Keep Allure or switch to Getaway $$

[nrain02]

I will also be posting this on the RCI board.

Our family is considering switching our Allure cruise to NCL Getaway. There will be three of us sailing DH (30) Me (30) DS (11). We have been excited about the Allure and all it has to offer and KNOW we will have a fantastic time. However, the Getaway will be about $1100 cheaper. Our previous cruises have been with Carnival on the Splendor and Inspiration, so we understand both of these will be a step up from what we have have experienced in the past. I am wondering would the $1100 price difference sway you to the NCL GA or would you stay with the Allure? Which has more family activities, compare kids clubs and food/service? Does one have more kid friendly shows than the other (comedy/magic, etc)? My son likes to stay active at all times and is not impressed with kid's clubs that aren't active outside of the "playroom" area.

 

Thanks for all your help! :)

[Trvlr37]

It all depends upon if $1100 is a lot of money to you? It is to me! We've been on a bunch of cruises and never had a bad one yet. Both lines have pros and cons. Both have kids programs. NCL has a lot of slides and a rope course and a plank. RCCL has the flowrider, ice skating rink, and rock climbing wall. NCL has freestyle dining where you go to a restaurant of your choice when you please and do not have to get dressed formally unless you want to. RCCL has assigned dining or not. They both have fantastic entertainment and I would say food is nearly the same. It is all up to you and I truly feel that attitude is 90% of your trip. We have also enjoyed Carnival cruises - we've been on RCCL Oasis and loved it, but then we also sailed Carnival Inspiration and loved that, too. I personally would save the $$ and use it to book another cruise! But we live to cruise...Also, the Getaway has fireworks!

Edited July 2, 2014 by Trvlr37

[Trvlr37]

P.S. I like the food best on Carnival (I love the Deli, 24 hour pizza and 24 hour ice cream). Service is best on RCCL. NCL is best for Freestyle (not having to be anywhere at any given time or eat at an assigned restaurant). Just my opinion...

[Love my butler]

You will get the experience you pay for. Stick with the Allure for a great cruise.

[Medtech2]

I will also be posting this on the RCI board.

Our family is considering switching our Allure cruise to NCL Getaway. There will be three of us sailing DH (30) Me (30) DS (11). We have been excited about the Allure and all it has to offer and KNOW we will have a fantastic time. However, the Getaway will be about $1100 cheaper. Our previous cruises have been with Carnival on the Splendor and Inspiration, so we understand both of these will be a step up from what we have have experienced in the past. I am wondering would the $1100 price difference sway you to the NCL GA or would you stay with the Allure? Which has more family activities, compare kids clubs and food/service? Does one have more kid friendly shows than the other (comedy/magic, etc)? My son likes to stay active at all times and is not impressed with kid's clubs that aren't active outside of the "playroom" area.

 

Thanks for all your help! :)

I personally book specific ships so do not cost compare between cruiselines. However, since it appears that you are open to different lines I would book the Getaway and use that extra money to splurge on fun, active excursions. Let your son pick one he would most like to do.

 

There is plenty on board that you all will enjoy.

[punkincc]

I agree. I would bank the $1100 and go with the Getaway which has a ton of things to do. 3 slides, Rock climbing, ropes course with zip line and "the plank", spiderweb, mini golf, arcades, small pin bowling. The Illusionarium dinner show, worth every penny, for both adults and kids. Legally Blonde broadway show, Burn the Floor dance show, very fast paced and even kids like it, the Ice Bar, Howl at the Moon dueling pianos with sing along ( the kids love it too, just go fairly early ), a comedy venue, a jazz/blues Grammy venue with some world class headliners, and lots of live music scattered about the ship, a fireworks show. Open air deck parties like the Neon, or whatever they call it now, ( bring some of those neon necklaces, glasses, etc ), or other themed parties in Spice, which is adults only by day, but kids welcome in the early evening hours. Lots of games shows in the big atrium. Wii games using the huge 2 story screen in the atrium, tastings, etc, etc, etc. More than enough to keep kids busy for 3 sea days and plenty to fill the evenings as well.

[JasonV1]

I did this for my upcoming Getaway cruise. I spent 10% more, but moved from a Allure boardwalk balcony to a Haven courtyard suite with free unlimited drinks and specialty dining packages. Now the Haven courtyard suites aren't as big as Royal JR suites, but the Haven perks are better.

 

Personally I think that I'll come away feeling that Oasis class boats are better, but I know that I'll have a good time. I prefer Royal boats for the Solarium, and really don't like NCL for making you pay for their "Vibe" beach club which only has a hot tub. I'll have the Haven courtyard though so this wasn't as big of a sticking point for this cruise.

 

I also don't like that NCL uses 13-17 as the age range for their teen kids program (daughter is 14), although we can deal with this for one cruise.

 

Regardless, I look forward to sailing on the Getaway and am sure that my family will have a good time.

Edited July 2, 2014 by JasonV1

[ee1999]

P.S. I like the food best on Carnival (I love the Deli, 24 hour pizza and 24 hour ice cream). Service is best on RCCL. NCL is best for Freestyle (not having to be anywhere at any given time or eat at an assigned restaurant). Just my opinion...

 

I agree with everything stated here. I know it sounds crazy, but I love the food on Carnival compared to NCL or RCCL for the buffets and main dining rooms. We went on Allure twice last summer and just got off Getaway 10 days ago.

 

We're want to take our 2 goddaughters on a cruise (age 9 and 10) and we'll go on Allure or Oasis. The food options all day and night long are more plentiful on Allure. The pizza on Allure is easy to get any time of the day on Getaway it was a 45 minute wait and $5 charge for room service., other than that you have to go to the buffet when it's open.

 

The specialty dining on Allure imo is much higher quality in taste and service. It is my belief that NCL in giving away so many UDPs as promotions has also stressed the abilities of these dining venues in quality and service.

 

You can dine whenever you want on RCCL through my time dining. I know they copied freestyle, but what do I care.

 

Read any review about the pool areas on Getaway, it is a madhouse. With 4 main pools on Allure we never had an issue getting a chair close to one of the pools. The slides and Ropes course on Getaway are awesome. The flow rider on Allure always draws a crowd and is a blast. Allure has a very cool zipline.

 

Allure does a ton of stuff around the dreamworks characters, to include a huge parade through the promenade. We saw The Croods the weekend it opened in their theater in 3D. They showed 3-4 movies each week in the theater on Allure. On Getaway they show the movies in the Atrium, just not the same experience as being in a theater. NCL has Nickelodeon with Dora and Spongebob. Just my opinion, but I believe an 11 y/o boy would want to see Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon more than the Nick characters.

 

The entertainment on Allure blows away the entertainment on Getaway. I don't see an 11 y/o liking the production shows on either ship. Sorry, but the Burn the Floor show was hard for me to take for more than 15 minutes. Allure has many shows just geared towards children and families.

 

If money is an issue you would have a great time on Getaway. If it's not an issue I would consider it $1100 well spent to go on Allure.

 

If you have any specific questions about either ship I would be happy to weigh in.

[JasonV1]

Very good set of observations.

 

I forgot to write about Oasis class pools as well, 4 of them all different (zero entry, fresh vs salt water, etc). While I stayed in the Solarium, I was always amazed and how you could actually use the pools.

 

Plus Oasis class boats never really feel crowded. As I've said before even when leaving the theater you have 2 massive elevator banks OR the ability to go up 1 deck to the promenade or down 1 into the casino. This really helps disperse the crowds after a show. You really have to sail one of them to see how a big boat can really work. The check-in process alone should be enough to convince people that Royal knows how to make things work with that many guests.

 

Granted Oasis class boats are bigger, and don't have waterslides/planks/rope courses, but they do have the zip line and flowriders, so it is really just a different set of options.

 

It will be interesting to see what NCL has in plans for their next class of ships (assuming the post from earlier today actually comes true).

 

I agree with everything stated here. I know it sounds crazy, but I love the food on Carnival compared to NCL or RCCL for the buffets and main dining rooms. We went on Allure twice last summer and just got off Getaway 10 days ago.

 

We're want to take our 2 goddaughters on a cruise (age 9 and 10) and we'll go on Allure or Oasis. The food options all day and night long are more plentiful on Allure. The pizza on Allure is easy to get any time of the day on Getaway it was a 45 minute wait and $5 charge for room service., other than that you have to go to the buffet when it's open.

 

The specialty dining on Allure imo is much higher quality in taste and service. It is my belief that NCL in giving away so many UDPs as promotions has also stressed the abilities of these dining venues in quality and service.

 

You can dine whenever you want on RCCL through my time dining. I know they copied freestyle, but what do I care.

 

Read any review about the pool areas on Getaway, it is a madhouse. With 4 main pools on Allure we never had an issue getting a chair close to one of the pools. The slides and Ropes course on Getaway are awesome. The flow rider on Allure always draws a crowd and is a blast. Allure has a very cool zipline.

 

Allure does a ton of stuff around the dreamworks characters, to include a huge parade through the promenade. We saw The Croods the weekend it opened in their theater in 3D. They showed 3-4 movies each week in the theater on Allure. On Getaway they show the movies in the Atrium, just not the same experience as being in a theater. NCL has Nickelodeon with Dora and Spongebob. Just my opinion, but I believe an 11 y/o boy would want to see Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon more than the Nick characters.

 

The entertainment on Allure blows away the entertainment on Getaway. I don't see an 11 y/o liking the production shows on either ship. Sorry, but the Burn the Floor show was hard for me to take for more than 15 minutes. Allure has many shows just geared towards children and families.

 

If money is an issue you would have a great time on Getaway. If it's not an issue I would consider it $1100 well spent to go on Allure.

 

If you have any specific questions about either ship I would be happy to weigh in.

[Nolefan95]

I have been on 7 RCCL cruises including Oasis and Allure. Just got off my first NCL cruise on the Getaway. My daughter is 9. We love Royal but after my first cruise on the NCL Getaway I have to say that there was much more for my daughter to enjoy on the Getaway than on either the Oasis or Allure. We like to stay active and the Getaway beats the Oasis/Allure in this area in my opinion. See my review here - http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2064310.

 

Don't get me wrong, there is nothing like the Oasis/Allure but we had more fun as a family on the Getaway (which I didn't think was possible).

[Jenjer]

We have sailed both with kids DD 11 on allure 12 on Getaway DS 9 on Allure and 10 on Getaway. So I asked them and they both said Getaway was more fun. They loved the ropes course and did it daily. The water slides were another hot spot for them.

 

My DD said she thought she would miss the flowrider but really didn't too many slides to use.

 

Now for food we had the UDP $119 for adults. Kids 12 and under are 1/2 off in specialty dinning. So our dinners were amazing and delicious. They loved Le Bistro the most and with the plan we got Illususionarium for free on the first night (had to pay for kids) They still talk about that show a month later.

 

I missed central park myself but they could have cared less

 

My kids enjoyed Burn the floor so much they went to anything the dancers did. Legally blond was better than expected IMO and the comedy was very funny. Howl at the moon was a surprise but they played some stuff my kids knew and that was fun too.

 

They did not do kids club because there was just so much other stuff to do.

 

We did not really use the pools on Getaway they are smaller than Allure.

 

I am glad we have done both ships and our next cruise is Quantum so we go back and forth between NCL and RCCL.

[graphicguy]

Getaway over Allure? Getaway is newer. and has had great reviews

 

Save $1,100 in the process? That's a no brainer.......Getaway, hands down.