Can you handle "too many" Allure pictures?

It is tradition… If you have been reading my reviews in the past, you know they have to start off with my woes about my countdown clock now saying:

This is my second attempt using Tapatalk. I hope the pictures turn out the right size this time!

The Background:

We just returned last Sunday from the Western Caribbean sailing on Allure. We don’t normally cruise in May, since school is still in. However, we found every flimsy excuse in the proverbial book to go on this cruise…

Cruise excuse # 12:” Our son is graduating from fifth grade.”

Cruise excuse # 17: “We got some retro pay.”

Crusie excuse # 24: “We need time to practice our Rubiks cube skills.”

How about this one?

Cruise excuse # 48: “I like symmetry, and we are one cruise away from that symmetrical square on the fridge magnets.”

In comes Allure as cruise number 20..... Aaaaah, much better:

APDMOM

A few disclaimers:

I will try my best to finish this 'picture review' in 7 days or less. I still work full time, but I don't like dragging reviews out.

I appreciate and read every comment and post, but I don't necessarily respond to each one. I will sometimes throw in a general comment to reply to all. I hope that is okay. :)

We took this cruise for the ship, so we cannot give much input on Jamaica or Cozumel. We did not even get off the ship in those two ports. I do have some pics and info from Labadee.

I LOVE pictures. I will be posting many! If a picture review is what you are looking for, this is it.

I will be working from 3 different devices, since Tapatalk does not work on the computer. So, I may sometimes have to edit posts on the computer to make the font and picture size look right.

For those who wonder why I use Tapatalk: I am cheap. I used to pay for Photobucket so that people here on CC can have the pleasure of seeing my pictures at my expense. Now I found out that Tapatalk uploads full sized pictures for free. My kind of deal!

Without further ado... here we go with the rest of the review. Come along with me on an Allure adventure full of picture memories.

The main cruise excuse for this particular one:

“We LOVED Oasis, and this deal is $800 less than we paid for a Boardwalk balcony on Oasis.”

So, we booked the oceanview GTY balcony, crossing our fingers for a great cabin. We were assigned a forward starboard cabin, but were able to switch to 7264 (as it was in the same category). This was a GREAT location- very close to the Boardwalk, Promenade Café, and Central Park.

Here are some cabin pictures:

We were 3 people in the cabin. Here is the room with the sofa put away:

Here is the sofabed - always ready at night:

Our room steward was Alan. He was excellent. He quickly learned our schedule, and always had our room ready when we returned from breakfast and dinner.

Here is a view toward the bathroom and closet. Note the "over the door organizer" at the bathroom. I find that Oasis class ships have much less storage than Freedom and Voyager class ships. So, we travel with the over-the-door organizer. This particular one happens to fit perfectly on the small hooks of the bathroom door!

A view of the balcony:

A view from the balcony:

We love our balcony. We spend a lot of time here - especially on sea days. Maybe that is part of why we typically don't find ships to be crowded.

APDMOM

Yayyyy!! I'm so excited to see all your beautiful photos. [emoji4] subscribing!

I got way ahead of myself :D

I forgot to mention that I will come back to the web version to 'edit' the font in order to highlight tips in red.

Also forgot to say that we used Park-N-Go for the third time. Our very first experience with them was not excellent, but based upon the fact that there were some unique circumstances, we gave them another try in March. This will be the place we park from now on. If you pay online in advance, you get a nice discount. The service is quick and friendly, and you get a bottle of water for each passenger when you return after the cruise. This is a very nice thought, as we all know how thirsty you get between the time you hear that last 'ding' to leave the ship and the time you finally clear customs.

Yayyyy!! I'm so excited to see all your beautiful photos. [emoji4] subscribing!

Hey, Celisse! I am so glad you are checking in! Could you please share a link here to the Compass that you posted? Did you post every day? If not, I still have mine.

I will also post the kids' programs at the end of the review.

Hope all is well with you and your mom! :)

Hey, Celisse! I am so glad you are checking in! Could you please share a link here to the Compass that you posted? Did you post every day? If not, I still have mine.

 

 

 

I will also post the kids' programs at the end of the review.

 

 

 

Hope all is well with you and your mom! :)

Sure! Here they are.

Allure of the Seas Western Caribbean Cruise Compasses - May 15, 2016: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/fieak1csc30d7nb/AABU6mmi8d9roEjD4GWCog9ja?dl=0

Everything is in that PDF for the week.

Everything is great with my mom and I. She had a lot of fun meeting everyone and she keeps saying what a nice group our Roll Call was. I'm glad we all had a nice time. [emoji4]

Sure! Here they are.

 

Allure of the Seas Western Caribbean Cruise Compasses - May 15, 2016: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/fieak1csc30d7nb/AABU6mmi8d9roEjD4GWCog9ja?dl=0

 

Everything is in that PDF for the week.

 

Everything is great with my mom and I. She had a lot of fun meeting everyone and she keeps saying what a nice group our Roll Call was. I'm glad we all had a nice time. [emoji4]

Thanks! You are awesome!

APDMOM

So, in the essence of time (or maybe just because I forgot to take these pictures), I will borrow some cabin hacks from my Oasis review:

These magnetic hooks are great to create extra space. We hang hats, jackets, swim stuff and a flashlight on them. They are super strong, but do not damage the wall:

The safe is pretty small. We still have an iPad 2, which barely fit into it when you angle it.

Put a rag in the little soap rack in the shower. It will keep your razor and stuff from slipping off:

The 3 plugs on the table were really enough for us to charge all our electronics:

We did bring along a nifty plug for our iDevices:

APDMOM

Time to cook dinner. I will be back with more pictures and tips later tonight. Thanks to the "74 viewers" lurking along. Oh, wait 54 of those would be me... I'm starting to sound like King Julien. :D:D:D

Insert King Julien voice: "Everybody look at me!"

APDMOM

Great pictures and review. I remember your past one.

We were just on Allure and live seeing other's experiences. Thanks for posting.

Sent from my ONE E1005 using Tapatalk

Thanks for the picture of the sofa made up as a bed. We're on the Allure in July and was wondering if we could get to the balcony door with the sofa made up.

Following along.

Enjoying the review and the pics! Thank you!

When you have way too many pictures and all these neighborhoods to cover, it is hard to know where to start. So, I will start at the beginning of our cruise, which happened to be at the Boardwalk.

Boarding was delayed due to ‘extra sanitizing’. Yes, we arrived to a letter that explained a small percentage of previous guests had experienced what they believed to be Noro virus. We later found out from our waiter only 30 people had reportedly been effected.

Our original plan was to eat at the Park Café, since we thought we would be some of the first passengenrs onboard. Well, with hundreds of passengers already waiting between Pinnacle and Emerald, we knew we would have to make plan B.

Plan B was lunch at Sabor. Unfortunately, they took the sampler off the menu (pay $20 for enough food to share among 3). We ordered a la carte and I tried my first Avocado Margarita. This is one reason I was glad I got the ultimate package for the glitch price of $310!!! I did not like the margarita that everyone raved about, so I did not finish it. No guilt for ‘$13’ wasted.

Sabor:

If you are interested in frequenting Sabor Bar, I hope you have the privilege of meeting Tricia. She is by far the best bartender I met on the cruise. Even when they are busy, she immediately acknowledges your presence, and takes multiple orders without missing a beat! She has incredible working memory...

Tip: For a free lunch that is less crowded than Windjammer, try to board the ship early, and head straight to deck 8 for the Park Cafe

Or, for a la carte in a very quiet venue, go to Sabor.

APDMOM

Entrance to the Boardwalk - Deck 6:

I feel sorry for anyone who does not know what a Flake is... Yum! I just wish they really served the "Choc 99" on the Boardwalk.

We forgot to take pictures of our distorted images in these mirrors.

APDMOM

Thanks for the picture of the sofa made up as a bed. We're on the Allure in July and was wondering if we could get to the balcony door with the sofa made up.

 

Following along.

You are welcome. Yes, you can squeeze by to get to the balcony. We spent many evenings enjoying the ocean and fresh air on the balcony, while our son slept inside. :)

Enjoy your cruise! I wish we could go along!

Enjoying the photos!:)

Stroll along the Boardwalk with me:

APDMOM

The donuts were not quite as bad as I had expected, based upon reviews about the "cake-like" texture. It was more inbetween Krispy Kreme and cake-like. The pink ones were my favorite.

There is a nice play area inside this display, with a slide for kids:

APDMOM

The Carousel:

...and then there is the Royal Horse...

APDMOM

The aft view:

Nothing like being greeted in your "almost" mother tongue:

A view from 12729 (we got to visit during the cabin crawl):

Labadee in the background:

APDMOM

A view from a Boardwalk Balcony on our cabin crawl. I think it was 8317:

One more from 12729:

APDMOM

That concludes the tour of the Boardwalk and the review for tonight. I do have some Johnny Rockets pictures that I will post with our 'breakfast review' ...or at least recommendations.

A big thank you for the compliments. Also thanks to all the followers, readers, and even 'skimmers' who just look at the pictures. :D

Until tomorrow, happy cruise planning! :)

Sure! Here they are.

 

Allure of the Seas Western Caribbean Cruise Compasses - May 15, 2016: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/fieak1csc30d7nb/AABU6mmi8d9roEjD4GWCog9ja?dl=0

 

Everything is in that PDF for the week.

 

Everything is great with my mom and I. She had a lot of fun meeting everyone and she keeps saying what a nice group our Roll Call was. I'm glad we all had a nice time. [emoji4]

Celisse, the Compass is really clear and easy to read. I will have to learn how you do that. Thanks again for sharing. It saves me a lot of time of scanning... :)

When you have way too many pictures and all these neighborhoods to cover, it is hard to know where to start. So, I will start at the beginning of our cruise, which happened to be at the Boardwalk.

 

Boarding was delayed due to ‘extra sanitizing’. Yes, we arrived to a letter that explained a small percentage of previous guests had experienced what they believed to be Noro virus. We later found out from our waiter only 30 people had reportedly been effected.

 

Our original plan was to eat at the Park Café, since we thought we would be some of the first passengenrs onboard. Well, with hundreds of passengers already waiting between Pinnacle and Emerald, we knew we would have to make plan B.

 

Plan B was lunch at Sabor. Unfortunately, they took the sampler off the menu (pay $20 for enough food to share among 3). We ordered a la carte and I tried my first Avocado Margarita. This is one reason I was glad I got the ultimate package for the glitch price of $310!!! I did not like the margarita that everyone raved about, so I did not finish it. No guilt for ‘$13’ wasted.

 

APDMOM

What! No more sampler?! I'll be on Allure next week and was planning on that.

We have reservations for Sabor the first night. Do you have a closer picture of the updated menu?

Thanks for the review. It'll help me make it through the the next 8 days!

James