical....

Is there a separate stairwell on the end of the hallway, for the rooms near the aqua theater-but a few floors up? I would think it might be a pain to have a room at the end of the hallway near the aqua theater and then have to go to the middle of the ship only to catch an elevator/stairs and walk back down the hallway to your room-near the aqua theater.

I can't wait to read the rest of your review! We are going on Allure in August. We will be on deck 7 too, but not aft. We are forward.

Is there a separate stairwell on the end of the hallway, for the rooms near the aqua theater-but a few floors up? I would think it might be a pain to have a room at the end of the hallway near the aqua theater and then have to go to the middle of the ship only to catch an elevator/stairs and walk back down the hallway to your room-near the aqua theater.

RoseAnne....I believe there were stairs from the 6th floor up to the 7th from the aft part of the ship. But, I don't remember any from the higher decks to walk down to the 7th. The 7th is where the ledges to lean and the round seats were to overlook the Aqua Theater. Not many people knew of this area. So, there were rarely more than a few people there when they had shows...maybe 5-6 in addition to us. We saw Oceanaria twice from that spot. First night, there were some people actually standing at the "landing pad" of the rock climb wall.

The 2nd time, we sat on the round bench by ourselves. Sometimes, we would sit out there and watch the performers just practice. One of the shows for Ocenaria had been completely full judging by the seats below us. Yet, we still had the best seats in the house.

Other shows....

Ice Games....good show. Worth seeing.

Chicago? Not so much. I was so looking forward to that show, too. In fairness, I had seen it before, in the Chicago Theater district, no less. Maybe I was expecting too much. But, the AOS Chicago production paled in comparison.

Headliners was ABACADABRA....an ABA tribute. Not my cup of tea, either. Again, I never cared for ABA's music and the subsequent theater production based on their music. So, keep those comments in mind.

Thanks all for the kind words and encouragement. It's greatly appreciated.

Couple of things I wanted to mention at the outset, but forgot. We flew from OH to FLL the day of the cruise. First time I've done that. But, because of work requirements, I had no choice but to do it that way.

Flight left the gate dead on time at 9:00 a.m. Surprisingly, usually between taxiing to the runway, tower clearance, etc takes at least another 15 minutes. Not this time....we were wheels up at 9:05 a.m. I travel a lot. For the first time in eons an airline actually told the truth of when we were going to take off.

On top of that, we landed exactly at 11:27 a.m. at FLL, exactly when they said we would.....:eek:

I must be living right, as we checked 4 bags. All 4 of them showed up within 5 minutes of hitting baggage claim. Got a cab. Forego the RCCL shuttles, or any other shuttles for that matter. Cab is quicker, and cheaper. Cab is $15 $20 including the tip). Shuttles are $15 per person, not including the tip, and you have to wait until they're full before you leave.

We waited about 5 minutes to get our sign and sail pass. And, we were on board by 12:15-12:20.

Another piece of info I forgot to mention, and please, no comments about RCCL's stance on taking your own alcohol on. It's not going to change my stance (which is, they rape you on alcohol purchases). They'd sell more, and people wouldn't try to bring their own alcohol on board if they weren't so outrageous (actually obscene) in their pricing policies.

I bring my own alcohol. I also bring my own V8 juice on board since I like it every morning and RCCL doesn't stock it. I've never had an issue with either. The GF and I both like to have a nightcap, listening to the sea at night and stare out into the abyss on our balcony before going to sleep.

Our TA was also kind enough to send us a bottle of wine.

We still bought alcohol on board. But, I'd venture to say that our drink bill was 40% of what it would have been if we hadn't.

Another tip....make friends with your bartender (and I mean tip very generously in addition to the automatic tips). We hung out at the Solarium bar (no kids allowed up there) while we were sunning and reading on sea days. Our "guy" was great. He made certain we were amply hydrated even before we would order something. He liked to have us "taste" his concoctions he thought we might enjoy, too. He called them his "mistakes".

Fantastic review and pictures, cant wait to read more. Quick question how did you carry on your alcohol ? Totaly agree with stance on this subject by the way :)

Did you participate in Quest or the Newlywed Game?

I like your take and review on Allure so far, we sailed her in March. Great cruise. But we were able to use our iPhone 4s's in our cabin to charge and play music. The right dock played music and charged whole the left side only charged. Looking forward to more of your review.

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Did you participate in Quest or the Newlywed Game?

We aren't married so little desire to see newlyweds. showering and getting ready in the a.m., we saw the newlywed show. It was cute. Didn't see Quest, so can't comment.

Great review! Looking forward to reading more! Thanks for taking the time to write your review!:)

Thanks all for all the nice comments.

I haven't spoken much about food. I won't repeat what most have posted in these threads. And, I'll only comment on the places we actually ate. I don't know, maybe I'm weird. But, I feel silly taking pictures of my food in a public venue. So, no pics of food, either.

There's the MDR (Adagio for us), the buffet, Park Cafe (all those are free venues). Then there are the pay venues....Giovani's Table, Cupcake Cupboard, Starbucks, The Dog Haus, Johnny Rockets.

We had coupons from our TA for lunch/dinner for two at Johnny Rockets. We also had a coupon for dinner for two at Giovani's Table, same for 150 Central Park.

Forget the buffet. It's crowded (one of those places that seem to really groan under the strain of the amount of passengers on board). And, I've had a lot better buffet food on most cruise lines.

For breakfast and lunch, Park Cafe was the place we preferred by a long shot. They have bagels with great "fixin's". They also have paninis and fresh salads, cold and hot cereals, egg burritos, great teas and coffees. Food is way better here than at the buffet. We usually didn't have to wait, nor fight for a table to sit in Central Park. Then there's the famous roast beef sandwich with au jus and horseradish. Well worth it. There's plenty of other menu choices there, too. Your taste buds will be happier at Park Cafe than at the buffet.

The MDR....is well, typical MDR. Many times good, sometimes mediocre. Service was good, however.

Another favorite was Giovani's Table. This was the best food we had on board....including 150 Central Park. We ate their two nights in a row. If we would have gone more often if we knew what we knew by the end of the cruise. Best restaurant service on the cruise, too.

Enjoying your photos! Thanks for your review!

Another note....you can see the iPod/iPad speakers/charger on the dressing table. It won't work with an iPhone 4s. Not sure about any earlier versions of the iPhone.

we had both of our 4S iPhones charging and playing music on this cruise.

Great review and pictures, cant wait to read more. Thank you for taking the time to post everything.