Allure 9/22/13: A Story Review w/drama, humor, Pics & Video

[Lloyd555]

The storage would have been okay if it was just me and the husband but I over packed for our daughter and somehow still made everything fit neatly. Just a tip: I brought extra hangers from home so that I can hang more clothes. I also use an over the door organizer that has many compartments. It was great as I stored my jewelry, hair accessories, chargers and other misc. items.

 

The Space was fine until they made up the sofa-bed. That took up all the extra space in the room it was quite large. The small side table was only useful when we ordered room service. Other than that it was mostly in the way.

 

You will have more than enough space with just the two of you!

 

Yup. I moved the coffee table into the closet in our Oasis cruise to make space. Like you, we didn't spend too much time in the cabin. Hung out on the public balcony at the end of our corridor on deck 11 in the morning. On the Allure, we're so close to Central park. So, we'll be having a morning coffee there.

 

I already have a note about extra hangers. I think passengers can ask the room steward for more.

 

On the subject of price, I was feeling so-so with the price of the cabin at $999 CDN back in March, but 2 price drops later - and after 2 calls to Royal Caribbean of course! - we're paying $809 for our category Q interior! (Advertised at $849 on the website, but during the call today it went down to $809!??!). :D

Edited October 5, 2013 by Lloyd555

[stecee]

Great start. I will be reading this with interest as we are considering going on this ship next year.

We have just got back from our first cruise, which was on the Epic, it will be interesting to see how the two compare.

[VegasChic]

I brought three cameras with me on this cruise:

 

Canon 5D Mark II - Does not have a built in flash and I didn't bring my external flash unit which is similar to what the ship photographer's use. It was just too bulky and heavy. - I used this camera mainly at the ports and got really beautiful pictures also I used it on the last sea day! These pictures came out gorgeous!!

 

Canon Powershot G12 - I took many pictures with this camera it was easy to carry around and very compact. Although I was not thrilled with the quality of the pictures, it did a decent job.

 

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS2 - It's a waterproof, shatterproof, freezeproof and something else. It does a decent job for water pictures I rarely used this camera.

 

Instead of posting the video's individually I will be putting together a video movie collage that I will post at the end of this review as I took a lot of footage.

 

The best pictures were taken in Jamaica and Cozumel. On the ship I was always in a hurry rushing somewhere and taking pictures as i went along.

 

After the Muster Drill, We stopped by Adventure ocean but it was closed, so we headed to the Wipeout Bar for the cruise critic sailaway meet and greet. The surfers were already in full swing on the flow riders. I headed to the bar with anxious desperation and grabbed a Stella then went over to meet and chat with some CC folk. BTW, the bartenders at the W/O Bar are Awesome! When they found out if was my DD's B-day they said they would be spoiling her for the rest of the week - they actually made her a complimentary Mango Smoothie! Everyone from CC was nice and it was great to finally meet everyone. While I chatted, DH and DD watched the surfers and played mini golf (all in the same area).

 

Here are some pictures I quickly took walking to the the wipe out bar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[VegasChic]

More pictures:

 

Never had an opportunity to eat here, not sure what type of food was offered.

 

 

 

 

[VegasChic]

More Pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay I will post the rest of day one tomorrow which includes Giovanni's & Oceanaria... I'm off to celebrate my sister's birthday!

[drarill]

Beautiful pictures and great review!! thanks for sharing!:):)

[bp traveler]

Enjoying your review -I hope to get on this ship soon!

[Bimmer09]

While not my kind of ship I am always happy to see others enjoying this engineering and design marvel and sharing it with others. Great photographs and the narrative moves right along.

 

Keep it coming!

 

Thanks,

Norris

in Chicago

[janetz]

:D Great pics! The beach pool was our favorite.

[donnaman43]

Your pictures are absolutely fabulous. Did you take photography classes? Just beautiful pics.

[riclop]

Enjoyng your reivew and thanks for taking the time.

[S.C.]

Loving your review! :)

[Zhane's mum]

Great review thanks for posting and your daughter is so pretty :)

[tiffygirl]

hi Vivian,

 

great review!!! thanks for sharing!! I'm a huge NCL fan ...loved the Epic and Breakaway. Curious to hear your thoughts on major differences. I travel solo mainly, although I would love to sail the Allure, don't see me having a $$$$$ better time on the Allure. Meanwhile I will continue to live through you all by way of these fabulous reviews! :)

Edited October 6, 2013 by tiffygirl

[Ocean Boy]

The Wipeout Cafe serves food like hamburgers, hotdogs, chill, etc. It isn't a bad place to grab some luch instead of going to the Windjammer. But there is nowhere near the variety of food as in the WJ.

[phabric]

Enjoyed your pictures and your review. Looking forward to more. We have not been on the Allure yet.

[VegasChic]

We stayed at the Wipeout Bar for a little while then took off as it was nearing dinner time. We returned to the room to shower and dress for dinner. DD and I were finished before my husband - he won't step foot in the shower until he sees me putting on my make-up and my daughter is fully dressed (so annoying!!!) So now I had to wait for him and I refused to wait in the room. DD and I went to Adventure Ocean to register her, they are not open on the 1st night which I think is wrong but that is their policy. The lady who helped us at Adventure Ocean was amazing I wish I got her name (so bad at this) I never did I wanted to tip her specifically and write a nice letter about her (unfortunately I never got the chance). Here are a few pictures of Adventure Ocean:

 

 

 

 

 

[VegasChic]

We then headed to Giovanni's and got a table (My husband was like 15 minutes late!) I ordered a glass of wine while I waited and they really push you to buy a bottle. Our waiter was Christian he was quite knowledgeable and gave us recommendations all which were delicious!

 

Giovanni's turned out to be my 2nd favorite specialty restaurant of the three. DD had spaghetti with meat sauce, said it was YUMMY! We had 3 appetizers - The Caprese Salad, Baked Ciabatta with Prosciutto and Mozzarella, Almond crusted, oven baked Scallops w/pesto - they were all divine! I ordered another glass of Pinot Grigio (thinking I probably should have order a bottle but I probably would have drank the whole thing!). Main entree's were, Veal with cheese polenta and green beans with a side of Risotto, DH had the Beef Tenderloin with Garlic Fries and a side of Gnocchi. I ended up liking his dinner better than mine and the only thing I didn't like was the Risotto I felt bad for wasting it but I just couldn't eat it. For desert, DD had vanilla Ice Cream, I had a Canoli and DH had Tiramisu (both were nice!) We tipped Christian $20 and off we went to Oceanaria.

 

I'm not one to take pictures of food but I I did this time - they are awful quality as I didn't want to turn on the flash and disrupt the others.

 

 

 

 

 

[VegasChic]

We arrived at the Aqua Theater at 8:55 all the seats were taken as they allow those without reservations to come in at a quarter till (8:45). So we went to a balcony one deck up where the rock climbing wall is and saw the show from there. It was fine, I didn't take any pictures as I didn't want to get yelled at but I probably could have from up there as no-one was watching us! The show was great and people were wowed by it and honestly I have seen so many Vegas Cirque shows that it takes a lot to wow me at this point. It was very entertaining and the dives were amazing. The pool ground is interactive as it moves up and down to different depths to allow for dives or dancing or just light splashing. There are traffic lights near the rock climbing wall that indicate to the divers when the ground has been lowered and cleared for their dive (whomever is charge of that traffic light definitely needs to be on point!).

 

Here are two pictures I got on the way out of the aqua theater and boardwalk area.

 

 

 

I then went back to our room but cut through the Royal Promenade (RP), loved this stairway to the casino (very convenient) from the RP and I used it often.

 

 

I went back to the room to unpack, it took me forever as the 3rd bed was made up and there was no room to move around. I had a huge mess it took me about 2 hours to put everything in place!! I was exhausted and feel asleep as soon as I hit the bed with my daughter. DH took off to the casino (so not fair!).

 

Well day one was a bit overwhelming I'm not even going to lie. That is the main reason for very little picture taking. I know some have commented on the great pictures, personally I think they are not great but if you think these are nice then you are in for a big treat!! Starting on day 3 I started to use my pro camera and took so many amazing pictures that I just cannot wait to show them off!!

 

ALLURE VS EPIC COMPARISON:

Ship Design - Allure wins hands down and a bow! What an amazing design and layout, the most I ever felt crowded was during the 70's party and the parades. The spacing of this ship is genius!

 

Room - It's hard to compare I only had Balcony cabins on the Epic and an inside on Allure. But honestly loved the decor, storage and the famous bathroom of the Epic especially all the extra storage space.

 

Giovanni's vs. La Cucina - No question about it Giovanni's!!! However, Allure needs to revisit their children's fee for these specialty restaurants this is where the Epic wins.

 

Just one more note, I really don't intend to offend anyone but I noticed that there were many stank, obnoxious and rude passengers on this sailing. I will not elaborate but just something strange and unexpected that DH and I experienced! I did meet some very nice, intriguing and interesting people on this sailing and I have some bizarre stories to share when the time comes.

 

Day 2's review will bring:

 

CC Meet & Mingle

Breakfast at the Windjammer

Move it, Move it parade

Pool - H20 Zone

Boardwalk festival & fun

Dreamworks character pictures

Embarrassing stroll through central park

Dinner at 150 central park

Missed our Chicago show

Casino Losses

 

Stay tuned.....

[VegasChic]

Great start. I will be reading this with interest as we are considering going on this ship next year.

We have just got back from our first cruise, which was on the Epic, it will be interesting to see how the two compare.

 

Thank you, the Allure is an amazing ship, what did you think of the Epic?

[BekkaW]

Great review so far :) what a lovely family

[#55worktoplay]

Really enjoying this review. Your daughter is not only beautiful you are as well. Keep going, can't wait for more.

[A&L_Ont]

Loving your review.

[maureencruiser]

I travel solo mainly, although I would love to sail the Allure, don't see me having a $$$$$ better time on the Allure.

 

I see you have sailed RC before. Did you join the C&A program? The Tuesday sale has for 2 months now been offering Oasis/Allure for only a 10% solo supplement on select sailings. I got to go on Allure for my birthday for $711 OV Balcony. :D:D

[tiffygirl]

I see you have sailed RC before. Did you join the C&A program? The Tuesday sale has for 2 months now been offering Oasis/Allure for only a 10% solo supplement on select sailings. I got to go on Allure for my birthday for $711 OV Balcony. :D:D

 

That is a good price...im mean an awesome price. Normally with those sells you have to be willing to travel last minute right? Or were you able to book several months out?