B2B Allure Of The Seas Pictorial Review - 31st March 2013 & 7th April 2013

[milpston]

The Boardwalk is a pretty cool neigbourhood so after breakfast I did a little photo tour. I may have got a bit carried away but never mind.

 

 

It's modelled to be like an old fashioned boardwalk.

 

 

 

Zoltar is $1 with a swipe of the seapass card.

 

 

 

 

The wooden horses show the different stages in the manufacture of the carousel.

 

 

I think I only actually had a donut here once but it was good.

 

[milpston]

Mmmmmm sounds like where we will have breakfast each morning...YUMMMY....

 

It's definitely worth a visit!

[Susiecruisey]

The Boardwalk is a pretty cool neigbourhood so after breakfast I did a little photo tour. I may have got a bit carried away but never mind.

 

 

It's modelled to be like an old fashioned boardwalk.

 

 

 

Zoltar is $1 with a swipe of the seapass card.

 

 

 

 

The wooden horses show the different stages in the manufacture of the carousel.

 

 

I think I only actually had a donut here once but it was good.

 

 

 

How was the coffee

[milpston]

This is one of the only differences between the Allure and the Oasis. The Oasis has the seafood shack whereas the Allure has this.

 

 

 

I'm not quite sure what this is all about but it's right outside Johnny Rockets.

 

 

[milpston]

How was the coffee

 

Unfortunately I'm not a coffee drinker and have to admit I didn't even see that there.

[milpston]

Opposite Johnny Rockets is Ritas Cantina. They do a couple of Mexican Fiesta nights here during the cruise but it was never something that we did.

 

 

 

 

 

[milpston]

This is the view up above to where the zip line begins.

 

There are also a handful of little shops on the Boardwalk

 

 

 

[milpston]

 

 

 

I never got to be a complete kid and have a go on this but i know Chloe did a couple of times.

[Sinppu]

Great photos and lucky you for having two such lovely ladies with you :)

 

This brings back memories... awww now I want to go back to the Oasis and Allure. Thanks a lot :D

[alaska_planner]

Hi there. There really is no correct answer to this as it is all about personal preference. As you may have already seen my preference is deck 8 Port side. My reasons are as follows...... It is not too close to the Promenade etc but just a drop down in the lift. Although sea sickness isn't normally a massive issue on this ship in the Caribbean you will feel more movement the higher you go. Also, I like to be a bit closer to the water than you would be up on deck 12 or so. I would suggest somewhere around stateroom 8160. This would be close to the forward lifts and near to the entrance of Central park. This is a nice stroll if you are going aft. Dazzles is on this deck which is a lovely bar for the evenings. The lift takes you straight down onto the forward end of the Promenade next to Boleros and On air. Studio B is one deck further down. Personally I wouldn't even consider a boardwalk or Central Park view. I come on a cruise to wake up and look at the sea...... not the noise and bustle of the Boardwalk or Aquatheatre and certainly not central park where you are spitting distance from the balconies the other side looking straight at you. A stateroom cabin near the aft elevators would probably make no real difference and be just as good. I choose Port side as this is the side that looks out to sea in most of the ports. I like this as when I want to see the destination I can get off and see it. Some people love the starboard side but for me I wouldn't like the ports where you are docked looking at the balonies of the neighbouring ship. As I say it's all about personal preference really.

 

thanks!! :)

that's interesting about port vs starboard....

the only reason i tend to favor the docking side of a ship is i like to watch the docking activity itself...though i'm not sure if this can be seen from a ship the size of the allure...

on the smaller disney ships, i would stand out on my balcony and watch the process of how a ship is docked....yeah, i know - geek city...but that's me - it's one of my favorite things on a ship :eek:...

so that's why i'll try for starboard if there are any still available by the time final payment rolls around...

the only forward rooms still left on starboard side are on deck 11...

the lower decks are only available aft...so maybe my decision will be made for me... :)

[Poorplaya]

Looks like you guys had an amazing time, thank you posting all of the info and pictures, i can't wait to see the rest of the review.

[AF-1]

Susiecruisey. The luggage valet service is wonderful , your bags arrive at your home airport and you have boarding pass delivered to your stateroom. We have used it twice. Johnny rockets is a very good place to eat breakfast. Usually quiet with good scenery. The coffee on the boardwalk is same as cafe promenade. So if u have had coffee on the promenade then u know what it tastes like.

[rstout]

Enjoying your review...we were on the March 31 sailing. We ate at Johnny Rockets the same morning as you. I caught one of my sons in one of your JR pics and another in a pool pic. Bringing back some good memories. We only made it to JR one morning, but I really enjoyed it. There were so many other options on the ship! Park Cafe was one of my breakfast favorites.

[tarajean1962]

Awesome Boardwalk pictures!!:cool: You are a very talented photographer.

 

Tara

[Jenjer]

Amazing review. Thank you for all the info and pics.

 

One question. Did you notice if they had Nutella in windjammer for breakfast?

[milpston]

Great photos and lucky you for having two such lovely ladies with you :)

 

This brings back memories... awww now I want to go back to the Oasis and Allure. Thanks a lot :D

 

Yeah. Doing this makes me want to be back there.

I think my two lovely ladies were lucky to have me with them :p haha

 

Looks like you guys had an amazing time, thank you posting all of the info and pictures, i can't wait to see the rest of the review.

 

You're more than welcome.

[milpston]

Enjoying your review...we were on the March 31 sailing. We ate at Johnny Rockets the same morning as you. I caught one of my sons in one of your JR pics and another in a pool pic. Bringing back some good memories. We only made it to JR one morning, but I really enjoyed it. There were so many other options on the ship! Park Cafe was one of my breakfast favorites.

 

How cool. I hope you had a fantastic cruise! Sorry I have posted one of your sons all over cruise critic :rolleyes: I'll forward him some of my royalties when they come rolling in :p haha

 

Awesome Boardwalk pictures!!:cool: You are a very talented photographer.

 

Tara

 

Thank you very much but I really am not. I just point and shoot!:cool:

[milpston]

Amazing review. Thank you for all the info and pics.

 

One question. Did you notice if they had Nutella in windjammer for breakfast?

 

 

You're very welcome.

It's not something I ever noticed. I have just asked Sally and she says she is 80% sure there was.

[milpston]

Once I had finished taking too may photos we headed up to Central Park to get Chloe some breakfast to take back to the stateroom.

 

On the way up I took this rather poor picture inside the lift. Most people have probably seen this before but the lift buttons have got symbols so that you know what venues are on the floor and also the gagway button so you don't have to remember what deck to get off from at each port.

 

 

Central park really is lovely at all times of day.

 

 

This is the inside of Park Cafe. Apparently, Sally told me afterwards that one of the guys in the picture wasn't very impressed that I took his photo. I can't say I noticed.... oh well :p We never actually sat inside here as I preferred to be outside.

 

 

We went and delivered Chloe her breakfast and relaxed on the balcony while she ate it.

 

[milpston]

At 10:00 we headed up to deck 16. It was very busy today what with it being a sea day. We managed to get 3 sun beds together by the railing overlooking the sea on the Starboard side. This is above the beach pool. 10:00 seemed to be about the latest to get any kind of groups of sun beds together this week.

Chloe spent the rest of the morning in and out of the pool while Sally and I relaxed in the sun. It was hot! I even needed a refreshment at some point which was some kind of strawberry cocktail.

 

Another one of those souvenir cups that would end up in the bin by the end of the holiday.

At one point Sally decided to stand on the sun bed and, as would be expected, fell straight though it and bruised her foot. I think I managed to keep a straight face and be sympathetic :p

Chloe is fantastic at delivering frozen ice creams on these days. I know at one point she brought us each one up. Hers melted too quickly so Sally had to eat it. Chloe just happily went and got herself two more!

By about 13:30 I was starting to burn as usual. Chloe and Sally went for lunch in the windjammer while I went for a walk. I had a look in the jewellery shop on the Promenade. I was interested in a Tag for Sally (for her birthday) but I wasn't overly impressed with their prices even though they said they gave a price guarantee. I gave it a miss.

I went into the casino to play in the Royal Poker Tour tournament. It's probably only Poker players that will understand this bit. 2 years ago the Royal Poker Tour was a sit and go tournament with 9 players that ran 9 times during the week with the winner going through to the final. I actually just missed out on winning a cruise last time and came second winning about $1350. They have changed the format so now each of the 9 tournaments is a rebuy tournament costing $100, $100 for rebuys and $50 for an add on. This obviously isn't half as good a deal as it was 2 years ago. Royal Caribbean must now be making a killing in comparison. They also run the tournament with live dealers which is much better.... except that the dealers weren't great. There were quite a few miscounts etc that had to be pointed out by players. The tournament just wasn't very well run with seats not being allocated at the start and there being lop sided table numbers. All in all not great.

I got knocked out the tournament afer about and hour and wasn't willing to throw $100 rebuys at it.

Sally came down to see me just before I was knocked out. It was after I was knocked out that I realised I didn't have my camera in my hand. I remembered standing watching the Blackjack for a few minutes so I headed there..... no sign. I asked the dealer and the pit manager if there had been one handed in..... nope. I headed to the cashiers desk and again they hadn't seen it. I was a bit gutted to be honest but not surprised I had left it somewhere!!!!

As a last ditch we went to Customer Services on the Promenade and she asked me to describe it. She said she was pretty sure nothing like that had been handed in today. She had a look out the back and about 5 minutes later she came back with my camera in her hand. Thank god for that.... Sally was definitely going to kill me :p This is Sally signing to get the camera back.... I was obviously just pleased to be able to take a picture again!

[milpston]

Whilst I was in the casino Sally and Chloe went to have a go on the zipline. Unfortunately Chloe could not go on it. Although she was tall enough she did not make the minimum weight. Sally took Chloe down so that she could go rock climbing instead. She made it up to the top on the second attempt. You wouldn't get me up there as I am not great with heights.

 

We decided to get dressed for dinner a bit ealier today so that we could go and have a game of mini golf on the way.

On the way up I took a couple of pictures of the model of the Allure which is located up there near the lifts.

 

 

 

 

It's a pretty good model so I took a couple of pictures. Then we were off to Golf. I'm not a competitive person...... but there is no point in playing unless you play to win ;)

[milpston]

 

Everything you need is right on the course. The putters, pencils, scorecards and balls. Once I had done a few stretches and limbered up I was ready to go!

 

They have some cool statues on the mini golf.

 

 

 

 

We had a good time playing. However, I just think RCI could have done more with the holes. They are basically just flat and not a lot of obstacles or anything as you can partially see from the below picture.

 

 

But more importantly after I had added up the scores...... I won!! Unfortunately, Sally decided to double check my adding up and it turned out that Sally and I had tied scores.... it was an easy mistake for me to make :p. Chloe had the only hole in one of the whole game so she was happy with that.

[tarajean1962]

I feel like a stalker, but you have no idea how much I am loving this review!!:D You must keep it going until September!!;)

 

 

Tara

[milpston]

We had a reservation for 19:00 at Giovanni's table. We made our way down to Central Park to eat here. On our way we passed the Trellis Bar where we had enjoyed a drink.

 

 

Giovanni's is very close by.

 

 

 

 

[milpston]

I feel like a stalker, but you have no idea how much I am loving this review!!:D You must keep it going until September!!;)

 

 

Tara

 

 

Haha I'm glad you are enjoying it. I really hope I have it finished before September!