Back from Allure - First Time Cruiser Perspective

[James Baird]

Just going to write some thoughts about our recent cruise on the Allure. This was our first time cruising so hopefully this will help some of the other new cruisers out there.

 

Getting on and off the ship - New cruisers, do not worry about this at all .....embarking, disembarking or getting off for an excursion. RCI does such a great job expediting this process and making it easy. Just make sure you have the proper travel docs and you will have no problem.

 

First moments on the ship - You will be a little disoriented the moment you get on the ship. My recommendation is to head straight for the nearest elevator and go to deck 8 and get something to eat at the Park Cafe. Once you get settled review the directories located near all of the elevators. Getting around the ship is totally easy. Nothing to worry about. Your room will be ready exactly at 1:00pm. Go to your room and get the cruise compass to figure out what you want to do the rest of the day.

 

Dining - We elected to get my time dining and prepay the gratuities. We had a set time of 6:00pm to eat in the main dining room. We signed up for the time about two months in advance on the RCI website. Times do fill up so if you want my time dining get your reservation early. We liked eating every night at 6:00 so we would have the same table and servers every night. We became quite attached to them as they treated us and especially my 4 year old son so thoughtfully. We couldnt have been more impressed with service we received from everyone. Hats off to Pablo, Anna, Kenroy and RCI for hiring such good people. We elected not to partake in the specialty dining options. I can't imagine it is worth it because the food and service was so good in the main dining room. I was pleasantly surprised by the different options available in the MDR. I was worried that they would only have two or three choices but each night there were more like 6 or 7 to choose from. As far as all of the other free venues we liked the Park Cafe best for lunch. They have great salads and roast beef sandwhiches among other items. We also enjoyed going to the Wipe Out Cafe for the pretzel hot dogs and other goodies while we were at the pool deck. For breakfast the MDR has a good buffet and the solarium has more of a health conscious menu with a great atmosphere. The Windjammer buffet is good but it can get a little crazy trying to get a table and figure out what you want. YOu can also get breakfast at Johnny Rockets for free and donuts on the boardwalk.

 

Drinks - All of the bars are awesome and the drinks are pretty reasonably priced. I love JD and coke and they make a good one especially in the MDR.

 

Entertainment - I would say all of the entertainment is mediocre. If you really want to guarantee you see something make sure to book via the website as early as possible. Everything was booked when we went to do it a month in advance. Don't worry too much though if it is booked up. You can make reservations on Deck 4 as soon as you walk on the boat or just wait in the standby lines. Most people get into the shows in the standby lines. The only time I saw people turned away was for the comedy show. Also like other people have mentioned, anything at the aqua theater can be viewed by the public areas on decks 11, 12 and 14. Just head through the staterooms to the AFT part of the ship and out the door.

 

Casino - Try to avoid at all costs if you are a seasoned player. I like blackjack and the play is terrible, the dealers are too fast and they use mostly continuous shuffles. This equals losing your money very fast. Maybe it was just me but I was hoping to play every night for a while but i lost a good bank roll in about 3 hours of total playing time.

 

Excurusions - We did two beach excursions in St Thomas and St Martin. They were both very nice. My biggest complaint was in St Thomas we arrived at Magens Beach at 11:00 and had to be picked up by 1:00pm. Not sure why it is so short when the boat doesn't leave until 6 at night. Maybe somebody can explain that to me but it was really rushed. The excursion at Orient Beach in St Martin was a bit longer and included a nice lunch.

 

Secret Cigar Bar - I finally found this on the second to last night on the ship. It is all the way on deck 17 above the solarium. YOu have to go through the gold pass only gates to get to it. THose scared me off the first 5 nights but when i found it up there it was really relaxing and I enjoyed the company there with a nice Romeo and Juliet cigar.

 

Adventure Ocean - My 4 year old son loved everything about this cruise. By the time we ate at 6 he was totally wiped out and fell asleep at dinner. The Adventure Ocean located on deck 14 is just great for the kids and parents. The kids can actually be there from 9am to 2am in the morning (charge of 6 dollars and hour from 10pm to 2am otherwise it is free unless you have them there for lunch or dinner and then it is 8 bucks to feed them). My son loved his time there and it was great when my wife and I wanted some alone time. All of the staff treated him with very special attention. The service on the ship is really second to none especially as it relates to the kids. My only slight negative would be the kids pool area which gets really crowded and I think could be more enhanced.

 

I am probably forgetting some of my thoughts but if anybody has any questions I will check back and will answer any questions you first time cruisers might have. You will really enjoy the cruise and there is so much to do.

[pmkejk]

Thanks for your review. Did they have drink special in the bars each day (other than the drink of the day), like 2 for 1 specials?

[BillOh]

Nicely done, I'm sure it will put a lot of first timers at ease, this really is a great ship. That is a shame to have only 2 hours at the beach at St Thomas.

[Clarea]

Thanks for your review. Did they have drink special in the bars each day (other than the drink of the day), like 2 for 1 specials?

They had a special in Blaze every evening. Not 100% sure, but I thought it was a 2 for 1 special.

[LBumb]

good job. next time just hail a taxi and go to the beaches on your own.

[sharod]

Enjoyed your review.

 

We sailed the Allure in March and thoroughly enjoyed our cruise!!!

 

Is this the Anna you mentioned? Because if it isn't, there are two awesome Anna's in the dining room!!!!

 

 

ETA: My dear husband had to video our waitstaff. We had MTD, but with no reservations. We requested the same waiter/asst waiter each night and thoroughly enjoyed our time with them. They were outstanding!!!

[batman79]

Thanks for the review.

 

Can you sit anywhere you want when you go to the MDR for breakfast?

[alexkrn46]

Thank you so much for your review. Glad you had a great time.

[OCruisers]

:cool: Thanks so much for your time to do this!

[James Baird]

Hi All

 

Every day there were some drink specials around the ship. Just be sure to look at the cruise compass thuroughly. We enjoyed 20% martini's at the Viking Lounge during sunset hours.

 

That is indeed the Anna I was referring to. Thanks so much for posting the picture of her. She went above and beyond the call of duty to make sure my son had extra special attention.

 

As far as breakfast in the MDR, seating was sort of strange. You can't just sit where you want and sometimes they will pair you up with other couples. Also, they like to split up on different sides the ala cart orderers with the breakfast buffet orderers.

 

Let me know if there are any other questions. Thanks.

[James Baird]

That was 20% off Martini's!! Sorry.

[RLM77]

As far as breakfast in the MDR, seating was sort of strange. You can't just sit where you want and sometimes they will pair you up with other couples. .

 

We have found that if you ask for a table for two AND ONLY FOR TWO, you will be seated as a couple.

[CaptData]

Yes, ask for the size of table you want ie table for 2 or join others.