Indescribable! (But I'll try): My Allure Photo Review

[Arizona Laura]

Cannot believe this was on page 3. I am so waiting for more. I know how much work goes into your review and appreciate it. I’ll try to be more patient.

Take care of yourself and have a great weekend.

[beachbuddy]

Cannot believe this was on page 3. I am so waiting for more. I know how much work goes into your review and appreciate it. I’ll try to be more patient.

Take care of yourself and have a great weekend.

 

Laura,

 

LOL..........I know, I'm waiting for more too! I love Host Faith's reviews!

 

Patty

[agc291]

What a great and detailed review!! I loved your review of the glory (we just got off her) so I was excited to see this review since we are thinking our next cruise will be on the allure or oasis. Look forward to the rest of your review!

[Dreamer-too-12]

Thank you so much for posting this review, and all the pics too! I have thought all along that those 'big' ships were too big for us, but after reading and seeing your photos..I may give Allure or Oasis a try. And congrats on your upcoming addition to the family. ;)

[Host Faith]

Do the cabanas on Nellie's get the same perks? My friend is going to rent on through excurions. Does he check in at the same place you did? What does he have to do to make sure we can visit him during the day? We are going to enjoy the beach but he wants us to stop by and join them in their cabana at some point during the day. Does he call Royal and have our day added to his excursion reservation? how many people can he add to their reservation? Is 6 the max that can be in the cabanas at Nellie's? Any help you can give me would be appreciated. Thanks

 

Yes, if you have a Nellie's Beach Cabana, you have access to Barefoot beach and the upgraded buffet. Your friend will get a call on the ship so he can give the names of people who can access the cabana, and when you arrive you will receive wristbands. The max is 6.

 

You can read more about the cabanas by going to the Ports of Call forum here on CC, then going to the Private Islands forum. Tons of info about the cabanas there :)

 

We were on your cruise and you all sit in front of us at the Meet and Mingle. We cut out when y'all were taking a picture since we didn't win anything :(. The Strawberry Pavlova was my absolute favorite! They ended up making it for me for the rest of trip. So glad they did that for me!

 

Ooooh, I wish I had asked them to make the Pavlova for me for the rest of the cruise. I'll have to do that next time.

[Host Faith]

Hey Chrystal,

 

First off, a very big congrats again on your upcoming baby! :D

 

Second off, sorry for being so late catching up on your excellent review :o Check back with me when your baby is approaching a year old and you will understand ;)

 

Really enjoying the review, pic's and details :)

 

Hi Curtis! Thank you so much. He's really kicking away now, I think we're going to have a little bundle of energy on our hands. :)

 

Your last review was great! We were going to wait a couple years to cruise with our son, but your review helped DH and I see that cruising with him much earlier is doable and fun. We'll probably sail from NJ so we won't have to worry about flying to the port. So thank you for your reviews as well!

 

 

First, I want to offer my condolences on the loss of your grandmother. I hope she went peacefully and was able to have family with her. I'm sorry she didn't get to meet her new great grandson but I'm sure she will be helping to ensure he gets here safely! It's hard not to have them here with us but it's comforting to know she will be watching you all from above.

 

I'm glad your pregnancy is coming along well and you look great! Yeah for you getting this last trip in before the baby gets here. It will be quite awhile before you will have the energy to do anything anyway! You won't even be awake and alert long enough to pack a bag! Lol

 

The review is awesome of course and I swear I feel like I went somewhere after reading it. I commented on your last thread because I moved to the Ft.Laud/Miami area from NJ. Are you all thinking about that move?!

 

Thank you so much! I'm absolutely anticipating the lack of sleep in the coming months. The cruise was perfect for getting some rest. I can see how people couldn't imagine being able to rest on a ship with so much to do and see...but we did it! :D

 

We may move further south sometime in the future. Every time we visit Florida, the urge to move down there gets bigger and bigger. We'll see. It wouldn't be for several years though.

[Host Faith]

Cannot believe this was on page 3. I am so waiting for more. I know how much work goes into your review and appreciate it. I’ll try to be more patient.

Take care of yourself and have a great weekend.

 

Haha! Thanks Laura! I'm going to write more today. I've been really busy, and any free time I have has been devoted to sleep! :rolleyes::)

[Host Faith]

What a great and detailed review!! I loved your review of the glory (we just got off her) so I was excited to see this review since we are thinking our next cruise will be on the allure or oasis. Look forward to the rest of your review!

 

Thank you so much! What did you think of the Glory?

[Host Faith]

Thank you so much for posting this review, and all the pics too! I have thought all along that those 'big' ships were too big for us, but after reading and seeing your photos..I may give Allure or Oasis a try. And congrats on your upcoming addition to the family. ;)

 

Thank you, Dreamer! From a die-hard Radiance Class fan...the Allure wasn't overwhelming or too big for me at all. I had a really great time. I would definitely go with an oceanview balcony cabin though, since you really don't see the ocean that much if you hang out on the lower decks a lot. At least we had our balcony and could gaze at the sea (our favorite cruise activity, lol) from there as often as we wanted. :)

[beachbuddy]

Thank you, Dreamer! From a die-hard Radiance Class fan...the Allure wasn't overwhelming or too big for me at all. I had a really great time. I would definitely go with an oceanview balcony cabin though, since you really don't see the ocean that much if you hang out on the lower decks a lot. At least we had our balcony and could gaze at the sea (our favorite cruise activity, lol) from there as often as we wanted. :)

 

Host Faith, I'm a Radiance class lover too! Been on the Radiance and the Brilliance and the Brilliance is still my favorite ship!!! Love all the glass on those ships!! We always get an ocean balcony........love looking at the ocean! This will be our first time on the Allure and was worried like you that it will be to big for us but reading your review is getting me more excited about the trip.

 

Patty

[Host Faith]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Host Faith]

Ok, so this day at sea was an extremely lazy day- and we loved it! Woke up really late, had our room service breakfast in bed. And then we went back to sleep, lol.

 

Once we got up for real, we decided to head up to the Windjammer for lunch. This was the first time on the cruise we even stopped there, which I thought was pretty amazing.

 

And I have to say, it's a beautiful buffet...but it is pretty small. Then again, we didn't have a problem finding a table. Honestly, there are so many other complimentary places to eat, you don't really need to go there, maybe once or twice on a whim.

 

 

 

 

 

[Host Faith]

Our table was in the back of the Windjammer, overlooking the Sports Zone. After a while, there were quite a few adults and kids alike playing half-court basketball. They were having a lot of fun. How they could stand to run around like that in that heat, I'll never know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Totally forgot to take a picture of my food, but I do remember having some brisket and a salad. The servers were great, whisking away our plates as soon as we were finished. I was pleased with our experience in the Windjammer.

[Host Faith]

None of the desserts in the Windjammer were that tempting to me, so I decided to head to the Cupcake Cupboard. Some CC'ers mentioned a cupcake I wanted to try- the Manly Breakfast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It tasted a little different than I expected. It was more of a carrot-cake type cake with a cream cheese icing and bacon on top. I loved the icing with the bacon, but I'm not a huge fan of carrot cake. If that's your thing- go for it!

 

[Host Faith]

The rest of the day was very relaxed. Wes took a nap, and I went to the Beach Pool around 3 or so. I swam for a while, and I think I returned to my chair around 4. By that time, I guess the early diners wanted to get ready for formal night, so there were plenty of chairs available. I relaxed with my Kindle for a bit.

 

 



 

 

[Host Faith]

Wes came by, and we went to Sorrento's for a slice or two of pizza. After that, we went back to the room to enjoy our fabulous view. What I love about having a balcony is even though you're looking at the ocean, your view changes throughout the day depending on the sun's location. Even on a cloudy day, the ocean is a beautiful sight.

 

 

 



 

[Host Faith]

Tonight was Formal Night, and lobster was served (yay!). If you're looking for it on the menu, it's called the Fisherman's Plate. I had my go-to appetizer, the mushrooms in puff pastry. I think the lobster tails were larger than I recalled from previous cruises. And of course, the waiters come and take the meat out of the shells for you, and drizzle melted butter over the lobster if you want it. I had two :)

 

 

 

 

 



 

 



 

 



 

 

Edited October 28, 2012 by Host Faith

[Host Faith]

And now, for a very girly moment....I LOVED my formal night dress. LOVED it. I didn't think I would be able to find something that didn't look like a potato sack, lol. Most formal maternity dresses I saw looked like they wanted you to hide the fact that you're pregnant. I like form-fitting cocktail dresses, and wanted to celebrate being a mommy-to-be. And I found the perfect dress. It was emerald-green with a large brooch on the side. And I wore some (albeit comfortable) sparkly silver heels.

 

Loved it so much that we actually went around to a couple of the photo backdrops to take formal night pictures. We didn't really have to wait in line since we went after dinner. Each of the photographers was excited to help me figure out some poses to show off my tummy, and they asked me how I was feeling and how far along I was. I was so happy with how the photos turned out:

 

 

 

This one is my absolute favorite:

 

[Host Faith]

After dinner and the photos, we went up to the pool deck to walk around. There were a couple people in the hot tubs. It was so windy, we were able to hang out up there for a couple minutes but had to go back inside pretty fast.

 

 

 

 



 

 

 



 

 

[Arizona Laura]

Love your dress and it looks great on you!

The pic of you and Wes is a treasure!

 

Laura

[gambee]

Very nice dress. Can't wait for more.

[beachbuddy]

Chrystal, Your dress is gorgeous and the formal photos are really great!!! You 2 look great !!! Your going to make a wonderful mommy!!!!

 

Patty

[BettyPC]

Such a fabulous review! Thanks so much for sharing it with your fans :D Happy to hear about your Baby boy and sad about your Grandmother.

 

You have given such great detailed info on Labadee. We have booked a cabanna (I was calling it a hut until I saw the price) and am looking forward to it!

 

Thanks again for sharing your time with us!

[agc291]

Thank you so much! What did you think of the Glory?

 

 

To be honest, ignoring the itinerary changes from Hurricane Sandy, the rest of the cruise was pretty disappointing. Service was not as good, food was not as good. The ship was nice, very comparable to the Destiny & Victory which we enjoyed as far as the layout goes. We think the lack of effort was due to the ship going into dry dock next week but it was pretty bad. It just felt like they were doing us a favor by having us there. Very different atmosphere from our first two cruises. We have been wanting to try the Allure or Oasis so it was a nice push in that direction.

[tillydog]

Gorgeous photos. I love the colour of your dress! Great choice!

Awww I love the one of you and Wes together. He looks a very proud Daddy-to-be too! Cute shoes - A girl can never have too much sparkle!!

And now, for a very girly moment....I LOVED my formal night dress. LOVED it. I didn't think I would be able to find something that didn't look like a potato sack, lol. Most formal maternity dresses I saw looked like they wanted you to hide the fact that you're pregnant. I like form-fitting cocktail dresses, and wanted to celebrate being a mommy-to-be. And I found the perfect dress. It was emerald-green with a large brooch on the side. And I wore some (albeit comfortable) sparkly silver heels.

 

Loved it so much that we actually went around to a couple of the photo backdrops to take formal night pictures. We didn't really have to wait in line since we went after dinner. Each of the photographers was excited to help me figure out some poses to show off my tummy, and they asked me how I was feeling and how far along I was. I was so happy with how the photos turned out:

 

 

 

This one is my absolute favorite: