Allure with NO Pre-Planning/Reservations; possible?

[LMaxwell]

Going on Allure next month; 4 people; 2 cabins.  Have the 3 night dining package, will see onboard what they offer us for night one of the cruise and then setup schedule for dining onboard.  Have not made any MTD or show reservations in cruise planner.  

 

Possible to freewheel and go with the flow for dining and (some) entertainment, or big mistake on this ship to just show up and treat it like a smaller ship? 

[Clarea]

If you don't all need to sit together for the shows, you should have no problem using the standby line to get into the Main Theater and Aquatheater.  The small comedy venue might be a problem.  However, look for the "box office" location right when you board, you might be able to get show reservations there. 

[molly361]

I'm interested in this as well.  I would be curious as to if you could just show up at the specialty restaurants and be able to eat WITHOUT a reservation.  We eat early and I would like to do that when we cruise In December but it kind of scares me😇

[ShillyShally]

Yep I'd say reserve comedy if you'd like to do that one but otherwise you shouldn't have a problem with the standby line and just playing it by ear!  

[LMaxwell]

We are in a boardwalk balcony w good line of sight to aquashow, so not too concerned about that.  Don't think my wife wants to see MamaMia.  If we do go to comedy it would only be 2 of us.  

 

• DreamWorks will be gone when we sail, noticed in recent planner there was always 3-5 Dreamworks interactions per day; what is that being replaced with? 

[Cel_cruise]

A cruise is what you make of it.

By booking the dining package - you will be with a pool of other distinguished guests making reservations on board. I suspect you will not have much trouble with MDR or WJ times after that is set.

As for shows and other entertainment - I think that the week you are going in April will probably be a big factor in your success. The week of April 14th is probably the busiest spring break week remaining around the country.

But again - the cruise is what you make of it! If you don’t want to make reservations or stand in line for shows - there is still plenty to do/see/take in beyond those 3-4 things that require reservations!

Dreamworks is going away - some non-IP characters/floats may replace it..

I know your family is not new to cruising - I’m confident you would be fine - which begs the question - why the apprehension?


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[kag19]

1 hour ago, molly361 said:

I'm interested in this as well.  I would be curious as to if you could just show up at the specialty restaurants and be able to eat WITHOUT a reservation.  We eat early and I would like to do that when we cruise In December but it kind of scares me😇

 

We have been able to walk up to specialty restaurants for lunch many times without reservations.  Not sure if that would work for dinner though.  Would kind of scare me for dinner as well. :)

[CruisinBarb63]

Mom was on Allure last year after years of cruising smaller ships and other cruise lines.  She refused to make reservations in advance.  She also doesn't like to wait in lines (and the lines were very long for those without reservations according to her ).  Long story short, she saw no shows on her cruise and ate every meal in the Windjammer.  Her next cruise she was sure to make all her reservations well in advance.

[mac66]

It would be easier to make reservations and not go/change them than to not make reservations and then just show up expecting to be seated.  Particularly if three other people are depending on you.   It's kinda why they have reservations on the mega ships so people don't just show up expecting to be taken care of.

Edited March 18, 2019 by mac66

[ShillyShally]

2 hours ago, LMaxwell said:

 If we do go to comedy it would only be 2 of us.  

 

Comedy is a small venue - even for 2 of you it is likely worth reserving!

[John&LaLa]

2 hours ago, LMaxwell said:

Don't think my wife wants to see MamaMia. 

 

I dont blame her, it's not as good as CATS. 😉😇

Edited March 18, 2019 by John&LaLa

[Clarea]

47 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I dont blame her, it's not as good as CATS. 😉😇

 

I'd bet you would think otherwise if the cast of Mamma Mia would sit on your lap.

[LMaxwell]

3 hours ago, Cel_cruise said:

A cruise is what you make of it.

By booking the dining package - you will be with a pool of other distinguished guests making reservations on board. I suspect you will not have much trouble with MDR or WJ times after that is set.

As for shows and other entertainment - I think that the week you are going in April will probably be a big factor in your success. The week of April 14th is probably the busiest spring break week remaining around the country.

But again - the cruise is what you make of it! If you don’t want to make reservations or stand in line for shows - there is still plenty to do/see/take in beyond those 3-4 things that require reservations!

Dreamworks is going away - some non-IP characters/floats may replace it..

I know your family is not new to cruising - I’m confident you would be fine - which begs the question - why the apprehension?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Not really apprehension, we just like to see what is going on each day, some days nap late, some days in and out of DL, some times hang out later and go watch a movie and have WJ dinner.  Pretty sure our first dinner in the package is set for the first night of the cruise and will find out onboard.  

 

We're not rush rush to be the first to an event, so if we grab last row of the show for a bit, that's fine.  I may book AquaShow for night one as I know that's the best chance to see it in case of inclement weather during cruise.  

 

I guess when it comes down to it there isn't all THAT much that requires pre-planning or reserving, I'll pop on the planner and see if the dysfunctional website lets me reserve something 

[LMaxwell]

33 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

I'd bet you would think otherwise if the cast of Mamma Mia would sit on your lap.

 

What day, time, lounge? 

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, Host Clarea said:

 

I'd bet you would think otherwise if the cast of Mamma Mia would sit on your lap.

 

I could do a comparison of the costumes. 😉

[John&LaLa]

56 minutes ago, LMaxwell said:

 

Not really apprehension, we just like to see what is going on each day, some days nap late, some days in and out of DL, some times hang out later and go watch a movie and have WJ dinner.  Pretty sure our first dinner in the package is set for the first night of the cruise and will find out onboard.  

 

We're not rush rush to be the first to an event, so if we grab last row of the show for a bit, that's fine.  I may book AquaShow for night one as I know that's the best chance to see it in case of inclement weather during cruise.  

 

I guess when it comes down to it there isn't all THAT much that requires pre-planning or reserving, I'll pop on the planner and see if the dysfunctional website lets me reserve something 

 

Watch the Aqua show from deck 7. No reservations up there

[LMaxwell]

5 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Watch the Aqua show from deck 7. No reservations up there

 

What is deck 7 back there?  Base of the rock wall?  The last time I was on Allure it still had those aft public balconies on each deck. 

[Clarea]

7 minutes ago, LMaxwell said:

 

What is deck 7 back there?  Base of the rock wall?  The last time I was on Allure it still had those aft public balconies on each deck. 

 

Correct, the base of the rock wall.  Deck 7 is the only deck left with aft public balconies.

[CSHS1979]

Just now, LMaxwell said:

 

What is deck 7 back there?  Base of the rock wall?  The last time I was on Allure it still had those aft public balconies on each deck. 

 

Get there by taking the interior hallways all the way aft. That way you don't deal with staff asking for reservations

[John&LaLa]

1 minute ago, CSHS1979 said:

 

Get there by taking the interior hallways all the way aft. That way you don't deal with staff asking for reservations

 

It is a challenge seeing the high diver, though.

[waterbug123]

19 hours ago, Cel_cruise said:

As for shows and other entertainment - I think that the week you are going in April will probably be a big factor in your success. The week of April 14th is probably the busiest spring break week remaining around the country.
 

 

I doubt it matters much whether or not it's spring break week.  Most cruise ships sail full or close to it most of the time, so it's not like there will be a significantly higher number of passengers spring break week. 

 

OP- we rarely book anything in advance.  We wait til we get on board to worry about restaurant reservations and it always works out.  Sometimes we have to be a little flexible but we manage just fine.  We rarely go to shows but when we do we book onboard.  A few weeks ago we had to issue seeing the aqua theater show on Oasis one night.  The only challenge is the comedy club since it's so small.  If we get in, so be it.  If not, so be it.