My review Allure May 1st Eastern!

[BillOh]

We did have a wonderful cruise, I was looking through my notes from the cruise and forgot to mention one small negative. I only mention it now because if may help someone. Allure is a new ship and doesn't have all the bugs worked out, but its not going to stop you from having a great cruise. I'm use to turning the TV to the info channel and seeing our current location. That software isn't working yet, but is coming I was told. But that isn't the issue;) On our first evening I shaved before dinner and found that the stopper in the sink was stuck in the closed position to it wouldn't let water out. Even a new ship has its problems. I went to the phone and pressed the button marked maintenance I got a message saying that it was an invalid extension. So I called the operator and got one of those recorded messages/menus, you know the ones I am taking a vacation to get away from ;) I finally got to a selection for getting maintenance and then was told their mailbox was full. On our way to dinner we stopped at guest services and a nice gentleman told us it would be taken care of, and by the time dinner was over, it was fixed.

 

I had heard mixed reviews of the guest services desk and my first experience was good. I did notice later in the cruise that when there is a line, they have personnel who check with people in line to see if they really need to be in line, or can be helped in other ways. If they were just turning in a form such as the tips on your seapass the guy would take the persons form so they didn't have to stand in line.

 

Later in the cruise my seapass card stopped working and I got in line. The guy verified, yes they would help me and I waited in line till it was my turn. when I got to the counter I explained that my card wasn't working and the lady took it from me and walked away. It was 20 minutes of her walking around talking to other crew members, calling someone and logging into at least 2 computers till she finally came back and handed me a new card with the only comment, "Problem solved". It felt very unpersonable, it was 20 minutes, I expected an update, or a "it will take a moment" This was the worst customer service I received on the ship all week, not so bad huh?

[ILuvCruisin']

Thanks so much for taking the time to write this wonderful review and your pics with your new camera are fantastic...

 

reading your review this sums it up for me:

"But this one had so much going for it and that we didn't try to do everything, but had everything to do."

 

...feels like after that you should just say "The End". :D..thanks again....

[relaxatsea]

Hi Bill,

 

Thanks so much for the excellent review and great photos and especially for the Chocolate Breakfast Menu which had been my request.

I really appreciate it!

[BillOh]

reading your review this sums it up for me:

"But this one had so much going for it and that we didn't try to do everything' date=' but had everything to do."

 

[/quote']

 

Thanks, this line was also in the same train of thought -

Allure has something for everyone and even the things we didn't use made it less crowded on the things we did.

 

I mention this one for the people who fear that there may be too many families and kids on the cruise. If I didn't want to see kids I avoided H20 Zone, the carousel at noon, or the Dreamwork's characters. Kids on this cruise ship are like nieces and nephews, they are there to enjoy when you want, and you can walk away when you need to.

[PrettyBree]

I have enjoyed everything you have said!!! and Ill give you props... you made it easy for me to make the decision this boat was our destination for our honeymoon!!! Thank you!!!!! :) I have a few questions mr. Allure guru.... we are on a tight budget, (both laid off 2 yrs ago and just found jobs) are balconies really worth the extra $? I think we will get a interior room and use that money for excursions, chef's table massages :) whats your opinion... also... the chocolate buffet is there a extra cost for that? where do i sign up?!?!!! lol any other tips on how to make this romantic for my hubby? like you i have not showed him ANYTHING on this ship! so i know he will be like your wife! :) xoxoxo!

[BillOh]

I have enjoyed everything you have said!!! and Ill give you props... you made it easy for me to make the decision this boat was our destination for our honeymoon!!! Thank you!!!!! :) I have a few questions mr. Allure guru.... we are on a tight budget, (both laid off 2 yrs ago and just found jobs) are balconies really worth the extra $? I think we will get a interior room and use that money for excursions, chef's table massages :) whats your opinion... also... the chocolate buffet is there a extra cost for that? where do i sign up?!?!!! lol any other tips on how to make this romantic for my hubby? like you i have not showed him ANYTHING on this ship! so i know he will be like your wife! :) xoxoxo!

 

Thank you so much for that. This forum was especially helpful in making this cruise great for me and it has been helpful on other cruises as well. Having just made 30 years with a wonderful woman, I hope this helps you get started for a long marriage as well. As for the balcony being worth it? Yes, to us having cruised 6 times, its worth it for the experience. Had I gone inside, perhaps we would have cruised 7 times? But on this ship, you can have a great time without it. I would wait a couple of extra months if I had to in order to have the balcony most of the time. We did one inside on Majesty for 3 day and that was fine. If I book a cruise and its a port I've never been to before I would want the balcony. I have yet to do southern Caribbean, but if I did I would definitely want a balcony

[floatel_lvr]

Bill,

Thanks for the time and effort you took to put this together. Lots of great info packed in here. Sounds like you and your wife had a wonderful trip.

 

Reviews like yours just keep feeding my cruise junkie mentality. Looking forward to our Allure trip this fall.

 

Regards,

Rich

[BillOh]

A quick addition, in reflection after the fact. Our cabin attendent was Hurley, he was from Nicaragua. He was an older gentleman, probably mid 60s. As we have come to expect, everything was done perfectly, our cabin was well taken care of and we had ice every morning. Hurley was his last name, I normally don't like calling people by their last name, but he asked us to call him that. He was a very pleasant guy and a pleasure to be around. On sea days we would come back to the room frequently to get something, and try to to loiter so he could do his job, but he would unfailingly apologize for being in the way. I did order 8 bottles of the overprice Evian water and it was delivered to our room prior to our arrival. It worked out just right, it was nice to have on the running track and around the pool. Its more expensive than carrying your own on, but I like the convenience and found it worth the cost. There were 4 bottles in the pay as you go fridge in the room, Every morning I would take out a cold one and replace it with one from our purchase. This caused me problems on Majesty, but no problems here, they kept it straight. The fridge on Allure did keep the water to a reasonable coldness, much better than the one on Majesty or Navigator.

[BillOh]

On sea days we would come back to the room frequently to get something, and try NOT to loiter so he could do his job, but he would unfailingly apologize for being in the way.

 

 

I meant to say NOT loiter :o

[PrettyBree]

are there fridges in all the rooms? or jus the ones with balconies?

[BillOh]

are there fridges in all the rooms? or jus the ones with balconies?

 

I am going to guess all as they are probably money makers for the ship, they are like the mini-bars at hotels, filled with $3 candy bars and $5 beers. (Actually I didn't check the prices this time, we were charged $3 for m&ms we didn't use on Majesty, no problems this time)

[BillOh]

Oh, and another thing, prior to my cruise, I heard conflicting reports on how smoky the casino is/was. The times I went through were off peak times, and it was less smoky than the casino's I've been through on other ships. I mainly went through in the afternoon or early evenings on sea days, not the busiest times.

[dotcomgirl]

Great review! Thank you! Makes me look even more forward to our cruise on the Allure!

 

Question for you BillOh: You said you did a post-cruise excursion and met in Studio B. Did you have to take all of your luggage with you to put it on the bus or did you still put out your luggage in the hallway the night before disembarkation? We have a post-cruise excursion booked and the description did not say anything about this, but when I emailed RCI about it they told me that we will be responsible for all of our luggage and getting it onto the bus.

[BillOh]

Great review! Thank you! Makes me look even more forward to our cruise on the Allure!

 

Question for you BillOh: You said you did a post-cruise excursion and met in Studio B. Did you have to take all of your luggage with you to put it on the bus or did you still put out your luggage in the hallway the night before disembarkation? We have a post-cruise excursion booked and the description did not say anything about this, but when I emailed RCI about it they told me that we will be responsible for all of our luggage and getting it onto the bus.

 

We did put our luggage out the night before, and it was tagged with the number 32, which everyone who took a post cruise excursion had the same tag #. When they took us down at 8am, all of our bags where there together and very easy to find. It was a remarkably efficient process.

[PrettyBree]

Oh, and another thing, prior to my cruise, I heard conflicting reports on how smoky the casino is/was. The times I went through were off peak times, and it was less smoky than the casino's I've been through on other ships. I mainly went through in the afternoon or early evenings on sea days, not the busiest times.

 

 

 

ok cool thanks!!! we are not really into the casinos put we will try it just to see if luck is with us! lol:D

[BillOh]

We did put our luggage out the night before, and it was tagged with the number 32, which everyone who took a post cruise excursion had the same tag #. When they took us down at 8am, all of our bags where there together and very easy to find. It was a remarkably efficient process.

 

 

I should clarify, all of our bags where there together in the terminal, where we picked them up and then flew through customs.

[Liline]

I have enjoyed everything you have said!!! and Ill give you props... you made it easy for me to make the decision this boat was our destination for our honeymoon!!! Thank you!!!!! :) I have a few questions mr. Allure guru.... we are on a tight budget, (both laid off 2 yrs ago and just found jobs) are balconies really worth the extra $? I think we will get a interior room and use that money for excursions, chef's table massages :) whats your opinion... also... the chocolate buffet is there a extra cost for that? where do i sign up?!?!!! lol any other tips on how to make this romantic for my hubby? like you i have not showed him ANYTHING on this ship! so i know he will be like your wife! :) xoxoxo!

It depends on the kind of honeymoon you want. I also spend my honeymoon on the allure and we had a balcony room.

We spend a fair amount of time in our room and we almost always had the door open at that point. So for me it was worth it.

[BillOh]

It depends on the kind of honeymoon you want. I also spend my honeymoon on the allure and we had a balcony room.

We spend a fair amount of time in our room and we almost always had the door open at that point. So for me it was worth it.

 

I remember talking to you in the roll call before the cruise, I hope the wedding went fine and you had a great honeymoon, it certainly was great cruise with great weather.

[Liline]

The wedding and honeymoon was great. We still talk about the ship and can't wait to go on a second cruise.

[Dmom & dad]

are there fridges in all the rooms? or jus the ones with balconies?

 

 

 

i just wanted to tell you, i will be on the allure in july. I have booked a balcony for dh and myself and the inside cabin across the hall for our kids the difference between the two is only about $300 to $350 difference to me I would soooooo do the balcony. I have done both on previous cruises I love the balcony if for nothing more than to know its light out the inside cabins are pitch black!

[Dmom & dad]

billoh i just found our review today and have spent the whole day reading it, it seems. I loved the whole thing!!! and as a mother of 5 love the fact that i can get away from kids!!!!

 

just a question about the chocolate buffet, where is it located at and which day is it on?

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Thanks, Bill! I am glad you posted the link on our Roll Call. I know we will have a blast cruising with you. BTW, we are currently Emerald. Just four points from Diamond. I am so glad we can be a little snobbish ourselves this cruise, LOL! :D

 

Actually that bratwurst made me hungry for something bad for me. I think a trip to Costco is in order.;)

[BillOh]

Thanks, Bill! I am glad you posted the link on our Roll Call. I know we will have a blast cruising with you. BTW, we are currently Emerald. Just four points from Diamond. I am so glad we can be a little snobbish ourselves this cruise, LOL! :D

 

Actually that bratwurst made me hungry for something bad for me. I think a trip to Costco is in order.;)

 

I come back her occasionally, came back today to refresh my memory for going on Jewel, where I will meet with the Loyalty Ambassador and book my return. Hopefully there are still D balconies on deck 12. I'm going to try to get back toward the aqua theater this time.

[swwake]

Bill - just read your whole review - informative and entertaining! Thanks so much for writing.

 

I looked for the chair hogs thread and can't find it at all. Do you have a link?

[BillOh]

It got deleted I think someone recognized themself and complained.

 

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