A (Not Live) Report: Allure of the Seas Nov 26, 2017

My daughter, grandson, and I will be on the Dec. 10th sailing, so looking forward to your thoughts. Have a great cruise!

So will my husband and I! Will you be at the CC mingle?

We moved from Pennsylvania six years ago... one reason was to get away from the winters. I miss snow around Christmas, but I do not miss the cold, gray, bleak conditions of January every year. But I suppose coming from up north for a cruise like this does make it a little more special!

 

I'm reminded of our visits to Florida before we moved here. Always loved seeing palm trees each visit; such a novelty. After living here for just a few weeks, let me tell you, that novelty wears off. Not to make it sound like a bad thing, but they're really everywhere. When family visits us from up north, though, they always marvel at the beautiful palm trees a few times once they arrive. All relative to what you're used to seeing on a daily basis.

LOL growing up in S Fl i never understood the big deal of palm trees and lizards

Back to the real world. Always a hard first day back after any vacation.

I still plan on doing a detailed report in the coming days (or weeks depending on how much time I can devote to pulling my thoughts and our pictures together), but wanted to share a few quick thoughts on the overall experience:

- Yes, the ship is as massive as everyone says it is. Being the over-planner, I did study the deck plans before going, so I had a relatively good idea where things were in relation to one another, so I only got turned around on occasion. But all week long we saw people who genuinely looked lost all around the ship.

- Crowds - our experience I would say was somewhere in the middle of many of the reports I've read. We had 5,900 passengers on board, and occasionally we encountered lines or crowded conditions, usually in relation to the beginning or ending of an event. That said - we also experienced many more times where there was hardly anyone around in certain areas, even just minutes after walking through/past a crowded area. Elevator waits weren't too bad - a few time we had to wait two or three elevators that were full to go by before getting on. But there were also plenty of times we got into an empty or nearly empty elevator with no delay. We did generally take the stairs when walking down or only going up one or two flights.

- Pushy salespeople - I had dreaded a bit the reviews that mentioned the constant upselling some experienced on Allure. We were out around the ship often and other than the ship photographers asking if we wanted our picture, I don't think we were approached once by anyone trying to sell us anything. That includes while walking through Promenade when they often had tables or stands set up for specialty dining, spa services, etc.

- Food & service - We ate dinner in the main dining room each evening, and found the food to be above average overall for the week. A few dishes that were quite good, but nothing that really had the wow factor. Our wait staff was very hard working, but was a little hit and miss during the week, with one poor service on the fourth or fifth night. Based on how much the head waiter and other senior staff were running around that night, I think it was a larger issue than just with our servers. But in comparison to our last cruise on Vision of the Seas, where our service was spectacular, it just wasn't quite up to the level of expectation we had going into this cruise. We avoided Windjammer for the most part. The food was fine, but the layout and crowds were a turn off. Too much craziness to enjoy a meal. Will detail our food experience more in the expanded report.

- Stateroom & attendant - As I mentioned earlier in this thread, we stayed in a Boardwalk Balcony room. For two, we found the cabin great in terms of space and storage. Some bleed through of noise from the Boardwalk into the room, but it quieted down by 11 pm and didn't really affect us. But if you're a light sleeper, like to go to bed early and/or nap in the daytime, you may want to consider other options. I'm a fairly light sleeper, but it didn't bother me much. Even brought earplugs in case, but didn't use them.

- St Thomas still showed signs of the hurricanes, but everyone was very vocal in thanking us for visiting and saying they need the tourists back. I was a bit worried about feeling like we were intruding or inhibiting the recovery process - but the reality is quite the opposite. Since they rely so much on tourism, and since 90% of the hotels remain closed, the cruise ships visiting are very much a neccesary part of their recovery.

Any other questions, please feel free to ask. Just wanted to cover a few of the highlights while I had a few minutes.

LOL growing up in S Fl i never understood the big deal of palm trees and lizards

It really is all relative. We've talked to native Floridians who have never seen snow and wonder in amazement what it might be like. Since we grew up with it and escaped from it, I always tell them it's pretty as its falling and right after.... then it's gross, wet, cold and miserable lol.

Enjoying your review!

Can't wait to read your review!

looking forward for more.

Where does the time go? Been a busy week back home, including two days basically spent laying in bed due to a back issue that flared up. Thankfully it flared up after the cruise and not during it.

Anyway, onto the trip report!

Day 0 - Traveling to Fort Lauderdale

As a quick reminder, there are four of us traveling. Myself (Bill), my husband Matt, his mom Julie, and my mother Sue. See my first couple of posts for the backstory if you would like.

Julie joined us in Tampa on Thanksgiving Day, and we enjoyed a nice standing rib roast for dinner. Our apartment complex has guest suites, so she had her own space for two nights, which was good since Matt had his regular shift on Friday and I had several thing to wrap up at home in preparation of the cruise.

My mother drove down from Macon on Saturday morning, and arrived around noon. We had planned on driving down in Matt’s car. But the staff at our apartment complex wasn’t willing to issue a parking pass for the 8 days for my mothers car to stay here. Not the end of the world, as my mother was fine with us using her car so long as she didn’t have to drive from Tampa to Ft. Lauderdale. Only downside is Matt had put together a “pre-cruise” playlist of music over the last few months to play through the phone using bluetooth in his car. Unfortunately my mother’s car wasn’t capable of that, and we couldn’t locate an aux cord before leaving to hook it up that way. So having to switch through radio stations across the state is what we ended up with. Oh well.

Matt drove down, and the ride was fairly uneventful. No traffic delays, and we found our hotel for the evening with no trouble. We made one pit stop along Alligator Alley. It’s really a boring stretch of highway. Neat to drive through the Everglades (at least the first time, and this was our second), but it’s really just a very straight shot with not much to look at.

We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in Miramar, about a 25 minute drive from the port and pretty close to I-75. We got a great rate for a Saturday night on Thanksgiving - $77 per room including taxes through Priceline. We had booked two rooms with a AAA rate at a Marriott property in the north Ft. Lauderdale at what was a good rate at the time several months ago - about $130 per room. And that was on the lower end of prices for a decent property in the area. But as I do, I kept checking and the Hilton was similarly rated with the same amenities at a much better rate. Only thing is it required pre-payment and no changes, which was fine.

So just a few turns off the interstate, we thought the Hilton Garden Inn was just fine for our needs. Rooms were spacious, clean, and fairly updated. Had a Keurig, small microwave, and mini-fridge as well. As long as it’s clean and quiet, I’m a happy camper. Wi-fi was pretty slow, but it was free.

Dinner was at a nearby Texas Roadhouse. The whole throw the peanut shells on the ground concept is just odd to me - I was raised better than throwing trash on the floor. So I politely put my shells on a plate instead. After that it was back to the rooms for sleep - we’re not exactly big nightlife people, and we all wanted to try and get a good night sleep before embarking on the cruise.