---> !!ALLURE OTS REVIEW!! <--- Complete Pictorial Guide! [Jun 29, 2013]

[swim13]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do we have any performers looking at the review?! This must be heaven for you!

 

 

 

 

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[metairiegal]

WOW! Fantastic review!! Thanks so much for posting. I am really enjoying it as we cruised on the Allure 06/02/13. Your pictures are truly beautiful. :)

[swim13]

Welcome to the Mooring operations! We are now under the helipad where the anchors are stored. This place was pretty cool, I kind of neglected to listen to anything during this part because I was amazed by my surroundings. This place just seemed very large and open. Usually this would be where the helipad is, exposed to the open air but it is now closed off, pretty cool!

 

 

You can tell by the shape of the wall where we are, the bow!

 

 

Notice how it looks like a brand new ship in this area? They constantly paint, I had wondered why it smelled so good! I do like the smell of fresh paint, only when it is subtle though...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[swim13]

 

 

Those chains are massive.

 

 

Ropes usually go through here!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't know if you have noticed so far but there are little reminders everywhere on the ship for the staff, I liked that little detail.

[swim13]

 

 

Now we are going up one deck to the Britto Crew Bar. I'm sorry, the helipad is actually above this! It was so cool, I saw some of the staff hanging out on the left side and I actually saw Suellen, our assistant waitress!! She is awesome, she was like "HEYYY!! What are you doing here?!?!" And I started to walk over but I was told I had to go to the other side, oh well! We talked about it at dinner later on! =P

 

 

We were offered some refreshments up here while we listened to more on operations. It was really neat just to hang out for awhile and take in everything we had seen so far. I was very eager to head up to the helipad though!! We learned here that there are some 40 + bars on the ship. Some of them you will never see because they are the bars that the staff will go to after they take your order in places like the MDR.

 

 

[swim13]

Welcome to the helipad!!! One of my favorite places on the ship. I was sad that this area is off limits to guests on the Oasis class. I remember coming up here all the time on our cruise on the Freedom. This is crew only and when I asked why, I don't think our guide really knew. A helicopter will actually land here if necessary, usually if a guest needs to be air lifted 150 miles or more from shore. The railings will fold over to lay flat and then the object in the center (sorry, I'm not sure what it is called!) will hang over the bow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[QTMichele]

Hey, I remember reading your review of the Allure! Have you ever heard of Corning? Glad to see you here, thanks!!

 

Thanks for reading my review! It was so much nicer before the images were removed. Oh well!

 

Yes, I've heard of Corning. :-) Have you heard of Geneva?

[swim13]

Welcome to the bridge! After we left the helipad, we went back through guest hallways, we were like oh man it feels weird to be back to what we were used to. For a while it actually felt like we were on a ship and now we were back to the awesome resort! =P We took the elevator and ended on deck 12. We had to get scanned once again before we were led to the bridge after a few secured doors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[swim13]

Now there is this machine on each side of the bridge wings. They do the same thing although they just have different views.

 

 

Here is part of the security center, just crazy.

 

 

It was actually a lot nicer of a day than it looks!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Captain Johnny's scooter! Everyone got a good laugh out of this! =P

[swim13]

We got to talk to one of the officers from the bridge and asked a few questions. I never wrote anything down so I am really sorry to not bring many facts to the table. I had asked if he had any information on the 3rd Oasis class ship that had recently been announced and all he said was what we already know, it will come out in 2016. =P At this time I had also noticed someone with the same camera as me although she spoke Spanish and I'm not sure she understood a word I said, lol! Here are some pictures of Britto artwork on the bridge!

 

 

 

 

Alright everyone, we are officially done with the All Access tour...=( I hope you enjoyed all of the pictures!!! I'm sorry they aren't as good as some of the others are, I was just in awe and wanted to experience it more than worry about taking pictures for the review. I forgot to mention that video is prohibited during this tour but you are allowed to take a picture of anything and are encouraged to take a picture of everything!

 

9/10 overall rating. I can see how it is extremely expensive for multiple people to take this tour; It was only myself and I was paying for it so it was an easy decision. I am really not sure if this is offered on other ships in the fleet but if it is, I would definitely do it again!

 

It is getting late, my family is coming in tomorrow morning from Arizona so I can't make any promises about finishing up the day tomorrow...sorry this review it taking so long! I will try to finish the last day between tomorrow and Monday. I still have an extra project to show you after the final day. I am so sad this is starting to come to a close!

 

Please comment and tell me what you think of the tour, would it be worth it for you? I know there were a lot of pictures but there is SO much left to be seen!

 

See you tomorrow everyone! ;)

[swim13]

Thanks for reading my review! It was so much nicer before the images were removed. Oh well!

 

Yes, I've heard of Corning. :-) Have you heard of Geneva?

 

Oh no, what happened to the pictures?!

 

I have heard of Geneva, my mom and Jeff were actually up there today!! We go up there occasionally to go to the Waterloo Outlets. Geneva is beautiful!

[swim13]

I am not going to lie. Refreshed the thread quite a few times today :D

 

Haha sorry! Now you get to refresh and enjoy the tour!!

 

Loving it so far, Mike. It's great to be able to see behind-the-scenes without having to take the tour.

 

I look forward to the rest and thanks again for sharing!! :)

 

Thanks! You should take the tour, it was great!

 

Awesome photos! I doubt I'll ever do the AAT with DH due to the cost (unless we win big at the casino;)), but sooo interesting.

 

I did have a chuckle at the coffee machine -- all hi-test and no decaf beans!

 

Keep up the great work!

 

Thank you!! Haha I noticed that too! =P

 

WOW! Fantastic review!! Thanks so much for posting. I am really enjoying it as we cruised on the Allure 06/02/13. Your pictures are truly beautiful. :)

 

No, thank you so much for following along!

[Snooksi]

Do we have any performers looking at the review?! This must be heaven for you!

 

I'll have to show these to my daughter. She's a theater minor and is most excited about seeing the live version of Chicago more than anything else!!

[QTMichele]

Oh no, what happened to the pictures?!

 

I have heard of Geneva, my mom and Jeff were actually up there today!! We go up there occasionally to go to the Waterloo Outlets. Geneva is beautiful!

 

Broken links, and I can't go back and change them. Just gives me motivation to write another review. :-)

 

Geneva is the closest town the the small town I grew up in. The area is a special place for me.

 

I loved your all access tour! Great pictures. It always amazes me that the behind the scenes is so complex, but virtually seamless to us cruisers.

[aubreyc1988]

Anyone notice the pepper shaker on the left? LOL! I have no clue what that's doing there!

 

 

Can you believe we are still under water? Just crazy.

 

 

 

 

In the way back, there are some shops for the staff...the normal bathroom items, etc. Kind of like a convenient store. Then there is the coffee cafe with........MAMA MORTON from Chicago!! She was so nice, we all congratulated her on an amazing performance a few nights ago.

 

 

Welcome to the secret Windjammer! =P

 

 

 

 

in regards to the salt shaker, heres my take - a kitchen worker stumbled down there with that in there hand, set it down, forgot to pick it back up, and went back to the dining room, looking for the salt shaker they misplaced

 

I say this because this looks like something i would do lol

[ecourtney]

Mike,

 

Thank you SO MUCH for taking all of those amazing photos from the All Access Tour! I am totally doing this when I am on Oasis on October.

 

My mom likes to remind me that these tours used to be free "back in the day" haha :)

[cruzinlady1947]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What was this mess? Confiscated liquor?

 

Great pics. We get galley, bridge and backstage tours for being D+ but never this thorough a tour. Would love to see the Allure or Oasis tours someday.

 

Thanks again,

 

Gwen :)

[Eng23]

What was this mess? Confiscated liquor?

 

Great pics. We get galley, bridge and backstage tours for being D+ but never this thorough a tour. Would love to see the Allure or Oasis tours someday.

 

Thanks again,

 

Gwen :)

That would be my guess......:)

[hellsop]

So I'm not sure how accurate this is but I would assume these were the correct numbers of C&A members, and kids for our sailing since it was hanging on one of the bulletin boards. I thought it seemed weird to only have 2264 C&A members on a sailing with 6,382 passengers on it!

 

Most trips that aren't special for C&A people/returning cruisers seem to run about half "people that have never cruised with this line before" for one reason or another. Dunno why, but that's the numbers that seem to come up at the speeches at the Welcome Back receptions, etc. Short cruises, especially the "CocoCay/Nassau/return" runs, run higher that that, even.

 

It's interesting to see the newness of the Emerald so clearly manifested. Everything else is in a mostly-orderly distribution.

[cruiserdudebobby8]

loved your All Access Tour pictures thanks for sharing! ive done it twice on Allure and im doing it on Oasis this August

[swim13]

I'll have to show these to my daughter. She's a theater minor and is most excited about seeing the live version of Chicago more than anything else!!

 

That is awesome!

 

Broken links, and I can't go back and change them. Just gives me motivation to write another review. :-)

 

Geneva is the closest town the the small town I grew up in. The area is a special place for me.

 

I loved your all access tour! Great pictures. It always amazes me that the behind the scenes is so complex, but virtually seamless to us cruisers.

 

Ah that stinks, but of course that gives you an excuse to book another cruise! =D

 

Thank you, and I know, right?! I was thinking that while I was down there, there are people eating 17 decks up at the windjammer, people surfing, people walking through Central Park, people swimming, and no one would even begin to understand whats going on beneath them!

 

in regards to the salt shaker, heres my take - a kitchen worker stumbled down there with that in there hand, set it down, forgot to pick it back up, and went back to the dining room, looking for the salt shaker they misplaced

 

I say this because this looks like something i would do lol

 

LOL! I could see myself doing this as well =P

 

Mike,

 

Thank you SO MUCH for taking all of those amazing photos from the All Access Tour! I am totally doing this when I am on Oasis on October.

 

My mom likes to remind me that these tours used to be free "back in the day" haha :)

 

You are welcome! Thanks for actually commenting, I think people are shy on my thread! =P You are going to have a great time!

 

What was this mess? Confiscated liquor?

 

Great pics. We get galley, bridge and backstage tours for being D+ but never this thorough a tour. Would love to see the Allure or Oasis tours someday.

 

Thanks again,

 

Gwen :)

 

Haha, I bet you are right! I am not sure actually, I just took a picture because I figured with my lack of alcohol pictures on here, this might make up for it! =P

 

That would be my guess......:)

 

Yup!

 

Most trips that aren't special for C&A people/returning cruisers seem to run about half "people that have never cruised with this line before" for one reason or another. Dunno why, but that's the numbers that seem to come up at the speeches at the Welcome Back receptions, etc. Short cruises, especially the "CocoCay/Nassau/return" runs, run higher that that, even.

 

It's interesting to see the newness of the Emerald so clearly manifested. Everything else is in a mostly-orderly distribution.

 

I guess I never realized that but it makes sense. I would have just thought that more people would be at least Gold level! Did you see only 2 people out of the 6,382 were Pinnacle?! Shows you how hard it is to achieve that premium status.

 

loved your All Access Tour pictures thanks for sharing! ive done it twice on Allure and im doing it on Oasis this August

 

Thanks! It really is a great tour, I'm so glad they offer it!

[VPIcruiser]

Thanks for doing this awesome review. It made a four hour car ride go by much faster. I read a lot of your comments, especially on the AAT, to my DH so it entertained him also. We will be on the Allure in August with our three kids, ages 8, 6, and 3. We have to go in august after swimteam ends :) and the prices drop. We were on the Freedom the past two years and loved it and we are really looking forward to the Allure.

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

Many thanks for the galley tour. I always seem to forget to bring closed-toed shoes, so I can't go even with an invitation. I really enjoyed the photos and the "Secret Windjammer."

 

Your review has been fabulous. It is a high standard for reviews that come after it to meet.

[swim13]

There is still more to come everyone!! I am finishing up photos to end off the last day then a surprise sometime this week!!

 

See you soon!!