Allure was WONDERFUL & Fantastic for Families!

[QTMichele]

Hello, everyone. :) I don't post too often on the family boards, but I love reading them for family cruise advice.

 

My DH and I returned from our Allure cruise last Sunday, and I wanted to share with you how great the ship is, especially in regard to its family friendliness.

 

We didn't bring our kids with us, but we did take a tour of Adventure Ocean (kids' club) - it was so bright and cheery for the younger kids, and "cool" for the older ones. There is a dedicated science lab, plus two separate arcades (one for the younger children, one for the older kids/adults). There's even a small theater just for the kids.

 

As you may know, the Dreamworks characters are on board. Royal has done a fantastic job with this. The characters are not in your face, and only in a few areas of the ship. There are character breakfasts, character meet & greets, character parades, and shows featuring, yep, you guessed it, CHARACTERS! The shows are great for kids, families, and adults - they've done a great job making them fun for the kids and entertaining for the adults. The two shows I know about are the dive show and the skate show.

 

There are a TON of activities for the kids outside of Adventure Ocean. There's the merry-go-round, rock climbing, a mini-playground area, ice skating, zip lining, surfing on the FlowRider, swimming (pick a pool... there are 4 that the kids can swim in!) - including the ever popular H2O Zone, face painting, balloon animal making, and soooo much more!

 

OOps! I forgot to mention the 3D movie theater, the outdoor screens that show movies throughout the cruise, and the dedicated Dreamworks channel on the stateroom TVs.

 

The great thing about all of the above is that they're all FREE!!! (Well, included in the cruise fare. ;) )

 

If you want "pay" experiences, they have those too! The build-a-bear concept, dress up photos, candy shop, toys/clothing shop, etc. can easily spend your vacation budget.

 

My biggest disappointment on our cruise was that we didn't have our kids with us. It really is just perfect for families of all ages. We're booked, with the kids!, for next February. Can't wait to go again!

 

Although I can't answer very specific questions about the kids' activities, I did do quite a bit of "research" while on board so I would know what to expect with my own kids. Feel free to ask away. :D

 

If you're interested, I've almost finished my review (link in my signature), and have several photos of the AO club and other areas around the ship.

[alj1208]

Thanks for your posting, Michele. We are dedicated Celebrity cruisers looking to try RCI's Oasis or Allure with our DS. We cruised with him this year on Eclipse, and at age 4.5, it was fine for him. However, as he gets older, we think it might be fun to try a more family-oriented experience. What we love about Celebrity is fine service, stylish ships, fine food, and that feeling that the ship is not crowded. We never experienced a line, although our ship was full. Is Oasis or Allure for us?

[QTMichele]

Thanks for your posting, Michele. We are dedicated Celebrity cruisers looking to try RCI's Oasis or Allure with our DS. We cruised with him this year on Eclipse, and at age 4.5, it was fine for him. However, as he gets older, we think it might be fun to try a more family-oriented experience. What we love about Celebrity is fine service, stylish ships, fine food, and that feeling that the ship is not crowded. We never experienced a line, although our ship was full. Is Oasis or Allure for us?

 

I don't know anything except Royal Caribbean at this point - I wish I could give you a comparison of Allure with a Celebrity experience. I can tell you that we found the Allure to be a beautiful ship, with many contemporary touches. She is tastefully decorated and has very good service. I found the food in the free venues to range from good to fair. The specialty restaurants ranged from fair/good (Johnny Rockets & Rita's Cantina) to very good/excellent (Chop's Grille, Izumi and Giovanni's).

 

We had a full sailing of over 6000 people (the Allure holds 5400 double occupancy), of which 1000 were children. Did the ship feel crowded? Generally speaking, no. There was the typical congestion after a show dismissed, but the ship has been well laid out and has a way of spreading out the guests. I didn't feel like there were 6000 people on board, but it didn't feel like we were alone either. Make sense?

 

Good luck making your decision. :)