Allure of the Seas June 19th Review with Pictures

[will773]

I was on the Allure of the Seas from June 19th - June 26th with stops in Labadee, Falmouth, and Cozumel. I had a great time! I now have all of my pictures on the computer, but they are not uploaded to photobucket yet, so that might take some time.

[DonnaK]

Can't wait, Will!

[will773]

Photos are uploading as I type. 577 down, 160 to go! That's only like 30% of all of my pictures, but I'm not uploading all of them! :D

[Merion_Mom]

Photos are uploading as I type. 577 down, 160 to go! That's only like 30% of all of my pictures, but I'm not uploading all of them! :D

 

(tap, tap, tap, tap, tap)

 

Waiting impatiently.

 

You were missed here at home while you were gone! It was HOT and HUMID. :D

[will773]

(tap, tap, tap, tap, tap)

 

Waiting impatiently.

 

You were missed here at home while you were gone! It was HOT and HUMID. :D

 

Same weather down there, only better scenery! :p

[will773]

Some background:

 

We booked this cruise back in February, exactly four months form the sail date. We were originally going to get inside cabins, but we were just too unsure if we would like them or not. We then moved to the Category F oceanview cabins that look out the front of the ship, but my aunts really wanted a balcony, so that's what we got! Me and my aunt were in cabin 11620 (bed by the balcony), and my cousin and his mom were in cabin 11618 (bed by closet).

[will773]

All pictures (that I decided to upload...) can be found at this link:

 

http://s1118.photobucket.com/albums/k604/Will77W/Allure%20of%20the%20Seas%20June%2019th%202011/?start=all

[RaiderFaninNM]

All pictures (that I decided to upload...) can be found at this link:

 

http://s1118.photobucket.com/albums/k604/Will77W/Allure%20of%20the%20Seas%20June%2019th%202011/?start=all

 

Thanks nice pics, I love the plane pictures....;)

[will773]

Getting down to Florida:

 

Me, my cousin, and his mom all live in the Philadelphia area, so we all flew down to FLL on Saturday June 18th on Southwest Airlines. My other aunt lives outside of Atlanta, so she flew down on Airtran.

 

Our flight left PHL at 11:00am and we got into FLL a little before 2:00pm.

 

Welcome to Florida!

 

My aunt's flight from Atlanta was supposed to get in about an hour after ours, but there were some pretty bad storms over Florida, and they were delayed a bit. She finally arrived and we grabbed a cab to Embassy Suites.

 

The hotel was really nice! When we booked the room, we requested one that was high up and faced the port so that I could watch the Oasis leave on Saturday night, and so that we could see the Allure in the morning.

 

View from our balcony

 

The hotel itself had a huge lobby area that kind of reminded me of Central park on the ship.

 

Lobby area

 

The whole lobby area is open, not to the sky, but there is nothing there.

 

There were rooms all around the lobby.

 

We got to see both the Carnival Freedom and Oasis of the Seas depart that evening.

 

There goes the Freedom!

 

And the Oasis!

 

Next up: More of the hotel and boarding the ALLURE!

[DonnaK]

Love the photos from Embassy - that's where we are staying.

 

Did you request the room with the view in advance, or once you arrived there?

[will773]

Love the photos from Embassy - that's where we are staying.

 

Did you request the room with the view in advance, or once you arrived there?

 

We did it when we booked the room. My aunt told them that we had booked the cruise for mine and my cousins birthdays, and that we would like it if we could see the ship when we wake up in the morning. We called back a couple of times to confirm, and we were put on the top level in the corner, with a great view of the port.

[karcruiser]

All pictures (that I decided to upload...) can be found at this link:

 

http://s1118.photobucket.com/albums/k604/Will77W/Allure%20of%20the%20Seas%20June%2019th%202011/?start=all

 

Really enjoyed looking at your pictures - thanks so much for posting them!

[Silverman]

Nice work Will!! Pics are great! Looking forward to the rest.

[Craving A Cruise]

Great photos!! Thanks for sharing. :)

[will773]

Boarding Day:

 

I woke up on Sunday morning and saw the Allure out of our window!

 

We are getting on this ship in a couple hours.

 

Our room was very nice. There was a living room area with a pull out couch and there was also a bedroom with two beds.

 

This is the living room, I didn't take any pictures of the bedroom.

 

My aunts arranged transportation to the port through the hotel, so we left around 11:15 for the port. It took less than ten minutes to get to the port.

 

We're getting closer!

 

We got into the Platinum and above line to check in. I honestly think this line moves slower than the other lines, because there is such a limited amount of counters for it.

 

There's our check in guy!

 

The whole process is very easy. Me and my aunt checked in, and then my other aunt and my cousin checked in, in less than 15 minutes.

 

Overview of terminal 18

 

Time to board the ship!

 

Next up: First day aboard Allure!

[will773]

First Day:

 

After we got on, my cousin and I went right up to the Flow Rider area to get our wristbands. There was no line, which was good. After that, I explored the ship. It is pretty much identical to Oasis, but there are some minor differences. I'll go more in depth with the different areas later.

 

It was nice to see the pools virtually empty, they wouldn't stay that way for long!

 

Looking out over Port Everglades.

 

It looked like there was a really bad storm approaching and it started to rain a little bit.

 

Here is the storm.

 

It was cloudy for sailaway, but oh well, I'm on a cruise!!!!

 

 

 

There was a really great sunset, and then we went to dinner.

 

Sunset!

 

Next up: DINNER!

[will773]

First Night:

 

We were at table #130. It was a table for 4 in Adagio 3. We had a great spot that was just underneath the overhang which was the Adagio 4, so we couldn't even see the top deck, Adagio 5, plus, we were only a couple tables away from the captains table! We got to know our waitresses. Our main waitress was Mary Jo from Trinidad, and our assistant waitress was Doreen from Jamaica.

 

I took pictures of my food every night!

 

YUM!!!!!!

 

I thought that the dining room was very nice, and they had live music playing.

 

Large painting in the MDR.

 

Here are some other MDR pics.

 

Entry to the dining room. This is the same on all three decks.

 

From deck 5. Our table was just off to the right on the bottom floor.

 

After dinner, we went to the OceanAria aqua show. I thought it was great. I didn't really get the storyline, but it was very entertaining.

 

Screens on either side of the Aquatheater getting ready for the show to begin.

 

Coming up: Day 2 - At sea

[duncanmaria]

Excellent review and pictures! Looking forward to the rest!!!

[will773]

Day 2 - At Sea:

 

I love sea days! I love not having to do anything, and just being able to relax. It is also nice to see the ship in full swing, with all activities being available. I would have liked to ride the Flow Rider a little bit more, but the line was just a little too long for me. *Note to RCCL: On project Sunshine, put THREE flowriders! haha.

 

I loved to look out at the wake of the ship.

 

Lots of people were playing minigolf.

 

Pools did get VERY crowded on sea days, but were still refreshing.

 

Also a good thing to note, all pools are freshwater except for the beach pool. I guess they are just trying to keep the "beachy" theme going strong.

 

For lunch, I did something that I never got to do on Oasis. I went to Park Cafe and got a roast beef sandwich. WHY DIDN'T I DO THIS ON OASIS!!!!???? This was the best sandwich I have ever eaten! If you are going on an Oasis class ship (and aren't a vegetarian) you need to get one of these. They are delicious!

 

YUM!

 

For those that like to exercise, here is the table letting you know how many times around the ship you need to go to.

 

 

I also thought that the Solarium was very nice.

 

Solarium

 

Next up: Dinner. I'm gonna need a whole post for dinner. Yes, I ate THAT much food....

[ALSEAU]

Love your review and pictures. Can't wait for more.

[justluv2cruisewithhubby]

This is a great review so far..............more please!!!!!!!!!!!!

[tribefan]

Was able to check out some of your pictures. My daughter's GF was also on this cruise compliments of Oprah, yes Oprah. Her best friend was given her and a friend an all expense paid cruise on the Allure!! She said it was fantasic. I need to sit down and look at all of your pictures to see if she is any of them. We have booked the Oasis for Dec 2012 and can't wait!

[will773]

Was able to check out some of your pictures. My daughter's GF was also on this cruise compliments of Oprah, yes Oprah. Her best friend was given her and a friend an all expense paid cruise on the Allure!! She said it was fantasic. I need to sit down and look at all of your pictures to see if she is any of them. We have booked the Oasis for Dec 2012 and can't wait!

 

They told us that she was there! I can't remember if it was during the second make a wish auction, or if it was during the captains corner, but they definitely told us that there was someone there who had won the trip through Oprah. If you can ask her which occasion it was (they were both in the aquatheater) I can look through my pictures and point out the general area she was sitting in!

[cruisethesea]

Day 2 - At Sea:

 

I love sea days! I love not having to do anything, and just being able to relax. It is also nice to see the ship in full swing, with all activities being available. I would have liked to ride the Flow Rider a little bit more, but the line was just a little too long for me. *Note to RCCL: On project Sunshine, put THREE flowriders! haha.

 

I loved to look out at the wake of the ship.

 

Lots of people were playing minigolf.

 

Pools did get VERY crowded on sea days, but were still refreshing.

 

Also a good thing to note, all pools are freshwater except for the beach pool. I guess they are just trying to keep the "beachy" theme going strong.

 

For lunch, I did something that I never got to do on Oasis. I went to Park Cafe and got a roast beef sandwich. WHY DIDN'T I DO THIS ON OASIS!!!!???? This was the best sandwich I have ever eaten! If you are going on an Oasis class ship (and aren't a vegetarian) you need to get one of these. They are delicious!

 

YUM!

 

For those that like to exercise, here is the table letting you know how many times around the ship you need to go to.

 

 

I also thought that the Solarium was very nice.

 

Solarium

 

Next up: Dinner. I'm gonna need a whole post for dinner. Yes, I ate THAT much food....

 

 

 

 

how much extra were the chips? ive never seen chips on past cruises??

[Vanilla]

The chips are free in the Park Cafe'. A great addition to a cruise. I am a chip eater and I was pleasantly surprised. You just go in, and grab them out of a basket. Bad part of it - Park Cafe' closes early so if you get the late night munchies - no chips unless you thought ahead. I finally did that on the 4th day!