Allure of the Sea Quick Trip Report - July 30 - August 6th

[apierson23]

Costa Maya Day

 

We were still a bit hung over this day so half of us took a cab to a beach just outside the cruise facility and the other half just hung out by the pool in the cruise facility. I'd say the pool people had more fun just because the beach area wasn't the best area in terms of getting bar service and the beach is just ok.  Lots of the vendors at the beach were just gouging people and you needed to talk them down 70% before it became ok priced which was just exhausting. 

 

We did do the bird sanctuary at the cruise port and it was fun although probably not a great deal considering the $14 a person price. Everyone had a chill day which was nice after the previous day.

[apierson23]

Cozumel Day

 

We had a tour planned out leaving Playa that was suppose to be a full day of swimming with manatees and swimming with turtles.  The evening before we docked the captain changed the leaving time from 5:30 to 4:30 which did cause a lot of issues. 

 

We caught the 1st ferry over to Playa so we got in at 8:45 AM and proceeded to a deserted resort which had manatees and some great diving spots.  One of the people in my party accidently flipped their paddle board and lost their cell phone which was in a water proof pouch but not around their neck (doh).  Spent a good amount of time hunting for it but it was lost.

 

We went to a turtle bay but they have really restricted access since we went 10 years ago.  You could only go along a roped off area which made seeing turtles very tough.  Some people loved it but I'd say it wasn't worth the trouble.

 

We were suppose to go get a great lunch at a local hot spot but people wanted to get back on the 2:00 ferry due to the departure time being moved up.  The tour cost $120 per person and it turned out to be kind of a dud and I'd just stay on Cozumel next time since there is just not enough time to experience Playa with the ferries and taxies necessary.

Edited August 9, 2023 by apierson23

[apierson23]

Cozumel Day Two

 

We did get back hungry and this was the famous lobster night in the restaurant.  Everyone ordered the lobster even if they didn't like sea food which allowed some of us to have two tails and they were delicious.  We ate way too much but I do remember anything else other than lobster take quite a long time to arrive which made dinner extra long.  We did go to the big adult game show in the evening after the guys vs girls event (guys won!) and it was very cool.  I was in group 5 and we came in 3rd place even though our group was on it to win it - very fun night to be sure which can't be missed.

[apierson23]

Last Sea Day

 

Three stops in a row really tired my crew out and the last sea day was very laid back and a couple people stayed in their room due to exhaustion.  I ended up getting some last sun rays and enjoyed the belly flop contest. The belly flop contestants were very good and the 2nd picture showed the clear winner.

 

Dinner was very relaxed and then everyone went and packed.  Couple people did complain about scratchy throats and tiredness which had all of us staying in our rooms for the evening.

Edited August 9, 2023 by apierson23

[apierson23]

Getting off the Ship Day

 

We all ordered breakfast in bed and finished packing and we all wore masks off the ship since we were now up to 4 people who where very tired and starting to have stuffy noses.  I felt ok but we all wore masks just in case.  The flight home was smooth and we arrived back into Cleveland at around 8:30 PM but the four sick people took test when they got home and all 4 were COVID positive 😞  The other 9 have all tested negative after a few days but 4 out of 13 isn't a very good ratio.  I think all us had some form of stomach issues but we contribute that to all the booze and heavy food but may have been Rino.  

 

Overall we really enjoyed the Allure and we would definitely go back and enjoy it again and hopefully we can all come home healthy.

 

Thanks for reading my not so brief review!

Edited August 9, 2023 by apierson23

[apierson23]

1 hour ago, txaggie12 said:

Are you having to tender in Honduras? Marine traffic is showing the ship anchored but I thought they had just built a bigger pier in the last couple years for the bigger boats

I reread your post and I do not think we had to tender at any of the ports this trip.  It was really early but you would think I would remember it lol

[gambler]

Great review. Thank-you. Looks like a great time was had by all. Can you tell me what tour group you used in Roatan and what beach you went to in Costa Maya? Thank-you

[apierson23]

31 minutes ago, gambler said:

Great review. Thank-you. Looks like a great time was had by all. Can you tell me what tour group you used in Roatan and what beach you went to in Costa Maya? Thank-you

We used Daniel Johnson's Monkey and Sloth Hangout in Roatan and it was a very well done tour of the island.  I'd use them again.  Not sure of the beach but I know it was $3 or $4 person to get a taxi over to beach.  They had barriers up so you couldn't swim out too far and the beach was kind of dingy but not sure of the name.

[txaggie12]

2 hours ago, apierson23 said:

I reread your post and I do not think we had to tender at any of the ports this trip.  It was really early but you would think I would remember it lol

Thanks, and I actually misread your post as well. I thought you were currently on the ship but had my dates messed up. 
 

Marine traffic is currently showing them as anchored today and not at the pier for some reason. I’ll be on next month, so hopefully they are just doing maintenance or something at the dock this week and it’s not a long term deal. 

Edited August 9, 2023 by txaggie12

[taznremmy]

@txaggie12  We did not tender in Roatan.

[nalatrixie74]

thank you for your review. looks like a fun group! hope everyone recovered quickly. we are on allure in dec for a quick weekend getaway, cant wait!

[bsbcgirl]

Thanks for the great review.I am cruising on Odyssey this March and am gluten free (Celiac).

Will my dinner be delivered much later than everyone else? Were there problems that I should be aware of? Thanks.

[apierson23]

17 hours ago, bsbcgirl said:

Thanks for the great review.I am cruising on Odyssey this March and am gluten free (Celiac).

Will my dinner be delivered much later than everyone else? Were there problems that I should be aware of? Thanks.

For our group the head waiter came over at the end of the meal and took orders for the following night so we thought they would be prepped and ready to go with all the "regular" meals but that wasn't the case.  The gluten free meals just always seemed to come after the other meals and some times it was much later.  

[Missusdubbya]

Happy birthday Andrew, thanks for the great review!

[Laura61]

Thoroughly enjoyed your trip report!! What a fun group!! Wish you were on my sailing!! 🤣