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Trip report for the ship I didn’t think I wanted to be on – photos included

mslaabs

By mslaabs,
in Royal Caribbean International

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mslaabs

mslaabs

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Subscribing as we'll be on the Allure next spring...so love reading trip reports in the meantime. Hopefully the cruise was more positive in the end than your report heading. ;)

 

you'll have to read to the end to find out :)

 

Sheila

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mslaabs

mslaabs

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The afternoon we spent some time exploring the ship and some time up on deck 12, starboard side, all the way back on the “secret balcony” that by now should be well known among cruise critic members. We found deck 14 to have mostly shade due to the overhang above. Deck 12 had less of an overhang and had both sun and shade. This made it nice for our group because half like sun and half like shade. Not that any of this is going to matter if you plan to be on board after the Allure goes into dry dock. We learned that in dry dock the balconies on 12 and 14 will become loft suites. Too bad because we spent a lot of time in this area and really enjoyed it. Most of the time we were the only ones there, which I realize is why Royal is making better use of the space.

 

From the deck 12 balcony we watched the sexiest man contest. In my opinion the activities director had the best “strut your stuff” walk. When it came to the elimination round the crowd actually booed the judges when they eliminated the crowd favorite.

 

During our exploring we stopped by a shop on deck 15, across from the arcade, that had t-shirts for $10. I asked if it was a one day sale and the clerk told me they would be $10 all week. These were the same t-shirts that were being sold at the $10 t-shirt sale on the promenade that looks more like a black Friday sale at Walmart. I think there was a couple more designs at the promenade sale, that the deck 15 store didn’t have but if you see one you like at the store you can save yourself some scratches and crushed toes by buying it there.

 

We stopped by guest relations and picked up a listing of all the small wonders. By the end of the cruise we had found them all except one – deck 16 port/forward. We visited the area twice and never found it. Not sure if this was a typo or if it was hidden really well.

 

Lunch was at the Park Café. Since my stomach’s capacity had increased, I had a salad along with the roast beef sandwich and chips. On the Oasis I discovered the chips at the end of the cruise. This time I was aware of them and chowed down on them all week. I saw Doritos, plain, and salt & vinegar. There was at least one more flavor but I can’t remember what it was. The Park Café also has Paninis, wraps, and quesadillas. I tried to get the veggie quesadilla without guacamole, but I was told they were pre-made so I had to take it as is. At that point I opted for the roast beef sandwich.

 

Secret Balcony on deck 12 starboard

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View of the boardwalk from the balcony

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View of the port side back balconies. For whatever reason, I don’t have one of the starboard side ones even though that is where we spent our time.

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Sexiest Man contest

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Small Wonders viewer

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mslaabs

mslaabs

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Park Café

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There’s still more to come for the first sea day, but I am still getting caught up on laundry so I’ll get more photos posted tomorrow. I don’t think I mentioned it before, but our cruise was March 8-15 (in case you didn’t see it in my signature). We did the Western side – Labadee, Falmouth, and Cozumel.

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mauimary

mauimary

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Sheila...we are enjoying reading your review and seeing your photos. Makes me want to book another Oasis class cruise. Bummer the secret balcony is going away as we have read so much about it on CC. Will look forward to seeing and hearing more of your review. Thankyou for taking the time to put this together.

:)

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mslaabs

mslaabs

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After lunch we walked through Central Park. Later in the cruise we took the Central Park tour with the Landscape Specialist so I’ll get more detailed on Central Park when I get to that day. We also wandered around the boardwalk and yes, we rode the merry-go-round.

 

After a few hours of sitting on balconies and walking around the ship I decided I needed more to eat. I read about the hot dog stand on the boardwalk, so that was on my list of things not to miss. I got the “Big Apple” which turned out to be a big mess. I thought the peppers and mustard would be a good addition to the chicken hot dog on a cheese baguette. However, they were not a good addition to my shorts. The food that managed to stay in the roll was good and had I brought a bib I would have had more throughout the cruise. My mom played it safe with the traditional hot dog and had no mess factor to deal with. According to her, the hot dog was good but the potato salad she got with it was not.

 

That night was the Captain’s Welcome Aboard celebration. In the past this has usually been the first place I get a glimpse of the Captain, but by this time I had already seen him so getting a good viewing place was not high on my priority list. My feet were ready to go on strike so we found a place at Sorrento’s to sit and watch the speech. If you are looking to get the Kodak moment view, this is probably not the place to sit (as you will see from the photos). I could see the Captain with no problem, but when he introduced the senior staff they were more difficult to see. Look for the big globe above the Pub, a bridge expands out and that’s where all the action takes place for this event. Our seat was at the end of the bridge, on ground level. After his introduction of the staff, he surprised us by playing the trumpet with the band.

 

Our after dinner show was Chicago. I ate so much during the day that I busted my theater seat when I sat down. The plastic bottom covering fell off, but the seat was still useable. Maybe I should have skipped the hot dog stand. I’m not the best person to give an opinion on the night time shows. I usually skip them because within 10min of the lights going out I’m so exhausted from the day’s activities that I fall asleep. This show was no different; I left about 15min into it after I nodded off. I try not to be one of those people who disrupt the entire row in the middle of the show. I purposely sat in an aisle seat towards the back so that I could sneak out without too much disruption if I needed to. Everyone else in my group stayed and came out with mixed reviews. My dad just made a “not impressed” face when I asked how it was. My mom liked it and my husband said it was ok, but did not live up to the hype.

 

Central Park

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Washing the windows

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Central Park has umbrellas in case it rains

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FishOn55

FishOn55

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Another thank you for taking time to post your review. We are sailing Allure on Sunday and are really looking forward to it.

 

Two questions....one of your first pictures showed your first glimpse of the Allure which looked like the ship was docked adjacent to a parking lot. Is the parking for Allure at the pier in a multi-level parking garage or a single level parking lot outside?

 

Also, another cruiser mentioned a wonderful Journey tribute band named Resurrection on their western caribbean cruise. Was this band on your sailing was well? If so, do you know how long they will be onboard?

 

Looking forward to your reply.

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mslaabs

mslaabs

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Another thank you for taking time to post your review. We are sailing Allure on Sunday and are really looking forward to it.

 

Two questions....one of your first pictures showed your first glimpse of the Allure which looked like the ship was docked adjacent to a parking lot. Is the parking for Allure at the pier in a multi-level parking garage or a single level parking lot outside?

 

Also, another cruiser mentioned a wonderful Journey tribute band named Resurrection on their western caribbean cruise. Was this band on your sailing was well? If so, do you know how long they will be onboard?

 

Looking forward to your reply.

 

We took the hotel shuttle to the ship so I wasn't really paying much attention to parking, but I did see a parking garage near by. I can't say for sure if it was for the Allure or not. As for the Journey band, yes they were on our cruise and were really good. It was one show I was able to stay awake through. Sorry, I do not know how long they will be there. In the first glimpse photo you will notice the Allure backed in, this is not its typical docking in Ft. Lauderdale. It normally pulls in and backs out when leaving. Not that it makes any difference, just thought I would point that out. Have a great cruise!

 

One more note, you will have a different Captain. Captain Johnny went on vacation as we got off on 3/15.

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WranglerMan

WranglerMan

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After lunch we walked through Central Park. Later in the cruise we took the Central Park tour with the Landscape Specialist so I’ll get more detailed on Central Park when I get to that day. We also wandered around the boardwalk and yes, we rode the merry-go-round.

 

After a few hours of sitting on balconies and walking around the ship I decided I needed more to eat. I read about the hot dog stand on the boardwalk, so that was on my list of things not to miss. I got the “Big Apple” which turned out to be a big mess. I thought the peppers and mustard would be a good addition to the chicken hot dog on a cheese baguette. However, they were not a good addition to my shorts. The food that managed to stay in the roll was good and had I brought a bib I would have had more throughout the cruise. My mom played it safe with the traditional hot dog and had no mess factor to deal with. According to her, the hot dog was good but the potato salad she got with it was not.

 

Not sure if my DW mentioned the Ice Cream parlor across from the hot dog stand, but I found it and decided to go that route instead of the messy hot dogs. :D I ended up with a quite large waffle cone filled with 3 scoops of ice cream though I only asked for 2 scoops! LOL.

 

Michael (Sheila's Husband)

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FishOn55

FishOn55

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We took the hotel shuttle to the ship so I wasn't really paying much attention to parking, but I did see a parking garage near by. I can't say for sure if it was for the Allure or not. As for the Journey band, yes they were on our cruise and were really good. It was one show I was able to stay awake through. Sorry, I do not know how long they will be there. In the first glimpse photo you will notice the Allure backed in, this is not its typical docking in Ft. Lauderdale. It normally pulls in and backs out when leaving. Not that it makes any difference, just thought I would point that out. Have a great cruise!

 

One more note, you will have a different Captain. Captain Johnny went on vacation as we got off on 3/15.

 

Thanks so much for your reply.

 

Hoping Resurrection will still on board.

 

Sorry to hear about Captain Johnny. We have never sailed with him and had heard such wonderful things about him.

 

I'll catch up with the rest of your thread when we get home next weekend.

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