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

[mslaabs]

Tonight was the welcome back top tier event for platinum and higher members. This was held in the Amber theater, not the best venue for a free drink event. Waiters have to try to make their way down rows of seated guests without stepping on toes or spilling drinks. After drinks were served, the cast of Chicago performed a few songs for us. The Hotel director and captain said a few words and then they presented champagne to people who had been on a thousand cruises or whatever it takes to reach pinnacle level. From there we went to dinner.

 

I guess now would be a good time to talk about the dining room. A few changes since our previous cruise on royal. The menu has a few more paid options like lobster and a premium steak. There are no more singing waiters and napkin twirling shows. This I actual think is nice. On the show nights, dinner always seemed rushed and we felt obligated to stay even if we finished before the singing started so no napkin twirling was ok with us. A more annoying thing we ran into was the ship photographers coming by EVERY night (except the last two) to snap pictures while we are having a conversation and trying to enjoy dinner. It got to the point that we just started doing silly pictures and I noticed we were not the only ones. The table next to us, one man started wearing his napkin on his head and then across his face like a bank robber.

 

After dinner we went to the 70s party on the promenade. We stood between the back of the car and the Rising Tide bar. This turned out to be a good place to view most of the event from. When it came to the Village People segment we found that the dancers typically faced away from us, giving us a backside view. I’ll let you decide if that’s a negative or not. Flashy rings were tossed by the cruise director and dancers from the bridge area, not many of them made it to our location so if you want to increase your chances of getting one these you would be better off standing in front of the car. Towards the end of the show the Panda Bear dances on the Rising Tide bar and he was a little difficult to see when the bar was raised, since we were practically underneath it.

 

From the 70s party we went to the headliner show which was Resurrection, a Journey tribute band. I like Journey’s music and thought they did a good job of imitating it. However I have never been to a Journey concert nor have I watched concerts on tv so I can’t say how well they imitated the stage show. The few shows I did go to on this cruise never seem to be sold out, but this one was packed and even had people standing along the back wall. Since you don’t always know who the headliner is going to be prior to getting on board, it would be a good idea to make reservations ahead of time for the headliner show just in case. I don’t totally agree with this advanced reservation system the Oasis class ships have, but on this second time around I did find it easier to plan what to make them for and when. On the Oasis we found out the hard way that if you skip a show you had reservations for, the system does not allow you to make another reservation for the same show later in the week. I don’t know if that policy has changed or not since we didn’t skip anything this time, but thought I would mention it just so first time Oasis/Allure cruises are aware.

 

After the show we played some shuffle board – located on the boardwalk behind the Aqua Theater. Then headed off to bed.

 

Chicago cast performing at top tier event

 

Dining room photographer getting ready to take our picture so I took his. Then he made us pose for another one :rolleyes:

 

70’s party

 

[mslaabs]

70s party

 

 

Headliner

 

Shuffleboard

[Alter Ego]

Enjoying your review. I haven't been reading many lately as I read quite a few prior to my Oasis trip and I don't intend on going on again in the foreseeable future. Happy I looked at yours.

[mslaabs]

Enjoying your review. I haven't been reading many lately as I read quite a few prior to my Oasis trip and I don't intend on going on again in the foreseeable future. Happy I looked at yours.

 

Thanks for reading along :)

[mslaabs]

Today’s breakfast was at the Park Café. I apparently did not make any record of this visit; I only have a picture of my tea cup sitting on the table. So from memory, I know they had bagels, oatmeal and breakfast panini’s. On the agenda for today was the Central Park tour, sleeping, Ice show, formal night, and Quest.

 

I wanted to take the Central Park tour mainly because that’s one of the things I didn’t know about when I was on the Oasis. I wasn’t interested in learning about plants, but I didn’t want to miss out on anything this time. This turned out to be a very good decision and I really enjoyed the tour. It’s not all about botany; it’s about how the park came about, how it was built, and some other ship tidbits. Thomas Brownlee, the Landscape Specialist led the tour and was one of the people who helped design the park on the Oasis class ships. He told about the battles with the Agricultural department, the challenges they have following land based regulations, and the challenges they had installing Central Park on the Oasis. Here are just a few things that we learned.

 

Start of the tour, meets in front of Coach store

 

The park has its own tool shed

 

Each flower bed is made up of individual planters, all numbered and each planter can only fit in its designated spot.

 

Lizards and frogs live in Central Park and are purposely on board. We saw one of the lizards, but not while we were on the tour.

 

The rocket launcher thing on the top of the Allure is actually a crane for the trees in Central Park in case they need to replace one.

[mslaabs]

The living wall is 10 feet deep and each plant has to be hand carried up a ladder in the back. No Elevator.

 

They are redesigning the living wall that will be on the Harmony. It will be thin and plants can be loaded from the front side. There’s a “test wall” on the Allure that they are putting through extreme conditions to test the plant hardiness. The white lights on the right are actually heat lamps.

 

There are several fire dampers located throughout Central Park and on the Boardwalk. Those green pillars with pretty pictures, the big cup outside the hot dog stand, and the big cherry at the ice cream parlor.

 

 

[Paulette3028]

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.

 

 

 

Who was the Activity Manager on board with you?

[mtns2sea]

The sun was on the uncovered part late in in the afternoon. The cabanas acrossed from us (1-4) looked like they had sun most of the day. The cooler of water was included. We didn't drink it all and took 2 bottles back on the ship with us, no trouble getting it on.

 

Sheila

 

 

Thank you.

[mrpayroll]

Enjoying your review of the Allure. We were on it last January and will be going on Oasis January 2016. Will make sure to take the Central Park tour. :)

[mslaabs]

Who was the Activity Manager on board with you?

 

I don't remember his name, but here is a picture of him if that helps.

 

[Midwestgal]

What a great review! I'll be on her Feb 21,2016 and this really has me excited.

Keep up the great job, this is my favorite Allure review by far⚓️⚓️

[mslaabs]

Enjoying your review of the Allure. We were on it last January and will be going on Oasis January 2016. Will make sure to take the Central Park tour. :)

 

Thanks for following. I think you will enjoy the tour, it was much more informative than I had anticipated.

[mslaabs]

What a great review! I'll be on her Feb 21,2016 and this really has me excited.

Keep up the great job, this is my favorite Allure review by far⚓️⚓️

 

Thank you.

[Thoie]

Subscribed! 27 days left for me before I join the Allure, so I'm reading avidly.

[susanrobert]

Excellent review. Thank you for taking the time to post.

[TADCruise]

The living wall is 10 feet deep and each plant has to be hand carried up a ladder in the back. No Elevator.

 

 

 

 

They are redesigning the living wall that will be on the Harmony. It will be thin and plants can be loaded from the front side. There’s a “test wall” on the Allure that they are putting through extreme conditions to test the plant hardiness. The white lights on the right are actually heat lamps.

 

 

 

 

There are several fire dampers located throughout Central Park and on the Boardwalk. Those green pillars with pretty pictures, the big cup outside the hot dog stand, and the big cherry at the ice cream parlor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What are fire dampers?

[mslaabs]

What are fire dampers?

 

I don't know all the technical workings of it, but it helps prevent a fire from spreading and vent out the smoke. He used the two examples, if a fire were to start on the promenade which is under Central Park, the park can provide an open air environment to use as a vent. Under the Boardwalk is the dining room so the Boardwalk would act as its vent if a fire should start there. I probably don't have all the correct terminology, but hopefully you can get the basic idea.

[Grandma Petania]

I was fortunate enough to sail on the Oasis in 2013 with my daughter, and we will be on her again on February 6, 2016. Like you, I felt that I had missed a number of things that I would have enjoyed. This time I am determined to get up in time to take the Central Park Tour. The change in the living wall on the Harmony makes a lot of sense, and it is interesting to see the trial wall where they are experimenting with which plants will do best.

 

Last time we had an interior cabin all the way forward on Deck 14, so it was quite a trek to get to the dining areas at the other end of the ship. This time I was determined to be near the aft set of elevators, but there are very few interior cabins there. I got really lucky, and was able to book a Central Park balcony cabin near the elevators, with enough OBC to make up the difference in price.

 

Even though you are on the Allure, she is enough like the Oasis that I am really enjoying your review and pictures. I will keep following along, and try to be patient for my next cruise.

[Tunkhannock]

What are fire dampers?

 

I don't know all the technical workings of it, but it helps prevent a fire from spreading and vent out the smoke. He used the two examples, if a fire were to start on the promenade which is under Central Park, the park can provide an open air environment to use as a vent. Under the Boardwalk is the dining room so the Boardwalk would act as its vent if a fire should start there. I probably don't have all the correct terminology, but hopefully you can get the basic idea.

 

Over-simplifying, fire dampers are devices used to reduce the spread of fire and smoke in HVAC ductwork, and also to act as heat-sinks to radiate heat out into the open air instead of it being kept down below decks.

 

[TADCruise]

Over-simplifying, fire dampers are devices used to reduce the spread of fire and smoke in HVAC ductwork, and also to act as heat-sinks to radiate heat out into the open air instead of it being kept down below decks.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks!

[Fall2010]

We learned that in dry dock the balconies on 12 and 14 will become loft suites.

 

Did you happen to learn about any additional changes that will be made during the Allure dry dock?

 

Great review and pictures! Thank you for taking the time to to do this review! :)

[barbienj]

SUbscribing, hope to make it on Allure or Oasis someday...

[mslaabs]

Did you happen to learn about any additional changes that will be made during the Allure dry dock?

 

Great review and pictures! Thank you for taking the time to to do this review! :)

 

Thank you. We did learn a couple of other things. The Viking Crown lounge will become a private lounge for a particular group, I want to say it was for suite guests. Chicago will be replaced with Mama Mia and at least one store is going to be changed out (sorry, I didn't get the details on that).

[mslaabs]

Even though you are on the Allure, she is enough like the Oasis that I am really enjoying your review and pictures. I will keep following along, and try to be patient for my next cruise.

 

Thank you for following. If I were to book an inside cabin I think one overlooking Central Park would be nice. It should be somewhat quiet at night. I think the Boardwalk ones would tend to hear more noise, but I've never booked either so that's just speculation on my part.

[mslaabs]

After the Central Park tour I was ready for my nap in the lounge chair, deck 12. We took a slight detour on the way there to check out the sports deck. I had been debating about trying the zip line and sort of had myself talked into it, but when we got there several people were in line so I said I would come back later. I never ended up going back when they were open. Something I’ve learned on these big ships, if you want something do it/get it right then and there. There are way too many things happening on the ship that you will run out of time to go back to something. Right next to the zip line was mini golf so we played a round of golf instead.

 

People getting ready to fling themselves across the ship.

 

Allure’s version of Augusta

 

The bio degradable golf balls in case you get wild with your swing and knock one out to the fishes.

 

Channeling Phil Mickelson as I line up my shot

 

I probably should have stuck to the children’s putting green.