Allure of the Seas 6/3/12 - a picture review

[star453]

Fantastic review!

[swim13]

Wow this may have been mentioned before but, how does this cabin crawl work? I would love to see a Loft or Aqua Theatre Suite!!

[LittleMissMagic]

Finally caught up with your review! Great job, and I'm so honored to be mentioned as inspiration! :)

 

First, the telescopes are really cool - that's something I didn't know about this ship. Learn something new with every review!

 

That bed... is a mess! Now, I've noticed that all of the beds tend to look a lot worse when you get in the room than in the pictures online, which is to be expected. I don't think I could ever be a stateroom attendant because the bed would have to be PERFECT before I could leave the room! I'm such a bed-making perfectionist (and after I make a bed, it kills me to see anyone plop down on it!).

 

The cabin crawl looks like fun! I've never been on a roll call where someone arranged a cabin crawl (hmm... maybe I should suggest one... :D). But, I've also never shown up to a meet and greet of any sort. The first roll call I joined was from my Carnival Dream cruise, and the people on it didn't seem like anyone I would want to meet and socialize with (that was a very one-up-another group).

 

I'm interested to hear about the many entertainment options onboard, especially the shows. And please, tell me you rode the carousel! :D (Kidding, but now that I've made that joke, I am curious if adults are allowed to ride... that is something I would probably do.)

 

Again, great review! Can't wait for more!

[terpfan101]

Finally caught up with your review! Great job, and I'm so honored to be mentioned as inspiration! :)

 

First, the telescopes are really cool - that's something I didn't know about this ship. Learn something new with every review!

 

That bed... is a mess! Now, I've noticed that all of the beds tend to look a lot worse when you get in the room than in the pictures online, which is to be expected. I don't think I could ever be a stateroom attendant because the bed would have to be PERFECT before I could leave the room! I'm such a bed-making perfectionist (and after I make a bed, it kills me to see anyone plop down on it!).

 

The cabin crawl looks like fun! I've never been on a roll call where someone arranged a cabin crawl (hmm... maybe I should suggest one... :D). But, I've also never shown up to a meet and greet of any sort. The first roll call I joined was from my Carnival Dream cruise, and the people on it didn't seem like anyone I would want to meet and socialize with (that was a very one-up-another group).

 

I'm interested to hear about the many entertainment options onboard, especially the shows. And please, tell me you rode the carousel! :D (Kidding, but now that I've made that joke, I am curious if adults are allowed to ride... that is something I would probably do.)

 

Again, great review! Can't wait for more!

 

Thanks!!! Coming from you this is an honor :) I did ride the carousel...twice infact haha. It wasn't ever crowded at all. Definitely try a meet and mingle next 7 day cruise you go on. You never know and its only a 30 minute commitment if it doesn't work out.

 

I'm finding it funny how everyone seems to comment on the bed being messy. Lindsay also was a bit annoyed by it but it really wasn't a big deal to me. Just a bit wrinkled. I guess Vic wasn't the best bed maker ever because it was never perfect looking but that was the worst it was during the cruise. He made up for it with his friendliness and cleaning the room very well otherwise! Getting ready for the next part.

[terpfan101]

Greetings everyone! I'm really enjoying writing this review and doing so not too fast as it's allowing me to recollect the fun times on the ship. I definitely want to go back on the Allure but alas there are so many other places I'd like to go to (Southern Caribbean, Med, South Pacific, Alaska) that the eastern route will probably have to wait. Anyway on to the next section where I'm going to talk about the pool and sports decks as well as miscellaneous things to do on the ship...here we go!

 

Starting with the pool deck which is located on deck 15, as anyone familiar with the Oasis class knows there are four pools and numerous whirlpools in the heart of the 15th deck. There are also numerous bars as I described above. You've got the main pool, beach pool, sports pool, and kids pool. I walked on by the beach pool which seemed kind of cool as the water comes out of the pool and up to the chairs right next to the pool sort of creating an effect like waves running up the sand would do at a beach. It is also the only saltwater pool of the bunch.

 

The main pool is simply a pool with nothing really special about it. There are tons of lounge chairs on a tiered three levels that lead up to deck 16 right next to this pool. We spent a few hours on the first sea day relaxing by this pool and I went in for a bit. No issues whatsoever getting a lounge chair.

 

The sports pool is where the three of us couples spent an hour or two on the final sea day. It was pretty much like the main pool except during certain hours they put up a net for volleyball. There was a game going on that Aaron and Todd participated in. Finally for young kids the kiddie pool looked like they'd enjoy it. There were tons of plain jane whirlpools near each of those pools as well. The coolest whirlpools however are the two cantilevered ones which are near the Solarium at the front of the ship. We spent a few minutes in one of them on that first sea day and it was cool to be able to look out into the ocean. However I guess I was anticipating it to be more exciting.

 

At the forward of the ship is the Solarium which is simply gorgeous. There were lots of trees and plants in it, certainly the nicest Solarium that I've been in. We didn't spend too much time in there but I'd like to if I ever go on Oasis class again. I was surprised at how small the pool in there was though. It didn't seem to be an issue as it wasn't crowded the few times I went in, but I was just surprised at its size, especially considering the Enchantment's was 1.5x larger. There were also a couple of whirlpools. It was a nice retreat if you wanted to read. I also think the roof was retractable in bad weather, but it was open during the entire cruise.

 

One thing about the solarium that I was disappointed by was that the famous couples chair from the marketing pictures of the solarium were nowhere to be found. See the picture below for what I'm talking about. I learned from Aaron that these chairs were found up on the suite sun deck which is accessible via stairs from the pool deck and requires a gold card to access. I never did take a peak at them.

 

Now onto the sports related activities on decks 15 and 16. At the aft of deck 15 past the teen areas are a few ping pong tables which always seemed to be occupied, so we didn't use them. It was nice to see that they were in a glass enclosed area which meant no wind and no problems having to retrieve the balls. The nine hole mini golf course and basketball court were also at the back of the ship. I saw tons of people playing basketball, so I guess it was a good use of space, but I am still surprised at the fact that such a large court exists onboard.

 

The golfcourse was nice but very quick to complete. It also wasn't very exciting or unique as there weren't any cool features. I guess I'm just comparing it to the Putt Putt that I used to go to as a kid. Nevertheless it was still fun to do and is an easy activity to do as you could be done in under 15 minutes. Here are a few pictures of us playing mini golf:

 

 

 

Continued in the next post...

[ilikepups]

We were on the same cruise as you in cabin 8172. I would also say that it was a great area on the ship to be in. We were regulars at Park Cafe for the roast beef sandwiches as well. Although a couple times there were no tables available we simply took the food back and ate on our balcony! Was easy to get a nice breakfast panini there also. Would definitly book a room in the same area again as most things were just an elevator ride away and a short walk. Love your reviews keep them coming. We ate at the Samba room for one of out dinner nights out. Was VERY good. We have cruised on Allure previously and ate at Chops, must say were were not impressed with the steak, the side dishes and all were very good but the steaks were up to what we thought they should be for the upcharge. We never ate at the buffet as we were told to stay as far away from there as possible!!! Guess it can get pretty crowded and there are so many other options for eating. Like the hot dog place on the boardwalk. Yes we did our share of dogs too.

[terpfan101]

At the back of deck 15 are also some stairs up to the two flow riders and the zip line. I was intrigued by the flow riders and had a try on the afternoon of Cozumel as we came back a bit early. It was much less crowded that day then it appeared to be on sea days. I tried the surfing one first and it was definitely difficult to get the hang of. Once the attendant let go of my hand I fell pretty quickly, so he let me try again. I managed to last about 10 seconds before falling and had enough. I also tried the boogie boarding side which was easier but still was challenging to keep from getting pushed off the course to where waterflow did not go. It was ok but not something I'd be in a rush to do again. I know Aaron and Amy really enjoyed it though and took a group lesson which would probably be good to get the hang of it better. Here's a picture of me on it:

 

We also tried the zip line one day. I had to convince Lindsay to do it as she doesn't like heights but she managed to go. It was fun and definitely cool to do even though the ride lasted literally under 15 seconds.

 

 

Here is a video of me on the zip line:

 

On deck 7 are the rock climbing walls at the back of the ship. We didn't do them due to a lack of time and the fact that it was pretty much the same as the one on Enchantment and I've done rock climbing walls plenty of times at the summer camp I went to and worked at for many years. Here's a picture anyway.

 

 

Finally, I'll touch upon all of the various activities onboard. There are tons of things to do whether they are various daily activities mentioned in the cruise compass or things such as the carousel. I'll post the scanned cruise compasses at the end of my review so you can see what was available to do. Due to lack of time, we didn't do too many other things but we did try the carousel. It was never crowded at all and ran many hours of the day. Definitely do it as it takes no time and not many people will ever be able to say the rode one at sea!

Here's a bad picture from it:

 

 

Up next: Spa and fitness center

[terpfan101]

We were on the same cruise as you in cabin 8172. I would also say that it was a great area on the ship to be in. We were regulars at Park Cafe for the roast beef sandwiches as well. Although a couple times there were no tables available we simply took the food back and ate on our balcony! Was easy to get a nice breakfast panini there also. Would definitly book a room in the same area again as most things were just an elevator ride away and a short walk. Love your reviews keep them coming. We ate at the Samba room for one of out dinner nights out. Was VERY good. We have cruised on Allure previously and ate at Chops, must say were were not impressed with the steak, the side dishes and all were very good but the steaks were up to what we thought they should be for the upcharge. We never ate at the buffet as we were told to stay as far away from there as possible!!! Guess it can get pretty crowded and there are so many other options for eating. Like the hot dog place on the boardwalk. Yes we did our share of dogs too.

 

How about that! You were just a few rooms down!! Crazy. Thanks for stopping by and glad you had a fun time on the cruise too!

[ilikepups]

Although the "pub" was a smoking venue there is only smoking aloud at the actual bar. We were there almost every night as we really enjoyed Charlie Jourdan, the entertainer there. Smoking was not an issue at all. Just don't sit in the back by the actual bar.

[ncb106]

How about that! You were just a few rooms down!! Crazy. Thanks for stopping by and glad you had a fun time on the cruise too!

Hi love your review I will like to know from your room to the MDR did you went threw central park to the aft elev or down to deci 3

[vettecruiser1]

How do you post your photos. I'm trying to use the manage attachments but the photos are coming out small.

 

I would like to do a photo review of my oasis trip but with the bigger photos.

[relaxatsea]

Thanks for your wonderful review and great pictures! We were on the Allure last November and absolutely loved it!

[surfvb]

we are booked to sail on the Allure of the Seas next year. We have sailed on the Freedom twice and the Liberty once. We can't wait until our next cruise.

[Canadian Tyler]

Enjoying the review, thanks for taking the time to post it.

[terpfan101]

Hi love your review I will like to know from your room to the MDR did you went threw central park to the aft elev or down to deci 3

 

Hi there. We ate on deck 3 in the MDR but actually only ate there two nights out of seven. However when we did go to deck 3 our route varied, but we rarely took the elevator unless it was a formal night and my girlfriend was in high heels.

 

Options to get from my room to MDR on deck 3 are either:

 

1) Go down the forward elevator/stairs and walk the length of the ship to the aft.

 

2) Go through Central Park to the aft and walk down or take elevator down to 3, or

 

3) Walk down the corridor on deck 8 and then go down stairs or elevator to deck 3.

 

I would say that we did #3 the most followed by #2 for going to either dining room or boardwalk. Hope that helps.

[terpfan101]

How do you post your photos. I'm trying to use the manage attachments but the photos are coming out small.

 

I would like to do a photo review of my oasis trip but with the bigger photos.

 

I'm linking from the photos that I uploaded to Facebook. If you use Facebook and have a photo uploaded, just right click on it and choose "copy image location" or something like that. Then paste that link in the post by clicking on the image button above the box where you type. It is next to the "quote" button. Hope that helps!

[terpfan101]

we are booked to sail on the Allure of the Seas next year. We have sailed on the Freedom twice and the Liberty once. We can't wait until our next cruise.

 

Oh man I can't imagine waiting as long as you have to...426 days as of now! I booked our cruise in late December 2011, so if I recall it was only about 155 or so days and it seemed like a while. I just remember the milestones of 100 days and then 75, 50, 25, and 10 days.

 

Thanks for reading and I'll try to post my next part or two tomorrow. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

[QTMichele]

You've been inspired by some great reviews! ;)

 

Seriously, thank you for mentioning me in your opening comments - I really glad you found something good about my review, and that you put me in such great company. Thank you.

 

YOUR review is turning out great, and I can't wait to read more! It's especially fun to see how many similarities we share. Keep up the great work!

[Pancake16]

Oh man I can't imagine waiting as long as you have to...426 days as of now! I booked our cruise in late December 2011, so if I recall it was only about 155 or so days and it seemed like a while. I just remember the milestones of 100 days and then 75, 50, 25, and 10 days.

 

I know! We booked in late December for September. I'm at the 75 day mark and CAN. NOT. WAIT!

[darceyg]

Thank you....brilliant review.

We were originally offered deck 8 and I thought it would be noisy/busy etc. We are on deck 11 and now wishing we were on deck 8 but I'm sure we'll have a fab time.

Can't wait 08/05/12 whoohoo.

[topanga49er]

Thank you for doing this great review! We just got off Oasis on Spring break week and I've not yet even started a review! But i sure got us booked on Allure for same date next year! (funny but b/c Easter is a week earlier, cruise is over $1500 cheaper!) Can't wait to try out Allure (we've booked a CL this time; did GS on Oasis and loved it!

 

BTW, only thing I can add as far as dining is that the MDR was really great for Breakfast and lunch! We try to eat healthy, and aside from the buffet, the bfast in MDR had great sliced fruit and omelets to order. And at lunch it had the same amazing "point and have someone make your salad buffet" as in Park cafe... maybe even better b/c they chopped and tossed salad for you! Allure seems to have better pay food venues than Oasis though.

 

Did they have the royal connect iphones on Allure? We loved them on Oasis; they worked about 90% of the time and were great for finding wandering children, husbands and elderly parents!!:D

[terpfan101]

Good evening! Let's get on with the next section where I'll discuss the Vitality Spa and Fitness Center. First the fitness center was the nicest I've seen on my three cruises. It is massive and has amazing new equipment. There were tons of cardio machines each with a TV built into the screen which shows your progress. The channel selection was more limited on the machines, but it was still pretty good to have. As far as free weights and machines go, there were so many available. Just about every single machine possible was there along with tons of free weights. I simply was amazed at how nice the fitness center was and the fact that it was far superior to any gym I've ever paid to belong to (five different ones)! We didn't take any classes but they certainly offered a good amount of them if you were interested. We also walked a lap around the jogging track. While it's not as nice as say the one on the Enchantment which goes around the deck above the pool, it is much more practical to have a dedicated track without interference from other passengers walking in the way of runners. Also there were still plenty of chances to see out to see between the lifeboats. You realize just how large the ship is on the track as 2.4 laps is equal to a mile (vs the standard 4 laps)!

 

Here's a picture of the view from the treadmill:

 

 

Also a picture of the fitness center from Beyond Ships:

 

A common complaint I've seen is that the gym has limited views of the water. I agree that this is true as there are only a few windows scattered around the gym whereas on most other Royal ships the gym is on a top deck with far more glass looking out to sea. However this wasn't a huge issue.

 

Another complaint that I have seen is that the gym smells of cigarette smoke. We didn't experience this at all except on the very first day when we were still docked in Fort Lauderdale and were exploring the ship. There was just a slight smell of smoke, but I'm guessing it was due to the fact that so many doors and windows were open. Never experienced an issue later though.

 

Now onto the spa. On the first day during our exploring of the ship we went into the spa and were given a tour by a nice lady from South Africa. She took us to all the different rooms and discussed services that were offered. We also got to see the thermal suite and sit in these really cool chairs that are heated. You pay $30 a day or $99 for the cruise to access it. It also includes access to some saunas and steamrooms. While the chair was nice, $30 seems a bit steep for the use of which would probably last only 30 minutes. I can't imagine how anyone could sit in that chair for any longer period of time. Nor can I imagine how anyone would want to spend so much time of the cruise when there is so much else to do onboard. Here's a picture from another website of this room:

 

I went on the cruise expecting to not get any spa treatments, however I did know that they offer a lot of specials typically on sea days, and that I might be tempted by one. At the regular prices I just couldn't justify the spa services when there are plenty of highly rated spas in the DC area for no more than maybe 70% of the price on board.

 

However when I saw the special for day 3, the day we were in Labadee, I was sold. Here is the description of the Relaxation Package that both Lindsay and I got:

 

 

I've actually had a facial before in the British Airways lounge at London Heathrow but it was short and only lasted 10-15 minutes. This would be my first real massage and I didn't really know what to do. The masseuse had stepped out and she told me to take off my robe and lie on the bed and just cover myself but I didn't know how much to cover with the sheet. Then when she returned, I at first was talking a little bit and then realized I probably should just shut up and enjoy the massage!! Well it was fantastic and well worth the price. The scalp massage felt a bit strange and is probably not something I'd really care for in the future. The whole thing probably lasted close to 50-60 minutes. I highly recommend getting a package treatment like this. Oh and the masseuse didn't do such a hard sell of the products which I had expected to receive. That was appreciated for sure.

 

I kept checking the specials for the rest of the week and they ran a similar special on day seven. Day six (Cozumel) had just 15% off signature treatments. Day four however had probably the best package which can be seen below:

 

Basically the only difference between the package I got and the one above is that the one above was $10 more but included use of the thermal suite and a glass of champagne. The facial I received included some eye treatment. I am not sure though whether I got a Swedish or deep tissue massage. One last note on this, I called the night before to book the massage package for the both of us which was probably a good idea to do as it was very crowded and I'm guessing they were filled up pretty quickly. We had a time of I believe 3:30 or 4:00PM. So we still had pretty much the entire day in Labadee.

 

We never used the Vitality Cafe, but all of the foods (wraps, fruit, and other healthy snacks) were free. It was just smoothies that cost extra. It was never very crowded so I wonder how well it does.

 

So the spa and fitness center on the Allure are definitely top notch and I highly recommend getting a treatment, especially the package deals. I'd have loved to have had a couples massage, but at close to $300 with the gratuity added, it was hard to justify as local top spas offer a couples massage for just a little over half that price.

 

Up next: The fantastic entertainment and shows aboard the Allure of the Seas!

[terpfan101]

Thank you....brilliant review.

We were originally offered deck 8 and I thought it would be noisy/busy etc. We are on deck 11 and now wishing we were on deck 8 but I'm sure we'll have a fab time.

Can't wait 08/05/12 whoohoo.

 

Awesome that you'll be on in a few months (I'm kind of jealous ;)). Deck 8 was great as I mentioned, but you'll be fine in deck 11 and it is close to the upper decks and only three stories from deck 8 and five from deck 6. Just not as central IMO. But yes you'll have a great time!

[terpfan101]

Thank you for doing this great review! We just got off Oasis on Spring break week and I've not yet even started a review! But i sure got us booked on Allure for same date next year! (funny but b/c Easter is a week earlier, cruise is over $1500 cheaper!) Can't wait to try out Allure (we've booked a CL this time; did GS on Oasis and loved it!

 

BTW, only thing I can add as far as dining is that the MDR was really great for Breakfast and lunch! We try to eat healthy, and aside from the buffet, the bfast in MDR had great sliced fruit and omelets to order. And at lunch it had the same amazing "point and have someone make your salad buffet" as in Park cafe... maybe even better b/c they chopped and tossed salad for you! Allure seems to have better pay food venues than Oasis though.

 

Did they have the royal connect iphones on Allure? We loved them on Oasis; they worked about 90% of the time and were great for finding wandering children, husbands and elderly parents!!:D

 

To answer your last question I'm pretty sure they did as I saw some ads for it. Never saw anyone with it that I could tell though. As far as the food I'll be getting to that in a little while. I'm a foodie so want to have ample time for that section! You're going to have a blast. I guess I wouldn't mind trying the Oasis but feel as if I'd like to do the Allure again only the eastern route since Allure is newer. So many cruises to do though! Oh and you're going to love the CL suite. It was amazing to see.

[BettyPC]

Great review - I am enjoying it & looking forward to more!

 

Thanks for sharing your vacation with us!