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

[cruisin_cutie216]

you have made me incredibly happy and excited for my first cruise ever!! I'll be on Allure in March 2013 and I can hardly wait!!!! Fantastic review!!!!

[canadiancruiser13]

And the CC Oscar goes to....drum roll please........ Gambee for his amazing adventure on Lady Allure in which he took 100's of people with him in his suitcase!!!!!

 

Okay - seriously Gambee - I was so intrigued by your dirty martini's that I went home on Friday and made one for myself and I'm sorry, I just couldn't do it :p I'll stick to my Grey Goose Caesars!

 

Again, thanks for all your time and effort. It was certainly worth it and greatly appreciated by all. Looking forward to your next one.

I totally agree with you, "Gambee" Rocks, this has been and is one the best posts I've read. So informative, awesome photos. Just wondering what the next cruise adventure he"ll be on???

Edited December 4, 2012 by canadiancruiser13

[gambee]

Gambee thank you so much for your review!!!! Seeing your pics took me down memory lane, but also built up my excitement for my return on the Allure in 2 weeks! I can't thank you enough for the time you took to write this review and the AMAZING pictures you took! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! I can't wait until your next review!

 

You're so welcome, I hope you have a great time on your trip, cheers to that ;-).

 

 

I just wanted to compliment you on this picture. I'm working my way through this thread, and only on day one thus far, but this is an amazing shot.

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review. Very helpful, even though I'm still more than a year away from my Allure sailing.

 

You know the funny thing is that the picture was by mistake, I was trying to focus on the wine, but I loved the result so I kept it =)

 

 

This was an amazing review :) Thank you so much for sharing everything! It really brought me back to my trip on Oasis, and all the fun that comes from cruising!

 

You're very welcome, glad you liked it =)

 

 

Thankyou Gambee for providing such an indepth review with such amazing pics. It was an immensely enjoyable read. My husband & I along with our almost 4yo daughter will be sailing on lady Allure on 6th Jan (eastern) and now have a much better insight into her. So glad I discovered your review before we left. We are also going to Cuba for 2 weeks prior, then sailing on the Independence immediately after. Then to Disney World for Sienna's 4th birthday :D We look forward to your next review to give us inspiration of where we may travel next!

Your fans Aleisha, Daniel & Sienna from Perth, Australia :)

 

 

That is a very long vacation, I hope you have a great time. I would love to visit cuba at some point in time. I am glad you got something out of my review, thanks for taking the time to post here.

[gambee]

I totally agree with you, "Gambee" Rocks, this has been and is one the best posts I've read. So informative, awesome photos. Just wondering what the next cruise adventure he"ll be on???

 

Thanks for commenting :), my next post is will be revealing my next trip, I just booked it :D

 

 

 

you have made me incredibly happy and excited for my first cruise ever!! I'll be on Allure in March 2013 and I can hardly wait!!!! Fantastic review!!!!

 

First cruise on Allure!?!?!!? You are going to be spoiled :D, lol. I am sure you will have a blast. I am glad you liked the review.

 

And the CC Oscar goes to....drum roll please........ Gambee for his amazing adventure on Lady Allure in which he took 100's of people with him in his suitcase!!!!!

 

Okay - seriously Gambee - I was so intrigued by your dirty martini's that I went home on Friday and made one for myself and I'm sorry, I just couldn't do it I'll stick to my Grey Goose Caesars!

 

Again, thanks for all your time and effort. It was certainly worth it and greatly appreciated by all. Looking forward to your next one.

 

 

lol, this post made me laugh thanks. Yeah dirty martinies are definitely an taste, ironically I hated olives until about a few years ago. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

 

Thanks for taking the time to post here. =)

[gambee]

Well after weeks of research and planning we have decided to book our next cruise. Here is what went into my way of thinking when booking this cruise. I mainly wanted a new ship, not necessarily a new class but a new ship.

 

Contenders;

NCL Breakaway

Carnival Breeze

Celebrity Reflection

I was also thinking about EPIC (not new)

Maybe a Disney Cruise (not new)

Alaska cruise

 

I spent a lot of time researching about all of them and a few other options, breakaway was the first one out of the race. The main problem with it was that the balcony cabins are too expensive at this point, to that I had to add transportation and hotel stay. I thought I could just wait another year until Miami gets her syster the Getaway. Also the itinerary is one that I really don't care much for, part of why I love cruising so much is because you're always moving. Being bocked for 3 days is just not my cup of tea.

 

I have had the Breeze in my sight for quite some time, even before Allure, I read some info on it and became attracted to it. The main problem is that the 8day itinerary is just too expensive to justify it, my understanding was that carnival ships are supposed to be priced competitively, but my guess is that since this is a new ship, they can price it however they like. They also have the 6 day itinerary, but it is very unappealing to us, I am not saying I wont do it, because most likely I will, but not just at this time.

 

So that leaves us with Lady Reflection! and she is the winner!!! Mom was simply amazed at the elegance of the ship. She has been reading reviews of many ship and she kept mentioning the s-class ships. In addition to that she was really excited about the ports San Juan, ST. Marteen and St. Thomas, as was I. In addition to some awesome ports that we never been to and brand spankin new ship, I also looking forward for the FOOD!!!

 

I am now currently working on what to do in the ports and such. And planning everything, I am sure you all know by now how much of a planner I am. I also planning on going to port of miami to see her leave port one day, just not sure when.

 

The best thing of all is that my mom gave me the cruise as a Christmas and Bday present, I could not be more excited and content about this. She is so great =)

 

ohhhh and we leave on my BIRTHDAY!!!! APRIL 6, How cool is that???? This is the first time in many many years that I do something for my birthday. Thanks mom!

 

There are some mixed reviews about this ship out there, but we are out to explore her for ourselves.

 

 

The S-Class ships from celebrity are to my eyes some of the most majestic ships at sea. Even before I started cruising it was my desire to one day be aboard one of them and my friends, that day has finally come =)!

Edited December 4, 2012 by gambee

[gambee]

Compasses

 

I managed to get all the compasses, but one day in one link.

 

 

Here is the link for those who asked for it.

 

http://photobucket.com/allurecompass

 

 

.

Edited December 4, 2012 by gambee

[raerom]

What a great mom! April 6th is my brother’s birthday as well. So looking forward to your review of Celebrity. It would be great to have the comparison of a Solstice class ship and the Allure. My husband and I struggled with the decision to book Allure or Celebrity S-class cruise. We were wondering if it would be too quiet for us. We have been on Freedom and Oasis with our 3 kids but have yet to do a cruise with just the two of us. We decided on the Allure for January 27 (54 more days.....but who’s counting?:D). We are planning on spending a lot of time in the adults only solarium. Thanks to your totally awesome Allure review I am so excited I can’t think of anything else.

 

Celebrity has a great premium drink package. Royal is now also offering a drink packaged. In my opinion it is not so great when compared to Celebrity. Any thoughts on the new Royal drink package? Would you and your Mom have made use of it if it were offered on your cruise on the Allure?

 

Look foward to hearing from you again in April!!! I will be watching the Celebrity boards!

 

Thanks for all the cruise compass’ in one location. They have been a great reference for us!

Edited December 4, 2012 by raerom

[gambee]

What a great mom! April 6th is my brother’s birthday as well. So looking forward to your review of Celebrity. It would be great to have the comparison of a Solstice class ship and the Allure. My husband and I struggled with the decision to book Allure or Celebrity S-class cruise. We were wondering if it would be too quiet for us. We have been on Freedom and Oasis with our 3 kids but have yet to do a cruise with just the two of us. We decided on the Allure for January 27 (54 more days.....but who’s counting?:D). We are planning on spending a lot of time in the adults only solarium. Thanks to your totally awesome Allure review I am so excited I can’t think of anything else.

 

Celebrity has a great premium drink package. Royal is now also offering a drink packaged. In my opinion it is not so great when compared to Celebrity. Any thoughts on the new Royal drink package? Would you and your Mom have made use of it if it were offered on your cruise on the Allure?

 

Look foward to hearing from you again in April!!! I will be watching the Celebrity boards!

 

Thanks for all the cruise compass’ in one location. They have been a great reference for us!

 

I was wondering if my next review should have a lot of comparisons or just a simple review like the Allure was. I am afraid if I start comparing ships then some loyalists might start bashing the review. I try to be very fair with my reviews, that is something that I will have to think about. Although it will be hard to write the review without comparing them.

 

It sure look like you're counting, but who is not? 4 months and 2 days for mine ;)

 

The drink package in the Allure would of been a waste of money for me and my mom. To my understanding you need to drink 6 drinks to pay it off, I could do that, no problem. But the problem is that everyone over 21 in the cabin needs to buy it. My mom can't really drink that much and I think 7 drinks a day would be too much for me.

 

Remember I bought the wine package? half way through the cruise I was struggling to keep up with it, but then again I had drank the two bottles that we brought aboard, my mom and bf did not drink much of it. I would have to look into the celebrity one and see if it is worth it for us. If they only require on person to buy it, it might be an option. But I think I am going to go a la cart for that cruise, no wine package either or maybe a smaller one. I still have a lot of research ahead of me, ill have to calculate the savings if any.

 

That was my main fear that the ship might be too quiet for me, but then again I am a quiet kind of guy, so that fear did not last long. As long as they have karaoke I am a happy camper :). I really don't go to the clubs much, I much rather a quiet venue with some old music and a few people dancing to it "Viking" ;)

[BugsyCruiser]

Great choice for your next cruise and review Gambee! I'm looking forward to it :)

[MaryAnn&Don]

Hi Gambee-.

 

Well, we're back from our cruise last week on the Allure. We had a wonderful time but discovered on Saturday we hadn't seen all of the ship. It is just too big to experience everything in one week.

 

I am now putting together all my pictures and video from the week into a video presentation. I will not be doing a review since yours is so complete.

 

At the end of the week we completed our survey and unfortunately we had to give a thumbs down on the food quality in the Windjammer. We ate there twice and after that didn't return. All the other restaurants were so much better.

 

We are now spoiled on getting the Junior Suite class stateroom so wife and I both agreed that we will book that class room again on our next cruise.

 

Speaking of next cruises, I see you decided to cure your cruise ending blues with booking another. Ours won't be until March 2014 and will be the Panama Canal to San Diego and then two weeks road trip back to Florida. It will be expensive so I think it will take over a year to save up for that one. I'm favoring RCI but looking into Celebrity too. I like their itinerary better but need to check out the ship features. Prices are about equal.

 

 

Looking forward to reading more of your reviews. You are one of my favorite authors on cruise experiences. Stay in touch with your photography too. You have my e-mail, right?

[marciab]

Congratulations Gambee on booking Reflection for your bday!

 

I, along with many others I'm sure, will be anxiously awaiting your review!

 

We are currently on the Allure, (have posted day 1 and day 2 reviews) after getting off to a less than perfect start, we are enjoying the Allue more in Day 2, but have both agreed(so far) we will be going back to Celebrity next cruise. We loved the Eclipse last January.

 

And now your countdown begins! :)

[TheSeawitch]

Caraway seeds:) Pretty strong though, I agree.

I am working my way through the review and saw these. definitely caraway...I'm allergic! I'll be sure not to eat that ;)

Loving the review so far, can't wait to keep reading. We are on the Allure in February. CAN"T WAIT!

Thank you!!

[mycruise2000]

Time moved slowly, so my CC addiction only grew deeper and deeper :D lol. I had all matters of my trip planned and each day I would go on my spreadsheet and change little details here and there.

 

Here is what my spreadsheet looked at the beginning of the cruise. Attached to this post is my calendar, feel free to grab and edit it to your own schedule. Another fellow CC member shared this one with me. By the way the final calendar looked nothing like this on, lol.

 

 

 

Flash forward to 2 weeks prior boarding, I have a boyfriend we been together for over 3 years? I forget he is the one that keeps track, I am horrible at remembering dates.

 

So some of you may ask why was he not a of part of the trip. It is kind of complicated and a long story, but I will try to explain briefly. He has many cruises under his belt around 18 I think and this is before he was 17yo, his granny used to work for NCL, so they did lots of traveling around the Caribbean. He is not very found of the Caribbean, nor the heat either and in addition to that when I booked the trip we had no idea about his university schedule. Back then I asked him if he wanted to go and he replied "it's too much money" I really did not think much of it. I actually thought he did not wanted to go, just because it's the Caribbean and with all the heat and some other issues that I will get into later on. But in a way he was right, it was too much money. Right now he is in school and I take care of most of the expenses of the house hold (he helps as he can) and with mom leaving to take care of grandma, money was a little tight.

 

So anyway back again with the story, I was at work one day and I feeling a little gloomy, I am not really sure what it was, but I just did not feel right. So out of the blue I called my TA and requested a quote for the addition of one more passenger to our cabin. What she told me was good and bad news, I was told that I could add someone but we would need to upgrade to a more $$$ cabin, the good news was that since the price dropped a little the rates for my mom and I would stay the same. But adding my bf would cost quite a bit and a little more that I had anticipated. So I took notes, thanked the nice lady for her excellent service and told her goodbye and to have a nice weekend. I preceded to think on my next move, I could technically do it, since I had some money put away.

 

I spent much of the morning thinking (one more thing to take into account was that our relationship has been a roller coaster of adapting to each other, we are in total opposite sides of the spectrum on what we like to do and how we are). But so far we do good, the one thing that we have still a few issues to resolve is traveling. I spent all morning weighting my options and came out with a simple conclusion. He is a good bf, he rarely asks for anything and I think he deserves this trip as much as I do, if he wants to go he will go. So I preceded to send him a text message asking him if he wanted to go. His response once again was "it's too much money, we need to save" so then I asking him again "you did not answer my question, would you like to go? is there any part of you that thinks that you would have fun on that cruise?" and after a 30 minute wait he replied "yes, it would be nice". Well it was settled he was going, as I was calling my TA to change my reservation, I remembered his passport was expired. I had a moment of anxiety, so I told him and he said he would do some research. Remember this is two weeks prior sailing :eek:

 

Next up; Passport in a hurry, dinning package and Wine package tips.

Gambee,

 

Where do you find the drink specials you listed on your excel planner?

[Kenlorz]

Just a little tidbit...

I just got an email from the general manager of the Caribbean Margaritaville and she confirmed that the construction Zone in Gambee's pictures is the upcoming Margaritaville.

 

Her directions to find the new location is to exit the ship, turn right and follow the tallest building... this is it.

Edited December 5, 2012 by Kenlorz

[Stella777]

As I sat there listening to ABBA, having my glass of wine looking at the ocean and wondering if there was anything better than cruising in life? That's it I was hooked, I had just realized that from then on most of my vacations were going to be spend cruising! No question about it. I was in Heaven :)

 

This is the same way that I feel. I am addicted to cruising and can't believe that I let not having anyone to go with me on a cruise hinder me from going for so long! I have two solo cruises under my belt and when I next cruise it will be a solo also unless I do actually get some friend or friends interested in going.

 

I am loving your review immensely:D. I haven't read that far, but only up to this statement you made and I just keep on reading it as I am so taken with it at the moment. I will eventually continue to read the rest of your review because it is so detailed and fascinating.

[Eng23]

Just a little tidbit...

I just got an email from the general manager of the Caribbean Margaritaville and she confirmed that the construction Zone in Gambee's pictures is the upcoming Margaritaville.

 

Her directions to find the new location is to exit the ship, turn right and follow the tallest building... this is it.

Thanks for that info Kenlorz. I asked Gambee about that when I saw that picture. When I was there on the Freedom of the Seas in 2011 it was rumored that a Margaritaville was going to be built in the port area somewhere. I will look forward to that Margaritaville being open the next time I visit Falmouth. :)

Edited December 6, 2012 by Eng23

[kiwiatchch]

Wow totally awesome!!!

Thank you so much for taking the time to post this amazing review. It has taken me a while but I have got to the last page to place a comment. I can not believe the attention that you have paid to the little details, the way you have captured the moment in the pictures and your quirky comments. You have done a great job!!

Your ports of call bought back great memories of my Freedom of the Seas cruise last year with my son. I am lucky enough to be doing a B2B on the Allure next September when I return to the States again with my son. He will only be 13 next time we sail so not quite as attentive to his mum as you are but he is the best little cruising buddy. Hoping he will still want to cruise with me when he is older! I am also celebrating my next birthday on the Allure and after reading your review I am thinking of booking CP 150 for it.

Enjoy your next cruise and thanks again.

 

Sherie

Edited December 6, 2012 by kiwiatchch

[Eng23]

Wow totally awesome!!!

Thank you so much for taking the time to post this amazing review. It has taken me a while but I have got to the last page to place a comment. I can not believe the attention that you have paid to the little details, the way you have captured the moment in the pictures and your quirky comments. You have done a great job!!

Your ports of call bought back great memories of my Freedom of the Seas cruise last year with my son. I am lucky enough to be doing a B2B on the Allure next September when I return to the States again with my son. He will only be 13 next time we sail so not quite as attentive to his mum as you are but he is the best little cruising buddy. Hoping he will still want to cruise with me when he is older! I am also celebrating my next birthday on the Allure and after reading your review I am thinking of booking CP 150 for it.

Enjoy your next cruise and thanks again.

 

Sherie

I knew you would like this review Sherie! :D

[gambee]

Great choice for your next cruise and review Gambee! I'm looking forward to it :-)

 

Yeah it took some planning to finally decide on that one, a lot of contenders. We are both looking forward for this trip and my reviewer side is excited in all sort of ways. There are two new additions to my camera setup :D, I can't wait to board to ship!

 

 

Hi Gambee-.

 

Well, we're back from our cruise last week on the Allure. We had a wonderful time but discovered on Saturday we hadn't seen all of the ship. It is just too big to experience everything in one week.

 

I am now putting together all my pictures and video from the week into a video presentation. I will not be doing a review since yours is so complete.

 

At the end of the week we completed our survey and unfortunately we had to give a thumbs down on the food quality in the Windjammer. We ate there twice and after that didn't return. All the other restaurants were so much better.

 

We are now spoiled on getting the Junior Suite class stateroom so wife and I both agreed that we will book that class room again on our next cruise.

 

Speaking of next cruises, I see you decided to cure your cruise ending blues with booking another. Ours won't be until March 2014 and will be the Panama Canal to San Diego and then two weeks road trip back to Florida. It will be expensive so I think it will take over a year to save up for that one. I'm favoring RCI but looking into Celebrity too. I like their itinerary better but need to check out the ship features. Prices are about equal.

 

 

Looking forward to reading more of your reviews. You are one of my favorite authors on cruise experiences. Stay in touch with your photography too. You have my e-mail, right?

 

I am glad you had a great time on your cruise, btw you're not the first person to complain about the windjammer. I guess we got lucky, I think maybe the main reason was because I was comparing it to the NCL one and it was much better.

 

We opted for celebrity because I simply get bored when I repeat something to often, that is why you will find that I will most likely jump from different cruise lines from now on. I am also looking into Royal Princess for Nov ;), but that is all in the air right now, nothing definite. I guess eventually I will settle into one cruise line, but not just yet.

 

I plan on going into port everglades next sunday to do a test run of some new camera equipment, if I like what I see I will post it here.

 

My email is right in my signature ccgambee@gmail.com

 

Thanks for reporting after your cruise, sorry it took me so long to reply. I been working like crazy lately.

 

 

 

Congratulations Gambee on booking Reflection for your bday!

 

I, along with many others I'm sure, will be anxiously awaiting your review!

 

We are currently on the Allure, (have posted day 1 and day 2 reviews) after getting off to a less than perfect start, we are enjoying the Allue more in Day 2, but have both agreed(so far) we will be going back to Celebrity next cruise. We loved the Eclipse last January.

 

And now your countdown begins! :)

 

You should be close to end of your cruise now, I hope things are better now. We are really looking forward to our cruise, I won't let the expectations build to high up, I don't want what happened at 150 to happen at any time of this cruise.

 

Continue to enjoy your cruise.

 

 

I am working my way through the review and saw these. definitely caraway...I'm allergic! I'll be sure not to eat that ;)

Loving the review so far, can't wait to keep reading. We are on the Allure in February. CAN"T WAIT!

Thank you!!

 

Caraway there we go, my bf went back and forth over this but came to no conclusion over them. I am not allergic to them, I just did not care for them at all. I hope you continue to enjoy the review, I bet you're crazy excited for your trip already. =) continue to enjoy.

[gambee]

Gambee,

 

Where do you find the drink specials you listed on your excel planner?

 

 

They are usually buried all over the planner.

 

example one, look in the left lower corner in this pic

 

 

 

 

look at 9:00-10:00 pm whisky for men 25% off (I actually just noticed that one, lol)

 

 

 

look at 5:00-8:00pm sunset martini hours (they have that everyday I think)

 

 

 

 

In any case is just all about sitting down with the daily compass and start looking for stuff, there are lots of savings buried in there. Hope that helps, Sorry about the delay to answer your question.

 

 

,

[gambee]

Wow totally awesome!!!

Thank you so much for taking the time to post this amazing review. It has taken me a while but I have got to the last page to place a comment. I can not believe the attention that you have paid to the little details, the way you have captured the moment in the pictures and your quirky comments. You have done a great job!!

Your ports of call bought back great memories of my Freedom of the Seas cruise last year with my son. I am lucky enough to be doing a B2B on the Allure next September when I return to the States again with my son. He will only be 13 next time we sail so not quite as attentive to his mum as you are but he is the best little cruising buddy. Hoping he will still want to cruise with me when he is older! I am also celebrating my next birthday on the Allure and after reading your review I am thinking of booking CP 150 for it.

Enjoy your next cruise and thanks again.

 

Sherie

 

That is so cool that you get to do a b2b with your son in this amazing ship. I would definitely do 150, no question about it. I don't regret doing it, it was an experience that had to be done. I am sure you will like it.

 

I hope you have the best time on your vacation, thanks for stopping by and reading my review, glad you like it. :)

 

 

 

This is the same way that I feel. I am addicted to cruising and can't believe that I let not having anyone to go with me on a cruise hinder me from going for so long! I have two solo cruises under my belt and when I next cruise it will be a solo also unless I do actually get some friend or friends interested in going.

 

I am loving your review immensely:D. I haven't read that far, but only up to this statement you made and I just keep on reading it as I am so taken with it at the moment. I will eventually continue to read the rest of your review because it is so detailed and fascinating.

 

You need to find someone to go with you, I am very lucky that my mom is such a great travel partner. It is a very good thing since my bf is not so keen of cruising the Caribbean, I guess its his loss, cause mom and I are just getting started :D.

 

I hope you get to travel soon enough again :)

 

 

Just a little tidbit...

I just got an email from the general manager of the Caribbean Margaritaville and she confirmed that the construction Zone in Gambee's pictures is the upcoming Margaritaville.

 

Her directions to find the new location is to exit the ship, turn right and follow the tallest building... this is it.

 

 

Thanks for the info, it is indeed the tallest building there.

[SenatorsFan]

Gambee, I'm so happy to hear you'll be cruising again.:) I'll definitely be looking forward to another Gambee cruise review!!:):D

Heather

[heart347]

Gambee, i'm very excited to hear you will be cruising again soon! I'm looking forward to your review of the Reflection!!!

[Stella777]

You need to find someone to go with you, I am very lucky that my mom is such a great travel partner. It is a very good thing since my bf is not so keen of cruising the Caribbean, I guess its his loss, cause mom and I are just getting started :D.

 

I hope you get to travel soon enough again :)

 

Gambee, on my first two cruises, I went with someone, but they had so much drama going on and couldn't leave it behind that it just about ruined my cruises. I didn't cruise for awhile as you can see in my "taken cruises" area because I wanted to get someone to go with me. Well,my other friends don't like to cruise, nor family either so I said the heck with it, I have a passion or addiction for cruising so I'm just going to go ahead and do it. It's more expensive but it's working for me and I am meeting the most interesting people along the way. I will be cruising again in 2014 by myself to the Western Caribbean, unless someone jumps up and decides to go. I will be following along here any future cruises you care to share about. This has been fascinating and informative reading and I have read a lot of reviews and threads here but nothing quite measures up to yours. Thanks for sharing.

Edited December 8, 2012 by Stella777

[Beth C]

Just popped back in and saw the next cruise already planned... PERFECT timing to get me through the last month waiting for my Hawaii cruise... Sail April 6-13th, review starts April 14/15... You have exactly 23 days to complete your review since I leave May 9 and it has to be finished before I leave ;) No pressure lol

 

Friends of mine always sail Celeb and have nothing but great things to say about the booze pkg... You'll love that part... Especially when mom steals your drinks :)

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited December 8, 2012 by Beth C