---> !!ALLURE OTS REVIEW!! <--- Complete Pictorial Guide! [Jun 29, 2013]

[swim13]

Hey, I'm new here. :)

 

I'm going to be on Allure OTS July 28th.. I'm really looking forward to it!

 

I'm just wondering if they are strict about the age of "teens" on board? I will have JUST turned 18 the day before (July 27th) the cruise. Would I still get into the "teen" clubs or whatever, even though I will be 18? If not, are there any clubs/areas that are there just for "young" adults (maybe between the ages of 18-25, or so). I'm just slightly worried that I won't meet people my own age and I'll be stuck with the one person (who is a lot older) with I am going with. Any reassurance or anything out there?

 

Welcome! You are in the same boat one of my friends I met on the ship was in, pun intended! =D Anyway, you will not be able to get in the teen club. Fortunately there is Blaze for 18 and older. I believe on the second night there was a party for 18-20 years olds to kind of "meet and mingle" and that really helped. It was not hard to make friends our age, there are many in the club! I will have more on that at the end of my review so make sure you stick around! Nonetheless, don't worry!

Edited July 13, 2013 by swim13

[Eng23]

Hi Mike! I am still following along and I am enjoying your review. :) I would like to ask something of you. I of course have an upcoming cruise in Sept. on the Allure. I would like to ask your permission to copy a few of your pictures and paste them onto my Roll Call. I will ensure to give you proper credit for the pictures if you allow me to use them. Thanks. Harold. :D

[cruzinlady1947]

Mike, you are doing an awesome review. It is hard to believe it is your first. Pictures are amazing and I especially love the video of the zip line and time lapse.

 

I just came upon this review this morning and it has taken me all this time (with some breaks) to get to this point. Really anxious for the rest.

 

I love following Gambee's and Radio's reviews too. This is an added bonus and hopefully you will be cruising many times so we can enjoy some more reviews from you. Thanks for taking your precious time to do this.

 

Congratulations on the graduation and I know you will do well in college. You seem like a very nice young man.

 

Gwen

[swim13]

Thanks for the camera info! I don't really need a new camera but after seeing these pics I want one lol!

 

You're welcome! It really is a great camera and you can get a good deal on it now!

 

Great review!

 

I will be on the Allure on the Sept 1st going on the Eastern Caribbean itinerary! So excited, the ship looks wonderful - I have been on many cruises, my last being on RCI (my first time with RCI) and wow, RCI overall is just wonderful so can't wait to experience the Allure

 

Ah yes, RCI and Allure of the Seas make a one of a kind combination that will make any vacation a great one! You are going to love it, thanks for following along! More to come soon =D

 

Subscribing. You are doing a fantastic review. I was on the same sailing. Loved Allure and I booked the same cruise again (same week next year) while on board. I would have been too sad to leave on Sunday morning without knowing that I would be back on Allure. My favorite place on the ship was the forward Starboard whirlpool on Deck 15 just before the Solarium. I could have spent the entire cruise in there other than meals.

 

Maybe we saw each other and didn't even know! Thank you so much! I only went in that hot tub once and it was AMAZING!

 

I wish I had a cruise booked on Allure, just to compare it to Oasis, but you can't pass up on a good deal right? You should book yourself on Quantum! ;)

 

Nope and at least you still get to sail in the same class of ship! =D

 

Great review! Can't wait to read the rest.

We're sailing on Oasis next week and your review is getting me so excited. Counting the days...

 

I'm so glad you are enjoying the review! I'm so jealous of you!

[swim13]

Hi Mike! I am still following along and I am enjoying your review. :) I would like to ask something of you. I of course have an upcoming cruise in Sept. on the Allure. I would like to ask your permission to copy a few of your pictures and paste them onto my Roll Call. I will ensure to give you proper credit for the pictures if you allow me to use them. Thanks. Harold. :D

 

Woohoo!! That is totally fine! I actually have my screen name at the bottom left corner of all of my pictures, I tried to make it as discrete as possible =P

 

Mike, you are doing an awesome review. It is hard to believe it is your first. Pictures are amazing and I especially love the video of the zip line and time lapse.

 

I just came upon this review this morning and it has taken me all this time (with some breaks) to get to this point. Really anxious for the rest.

 

I love following Gambee's and Radio's reviews too. This is an added bonus and hopefully you will be cruising many times so we can enjoy some more reviews from you. Thanks for taking your precious time to do this.

 

Congratulations on the graduation and I know you will do well in college. You seem like a very nice young man.

 

Gwen

 

Thank you so much! I hope I get to go on the Quantum next and maybe even another one next summer, we'll see!

[RayD2013]

Welcome! You are in the same boat one of my friends I met on the ship was in, pun intended! =D Anyway, you will not be able to get in the teen club. Fortunately there is Blaze for 18 and older. I believe on the second night there was a party for 18-20 years olds to kind of "meet and mingle" and that really helped. It was not hard to make friends our age, there are many in the club! I will have more on that at the end of my review so make sure you stick around! Nonetheless, don't worry!

 

Nice one! :P Thanks for the reassurance! I hope it's okay! :) Another question, are there many activities that go on daily that are actually fun? :P Btw, this is going to be my first time on a cruise and that's why I'm quite clueless on this kind of stuff!

[swim13]

FALMOUTH, JAMAICA

Ya mon! -

 

Welcome to Day 4! Getting up this morning was a drag after having so much fun at the party in the Solarium last night! I insisted on getting up though and I was glad that we were still not in port so I could get my time lapse video coming in. This morning was a first, I actually went to the Windjammer for breakfast with my mom and Jeff!! :O It was pretty good although I was too anxious to eat much. I filled up my soda cup at one of the Freestyle machines and we were off to the zip line so I could try it for the first time, I knew it wouldn't be busy at this time. I got there and since my waivers were pre-signed online in the cruise planner, all they had to do was swipe my seapass! Please do that online if you plan to do any of the activities in the sports zone, it saves a lot of time, and ink! =P

 

The attendants were really nice and getting all the equipment on was a breeze! I only had to wait for 2 people until it was my turn. Man was it awesome! It is a really short ride but it is super fun and very exhilarating. Stopping is easier than I thought and after you are unattached, you return your equipment unless you want to go again and it isn't busy. Don't worry about the height or anything, you are always strapped in whenever you're near the edge!

 

By the time I was done, we were getting close to Falmouth so I decided to get back down to the room to set up the GoPro while mom and Jeff went to get some towels near the pool area for the day. I set the camera all up and then took a shower, by the time I was all dressed we were docked.

 

Soon enough we were off of the boat to some live music and making our way down to the beautiful port to the parking lot/bus terminal area to meet up for our excursion, the Bamboo Beach Club!

 

I will stop here and post the cruise compass and the few pictures I have before we left for the excursion. I will then give a review of the Bamboo Beach Club with tons of pictures of the beach and the Port of Falmouth!

 

Day 4 Cruise Compass, Cruise Specials, AND Falmouth Shopping Guide!

 

 

[swim13]

 

 

[swim13]

 

[swim13]

Coming in to Falmouth, not a very nice day but we are still on vacation so it didn't matter too much!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[swim13]

Okay, please forgive me for starting Day 4 and then leaving you! My graduation party is starting in 15 minutes and I still need to get ready!!! Oops, lol! I will be back later tonight. =D

[Eng23]

Thanks for the OK to use your pictures! I'm sure my roll call mates will like them and I will direct them to come check out your review...:)

[MrFunInTheSun]

Great review and pictures Swim! Thanks so much for taking us along with you on your Allure cruise.

[LuckiStac13*Majesty*]

Your pictures are amazing, thanks for taking the time to post them! Beautiful.

[endobaby]

Thanks for the awesome pictures and review...going on the Allure in November...so before then I'm just breathing in reviews and pictures...:)

[Sophia2007]

Loved the zip line video! You need to try zip lining in Jamaica. We did a private excursion out of Montego Bay and had a blast. Even DH said that was the best part of the cruise. For my family of 6, the zip line that you went on would bankrupt us!

 

Waiting for more. Enjoy your party. We just had our graduate's party in June. Lots of work for us!

[gambee]

 

Outstanding!!!

[canadian-nurse]

Awesome videos and pics! You are doing a great job! Thanks so much for taking the time to scan the Cruise Compass and shopping maps- you're a big help for my Type A personality! :)

[ecourtney]

Mike I have a question... Do you know if they offered land massages on Labadee? I had this done on Cococay and it was great, hoping to do the same on this cruise. Thanks!

[swim13]

Ahh I'm so sorry, my graduation party was a lot of fun and went way past the time I thought so no update last night! I work all day but I'm bringing my laptop so I hope I can work on it in between breaks! Will respond to everyone asap!

[swim13]

Thanks for the OK to use your pictures! I'm sure my roll call mates will like them and I will direct them to come check out your review...:)

 

No problem and thank you!!

 

Great review and pictures Swim! Thanks so much for taking us along with you on your Allure cruise.

 

Thank you, we still have a long way to go! =D

 

Your pictures are amazing, thanks for taking the time to post them! Beautiful.

 

Thanks!

 

Thanks for the awesome pictures and review...going on the Allure in November...so before then I'm just breathing in reviews and pictures...:)

 

Have fun, I know you will! Thanks!

 

Loved the zip line video! You need to try zip lining in Jamaica. We did a private excursion out of Montego Bay and had a blast. Even DH said that was the best part of the cruise. For my family of 6, the zip line that you went on would bankrupt us!

 

Waiting for more. Enjoy your party. We just had our graduate's party in June. Lots of work for us!

 

If we go back to Jamaica, I will have to look in to that! I love zip-lining now!

 

Outstanding!!!

 

Thanks so much Gambee!

 

Awesome videos and pics! You are doing a great job! Thanks so much for taking the time to scan the Cruise Compass and shopping maps- you're a big help for my Type A personality! :)

 

I was hoping someone could put them to good use!

 

Mike I have a question... Do you know if they offered land massages on Labadee? I had this done on Cococay and it was great, hoping to do the same on this cruise. Thanks!

 

I believe they do offer land massages in Labadee because I remember walking up one of the trails and it said Spa. I never went all the way up there but I'm pretty sure they do. They might have more details on the Royal Caribbean website.

[swim13]

Bamboo

Beach Club!

 

We were booked for the Bamboo Beach Club today, it was going to be a nice relaxing day! I'm still not sure if it was a good thing the sun wasn't out or if it was a blessing because boy was it HOT! We had to wait at the bus terminal with everyone else that had a tour/excursion booked through RCI. We had to wait a while for everyone in our group to get there and by the time we got on the bus, we were dripping! The bus and excursion run separate but we didn't get the best bus! The air wasn't working very good but it was still pretty bearable. It was kind of funny, the driver had to turn off the air so we could make it up one of the hills on the way to the beach! =P

 

The drive is about an hour and a half, it's really not too bad but let it be a factor when choosing a beach because it limits your time to relax on the sand. On the way there, our guide "Tammy" was pretty fun and would always spit out some facts about the country that were interesting. Ever wonder why the buildings are never finished, or so it seems? Well Jamaicans basically build their homes one room at a time and once they get enough money, they will add on another. The colors of the Jamaican flag represent certain symbols of the country, black for the people, green for the lush scenery, and yellow for the sun, which we were not seeing today! There were many other facts but I don't want to ruin the experience for you if you chose to do this wonderful excursion!

 

We got to the beach and they had some live music and dancers! We were led to a beautiful beach, it really was awesome. The whole beach is guarded so there is no need to not feel safe. There are two natural barriers on each side of the beach making it feel more secluded. They have a little shop, a bar, and bathrooms. There are lawn chairs everywhere and they all have cushions. The workers will come around and serve you drinks and food so there is really no need to leave the beach the whole time unless you need to use the bathroom! They have "lifeguards" there although I'm not sure if they are actually lifeguards (I am one and I noticed they weren't even watching the water, they kind of walked around and made sure everyone's dishes were cleaned up and stuff). The food was AMAZING!!! Honestly it was some of the best food during the week. It is all authentic Jamaican cuisine, if you do not like spicy food, try and bring your own! They had some pretty good music playing in the background and occasionally they would put on a dance for everyone on the beach. My mom and I joined for the cupid shuffle! =P

 

You load back up after a few hours and make your way to some shops in Ocho Rio's. You have around 20 minutes there but we didn't really look very hard since we knew there would be more stuff back in Falmouth. After that, I fell a sleep on the ride home so I can't really tell you if anything happened, lol!

 

Price: $69 pp I believe

Booking: Through Royal Caribbean's website

 

Here are some pictures on the way to the beach, and on the beach!

 

 

The roads are seriously better than some of them here in NY!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 14, 2013 by swim13

[swim13]

 

 

 

 

This is my mom's thumb in case you were wondering! =P

 

 

 

 

 

 

[swim13]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[swim13]

The Port of Falmouth is better than I expected! I believe RCI spent millions on creating this new port and it definitely shows. The whole area is gated and very clean and safe. Everything is new although there is still that old style character. There were some commercialized places to eat like Auntie Anne's, Quizno's, Dairy Queen, and Nathan's Hot Dogs but other than that, it felt pretty authentic.

 

We got back and shopped around a little, mom and I needed to buy some stuff for friends at home and I ended up getting a shirt that says "Just Do It...Later" with a Jamaican laying on the Nike logo, its pretty awesome! =P

 

$10 HIGH SPEED INTERNET!

There is a little shack (I have a picture) in the middle of the port that sells WiFi for $10-15 that reaches the whole port area although there are some places to sit and use whatever device you have. The process is very easy, you get a card and it has instructions. You connect to their WiFi server and put in your password and there you have it! Now we were on Deck 9 Starboard side so we were facing the port and I still got internet access from my balcony! It wasn't very fast but it still reaches the ship although it is not 100% guaranteed and definitely won't reach from inside the ship. You have access the whole day.

 

This was the only time I used my phone during the cruise and that was to just check up on family at home. It worked good, I used FaceTime for the iPhone! =D