Our Allure Story

Sorry to hear about your dad. Sounds like your dad needs you right now we can wait. I hope your dad is not in alot of pain and that you will be able to spend some time with him.

 

Sue

Thank you for the wonderful review, I cannot wait to read more.

Dolby thank you for the answer, by the way, ask your fathers doctor if he can take astragalus, its a herb that helps patients with chemo and lung cancer....honestly its a natural remedy so please look into it or research it online ok?

Thanks to all for the kind comments.

 

 

 

One reason my review is so late is due to my Father's health. He's been in and out of the hospital twice since we've been back and that has taken a lot of review time. He is fighting lung cancer and has had terrible side effects from the chemo, so bad, in fact, he can't take anymore.

 

 

 

I advise getting the travel insurance, it does bring a small piece of mind.

 

 

 

I'll get back to the review tomorrow, believe it or not, have to leave shortly to bring DF home from the aforementioned hospital!

 

 

 

Dolby1000

 

 

 

Dolby1000

 

 

Sorry to hear of your fathers troubled health. I wish him the best. My mother dealt with lung cancer it isn't easy for all involved. Thanks for your time writing this review. Cc can be a nice place to escape

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Dolby thank you for the answer, by the way, ask your fathers doctor if he can take astragalus, its a herb that helps patients with chemo and lung cancer....honestly its a natural remedy so please look into it or research it online ok?

 

I will look into it. The chemo nearly killed him as it gave him a heart attack, so in this case the treatment was as bad as the disease and now we need any and all options.

 

Thank you

 

Dolby1000

Sorry to hear of your fathers troubled health. I wish him the best. My mother dealt with lung cancer it isn't easy for all involved. Thanks for your time writing this review. Cc can be a nice place to escape

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

 

Yes, I love these boards, it is a wonderful community. :)

 

I will be posting another set of pics in mere moments! I just have to remember where I left off.

 

Dolby1000

So, we last heard about our wonderful room attendant. Really if you are on the Allure and your attendant (she does have an assistant, but I forget his name) you will be well taken care of.

 

After learning about the room and unpacking, we changed into our bathing suits and spent the afternoon by the beach pool. This one became our hang out because it is on the non-smoking side of the ship. Both the sports pool and the main pool are on the smoking side. The children’s pool play area takes up the rest of the non-smoking side. We also enjoyed our first strawberry frozen yogurt cone. We swam and relaxed in one of the hot tubs.

 

OH, the hot tubs, or as many people called them, the not-so-hot tubs.

The hot tubs turn out to be not so hot, rather on the somewhat warm side. I guessing they are kept around 95 or so. No matter which one we chose, they all were on the not-to-hot side. Some people like this as you could relax in them longer without roasting; others complained that they needed to be hotter. We fell on the we liked them as they were, because even if you had a slight sunburn, the hot tub did not become uncomfortable (try hot water on a sunburn and you’ll see what I mean, after you stop screaming of course). Of course, the only recently ice melted temperature of one of the pools would quickly cool one off.

 

We enjoyed our afternoon visiting with a couple from Scotland and England. The guy was an IT Project Manager. As that is what I do, we did what all IT Project Managers would do in this situation, we traded IT Project Manager horror stories! The ladies talked too, about what, I have no idea. This lasted for maybe 5 minutes (DW chimes in: 5 minutes my butt (she choose another word for butt), it was over a half hour) until DW clinked (yes spell/grammar check, I said clinked) me on the head and said I was on vacation and to put the shop talk away. Yes dear. We then talked about cruising, dining on cruising, hot tubs on cruise ships, drinking on cruise ships, ports of call on cruise ships and dentistry. How we ended up there I have no idea. We really enjoyed their company. So, of course, I mentioned to DW that this was the likely couple that we were going to run into all week.

 

We never saw them again.

 

Now, this is news. BIG NEWS! News you likely haven’t heard. News you didn't expect. BIG, BIG, BIG news. Are you ready, well here it comes:

 

There is no more muster drill. Yep, you heard it here first.

 

I imagine you are absolutely stunned, yes stunned, by this news. On the Allure on 4/6/2014 we did not have a muster drill. It is just not done. Nothing we did ever referred to taking a muster or doing a muster drill, or mustering in any way. Yep, the word “muster” never came up. There was no mustard drill either, unless you are getting a sausage from Boardwalk Dogs (which I highly advise). This was my favorite drill of the week. Lift arm with mustard packet, open packet, apply mustard to sausage, eat sausage. Repeat. Great drill. Those from Chicago will understand why I did what I did when I removed the "ketchup" drill others were exercising. This is an example of a "bad" drill. No ketchup on hot dogs (does this need a separate thread). It is just NOT done. VERBOTEN! See there I go, wandering off again.

 

SO, where was I? Oh yes, no muster drill. What you do have is a mandatory “Guest Assembly Drill”. At 4 PM came the 30 minute warning. People started leaving the pool area. We stayed; the announcement and instructions say not to proceed to your drill station (not muster station) until you hear the 7 short and 1 long blast. Why waste time getting there early? The early arrivers (is that a word) get sat as far away from the exit doors as possible, so not only do you miss out on 30 minutes of fun, you’re the last to leave the drill.

 

At 4:15 came the next announcement and they started shutting everything down, no more drinks, get out of the pool, discontinue Flowriding, put that basketball down, down we said! We calmly walked back to our suite and changed and only slowly started moving towards the dining area on Deck 5 (F2), our muster, no didn't say that, I meant emergency or drill station for the non-mustering “guest assembly drill”. We arrived about 1 minute before the blasts and were seated close to the exit door, see, good plan. We were not late at all. Last year, in the Aqua Theater, we remember dozens of names being read off, we assumed these were people who hadn't had their sea pass cards read. This year, in the dining room, they didn't read off a one, so perhaps everyone showed up in our area. The drill took only about 15-20 minutes. This time we sat with a couple from New York state (not city). Very kind, on their first time on the Allure and we gave them some tips. I looked at DW and this, this is the couple we’ll run into all week long. You know, the one couple, family, team that you always seem to run into at the pool, or dining room, or casino or whatever. These could be those people.

 

We never saw them again.

 

Ok, muster, er, Guest Assembly Drill over. Quickly, adrenaline sustaining us, we marched up the 11 decks back to our suite, fell over with dizziness, then and I then left to get some Coco Locos (our traditional sail away drink choice) from the Viking Crown lounge, which is conveniently located on Deck 17 right next to the Crown Loft suites, and enjoyed sail away from our lofty perch. One of the perks of the suite was a pair of binoculars, which were put to good use all week, especially now. What a sail away it was. Not a cloud in the sky, got the sun in my eye (remember what I said about facing west) and huge patio all to ourselves and sipping our favorite drinks made the next hour very special. We were about 5th out this Sunday, with only the Voyager of the Seas behind us. The seas were glassy and if you have sailed on either the Oasis or Allure, they generally sail quite smoothly.

 

Okay, how about some sail away pictures? I have those for you:

 

Lined Up and Ready To Go

 

 

Serpentine! serpentine! (can anyone name the movie reference?)

 

 

 

Wow, sharp turn

 

 

Deck 17 is really high!

 

 

 

Everyone posts this house, who I am to not to participate?

 

 

Catholic Church:

 

Here are more pics from our sail away:

 

Nice evening to be on the beach:

 

 

I guess nearly everyone is out today:

 

 

Standard Pic, rules say I have to include it:

 

 

So long FL, see you in a week:

 

 

Forgot to post this one earlier - selfie in the mirrored glass above the pools:

 

 

One of 2 double (really triple) showers. This one is upstairs, the one downstairs has a rain forest shower head:

 

 

TBC. . . .

Shortly after 6, we pried ourselves off our balcony and cleaned up for dinner. Those showers were fantastic! Is there such a thing as joining the shower club, as in balcony club? Just asking, put those thoughts away! :D:D :p or do I mean :eek:?

 

Tonight was our first ever visit to the Samba Grill. We like meat. We like to eat a lot of it. Remember, Chicago, we’re from Chicago. We’ve been to Brazilian Steak houses here in Chicago (Texas de Brazil is our favorite) so we knew what to expect.

 

Okay, all kidding aside, it is not as good as Texas de Brazil because they can’t cook the meat over open flames. However, that doesn’t mean it isn’t worthwhile. The salad bar itself had lots of interesting choices and we could almost make a meal of that alone. But, let’s face it; you are here for the meat. Once we turned our little table light green, Albert started stopping by. He had all sorts of wonderful things. On the plus side was the pork tenderloin, the beef tenderloin, and the lamb. I wasn’t a fan of the bacon wrapped chicken (and I’m not a fan of that at Texas de Brazil either) or the sausage. There are several other offerings as well, we skipped the ribs because they are huge (and a bit fatty) beef ribs and we much prefer pork spare ribs.

 

Albert was great. When we wanted more of something, he was quick to accommodate. Don’t feel that you have to try everything or even anything. If you just want lots of one thing, Albert will be sure that is all you get. Although it is fun to go turn the light from red to green, really, Albert will serve you what you desire when you want it. Albert was awesome; he was our best server of the week and received our second WOW card. He had a ready smile, was very knowledgeable about what he was serving and worked to accommodate any request. Really, the whole team in Samba Grill performed flawlessly. The dinner took about 2 hours and I believe that is the planned time, you don’t want to rush this one.

 

We skipped dessert as we were so full from the meat courses. The selections were only 2 or 3 things and really didn’t appeal to us much. I think they were strawberry cheesecake and a chocolate lava cake. What is really needs it something light after all that meet. But, let’s face it, you don’t go to the Samba Grill for dessert.

 

Sitting near us was a family of 5 from Georgia. Of course, I talk to everyone so we had small chats during the dinner. They had 3 kids, a 5 year old boy, 8 year old girl and 13 year old boy. For the record, these kids knew how to behave in a restaurant. They were polite and fun to talk to and never loud. Albert took great care of them too. It amazed me how the 5 year old tried everything Albert served. If he didn’t like it, it was put aside, but he wasn’t shy about trying anything. You don’t see too many 5 year olds demanding more lamb. Not even in the Meat Capital of the World that is Chicago.

 

When dessert time came around, I had to really credit the mother. It seems the 5 year old had run ahead of the family and his punishment was no dessert. Although he begged, she held her ground and the rest of the family did enjoy dessert. I had the feeling this wasn’t the first time he had been punished this way and probably won’t be the last either. He had a very impish disposition. He took it like a trooper though, no tears nor fit, and for a five year old with no dessert, that is saying something. After they left, I turned to DW and said that see, I really like this family so I bet this is the one family we’ll probably see all week, you get the drill.

 

We never saw them again.

 

Sorry, no food porn here. I’m not a big believer in food porn pics and my digital camera takes WONDERFUL outdoor pics, yet for indoors, it gives everything a orangish/yellowish ting that I haven't ever figured out how to fix.

 

After dinner and talking a good walk to ease digestion, we attended one of the shows we saw last year, Oceanaria. This is just such an amazing show; I never tire of seeing it. If you see one show on the Allure, I would recommend this one. Even though it was quite breezy this night, I don’t think they pulled any dives, including the really high one. To say these guys are good is a huge understatement. Do not miss this show!

 

After the show, we just relaxed on our balcony before bedding down for the night. There are lights, but not quite bright enough to read, though. Thankfully, my Kindle Fire needs no such lights.

 

Okay, one thing you should know about the Loft Suites. They are at the top of the ship. Although you will not hear any noise from deck 15 or the Windjammer right below, you are likely to hear ship creaking noises. If these sort of noises bother you, then you need a cabin like our original 8660. I think some of the noise bothered us the first night. The noise increases when docking in the morning. It is nothing serious or very loud, but for light sleepers, it could keep one awake for a while. They sound like creaks and groans and don’t have a real pattern, but they are there. It is a moving ship, after all. And you are at the top of it, literally.

 

This is how soundproof the cabin is though. When we awoke on our first sea day, the Flowrider was already up and running as well as the music they play along with it. We never heard anything in the cabin, only after opening the door to the patio did we realize that most of the ship was already awake and getting about. So even if you want to sleep in, the noise won’t bother you. Unless you keep the patio door open, which they really don’t want you to do. We never heard any noise from the Windjammer right below us, or the teens club right below that.

 

As advised, we did keep the lights on along the stairs, they provided a decent night light for the entire room.

 

TBC. . . . . . .

 

Dolby1000

Wasn't "Serpentine, Serpentine! " from the original "In-Laws" movie with Peter Falk and Allan Arkin...Hilarious!!!! OBTW...I'm from Chicago too. Just way north of you in Antioch....

Edited May 1, 2014 by jpodds
Addition

Wasn't "Serpentine, Serpentine! " from the original "In-Laws" movie with Peter Falk and Allan Arkin...Hilarious!!!! OBTW...I'm from Chicago too. Just way north of you in Antioch....

 

Ding - Got it in one. A very funny movie.

 

Dolby1000

Wonderful review so far! That room is gorgeous :)

Okay, I'm back, here is the next segment:

 

Day One – At Sea

 

Breakfast day one was the Park Café, DW loves the poppy seed bagel with the fancy smear and I like the muffin egg sandwich. My favorite breakfast place. It was a beautiful morning and we sat outdoors at the café to enjoy our munchies.

 

As you can tell, when it comes to dining, on this trip, we unofficially called two places off limits, the Windjammer and the Main Dining Room. We wanted to see how we would fare not visiting the two most popular places on the ship. We succeeded with one small exception. With my time dining, we only had very early times which did not appeal to us. By the end of the cruise, we had figured out a much better option.

 

After breakfast we attended the Meet ‘N Mingle. Katie was a wonderful host (hostess?) and helped keep things lite and funny. However, it was sparsely attended (the couple we met the previous day wasn't there) and there wasn't a whole lot of mingling either. The problem with this particular time (9:30 AM) is that the repeating cruisers party is immediately following and they want you to go that. And, it’s a cruise, many people might not yet be out of bed or they might have already camped out poolside. So, after a few prizes were given away (we won a bottle of wine) it kind’ve of just broke up. We did mingle with a couple of people from Virginia but that was about it. I looked at DW and said that these were the people that we were likely to see all week, yada, yada, yada. . . . . . .

 

She told me shut up.

 

We spent the rest of the morning in the suite area on deck 17 overlooking the pool decks. This really isn't that great of an area, though. It is two decks from the pools themselves and requires one to wear footwear to get to the pools and back. Being at the top of the ship it also has no wind breaks so be prepared for some serious breezes here. There is a separate bar though, and there is seldom any wait for anything. It is also on the honor system as no one really checks to verify that you have gold card. It was never crowded. It does go all the around, overlooking the Solarium on one end and the pools on the other, so likely there is one side that is less windy than the other. Not a whole lot of shade is available here too. The loungers are padded though and there are a variety of different types of chairs and loungers.

 

The day was spent sunning, reading, enjoying many flavors of Diet Coke, Roast Beef sandwiches from you know where, all this until around 2 when we took a sun break and watched the movie Gravity in 3D in the main theater. Which was being kept at a toasty, er frosty, 62 degrees. I mean it was cold in there. Wearing only shorts, t-shirt and flip flops we had goose bumps we were so cold. Didn't we go on vacation to get away from being cold? So, if you go to see a movie in the main theater, dress for fall temperatures. I’m sure when the theater is full of hot blooded people, they need to crank the air, but when there are only 30 or so people in there, you freeze. There was popcorn for sale and of course, plenty of drink options too for a price.

 

Oh the movie, well, I know that DW hated it (she can’t stand Sandra Bullock anyway and I was surprised when she came to see it, but we also knew not to overdo midday sun on the first day) and I tolerated it. It was a technical marvel to be sure and some of the camera movements were very spectacular. But the plot really doesn't hold up for the 90 minute running time and the unbelievable science items became so glaring I just could get past them (no one, especially not a fully trained astronaut, can put on a space suit by themselves in 5 minutes, no way, no how). Not having to sit through 8 previews before the movie started was a nice change from the theater back home. They were changing over to Captain America the next week, which I enjoyed (when we saw back home with the standard 8 previews) much more.

 

Returned and relaxed in the room and balcony, well, mostly balcony, before Giovanni’s table. We had eaten here last year and tried it again and enjoyed it again. I had, remembering the meat party from the night before, a pan fried filet of sole that was outstanding. DW had a seafood dish too and enjoyed it. Although her pasta course was disappointing as the pasta was gummy. Good flavor, but the pasta did seem to have not dried properly before boiling it, or they boiled the heck out of it. However, it is relaxing watching the Central Park atmosphere as it turn from day into evening and then night as we sat outside. Excellent service and, other than the pasta, we were now 2 for 2 on dinners. I had the red velvet cake for desert. Wasn’t that impressed as it was a bit dry and not really a lot of flavor in it either.

 

There were several officers dining in Giovanni’s tonight. At some point, while we were waiting for dessert, we heard some sort of alarm over the intercom. Not sure what it was as the intercoms on Allure seem muddled and we could rarely make out what anyone was saying. The only thing I could make out was that it was one word repeated three times, so it was an alarm. Seconds later all the officers came running out of the restaurant and high tailed towards the aft area. Not 20 minutes later they were all back, so whatever the emergency was it was slight.

 

That night’s activity was seeing Chicago. We had seen it last year and really enjoyed and we were looking forward to seeing it again. For some stupid reason we decided to watch it from the balcony. It is a poorly designed balcony as the rail in front of the section tends to block parts of the stage. Furthermore, it appears people only marginally interested in the play sit up here. My goodness, getting up and down, walking in front of you, back and forth, DURING THE PLAY, is really, really annoying! If you truly want to enjoy the play, I highly recommend not sitting in the balcony. To the actors, I formally apologize for the rudeness displayed by some of the passengers.

 

We recognized several actors had returned to the Allure from last year’s sailing, where we were told it was that particular cast’s last cruise. But, except for Roxie, 5 of the 6 main leads, I believe, were the same from last year. Which, for us, was great since we really liked that cast, especially the actor that plays the attorney Billy Flynn. He is truly worthy of Broadway and has perfected this role.

 

So, other than the rude audience, we enjoyed Chicago all over again. We spent a quiet few moments on the balcony gazing at the moon before calling it a night.

 

Or at least, DW did. As is my habit on a cruise, I like late night hot tub dipping. Pool dipping is out of the question because for some reason, even after they re-open the pools, they are very chilly. There were very few late night swimmers, but many late night hot tubing. Just be aware that half of the hot tubs are closed at any one point during the night and you may be asked to switch. Every night I had a nice soak, sometimes surrounded by the nightly swarm of teenagers and sometimes not. For the most part, I didn’t mind the teens, they were generally polite and involved in their little world of life changing crises from hour to hour and left at least one hot tub for the adults, however, there was one group of four or five that liked the f word far too much. They were loud and obnoxious, so I tried to avoid them. Thankfully, since this group smoked, they tended to congregate in the same area each evening. Now, this was a spring break cruise and there were lots of teens and kiddies on board, but other than these late night soaks, with a singular exception I’ll speak to later, we really didn’t notice them.

 

Day 2 - Labadee is next.

 

Dolby1000 - next post - more pictures

Day Two

 

Rhetorical question to which we never got a response: How did a golf ball from the mini-golf course end up on our balcony this morning? Someone was either a hugely poor shot or someone was being naughty. Thankfully, the golf balls used are closer to Nerf balls than real golf balls, so the chances of damaging anything are pretty poor. Still, it remains a mystery.

 

Labadee, it is called Labadee. We love Labadee; we could stay on Labadee all day. And we did. We pretty much made this a beach day, just as RC suggests. After a healthy breakfast of Boardwalk Donuts, we wandered over to the beach around 10AM. Sometimes it is nice to wait and not follow the crowd. We found a nice shady spot in the suite section. The weather was perfect for beach day, not a cloud in the sky and warm to hot temperatures (officially, the high was 90). We didn’t do much. We did go on the dragon tail coaster (it would be nice if they would sell a 2 or 3 ride ticket. I understand with the Allure visiting an all day pass isn’t a good idea, but sometimes one ride just isn’t enough). We then wandered about and took some pictures and relaxed in the sea. We ate lunch at the buffet. The strip steak they serve in the suite area is of rather poor quality, made worse by the fact it is well, well, well, well, well done. This makes it tough and have very little flavor, as they leave all that flavor on the grill rather than in the steak. That being said, we did eat our fill of burgers, dogs, salads, watermelon and cookies. A morning donut just does not last very long.

 

Labadee Pictures (notice the cloudless sky, so nice):

 

Suite area:

 

 

A beach, not sure which one, overlooks the Zip Line:

 

 

Speaking of the Zip Line:

 

 

 

Could spend many, many days here:

 

 

 

Late that afternoon we were invited to enjoy sail away from the helipad. Last year, we had the same invite and enjoyed it, but the weather had clouded up and the views of the island were obscured. This year the clear skies remained clear and we had a spectacular sail away. All the officers were saying that this was the first helipad event in weeks that had had decent weather. We even got the Captain to give us three long, loud blasts of the horn. It was a wonderful event. I didn’t have my camera (I should have) so no pics from this sail away. My previous review has some pics from this event.

 

Dinner this night was not scheduled anywhere. We checked the dining room menu and were not really impressed. So, for this one night, we ventured to the Windjammer for salad (we love salad) and then down to Johnny Rockets for burgers and fries. The first Oceanaria show was loading and we relaxed listening to the show’s soundtrack.

 

I don’t remember what else we did that evening, probably shop a bit and just enjoy the ship and our balcony. We did not have any entertainment options for this night. Oh wait, I think this was the night for How I Met Your Mother, oh wait, How to Train Your Dragon on ice. This was a really cool show that wasn’t only for children. The skating is top notch and if you like the RC shows, just add this one to the list. Some of the voices are hard to understand over the speakers, but you really don’t need to follow the dialogue to enjoy the show. The way they do the dragons is pretty awesome.

 

TBC

Dolby1000

Terrific review and pictures! Amazing suite!! Hope and pray your father's health improves! Thank you for taking the time to post your review, especially at this time!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Wanted to say so very sorry about your dad's health. I hope things get better for him.

(and I'm loving your report)...

:)

Thank you for all the well wishes for my Father, they are greatly appreciated.

Jamaica Day

We did nothing, other than sleep late, relax by the pool, read our books and not go ashore much at all. One of the advantages of not going ashore is having the pools pretty much to yourselves for most of the morning. Again, we choose the Beach Pool as it was on the non-smoking side of the ship. It was us and just a few others enjoying the sunny morning. I don’t know why, but the pools just don’t seem all that cold during the day. Oh, I won’t go so far as to say they are anywhere near the warm side, but at least they are tolerable.

We spent all morning sipping our sodas and reading books from our Kindles. I think the Kindle’s work better in the daylight that most other devices. DW was reading a Mary Higgins Clark book (no idea) and I had already churned through Orson Scott Card’s Ruins (sequel to Pathfinder) and was already several chapters into Command Authority, a Jack Ryan novel (Tom Clancy). We were doing what we had said we were going to do on this trip and that was relax. So, if our days aren’t really much to write about, really, that is what we were shooting for. We like the Western Trip as that has only 2 true ports of call, Labadee really being just a beach stop. We choose to do nothing in Jamaica and Cozumel, enjoying the ship’s amenities and the wonderful cabin were our priorities. So, we did no shore excursions. First time ever on cruise that we didn’t do anything on shore. Yet, somehow, we still had a wonderful time, just a truly wonderful time.

We lunched, of course, at the Park Café. Then we decided to take a walk through the shopping section on the pier. We both wanted to try a local beer, so we each had a Red Stripe. I also purchased my latest Piranha Joe t-shirt and hat. See, thrilling, thrilling stuff to write about.

That afternoon we used our wonderful balcony to play a board game we like to play on vacation. It is a rather simple dice game we’ve more than gotten our $10 out of. But, it is tradition and since it was clouding over the balcony was the perfect place to spend the late afternoon.

We played 8 games (it plays fast). DW won all 8. All 8. By a lot. I blamed the towel animal Trysta left us the previous night, she was trying to jinx me!

[IMG]http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/p583/David_Kopp/Allure%202014/170.jpg[/IMG]

Here are some more pictures from the balcony as we left Jamaica. It had really cloudy over and later that evening it would rain. No lightning or thunder though, just some showers. Cleared out the pool area though so I had a wonderful late night hot tub to myself.

[IMG]http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/p583/David_Kopp/Allure%202014/175.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/p583/David_Kopp/Allure%202014/176.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/p583/David_Kopp/Allure%202014/177.jpg[/IMG]

This evening we really took advantage of the balcony. Being in a suite, you can order room service from the full dinner menu, as well as the regular room service menu. We didn’t feel like fighting My Time Dining waits, nor did we want to change. We each found things on the dinner menu that we wanted, which included appetizers, salads, main courses, sides and dessert. We each ordered, I think, a 4 course dinner. DW had some sort of fish and I had those twin steak sandwiches, the chilled fruit soup of the night, salads and a dessert. We called our order in around 6:45 and the order taker was very polite and re-read back our entire order so that she was sure that she had it right. I also asked for a table cloth. She said it would take about 40 minutes. It took around 25 or so and when the server arrived, you have never seen so many dishes on a tray. I really should have taken a picture, but I was pretty hungry and didn’t think to do that. Thank goodness we had that large table (we also could have used the table in the cabin, but we were out of the wind and fairly comfortable on the balcony) because we had about 8 plates and dishes, including rolls.

Now, grant you, by serving all courses at once (the only way they can do this), you go through the dinner quite a bit faster than in the MDR. What impressed me the most is that the entrees were still hot. My one dislike of room service normally is that the food, by the time it gets to you, is only marginally warm. Our food, even after sitting through our salads and appetizers, was still hot. We were sorry we hadn’t taken advantage of this earlier, but we were sure to take advantage of it again.

Sea Day

Today was a bit disappointing weather wise. It remained rather cloudy all day and really didn’t warm up very much. This didn’t prevent us from having a good day. We tried to spend some time in the Suite pool area, but it was too windy and not really warm either. We balanced the morning with some hot tub time and finding a quieter place on the non-smoking side of the ship.

During the afternoon, I quit losing at dice to DW and tried my luck at the Texas Hold’Em tournament. Last year I managed a 3rd place finish. This year, luck wasn’t on my side and I lasted a little over an hour. As many have said before, RC raises the blinds so fast that real poker can’t be played. It becomes an all-in luck fest. Luck was not on my side this day.

Dinner was in Chops, the last of our 3 dinner package. Allure has not moved to the newer not-so-Chops menu. I, of course, had steak (the filet) and DW had the plank grilled Salmon. We split some asparagus and a baked potato.

DW had Crème Brulee for dessert and this was the most disappointing dish of the week, by far. I don’t know what they did, but once you broke the sugary crust, underneath was a heavy, gooey mess, not light and eggy at all. One bite was all she could take. Here I had the earlier mentioned Red Velvet Cake (it wasn’t at Giovanni’s, I forget what I had there), like I said before, a bit of a disappointment.

Tonight’s entertainment was the Headline Performer named Jeff Tracta. We had never heard of him. He is an impressionist and one really delightful hour of real entertainment. We avoided the balcony and sat in the seventh or eighth row on the main floor. He came out and performed impressions of singers, actors/actresses and comics. He keeps the show pretty light and funny and pretty family oriented. Most of his voices are dead-on (except Edith Bunker and Ray Romano) and Jeff even includes a small video of Rich Little, the foundation performer for all impressionists. If you are on a sailing with him, he merits a “do not miss it” qualification.

Another wonderful evening poolside and hot tub side, hoping for a nicer day tomorrow in Cozumel.

Sorry, I have to cut this short, as my Father's health requires more attention (the cancer doctor recommended "terminal care").

So, we played TV Theme Trivia (placed last). Too many current shows, what the heck is Nip/Tuck?

Played Classic Rock Trivia with a couple from Portland, OR (forget their names) and tied for 1st. Lost the tie breaker on Jimi Hendrix. Katie was real cool though and gave both teams first place prizes of umbrellas. We would have been solo first if the Team Captain (not me) had written down Come Sail Away as opposed to Come on Sail Away, too lose due to writing down the wrong name to my all time favorite song is just embarrassing, I didn't review his written down answers so I missed the mistake, still, 17, really 18, out of 20 is pretty good.

We (the couple from Portland) met again the next day for Movie Quote trivia and tied for first again, with the very same team from Classic Rock Trivia (others in the room jeered). We having such a great time that the next round of trivia started, Music Mix, and when we had the first 3 answers, we played that one and this time we easily won. We ended up giving away a total of 8 umbrellas to other cruisers. This was a lot of fun.

Leaving Cozumel, while eating another room service dinner on our balcony, I thought the the Carnival ship leaving at the same time sailed rather close to us. I wish I had my camera to picture it, it was clearly behind us but moving further north towards Galveston while we were going east. The next day, during the Captain's round table, some asked about that and the Captain said he wasn't happy with how close that ship came as they came well within the 2 nautical mile limit ships are supposed to give each other.

We did the behind the scenes for the Aqua Theater, not really worth it, IMHO.

We saw the Let You Entertain Me show in the Aqua Theater and it was really worth it.

We did the comedy night club and the two comics were average to below average at best. Memo to the first comic (sorry, don't have the Compass in front of me for his name), but using foul language and disgusting situations in and of themselves is NOT funny. Yes, it is an adult show, but if you are going to be filthy, at least be funny. George Carlin you were not. The second comic was funnier and not dirty, but not quite enough to save the hour.

Disembarkation was slow. Being that we weren't leaving until Monday, we were in no real hurry to get off the ship, especially since EVERY SINGLE FORT LAUDERDALE weather forecast, which called for sunny skies and 83 degrees, was 100% wrong, it was very windy, showery, heavy showery, consistently showery, no sun and actually rather miserable. I felt bad for the people in town for the Country Music festival.

We left the ship around 10:30 and there were still many numbers yet to be called. It took about an hour to get through everything. Under last year's sequester, we actually moved faster.

At the hotel at 11:45ish, of course, room not ready, which was not surprising. But my plan to hang out at the pool was dashed due to the rain and wind.

Thankfully, we found a dry spot and were given a room by 1:30, which, considering how many people were waiting and the festival right out side our door, was very efficient.

We came home on another rough and tumble flight on Monday, and, on the day we arrived home, April 14, enjoyed (not) another round of snow.

Here are the last of the pictures, in no particular order.

Sting Ray towel

[IMG]http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/p583/David_Kopp/Allure%202014/190.jpg[/IMG]

View from Aqua Theater:

[IMG]http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/p583/David_Kopp/Allure%202014/191.jpg[/IMG]

Next to the Navigator in Cozumel:

[IMG]http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/p583/David_Kopp/Allure%202014/199.jpg[/IMG]

That reminds me, when the Navigator left about an hour before us, there was a wonderful contest of horn blowing between the two.

Yes, they are that close when hanging over the pier:

[IMG]http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/p583/David_Kopp/Allure%202014/203.jpg[/IMG]

Our suite is in the left hand corner on the top deck:

[IMG]http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/p583/David_Kopp/Allure%202014/208.jpg[/IMG]

Our ship is bigger:

[IMG]http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/p583/David_Kopp/Allure%202014/214.jpg[/IMG] Edited May 8, 2014 by Dolby1000

Better view of the suite balcony:

[IMG]http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/p583/David_Kopp/Allure%202014/222.jpg[/IMG]

Wider view:

[IMG]http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/p583/David_Kopp/Allure%202014/223.jpg[/IMG]

Ships at another pier in Cozumel:

[IMG]http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/p583/David_Kopp/Allure%202014/225.jpg[/IMG]

Monkey:

[IMG]http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/p583/David_Kopp/Allure%202014/233.jpg[/IMG]

Carnival Magic (the invasive ship):

[IMG]http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/p583/David_Kopp/Allure%202014/236.jpg[/IMG]

Bye Bye Navigator:

[IMG]http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/p583/David_Kopp/Allure%202014/244.jpg[/IMG]

Elephant:

[IMG]http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/p583/David_Kopp/Allure%202014/245-1.jpg[/IMG]

Trysta's farwell:

[IMG]http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/p583/David_Kopp/Allure%202014/247.jpg[/IMG]

The last sunset, which did not portend the disappointing weather for the next day.

[IMG]http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/p583/David_Kopp/Allure%202014/253.jpg[/IMG]

DW and I truly felt bad for the cruisers on the day we returned, it just was not a pleasant day at all.

That's it for this cruise. Not sure when, not if, but when we'll cruise again.

We will remain loyal to Royal and we enjoy this class of ship.

Disappointed the Quantum will move to China before we get a chance to experience her.

Thinking of moving to Florida, which will give us more opportunities to cruise, and to take shorter ones more easily as we are 7 points from Diamond now.

Take Care to all!

Dolby1000

[SIZE="3"]Thanks again for sharing...I just realized we were in Cozumel (on the Navigator) with you!:)

Prayers for peace and comfort for you and your dad. Mine has been gone nine years, and it's still sometimes hard to believe.

Here's a picture of our ships in Cozumel on April 11th.:D

[url=http://aggietexan.smugmug.com/Travel/Navigator-April-2014/38652464_pp6XWX#!i=3195755770&k=M95VBbX&lb=1&s=A][img]http://aggietexan.smugmug.com/Travel/Navigator-April-2014/i-M95VBbX/1/L/IMG_9269W-L.jpg[/img][/url][/SIZE]

Enjoyed your review. We are sailing on the Allure in Jan 2015 and I am trying to read everything I can about the ship and the western ports. Thanks for posting and my prayers go out to your father and your entire family.


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Thanks for the review. We are sailing Oasis in 3 weeks so I enjoy reviews about both ships.
Very sorry about your Father. Best wishes to you family
Bev

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