Allure July 8-15; Our family adventure!

We just returned from an awesome week on the Eastern Caribbean run. Group consisted of my beautiful wife, daughter,18, her school friend,17, daughter 29+1, and her boyfriend, 30. We were joined by my wife's twin sister her husband and their two sons 21 and 19. We travelled from Palm Springs, Ca to Ft Lauderdale arriving Friday morning at 11am which gave us two days to enjoy prior to the cruise. We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott on the beach which we all found enjoyable. No complaints. Easy walk to many places to eat and drink and onto the beach. Mostly just relaxed by the pool or on the beach and ate too much! Two of us took a half day fishing trip which resulted in no real fish but a great day on the water with cold beer! The Harmony passed us as she departed and we were heading in. Awesome to see it from our fishing boat. On Sunday we took a couple of Uber's to the port and our first view of the Allure. Five of us sailed on the Oasis last year so were prepared for just how massive it is. The other five were all first time cruisers who were amazed at the size! From this point I'll try to hit on different aspects of our cruise experience. I'm not going to try to do a day by day thing because I don't want to bore you! I will touch on areas that most folks on here seem to want to know about: food, entertainment, food, service, ports, food and such.

Embarkation: Painless but some of that was because of the Star Class cabin we booked. (Our first time at that). We were met by an awesome young lady who took our bags and had us through the check in process in just minutes. We were then taken to a lounge to await the arrival of our Genie for the week, David Mac. He arrived in about five minutes and we talked about schedules and got to know each other for about 15 minutes. When he led us onto the ship we already seemed like old friends. We had a quick stop near Guest Services where Mac punched our sea pass cards for those wanting to use lanyards (not me...) and then it was up to the 17th deck to see our home for the week, the Royal Loft Suite cabin 1740. I will post pictures of that cabin but I will tell you it is beyond words! Six of us stayed in 1740. The other four were in OV balcony's on deck 14. But all 10 of us hung out in the suite all week which is why we got it. More about the room later. I'll post more little by little. If I can answer questions I'll be happy to. I think next up from me will be a bit about David Mac who made our week unforgettable. Stay tuned.

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Following! I’m already enjoying your review and can’t wait to read more. My family and I have also stayed in the Courtyard Marriott the nights before our Oasis, Allure, Harmony and Freedom cruises out of Fort Lauderdale. How lucky you were able to get the RLS! Thank you for writing this, I look forward to the next installment!

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I'll be following along. I'm especially interested in your star class service. Thanks!

Following! I’m already enjoying your review and can’t wait to read more. My family and I have also stayed in the Courtyard Marriott the nights before our Oasis, Allure, Harmony and Freedom cruises out of Fort Lauderdale. How lucky you were able to get the RLS! Thank you for writing this, I look forward to the next installment!

 

 

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We were incredibly lucky to get the RLS! We booked 12648 first months ago. Then switched to 1720 a Star Loft suite and about 3 months ago the RLS came available. I'm very happy we took it. Might only do it once but it was a great experience.

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Just a couple of shots of the suite. We lived on the balcony!

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A little bit about Genie David Mac or Big Mac as most know him. This is a guy who loves his job and it shows. We all became instant friends. Mac had 4 cabins counting ours but we would have never known it had he and I not discussed it. It seemed all week that he was just part of our family - but one with great contacts on every deck of the ship! He provided us with a dining and entertainment schedule for the week which was great. I heard or saw him every morning. He popped in at each dinner to check on us. Met us before each show and escorted us to our seats. Decorated the suite and provided a cake for 29+1's birthday celebration. Hung out with us on Labadee. Had some sort of surprise for us every single day. Beyond all of the "perks" he provided, he really did become a friend. He wanted to know about us and shared about his life. You will see in some of my comments to follow many of the times he provided great memories for us throughout the week. I was so impress with this gentleman that the day day after we returned home I sent an email to Michael Bailey, the CEO, about Mac. That's a first for me in 19 cruises. I was pleased to receive an email last night from Mac telling me he had already heard from Mr. Bayley's office. My email to Mr. Bayley also contained comments about one other person that is now a new friend, but more about Carmen later. Here is a picture of Big Mac with some of us on the last night. Schooner bar if I remember correctly.

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I'll be following along. I'm especially interested in your star class service. Thanks!

Star Class is outrageous! I'll post a lot about it.

Gorgeous accommodations!!

Awesome. Following along as we are doing Star Class for the first time in January and I can't wait!

Following along. We were on Allure and loved it. That stateroom looks amazing!

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Can't wait to read and see more!

The suite looks GREAT. We (4 of us) have 1740 booked for September 30. Can't wait! Wonder if we will have the same Genie?

The suite looks GREAT. We (4 of us) have 1740 booked for September 30. Can't wait! Wonder if we will have the same Genie?

You will love the room. I'll post more pictures for you. Big Mac is moving to the Ovation on September 22. I briefly met the other two Genies but didn't get their names. I'm sure you will enjoy either one of them.

Love your review so far! Be as wordy as you like! The more information the better!

Lovely family. We are a family of 20 sailing Allure in three weeks and cannot wait.

We all have OV Balcony cabins on Deck 6 and Deck 8. We sail Haven on NCL, Yacht Club on MSC and

Concierge on DCL, but never Star class on RCCL. I look forward to hearing about your comparisons

since you mention this is the first Star Class for you. I would love to book your cabin but the lack of

a dedicated pool, Jacuzzi, bar, restaurant and ship within a ship feel is the reason I haven't bit the bullet yet.

Can't wait to hear all about the Allure. Where did you spend your evenings and what specialty restaurants did you go to while on the ship?

Thanks so much!

Love your review so far! Be as wordy as you like! The more information the better!

Lovely family. We are a family of 20 sailing Allure in three weeks and cannot wait.

We all have OV Balcony cabins on Deck 6 and Deck 8. We sail Haven on NCL, Yacht Club on MSC and

Concierge on DCL, but never Star class on RCCL. I look forward to hearing about your comparisons

since you mention this is the first Star Class for you. I would love to book your cabin but the lack of

a dedicated pool, Jacuzzi, bar, restaurant and ship within a ship feel is the reason I haven't bit the bullet yet.

 

Can't wait to hear all about the Allure. Where did you spend your evenings and what specialty restaurants did you go to while on the ship?

 

Thanks so much!

I've sailed other lines but only Disney concierge. I've read about the "ship within a ship" and that sounds interesting. I have to say that's almost how we felt on this trip. Jacuzzi on our balcony, Coastal Kitchen and the lounge/bar on deck 17. Any specialty restaurant delivered and set up in the suite or on the balcony. Drinks delivered with a phone call. No pool but sure felt like we had the rest! I'll post next about the restaurants and entertainment.

Home from work so time for a little more. Our first night, after spending the day eating and drinking at each open venue, we headed to our first dinner: Izumi hibachi. Mac had arranged for a table for all 10 of us. We have a Kobe Steak House here so I used that for a comparison. The chef was much more entertaining that night than we have experienced here at home. We either have boring chefs in Palm Springs or the Allure has a few great cook/performers. I'll believe it's the latter! He had us laughing the entire time. The food was very good. I think between the 10 of us we had it all. For those interested in the Star Class perk, we ordered anything we wanted. You certainly could have all of the seafood, poultry or beef you wanted. The atmosphere was fun. Lots of laughs and of course our nightly dinner visit from Big Mac made it complete. We totally stuffed ourselves and enjoyed the experience.

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Thanks for the information. Cant wait to read and see more!

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After our Izumi experience we went to our first nights entertainment, Mama Mia. First I have to tell you this: two months ago I wouldn't have known Mama Mia from any other Mama! I had never heard of it. But my wife, the wise one in this family, made us watch the movie two weeks before the cruise so I would have a clue what it was. It was a fun movie night at home and made me wonder how this would play on the stage. Fast forward a couple of weeks and here is what I found: The experience was much better than my expectations. Mac met us at the entrance and took us to front row seats. Those seats for me made a huge difference in the experience. I'm old but not not blind! But from my seat I could clearly see the expressions on the faces of the performers and it was awesome! Whether you like Mama Mia or Grease or Cats, you have to appreciate these performers. They were extremely talented and performed as if it were opening night and not their next to last week before vacation! Even my young nephews who didn't even want to see it enjoyed the night. If you go to this show to be entertained you won't be disappointed.

We completed the evening with a little casino time and then up to our balcony for snacks and drinks courtesy of Big Mac.

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Your room view is amazing!! Looking forward to reading more.

You will love the room. I'll post more pictures for you. Big Mac is moving to the Ovation on September 22. I briefly met the other two Genies but didn't get their names. I'm sure you will enjoy either one of them.

That's great news about Big Mac moving onto Ovation. We might get him as our genie in January :)

Three persons wearing baseball caps at dinner in Izumi. Geez.

Three persons wearing baseball caps at dinner in Izumi. Geez.

Normally my husband and I are "old school" and agree with the social graces we were raised to observe. However none of the three were our sons and my husband had two separate health scares in the last two months that we feared he wouldn't survive so being able to celebrate life and love with our family was a priceless gift from God and we wouldn't change a thing! Izumi is probably the least formal specialty restaurant on board and other diners were similarly dressed. Awesome experience! (Definitely would have quietly mentioned something to them had they chosen the same attire at the other restaurants which they did not!);p

Great review so far. I feel the same in terms of seats at a show. I really love front row so you can see all expressions. My daughter and I are big fans of Mamma Mia and lined up almost 1hr early on Allure to sir front row. Did you get reserved seats?

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DH and I are sailing on Allure in 2 Bdr ATS in November. It’s our first time in Star class. Looking forward to learning more about your Star experience.

Three persons wearing baseball caps at dinner in Izumi. Geez.

Before I post anymore I must congratulate you on both your observation and math skills! Yes, those are baseball caps. And good job, there are three! I did tell them not to wear them to the MDR because it would cause un uproar here. 😂

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