Nov 4, Allure of the Seas, Western Caribbean - A Review and Complete Pictorial Guide!

[jewel825]

Loving your review! Your photos are amazing! You seem to capture just about everything and it's so much fun to see it all. I look forward to continuing along with you for the next 6 days. :)

[gambee]

ok folks, it was a very long and stressful day at work. Now its time to keep my promise :-). I will address all the questions later today or tomorrow morning.

 

Day 2

Compass

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

Day 2

Cruise Specials

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

Day 2 Sea Day

 

Just a side note, I was not pleased with todays picture quality, I am not sure why, but the pictures were not to my standart (maybe lighting ::dunno:: ). But what I lack in picture quality, I make up for in content.

 

That day I woke up with a horrible migraine, it was probably from mixing all wine the night before. I ended up having sauvignon blank, moscato and cabernet. I decided to try to get rid of it with some food and coffee, rather than take excetrin migraine and risk damaging my tummy again. So I turned on the tv to place the order, once I did that mom say hi, she had been up for some time, but she didn't want to wake us up. I asked what she wanted and we decided to also order some food for the bf even though he was still sleeping.

 

Soon after I submitted the order I received a phone call, it was to verify the order and tell me a time frame for the delivery, if I recall correctly they told me 45 minutes. During that time mom and I headed to the balcony to check her email account and enjoy the view. We were a little worried because from the balcony you can't hear the nock on the door and nothing wakes the bf up. So she sat by the door, to have a better chance at listening the room service nock. I guess it did not help that I decided to put some music at a very low volume, but you tell me what is a balcony without the music you love. At that time I also started compressing a few pictures to send to the family.

 

We also discussed what a great temperature the ship has around the venues, mom never got cold and I really did not notice. In the NCL Sky she always had a problem being too cold. The night before we had walked in our swim suits from the Jacuzzi in the hallways and never really got that cold, of course she was wrapped in a towel, but none the less she noticed how confortable it was.

 

The weather was somewhat decent, maybe a little cloudy for my liking, but that helped keep the temperature nice and confortable.

 

 

 

Cuba far away.

 

A light house of the coast of cuba.

 

 

We pretty much saw Cuba the entire morning, only later on during the evening the ship started distancing itself from the coast and the clouds eventually prevented us from seing it ever again.

 

 

[gambee]

As we sat there waiting for the food to arrived we talked about the room and how they managed to fit 3-4 people in it. I really only have the cabin of the sky to compare it to, so its not really a fair comparison. The cabin is definitely cramped for 3 people and what made matters worse for us was that we had different schedules, so it was hard for Gilbert to get around cleaning the room, we tried our best to accommodate our schedules together. I loved the interactive tv system, it might be a little slow for some, but it gets the job done, it is a lot of fun to sit and play it. I actually thought the bathroom was quite large and roomy and the shower was fantastic, it had so much pressure, I loved it. There is however one thing to note, if some of you like taking cold showers, the shower never really gets cold. The starting temperature is mild and then it gets scorching HOT as you move the knob. I like a cold shower here and there, but I could not get it in the ship. I guess you could always go to one of the pools at night to make up for it.

 

So as we sat there we heard the bf calling for us, room service had arrived and we did not hear them. So mom went there and open the door. Then she attempted to grab the tray from the gentleman carrying it, I almost had a heart attack, there is no way hell that she would of been able to carry that tray. Thank God he refused and asked her if he could come in, I had already made room on a little table for him to put it down. Anyway I wish there was a system to listen to the door knock while you're at the balcony, maybe a door bell? I think I saw something like that in one of the suites, but I can't confirm that.

 

That's the tray she attempted to carry, I myself wondered if I could maneuver in that tight room with that tray.

 

 

So mom and I headed to the balcony to eat breakfast, the bf grabbed his plate and ate in bed. I was actually surprised he was up so early in the morning, but I guess with all the noise and commotion he was forced up… We ordered mainly a little of everything, I was not crazy about the eggs, the bacon was good and the hash browns were a little cold but good (I wish they gave more of them and less eggs, I guess I could order double portion, the serving was tinny). We also ordered a few different type of pastries, here is my issue with them, they list the names on the tv, but there is no way to tell which is one is which. We only liked two of them and I wish I could of told which ones they were. The other days we were forced to order all of them just to get the two we wanted. I know horrible, but what else can you do. The names they use for them do not resemble the pastry that is delivered, they should be more clear or at least show a picture of the item. Not a big deal, but something that RCCL should take note of to try to reduce waste, I hate throwing away food, unfortunately there was a lot of that in this cruise, I am very ashamed of it :(

 

 

The coffee was good and plenty of it, they did however mess up in the ice tea order and only deliver one. No biggie, mom had some water instead and gave the tea to my bf.

 

I forgot to put this down yesterday, but the way I have my notes is not the most organized one. Last night in the middle of all that euphoria my camera almost went overboard. I had it setup on the tripod and I stood up to go use the boys room and I nocked the tripod. I had it fully extended to its maximum height and it had the zoom lens (it was top heavy), I think I was trying to take a picture of a ship. Anyway mom grabbed it very fast, I am not sure if the entire thing actually would of gone overboard because of the height of the railing, but its definitely something that I would of cried over if it did happened. Thanks mom :)

 

By the way mom is following along every word and picture I post. I think she is re-living the trip all over again.

 

Say "Hi mom!" :-)

[gambee]

After breakfast we showered, got ready and mom and I headed to the solarium. Bf stayed in the room, I believe he was watching a movie, they played a lot of movies in that cruise, I think he saw them all, lol.

 

 

 

On the way to the solarium I saw this sign, yup they were in the ship, but I had yet to see them. I will get into them later in the review.

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

 

We got to the solarium at around 10:15am and we were able to get two lounge chairs by the doors, they did not have the best view, but they were very sheltered from the wind. Parts of the solarium can be very windy, its all about what you like. Personally I like a little wind, but mom had to be sheltered from the wind. One more thing to note is that if you get a chair by one of the windows, you might have some people walking in and out around your chair because they either want to take pictures or they want to feel the breeze hit their face. I can say I was one of those annoying people and after I sat down I noticed at least 5 more people around that lady in the chair. She seemed very annoyed, one person steeped on her book. Later on during the cruise I did sit by windows, but I made a little path so people could come and go as they pleased and not bother me in the process.

 

As Mom laid there and people watched while I went on a photo shoot of the solarium. I know we have all seen the solarium, but lets look at it one more time for old times sake.

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

 

 

 

 

This is a little important, I am not 100% on this comment, but I am almost sure that I am. When I was in the NCL Sky all the pools and Jacuzzis were salt water and they always messed up my jewelry, I know I should taken it off, but I am lazy… Anyway on Lady allure the 4 main pools are salt water and if I am correct this pool and all of the Jacuzzis are fresh water. This was such a treat for us, I really dislike salt water Jacuzzis. I can't comment on the current pool as I did not feel like testing my theory, lol. But I was super happy about the fresh water Jacuzzis, they were fantastic. I only used the solarium pool once, I wish I used it more, it was a great place to cool down.

 

 

Later in the review I will post a panorama so you can get a real feel for the space, I just have to look the sequence of pictures. I am not sure where I put them, but I know they are here somewhere.

[gambee]

 

 

 

Entrance to the solarium breakfast buffet.

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

More of Cuba

 

My favorite sandals, they are soooooooooooooo soft. They play part of a funny story later on in the day.

 

A little panorama of some weather south west of us.

 

 

[gambee]

 

That Jacuzzi had people packed like sardines. I have to admit that is the only time during our cruise that I saw it like that.

 

A word about elevators. The crowds felt better on the second day, but getting elevators specially aft was always an ordeal, either they take long to stop, or they stop and they are packed. Once you board the elevator it would stop on most floors with little capacity for more people. I am not one to shy away of squeezing myself in a crammed elevator, but the bf likes his space so at times we had long waits. If it was mom and I we would just squeeze in there after people told us there is no space, trust me there was plenty of space. For some reason elevators make people uncomfortable, but I was not letting that make me wait another 4 minutes for the next elevator to stop. I would also make space for people, but some would shy away and say no we will wait, thank you.

 

Once again I will comment on something to keep in mind, elevators are usually way better on the port side of the ship. Trust me on this I tested it through out the cruise, my theory is that people tend to go right first for everything first, so that ends up filling everything in the starboard side first. I wonder if left handed people go left first, :dunno:… Anyway just a little tip.

 

[gambee]

At 12:10 we went to the Royal Promenade to see the Dreamswork parade, if I am correct it started at 12:15 can't recall, I guess its in the compass for those interested. We stopped on deck 6 and got a spot in the railing, not the best view, but not horrible either.

 

 

 

 

 

These are the only pictures I took of the show, it was prior the start of the show. I will note that by FAR my FAVORITE characters of the show were the horses. Let me see if I can explain, its a guy in a suit and the suit is a horse. As the guy bounces the entire horse would bounce, it was AWSOME and so goofy. I will say that very little things bring out the child in me, those horses for some reason managed to do just that. I believe there were about 3 or 4 of them and I would wait with anticipation for them to come to the corner and make their pass in front of me. One of the best parts was that before they waited for the show to start they were right in front of me and they would bounce all over the place and once the lady with the walkie talkie would pet the horse it would tame them for few seconds and as soon as she stop the guy/horse would start bouncing again. I WAS MESMERIZED!!!

 

I really can't explain why these horses were so captivating for me, I don't really like horses that much. But the character was phenomenal, all the horse riders played it perfectly. Very goofy and smiling the entire time. I will NEVER FORGET THEM. And called me whatever you want, but just to see those horses I would do lady Allure again. I think I was more excited about those horses than most kids down there about the entire parade.

 

Thank you RCCL so letting me know that I can still enjoy the simple things in life and that the child in me still exists. As I sit here typing this I have the biggest smile in my face.

 

The rest of the parade was good, all the characters you expect and dancing and such, but in all honesty I was simply too engrossed with the horses to really appreciate anything else that was going on around me.

 

Please don't miss this parade and for those who go, enjoy the horses for me :)

 

Oh one more thing, it does get a little hot during the parade, too many people in a fairly small space.

 

[gambee]

At 12:40 we headed to the room to get the bf because we were going to go to Vintages for lunch. Mom went to the aft balcony while I took some excetrin migraine. My attempt at getting rid of the migraine with coffee had been futile "resistance is futile ;-)". She took a couple a couple of pictures back there. I was very happy to learn she finally learned how to use the camera, yayyy mom :-).

 

 

 

I believe that Vintages opened at 1:00pm, so we got ready and headed downstairs. By then we were starving and I've been looking forward for Vintages for a long time. This was my first time in a tapas restaurant, but I knew what the idea behind it was.

 

 

I took a couple of pictures of the menu at 150 on my way there.

 

 

Now that I think about it, maybe the first menu might of been better... more on that later.

 

 

 

Mom loved those birds, they were very hard to photograph. This is one of my better ones.

 

[gambee]

Once we sat down in Vintages I could feel my migraine slowly dissipating and this environment was going to be perfect to get rid of it. It was very quiet, we were the only table there and the music played softly. It was perfect, we loved it.

 

We sat down in a corner table with a very comfortable couch on one side and two chairs in the other. I took the couch, mom and bf took the chairs. When the server approached us, I placed the drink order and asked him if we could order. As you could imagine I knew exactly what we were going to eat that day. I ordered the Velasquez combo, added a paella and the shrimp/scallop/chorizo skewer. To drink we had one coke from the package it was from a coke gun, the bf had a coke that one came in a can and I had water. Mom and bf commented on the difference on the cokes, I tried them both and I guess they were right. So the bf gave my mom his can coke because she likes it better when its more gassy, he could care less either way. I really wanted a drink, but there was no way I could do it with the migraine still there.

 

While we waited for the food, I took advantage at took pictures of the menu, the pictures are not the best, but they will have to do. Lighting was horrible and the menu was super reflective.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

We got this one!

 

 

Now the wine list

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

Then I took a few pictures of the restaurant

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

Then the food arrived to the table, well at least the velasquez part of it, the other two took like 7 more minutes, my guess is because it was hot food vs cold food. But nothing to worry about, that actually made me realize that we might of over ordered, oh well, what can you do.

 

lets see if I can recall this correctly…

 

jamon cerrano I think, very tasty

 

A few different hams and sausages, very good. Also the tomatoes to the left. two different dishes in the same picture.

 

Octopus salad, tasty. I hate how bad this picture came out. I guess I moved the camera.

 

My absolute favorite, those little red things are peppers and they are stuffed with a super sweet cheese. They were to die for.

 

Crab cakes, very good. Mom and bf ate most of them.

 

gazpacho, I tried it, that was about it, no one else did, it was ok I guess. But there is actually a very funny story that goes with this dish. Well as you could have guessed the migraine was gone by then and as I was eating I grabbed the martini glass and went to take a sip thinking it was an alcoholic drink. So ashamed of it. It was almost like an impulse, the worse part of it is that I did it 3 times, not bluffing, what the hell is wrong with me. Eventually I asked the server to remove it, it was driving nuts, lol. Horrible I know. But very fuuny we where all cracking up!!! lol

[gambee]

next up came the skewers

 

And paella

 

Both very tasty.

 

As we finished I asked for the bill, service was ok, a little dry, but professional and fast. The bill came to $24 and I left something additional for tip, but can't recall how much. We sat there for some time talking and enjoying the music it was a very nice relaxing environment, in a crowded ship.

 

Then we parted ways the bf said he wanted to explore the ship, since he did not really do much the day before, mom and I wanted to see the belly flop and sexiest man contests.

 

These pictures are on our way to the aqua theater for the shows.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ohhhh, I forgot I never commented on Oceanaria last night. The show was good, mom stayed there during the entire show. I walked around and people watched from the balcony as I watched the show. You will notice that I am not one for shows, but overall I can say it was ok, she loved it. I am really not sure what the bf thinks of it, actually I am not really sure if he even say it... Can't recall.

[gambee]

Ok fellow CC members I am 100% completely exhausted, I need some rest. I hope this section of my review is as good as it started, for some reason I think its lacking something. Ill try to make up for it later on.

 

Thanks for following along, I will try to do more tomorrow morning.

 

Sleep sweet :)

[beachlovergirl]

Love the pictures !! I think this is the first review I've seen that had pictures of the Vintages menu and the food there. Thank you! :D

 

Dee

[tiffygirl]

Ok fellow CC members I am 100% completely exhausted, I need some rest. I hope this section of my review is as good as it started, for some reason I think its lacking something. Ill try to make up for it later on.

 

Thanks for following along, I will try to do more tomorrow morning.

 

Sleep sweet :)

 

you are doing a great job...no worries!

 

great pictures!!! in fact you got me looking for one of these cameras..me thinks i gotta increase my budget a few more hundred bucks!!oh my! :p

 

thanks for posting your review, it really is great!

Edited November 15, 2012 by tiffygirl

[beachbuddy]

Gambee, I am enjoying it all........every word and every photo!!! I was getting nervous thinking your bill at Vintages was going to be outrageous since there were no prices posted. I think not listing the price intimidates people from ordering. That Paella looked very good. Did you know the price of things before you ordered?

 

Can't wait for tonight to read more of your review.

 

Patty

[gambee]

you are doing a great job...no worries!

 

great pictures!!! in fact you got me looking for one of these cameras..me thinks i gotta increase my budget a few more hundred bucks!!oh my! :p

 

thanks for posting your review, it really is great!

 

Actually the prices are posted, here ill show you. It took me a little to get it.

 

Do you see the number 13.00 in the little round tab you use to flip the pages? thats the price. So I paid $13 for this combo.

 

$3.00 for the paella

 

and $3.50-$4.00 for the skewers

 

Hope that helps :)

Edited November 15, 2012 by gambee

[gambee]

You have a nice night too!:)

 

I missed you earlier. Thanks for replying, I actually did not sleep very good that night, maybe it was that scary movie I was watching. lol

 

so thankful you risked the flash for all of us. Your pictures are wonderful and make me hungry. The lamb looks awesome, but too bad it wasn't to your liking. I think this is my favorite specialty restaurant on the ship. Can't wait to read more.

 

Yeah the flash… :D Later on there will be some very annoyed people, ill get to that. Oh the lamb tasted great, the problem was how hard it was. My favorite was Chops.

 

Love this review! I remember you stopping by my "LIVE" review of Oasis so I figured I would return the favor :)

 

Great job so far!

 

Thanks for stopping by, yes I love the live report you did.