Nov 4, Allure of the Seas, Western Caribbean - A Review and Complete Pictorial Guide!

For those you enquiring about the menus I have a video that will most likely answer all your questions. If for some reason this video does not answer your question, just ask me and I will try to search for the answer in my pictures. The video goes a little fast so you might have to pause here and there to read what you're looking for. There was a lot of information to cover so I had to go a little fast.

 

Here is the link for the video.

 

http://youtu.be/pD2V5AT40Rs

 

 

Once at the room we talked about the show reservation we had for tonight, it was Chicago, like stated before I had zero interest on going there, but I was going to go for them. Both mom and my bf were tired and he started watching a movie. We went to the balcony and agreed that we would do it another day, we tried changing the reservations, but I guess it was too late. In any case we were not going today. We checked her email and replied to a few of them. I noticed that the number of people that replied was decreasing. I told her that they were going to get tired of a bunch of pictures of her drinking and having fun. So at that point I decided that I was going to be the one selecting the pictures to send to the family. That had a better result, I decided to send pictures of sunsets, items, food, details and only a few of us.

 

After having some more wine in the balcony, mom and I decided that we should go and try a real bar. I had read lots about the Viking Crown lounge and it was one place that I wanted to visit. We ended up going there several other times during our cruise. So we said goodbye to the bf and headed upstairs for a drink. He was lost in his movie and there was no force of nature that would get him out of that bed, well now that I think about it maybe a tidal wave could of done it. But I really don't think anyone would of liked the results of that.

 

So we got on the elevator and headed up. Let me tell you something, this is by far my favorite bar. The location is prime, the view and atmosphere are fantastic as well. I was in love with this place, the music band was singing songs like Chicago, 3 times a lady and New york. As I walked through the doors, I started singing, its like if this venue was designed for us. The second thing I did was approach the bartender and ask him for a dirty martini, then he looked at me and said it's two for one. And then I remembered he was right, it was ladies night, I guess he saw my lady side ;), no, that was not the case, mom was the lady. So who was I to refuse another drink? I ordered a cosmo, I figured she could drink some of the cosmo. She was already drinking a glass of wine, but I was sure that somehow we could manage to drink everything. You have to remember that we just put down a bottle of wine for dinner and a couple of glasses at the balcony.

 

The bartender made our drinks, mom paid and tipped extra. Tipping habits back in our home country are very stingy, but she has learned lots from me. The bartender was very professional and knowledgeable about martinis. He made then just the way I like them. My complement goes to him, unfortunately I did not grab his name.

 

We took our drinks and made our way to the chairs that would become our oasis for the rest of the cruise.

 

 

 

 

The ceiling lights were MESMERIZING.

 

Here is a panorama of the lounge, again I failed at doing it perfectly. I think later on I get a better one.

I was connected over here when I was reading Sheri's Allure review and she said you have wonderful photos.....She was right!

A very helpful person on CC sent me the link to your review and all I can say is WOW!!! I would buy this in book format. Your pictures were amazing, your writing style was superb. I found myself laughing out loud and crying. I spent my entire work day and night reading this from start to finish (I had to take a small break for lunch and to buy dog food).:p

The only negative is now I'm a day behind in my work!!!!!:eek: Thank you for sharing. I feel like I know you, your BF, and your Mom! I love the couple of posts from your mom and the one from your BF. Can't wait to read your next review!

thank you so much for the great review i fill like i know you and your mom!!!! cant wait to read about your next adventure

You're welcome, can't wait we board in 4 days!!!

I was connected over here when I was reading Sheri's Allure review and she said you have wonderful photos.....She was right!

Glad you like them, still learning hopefully they improve for our next cruise.

A very helpful person on CC sent me the link to your review and all I can say is WOW!!! I would buy this in book format. Your pictures were amazing, your writing style was superb. I found myself laughing out loud and crying. I spent my entire work day and night reading this from start to finish (I had to take a small break for lunch and to buy dog food).:p

 

The only negative is now I'm a day behind in my work!!!!!:eek: Thank you for sharing. I feel like I know you, your BF, and your Mom! I love the couple of posts from your mom and the one from your BF. Can't wait to read your next review!

I am glad I make your routinely day at work a little better, I know that when I find a great review I spend hours reading it and forget about the world, lol. Thank you for your praise and nice comment.

By saying that you loved the post of my BF means that you read absolutely everything, lol. You better get back to work and catch up on it.

Ill see you around, keep an eye on the Celebrity board at the end of this month.You should see a gambee review pop up there ;).

Hi Gambee! I just wanted to wish you Bon Voyage! Hope you have a great cruise and I will look forward to seeing your next review.:):D:)

Heather

Final thoughts.

This is one ship that you need to be inside it to really appreciate its magnitude and the engineering marvel that she is. There are simply no amount of pictures or videos that will let you experience the real deal.

Great review. I've been on the Allure and the Oasis and picked up so many tips from your review, especially some things to see in Cozumel which we also love. I'm sure I'll enjoy my November Allure cruise so much more because of your review.

One thing, I'm surprised you didn't take pictures of any of the many viewers around the ship. I think the little boy statue with the car behind his back was right next to one. They were all over, mostly in the elevator banks but a lot of other places too. You look into them (some had a round glass viewer on top, some had a double viewer with two eye pieces) and you see a surprise inside. We bought the "Live the Allure" book at the Rising Tides bar and followed all the clues in there to find some things we never would have noticed otherwise. I think it was $12, and it was wonderful. Those viewers were noted in the book, so after we followed a few clues to a couple of them we made a point to look for others. Great fun!

Hope to see more of your reviews in the future. Cruising is the way to go :D

a bit late, but I wanted to say how much I enjoyed your photos and review. I'll be on the Allure next year, and am really considering dragging my tripod along after seeing your fabulous photos. I don't think I'll be able to get clear inside shots without one.

Gambee,

I've just called in to wish you a safe voyage in a few days time and I hope your cruise lives up to your last one.

I will be looking out for your review when I start mine towards the end of April. I'm pinning hopes to your review to decide if I move away from RCI or not!!

Hi Gambee! I just wanted to wish you Bon Voyage! Hope you have a great cruise and I will look forward to seeing your next review.:)

Heather

Thank you Heather :)

Great review. I've been on the Allure and the Oasis and picked up so many tips from your review, especially some things to see in Cozumel which we also love. I'm sure I'll enjoy my November Allure cruise so much more because of your review.

 

One thing, I'm surprised you didn't take pictures of any of the many viewers around the ship. I think the little boy statue with the car behind his back was right next to one. They were all over, mostly in the elevator banks but a lot of other places too. You look into them (some had a round glass viewer on top, some had a double viewer with two eye pieces) and you see a surprise inside. We bought the "Live the Allure" book at the Rising Tides bar and followed all the clues in there to find some things we never would have noticed otherwise. I think it was $12, and it was wonderful. Those viewers were noted in the book, so after we followed a few clues to a couple of them we made a point to look for others. Great fun!

 

Hope to see more of your reviews in the future. Cruising is the way to go :D

You know sometimes I am so engrossed with photography that I miss a few things. I did however see the viewers and used only one of them. Actually I took a picture of one of them but somehow misplaced it :/. I am glad you liked the review, I will get to see something new from Cozumel in a few days :).

a bit late, but I wanted to say how much I enjoyed your photos and review. I'll be on the Allure next year, and am really considering dragging my tripod along after seeing your fabulous photos. I don't think I'll be able to get clear inside shots without one.

Hello there :). Thanks for stopping by. You know something funny, yesterday before you posted I actually bought a new tripod. My old tripod is a big heavy one, after looking at reviews I decided to buy a gorillapod. Look it up it is a great little tripod and it is much easier to carry around. I have been on the fence if wether to buy it or not to buy it, but in the end decided to do it. I am sure it will come in very handy :).

Gambee,

 

I've just called in to wish you a safe voyage in a few days time and I hope your cruise lives up to your last one.

 

I will be looking out for your review when I start mine towards the end of April. I'm pinning hopes to your review to decide if I move away from RCI or not!!

I see you're about to board a B2B on the Allure, how fun is that? have a great trip!

When you start your review please send me a link, or post it in my review. I want to make sure I don't miss it.

We are also very intrigued about the X product and how it will compare to our RCCL cruise, hopefully it will be a great cruise!

Ill see your around, have a great journey!

Awesome review...though as many have stated - Great Pictures - not to at least mention it would be of a disservice to your review!

Small question if you have time before your next cruise this weekend -- did you find one camera setting combination that worked best for most daylight conditions (aperture/shutter speed)? for Night photos? Or one that you didn't change often.

I'm just trying to see if there is a good base point to start from.

Hi Gambee!

Just wanted to wish you and your mom a wonderful cruise on the Sillhouette! I'll be especially interested in your review and get your thoughts of Celebrity vs. Royal. If I'm going to stray away from Royal, it would be with Celebrity, since I get my Diamond status with them too. Your review will decide whether my next cruise will be the Quantum or try Celebrity.

I'll watch your sailaway on the webcam Sunday!! Enjoy, and have a dirty martini for me!

Celeste

Having cruised with RC before , I should have been prepared on my Feb. trip on Allure for all the plastic dishes. There is nothing worse than the morning cup of tea in a plastic cup .... gross!! :( The only 'free' breakfast places that had china was the main dining room & room service .

Now on Celebrity, not a problem!! No plastic mugs in their "cafeteria" !! :D

Awesome review...though as many have stated - Great Pictures - not to at least mention it would be of a disservice to your review!

 

Small question if you have time before your next cruise this weekend -- did you find one camera setting combination that worked best for most daylight conditions (aperture/shutter speed)? for Night photos? Or one that you didn't change often.

 

I'm just trying to see if there is a good base point to start from.

Hello Bob,

Well you see you kind of gave me a loaded question. I don't believe that there could ever be a perfect combination for every picture. Photography is very dynamic and therefore your pictures require different settings to be good in different situations.

Just as an example, when I am in the day in the ship I come in and out several times of the day. If I was to leave the aperture at say 7 or 9 for outside, then inside the shutter would be too slow and the picture would most likely be blurry.

If you don't feel secure about settings, I highly recommend that you leave your can on auto mode. Most cameras auto mode is very intelligent and does very well in most cases. Ill be honest and say that during the day time my camera remain in auto mode, I occasionally change it to manual for water features and other situations.

At night is probably even worse because the lighting situation changes even more often. But at night it become a game of using tripod and playing with shutter speeds. At times I just rest the camera on a bench or table. I try to keep my iso at 200 and do long exposures if I have my tripod. If not then I raise the ISO to 1600 and let the camera do her job.

Photography is game of trial an error, the good thing is that you can try as many times as you want at virtually no cost to you.

Sorry I could not be of more help to you, but they really are no magical settings, at least that I am aware off.

Hi Gambee!

Just wanted to wish you and your mom a wonderful cruise on the Sillhouette! I'll be especially interested in your review and get your thoughts of Celebrity vs. Royal. If I'm going to stray away from Royal, it would be with Celebrity, since I get my Diamond status with them too. Your review will decide whether my next cruise will be the Quantum or try Celebrity.

 

I'll watch your sailaway on the webcam Sunday!! Enjoy, and have a dirty martini for me!

Celeste

Thank you Celeste, I hope I can do an informative review just as good as this one. We are also veyr curious of how the two lines compare, we are expecting a more sedate experience in itself.

I will be waiving goodbye :)

Having cruised with RC before , I should have been prepared on my Feb. trip on Allure for all the plastic dishes. There is nothing worse than the morning cup of tea in a plastic cup .... gross!! :( The only 'free' breakfast places that had china was the main dining room & room service .

Now on Celebrity, not a problem!! No plastic mugs in their "cafeteria" !! :D

You know I most likely would have never noticed that, lol. Sometimes I have a pretty bad, attention to detail lol.

Hello Bob,

 

Well you see you kind of gave me a loaded question. I don't believe that there could ever be a perfect combination for every picture. Photography is very dynamic and therefore your pictures require different settings to be good in different situations.

 

Just as an example, when I am in the day in the ship I come in and out several times of the day. If I was to leave the aperture at say 7 or 9 for outside, then inside the shutter would be too slow and the picture would most likely be blurry.

 

If you don't feel secure about settings, I highly recommend that you leave your can on auto mode. Most cameras auto mode is very intelligent and does very well in most cases. Ill be honest and say that during the day time my camera remain in auto mode, I occasionally change it to manual for water features and other situations.

 

At night is probably even worse because the lighting situation changes even more often. But at night it become a game of using tripod and playing with shutter speeds. At times I just rest the camera on a bench or table. I try to keep my iso at 200 and do long exposures if I have my tripod. If not then I raise the ISO to 1600 and let the camera do her job.

 

Photography is game of trial an error, the good thing is that you can try as many times as you want at virtually no cost to you.

 

Sorry I could not be of more help to you, but they really are no magical settings, at least that I am aware off.

 

 

 

Thank you Celeste, I hope I can do an informative review just as good as this one. We are also veyr curious of how the two lines compare, we are expecting a more sedate experience in itself.

 

I will be waiving goodbye :)

 

 

 

 

 

You know I most likely would have never noticed that, lol. Sometimes I have a pretty bad, attention to detail lol.

Thanks for the input. Camera settings always seem to be finicky. I was just inquiring to see if by chance there was one setting that you said "Aha...". My wife always makes fun out of me (lovingly of course :p) for taking the "same" picture 3 or 4 times to make sure the exposure is correct.

Enjoy your cruise!

Thanks for the input. Camera settings always seem to be finicky. I was just inquiring to see if by chance there was one setting that you said "Aha...". My wife always makes fun out of me (lovingly of course :p) for taking the "same" picture 3 or 4 times to make sure the exposure is correct.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

Trial and error, I might take up to 10 pictures of something just to get it right, then to find out that it came out bad all 10 times, lol.

But that said, on a cruise the last thing I want to think about is settings. Only at night I play with them, in the day I let my cam do the work.

Hi Gambee,

Thank you for taking the time to do this. :)

Your review is the best!!!

2 Days! You must be so excited! Bon Voyage!

Gambee, awesome, awesome review.

 

You are the Grand Poobah of reviewers. The MacDaddy! The bomb diggity!

 

Royal Caribbean, are you watching this guy? Give him a job! Pay him to use his awesome photos to augment your (rather lame) website.

 

I think Cruise Critic needs a Gambee fan page. :D

 

Keep up the good work, Gambee!

Sign me up and I would gladly be a Vice President(next to Mom)!!

Kruser7

Oasis 4-13-2013 Western Caribbean

Bon Voyage Gambee and Mom!!! Wishing you smooth seas and sunny skys and lots of dirty martini's. I think you'll love the Silhouette. It will be way different than what you experienced on the Allure and I'm curious to read what you think.

Patty

What an amazing review. Thanks for posting this.

We'll be sailing on the Oasis in August and really looking forward to it.

Hi Gambee,

Thank you for taking the time to do this. :)

Your review is the best!!!

You're welcome, glad you liked it.

2 Days! You must be so excited! Bon Voyage!

:D thank you.

Sign me up and I would gladly be a Vice President(next to Mom)!!

Kruser7

Oasis 4-13-2013 Western Caribbean

Have fun on your cruise, you will be boarding soon!

Bon Voyage Gambee and Mom!!! Wishing you smooth seas and sunny skys and lots of dirty martini's. I think you'll love the Silhouette. It will be way different than what you experienced on the Allure and I'm curious to read what you think.

 

Patty

Thank you Patty, we are super excited to try something new and what X has to offer. We also have a few things planned that might make this the all more exciting! Can't wait to board!

What an amazing review. Thanks for posting this.

 

We'll be sailing on the Oasis in August and really looking forward to it.

Glad you enjoyed it, I hope you have a great time aboard the Oasis =)

So exctied to hear your next review! We've been thinking about trying Celebrity too :)

Have a WONDERFUL cruise!!

Julie

So exctied to hear your next review! We've been thinking about trying Celebrity too :)

Have a WONDERFUL cruise!!

Julie

Thanks Julie,

getting ready to head to drive to port!

Hello Gambee,

I really enjoyed your review!! we are going on Allure in May and cannot wait! You mentioned a Rum that you liked in one of the posts but now I can't find it, I want to look for it when we are there!! Please let me know what Rum that was.

Thanks,

kim

What a fantastic review. We were on the same cruise as you - this was our first week of our b2b. This was only our 2nd cruise we were on Oasis two years ago. Your review brought back fantastic memories both for us and our best friends who we were cruising with who are also reading your review as well. Your pictures are also brilliant. I came across your review whilst looking for a review of Jewel of the seas which we are thinking of doing next year to the southern carribbean for 7 days.

For us (from England) it is not the cost of the cruise but the airfare is more than the cost of the cruise itself. We are looking to extend if possible for a couple of days in San Juan. So still looking at all options.

Thanks once again and look forward to your future reviews.

GAMBEE enjoy the Silhouette it's a beautiful ship. We went on her Jan 13/2013. I will be watching the web cam today.....Safe travels. Can't wait to read your review of the silhouette.:D