All Access Tour - My Review from the Allure's Tour

[dotcomgirl]

Another shot from the helipad:

 

 

Next up, our final stop, the Bridge!!!

 

We took the main passenger elevators up to deck 12 where we split into two lines again, men and women. Security had to screen each one of us again. On the way to the bridge, we passed these cabins just outside of the bridge. They sleep one officer each.

 

 

Then we entered the bridge where one of the second officers was our bridge tour guide. We started off on the port side wing.

 

 

Leading to the port side wing they have this specially commissioned Britto painting:

 

 

Here is a view of the ship from the port side while standing on the bridge:

 

 

Here is a view looking straight down from the port side wing:

 

 

More to come!

[dotcomgirl]

Thank you for the fabulous recap! Was this an adults-only tour?

 

No, it is not adults only. There is no age limit. We had one child on our tour, although he did look like a teenager. But I did check RCI's website, and it states that anyone of any age can participate, but you should consider physical limitations (requires a lot of walking, climbing stairs).

[dotcomgirl]

Still on the port side, here is a video screen they have up above. I believe they use it to help with docking. Speaking of side views and sideways, the Allure can travel sideways up to 7 knots!

 

 

Here are the port side controls:

 

 

 

 

Heading back over towards the main part of the bridge, here is a room facing aft. They said that they use this room for briefings and drills and such.

 

 

Here is the bridge facing forward:

 

 

More to come!

[dotcomgirl]

More from the bridge:

 

 

 

Weather screens showing Hurricane Irene:

 

 

Apparently we had 8335 people total on board this week!

 

 

View of the helipad from the bridge:

 

 

View of the starboard side wing from the center of the bridge:

 

 

More to come!

[dotcomgirl]

More from the center bridge. Someone must always be on duty to stare straight ahead and watch the path ahead. They run in 4 hour shifts.

 

 

 

 

And finally from the bridge, here is the wheel that they use when docking the ship. They allowed us to sit there and take pictures with our hands on the wheel!

 

 

 

More to come!

[cancerelly]

Thank u very much for sharing this interesting tour with us, especially those of us who can't spent this extra amount of money.

 

Cancerelly.

[dotcomgirl]

Leaving the bridge, we had one final stop. We all piled into the main passenger elevators and took them down to Deck 5 to the On Air bar. Here we could ask any final questions to our main tour guide and she handed out our parting gifts.

 

We received a straw type tote bag (decent quality), a Royal Caribbean pen, and a white cloth apron. We also got to keep our All Access passes and lanyards.

 

 

The tour lasted from about 9am to about 12:20pm. It was supposed to end at noon, but people in our group had extra questions throughout, so we got a little bit backed up.

 

The only things we would recommend that RCI change about the tour is adding a tour of the actual engine room if possible and scheduling the Captain to be on the bridge when we stop there. We did not get to meet the Captain on this tour and considering that there are only two tours a week and they are within 20 minutes of each other, I can't see it being that difficult to have the Captain there to talk with us for even just 5-10 minutes. We would have loved to get a picture with him. I know that we could have done this on the first formal night in the Promenade, but I think it would add even more value to the tour.

 

Overall we felt it was worth what we paid and we really did enjoy it. All the staff were very friendly and were happy to answer any questions.

 

Hope you enjoyed all the pictures!

[NYCRUISR]

Very good review and pictures. May I ask how long the tour was?

[dotcomgirl]

Very good review and pictures. May I ask how long the tour was?

 

It lasted 3 hours and 20 minutes. It is typically supposed to last for 3 hours.

[damosen]

AMAZING!

Thanks a lot for this pictures!

[julesbeara]

We took a similar tour on the Jewel of the Seas, but it was free. The concierge offered it and made all the arrangements. Thanks for sharing the Oasis Class version & pictures.

[Agutaya]

Thanks for all the photos and explanations. I really appreciated the tour.

[Darkwolfe]

If my memory serves me correctly, it seems that Samantha Brown did an actual engine room tour and she had to have major hearing protection.

[bcwaves]

Great pictures, thanks!

 

When you say you were separated and screened before going onto the bridge are you talking "pat downs"??

 

This sounds like a great tour!

[dotcomgirl]

Great pictures, thanks!

 

When you say you were separated and screened before going onto the bridge are you talking "pat downs"??

 

This sounds like a great tour!

 

No, they didn't pat us down. They used one of those portable metal detector wands and waved it up and down along each part of our bodies. If it beeped they gently patted where it beeped to make sure we weren't hiding a gun or something.

[libertybelle41]

Thanks for taking the times to post your tour. It was great!

[pmkejk]

Thanks so much for taking the time to post. You just saved me $300. I will show my husband your post instead of taking the tour.

[Maeshel]

I purchased the All Access Tour on MOS at the begining of Aug. It was well worth the $75 they charged. There were 5 if us on the tour led by the Activites Officer.

From your photos, you saw alot more of the workings of the ship than we did, but still feel my tour was well worth the price. We were the second tour given under the new program. We saw the Officer dinning area, crew bar, garbage disposal area, galley, and bridge.

OP: It appears that you alot more than I did, but my tour was $75 on the smaller ship. Thanks for the pictures,

I would recommend tis tour for anyone that who would be interested in the inner works of the ship.

[Rancher Dave]

Very nice tour.

 

I'd likely try it on Allure. I've been most of the places on other ships...including the actual engine room which is generally never visited. The desal plant and wastewater cleaning plans are neat to see...I understand they are so incredibly improved on Allure over what we saw. In fact the Enviro officer said the new Allure version is going on the other ships over time.

 

DD got to blow horn and steer the ship on one of our Summer cruises. She had a blast as did the crew who convinced her to steer the ship...just a turn of the dial to adjust course a few degrees. We were sailing in a very boat populous area at the time thus a few degrees this way and that way every so often. Those are the moments to remember...

 

Wonder if they will auction the All Access Tour in the next round of Make a Wish Auctions.

[SusieV]

Looks like an awesome tour but seems a little overpriced to me. We would not even pay $50pp for something like this.

 

Thanks for sharing your photos.

[Havetocruise]

that aft facing room looks very similar to what you might expect to find on a military ship (situation/operations room) :cool:

 

would be mighty handy if the ship was ever aquired by the government for war operations :D

 

i sense a conspiracy :eek:

 

you can just see the fbi or the cia or the generals sitting in there directing war operations

 

no need to retrofit :D

 

 

yeh yeh i know, im totally crazy

[Verfai]

Thanks for posting! :D

[Cruisenouvelle]

Thanks for the great photos and narrative. We'll be on Allure in just over a month, so it was fun to see all the inner workings. I appreciate your time and effort!

[The-Dude]

$150 for a tour of a ship? What a rip-off!

 

You need to pay me to see the garbage room or watch people pile boxes of vegetables. What a mundane experience.

[hollon]

If I had an extra 300.00 for my husband and myself I'd love to see the tour, thanks for posting, great pictures, can I ask how long the tour was???