Not so "LIVE" Allure of the Seas Review with PIX!

[jacksmom09]

Really enjoying all the pics! We are even more excited for our turn!:D

[BrianAlt]

Oh no! It's over!!! :(

[QTMichele]

Really enjoying all the pics! We are even more excited for our turn!:D

 

Just wait until you ser her in person. Words and pictures don't do Ms. Allure justice. :D

 

Oh no! It's over!!! :(

 

Not yet! I'm going to drag it out as long as possible; otherwise, the post cruise depression is going to set in. :(

[BrianAlt]

Not yet! I'm going to drag it out as long as possible

 

Hooray! :D

[MamaPuggle]

Michele once again thanks for your review and pictures. It was absolutely amazing I really can't wait now until when its my turn. Thanks for taking the time to post. Thanks again

[QTMichele]

Hooray! :D

 

:D I know I'm not going to want to let it go...I never do!!! All the anticipation in the months before the cruise, and then it's gone. POOF! I think that's why I enjoy sharing with all the great people on Cruise Critic - it allows me to extend my vacation.

 

Michele once again thanks for your review and pictures. It was absolutely amazing I really can't wait now until when its my turn. Thanks for taking the time to post. Thanks again

 

You are so welcome! I'm so thankful that you've taken the time to visit my thread. :) When is your cruise? Hopefully you don't have too much longer to wait.

[Misty_Que]

Thank you so much for your wonderful reveiw. I loved all your photo's. I am hopefully sailing on Oasis for New Year's and your review provided me with some great information.

[bionicman97]

Lots of great pictures :)

[CleoPat]

Thanks for the great review:D Very interesting to find out that the desserts that everyone raves about are NOT made on the ship. Another thread is dedicated to getting better desserts on RC and I've made mention that the fleet does NOT have pastry chefs. This proves my point.:(

[QTMichele]

Thank you so much for your wonderful reveiw. I loved all your photo's. I am hopefully sailing on Oasis for New Year's and your review provided me with some great information.

 

A new Year cruise would be great! I hope it works out for you!

 

Lots of great pictures :)

 

Thanks!!! Don't forget your camera on Friday!!! Do you plan to post a review, Curtis? Live or when you return?

 

Thanks for the great review:D Very interesting to find out that the desserts that everyone raves about are NOT made on the ship. Another thread is dedicated to getting better desserts on RC and I've made mention that the fleet does NOT have pastry chefs. This proves my point.:(

 

I bought it was interesting too - I just assumed they made everything on board.

 

Regarding the pastry chefs... How do you know they don't have them? I always figured they were onboard, but have never been impressed with their desserts - I do much better at home!

[CaptData]

Thank you for the memories from my Dec 2010 cruise. See you in Feb.

[FSUfan16]

I really loved your review! I have been checking back to get more of my fix each day. So sad we already made it to the end of your cruise. Thank you for posting. I can not wait to go on the Oasis this June!

 

More pictures please : )

[emen822]

Michele,

Thank you so much for this review. My countdown is finally in the teens and I get more excited every day (if that is possible :rolleyes::eek:). Once I saw the Oasis in person last April, I said I'm getting on that ship... but I'll take the sister ship instead. :p

 

I appreciate you taking the time to do this. It helps the long dragged out work days before vacation...

 

Looking forward to more pictures. :)

[tmoret]

Michele

Thank you for taking the time to do this review! it sure has made the past few weeks go by so quick! We are only days away now...

[bionicman97]

 

. . . Thanks!!! Don't forget your camera on Friday!!! Do you plan to post a review, Curtis? Live or when you return? . . .

 

 

I knew I forgot to pack something ;) I will probably check in a time or two during the cruise, but I'll wait till we get back to do an exhaustive review, hopefully starting around the 20th.

 

I'll write the review each day as we go/clean up my photos in photoshop and then when we get back I'll upload all the photos to the server (I'm sure as you can attest, that's the least fun part of doing a review for me).

 

The fun part comes Thursday, trying to pack two families worth of suitcases into our Prius :eek:

[saus]

Michele,

 

Thank you for the detailed review. You do a wonderful job of conveying just how much fun you and your husband had on the cruise and at the various ports.

 

I'm curious - if you had it to do over again, and price was no object, what would be the restaurants that you would choose for the seven dinners on Allure?

 

Would you eat at Chops more than once?

[CleoPat]

Regarding the pastry chefs... How do you know they don't have them? I always figured they were onboard, but have never been impressed with their desserts - I do much better at home!

 

If they had pastry chefs why would they have to buy the desserts off board? If they had pastry chefs they most certainly would know how to bake better than I do and they don't. I think they just went to cake decorating classes:rolleyes:

[BrianAlt]

I'm curious - if you had it to do over again, and price was no object, what would be the restaurants that you would choose for the seven dinners on Allure?

 

Obviously I can't speak for Michele, but I get the feeling that if she really wanted to eat at speciality restaurants only she would have done that.

[saus]

I didn't mean to imply anything regarding money. I would like to know where Michele would recommend eating, now that she has experienced so many of the restaurants.

 

I apologize for my inartful wording.

[QTMichele]

I knew I forgot to pack something I will probably check in a time or two during the cruise, but I'll wait till we get back to do an exhaustive review, hopefully starting around the 20th.

 

I'll write the review each day as we go/clean up my photos in photoshop and then when we get back I'll upload all the photos to the server (I'm sure as you can attest, that's the least fun part of doing a review for me).

 

The fun part comes Thursday, trying to pack two families worth of suitcases into our Prius :eek:

 

The pictures are the biggest headache, but only because I have to sort through so many to find the best/better ones to share with you guys. AND, since I took so many repeat photos, they best ones may be at the end of my "camera roll" even though I'm discussing something on day 1. As for Photshopping my pictures - don't even think I have time to do that!!! LOL I have learned that uploading to Facebook is the easiest way for me to manage the picture portion. I get to share with family and friends, then "copy image location" to post them to Cruise Critic. It's super easy, and kills two birds with one stone. Hey, it works for me. :D

 

On a side note, do you like your Prius? We are Toyota people. :) We used to have ties with a Toyota manufacturing plant.

 

PS Good luck with the packing!

 

Michele,

 

Thank you for the detailed review. You do a wonderful job of conveying just how much fun you and your husband had on the cruise and at the various ports.

 

I'm curious - if you had it to do over again, and price was no object, what would be the restaurants that you would choose for the seven dinners on Allure?

 

Would you eat at Chops more than once?

 

Money is no object for us... ;)

 

Seriously, I understand your question, and I would have to say that we enjoy trying the specialty restaurants, but we don't mind the MDR either. Because it was only DH and me on this cruise, we decided to book only a few restaurants as we didn't want our entire vacation to feel planned. Our "must dos" that we booked included Izumi, Giovanni's, Rita's Fiesta and Chops (although we debated between Chops and Samba). Once onboard, we quickly became adjusted to a laid back vacation, and decided not to book 150 Central Park and Samba - we didn't even make it to the dining room! This worked for us for THIS vacation, but I would like to try the dining room for dinner, and I would like to try the other venues. Since we are going with the entire family next February, we didn't feel like we were missing out on anything. Make sense?

 

I would like to try Samba, but only if they offer seafood/fish (I've heard different things on this - some say they offer salmon with another seafood selection, others say just salmon, and one said none was offered - I'm confused!). Having said that, Jason LOVES his steak/meat choices and probably would have been quite content with Samba. I am hesitant to say that I would book 150 Central Park. Many parts of the menu look fantastic - I am open to trying new things - but I prefer to order from a menu instead of the tasting menu that is currently offered. SO... this would be something that I would consider. The Chef's Table is also a tasting menu, but I'd be willing to try that as well. I've heard great things about each dining experience, but, if you're picky, then they may not be for you.

 

Now, would we go to Chops more than once? This is tricky for me because we really enjoyed it, BUT... I'm not a steak lover. My filet mignon was perfect, and I could easily eat another one during the week (and that's the only entree I would order off the menu), but I prefer to have more variety. My husband, on the other hand, would no doubt tell you that he could eat at Chops several times during the week. But his palate is more flexible than mine. ;) SO... my advice - if you like/love steak and want to eat it more than once a week, then book Chop's more than once IF you have room in your schedule.

 

After all that, I didn't really answer your question as to which 7 I would book... I can't go by experience with Samba, 150, and Chef's, but I can tell you that I would be open to trying them, and I would be willing to go back to the venues that we did book. SO.... maybe I'd book them all! For ME, it's not a money issue, but a flexibility issue (do I really want to exchange my shorts and tee shirt for a cocktail dress? Sometimes yes, sometimes no - this cruise, no.).

 

There's my answer. Are you more confused than ever? I AM!!! LOL

 

If they had pastry chefs why would they have to buy the desserts off board? If they had pastry chefs they most certainly would know how to bake better than I do and they don't. I think they just went to cake decorating classes

 

LOL - that's my line of thinking as well, but, at least for me, I'm assuming and don't KNOW that they don't have pastry chefs onboard. Just wondering if you KNEW or were just assuming. Doesn't really matter... their desserts are weak regardless of the answer. ;)

[QTMichele]

Just re-read my comments I just posted... I didn't mean to imply that I'm independently wealthy! LOL Just that money wasn't the reason we didn't book all the specialty restaurants - timing/scheduling/relaxing mode were the issues. HOWEVER, if anyone wants to contribute to our cruise and retirement funds so that we may become independently wealthy, then please feel free to do so. ;)

[saus]

A perfect answer to my confused question. Thank you, and thanks again for the review.

[bionicman97]

The pictures are the biggest headache, but only because I have to sort through so many to find the best/better ones to share with you guys. AND, since I took so many repeat photos, they best ones may be at the end of my "camera roll" even though I'm discussing something on day 1. As for Photshopping my pictures - don't even think I have time to do that!!! LOL I have learned that uploading to Facebook is the easiest way for me to manage the picture portion. I get to share with family and friends, then "copy image location" to post them to Cruise Critic. It's super easy, and kills two birds with one stone. Hey, it works for me. :D

 

On a side note, do you like your Prius? We are Toyota people. :) We used to have ties with a Toyota manufacturing plant.

 

PS Good luck with the packing!

 

 

I may try to upload some to Facebook this time, i've always used flickr in the past, but they are making it a real pain lately to copy/paste to here.

 

Absolutely love the Prius! We got it a month ago brand new (our first brand new vehicle), coming from a chevy equinox that got about 20 mpg. We drive about 25,000 miles a year (all those trips we take up to West Virginia to visit the wifes family add up ;))so with gas they way it is, we are saving about double what our payment is.

 

It drives very nice and we have very few complaints. the lowest miles we have got is 53 mpg, the best 58mpg. It definitely helps to make up for the 3/4 ton 4wd crew cab truck I drive ;). My truck gets a good solid 11 mpg:D

[bobmacliberty]

Michele - Thanks so much for this thread. Since you took so many pics, how about if you just start over and do a second not-so-LIVE review from the beginning with new pictures? We'll all just pretend that you're back on board again! :D

 

I may try to upload some to Facebook this time, i've always used flickr in the past, but they are making it a real pain lately to copy/paste to here.

 

Curtis - Have you tried Photobucket? It's VERY easy to copy/paste into CC. Just hover over any image thumbnail and several types of links will appear. Click on the IMG code link and it's automatically copied to the clipboard. Paste into your CC message and everything's good. They also have a fairly quick bulk upload tool.

[bionicman97]

Michele - Thanks so much for this thread. Since you took so many pics, how about if you just start over and do a second not-so-LIVE review from the beginning with new pictures? We'll all just pretend that you're back on board again! :D

 

 

 

Curtis - Have you tried Photobucket? It's VERY easy to copy/paste into CC. Just hover over any image thumbnail and several types of links will appear. Click on the IMG code link and it's automatically copied to the clipboard. Paste into your CC message and everything's good. They also have a fairly quick bulk upload tool.

 

I will check it out. My main problem is I'm paid up with flickr for another year and I already have about 5000 photos up and I'd like to keep them together, but I'm difinitely going to look around in the future.