Allure of the seas review May 22-29. *LONG*, with pictures

[Chester & Brewster]

I always enjoy other posters’ detailed reviews, especially with pictures, so here’s my first attempt. Note – photos do not always correspond with the correct date! Enjoy...

Intro

This was our third RCCL cruise, but first trip on Allure of the seas. We did a similar western itinerary on Freedom last year. We are Lucie (37) & Paul (45) originally from the UK, but now living in Ireland.

Cabin

We had an ocean view balcony cabin on deck 11 – 11708. The bed was by the balcony door. The room had ample storage space. The iPod dock on the desk was a nice touch, but I missed the washing line in the shower. The safe wasn’t big enough to fit an iPad. Room steward was fine, we told him not to bother with towel animals, but he did anyway. Room was spotless – I mopped up some spilt water on the bathroom floor with a white facecloth & it was immaculate. We got pillow chocolates every night.

Wed 18th May - Leaving Home

We set off from work at 10am (half day!) for Dublin. We had booked the 4* Dunboyne Castle Hotel online for the bargain rate of €65 & enjoyed their thermal suite for a couple of hours in the afternoon. Dinner was mediocre at best & we had a reasonably early night before setting off for the airport next morning.

Thurs 19th May - Travel to Fort Lauderdale

We flew Aer Lingus to Orlando from the new T2, which was very nice. In Dublin you pre-clear US immigration & customs before you leave, so although the lines are long it saves times upon arrival.

We had a pre flight glass of champagne & took off pretty much on time. It was fairly quiet so we could spread out & have a row each. We arrived on time, collected luggage & hire car & were on the Turnpike within 45 minutes of landing. We managed to wangle a brand new Mustang convertible with only 8 miles on the clock, which made for a pleasant drive to Fort Lauderdale.

We stayed at the Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Beach hotel, which we found pretty easily. We had a quick dinner at their Mexican restaurant, Dos Caminos, followed by bed.

Fri 20th May - Fort Lauderdale

Thanks to the time difference we were awake early & enjoyed coffee on the balcony as we watched the sun come up. Lovely.

We spent the morning at the pool & headed for Sawgrass Mills in the afternoon to shop. For dinner we walked up to Las Olas boulevard to Quarterdeck which we enjoyed.

The Sheraton has a good "no maid service required" system whereby you get a $5 food & drink voucher for straightening the bed clothes & hanging the towels back on the rail yourself. Hotel overall was OK – nice beachfront location, but I thought parking was expensive at $19 per night.

[Chester & Brewster]

Still reading? Good!

Sat 21st May - Fort Lauderdale

We had a 4:30am alarm, so we could watch Oasis come into port. It took us about 20 minutes to walk up the the inlet with coffee in hand (Sheraton in-room coffee is Starbucks BTW), so we sat on the rocks & watched her sail by, followed by Carnival Freedom. There were freshly laid sea turtle nests on the beach & we got back to the hotel just as the sun came up.

 

 

We showered, dressed & set off for Miami, where we had a great breakfast at Gerry's Famous Deli, then hired bikes to ride around & admire all the fabulous Art Deco buildings.

 

 

Back to Fort Lauderdale & an afternoon around a very busy pool. We had dinner at Coconuts. Wow! We knew straightaway that this was the best meal of the trip & we hadn't had most of them yet! Highly recommended.

 

 

[Chester & Brewster]

Sun 22nd May - Embarkation day

Up, check out, quick breakfast & dropped the car at Dollar just after 10am. Dollar/Thrifty is basically at the port gate, I didn't see any other car rental office closer.

We were checking in at 10.30, and boarding by around 11.15 ish. I didn't think the boarding was that well organised; You come up the escalators to the "holding area" & are then seated to board in order. Many passengers were coming up the escalators as boarding started & just tagged on the back of the line instead of going to sit down & wait their turn. No one was stopping them do this. Also people just pushed forward from the back as soon as boarding started, instead of waiting for their section to be called.

Wow. The ship felt familiar, but different.

 

 

We explored all the new areas, Boardwalk, Central Park & had famous roast beef sandwiches for lunch at the Park Cafe. (I'm sure Radio was also enjoying a beef sandwich out in Central Park, but I was too shy to check it was him!). We made our way up to the sports deck & boogie boarding was in full swing on the Flowrider, with just one family of 4 taking part, so we joined them.

 

 

Luggage was delivered & unpacked before Mustard Drill in the MDR, deck 5 (why do some people insist on talking loudly the whole way through?) & we had sail away Margaritas on the deck 11 back balcony overlooking the Aqua Theatre.

 

 

Pre dinner drinks in the Trellis bar, Central Park; Archie and Adrian were great bar tenders, and made us several gin & tonics throughout the trip.

 

 

Into the dining room for 8.30 second seating. We had a table for 6, two never showed & the other couple were non English speakers from Korea. Dinner tonight was onion tart, pork & chocolate mousse for me & hot & sour shrimp soup, prime rib & blueberry peach cobbler for him. We had a drink in Jazz on 4, then went to watch the Ocean Aria show in the Aqua Theatre which was fabulous.

 

[Chester & Brewster]

Mon 23rd May - At Sea

We were in the gym for 7.15 for a workout, followed by shower & breakfast in the Park Cafe, which was only average. The gym was great, plenty of equipment & space, and new treadmills with iPod connectors. I never did see an Instructor in the gym, other than teaching a class. It was busy the first morning, but after that each morning was quiet enough. Flowrider boogie boarding started at 9 & there were only a handful of folks there. The staff were good fun, teaching us tricks & giving out prizes if we pulled them off (key chain anyone?!).

 

 

It was fairly cloudy, but we sat out by the pool til lunch time, then went for our first ever MDR lunch experience. It was lovely, very calm & relaxing. I had the Turkish chicken wrap, and he had the tandoori lamb kebabs. The afternoon was spent out on the deck 11 back deck, which no one else seemed to have found yet. Early evening before dinner we went for a ride on the carousel & to Rita's Cantina for a margarita.

 

 

It was formal night, so we donned our finery & went to the Promenade for Captain Zini's address.

 

 

Dinner tonight was at a new table with English speaking table mates, which made for a much more pleasant evening. We enjoyed their company for the rest of the cruise. I had shrimp cocktail, filet of beef & chocolate souffle, he had the seafood skewer, roast duck & a cheese plate. A mojito on the rising tide bar & it was time for bed.

 

[Chester & Brewster]

Tues 24th May - Labadee

Up early, to the gym, followed by a Johnny Rockets breakfast, which was fairly good. By this time we were docked in Labadee & we headed for the beach. The shuttle ferry across to Columbus Cove was just ready to leave so we hopped aboard & spent the morning on the beach.

 

 

By 12ish we were hungry, so went for lunch - usual Labadee fayre of burgers, ribs, chicken & salad. Back on board for 1 o'clock Flowrider, then we spent the afternoon in the Solarium. The rain started at about 4pm & we left Labadee at about 4.30. We booked Chicago tonight before dinner, so that started at 7pm. It was OK; but I didnt really like the whole pre-dinner show thing, I would much prefer to do them the other way around. Tonight’s offerings were tomato & mozzarella salad, paneer curry & warm chocolate cake for me, and scallop risotto, lamb shank and tiramisu for him. We shared the cheese plate. Back to Jazz on 4 for a couple of mojitos and off to bed.

 

 

 

[Chester & Brewster]

Wed 25th May - Falmouth, Jamaica

Our usual morning routine in the gym; followed by breakfast in the Spa Cafe, which was fine for a quick bite on the way out of the gym. Whilst I showered Paul sat on the balcony watching flying fish as we made our way towards Jamaica. Flowrider was up & running again at 9 - for the first 35 minutes we had the wave to ourselves, we were totally exhausted! Unbeknown to us, my Uncle was watching the webcam back home & got some great shots of us on there!

 

 

Only a couple of others showed up, so we stayed til 10.15, then got off & took the free shuttle to Rose Hall shops, which took about 15 minutes. There was nothing we particularly wanted to buy, so we had a blue mountain coffee & bought some jerk seasoning before returning to Falmouth. We had lunch from the Scotchies stall; jerk chicken & pork, washed down with a Red Stripe. It was delicious.

 

 

The afternoon was spent relaxing in the Solarium, and again it rained at about 3pm. We had a quick visit to the Boardwalk for a beer & hot dog, before watching sail away from our balcony.

 

 

Back to the Boardwalk before dinner for the "Summer Breeze" concert, with the Chicago cast, then in to eat.

 

 

I had the seafood laksa, surf n turf, followed by the passion berry mousse cake. He had crab & noodle salad, surf n turf & the coconut creme brûlée. We also shared a portion of the chicken & cabbage gyoza. After dinner we went to Dazzles to watch the band, then at 11pm it was sing-a-long-a Grease in the Aqua Theatre, then bed.

 

[Chester & Brewster]

Thurs 26th May - At Sea

Every evening we had grabbed a couple of cookies from the Cafe Promenade to eat before going to the gym, but last night we forgot, so ordered room service granola & yoghurt to be delivered at 6.30, which we ate on the balcony before our workout.

 

 

We paid our first visit to the Windjammer, for ahem, second breakfast, and made our way to the Flowrider, which was much busier than yesterday. We sat up on the top deck for the rest of the morning; it was hot & we had a slight tailwind, so you didn't feel any breeze up there at all, most strange! Another MDR lunch today; we both had a tutti salad, plus I had the tandoori lamb kebabs & he had the trout. We shared a table with a lovely couple from New Hampshire who were great company. For the afternoon we made our way to the deck 11 back deck for some shade/peace/quiet.

Formal night again, so we dressed for dinner, then went to the Champagne bar for drinks.

 

 

I had the seafood salad, lobster plate & the dessert sampler. He had scallop pasta, lobster & cherries jubilee. We then went to the on air bar to the video postcard booth to send some mojito fuelled messages to friends & family! Blaze was doing 2 for 1 cocktails, so we got a couple (more) mojitos & took them back to drink on the balcony.

 

 

[BillOh]

Maybe I will try the western route next time.

[Chester & Brewster]

Fri 27th May - Cozumel

Fail. The only morning we didn't make it to the gym, so we had a lie in til 7.30! Solarium bistro for breakfast wasn't up to much, so we headed off to the Flowrider for our now regular 9am appointment. We were the only 2 people there for a whole hour, yes we had the Flowrider to ourselves!

 

 

We changed into dry clothes & had a go on the zip line, which was fun, but a whole lot of effort getting harnessed up for a 5 second thril!

 

 

Off to town in a taxi to shop, we bought a grand total of 2 beer coolers & a beach bag! We mooched around the shops, Paul continued his quest to find the perfect Tag watch, but didn’t find it. We had lunch at Tiki Tok, same as last year & thoroughly enjoyed it. Their shrimp tacos are gorgeous.

 

 

Back to the pier for a bottle of duty free Bombay sapphire – a bargain for us at $14, then back to the ship running back to the ship!

We had a couple of hours out on the deck, and spent an entertaining 10 minutes watching the latecomers running down the dock just before sailaway!

 

 

Tonight was our one & only speciality restaurant booking – 150 Central Park. We booked once we were onboard, and most of the restaurants were either fully booked or unsuitable times for us, so we chose 150 Central Park for 8pm at a cost of $35 per head.

There are 2 different menus; menu A ran Sun, Mon & Tues & menu B was Wed, Thur, Fri & Sat. We had menu B

• Chilled white & green asparagus

• Smoked tomato soup with BLT

• Pea ravioli

• Seared Tuna

• Wagyu striploin

• Rhubarb cake

• Cheese plate

 

We didn’t do the wine pairing, as we still had a few bottles left on our wine package, so we had a bottle of white, and a bottle of red. We also had a bottle of sparkling Pellegrino water & 2 espressos to finish (extra charge). Our waiter was great, I didn’t get his name because no-one in 150 Central Park would wear anything as unsophisticated as a name badge! Chef Molly Brandt had just returned to the ship that day, and she came around for a chat with every table.

The food was lovely. The smoked tomato soup was outstanding, but the tuna dish only average. It was beautifully cooked, but the tuna didn’t seem to go with the rest of the ingredients on the plate.

[Chester & Brewster]

Sat 28th May – At Sea

We roused ourselves for one last visit to the gym this morning, followed by another Windjammer breakfast. The interactive restaurant “busy-ness” screen on the TV was great. Every morning the Windjammer was red by about 8am, however, both mornings we went there at about 8.30am it was easy to get a table without any problem. Whether a whole bunch of folks had just left, or they just graded the Windjammer as “busy” to encourage you to go else where, I don’t know?

 

 

Flowrider boogie boarding was due to start at 9am, but they had sold a private session which didn’t end til 9.30. The staff tried to make up some guff about there being “technical problems” so the session starting late, & claimed they had been making announcements around the sports deck, but we were sat there the whole time & no announcements were made, and the wave seemed to be working fine. Oh well. By the time it did open at 9.30 there were a whole host of people waiting, so they had to put the divider up the middle. We had 1 or 2 rides and left them to it. I guess we were spoilt by our “private” session the day before!

 

 

The rest of the morning was spent sunbathing out on the top deck. For lunch we went to the Park Café for a make-your-own salad & a roast beef sandwich.

All too soon it was time to pack, we had opted for express walk off, so no need to leave the cases outside the cabin door before bed.

We did consider going to Vintages tonight for wine & tapas, however we were told they are not a speciality restaurant & as such you can’t get wine from your wine package in there (this will later become irrelevant!).

Instead we had bellinis & canapés in the champagne bar & went for a round of golf before dinner in the MDR.

 

 

For dinner we had spinach dip appetiser to share, plus I had Moroccan chicken salad, roast turkey dinner & the brownie sandwich. He had shrimp cocktail, NY strip steak & key lime pie. The steak was over cooked & tough, so he changed to the mahi-mahi & shrimp tempura, which was only marginally better. Tonight was the waiter’s “beg for tips” parade, which I’m not overly keen on. It’s a bit “Butlins” for my liking.

[Chester & Brewster]

Sun 29th May – Disembarkation Day

Boo Hiss. We had to get off. They’re so mean!

By the time the alarm went off at 6am we were already docked in Fort Lauderdale. Once we’d paid a visit to guest services, there was just time to grab a coffee & a pastry & head off the ship. There were no lines until we got to the car rental shuttle bus, which took a good half hour to show up. After collecting the car (they tried to palm us off with a 50,000+ miles Crown Victoria as an “upgrade”, but it was a heap of junk) we set off for Orlando for the last couple of days.

 

We spent them at the Clarion Maingate on the 192 in Kissimmee, which is great for the price – good location & plenty of parking. We bounced between shopping malls, outlet centres & crashing at the pool. Flight home was way busier than the outbound one, and full of bratty kids. You can’t win ‘em all!

 

The PITA wine package

We pre booked a 12 bottle gold package online, as, as well as a bottle with dinner, we enjoy a bottle of Korbel Brut on the deck/balcony in the afternoon/early evening. Allure doesn’t have this wine, and apparently never has. We enquired with guest services about it, but a) they didn’t really understand how the package works, or b) get back to us with a solution as promised. We enquired again on the last day & spoke to the GS Manager. She agreed to refund the whole wine package for us, with no mention of other charges, which I felt was generous, but that’s what she offered. I double checked – “a full refund of the entire package?”. “Yes Ma’am”. As it turned out, what she meant was “we’ll charge you for the individual bottles that you’ve had instead”. It wasn’t a disaster, it didn’t ruin my holiday, but I’m just sorry I had to waste most of the last day hanging out at guest services with half the rest of the passengers to get it sorted!

We finally agreed how much she was going to charge us (wine package price divided by 12 per bottle, rather than the actual wine list prices), she printed out the final bill. That isn’t the amount showing on my credit card bill today. <sigh>

[BillOh]

We had a couple of hours out on the deck, and spent an entertaining 10 minutes watching the latecomers running down the dock just before sailaway!

 

Cozumel does seem to be the prime port for that, must be the timezone. I'll have to read back to see if you were on the starboard side.

[Chester & Brewster]

Cozumel does seem to be the prime port for that, must be the timezone. I'll have to read back to see if you were on the starboard side.

Ah yes, the timezone difference. Nothing to do with 10 Margaritas in Señor Frogs then!!! 

Sorry, yes we were starboard side. They received rousing encouragement from everyone on their balconies!

[Ready 4 the next 1]

Thanks for the great review and pics. We board our plane for FLL in 15 days-can't wait!

[ILuvCruisin']

thanks for taking the time to write a review...did you go to any of the parades?

 

and what is this a picture of?

 

[Chester & Brewster]

thanks for taking the time to write a review...did you go to any of the parades?

 

and what is this a picture of?

 

 

Sorry, random photo alert!! It's cupcakes outside the cupcake cupboard, advertising the cupcake decorating classes.

 

 

We didn't specifically go to any parades, although we were sat in the Champagne Bar for the Dreamworks "Move it Move it!" one. There were plenty of characters in it, lots of music & dancing, and masses of ticker tape & glitter!

[saus]

I plan on following your lead on the Allure in July: Food, drink and flowrider. That empty deck overlooking the aqua theater doesn't sound bad either.

 

Thanks for the review!

[LTyler]

great pictures/review!! LOL on waking up @ 4:30 to see Oasis that's what i'll be doing in September :):)

[perkyblue]

Where is Tiki Tok? Can you walk there from the ship? Those shrimp tacos look so yummy!

[Chester & Brewster]

I plan on following your lead on the Allure in July: Food, drink and flowrider. That empty deck overlooking the aqua theater doesn't sound bad either.

 

Thanks for the review!

 

ha ha, when I read it back that's exactly what I thought - it's all eating, drinking & surfing! Could be worse I suppose. :D

[Chester & Brewster]

Where is Tiki Tok? Can you walk there from the ship? Those shrimp tacos look so yummy!

it's a bit far to walk. We got a cab to the far end of town for $7 & walked back towards the ship. It's on the front main road, quite close to the Hard Rock cafe, doesn't look much from the road as it's kind of an upstairs balcony sort of place. There was a young guy outside giving out flyers for a free chips/salsa appetiser.

We got another cab back to the pier a bit further down the road.

[Chester & Brewster]

great pictures/review!! LOL on waking up @ 4:30 to see Oasis that's what i'll be doing in September :):)

Gotta be done! Sadly none of our pictures came out, our camera is rubbish at "huge moving objects at night" shots!

[relaxatsea]

Thanks for the great review and photos! We'll be going in November, can't wait!

[texascat]

loved the review and photos!!! Can't wait till it's my turn!

[TLC535]

for the review & pictures...it really helps pass the time until our turn in November - looks like you guys had a great time :D