Allure Trip Journal with Pics - June 5-12/11 (Solo!)

[joecat]

Loving the review. Some awesome pictures too. Can't wait, 158 days to our Allure experience. Looking forward to more pictures and review. :D

[yj2cute]

Kudos to you for deciding to travel solo. Not everyone can do it. I, however, am one who can and head out to the EOS solo on Saturday. :D Will you be posting any pics of yourself? We only got a glimpse of you in the funny mirror.

[RCCLgal]

I have traveled Solo before and have been LUCKY as to not be charged the 125% or even higher for the room to myself. If you don't mind me asking, how much does RCCL charge for single travelers?

 

I don't mind you asking at all. I got a great deal 2 weeks before sailing with a special state rate.... so I am not sure if this is typical or not. I paid $1900 for a D5 OV balcony.

[ChickonRules]

amazing review cant wait to read more!

[yj2cute]

I have traveled Solo before and have been LUCKY as to not be charged the 125% or even higher for the room to myself. If you don't mind me asking, how much does RCCL charge for single travelers?

 

FYI, normally RCCL charges a 200% single supplement. However, they do offer deals at times. Often many of the Sales Event Tuesday deals have a lower supplement ranging from 125% - 175%.

[RCCLgal]

RCCLgal, I just put up some of my solo-relevant experiences on the solo board, so feel free to check that out. It was nice doing it alone because I was able to do things on the spur of the moment, and fit a lot more in that way.

 

My biggest tip would be to get on the Roll Call if you aren't already, and sign up for the Meet and Mingle. You might not see anyone again since the ship is so big, but if you do run into them, it's nice to see some familiar faces. Also see if anyone wants to share their room numbers so that you can stay in touch through voicemail during the cruise and make plans to meet up for meals, shows, etc.

 

In terms of dining tables, I'm not sure what you signed up for, but I didn't have the best experience. I think I would have had daily depression in the evenings if it wasn't for a few meals with CC members! :) If you're unhappy with your table, talk to the head waiter on the FIRST NIGHT, otherwise they might not be able to help you.

 

If you have any other questions, please ask away! :)

 

Thanks for the info. Your review is excellent and helping me calm the nerves a bit (solo travel).

 

I am nervous about my late seating MDR table. I requested a large table of single travelers. I will go to the dining room 1st thing after I board and check the size of the table.

 

Thanks again for the wonderful review.

[safar4me]

Thank you again so much for all the great info!

[Carguylee]

Thanks for the review, enjoying the pictures too, can't wait for more

[Newbcruiser1]

I don't mind you asking at all. I got a great deal 2 weeks before sailing with a special state rate.... so I am not sure if this is typical or not. I paid $1900 for a D5 OV balcony.

 

I personally paid $1576 CAD including tax for an interior guarantee room (including a $50 coupon I had as well). I think the oceanview balcony rate at the time I booked would have been about the same as your rate. I booked just over 2 months before sailing. The prices did jump significantly after I booked though.

[Newbcruiser1]

 

 

 

 

Tonight I had 1 pillow chocolate and no towel animal.

[Newbcruiser1]

Day 4 - Falmouth, Jamaica

 

I slept in (somewhat) until just before 10am, and decided to go on the zip line since it wasn’t too busy, being a port day. I made sure to wear my running shoes, although they do have loaner shoes, you just have to bring your own socks. The ride was great, but I forgot to look down at the boardwalk 10 stories below, so I went a second time since I still had the harness and helmet on. I don't have any pictures of myself on it as I had nobody with me to leave my camera with to take them (one of the downsides of travelling solo), but here is someone else having fun on it:

I was a little bit sore later that day as I'm somewhat short and it took a lot of abdominal muscle power to stop myself on the landing platform, but it wasn't nearly as sore as I was after the Flowrider on my last cruise! :)

I then went back to my room to change into my pool clothes, and headed to the Windjammer for breakfast (day 4 and my first time stepping foot in there on this cruise!). It was good, although the selection wasn’t as great as on other ships I have sailed on (particularly the lack of omelette station), but I enjoyed my breakfast and didn’t have too much trouble finding a table, being 11am on a port day. I had French toast and waffles with strawberry sauce, bacon, potatoes, roasted tomato, and chocolate milk.

 

[Newbcruiser1]

Since the port is still under construction and I didn’t have an excursion booked, I decided to stay onboard and enjoy the empty ship. I got a front row seat at the beach pool with an umbrella at 11:20 - that’s generally unheard of on a sea day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Newbcruiser1]

I went for a nice swim to cool off, and then read for a while and enjoyed a frozen mojito until it started raining at 1:20.

I then went to the Solarium and sat under one of the glass slats, out of the rain and continued to read. I opted to eat lunch at the Windjammer to see how it compares to that on other ships, and I was very disappointed. There were a lot of ethnic dishes (mainly Indian), a salad bar, burgers, etc, but I felt it was lacking in variety in comparison to past Windjammer experiences on other ships. I did however, get a nice view of the wet soggy boardwalk, and some crazy people mini-golfing in the rain! LOL!

I had some salad, fries, and chicken in tomato sauce with feta cheese and olives (which was delicious!)

Since I didn’t find much to eat, I went to the Cupcake Cupboard for dessert. I got a red velvet cupcake, and brought it back to my room.

 

 

 

[Newbcruiser1]

I hung out for a bit and watched some Shrek in my room, and then went to see the How to Train your Dragon ice show - it was excellent! They did a great job transferring the movie scenes to the ice rink.

The show ended at 6pm, sail away time. I went out to the front of deck 14, “the Sun Deck”, only accessible from the left side of the ship, down the cabin hallway. The views from here, including the bridge wings, are awesome!

 

 

[Newbcruiser1]

I hung out for a bit and watched some Shrek in my room, and then went to see the How to Train your Dragon ice show - it was excellent! They did a great job transferring the movie scenes to the ice rink.

 

 

 

 

 

The show ended at 6pm, sail away time. I went out to the front of deck 14, “the Sun Deck”, only accessible from the left side of the ship, down the cabin hallway. The views from here, including the bridge wings, are awesome!

 

 

[Newbcruiser1]

There's no public access to the Helipad on the Oasis and Allure, so this is the closest you'll get to the bow of the ship.

The cantilevered hot tub was a popular spot for sailaway:

I watched as we pulled away from the port, leaving the Pullmantur’s Horizon behind. Of course the rain started again so I went inside to shower and change.

 

[Newbcruiser1]

Bye Bye, Falmouth! See you next time, hopefully once the port area is complete! I do think it'll be a nice port once it's finished. In the meantime though, it continues to be the butt of the jokes for the comedians.

I wasn’t crazy about the MDR menu tonight (tip: you can see the menus for the whole week on your stateroom TV!), so I opted to go to Johnny Rockets. There was supposed to be an outdoor concert at 8pm at the Aqua Theatre but it was raining cats and dogs, so it was cancelled. I went straight to Johnny Rockets instead. I was given fries and onion rings to start, and I had a burger. The waiter tried to talk me into ordering more and suggested the chicken tenders, but I told him that was more than enough. The food was great, and I had an oreo sundae for dessert.

 

 

 

 

[Newbcruiser1]

The waiter made me this:

Here's a look at the rain:

It was blowing off the funnel:

I checked out Candy Beach next door... there are walls of candy that costs 75 cents per ounce... I would imagine that would add up very quickly though, as all of the candy was pretty heavy.

 

[Newbcruiser1]

I walked around the ship for a bit and checked out the view of the aquatheatre from deck 12 at night (which is well-sheltered from the rain):

And the running track on deck 5:

I had a ticket for the Headliner show tonight - it was Abbacadabra, an Abba tribute concert. I had already seen this show in February on the Liberty, so I skipped it. I did go to the Quest which I usually enjoy on other ships, however I was not a fan of Ken Rush being drunk and his rubbing the close-ups of girl's butts and boobs on the big screen along with the accompanying sound effects, so I left early and headed off to bed.

I got a towel friend tonight, but no pillow chocolates:

 

[Newbcruiser1]

Day 5: At Sea

 

I decided to try breakfast at the Solarium Bistro this morning, and it was good. I had a pancake and waffle, turkey bacon, grilled veggies (they tasted like leftovers from the previous day…), mango and papaya, and some sort of fruit trifle/parfait that looked way better than it tasted.

I then headed to the Crown and Anchor event for gold members, which was held on the boardwalk and at the aqua theatre. Be sure to keep an eye on your "mail" on your stateroom TV for the invite. They handed out free drinks, including blood marys, mimosas, champagne, and screwdrivers. I opted for a mimosa and grabbed a vanilla dip donut to go with it, which was delicious… very light and fluffy! The event consisted mostly of a short speech by Ken Rush, and Captain Johnny, and a neat little mix of high diving, the strong men from Ocean Aria, and a fountain show.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Newbcruiser1]

After that I went up to the pool deck, got a towel, and found a nice seat in the shade along the windows near the beach pool. I sat there for a couple hours and read, and then went to the Belly Flop competition in the aqua theatre. It started raining when I got there and I didn’t want to get soaked so I went up to deck 12 at the back of the ship, to the public balcony. Of course the rain had stopped by the time I got there, but it was still a cool view to watch the show from.

It was evident from the wake of the ship that Captain Johnny was zig-zagging to avoid the thunderstorms:

 

 

 

[Newbcruiser1]

I then headed off to Park Café for lunch, and had a turkey-avocado Panini. They give you a little number sign to put on your table while they’re heating the sandwich, and they bring it to you when it’s ready. It was good (nice thick turkey), however there was no avocado in it.

I decided to go back to the pool after and stayed there for another hour and finished my book, and then I went for a walk around the sports deck and watched the various activities for a bit before stopping in at the Wipeout Café for some nachos with salsa and guacamole, which I ate outside.

This cute sign is on deck 4 in Entertainment Place:

 

[UNV-IT!!!]

I had a great time getting Ken drunk. The quest is an adult show. It's suppose to be provacative.

[Newbcruiser1]

I saw Ice Games in Studio B at 7:30pm before dinner, and it was a great show. It was modelled after Monopoly and with each dice roll, the scenes changed to different venues around the ship. It was the most lively and least cheesy of any cruise ship ice show I've seen thus far.

[Newbcruiser1]

Tonight was formal night so I headed to the MDR for lobster night. I hadn’t been to my table in the MDR since night 1, and my waiter asked where I’d been. I explained that I ate elsewhere for 2 nights, and at a friend's table on one of the nights. He said that the other 3 people at my table hadn’t been back at all, and he didn't seem very happy about that (I guess due to the decrease in tips). I ended up eating by myself, and felt like a couple people at other tables were looking at me. It was very awkward. One of the head waiters came over to ask why I was eating alone so I explained to her that the head waiter I talked to on day 3 was unable to switch my table. She said that if I’d like, I could invite my friends to eat at my table the following night as my other tablemates hadn’t been showing up anyway, and that if they did show up, she’d put them somewhere else.

So back to dinner… I had the mushroom puff pastry, followed by the eggplant and tomato tartar, and then the fisherman’s plate (lobster and shrimp). The appetizers were good, but the main course was not on par with the same dish on the Liberty. The lobster tasted overcooked and was actually stuck in the shell and shredding when I tried to pull it out. I ate it anyway since that was why I went there. I skipped dessert since nothing majorly appealed to me, and I kind of just wanted to get out of there.

 

After dinner, feeling a bit lonely, I went for a quick ride on the Rising Tide Bar, and then down to the Boardwalk to the ice cream parlor to cheer myself up - the waffle cone with cookie dough ice cream somewhat did the trick and was worth the $2.50 (plus 15% gratuity).

I then roamed around the Boardwalk for a bit, and then went back to my room to do some e-mailing, etc. I didn't get chocolates or a towel animal tonight.