Allure of the Seas Review with Pictures - 18 August 2013

[maureencruiser]

6. It would help if some able bodied people would use the stairs if moving only floor up or down. I don't understand why some people (who I saw in the fitness center on the treadmill earlier in the day) will wait 2 or 3 minutes for an elevator just to go up or down one floor.

Hi, just be careful trying to determine who is "able bodied" using just your observations. I might appear able bodied to you and I am capable of walking on the treadmill, but, stairs are a complete nightmare to me. Due to an injury, I have to go up each stair leading with my non-injured knee, then my injured knee, then rest until the pain subsides a little. It can take me 10 painful minutes to go up a short flight of stairs, so, yes, I will wait 2-3 minutes for an elevator. Thanks for the great pictures, I'm on Allure in a few weeks, hope I get some nice pictures, too! :)

[alaska_planner]

1. Arrived at the port at 1040, in-processed then waited about 45 minutes in waiting area before boarding around 1145. We went directly to the Boardwalk Hot Dogs for lunch and had the venue to ourselves (while everyone fought over seats at the Windjammer). We thought the food was very good there.

 

2. Overall food which I have rated a 4 in the past on Royal Caribbean I think has slightly improved. Desserts that I have been very critical of in the last few years and have rated them below 3 have also improved to around a 3.0-3.5. They still need a little work (in my opinion). We only ate in the Windjammer once during the cruise for breakfast, mainly due to the numerous other venues available. We ended up eating in the Park Cafe for lunch most days. They have great salads, soups, sandwiches and of course the roast beef sandwiches. I usually got the roast beef in a bowl without the bread. You can get made to order eggs and omelets in the Wipe Out Cafe.

 

3. Did not observe kids running wild as some have described. I did see a lot of kids having fun with the vast majority very respectful. Only saw one incident with unruly kids in the Windjammer.

 

4. The shows were excellent (Chicago, Aqua Show, Blue Planet, Ice Show). The comedy show was one of the best I've seen. I was laughing so hard when Phil Tag was on, I couldn't drink my beer because it was coming thru my nose. Rondell Sheridan was also very funny. Don't miss the Love and Marriage show...very funny.

 

5. As always I thought the staff went out of their way to insure only the best service....and always with a smile on their face. I saw 2 adult woman literally "storm" out of line while waiting for My Time Dining. They were #3 in line and apparently didn't think they should have to wait. The staff chased after them, calmed them down and bent of backwards trying to appease them.

 

6. Elevators overall weren't terrible however at times they did get busy....and kids were not the problem! It would help if some able bodied people would use the stairs if moving only floor up or down. I don't understand why some people (who I saw in the fitness center on the treadmill earlier in the day) will wait 2 or 3 minutes for an elevator just to go up or down one floor.

 

7. Scheduling a cruise during Hurricane season can be risky. We lucked out and never saw more than 4 foot seas. The last two sea days were probably less than 3 feet. We thought the ship was very stable. We did notice a small lateral movement but not enough to be bothered. The MDR waitress said the Allure is the most stable ship she has been on. Since the seas were never more than 4 feet, it is a little hard for me to comment.

 

8. This is an enormous ship. If you go down to deck 5 where the running track is, 2.5 laps equals 1 mile!

 

9. We disembarked with our own luggage and "clocked out" at 6:20 am and were thru Customs by 6:30. We went to the Park n Go and were north bound on I-95 by 6:55. (Don't forget to go on the internet and get your discount price for the Park n Go in advance).

I will be posting pictures over the next couple of days as I get them uploaded to the computer.

 

great pictures!!!

 

we were on the same cruise and had a FANTASTIC time!!!

everything was perfect!!

the only small little blip was Rita's Fiesta, which was pretty disappointing - but other than that, everything was OUTSTANDING!!!!!

 

if you went to any of the trivia events, we were the LOUD group!! (not the winning group for the most part, just the one that cheered all the time and in general made fools of ourselves ;) )

 

i think i see DH's bald head on our boardwalk balcony in the picture of your wife on the zipline :)

[sleepless]

I enjoyed your pictures. Reading reviews and looking a pictures of the Allure helps me to pass the time until I am on the her in July.

[NMG318]

great pictures!!!

 

we were on the same cruise and had a FANTASTIC time!!!

everything was perfect!!

the only small little blip was Rita's Fiesta, which was pretty disappointing - but other than that, everything was OUTSTANDING!!!!!

 

if you went to any of the trivia events, we were the LOUD group!! (not the winning group for the most part, just the one that cheered all the time and in general made fools of ourselves ;) )

 

i think i see DH's bald head on our boardwalk balcony in the picture of your wife on the zipline :)

 

 

I do remember a group of folks having a lot of fun during trivia :).

 

We never made it to Rita's Fiesta. What didn't you like about it?

[NMG318]

There was one other thing I wanted to mention that happened in St Maarten. Everyone was supposed to be back on-board by 1630 (ship's time was same as St Maarten's time). When I went out on my balcony at 1630 there was still quite a few people in line waiting to get through security and back on ship and by 1640 the line was gone. Then I heard the ship's horn blow. Since the ship has real time accounting of who is on-board I suspect the horn blowing was for people who were still not on the ship. A few minutes later the ship's horn blew again. The workers were tearing down the gangways and crowd control fences. Around 1650 some lady was running down the pier with a kid (if I recall correctly). She stopped just before the gangway and was talking to the ships representative. I got my binoculars and you could tell she was in distress and pointed back behind her. A minute or two later the rest of her party showed up....just in the nick of time. We were minutes from shoving off. With 2 sea days ahead, this would have been disastrous. We saw a similar incident in Ketchikan, Alaska a few years ago that did end in disaster for a couple who showed up when were were just shoving off. The ship kept on going.

[alaska_planner]

I do remember a group of folks having a lot of fun during trivia :).

 

We never made it to Rita's Fiesta. What didn't you like about it?

 

it wasn't at all as was described in the brochure or in any of the reviews i've read...we never got our third drink, and only got our second one when we asked for it right before they basically threw us out of the place...

they started taking everything apart long before the official ending time of the meal....other people in our meet and mingle who were in the same one, also said they were disappointed...

but this was the only disappointment in an otherwise spectacular cruise...

every crew member we met was friendly and smiley and definitely seemed to care whether we were enjoying ourselves!!

 

There was one other thing I wanted to mention that happened in St Maarten. Everyone was supposed to be back on-board by 1630 (ship's time was same as St Maarten's time). When I went out on my balcony at 1630 there was still quite a few people in line waiting to get through security and back on ship and by 1640 the line was gone. Then I heard the ship's horn blow. Since the ship has real time accounting of who is on-board I suspect the horn blowing was for people who were still not on the ship. A few minutes later the ship's horn blew again. The workers were tearing down the gangways and crowd control fences. Around 1650 some lady was running down the pier with a kid (if I recall correctly). She stopped just before the gangway and was talking to the ships representative. I got my binoculars and you could tell she was in distress and pointed back behind her. A minute or two later the rest of her party showed up....just in the nick of time. We were minutes from shoving off. With 2 sea days ahead, this would have been disastrous. We saw a similar incident in Ketchikan, Alaska a few years ago that did end in disaster for a couple who showed up when were were just shoving off. The ship kept on going.

 

it was worse than you describe...

we were on the deck 11 starboard secret balcony watching all the late stragglers just saunter in....

by about 4:45 it seemed everyone was on board...

they even dropped the first rope (the most aft rope) and were already pulling it into the ship when we saw two people - what seemed to be teenagers, running for all they were worth towards the ship....

we didn't see anyone else but those two...

then about two minutes later, we saw what seemed to be their parents walking slowly toward the gated area and then into the gate toward the ship...we then realized that they had a small child with them who was walking (hey man, pick up the kid and RUN, why don't you?????)..

there were a lot of us out on the secret balcony watching them...

one woman even filmed it so i wonder if she's posted it on you tube...

 

anyway, eventually a cart drove over and picked up the couple and child and drove them straight to the gangway, bypassing the security area...

 

once they were on board, the rest of the ropes were dropped and we were on our way..

 

a minute longer and they would have been out of luck...

we couldn't believe it when we saw that first rope dropped...

we were sure they were going to be left behind!!

[NMG318]

it wasn't at all as was described in the brochure or in any of the reviews i've read...we never got our third drink, and only got our second one when we asked for it right before they basically threw us out of the place...

they started taking everything apart long before the official ending time of the meal....other people in our meet and mingle who were in the same one, also said they were disappointed...

but this was the only disappointment in an otherwise spectacular cruise...

every crew member we met was friendly and smiley and definitely seemed to care whether we were enjoying ourselves!!

 

 

 

it was worse than you describe...

we were on the deck 11 starboard secret balcony watching all the late stragglers just saunter in....

by about 4:45 it seemed everyone was on board...

they even dropped the first rope (the most aft rope) and were already pulling it into the ship when we saw two people - what seemed to be teenagers, running for all they were worth towards the ship....

we didn't see anyone else but those two...

then about two minutes later, we saw what seemed to be their parents walking slowly toward the gated area and then into the gate toward the ship...we then realized that they had a small child with them who was walking (hey man, pick up the kid and RUN, why don't you?????)..

there were a lot of us out on the secret balcony watching them...

one woman even filmed it so i wonder if she's posted it on you tube...

 

anyway, eventually a cart drove over and picked up the couple and child and drove them straight to the gangway, bypassing the security area...

 

once they were on board, the rest of the ropes were dropped and we were on our way..

 

a minute longer and they would have been out of luck...

we couldn't believe it when we saw that first rope dropped...

we were sure they were going to be left behind!!

 

 

Sounds like you guys had a front row seat to the drama. I was on the same deck as you 3/4 way towards the front so I was leaning over with binoculars trying to figure out what was up. What you described filled in the blanks for what I couldn't see. It would be interesting to hear their side of the story but I am pretty sure they will not be posting it here.

 

That secret balcony is cool. My wife and I actually fell asleep down there one evening on lounge chairs.

[alaska_planner]

Sounds like you guys had a front row seat to the drama. I was on the same deck as you 3/4 way towards the front so I was leaning over with binoculars trying to figure out what was up. What you described filled in the blanks for what I couldn't see. It would be interesting to hear their side of the story but I am pretty sure they will not be posting it here.

 

That secret balcony is cool. My wife and I actually fell asleep down there one evening on lounge chairs.

 

i'm not exactly sure about the time - it might have been 4:50 or 4:55 when they dropped the first rope, but the description is the same..

 

by the way, we all couldn't believe how all the stragglers (the ones between 4:30 and 4:45) just lazily walked their way to the ship!!!

what's up with that?????? they were LATE!! why didn't they make an effort to pick up the pace a bit????? just because there were so many of them? big deal....move a little faster when you know you're late...even if it's only a minute late....we were amazed by the nonchalance..

i'd say at least 100 people boarded the ship between 4:30 and 4:45....incredible!!!

 

as for the secret balcony - i agree...very cool....that's why i picked deck 11 and a cabin close by (we were in a boardwalk balcony)...

[NMG318]

 

by the way, we all couldn't believe how all the stragglers (the ones between 4:30 and 4:45) just lazily walked their way to the ship!!!

what's up with that?????? they were LATE!! why didn't they make an effort to pick up the pace a bit????? just because there were so many of them? big deal....move a little faster when you know you're late...even if it's only a minute late....we were amazed by the nonchalance..

i'd say at least 100 people boarded the ship between 4:30 and 4:45....incredible!!!

 

 

That's funny because we were thinking the same thing about the stragglers...safety in numbers!

[tractortom]

We were on Liberty in January, and had a rear facing balcony cabin, so when we were due to leave Jamaica I walked down on the deck and watched the folks entering the ship. NO ONE is in a hurry to get aboard on time (except me perhaps)... I watched people come wandering back towards the boarding area 20, then 30, then 40 minutes late. It's a good thing I am not the captain of one of these ships, as more than 100 people would have had to find a place to stay that night in Jamaica had I been. I counted, after the departure time, and at 100 I quit counting....

 

What happened to people being responsible????

 

Tractor Tom in Okeechobee, FL

[alaska_planner]

Here is a short youtube video of my collection of photos and video clips from Maho Beach.

 

 

how did i miss this clip???

this is GREAT!!!

my original intention was to go to maho beach in st martin, but then DD and DSIL signed up for the catamaran sail and snorkeling excursion with the ship....it sounded nice so we signed up too..

as it turned out, it was a really well run excursion and we had a great time!! we did manage to see two planes landing - one on the way over to the bay we snorkeled in and one on the way back...

 

i'm so glad you posted this video so i can see what i missed!!! :)

[alaska_planner]

We were on Liberty in January, and had a rear facing balcony cabin, so when we were due to leave Jamaica I walked down on the deck and watched the folks entering the ship. NO ONE is in a hurry to get aboard on time (except me perhaps)... I watched people come wandering back towards the boarding area 20, then 30, then 40 minutes late. It's a good thing I am not the captain of one of these ships, as more than 100 people would have had to find a place to stay that night in Jamaica had I been. I counted, after the departure time, and at 100 I quit counting....

 

What happened to people being responsible????

 

Tractor Tom in Okeechobee, FL

 

good question!!

[canadian-nurse]

Thanks for your review! Your pictures are great! What time of day did you take most of them? There are hardly any people in your pictures. My pics of the Oasis are chock full of people. I'm going on Allure in 2 weeks, so I can try to get some better ones then!:)

[NMG318]

Thanks for your review! Your pictures are great! What time of day did you take most of them? There are hardly any people in your pictures. My pics of the Oasis are chock full of people. I'm going on Allure in 2 weeks, so I can try to get some better ones then!:)

 

I took a lot of my pictures (without the people) around 0630-0730 on sea days. There is usually several folks walking around so you just wait a second or two for an opening. Late in the evening deck 16 is fairly empty as well.

[Cruising to Retirement]

Thank you for your detailed information about Maho Beach..will probably take a taxi to Mullet Bay and then walk over to Maho Beach about noon and see the big planes come in. As you suggested, want to make it back to the Ship in plenty of time..leaving by taxi no later than 2ish... Thanks... Sailing on Allure on 10/13... Did Oasis two years ago and loved it..

[MrFunInTheSun]

Great review and pictures! Thanks for sharing.

[Firefighterhoop]

Thanks for posting!

 

I am looking forward to my first Oasis Class cruise on the Allure in 3 short (but seemingly long) weeks!

 

The pictures that yourself and other folks are posting lately are getting me really excited for the Allure!

[believer33323]

Great Photos!!

Not sure if it was requested but what camera and lenses were used to take your photos. Did you use a special lens for the fish eye effect or did you create them afterwards with software?

[NMG318]

Great Photos!!

Not sure if it was requested but what camera and lenses were used to take your photos. Did you use a special lens for the fish eye effect or did you create them afterwards with software?

 

Some of those pictures were taken with a GoPro Hero2 camera. They now sell the GoPro Hero3. It has a wide angle lens that takes photos and HD 1080p video. If you watch any reality tv (Deadliest Catch, Gold Rush, Storm Chasers) these are the cameras they use to capture some of the their shots. You can sometimes see them hanging from the windshields, airplane wings etc. I took the under water pictures with them as well. They come with a waterproof case and are a little smaller than a cigarette pack. Excellent camera. I used them to take these time lapse videos leaving:

 

Port Everglades:

 

Nassau:

 

 

If you google gopro it will take you to there web site where you can view some of there cameras and accessories.

[alaska_planner]

Some of those pictures were taken with a GoPro Hero2 camera. They now sell the GoPro Hero3. It has a wide angle lens that takes photos and HD 1080p video. If you watch any reality tv (Deadliest Catch, Gold Rush, Storm Chasers) these are the cameras they use to capture some of the their shots. You can sometimes see them hanging from the windshields, airplane wings etc. I took the under water pictures with them as well. They come with a waterproof case and are a little smaller than a cigarette pack. Excellent camera. I used them to take these time lapse videos leaving:

 

Port Everglades:

 

Nassau:

 

 

If you google gopro it will take you to there web site where you can view some of there cameras and accessories.

 

nice videos!!

was the nassau one taken on the secret aft balcony?

[NMG318]

nice videos!!

was the nassau one taken on the secret aft balcony?

 

Yes. It was taken from the secret balcony.

[alaska_planner]

Yes. It was taken from the secret balcony.

 

 

deck 11?

i wonder where we were for the nassau sailaway....maybe trivia?...otherwise i would have been out on the deck 11 starboard side balcony!! :)

 

we weren't out there for the fort lauderdale sailaway as we were over on the port side for that one..

you can see us waving on the port everglades webcam sailaway vidio...

 

here's the port webcam sailaway video of our cruise: