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"Allure of the Seas 8/25-9/1" my review and report!!

Domb23

By Domb23,
in Royal Caribbean International

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Domb23

Domb23

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"Allure of the Seas 8/25-9/13" My review and report!!

I sit here in the airport, depressed about the end of my cruise, yet excited to get home to see my 3 beautiful girls (2 human and 1 canine), I figured that I would begin writing my review while it is fresh in my mind.

 

First of all a little background information, my DW (29 remainder 11) and I (DH 42) are from New Jersey. I first had the idea for this cruise at 2:01 on July 23rd, 2011. You see, my DW threw me a surprise 40th birthday party, and as I walked in totally shocked, I started to realize that I needed to plan something great for her 40th. Over the next few months I started to throw around the idea of a cruise, but did nothing yet, as my family, including my girls, sister, mother, niece and nephew had decided to plan a family vacation for the summer of 2012. So, over the next few months most of my time was focused on that vacation, but my idea of a cruise for my DW was still in the back of my mind. August of 2012 rolls around and we all head down to Disney. We were there for approximately a week. When we got home I asked my DW if she had a good time, and her response was, "Yes I had a good time, but this was a trip, not a vacation." It was at that moment that I was convinced that she would need a "vacation" and not just... "a trip".Over the next few months I mulled over decisions such as itinerary, ship, do I bring kids or not....etc. In the past, I had 6 cruises with RCL and 1 with celebrity, so my first inclination was RCL, but actually started looking at the Carnival Breeze or the Dream because the prices were more cost effective than RCL. When I started looking at what was available in August of 2013, I was surprised at the limited number of ships sailing. I read all about the Dream and Breeze, as I was initially leaning that way. However, when I learned about their cutbacks in entertainment (shows were being shortened to 30 minutes/no more live music at the pools), I really started second guessing my interest in CCL. One thing I know about my DW is that she enjoys being entertained. From what I head read about the Oasis class ships, I knew that she would love them! It was then that I decided to book either the Oasis or Allure. I had known that I wanted to sail the Western Caribbean since we sailed the Eastern Caribbean on our Honeymoon, and since we were locked in to this particular week to sail, Allure it was!!

 

Now that the ship was chosen, it was time to start making plans for the girls and dog. Originally, I had asked my mother and my in-laws to split the week and they agreed. Soon after, my in-laws said that they would take the girls and dog for the entire week, which was very generous. Now that child care was taken care of, it was time to price-watch and book. After a month or 2 of price-watching and seeing no variability, I booked a B2 balcony. Of course, after I booked, I checked prices everyday, maybe twice (According o my DW, I have an obsession and require medication.) After final payment, I had noticed that the prices started to drop so for a small financial differential, I switched a D6 balcony. Although I had heard many good things about the Boardwalk balcony staterooms, I still had concerns about the noise from the boardwalk (Tba later in the review), I knew that the Oceanview balcony was the way to go. So, I kept price watching (never got the meds)and saw that the prices for the D1 balconies dropped ridiculously low. I proceed to call my travel agent and move into a D1 balcony stateroom on deck 9 Starboard. BTW, for anyone traveling on the Allure's Western Caribbean itinerary, I definitely suggest the starboard side, as you get a view of the port at every stop.

 

I want to spend a few minutes talking about the planning for the flights. I didn't want to book a flight before telling her about the cruise. When I started looking at flights, I was surprised how expensive the round-trip flights were. I ended up booking 2 one-way flights out of 2 different airports. I booked Jet Blue from Newark to Ft. Lauderdale on 8/24, and booked United from W. Palm Beach to Newark on 9/1. Luckily, I have family that lives in FL, so I had arranged for them to pick us up from the airport, drop us off at the port, pick me up at the port at the end of the cruise, and bring me up to W. Palm Beach airport. (I know, he is a saint!) Once I booked my flights, I learned my first lesson about booking flights. When doing all of the searching, I used Expedia, Kayak, etc....and when I decided to book, I thought to myself that it would have been smarter to book directly though the airlines. Wow, was I wrong. Two days later, I looked at Kayak and notice that the fare for my return flight dropped by $40. I immediately called United and asked what they could do, and of course they give my this long song and dance and nothing gets done. If I hadbooked through Kayak or Expedia, they would have reimbursed the difference. I know that it's not a lot of money, but $80 is $80 and that could have come in handy (which I will discuss later).

 

So now that flights are booked and cruise is paid for, I spend the next few months reading as much as I could (yup...obssessed at best!) about the ship. I read every review and post about the Allure. DW commented that I may have known more about the Allure than the crew!

 

About a week or so before the cruise, my MIL asks my wife the flight information, as she likes to track our travel. So we give her the flight information and she tells me that our return flight doesn't exist. Of course we tell her she is crazy. She checks a a second time and says the same thing, "You should call the airline, because your flight doesn't exist." As I am reading her text back to me, I recieve a confirmation email from United. I open it up and low and behold our flight was moved from 2:25 to 5:10 on another flight! I am really pissed off now! I immediately call, figuring that I would argue, but they would say there was nothing they could do. Suprisingly, the person I spoke to did something great and was very accommodating. He was able to book me on flight that left earlier than my original flight home. Even better is that this one is out of Ft. Lauderdale, which means I didn't need my saintly cousin to drive all over the state of FL.

 

So the big day arrived, and we were both excited! We decided to fly down a day earlier so I could spend some time with my family in FL. My wife dropped dropped off the girls and the dog the night before, so all we needed to do pack the car and leave for the airport. We left the house at about 10:15, parked the car, took a shuttle to the airport, checked in, went through security and were comfortably ensconced at the gate by 11:05.

 

The flight was on-time and uneventful, which to me means it was fine. Since we were on JetBlue, I watched TV and my wife read. We landed on time, here is where one of the minor hiccups of our trip happen (and when I mean minor, I mean extremely minor. DW is annoyed I'm even mentioning it). We get off the plane and proceed to the baggage claim. We wait there for about a half hour (DW says it wasn't a half hour and im exaggerating) and..... Nothing. Finally, they tell us they moved the baggage to another carousel, and our luggage comes quickly thereafter. My cousin picks us up (after circling 6 times around the airport!)and we were off.

 

We drove down to Miami Beach to see my Aunt and Uncle. It was nice to see everyone. We had dinner at Flanigan's which was nice. After dinner, we drove up to Coconut Creek where my cousin lives. We spent some time catching up, and then it was time for bed, as we had a long day of travel.

 

Well, we are going to board soon, so I will continue either later today or tomorrow. If anyone have any questions along the way, feel free to ask.

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Domb23

Domb23

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[since DW is my very patient editor on this, it is only fair to allow her some of her own commentary where appropriate.] As I awoke from a not-so-restful sleep, I look outside and see pouring rain. I think to myself, “Great!! This is how my cruise vacation is starting!!! UGHHHH!!” We dress and get ready to leave. The plan was to arrive at the pier at around 11:00 and be on the ship by 11:30. We left at around 10:15 to make a stop at Walgreens to pick up a case of water for our cabin. We purchased a 12 pack, which ended up being the perfect amount for DW and me for the week. Back in the car and on to Port Everglades. As we got closer to the pier, the rain started to diminish and by the time we got there, the rain had completely stopped. Woo Hoo!! [DW: DH is so easily excited.] When we first saw the ship, you notice that she is big, but I don’t think you can appreciate her size until you see her right next to another ship, and that didn’t happen until later in the week. We arrived at the pier at about 11:15 and were ready to go. Good-byes were said, and we were off to check in. When we first got out it looked a bit chaotic, but after 3-4 minutes [DW: It was less than 90 seconds by who’s counting!] a porter took care of our bags and we were ready to proceed inside. We quickly passed through security. When we first reached the official cruise check-in area, I expected to see less of a crowd than we actually saw. From all of the reviews, it always seemed like the check-in area is not that busy, but it seemed like there was quite a crowd already queued to check in. We found the line for deck 9 and within 5 minutes or so we had our Sea Pass cards and were on our way to the ship [DW: It was at this point that DH turned into a giddy 10 year old boy getting a new XBOX and squealed with joy, complete with skipping and clapping. Although anyone who knows him pretty much knows that is normal for him]. We then took our welcome aboard picture [DW: You would think that with most people having traveled to get there, they might have been kind enough to give a warning about the picture!] and were on our way upstairs. We were quickly on the ship within 5 more minutes [This was actually a bit longer as we had to weave through the upstairs lines much like rats in a cheese maze. Then we got a slight workout trekking up the gangways to the entrance of the ship. Luckily, it really wasn’t too bad. Since everyone is on a cruise contact high anyway, no one really minds this part.]. We officially entered the ship at 11:45. [DW: Much to DH’s disappointment, there was no trumpeting fanfare announcing his arrival. However, there was a gorgeous fountain right upon entrance. I was also impressed by the Purell dispensers every 2 feet. Think they are trying to tell us something?] Thirty minutes from drop off to entry, not too bad!! As I walked onto the promenade, I thought to myself, “I’m finally here!!” I remember thinking how much bigger the promenade is when comparing it to the atrium that I have experienced on my other cruises, but I didn’t truly grasp the size of the promenade until two or three days into the cruise.

 

Now that we were onboard and ready to go, what is the first thing you do?? Of course!! You go to the Park Café and have a roast beef sandwich. We made our way through [DW: Dragging our carry-ons along for the ride.] Central Park and into the Park Café. I had a salad and roast beef sandwich. Now, I know that everyone raves about them and say they are “the bomb”. Was it a good sandwich? Yes. Would I say it was life changing? No. It was a good sandwich. My wife had a quesadilla, and didn’t love it. [DW: In defense of the Park Café, I didn’t read the description carefully enough. Wasn’t their fault.] Here is where I experienced my first, “Are you kidding me now?” moment. I get up to get silverware and a drink and I hear my name being called. I am over 1,000 miles away from my house on a cruise ship and I hear my name being called by someone else than my wife. It just so happened that someone I work with during the summer was cruising with his family. [DW: This would only happen to him!]Too funny!!

 

After lunch, we walked around for a while to see everything live [You could touch it….ooooh!] for the first time. By then it was 1 pm and it was time to go see the room. As stated earlier, we had a D1 oceanview balcony cabin. We had cabin 9594 which is on the starboard side of the ship. The cabin was typical balcony variety, but the actual balcony is a little longer than any other D category cabin. One thing that I liked this time was that the shower had doors instead of the curtains I had always had on previous cruises. After investigating the stateroom for a little while, we were about to venture to the zip line, we opened our door and our luggage was already there. So we grabbed our luggage, quickly unpacked and were ready to go!!

 

The only reason I even brought sneakers with me on the cruise was to do the zip line, so before we left the room, I put them on and made a beeline to the zip line. I had read many times before that the best time to do the zip line and rock walls was on the first day. That was very good advice, as they were almost empty when we got there. As the week progressed, they were much more crowded. I did the zip line, and my DW watched!! It was my first time zipping, and I liked it a lot!! [DW: Notice the 10 year old boy emerging here again.] We then proceeded to the rock wall, where my DW proceeded to go higher than me. [DW: Heheheheh] Hey, can’t win ‘em all!! After our sporting adventures, we toured the ship trying to take in all that she had to offer.

 

By then, it was muster time. Our muster station was in Studio B. This was pretty painless, but I was dreading the complete and utter chaos that ensues when muster is dismissed. When we, got out of muster, I knew that I wanted to get to deck 16 portside to see the great houses and views, so I had a decision to make. I really didn’t want to climb 12 flights of stairs, so I proceeded to the elevators and used a trick that always works. I saw an elevator open that was going down and it had space in it. I figure, it is easier to go 1 down and then 12 up, then trying to squeeze an elevator going up with every other passenger on the ship. [DW: He was so proud.] This work wonderfully and we were on deck 16 in a flash and got a great spot along the railing for sail-away. After Sail-Away, we made our way back to our cabin to relax, [DW: Not sure what exactly we were relaxing from…??] and get ready for dinner. Here is where I had my big wardrobe malfunction for the week. We headed down to deck 5 to walk though the promenade toward the Adagio dining room. As we enter the promenade I feel something odd swiping at my feet like my pants are too long or something. I look down and to my surprise, it’s not my pants but the heel of my shoe. It fell off [DW: It actually completely disintegrated. Poor guy.] So now for the rest of the week I have to wear sneakers or sandals with my dinner clothes [DW: Thank goodness our self-proclaimed fashionista of a 10 year old wasn’t with us or she would have been aghast at this faux paux.] I was soooo mad, and was self-conscious the rest of the week. That’s life and it’s off to dinner. [DW: He was a big boy about it.]

 

Tonight is the Mojo menu and here is what we had. We thought the food was very good, so I will only comment if something was below par or needs explanation. Just a little FYI, we [DW: HE not we] order many things so we can try different things.

 

Appetizers:

 

Smoked Fish Roulettes

Eggplant and Artichoke Tart

Asian Coconut Seafood Soup

Scallop Gratin (No escargot on this sailing!! I was sooooo upset!!!)

 

Main Courses:

 

Horseradish Crusted Filet of Atlantic Salmon

 

Desserts

 

Carrot Cake

Chocolate cake off of the classics menu

 

Dinner was good, but now it was off to Oceanaria. We loved this show!! Both of us thought it was very entertaining. [DW: Really, that’s all you have to say about it? The performance rivaled world wide entertainment such as Circe de Soleil. The performers with flawless and the dives and acrobatics were breathtaking. The open-air ampitheater added to the experience. ] The quality of the performers was very high !! We then made our way over to the On Air Club to watch Karaoke. It’s always entertaining to see people sing. By that time, we were both pretty tired, and we made our way back to the cabin. This way we could be refreshed for a fun day at sea.

 

That is all for day 1, more to come soon!!

 

Any questions, please ask!!

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rcrdale

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Subscribed!!!! Love your review so far and get a good chuckle at your wife's comments. I, like yourself, have been planning our Allure cruise for over a year and have been reading all the reviews. We are down to 82 days until our B2B on the Allure. From reading everything, I realized we would never be able to do everything in 1 week, so we booked the B2B.

 

Keep up the good work.

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CGBanks

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Question ? We were able to upgrade from a standard balcony to a D1 Large Balcony AND our price dropped $621 for our sailing on the Allure in December. My question is about the balcony. We sailed on the Oasis about3 years ago and we had our steward change out our chairs for loungers. Do you think the Allure large balcony would accomodate a couple loungers ? We are in hopes of being able to do that again ~ Thanks for any input.

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BillOh Holiday Sharing Rare

BillOh

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"Allure of the Seas 8/25-9/13" My review and report!!

I sit here in the airport, depressed about the end of my cruise,

 

Hopefully you aren't flying Southwest out of FLL. The ultimate insult is you can sit waiting for your plane and see Allure out the window as you head for home. I thought that was so cool on arrival ;)

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Domb23

Domb23

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Question ? We were able to upgrade from a standard balcony to a D1 Large Balcony AND our price dropped $621 for our sailing on the Allure in December. My question is about the balcony. We sailed on the Oasis about3 years ago and we had our steward change out our chairs for loungers. Do you think the Allure large balcony would accomodate a couple loungers ? We are in hopes of being able to do that again ~ Thanks for any input.

 

 

Yes, I think that you could have loungers instead of chairs, but not much else. Darn, I wish I had thought of that!!

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Domb23

Domb23

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Hopefully you aren't flying Southwest out of FLL. The ultimate insult is you can sit waiting for your plane and see Allure out the window as you head for home. I thought that was so cool on arrival ;)

 

 

Nope, I was flying United, but I was abel to also see Allure right from my my gate! You could see how massive she actually is as she towered over the Carnival ship she was right near!!

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Domb23

Domb23

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I figured, that I would spend a little time between my daily posts to spend a few moments discussing the various neighborhoods and venues on the ship and give my opinion regarding each. (DW: Because inquiring minds want to know....)

 

The first area I would like to address is the solarium. We did not spend much time there besides the occasional walk-through. With so much of this area covered and enclosed it made me feel as if I were in a greenhouse. It makes a hot day seem even hotter. I think the decor was nice and it was quieter than the other pool areas, but I don't think it is a highly ranked location if you are a sun person. (DW: Or enjoy breathing air instead of humidity.)

 

Next, let's take a look at the other pool areas. As most people know, there are 4 pool areas. You have the H2O kids zone, the sports pool, th beach pool and the main pool. I know that there have been many long debates about chair hogs (DW: OMG, it's totally like, um, like, the like, middle school cafeteria where I teach! You totally can't sit here! Like, really.?) and such, but I noticed on this particular cruise that if you went out to any of the pool areas by 10 am you would have no problem getting seats near or around the pool. On all of the sea days, we would walk around deck 15 before going to breakfast, and there were a plethora (DW: Look who's using his big boy words today!) of seats and loungers to be had. That being said, if you go out later than that, it tended to get more crowded and harder to find seats together. We often found ourselves at the main pool on the 2nd stadium level, which was a great location. I liked the set up of the beach pool and the water right underneath the loungers, but is not convenient if you bring a back pack or bag with you, as it would get wet. (DW: Duh...umm...it's a POOL!) We didn't spend anytime at the H2O zone as we didn't have the kids with us, but it seemed as the kids that were there loved it, especially the pool with the continuous current. (DW: It kept reminding my of being at the physical therapist!) There were frequent water volleyball games at the sports pool. I did think that the floors around the pool deck were very slippery and found myself slipping. (DW: That's just him. I was fine. Next time I plan to wrap him in bubble wrap.) I loved the music of the live band during the day, and the piped in music when they weren't playing. The soft serve ice cream machines between the pool areas were a nice advantage if you were hungry for a quick snack. There are some smokey areas on the outskirts of deck 15, which stink (literally) if you are walking around. I really like the layout of the pool area and enjoyed spending some of my time during sea days there. (DW: Ask about his sunburn!)

 

Since we are on deck 15, I might as well also mention the sports deck. There they have a full sized basketball court, which was always in use. (DW: Mostly by teenagers... and middle-aged men trying to relive their youth.) They also have a table tennis area, a miniature golf course, zip line and the Flow-riders. On one side of the ship is the boogie board Flow rider and on the other side, directly across, is the surfing Flow-rider. There is a sitting area to allow you to watch on both sides. I enjoyed sitting there watching people try their luck, and loved the up-beat music that was always playing. This was a great area to "people watch" and "Flow-ride watch". (DW: My DH the voyeur...we are getting him help.)

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