Allure photo review from Galveston, Dec 18-23 -- 4 kids, an Artic cold front and relocating Central Park

[SHIP TRAVELER]

32 minutes ago, dwHokie said:

 

It was $100 + tax and I only booked it a week in advance.  But when I booked, the North lot was full and only the South lot and Pier 14 were available. 

 

 

It was less than 5 minutes walk from the South lot to the terminal (I did get a spot right near the entrance as there were plenty of spots).  With 4 kids, the proximity and not needing to do / wait for a shuttle with the kids and all the luggage was worth the extra $$ to us.  This was especially helpful the day we got back with sub-zero temperatures as I was able to get them back in the car very fast.  See my earlier post around embarkation and the parking map which hopefully helps...and the first picture there is a good vantage point of how far it is from the South lot to the terminal.

 

There is no sidewalk and you do have to cross one street internal to the cruise port only between the North and South lots.  The rest you're just walking through the South and North lots to get to the terminal.  I will be booking the South lot again when we cruise from Galveston next...it was super easy.

 

I've also seen some other posts on here with coupon codes to save $10 and $20 on port of Galveston parking.

Thank you so much for the quick and helpful response.

[YadaYadaJodi]

4 hours ago, SHIP TRAVELER said:

Thanks for the Review.  We are going in Feb on the Allure and have just realized that the new terminal is not near the old terminal and therefore EZ parking our old "go to" is not the best option now.  My DH was wondering how much you paid for the south lot if you can recall.  Also when did you reserve the South lot? It looks like some of the other places are now charging for shuttles so this is a new world to us.  We have not sailed out of Galveston in a while so any parking hints from any one are appreciated.

Hi! I was reading another post earlier and realized I hadn't booked parking for my Feb 5th cruise. I booked the North lot using coupon code grandopening22 today. Saved me $20. It was still high to me $147/148 but that was the same as our usual Lighthouse covered parking and we will save having to tip the shuttle baggage handlers and driver. Was surprised how high Lighthouse was! We only paid $90 ($100-10 coupon) Jan 2022. Don't know if it's because of higher shuttle charges for new terminal.

[BecciBoo]

On 12/24/2022 at 11:09 AM, dwHokie said:

(it's not queso for the Texas folks,

That is too funny!  We've done Fresh on several ships, but 3 wks ago on Odyssey, Todd had to school the chef at Fresh about refried beans ala Texas style.  What is a TexMex restaurant without refried Pintos?  So they talked for 10 minutes about it!  Ha  We never got them, just turtle beans(black beans) which is NOT Tex Mex. and not mashed.  But we found it at least as palatable as Taco Bell! LOL  Made a good quick tasty lunch anyways!  You cannot beat TexMex in San Antonio, best on the planet on every corner.  We do Voyager again in September, don't know if they've added Fresh to her, but hope so.

[BecciBoo]

Thanks for confirming pretty much everything about the food that we experienced on Odyssey.  Even mentioning the Onion Soup and the Prime Rib.  Loved your very detailed review...love Allure, our fave sister.

[BecciBoo]

On 12/26/2022 at 12:19 PM, dwHokie said:

so still not sure why the water was so much more clear near port vs. elsewhere.

 

At port the seabed is deeper dredged, along where Maya Chan is, there is a lot of coral making shallower seabed so I think the seaweed, Sargasso crap is more prolific there, that's my guess anyways.

[Angie2045]

Thanks so much for such a thorough review @dwHokie. One question, did you have to pre-book your spots in the kids club, or could your kiddos just show up whenever? 

[Ret MP]

Beautiful looking family, great photos.  Looks like you all had a great time.  Thank you so much for the stroll through your vacation adventure.

 

[dwHokie]

2 hours ago, Angie2045 said:

Thanks so much for such a thorough review @dwHokie. One question, did you have to pre-book your spots in the kids club, or could your kiddos just show up whenever? 

 

There is an opportunity to register the first day from 1:30-4:30pm where you sign them up and select who can sign them in/out of the club with their sea pass.  For example, we gave our 15 year old access to be able to pick up the little ones if needed.  You do have to specifically give both Mom/Dad access...if you don't, then only the one that registered can sign in/out.

 

But after that, you can just show up any time the club is open...no need for reservations, etc.

 

The teen club is completely come/go as they want.

 

[dwHokie]

6 hours ago, BecciBoo said:

Thanks for confirming pretty much everything about the food that we experienced on Odyssey.  Even mentioning the Onion Soup and the Prime Rib.  Loved your very detailed review...love Allure, our fave sister.

 

You are certainly welcome...we loved Allure as well and would sail again on her any day.

 

1 hour ago, Ret MP said:

Beautiful looking family, great photos.  Looks like you all had a great time.  Thank you so much for the stroll through your vacation adventure.

 

 

Thank you so much and no problem!

[Ret MP]

I can't wait to get on the Harmony of the Seas and sit down, at Sabar, to a gallon or two of Guac and another gallon or two of Margarita's.  Don't worry, I'll leave a little for everyone else, a very little.

Edited January 2, 2023 by Ret MP

[theotherchad]

Any tips about reservations for specialty dining and shows? Which can you do on the app well in advance and which do you have to get after boarding. Any issues with this? We're sailing Allure in May of this year and I'm a bit rusty, after missing the whole COVID era of cruising. It has been nearly  4 years now for us. 

[dwHokie]

4 hours ago, theotherchad said:

Any tips about reservations for specialty dining and shows? Which can you do on the app well in advance and which do you have to get after boarding. Any issues with this? We're sailing Allure in May of this year and I'm a bit rusty, after missing the whole COVID era of cruising. It has been nearly  4 years now for us. 

 

Thanks to a tip from my sister, I was able to book Mama Mia, the ice show and the aqua show 60 days in advance on the Royal app on Allure...no issues at all.  All the rest have to be booked onboard.

 

Specialty dining can be booked on the app as soon as you have a cruise reservation, as far as I can tell.  I booked Izumi for our Harmony cruise next December almost a year and a half out.  If you have groups sailing together, you can link the reservations and secure specialty dining at the same time together with the linked reservations in the Royal app (shows work the same way).  You will see the available times start to decrease as you get closer to the cruise...so if you have a large group, you may need to split up into smaller tables to get the time you want.

[CruisinAg]

Thanks for the review! I was on this sailing as well. Looks like much fun (and ice cream) was had.

[BlueBayouAZ]

On 12/30/2022 at 11:04 AM, dwHokie said:

Thank you all for the information on Coco Cay and alternate ports out of Galveston.  Interestingly, I had read a post about Coco Cay and stopped by Next Cruise...none of the printed itineraries had been updated yet and the gentleman there I talked to was not aware of any alternate ports yet.  But great to know they're out there now.

We are on Radiance OTS next month on a 9 night Key West/Coco Cay/3 other Bahamas itinerary. It’s sailing the same once in March. I’m excited that they will be doing more and a larger ship in 2024. Though I like the smaller ships. 

[dwHokie]

6 hours ago, theotherchad said:

Any tips about reservations for specialty dining and shows? Which can you do on the app well in advance and which do you have to get after boarding. Any issues with this? We're sailing Allure in May of this year and I'm a bit rusty, after missing the whole COVID era of cruising. It has been nearly  4 years now for us. 

 

@theotherchad I apologize, I should have also mentioned for this last cruise we also booked Izumi, Chops and Sabor well in advance on the Royal app with zero issues.  As well as our other my time MDR reservations which also went off without any hitch.

[brillohead]

2 hours ago, dwHokie said:

Thanks to a tip from my sister, I was able to book Mama Mia, the ice show and the aqua show 60 days in advance on the Royal app on Allure...no issues at all.  All the rest have to be booked onboard.

I'm booked on three consecutive cruises in January, and the comedy show is also available for advance booking now.  It was added a few days after the other shows were available.

[dwHokie]

6 minutes ago, brillohead said:

I'm booked on three consecutive cruises in January, and the comedy show is also available for advance booking now.  It was added a few days after the other shows were available.

 

Thank you for sharing!  I totally missed that on our cruise...but was so nice to be able to book shows in advance vs. worrying about it as soon as you got onboard.

[theotherchad]

12 hours ago, dwHokie said:

 

@theotherchad I apologize, I should have also mentioned for this last cruise we also booked Izumi, Chops and Sabor well in advance on the Royal app with zero issues.  As well as our other my time MDR reservations which also went off without any hitch.

 Thank you! This falls into the category of "mystery solved." Basically, people who don't bother to download and use the app miss out and end up lost and confused.