Allure January 26, 2014. A short review, and some photos

Thank you everyone. I am still learning, and get a lot of inspiration from the fabulous photographers on CC.

The photos you posted on Flickr are fantastic. I really love the unique perspective you used for each. (I am not a professional photographer so I am having trouble explaining.) I liked what you focused in on. It gives me ideas for my Allure sailing . Where was that photo of the spiral lighting taken? Dazzles?

yes, the spiral light was in Dazzles.

I like to take the close ups of things, with the blurred background, I do want a lens with a wider aperture soon, so I can get even better shots like that

We were on the same sailing and i took many many pictures myself. LOVE looking at yours.... Many of the pics are of the same objects, but yours are much better.:(

Great pictures! Thanks for sharing.

What deck were you on? We have connecting Boardwalk balconies for our upcoming cruise on Allure. We leave in less than 4 weeks! I was already excited before viewing your pictures and now ....:) Not sure there's a word that captures my level of excitement and anticipation, especially with this miserable winter!

Great pictures! Thanks for sharing.

 

What deck were you on? We have connecting Boardwalk balconies for our upcoming cruise on Allure. We leave in less than 4 weeks! I was already excited before viewing your pictures and now ....:) Not sure there's a word that captures my level of excitement and anticipation, especially with this miserable winter!

Thank you :)

We were on Deck 11, 11321 to be exact. We had a decent view of the Aqua Theater, and were close to the "secret balcony" at the far aft of the deck. Also, we were on the same deck as the Concierge Lounge, which was extra convenient for my D+ cabin mate.

I spent less time in ports on this cruise than any week-long cruise ever, maybe even including some of my 3-5 nighters. I barely left the ship in Jamaica, and we were back before lunch on Labadee day as well. The only day we were gone a decent amount of time was Cozumel day. I took this cruise for the ship, not the ports, and I got what I wanted, a soon to be awesome scrapbook full of photos.

We had the same steward and yes he was worst we ever had!! He spent a lot of time standing by your balcony window on his phone!!!! On turnaround day he threw out all my compasses and ppwk I was saving. I was LIVID!! One night he left towels on bathroom floor and no new ones-- hindsight I should have called and made him come correct it at 11pm but I didnt want to stay awake and wait!

We had the same steward and yes he was worst we ever had!! He spent a lot of time standing by your balcony window on his phone!!!! On turnaround day he threw out all my compasses and ppwk I was saving. I was LIVID!! One night he left towels on bathroom floor and no new ones-- hindsight I should have called and made him come correct it at 11pm but I didnt want to stay awake and wait!

Wow, that stinks. I save my compasses too and now I'm really glad I'd been putting them all in a folder tucked under some other stuff so he wouldn't touch them.

I did call for service at 9:45 one night - the reason for my comment above. I didn't elaborate, but I guess I will now. You'll all see why I didn't tell the story in my OP, it's a long one :D

When we got to the cabin we had a queen bed that needed to be split. No big deal, he did it during the evening turndown but when we returned to the cabin late that night I noticed that Cheryl's bed was nice and smooth and mine looked like a towel or something was crumpled up under one end. Nope, it was the duvet insert that was totally flat at the top, like another sheet, and full of batting lumps at the bottom. I mean, this thing was kind of disgusting, and lumpy. Did I mention it was lumpy? I don't think pictures would have conveyed the problem so I didn't take any. Anyway, I dealt with it that night and tried to sleep, but that was the night I woke up at 5:30, uncomfortable, and ended up going down to the promenade with my camera :o

The next day when I saw the steward I asked for a replacement because of the lumps (did I mention they were big disgusting lumps?) and his response was "that's the way they are made" WTH?? :confused: Um, no, I'd like a new one thank you. Anyway, he said he'd replace it but when we returned to the cabin later in the morning it hadn't been done. I figured he'd take care of it during the evening turn down because after all, the unhappy customer had requested a new duvet and it wasn't an unreasonable request. Nope, at 9:30pm the icky lumpy duvet was still there so I called housekeeping. About 40 minutes and another phone call later, there was a knock at the door and a different steward was there with a new duvet COVER :rolleyes: Um, no, I need the entire thing replacing. This steward also tells me that this just happens with one type of duvet insert when it gets washed. Really? Then maybe they shouldn't buy that kind any more. Sheesh! He leaves to get a new insert and returns many moons later. Finally, sometime after 11pm I had a flat duvet insert, and the clean folded duvet cover he'd originally brought was left on the sofa - I think I stuck it on a steward's cart a day or two later to get it out of the way.

I left the auto tips in place in order to not penalize others for his attitude, but I certainly didn't tip him any extra at the end of the cruise.

I saw the duvet in 11324 and OMG it was NASTY lumpy.. If urs looked like it, I would have asked for a new one or remove it totally!!

I saw the duvet in 11324 and OMG it was NASTY lumpy.. If urs looked like it, I would have asked for a new one or remove it totally!!

Thankfully one bad steward and a mediocre dining experience didn't make or break the cruise for me. I still had a fabulous time.

I do wish the Meet & Mingle had been scheduled better though. There really wasn't any time to actually "meet" and "mingle" and although there were dozens and dozens of people there, I hardly got to talk to any of them :(

Oh my gosh, I just got done looking at all of the pictures and they are stunning!! Thank you so much for posting the link for me to see. I really liked the wide-angle shots you got.

I think this is one of my favorite pictures! It is so beautiful and perfect I had to look at it for a long time! :D

Oh my gosh, I just got done looking at all of the pictures and they are stunning!! Thank you so much for posting the link for me to see. I really liked the wide-angle shots you got.

 

I think this is one of my favorite pictures! It is so beautiful and perfect I had to look at it for a long time! :D

Thank you so much. I went out and bought the fisheye lens after seeing some shots right here on CC. I didn't like that the sun was in the "wrong" place for this shot, but even so, I like it too :)

Amazing photos Karen!! :D

Seriously great pix!

:)Pam

Amazing photos Karen!! :D

Seriously great pix!

:)Pam

Thank you so much :)

good review

Thanks for your great Flickr photos and your review. :):):):)

Wow what beautiful photos!!! Thanks for posting! :D

I loved it. The end. :p

 

Here is a link to my Flickr set of Allure photos

 

 

 

GRRRREAT photos. Thank you!

Thank you everyone. I was surprised to see this thread pop back up, but I do appreciate the compliments. The Allure is definitely a photographer's dream

Great photos and a great service to those of us that will be cruising the Allure.

Thanks.

:D