Allure 15Sep2013 (Eastern) Trip Report - Photos, Kids, Excursions, & Compasses

[jcc1025]

This is a great post, we did Oasis a little over a year ago and will be on Allure in five weeks so it reminds us how much fun we have on these ships.

[nfmst2]

Great review, we leave in just 2 months!!

[Loganpaulsmom]

Oh man.. I came back on after a couple of hours and I want more to read!!! Ha..

[createcolorfun]

great review, can't wait till the next entry. By the way, did you keep any teen/kids cruise compasses you can upload? we're going in nov with 4 kids. can't wait! thanks

[Chicky2181]

Great review so far! Love the pictures. What camera do you use?

[srvdmy4usn]

Multi-Quote is not working very well for some stupid reason, so, to those who are enjoying the trip report, thank you for the kind words!

 

great review, can't wait till the next entry. By the way, did you keep any teen/kids cruise compasses you can upload? we're going in nov with 4 kids. can't wait! thanks

 

I do have all of the kids compasses, Day 1 will be posted today :) I think the teen compasses were left behind, but they were not very helpful anyway. I will explain this more later on, but most likely your teen (if you have one) will use the club as a meeting place and then they will do their own thing. There were only a few planned events that any of them participated in and the teen events are listed in the full "adult" compass if you look closely.

 

Great review so far! Love the pictures. What camera do you use?

 

I borrowed a friends Nikon D5100 with 18-55mm & 55-300mm Nikkor AF-S DX VR Lenses. I was not very familiar with the camera at all so the majority of the shots were taken in auto mode.

[srvdmy4usn]

CRUISE COMPASS & MORE!!!

 

As promised, I have scanned and uploaded every single document we were given on the first day. This includes Cruise Compass Boarding Edition, Day 1, Adventure Ocean, Crown & Anchor, Meet & Mingle, and a few others. You can access these documents by clicking

HERE. Feel free to download them for your own use. Once the trip report is over I will condense them into a single daily download, Enjoy.

 

Now that we were finally on the ship, we had a few things we wanted to take care of right away. The first being the Premium Drink Package. This topic has been covered inside and out on CC so I won't spend too much time on it, but I will say that YES you can very easily purchase it for only 1 adult when doing so on the ship. I did not need any doctors notes, fancy stories, or even white lies. The truth is Mariah does drink, but there was just no way she could drink enough to justify the purchase and still function through the day. I walked up to the booth that was selling drink packages (there is a table set up in the center of the Promenade), and said “I want to purchase one of the packages” they filled out a slip of paper, put a sticker on my sea pass, and away I went (directly to the first bar I saw to purchase a Piña Colada! Yes, Mariah does drink, yes we cheated and “shared” the card occasionally, yes I got my monies worth even without her sharing, I never had a problem getting the drink I wanted, it worked everywhere on the ship except room service. There are plenty of signs, even sections in the drink menus that explain exactly what drinks are allowed and what ones are not. If there is a mixed drink that is not allowed they will make it for you with a different brand of alcohol. All in all if you plan on drinking more than 6-7 drinks per day on average than this package is for you. The other option is to make friends with a bartender, but I will talk about that later!

 

After getting the drink package taken care of we were off to Adventure Ocean Deck 14 to get the kids registered for the Adventure Ocean Clubs. This was somewhat disorganized and chaotic. The girl that was helping with registration did not know all the rules, and was very little help in filling out the paperwork. A personal recommendation to RCI, please allow these forms to be filled out in advance online. Eventually we got it taken care of. For those wondering about the sign in and out rules, there really are none. If you list your child as a “self sign out” they will allow it, at any age. This is where I will mention the rules we had with the kids. Over the last week or so we have been repeating these rules over and over. While they were playing on the playground in the terminal I made a bet with them that if they could repeat all the rules perfectly then I would buy them fancy drinks to celebrate during the sail away (little did they know I would have gotten them anyway). The kids passed with flying colors and later enjoyed a delicious Piña Colada (are you noticing a trend here I love those things) as we pulled away from Fort Lauderdale.

 

Rule 1 - They were to never be alone. We had a buddy system that we changed up every day. While on the ship each kid was paired with another kid and we rotated through. While in port each kid was paired with an adult.

 

Rule 2 - No leaning over any railings. This was explained by saying if we see their feet leave the ground, even “tip-toes” they were busted.

 

Rule 3 - We had to know where they were at all times. If they said they were going to be in the arcade they better be there. They were told to use the rooms voice mail to tell us if they had changed locations, that way we could find them easily. The only caveat to this was pools, they were not allowed to be at the pools without an adult.

 

Rule 4 - They can not purchase anything on their sea pass without asking. We did not set limits or restrictions on their cards, this could be a very costly mistake if your child is not as responsible. It became very fun for them to make purchases, but there will be more on that later!

 

Rule 5 - We would have dinner as a family, every night. This was directed more to Breanna, at 14 they get pretty caught up in the teen programs and before you know it you just spent a small fortune for your family vacation while missing part of your family!

 

These rules worked great for us. We are fortunate enough to have very mature children that generally follow the rules. They are also very well behaved. These rules may or may not be helpful with your children, but I can say they really enjoyed the illusion of "freedom" while on the ship even though they were under a very close eye.

 

By the time this was done and we explored a little of the ship we decided to check in on the rooms. It was still an hour before they were supposed to be ready, but like magic they were good to go! We had chosen a starboard side D2 Ocean View Balcony for both rooms on Deck 11. (11610 & 11614). For simplicity, all the photos shown of the rooms are of 11610, but both rooms were identical. And again, there will be a post immediately following this one with more photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notice the switches on the right of this photo. The top switch is the master switch, Middle left is over head cabin lighting, middle right is cabin accent lighting, bottom is bathroom lighting. HINT - Do NOT turn off the master switch. This switch will also cut power to your air conditioner.

 

Review of Cabin 11610 & 11614 - This was the first time Mariah or I have been in a balcony room, and no surprises here we loved it, and it would be hard to cruise without it again. We knew going in that the rooms would be crowded, traveling with 4 per room, 5 girls and 2 bathrooms, 2 formal nights….you get the idea! That being said, I believe the cabin was more than large enough for our needs. There is plenty of storage space for all of our stuff, the closet was large enough to hang everything we needed, and our “nesting” suitcases fit perfectly under the bed. They were completely out of sight the entire cruise. The kids clothes are small enough that with each of them getting a couple shelves between the closet and the vanity there was plenty of room for their stuff as well. If I were to have any complaints it would be of no fault to RCI and only be my choice of location. I have always been a fan of midship cabins. When traveling with people who are not used to the high seas like myself it gives them some protection against sea sickness. Also, I am not a fan of being near the elevators as you get a lot of foot traffic past your cabin. Because we were literally in the center of the forward and aft elevators we hardly ever had people walk by our door. However, on the giant Allure this makes for some serious additional walking. It sometimes feels like a marathon just to get to the elevator. I would recommend choosing a cabin closer to the elevators on this size of ship. I will let the pictures do the rest of the talking, but if you have any specific questions just let me know.

 

After dropping our stuff off in our cabin it was time to find the much anticipated Kummelweck sandwich in the Park Cafe. I thought they were delicious! I am a bit of a salt fanatic, so the sea salt crusted roll is what really sold it for me. The beef was above average quality, well trimmed, juicy, and seasoned properly. The au jus could have used some more body, but you could tell it was natural drippings and not some scientific concoction. My personal preference would be to slice the beef thinner, I think the thicker slices make the sandwich slightly harder to bite through in one single motion. Thinking back, I am sure I could have asked them to slice it thinner as it is cut to order.

 

Up Next: Sail Away...Sunshine or Downpour? And Food Porn!

[srvdmy4usn]

 

 

 

 

 

[lvstitch]

CRUISE COMPASS & MORE!!!

 

As promised, I have scanned and uploaded every single document we were given on the first day. This includes Cruise Compass Boarding Edition, Day 1, Adventure Ocean, Crown & Anchor, Meet & Mingle, and a few others. You can access these documents by clicking

HERE. Feel free to download them for your own use. Once the trip report is over I will condense them into a single daily download, Enjoy.

 

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you :D

 

PS: I love Google Drive too. It has taken my vacation planning to a whole new level.

Edited September 26, 2013 by lvstitch

[srvdmy4usn]

 

 

A photo album left as a gift for us from our travel agent with a message that said "Make Amazing Family Memories".

At the end of the trip report I will be hosting this in its entirety on a 3rd party site. Included in this will be a small review of the travel agent I used. I would like to say thank you to her here as well. Even after making nearly $0.00 in commissions from us because of some odd circumstances she still made the extra effort to say thank you to us for trusting our vacation in her hands.

Thank You ******, you were awesome and have more than earned our business in the future!

[srvdmy4usn]

Thank you, thank you, thank you :D

 

PS: I love Google Drive too. It has taken my vacation planning to a whole new level.

 

You are welcome, welcome, welcome!

[lovebugsga]

My family of 6 (hubby, son(18), son (8), niece(8), mom and myself will be sailing the Allure on November 24th so...I am really enjoying your review.

[srvdmy4usn]

My family of 6 (hubby, son(18), son (8), niece(8), mom and myself will be sailing the Allure on November 24th so...I am really enjoying your review.

 

I am sure you will have a great time! There are a slight lack in activities specifically directed to your 18 year old, but they do have some 18-21 events. Alos, if he is athletic at all he will love the flow rider and they do have an 18+ night where there are nearly no lines and you can surf under the stars.

[WWbytheSEA]

When I looked at your first photo of the review, I said wait a minute, there are 6 kids here thinking Mariah was one of the kids and Vicki was you girlfriend. Hope that comes off a compliment to the women in your life.. I'm taking my wife and 2 sons age 14 and 17 on their second cruise over New years on the Independence. Making me wish I chose the Allure instead.

 

By the way, very nice friend to let you borrow his Nikon D5100. Almost thinking about taking the splurge and getting one for myself or finding a friend with one.. haha.. Great job on the review.. Thanks for sharing.

[srvdmy4usn]

When I looked at your first photo of the review, I said wait a minute, there are 6 kids here thinking Mariah was one of the kids and Vicki was you girlfriend. Hope that comes off a compliment to the women in your life.. I'm taking my wife and 2 sons age 14 and 17 on their second cruise over New years on the Independence. Making me wish I chose the Allure instead.

 

By the way, very nice friend to let you borrow his Nikon D5100. Almost thinking about taking the splurge and getting one for myself or finding a friend with one.. haha.. Great job on the review.. Thanks for sharing.

 

Not sure what that says about me though LOL!

 

I really do like the camera, although I am no pro. He got it as a bundle from Costco for a great deal.

[TipsyTrekker]

When I looked at your first photo of the review, I said wait a minute, there are 6 kids here thinking Mariah was one of the kids and Vicki was you girlfriend. Hope that comes off a compliment to the women in your life.. I'm taking my wife and 2 sons age 14 and 17 on their second cruise over New years on the Independence. Making me wish I chose the Allure instead.

 

By the way, very nice friend to let you borrow his Nikon D5100. Almost thinking about taking the splurge and getting one for myself or finding a friend with one.. haha.. Great job on the review.. Thanks for sharing.

 

 

I'll take it as a compliment :)

[endobaby]

Great review...looking forward to reading more.

[Mycruises62]

Hey there everyone, my name is Andy, and I would like to say welcome to my first ever Trip Report/Review on Cruise Critic.

 

When it came time to book my family's dream vacation I turned to Cruise Critic for research. I found many different reviews written in many different styles and I found all of them to be helpful. Although they are all different, each one had something to offer; a straight to the point synopsis of do’s and don'ts; in depth breakdowns of every waking hour; pre-cruise; post-cruise; etc. Like many other reviews written, this one is to help “pay it forward’ to the community and offer one more point of view. I plan to discuss a variety of topics from planning strategies to debarkation. There are some really amazing reviews out there and this being my first attempt I am sure it will not compare, but I will strive to make it informative, as well as a balanced mix of personal opinion and unbiased observation. One thing I have really noticed about reviews in this forum is the difficulty to read once they are flooded with comments. I would like to make this easy to read and easily accessible should one wish to reference it at another time. To accomplish this, I plan to host the trip report in its entirety (without comments) on a separate site once completed, making it easy to read in a more fluid capacity.

 

As most trip reports begin I suppose an introduction is in order. My name is Andy. I am 33 years of age and live in Arizona. I have 2 children of my own, Kayla age 8 and Lance age 7; I also have 3 “sudo” children with my girlfriend of 6 years Mariah, age 30 something. Her children are Breanna age 14, Kassidy age 11, and Tyler age 9. Together we are just short of forming our own Brady Bunch and practically need a small school bus for transportation (this comes into play later on). My first cruise was when I was 13, it was a family vacation that created memories for a lifetime. It was one of my favorite vacations of all time and what really struck my love for cruising. I have sailed 7 times total, 5 on Royal Caribbean and 2 on Carnival; and if you count my time in the US Navy I have spent several years at sea.

 

I will tell you upfront, this vacation was truly amazing. For all the details you will just have to keep reading!

 

 

(From left to right, back to front: Vicki, Andy, Mariah, Breanna, Kayla, Lance, Tyler, & Kassidy)

 

Up Next: Planning a cruise for 8 people...even with 497 days will there be enough time?!?!

 

 

Andy, Great reviews and pictures. Thanks for sharing.

Michael

[CruisinRoots]

We saw you guys all over the ship! I remembered you as the Packer people -- I remember the 'got Clay?' shirt! It was a wonderful cruise, and a heck of a storm on embarkation day!

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[Jmeyers]

Can you tell me if the kids clubs are open the first night? Thx

[Royals Carol]

I am loving your review!! You seem to have a great family. It is refreshing to see well behaved children with boundaries. I really like the picture of the kids holding up the ship.. excellent!!

[srvdmy4usn]

We saw you guys all over the ship! I remembered you as the Packer people -- I remember the 'got Clay?' shirt! It was a wonderful cruise, and a heck of a storm on embarkation day!

 

Packer Backer For LIFE!!! I was born into it, wearing a Packer jersey before I could crawl!

 

Can you tell me if the kids clubs are open the first night? Thx

 

They are open for registration only, the first kids club starts at 6:45am the next day. They do have a family free arcade event the first night from 7:00 - 8:00PM

 

I am loving your review!! You seem to have a great family. It is refreshing to see well behaved children with boundaries. I really like the picture of the kids holding up the ship.. excellent!!

 

Thank You!

[cruiselife4me]

Subscribed!

 

GREAT review and love the pics. I'm a complete cruise nerd when it comes to researching, etc. Glad I'm not alone!!

 

Keep it coming, Mary

[srvdmy4usn]

Subscribed!

 

GREAT review and love the pics. I'm a complete cruise nerd when it comes to researching, etc. Glad I'm not alone!!

 

Keep it coming, Mary

 

Thank You, working on a new post right now :)

[srvdmy4usn]

After lunch we decided to head back to the cabin and get a jump start on unpacking, surprisingly this did not take long at all, we finished just in time to head up to the muster drill. Our station was in Studio B, and thanks to more reading here on CC we showed up near the end of the announcement and positioned ourselves close to an exit. This room gets jammed full, standing room only. When the drill is over there is a mad rush to find a place for sail away so I highly recommend sticking near an exit to give yourselves a jump on the crowd. As for the drill itself, I could not be more happy with the new procedures. Along with everyone else, I was not a fan of the traditional donning of jackets and cramming into mock lifeboat sections in the sweltering heat. Now you just sit in a room, watch a video and be done with it!

 

 

 

 

Now what were we to do for sail away? We stepped outside and it appears that the storm has settled enough to possibly allow us to stand outside. My Mom wanted to find a spot at the aft end of the ship, and I remembered our CC Roll Call had plans to meat by the Wipe Out Bar on the aft sports deck (in between the flow riders) so we headed that way. On the way there we ran into Harold (Eng23) one of the organizers of our Roll Call events (Harold became one of “those guys” that we seemed to constantly bump into through the rest of the cruise. It was a pleasure meeting you and we had a great time!). He was standing in front of the staircase to the Wipe Out Bar directing Roll Call members to an alternate location; the area had been closed while they were doing maintenance on the flow riders. We decided to skip the Roll Call location and hang out on the port side just by the mini golf course instead. Just minutes before the ship was set to pull away from the pier the aft deck was opened for business! All 8 of us had drinks in hand and we were officially beginning our cruise! The weather was not the greatest, but it held out long enough to make for a decent sail away. I would definitely recommend the aft deck for sail away. You get a full view of port and starboard and the crowds are very small compared to the more forward locations of the ship.

 

 

 

My Future Home! I love this house!!!

 

After sail away it was nearly time for dinner. I have always been a fan of the early seating for traditional dining. However, I have learned after this cruise that the old way of cruising does not apply to these new mega ships. The idea of having dinner and then watching a show was the main draw to the early seating, and the personal service of traditional dining was one of my favorite parts of cruising. I love that they learn what I like, what I drink, etc. On the Allure, this does not really apply. The shows are spread out through the evening, reservations are simple and effective, and preparing 5 kids for dinner at 6PM can really put a halt to day time activities. If I were to do it all over again, I think the later seating would be better, and MyTime would probably be the best.

 

Insider Tip - Several months before the cruise I had emailed the dining operations department after finding the email, once again, here on CC (rcldining@rccl.com). I requested that all 8 of us be at a table and that we would like a table by a window. I received a response within a few days that my request had been noted, but to check back closer to sailing. About 2 weeks before our cruise I emailed them back and received confirmation that we were set for a table of 8 with a window view.

 

We were on Deck 4 table 605. Our waiter,Vincent , was great. He lacked slightly in comical personality, but more than made up for it in professionalism, service, and attention to detail. Our assistant waiter, Fredrick, was somewhat the opposite; he was very talkative and silly, but always seemed flustered. Together they made a great team, we were pampered through every meal. Our choice of drinks were always ready at the table within moments of sitting down; the kids food was cut when needed; and when asked they expedited our service so we could make any show times we needed. As a team they really focused their attention on the kids, and this is what I really enjoyed. It gave the kids a great first impression of what high class dining is like. The first night the kids were slightly shocked by the food choices and most of them ordered from the kids menu, but as the cruise went on we convinced them to broaden their pallets and by the end the kids menus were non-existent! Occasionally they would not like their selection and Vincent promptly replaced it with pepperoni pizza, I was just happy they were trying new things and did not mind if they did not care for it.

 

So now it is on to the food. As we all know, this is very subjective. I will give you my personal opinion on the taste as well as general observation as to how the food was prepared. I do not have pictures of every meal, and I will probably not discuss every dish. But the ones that stand out will get some attention.

 

Tonight I was in the mood for a steak, apparently the chef disagreed and the option was the NY Strip from the “classic selections” menu (for those who do not know there is a more “basic” menu that is available every night and does not change. i.e. chicken, steak, fish) or Prime Rib. I am not generally a fan of Prime Rib so I ordered the strip, Vincent just short of refused to order this for me saying “this is no way to start a cruise, it is not that good” I took his advice and went with the Prime Rib. (I later learned that he was correct, but more on that another day). I also chose the strawberry watermelon soup and the peach blueberry crumble. Both were fantastic!

 

Personal Opinion: This dish was delicious, and made me a fan of Prime Rib. One of my main complaints of Prime Rib is the excessive fat content. This was well trimmed and made it more appealing to me. I think it could have used a little more kick of flavor, but this is common is mass produced food so a little salt and fresh ground pepper did the trick. The soup was served chilled and very tasty, resembles a smoothie in a bowl. The dessert was served warm and with the ice cream melting into the bowl it was a perfect balance of sweetness to make eating the entire dish very easy to do.

 

General Observation: Preparation was flawless, the cut I was served was at the correct temperature (doneness & heat), proportion was generous, and it was visually appealing. Under seasoned, but easily corrected.

 

Up Next: High Dive Insanity & Elevating Cocktails!