Allure Sept 30, 2012 - The Most Disorganized Review Ever

[swwake]

Although there are many Allure reviews on these boards, I have decided to post our experience for two reasons:

1 - Everyone has a different opinion and every cruise experience is different.

2 - When I was counting down to my Allure cruise, I simply couldn't get enough Allure reviews, pictures or information.

 

I hope this will help someone who is planning a future cruise. It will take me awhile to write and post, so feel free to ask any questions and I'll respond along the way.

 

Background:

It was Sunday, February 19, 2012. In the "dead" of a cold winter. (Incidentally, "cold" is relative. We live in Austin, Texas. It was probably 50 degrees.) My husband Chris and I were planning out our year and dreaming about a cruise with a Flowrider. Our last cruise had been a 3-nighter in October 2010 on Liberty of the Seas. Due to our budget, we concluded that night that we would have to forgo a cruise in 2012 and that it would be at least 3 years between cruises for us. Not horrible, mind you. But a little somber.

 

Monday morning, February 20, 2012. I received this email:

And I didn't trust it. I barely remembered entering the RC Facebook contest back in January. I called them and insisted that there must be a catch. I bet I have to book and buy a cruise, and you'll send me champagne and strawberries as a bon voyage gift, right? The representative assured me that it was legitimate, and, long story short, I completed the affidavit and received this in the mail shortly afterward:

 

So there you have it. We were super lucky to be one of 6 winners of the cruise. We could choose any 7-day Caribbean itinerary (excluding black-out dates in high season) on any ship sailing such itinerary. We had been on Oasis in 2010, and Liberty was (and still is) our favorite ship. If you haven't guessed already, we are huge Flowrider fans, and it is our first priority when choosing a cruise. This time, we selected Allure, just to try Ms. O's sister ship.

 

Over the next few weeks, we planned out our schedule and ultimately were booked on the September 30 sailing of Allure of the Seas. It was our first choice out of the three we submitted.

 

Commence the countdown...

[lori450]

Uh oh, I think I know what's coming.... I read somewhere that there was a problem with a flowrider and it was down for a whole (or almost a whole) cruise. Please say it isn't so. You mentioned being a flowrider fan a couple of times. If it is true, it must have been so disappointing. Bitter sweet, winning a cruise and not having the flowrider.

[Jayfo]

You've restored my faith that someone actually wins those contests!!! Congrats!!! :)

[swwake]

I titled this "The Most Disorganized Review Ever" because it will likely not end up in chronological, or any other, order. I began with good intentions of journaling our voyage, but that lasted exactly 1 day and a half. We stayed busy and I was too tired to journal at the end of the day. I will begin by trying to stay in chronological order, but I'm sure my random thoughts will be scattered around.

 

Pre-Cruise:

We had some JetBlue vouchers (free!) and flew in to FLL Saturday, September 29th at around 3pm. We met my cousin Kellye, who lives in Boca Raton, at our hotel, Embassy Suites Fort Lauderdale - 17th Street. She had big plans for our evening. I was super excited to be able to see Oasis of the Seas from our balcony.

 

We had left Austin early and were hungry, so we walked over to the Southport Raw Bar for a snack and a cold beverage. Kellye and Chris at Southport Raw Bar:

(Sorry that photo is so large. I can't figure out how to resize it, and I'm pretty sure anyone who is reading really doesn't care to see a life-size photo of people they don't know.)

 

The food was good. They have some great Bimini bread. I had a clam chowder. Good selection of beer and a cool vibe.

 

Then we decided to hop across the street to Quarterdeck for another cocktail. Great bar staff here. Back to the hotel afterward to freshen up before dinner, which was at 8:30 at Anthony's Runway 84.

 

Runway 84 is a unique restaurant with an airplane theme and a fun scene on the patio. An older crowd, and excellent Italian food. Their signature meatball appetizer is delicious!

 

After a fun evening and with full bellies, we went back to the room and attempted to get a good night's sleep. Hard to do when you're "too excited to sleep"!

[swwake]

Uh oh, I think I know what's coming.... I read somewhere that there was a problem with a flowrider and it was down for a whole (or almost a whole) cruise. Please say it isn't so. You mentioned being a flowrider fan a couple of times. If it is true, it must have been so disappointing. Bitter sweet, winning a cruise and not having the flowrider.

You read my other post the day we disembarked. And my post about the creeper taking photos. Nope, it only closed on Day 7, and that was fine with us. By that time, we were pretty worn out. It was a fantastic cruise - our best cruise ever!

 

You've restored my faith that someone actually wins those contests!!! Congrats!!! :)

Yep! They do! We were so lucky.

[lori450]

Hurrah!!!! Glad I was wrong

Anthony's is yummy. You should have called, we would have met you there! ;)

Sounds amazing, free cruise, free airfare..... It's so nice to hear that someone has such good fortune!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Langley Cruisers]

(Sorry that photo is so large. I can't figure out how to resize it, and I'm pretty sure anyone who is reading really doesn't care to see a life-size photo of people they don't know.)

 

Are you kidding? You are a beautiful couple. :) Congrats on your cruise.

[swwake]

Sunday morning, October 1, something woke me up at 5:15am. At which time I knew exactly what to do. I hopped up, opened the balcony, and took this shot of MY SHIP!

 

Butterflies. In just a few hours we would be on board! I was able to sleep for a couple more hours before we got up, showered and packed. Here's a tip: We had two large suitcases. When we initially packed, we packed everything we needed for Saturday night and Sunday morning in just one of them. We also packed all of our formal wear together in the other one (away from toiletries that might leak, and together, in case it had been lost). This made it super easy to just open one suitcase.

 

Here's a daylight shot of the ship from our balcony. It was cool inside and hot outside, so the camera fogged, but this gives you an idea of just how far from port the hotel actually is.

 

We headed downstairs for the "free hot breakfast" included in our hotel rate. In a word (well, 3 words): It. Was. Horrible. It was about 9:45 when we got there, and almost everything had been devoured. Between the cruisers getting a head start practicing loading their plates at the buffet and the conference/convention folks, the pickings were slim. The oatmeal was cold. No biscuits and/or gravy. Very little toast or bagels. Two bananas and not replenished. In addition, I felt that the service was slow. What do you expect for "free" breakfast?

 

All in all, however, Embassy Suites was just fine. We had a nice, clean, large room with a good view of the port. It's no 4- or 5-star, but we didn't expect that. The rate was good. If you want Embassy Suites, book it as soon as possible. It fills very quickly on Friday and Saturday night with cruisers.

 

At 11am, we headed out with our luggage. The hotel provides a shuttle for $7 per person. I had read that reservations are required and there is often a wait. There were indeed a lot of people waiting (two ships in port - Allure and a Carnival ship - the Valor maybe?). We walked out and inquired about the Excursion car service the hotel offers. We were told that if we wait 5 minutes for other passengers, we could also get the $7 rate. It was the fastest way there and we were excited, so we took the Excursion.

 

Once at the port, the porters loaded our bags on carts and directed us inside. It wasn't too crowded at this time, and the port is well laid-out and very easy to navigate. In the main door, to the right (for Deck 8), and through airport-style security. There were 6 or 7 lanes and about 5 people in front of us. Easy peasy and super fast.

 

We found the Deck 8 line, then found the Platinum/Emerald line for Deck 8. This was a little confusing since there was NOBODY there in line. We basically could have chosen any line.

 

In front of check-in, after security:

 

Check-in was uneventful. We provided our Set Sail pass, passports and a credit card. The agent took our photo for the "ding" and gave us our Seapass cards (which, for the first time, read "Platinum"). As with almost every RCCL employee we met on this cruise, she was super friendly.

 

We headed through the entryway to the photo lobby and had our bon voyage photo made (I didn't buy it). Here's a view of the photo area from above:

 

And another view of the non-existent 11:15am lines:

 

Up the escalators and we were directed to the Platinum waiting area. As we walked by the suite waiting area, I heard my name called. It was Harold (Eng23) from our roll call, who somehow recognized us. (Maybe from photos I had posted on the group?) We stopped to chat with him for a moment - all three of us beyond excited. Then another guy piped up and asked if we were from Cruise Critic. It was AFSouth from our roll call group. So nice to meet friendly people who we felt like we already knew, even before boarding.

 

The announcements said that they were just turning around the back-to-backers and would soon begin boarding with suite passengers. We found a couple of seats in our area. I noticed the children's play area:

 

By this time, I noticed that a good part of the Gold and general passenger area was full. On that side, they were directing people to seats, filling every one.

 

We happened to catch a glimpse of the lady from RCCL who we had seen on one of the Mighty Ships (or something) shows. In case you've seen those shows, it's the show about turnaround day on Oasis and she is the blonde lady who has to solve problems all day.

 

Suite guests were called very quickly. Then Diamond and D+. Seriously, within less than 5 minutes after calling the Suite passengers, they called Emerald and Platinum. And we were off.

[swwake]

A little hand sanitizer. A swipe of the Seapass card. A beautiful "ding" sound (music to my ears!), and we were on the gangway.

 

We were on the aft gangway. I'm still amazed at the size of the lifeboats. Also, look at all of those balconies! So much beautiful glass.

 

A little warning: I took several photos as we approached the gangway. None worth posting here, but the security officer asked me if they were photos of the ship. I don't think you're allowed to take photos in security areas or of security agents. So be careful with your cameras!

 

There was a bit of a line on the gangway, but it was moving steadily. We were walking through the doors on Deck 5 by 11:45am. Right next to the Champagne Bar in front of the grand staircase.

 

What's our first order of business, you ask?

[swwake]

Hurrah!!!! Glad I was wrong

Anthony's is yummy. You should have called, we would have met you there! ;)

Sounds amazing, free cruise, free airfare..... It's so nice to hear that someone has such good fortune!

Darn it! I lost your phone number! ;) Well, the cruise was not exactly free. We racked up quite the Seapass bill. We kept justifying it by telling ourselves the cruise was free. In the end I was saying RCCL should give everyone a free cruise. They probably made more money off of us than they do from people who pay full fare.

 

You know, when I first saw you post on the Flowrider thread about being a 50+ fanatic who shares her rash guard with unsuspecting first-timer ladies, I wondered if you may have been the super nice lady on the 3-nighter in 2010 with us. She was awesome on the Flowrider. I didn't see that LOS cruise in your signature, but since you mentioned here that you're local...maybe it was you?

 

Are you kidding? You are a beautiful couple. :) Congrats on your cruise.

Haha too funny. That's my cousin Kellye with my husband. There will be photos of me coming up. And thank you! Edited October 9, 2012 by swwake

[Sinppu]

Who cares about disorganized -it's a photo review!!! :D

 

AKA thanks ;)

[Just The 3 Of Us]

Great start - keep it coming :D

 

Barb

[lori450]

Darn it! I lost your phone number! ;) Well, the cruise was not exactly free. We racked up quite the Seapass bill. We kept justifying it by telling ourselves the cruise was free. In the end I was saying RCCL should give everyone a free cruise. They probably made more money off of us than they do from people who pay full fare.

 

You know, when I first saw you post on the Flowrider thread about being a 50+ fanatic who shares her rash guard with unsuspecting first-timer ladies, I wondered if you may have been the super nice lady on the 3-nighter in 2010 with us. She was awesome on the Flowrider. I didn't see that LOS cruise in your signature, but since you mentioned here that you're local...maybe it was you?

 

Haha too funny. That's my cousin Kellye with my husband. There will be photos of me coming up. And thank you!

 

Unfortunately, no that wasn't me. I do get a wonderful response from people when I surf. I am very short and overweight, so they cheer me on. I have had so many people send me videos of myself. It's really sweet. Glad to hear that I'm not the only "older" woman doing it.

[lori450]

Super review. I don't understand why you say disorganized, it's totally organized. Looking forward to the next installment. I'm getting so excited, you make it sound like I'm right there with you!

[swwake]

Who cares about disorganized -it's a photo review!!! :D

 

AKA thanks ;)

Well, I have SOME photos. I usually take lots, but this one is a lot like Oasis and I have tons of pics of that ship. My camera is not the best and photography skills are amateur. On this trip, my husband and I decided that there are hundreds of beautiful pictures of the ship online. Our photos are intended more to capture the experience. There will be portions of my review without many photos :( But you're welcome!

 

Great start - keep it coming :D

 

Barb

Thanks Barb!

[swwake]

Unfortunately, no that wasn't me. I do get a wonderful response from people when I surf. I am very short and overweight, so they cheer me on. I have had so many people send me videos of myself. It's really sweet. Glad to hear that I'm not the only "older" woman doing it.

I'm right behind you at 45, almost 46. I get a kick out of it when the staff ask me if I need help loading, then are surprised that I can actually load myself AND carve a little!

 

Super review. I don't understand why you say disorganized, it's totally organized. Looking forward to the next installment. I'm getting so excited, you make it sound like I'm right there with you!

So far... It will get less organized. I am still on Day 1 and I journaled that day. And, thanks for the compliments. Edited October 9, 2012 by swwake

[BillOh]

Although there are many Allure reviews on these boards, I have decided to post our experience for two reasons:

1 - Everyone has a different opinion and every cruise experience is different.

2 - When I was counting down to my Allure cruise, I simply couldn't get enough Allure reviews, pictures or information.

 

 

I'm counting down to my 2nd Allure cruise and I still read them all. I will add that I get something out of every review I've read so far.

[MM4M]

Great start...keep 'em coming!!!

[BillOh]

A little warning: I took several photos as we approached the gangway. None worth posting here, but the security officer asked me if they were photos of the ship. I don't think you're allowed to take photos in security areas or of security agents.

 

What a nice way of doing his job and at the same time not being a jerk. See, I've already got something out of this review I haven't seen elsewhere.

[TigerLady]

I'm counting down to my 2nd Allure cruise and I still read them all. I will add that I get something out of every review I've read so far.

We leave in 17 days, looking forward to the rest of your review

[swwake]

I'm counting down to my 2nd Allure cruise and I still read them all. I will add that I get something out of every review I've read so far.

Thank you. I think you did a review of your Allure cruise that I really enjoyed. I think I'm a little jealous of you going back soon.

 

Great start...keep 'em coming!!!

Thank you!

[swwake]

What a nice way of doing his job and at the same time not being a jerk. See, I've already got something out of this review I haven't seen elsewhere.

Yay! I'm glad I can help.

 

We leave in 17 days, looking forward to the rest of your review

Whew, the pressure! I hope I can get this finished in 17 days or less! You will love your cruise.

[Just The 3 Of Us]

Hey Susan - I just read your Oasis review - you are a hoot. Totally enjoyed it, especially since we will be sailing on her in a little over 200 days :rolleyes:. Thanks so much for sharing your vacation with us here on CC.

[PathfinderEss]

Enjoying your review, looking forward to the rest.

[swwake]

It was 11:45am as we walked across the threshold from gangway to the jogging track on Deck 5, and into the Promenade, flanked by the Champagne Bar on the left and Willow on the right.

 

We had several errands on our agenda. First on the list was to head to Deck 8 to 150 Central Park. We had purchased the Chef's Dining Package, and I knew we needed to make our reservations for the 2nd and 3rd restaurants.

 

The Chef's Dining Package consists of three specialty dining experiences: Chef's Table, 150 Central Park, and Chops Grill. I reserved (and paid for) it online, and it was $120 per person. When adding together all of the cover charges for the three restaurants, this provides a discount, and you could look at it as if 150 Central Park is FREE! (Are you beginning to see a theme in this review?)

 

When making the reservation, I was required to accept Chef's Table on Day 1 at 7:30pm. No options. Also, I was not permitted to make online reservations for the other two restaurants. I suppose I could have, but when you reserve 150CP and Chops online, you have to pay the cover charge when you make the reservation. I was afraid I would then have a hassle in getting a refund for those cover charges, since they were included in our package. Most of all, though, during planning and the countdown, I was very concerned that 150CP and Chops would be booked for the days and times we wanted by the time we got on board, since others were able to make the reservations. Thus, that was the first place we headed.

 

But...we were on Deck 5 where we had entered, and as we neared the elevators, Chris mentioned that he'd like to take a peek into the main dining room. At this point, with 4 specialty restaurants on our agenda, we weren't sure if we would ever make it to the MDR. So, here are some pictures for you, since this post is mostly boring text:

 

 

 

It is a beautiful dining room. I don't remember Oasis being as beautiful. But that may be because every time I was in the MDR on Oasis, I had already had at least one pre-dinner cocktail. Hmm.

 

On to Deck 8...

It was fun at 150CP. They already had the week's menus posted outside the restaurant. 150CP prepares a fixed menu, and it changes mid-week. We looked over both of them, and the shepherd's pie on the first part of the week caught Chris's eye. I was interested in the first menu because I was secretly hatching a plan to return to 150CP later in the week for the second menu. (sneaky me!) So we decided to book for Day 2, which was the first formal night. We figured if we were already dressed up, why not have a fine meal?

 

There were two parties ahead of us in line. While we waited, one of the waiters (who ended up being our waiter) chatted with us. He asked if we have any food allergies or aversions, or any questions about the menu. We knew we could buy the wine pairings, but there are so many courses, it would be a lot of wine for just one of us. So we asked him then if we could split a pairing. Interestingly, he looked puzzled and said "I guess so". (I have read that other people have done this, so I'm not sure why he was puzzled.)

 

We were next up. I pulled out my handy-dandy pre-cruise planning calendar, created in Excel and printed in full color (yes, I'm a nerd), and we figured out where 150CP would best fit our schedule. We booked it for 7:30pm on Day 2 (Monday night). Done.

 

Next it was across Central Park and around the Rising Tide bar to Chops. We had a similar experience there. And I learned that I am not alone in my fancy Excel creations when the person in front of us pulled out his own pretty spreadsheet. We decided we wanted to spread out our fancy restaurant experiences and book Chops later in the week, so we would have something to look forward to. We booked Friday night (Day 6) at 8:00pm.

 

So now, it was off to... Rita's Cantina! Yep, we had read about Rita's Fiesta (aka Rita's Mexican Madness Party) and had decided to give it a shot. It is offered only 3 nights on this cruise, and the first was Day 1, so we couldn't do that night.

 

But on the way to Rita's, we got sidetracked...