Adventures on the Allure, Teen family! 2/8/15, Western Caribbean, LOTS of Pictures!

[ShellDil]

Loving your review. You write really well, and have a beautiful family.

You have great pictures and the ones that the ship took when you boarded are precious memory ones too.

 

One question...did you feel rushed for your 6pm dinner? I'm trying to figure out how much time to leave for the sail away party before dinner.

 

Can't wait to hear more.

 

6:00 dinner was a bit of a rush. Although, sail away was pretty crowded, so we didn't mind too much because there wasn't really a great place for us to hang out. But it was also the best time for us to eat that night. I'd say if you don't have anyplace to be later, shoot for closer to 6:30 if you can!

[Susie51]

Looking forward to more of your great pictures and review.

[Hardrocknerd]

Subscribing to this thread, and I have to say that I adore your daughter.

She reminds me so much of a childhood friend of mine (when we were that age). Same face and same hair! :D I smile everytime I see your pictures.

[LuCruise]

6:00 dinner was a bit of a rush. Although, sail away was pretty crowded, so we didn't mind too much because there wasn't really a great place for us to hang out. But it was also the best time for us to eat that night. I'd say if you don't have anyplace to be later, shoot for closer to 6:30 if you can!

 

 

 

Thanks for getting back to me and the advice.

[soccerdad72]

Cool! I think the Allure in the Western Med is a very similar itinerary that we had on the Epic. That trip will forever be my trip of a lifetime, I'm sure of it! :D

 

I think it's nearly the exact same itinerary! I've been reading the whole thing - taking notes along the way. :D

 

Like your Europe trip, we're going with my parents (as well as my MIL), so it definitely should be the trip of a lifetime, you're right. :)

[ch27088]

Subscribed to this review. Thanks for the great review, and I just loved the "nail crisis". I think each family that has a teen-age daughter go through that, or some other form of beauty crisis, right? Thanks for taking us along on your vacation!!

[sg1phileshipper]

Thank you! The camera....well, I mentioned I'm a photo nut right? So, I do invest a bit into my photography and it's slightly more than a hobby. I even have an Esty shop where I try a bit to sell some of my landscape shots! So, before we went to Europe I really took a plunge, although not as big a plunge as some, and invested in a GOOD camera and got a Nikon D7000. That's the camera I use pretty much anytime I don't mind lugging around a DSLR! But you'll also see some camera phone shots - I have a Galaxy S5, which I'm really happy with as far as the pictures, and for this trip I got an Olympus TG3 for the underwater/waterproof aspect since we were going to three ports where we'd be in or around a lot of water!

 

Thanks for letting me know. Funny thing is, I was looking into the Nikon D5000 :)

 

Cindy

[cymru cruiser]

I can't wait to read more!

I'm keeping our epic cruise for next year secret and its really hard. I've nearly blurted it out a few times.

Thinking of a B2B Epic and Harmony, so now reading everything allure and oasis.

[Melozone]

Great report Shelley!

 

You have the eye and the talent to take all those pictures. The camera just adds to your artistic gift! If you didn't have the talent it wouldn't matter what your camera was.

[ShellDil]

Thanks for letting me know. Funny thing is, I was looking into the Nikon D5000 :)

 

Cindy

 

I love my Nikon! I don't think I would switch to another brand for a DSLR going forward.....it has been the most responsive camera I've owned to date. :D

[ShellDil]

I can't wait to read more!

I'm keeping our epic cruise for next year secret and its really hard. I've nearly blurted it out a few times.

Thinking of a B2B Epic and Harmony, so now reading everything allure and oasis.

 

The secret is sooooo difficult, but also so much fun! Oh, the Harmony! Now that's on my future list too! B2B with the Epic would be great!

[ShellDil]

Subscribing to this thread, and I have to say that I adore your daughter.

She reminds me so much of a childhood friend of mine (when we were that age). Same face and same hair! :D I smile everytime I see your pictures.

 

Oh, that's pretty cool!! I'll have to tell her that, she'll get a kick out of it!

[ShellDil]

Great report Shelley!

 

You have the eye and the talent to take all those pictures. The camera just adds to your artistic gift! If you didn't have the talent it wouldn't matter what your camera was.

 

Awwww...thanks! I love taking pictures, so that means a lot! Drives my family crazy. But I think they've finally gotten used to always having to wait for me to take "just a few more"! Gotta get that last shot! :rolleyes:

[ShellDil]

Ok....we're finally sailing! And we're getting ready for dinner. It was asked if I thought dinner at 6 felt rushed. Well, a little bit about our dining plans for the week. Yup, you've seen the Allure spreadsheets right? If you've read other reviews of the Allure or the Oasis, I'm sure you've seen them. Well - I had one too! It's crazy....a spreadsheet for your vacation? Back in November when the shows, or maybe it was the dining opened up to book, I really didn't think much of it. And remember, I'm a planner! I thought, sure, I'll book the dining before we go, but we'll figure it all out.

 

Well, then I started reading some reviews. And I realized how the Entertainment on the Allure worked. How the shows may only happen once or twice during the cruise. And then, what about the teen club? How do I fit in dining if the kids want to dash out for activities at night? Usually when we cruise, Megan has been in the "kid" club and really doesn't participate. Alex on the other had leaves us after dinner and we don't see him until teen curfew.

 

So - yup, the color coded, blocks for every hour at night spreadsheet was a part of our life!

 

We knew we wanted to eat at most of the specialty restaurants and I knew Megan wanted to see a lot of the shows, and Alex would like some of them. Talk about fitting puzzle pieces together!

 

That left Chops, at 6:00 on sail away day! This was to get them to the Teen Meet and Greet by 8:00 and also be back to see Ocean Aria for the 10:45 show.

 

So we had our first venture out to Central Park at night! Amazing! Simply amazing that this was smack in the middle of the ship!

 

 

 

 

There was usually music up here at night, even sometimes special concerts

 

 

And as much as I love pictures, I have not one single picture of our meal or of the inside of Chops. It had been a long day! But, we all enjoyed our meal. We had no complaints and we left very, very satisfied!

 

We had a bit of time before the kids had to be at the teen club, so we stopped by the library for some reason - and for no other reason than to show you that - hey, here's the library - here's Megan in the library!

 

 

 

The kids left, and Keith and I walked down to The Boardwalk. Again - amazing that this is right here on a SHIP! A super fun environment here....

 

 

 

[ShellDil]

Some more of the Boardwalk at night....

 

 

 

And then I walked with Keith back to the elevators. He wasn't going to make it for the 10:45 Ocean Aria show. He's not one who's into shows...He'd usually rather relax in the cabin. These are the often photographed Swarovski Crystal dresses in the elevator atrium area.

 

 

And then...back to the Ocean Aria theater to wait to meet up with the kids. Get there early! It fills up quickly! Also, it's recommended to make your reservations for the first show of the cruise, or one of the first shows. If it's windy they will cancel the show. So you may not get a chance to see it if you wait and the show you book ends up cancelled! So...I waited, and waited....the kids were apparently playing dodge ball...and I waited. I finally went in when they opened the theater up to standby because I didn't want to loose a chance to see it, and we did make a reservation, but by now, the only seats left were the benches in the front. In the splash zone. Thanks kids! They kids arrived just before the show started, and just as the "clowns" before the show tossed a cup of water right in my direction...in my face. Fun start to the show! Thanks again kids!

 

 

 

 

 

It was a great show. The three of us really enjoyed it. I highly recommend it to anyone sailing on the Allure - I'm not sure who wouldn't find something about it to like at least a little bit!

 

So, our first day was pretty much done. What a day! It was time to head back to our cabins. Tomorrow would be our first sea day on the Allure!

 

 

 

[sg1phileshipper]

I love my Nikon! I don't think I would switch to another brand for a DSLR going forward.....it has been the most responsive camera I've owned to date. :D

 

That's what I want to hear. My small pocket Nikon on the other hand..... Don't get me started. You restored my faith in the brand :D.

And the review is getting better and better, if even possible, and the pics are just wow!

 

Cindy

Edited March 13, 2015 by sg1phileshipper

[LuCruise]

Great first day and pictures. I agree..it's strange having to plan and create a spreadsheet isn't it? But one thing I find with the Allure is that the shows seem amazing. I mean, a real Broadway musical. Very cool.

 

I've heard too that you should book Ocean Aria on one of the first nights, but if I'm not mistaken, isn't it only shown on nights 1, 2 and 3?

 

Thanks for the great pictures. Seems like a great first day!

[Familygoboston]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This, Exactly! Don't imagine that I would be off the hook for this kind of fortress building in a hotel room, because I travel with two girls! Oh, no, mine do the EXACT same thing, despite being nearly inseparable anywhere else! :rolleyes: I had to LOL when I saw this!

 

Thanks for the photos and review! You've inspired me to add my Allure photos to my blog, and while going through them today, I had so many great memories of being on Allure with our girls! So glad you had a great trip with your family!!:D

Edited March 14, 2015 by Familygoboston

[ShellDil]

It was a great night sleep, and as I always seem to do on vacation, especially on a cruise, I wake up bright and early! I guess part of it is that I usually crack the curtains a bit the night before. I love waking up to the sunshine (hopefully!) on the sea. But more than that, I love starting the day on vacation! It's not so much that I have to be busy, but I'm also not one to spend my vacation sleeping in a ship cabin or hotel room. If I wanted to just sleep, I could do that at home.

 

So, first up for today, I knew I wanted to to the Central Park Walking Tour. I wasn't sure if anyone was going to join me since it started at 9:30 am, but I was going! Keith decided to come along, and I decided to wake the kids up so at least they could start getting up for the day.

 

 

They told us to go ahead and get breakfast and maybe they'd meet up with us for the tour. I really didn't think we'd see them again until at least lunch. They seemed pretty out of it!

 

Keith and I went to the Windjammer for breakfast and much like lunch the day before, we really weren't impressed. Again, nothing really bad, but just not really good either. Much of the food wasn't really hot and I do like an omelet for breakfast. Keith likes salmon and capers, and unlike almost every other buffet we've been to, none of that was available. So, we decided to try other food venues going forward. No problem - plenty of choices!

 

We got to Central Park a few minutes early and waited for our tour.

 

 

 

Our tour started and was really quite interesting. I'm not 100% sure on the title of the crew member who gave it, but he is up there on the horticulture staff. He was involved directly in creating the Central Park on the Oasis and was part of it's development and installation and then of course on the Allure as well. He really overseas both Central Parks and everything about them. Everything that goes into maintaining the live plants in the ecosystem on a ship was fascinating!

 

This Living Wall was one of the most ambitious features on the ship - and how they maintain that was pretty interesting as well.

 

 

 

At some point during the tour, the kids actually popped by! I was shocked. They had gone and had breakfast, were totally dressed for the day and everything! They were heading up to go play shuffleboard I think. We told them we'd meet them for the Move It! Move It! Parade....and back to the tour we went!

 

These birds are really pretty, and adding to the bird theme, during the day you actually hear bird sounds. At night, crickets. You really feel like you're in a true park.

 

 

Speaking of birds, we were told they have had several stow away birds over the years as well. Especially during major storms. The birds will come and live in the trees or the living wall for a few weeks. They just hitch a ride and then off they go.

 

 

 

[ShellDil]

There are also several sculptures in the Park

 

 

This is right, smack center of the ship. The guide said if you ever feel a bit sea sick, which by the way is pretty unlikely on a ship built like this - go stand right on this disc. It should help being right in the center!

 

 

 

Not only did he tell us about the Central Park, but being in the position on the crew he was, and I believe he said he had an engineering background, but I may be wrong.... He told us quite a bit of details about the design of the ship itself and also a bit of the pretty cool safety features that help to make the Allure one of the safest ships sailing!

 

This is the horticulture headquarters - the computer system for the watering system is here and so are the tools

 

 

And this little known device on top of the ship? It's actually a crane! Should one of the trees in the Central Park have to ever be replaced - since they can't be replaced as seedlings because it would be aesthetically incorrect, a full size tree could be lowered into the Park with this crane while the ship was docked. This was added just for the Central Park on both the Oasis and Allure. Neither have ever been used.

 

 

The tour was really very interesting and so much more than a tour about plants! I really recommend it!

 

[mtns2sea]

Great pics! It feels like I am there already. Was there a charge for the tour, or do you just show up?

 

Thanks.

[LuCruise]

Wow...amazing pictures!

[ShellDil]

Great pics! It feels like I am there already. Was there a charge for the tour, or do you just show up?

 

Thanks.

 

Thank you! The Central Park tour is a free tour. I believe it's offered a couple of times during the week, so you can check the Cruise Compass. This one was at 9:30 am the first sea day. You just show up. I think there were probably 15 people or so in our group. Maybe more.

[ShellDil]

Wow...amazing pictures!

 

Thank you!

[z4ltw]

I noticed you signed up for the cupcake class. Was it the adult version?

Any feedback you'd like to share? Thanks!!!