My review Allure May 1st Eastern!

[BillOh]

Loving you post and your pictures. Thank you to your and your wife for sharing.

I guess to use the chairs you really have to 'Love thy neighbor' - the chairs are REALLY CLOSE together.

I laugh at the pic of this man... he knows you are taking his picture - wonder if he is a member of cruise critic and sees himself as the star this week?

 

 

The man with the scowl probably has never seen a computer ;) Earlier in the thread one man from here did recognize himself in the photo with the guy in the Boston hat reading the Ipad. He was a guy who had his stuff moved. He said he hadn't been gone 30 minutes and he may have been right. The deck patrol was working hard, but may not have been perfect. The true chair hogs were doing their best to confuse them.

[AF-1]

BillOH, I know that there will always be chair hogs; but on my Allure sailing in Jan; we always found lots of chairs by all the pools. This was never an issue.

[BillOh]

BillOH, I know that there will always be chair hogs; but on my Allure sailing in Jan; we always found lots of chairs by all the pools. This was never an issue.

 

You know,I didn't pay attention to the other pool as much and never went near the H20 zone, but the beach pool is definitely the most popular.

[kaykels]

I was also on this sailing. I was the face painter!

I had the very best dining service team ever! These guys brought out extra appetizers, extra entrees, extra desserts when they wanted us to "try" something. Our drinks were always ready and waiting for us when we arrived. The head dining room server came to our table every night and knew my kid by name. (most cruises I never even meet this person!)

 

I thought the shows on Oasis were better. But I still enjoyed them on Allure. The cruise director, Ken, was a bumbling idiot. The highlight was when they threw him in the pool after the belly flop contest.

 

Hey, I'm going to post this on its own thread, but somebody on our sailing wrote a review called "May 1st Western" ha ha, guess they don't know the east from west. But this person actually said that on the at sea days there was NOT MUCH TO DO .

What ???

Lets see, besides the trivia, bingo and other things listed in the compass, there is rock climbing, ice skating, zip line, flow rider, casino, aqua show or contest (every at sea day in the aqua theater), swimming, sunbathing in the beautiful solarium, liquor tastings, fitness classes, spa, basketball, ping pong, video games, movies, game room and library, balloon twister and a really good face painter ;)

 

Not much to do ??? Wow !

 

I'm doing it again in November on Oasis and counting down the days. I wish I would have seen more in St. Marteen.

[BillOh]

I was also on this sailing. I was the face painter!.

 

I did see you on the last two sea days and didn't say Hi, my apologies. I never got a feeling for Rush since we missed Love and Marriage and Quest. He seemed nice enough during Captain's corner.

[jty1220]

What beach is that where you can lay out as the planes fly over ?

[bonsai3s]

I've almost got all of my pictures processed, but I thought I'd start the text of my review and get it started here and make it an interactive thing as I go along ;)

 

BACKGROUND: My wife and I are empty nesters, in our early 50s. This was our 6th cruise, our cruise history is in my signature. We are from Columbus, Ohio and I saw a significant discount for Ohio residents so I chose Allure over Oasis and the Eastern itinerary as we had never been to St Maartin before. Its also worth noting that my wife and I are both successful weight loss surgery patients having lost more than 200 lbs between us and while we love to eat, the food portion of the cruise isn't going to be as important to us as it is to some people.

 

As usual, this forum was a great help in preparation and with this being a new ship/class of ship, this was never more true that this time. I spent a lot of time in this section as well as the individual port sections. The Roll call group was helpful as well. It was there that I learned that many of the hotels were already full in January for our weekend. There were 5 ships in port that weekend with 2 doing TA runs. It was also "fleet week" so there was also the IWO Jima carrier and a submarine that left when we did. I started looking for hotels in the 2nd week of January and all the recommended ones were already full. I ended up picking the Rodeway Inn Cruise port hotel. It was only $99, which was cheap compared to the most recommended ones. I also booked my first ever flight on Airtran as they have direct flights from Columbus to FLL and return.

 

Our flight in was uneventful and pleasant. I called Rodeway once we got our luggage (10 minutes) and got directions on where to be picked up. When we got outside they were already there so we were at our hotel by 6pm Saturday evening. Its a 5 minute ride and they had a separate trailer for luggage so it was a comfortable ride. When we arrived I saw a sign that said they had $30 upgrades to a Jacuzzi suite. The clerk reminded me that I had already prepraid the room in January so I figured, what the heck, and we got the upgrade. I had conflicting reports here and on expedia about this place, but it was good enough. I would say it was typical of what you would find on any interstate highway, but not nearly as nice as many of the nearby resorts. If you want to save $100 to spend on the ship I would recommend this place. I use to travel for a living and have stayed in thousands of hotels. If you want to splurge for a nice night, look elsewhere ,this place was good enough. The only additional detail I will add here is that they do run a free shuttle to the cruise ports and they seem to be experienced at it. The advertised the shuttle leaving at 11am, but they had enough people that they ran one at 10:30. We missed that and ended up at the 11am shuttle putting us at the port by 11:10.

 

I tipped the baggage handlers $10 for two bags, heck I saved $100 at the hotel :D and we walked toward the terminal There were lots of signs directing you to the right place and lots of helpful people along the way. We were through security within 2 minutes and headed to the RCL check in stations. Here is where the staff made their only mistake. An attendant asked me what deck I was on, which was 12, and he directed me to a line that said DECK12 and it had 5-6 people in it. I guess I must look like a commoner and he couldn't tell my elevated Platinum status by just looking ;). I forgive his mistake! Actually this was our first trip as platinum and I was looking for that special check in line. I spotted it and dove into it. There was an attendant there who recognized my superior status and escorted me to the next agent where we had a very pleasant check in experience. We had our picture taken and were on the way up the escalator is less than 5 minutes after hitting the front door! The ship wasn't boarding yet so they were directing people to a waiting area. I had my Seapass card out with my thumb pointing at my elevated PLATINUM status to be sure we were directed to that luxurious special place!

 

?DISCLAIMER I was reading the CARNIVAL BASHING thread this morning and the OP was complaining about how people in this forum brag about their elevated status and are so obnoxious about it. I am having a little fun with that, and this trend may continue through this whole thread, so I may have to remind you from time to time that I am as blue collar as it gets and don't think I'm better than anyone.

 

Well, we were directed into that special area after walking past the Pinnacle, Diamond Plus, Diamond, and Emerald sections. There was nothing there to make it any better than the other sections of the boarding lounge with the exception that the Higher Crown and Anchor members boarded first! We sat probably 15 minutes here and I used that time to log into our roll call group and announce IN THE LOUNGE! to the group. I then shut my phone off and was looking forward to no cell phone, or internet for a full week! They did call for the Pinnacle and Diamond Plus members to board about 11:45 and us Emerald and Platinum about 5 minutes later! (Sorry I can't tell you when the commoners were allowed to board :D

 

I've walked up thousands of "jetways" in the last 30 years, but there is something special about walking up the ramp to a cruise ship. Even when I was two turns from boarding I could hear that wonderful "bonk" sound that occurs when they process your card and you are welcomed to board. At approximatively 11:45 we stepped onboard the new Allure of the Seas!

 

MORE TONIGHT when I have access to my pics and and my notes. SPOILER ALERT: - What a great week!

 

We must've been right behind with our extended family of 10. We were separated at the check-in because we all had cabins on different decks. We ultimately got back together and all smiled when we stepped into the Promenade. Funny Side Note: My wife was on Deck 6 looking at photos when she was observed by another passenger who said: "I see you have a coupon...we are Platinum, could you tell us what kind special coupons we are entitled to? My wife couldn't resist and responded: "Sorry, but we are Diamonds".:)

[BillOh]

My wife couldn't resist and responded: "Sorry, but we are Diamonds".:)

 

 

I'm glad you reminded me, We have been back 2 weeks, time to check the website to see if I've moved closer to Emerald. Can i shine your shoes Mr. Diamond? ;)

[BillOh]

I'm glad you reminded me, We have been back 2 weeks, time to check the website to see if I've moved closer to Emerald. Can i shine your shoes Mr. Diamond? ;)

 

Whoo hoo, 3 more points and I'm emerald and board 1 minute sooner than Platinum!

[relaxatsea]

Hi Bill,

 

Thank you so much for your great review and great photos! I especially enjoyed reading the Samba Grill menu which I had not seen before. We also plan to go to Maho Beach when we go on Allure in November.

 

All the best to you and your wife!

[BillOh]

Hi Bill,

 

Thank you so much for your great review and great photos! I especially enjoyed reading the Samba Grill menu which I had not seen before. We also plan to go to Maho Beach when we go on Allure in November.

 

All the best to you and your wife!

 

May starts the island's slow season so you should see more planes than I did. I watched the first take off and then hope to stand directly in the line of fire for the second one, but we ran out of time.

[liberiben]

How much per lb. was the candy at candy beach, trying to figure out how much money I'm going to blow :)

[BillOh]

How much per lb. was the candy at candy beach, trying to figure out how much money I'm going to blow :)

 

 

I intentionally ignored the cost. No, I'm not rich, but I was starting with $500 OBC and since it was our 30th anniversary I tried not to pay attention to certain things.

[BillOh]

Ok, people, I'm back at it, sorry for the delays. Its now day 7, the second sea day in a row andthe last full day on board. To sum up the trip this far, we were having a great time, we didn't do everything, we relaxed at times, just sat and relaxed in many areas of the ship and enjoyed 2 of the 3 ports. (I would have given up Nassau for a day in Labadee if that was possible) Tips, tricks and opinions from this section of this forum and this forum were a big help, probably more so than any other cruise because of the newness of this ship. One final thing we did based on tips was breakfast in the dining room. We just so happened to pick the famous Chocolate breakfast. Below is that menu, I apologize, I didn't reduce this picture as much so it would be readable. I hope it isn't hard to read in your browser.

 

My wife went to the buffet they had set up with the traditional breakfast stuff, I being the chocolate lover ordered the Chocolate Milkshake and the chocolate waffles with banana carmel sauce. The "milkshake" was chocolate milk, something of a dissapointment, but the waffles were extraordinary and is on my must do list every time its now offered. We enjoyed the waitress we had that morning, she did remind us the MDR was open for breakfast on that terrible last morning. I was so not looking forward to trying to get in the WJ that morning, so this was very helpful to know. Breakfast was very enjoyable for us.

 

We planned on getting more pool/sun time in the last day and the weather was cooperating nicely. We have been on Freedom once, so what I'm about to say is now, via the 2nd time its happened, a tradition with us. On Freedom I waited till the last full day to try to Flowrider. I didn't want to get hurt and have it take away from my vacation. And to be honest, I don't want to pay $1000 for a bandaid in the ships doctor's office. (Probably exagarated, but when you have no recourse over what they charge, I've succesfully avoided this place on 6 cruises now. My wife had already done the zip line, but she wanted to do it again and have me use the new camera. She got in line. (There was no line the first day) I got in position for photos at the other end. A couple of minutes later I see her signalling me. She was in line, it was probably going to be 15 minutes or so, but she had left her seapass card in the room, so I went to get it. While she was in line she watched the stand up side of the flowrider and when I got back she told me the worst news of the trip. While I was gone, an attractive large breasted lady in a bikini fell off her board and came back up with no top and didn't realize it for a full 10 seconds. And I missed it! Many minutes have been spent watching the flowrider in hopes of a wardrobe malfunction, but no such luck. She reminded me there had been plenty to see at Orient Beach and I got over it quick enough.

 

I think I got at least 40 pictures of her in that 15 second ride. I love this new Canon T3I. BTW, I skipped the zip line, I am terrified of heights. So next it was my turn on the Flowrider. I chose just to boogie board laying down. My first time on Freedom, I lasted about 10 seconds. This time I lasted about 45 and then got off to make room for more people. Here is my pic.

[BillOh]

 

Not sure why Gina's zip line pic didn't show up, trying again, hope it isn't too big (must be) I'm wanting to upload some pics from the Blue planet show, so I'll have to figure that out.

[relaxatsea]

Thanks for the chocolate breakfast information! Wonderful picture of you on the Flowrider, congratulations!

[BillOh]

Ok, I couldn't figure out last night why I couldn't post the picture of my wife on the zip line. I'm thinking maybe the forum software didn't like the fact that I had ZIP in the filename, here goes again.

 

 

I also forgot to post the chocolate breakfast menu.

 

 

Tonight I'll finish the review, which basically all that is left is Blue Planet, which I did get a few photos (without flash to you morons using a flash during this show:mad: ) and disembarkation.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review, glad you had a good time.

 

Kirk

[rthouse]

Thanks for the very enjoyable review. You mastered your new camera amazingly fast.

[BillOh]

The last day continued with Gina attending the 2nd instance of the flash mob practice. Last year on Majesty she got to be part of a group of 10 or so passengers that got to dance at the farwell show with the RC crew dancers. Below is Gina standing near Nikki the RC coordinator for this event. It was fun to watch and it helped make Gina's cruise.

 

 

< The 1080 HD link to the actual flash mob event. I don't remember if I mentioned it already but the balcony above the cupcake cupboard is a great place to watch the flashmob and parades. This picture and video was taken from the photo studio, but that is an obvious place and fills up fast.

 

Since we were in the area, we hit Sorentos one last time for a make your own personal pizza. We shared this PEPPERONI SALAMI HAM pizza. (I'm a meatatarian)

 

 

That was enough food to hold us over till our final dinner in the MDR with Oliver and Erixx. The other couple never showed up again after day 1. Don't I seem like a fun person to cruise with? For the final night we saw the Blue Planet show. I'd seen some previews of this an was anxiously awaiting it. I even took the time to learn how to use my new camera with out the flash and still get decent pictures. I'm going to start a new message with those photos.

[BillOh]

Thanks for the very enjoyable review. You mastered your new camera amazingly fast.

 

Thank you, this camera is amazing in full auto, I'm just learning how to use more of the features. The flashmob video was also done with this camera.

[BillOh]

Blue Planet was our last entertainment and quite enjoyable. In case you haven't figured it out yet, you will never see me on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, you will never see me at the Opera or the Ballet, I'd rather drink a beer and watch a game. But this was enjoyable. It would be worthless for me to try to review the show. I did love it, with one minor exception. Here, these three pictures speak for themselves.

 

 

You may have seen a video of this show where they bring out a rock formation. On this rock, the bottom is a trampoline and the sides are also trampolines that angle inward. I've seen an amazing video of this act and really looked forward to it. They brought this out, climbed all over it, but never used the trampoline. This was my sole disapointment of the entire cruise. The sea wasn't rough, so I have to assume maybe the main performer here was ill or missing. The first picture shows the air portion of the show, then next the land portion and finally this picture below shows the water portion. The "special effects" to make this look like you were looking underwater was very pleasing to the eye.

 

(I had to delete this photo, you are only allowed 6 in one message, please see next message)

 

After this, we took a tour of the ship catching a few good night pictures and then our final hot tub soak. For the only time of the cruise, I set a wake up call for 6am, a cruel reminder of the return to real life. We decided to have our final breakfast and meal in the dining room. It was the usual eggs, bacon, juice and stuff we might have gotten in the Windjammer, but in a much more relaxed atmosphere. A much better way to end things. We went down to breakfast at 7am knowing we had to eat and come back up to our room and still be out of our room by 8. Here a minor annoyance. We were on deck 12. The dining room breafast is on deck 4, you disembark on deck 5. The elevator would not let you press a floor before 5 after 6am. We got off the elevator and tried to head to the stairs to get down to deck 4 and we were mobbed (exagaration) by RC employees, saying "Express departure, right this way" They are obviously trying to get 6000 people off the ship as quickly as possible. Something I really appreciated (7 days ago :p )

 

After that breakfast, we emptied out our room and headed to the Studio B, where the groups with a post cruise excursion met. I had booked a 2:30pm flight because it was the cheapest and a direct flight. Earlier flights would have cost us more and not got us home that much earlier. At 8am we were promptly escorted off the ship. You know, I don't think post cruise excursion set in until I just typed that sentence. :(

 

I had already done the Everglades excursion so I booked a simple FT Lauderdale bus/shopping tour that was to have us back to the airport by 1pm. To be honest, the excursion was kind of lame, but it killed time and get us occupied. We were actually back at the airport closer to noon. The rest of the details would boar you, so I'll wrap things up by saying Gina said it was the best cruise ever, and I probably agree. It took a couple of weeks of reflection and writing this review to come to that realization. Our first cruise was great. Freedom was wondferful, helped by a great meet and mingle and new friends. But this one had so much going for it and that we didn't try to do everything, but had everything to do. I'm not sure whats next in our cruise plan. I'll probably pick a few favorite pictures and add them to the end of this review and answer any questions that arise.

 

One final thing. You may have noticed, I didn't mention the dreamworks characters. I would have made it the whole week without even seeing them. (I tried to do it that way, I'm glad they are there for those of you wiht families, but we didn't need them. Allure has something for everyone and even the things we didn't use made it less crowded on the things we did. I did almost run into a giant hippo on the running track this day at noon, the only day I ran late. There is a dressing room at the aft end of deck 5 and the characters come out of that room, walking backwards on the track (dumb) and up a set of stairs to the aqua theater.

[BillOh]

Here is the water photo I had to delete above.

 

[lorielucks]

Wow! Thank you so much for your great review! But you're killing me! I have to wait until next March to go:eek: I sure do have a lot to look forward to... Only 302 days to go.:p

[ohbuckeye]

Great and entertaining review, thank you so much for taking the time to write it and post the pics. I was on the same sailing and it was fun to "re-live" it again :)