Allure of the Seas....the good, the bad and the AMAZING

[kristinp36]

First let’s set the stage with the players.

 

ME (Kristin/40) – sailed on 9 cruises with a combination of RC and Carnival. I am a Compensation Analyst so I love to research and over plan because I have an analytical mind. I also love photography so this review will be loaded with pictures.

 

Hubs (Lee/53) – sailed on 10+ cruises with a combination of RC, Carnival & Princess. Hubs is a Corporate Travel Manager so he has traveled a lot, does not impress easily and tends to prefer spur of the moment instead of planned vacations.

 

Mom (Pam/69) – sailed on 1 cruise approx. 6 years ago on RC with us but it was a smaller ship out of LA. Retired stay-at-home mother with an 8 year stint working at a deli when the kids were in Middle/High school.

 

Dad (John/74) – same as Mom above – 1 cruise. Retired, hard-working landscaper at a local mall for 30+ years.

 

Hubs and I love to cruise and try to cruise at least once a year sometimes twice a year. My parents on the other hand tend to do more camping/road-trip type vacations. We decided we would invite them along to check out the gigantic Allure of the Seas. This was a celebration for my 40th birthday and my parent’s 45th wedding anniversary.

 

We realized this could (well let’s be honest: this WOULD) make for a more stressful cruising experience for us due to differing experiences and interests. Even though there were moments on the cruise where I thought “what were we thinking inviting them”, I am so glad we did. These are great memories that in the long term are priceless and we were able to share it with them. This was their first trip to the East Coast and the first time they had been on a plane in 10+ years. They would never consider traveling from the West Coast (Oregon) to the East Coast on their own and they are also getting to a place where travel is becoming difficult due to health issues. I know it was an amazing experience for them and that means the world to me. Was it stressful? Heck ya! Did they get on my nerves at time? I could tell you some stories!

 

Was it worth it? More than I could imagine!

[kristinp36]

Let’s get going….as I mentioned in the title this will cover the good, the bad and the AMAZING! We got a great deal from a TA that included lots of perks. I will cover the perks later on as they lead to some of the “bad”. About 4 days before the cruise the hubs and I received a call from the upgrade fairy. First time for an upgrade so we took it. We moved from an interior room to a Central Park Balcony. We figured there are only 2 ships out there were you can overlook a park! Mom and Dad did not get upgraded and stayed in an interior room that happened to be on the same floor as our upgraded room. Things are looking good and I am getting more and more excited.

Flying in from the West Coast we always fly in a day early to be safe. We arrived around 9 PM the day for before we sailed. I should mention that this review is a little past due as we sailed in Sept 2012 but writing this review is letting me relive the vacation. We waited about 20 minutes for a shuttle to our hotel (Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites FTL Airport Cruise). Simple hotel…..clean, good price and breakfast. Grocery store across the street so we were able to buy some soda to take on board and anything we may have forgotten to pack.

 

My mother needs to sleep with oxygen so she had pre-arranged with RC and Special Needs at Sea (RC recommended) to have oxygen and equipment delivered to the hotel for the night. It was there waiting for us to wheel up to the room. My mother raved about the service she received from RC and N@S. The best part is they picked up the equipment from the hotel on our sailing date and delivered it to the ship. We all had some concern about the equipment making it onto the ship but everything went off without any issues. Mom could finally relax!

[kristinp36]

Sailing day……

We were up early and excited to get to the port. Hubs and I had seen the Allure of the Seas in port as we were sailing on other ships out of Ft Lauderdale so we knew how big and impressive she is. My parents had no idea what they were getting into! We waded through the morning chaos at the hotel and got a shuttle in about 25 minutes. Not too bad….I think it was $8 pp through the hotel. Off to port we go….

 

Check in was a breeze. RC has this down to a science. It only took about 20 minutes and most of that time was waiting at the x-ray machines. Everyone had the appropriate documents, we had our sign & sail cards….now off to take the customary picture prior to boarding.

 

Here we all are…apparently hubs was feeling like he was too cool that day and didn’t remove his sunglasses.

 

Up the gangway into the beautiful promenade……after lots of oooo’s and awe’s we headed up to Central Park to eat a quick bite at Park Café. It was getting busy but we were able to snag a table outside which was good and bad. What could be bad about that you ask….well it was raining lightly. Not a huge deal after all we ARE from Oregon. Everyone got something different. I got the roast beef sandwich and my favorite potato chips. The sandwich was good but I really liked the salted bun that it was served on.

 

[kristinp36]

I was so excited to explore all the neighborhoods that the Allure has to offer so off we go to explore. Since we were already in Central Park we headed for the Boardwalk next.

 

Entertainers practicing while we were still in port

 

 

 

 

The Boardwalk….I liked this space. It always seemed to have action and a joy to it. Reminded me of childhood trips to the beach.

 

 

 

The Solarium...we didn't sail on the sunniest day :(

 

 

Pool deck….you can see they are getting excited. I LOVE this pic.

 

[kristinp36]

I wanted to check out the Spa so I talked my parents into going on the Spa Tour. Hubs skipped this part. Our tour guide did not seem like she wanted to be there and was a little ridged. I am glad we took the tour. We did not end up using any Spa services during the cruise so I would have missed it otherwise.

 

Waiting room in the Spa

 

Dad “testing” out one of the heated chairs

 

 

Mom can’t do stairs very well anymore so they hitched a ride on the elevator in the Spa

 

 

The gym….Hubs really enjoyed the gym on this ship. I did not share his enjoyment for 2 reasons….1. He goes to the gym at 6 am. 2. I am on vacation and I am not getting up at 6 am nor am I visiting a gym on vacation!

 

[kristinp36]

The Spa tour was ending and we had a short amount of time before sail away to visit our rooms and check on the luggage. Everyone’s luggage arrived including the two 12 packs of soda we checked curb-side. FYI - It was one 12 pack for each room. Our rooms were about ¼ the length of the ship apart but on the same floor and side of the ship so it was easy to visit both cabins.

 

Our room. We had the bed by the closet configuration. It was fine but I would have preferred the other configuration.

 

 

 

The Balcony....See Coach, Britto and Picture This in the background.

 

 

 

The view from the Balcony

 

 

 

View of the top of the stack in Central Park. We were told these were a type of release valve for the engine room. If there was over-heating or a fire these stacks open up and release the heat.

 

 

 

 

View of the other direction from our balcony

 

 

[kristinp36]

Dad enjoying his bed

 

 

Mom checking out the bathroom. My mom is fairly claustrophobic and was slightly concerned about an inside cabin with no windows. She was pleasantly surprised with the size of the room and had no issues.

 

 

This is where our bad experience started…it wasn’t a horrible experience but it made us question the size of the ship, the number of passengers, the massive amounts of paperwork and RC’s ability to stay on-top of it all. As I mentioned earlier, we were offered an upgrade 4 days prior to sailing which we took. Obviously this changed our room number and somehow messed up the perks we were to receiving by booking through our TA. This was my first experience booking a cruise through a TA and I am not sure I would do it again unless we could get an amazing deal or great perks. I did not like that I could not call RC directly and had to call the TA then have them call RC then have them call me back. I have a busy job and I always missed calls with the TA and played “phone tag your it” repeatedly.

 

The good thing was my parents also booked the same package as us through the same TA so they had the same perks coming to them. When we arrived at their cabin there was an envelope that had “coupons” for all the perks and a bottle of chilled wine (another perk). One of the perks was a cupcake decorating class for 2…..the coupon stated that the class had to be booked the first day of sailing or it was no longer valid. I had been threatening my hubs with this class for months so I wanted to make sure he “got to” experience it! We had NOT received the same envelope or the wine in our cabin. No biggie but this meant we would have to book the cupcake class on the way to dinner. We were assigned to 6 pm dining. We would have never known about the requirement to book the class on the first day if my parents were getting the same package. I would have lost the benefit of a cupcake class and more importantly the benefit of torturing my hubs. We decided we would hit up the cupcake shop and customer service on our way to dinner.

[kristinp36]

It’s sail away time and due to the many recommendations on this board we headed up to the SunDeck. This was a great location for sail-away and surprisingly not very crowded.

 

 

View of one of the cantilever hot tubs

 

 

And we are on our way to relaxation…….I don’t truly relax until I hear the horn and the ship starts moving!

 

[fisherguy]

So Far So Good! I've been on the Allure as well but I still love reading other people's reports!

[kristinp36]

Time to freshen up for dinner and head off to straighten out our reservations. First stop was the Cupcake Shop. Five classes were already full and we got 4 seats in the last available class which unfortunately was at 5 pm on the first formal night. No prob we can decorate cupcakes in our fancy clothes! It will make for better pics anyways. Now that was booked….. Guest Services is almost next door but since it was the first sailing date the lines were long. We decided to tackle our “perks” issues after dinner.

We were on the second floor of the dining room overlooking the Captain’s Table. We had been assigned to a table to 12 (if I remember correctly…could have been 10) but no one else at the table showed up the entire week so we had this huge table to ourselves. Our waiters were wonderful, friendly and efficient all at the same time. We sailed the week after the “BIG” menu changes. Overall we were very pleased with the food options and cooking style.

Music for Dinner

Dessert anyone?

[jakesmom04]

Great start to what is to became a great review. Can't wait for more.

[kristinp36]

Dinner is over and we are all full. Off to Guest Services to check on our reservation. Lines were still a little long but remember how many people are on the ship. They had multiple agents waiting on customers and even a supervisor talking to people in line. If she could help them she would otherwise they needed to wait for the lines. Once she got to us she was extremely friendly and we explained that we had upgraded and had not received our perks coupons or wine. She checked our account and we did have the on-board credit (good news!). She took down our info and promised to have our room steward check in with us the following day.

Showtime…..night number 1 was Chicago. The show was good and better than most musicals on cruises. I feel bad writing that as my hubs oldest daughter has been a singer/dancer on Carnival for 6+ years.

[kristinp36]

Time for bed!

Day 2 (Port of Call Nassau….at least it was supposed to be)

I have a habit of getting up early the first day to explore and take pics before the rest of the ship wakes up. This is the one and only advantage I can think of with hubs going to the gym early. He wakes me up that first day!

 

The Promenade

 

 

 

One of those “view-finders”

 

 

 

 

[kristinp36]

Touchscreen helper display

Boleros on Promenade

 

 

Champagne Bar on Promenade

 

 

 

 

Schooner Bar - one floor above overlooking Promenade

 

 

[kristinp36]

Entrance to the Boardwalk. I LOVED the Boardwalk at this time of day. It was surreal because most of the lights were out and you could hear the ocean in the back ground.

 

 

Carousel Horse carvings….in the background you will notice the Dog House. This gives you an idea of the layout. The horses are right as you enter the Boardwalk with the Dog House to the Left and the Donuts to the Right.

 

 

Dog House Menu

 

 

Aqua Theater sign

 

 

Decks overlooking the Aqua Theater

 

[kristinp36]

Next up the Pool Decks…..

 

 

 

PIC

 

PIC

 

[kristinp36]

Overlooking Central Park

Deck

Cantilever Hot Tub

[kristinp36]

Solarium….it made me laugh that these 2 chairs had a spot light shining on them.

Solarium Bistro – outside eating area

Small fountain that runs through the Solarium around the Bistro

[kristinp36]

The sun is starting to rise so I high-tail it to the SunDeck. This was one of the best sunrises I have ever seen. It was like the sky was on fire. The orange hue of the sky reflected on the water and burned through the various layers of clouds. AMAZING.

 

 

 

 

[kristinp36]

Time to head back to the cabin and get ready for breakfast….we have an exciting day planned for Nassau. For efficiency we decided to try out the buffet this morning. The buffet area is poorly designed on this ship. Small spaces, poor organization and lack of seating. It really made me miss our last few Carnival cruises with 2 stories of seating in the buffet area. You could almost always find a quiet spot on those ships. I am not a morning person so crowds and lots of noise do not make me happy in the AM.

We realized that we should be in Nassau but we were still out to sea and wondered what was going on. About ½ way through breakfast the Captain came on to announce that there had been an accident the night before and we would not be docking in Nassau that day. He went on to explain that someone had fallen/jumped overboard and the ship had spent the night assisting in the search. This explained the numerous announcements the evening before….these announcement lasted until about 11 pm and were in public areas AND cabins. We knew it was not normal to broadcast in cabins that late and they were asking a certain passenger to report to guest services. Needless to say a somber quiet fell over the buffet area. People didn’t know what to say or how to react. About 30 minutes later things slowly seemed to be returning to normal. So now we had a sea day…..and our moods were a little sadder.

Edited March 21, 2013 by kristinp36

[KansCocoa]

Excellent - I love the photos! Those are some amazing sunrise pictures! I, too, like to get up early and take photos of an "empty" ship!

 

Enjoying the review so far - keep it coming! :)

[kristinp36]

We returned to our cabin to change into something more appropriate and ran into our cabin steward. He had not been contacted by guest services but we thought we would give it some more time. Our steward was new to working on a cruise ship and he did a fantastic job even though he was a little shy. I think he said this was his 4th week. With an open sea day we decided to check out this huge ship!

 

Central Park

 

 

 

 

[kristinp36]

We decided to try Jonny Rockets for lunch. JR is located on the Boardwalk with inside and outside seating. We opted for outside seating so we could enjoy some people watching. Part of our TA package included 4 cover charges to JR and we had 2 coupons so we had enough to eat their 2 times during the cruise (8 total cover charges). The service was great and the food was pretty good.

Check out these moves…

[kristinp36]

After lunch we headed up to the Sports Deck to check out the Flow-riders, mini golf and zip line. Lines were long for the Flow-riders and zip line since this was not a planned sea day everyone was adjusting and finding activities to join. We opted for some mini golf since the sun was shining and it wasn’t too hot yet.

[jamer8]

Great review so far! We are sailing on Oasis in 3 weeks, can't wait! We booked through Amex travel agency and we are supposed to get a specialty dinner for 2 and bottle of champagne/wine and $100 OBC by using the amex platinum card. My husband asked "how" we get that since our reservation on RCC website doesn't show anything special. The agent just said not to worry , it'll be on our account when we board. Is that how it worked with your parents cabin that wasn't upgraded? Was it all just there for you? Or did it show somewhere on the Royal Caribbean website?

 

I'm trying to relax about it and just assume it'll work out, but don't want to waste time tracking it down after we board.

 

Thanks! And keep up the great review!