Photography Live Review of the Allure of the Seas? - Sailing 8th September 2013.

[juniorsmom]

I would love to see pictures from your perspective.

[Realtor at Sea]

So glad we have two reports to look forward to this week. In the world of cruise reporting more is always better!

[msw1023]

I'm also looking forward to 'BOTH' revues.

Based on your activity so far, I think you may be in a different age range than Judith and Trainman, so your interests, activities, excursions and perspectives will surely be quite different.

If you find that you're simply having too much fun enjoying your cruise, we'll forgive you.

I hope your cc group has lots of group activities planned. I had the pleasure of traveling with Trainman and RevSmith on the Allure as a solo as well, and the group gatherings really added to the experience.

Marsha

[geoblond]

Looking forward to both reviews and I am very interested in Liberty Tours-always looking for things to do in Jamaica.

[novicetraveller]

Hi all. I will upload the blog tomorrow. Sadly I didn't get access to the internet until quite late today. Watch this space.

[novicetraveller]

Looking forward to both reviews and I am very interested in Liberty Tours-always looking for things to do in Jamaica.

 

I have used Liberty Tours last year. Ricardo is quite friendly and will take care of you and knows all the right places and will tailor the package to suite your requirements.

[elvismeggi]

I would love to read your live report.

Greets Elvismeggi ( last year on Allure with you :rolleyes: and in 12 days again)

[novicetraveller]

Right... Here goes. I can't promise regular updates, but I will try my best.

 

Note: All times quoted will be Ships / NYC Time, unless otherwise stated.

 

Embarkation day

===========

 

As my body clock is still in UK time, I naturally woke up thinking it was 8am (UK) when it was 3am Local Time. Rather than going back to bed, I spent the next hour or so keeping myself awake so I can take some photos of the Allure coming into port at around 5am to 5:15am.

The above shot was taken with my 5D Mark 3 and my 70-200mm lens mounted on my Tripod. I won’t bore you with the technical settings, the can be seen via my Flickr Page, which I will post a little later on.

I waited for the sun to rise and took another shot of the Allure of the Seas.

At around 9:30am this morning, I checked out and arrived into Port Everglades around 9:45am with the assistance of the Embassy Hotel Shuttle Service. I had the option of waiting for the RCCL Shuttle Service to pick me up at 11am, but I would not have arrived at the port until 1pm. I didn’t fancy waiting 2 hours after checking out before I can start my holiday.

Whilst waiting, I took a shot to remind me of how close I am to boarding the ship. I could almost touch the ship!.

I waited about 30 minutes before checking in started, and made my way to the Suites Check in. (If you get notification saying don't come before 12:30pm, take this as proof that you can, and sometimes you can check in early!). I proceeded to the Suites waiting area and met up with a fellow Cruise Critic Roll Caller, and fellow photographer.

After waiting about an hour, we were able to board the ship (around 11:20am to 11:30am).

I proceeded to Park Café on the 8th Deck (in Central Park. It’s the only place in Central Park where you don’t have to pay for the food!). I know the Beef Sandwich is legendary, however as a veggie, I want to create an alternative legend. The strawberry cheesecake (Sorry, forgot to take a photo of it. It looked too good and I forgot to take a picture before I ate it! If I get the chance, I will try and take a picture the next time I eat lunch at the Café).

After lunch, I hung around waiting for the cabins to open. (Just for information, the rooms become available around 1pm). On each of the floors that overlook Central Park, there is a secret balcony. A picture will follow later on in the week.

Room access granted promptly at 1pm.

As mentioned earlier, I am in a Grand Suite. I will endeavor to post a pic when I have the opportunity to produce a better pic.

 

Just be aware, whilst you may be able to order food and drink with your Sea Pass card, you may be faced with the situation where you may not be able to book your Internet Access until after 7pm. As Allure has a new Wifi System, the process seems to be slower / awkward / different to when the old system was in place. It took 2 attempts to Guest Services to find this out. Internet Access is $179 before any discount has been applied. As a gold member, I got 10%. Every Dollar counts.

 

I spent some time unpacking and taking some photos. I will upload some better photos during the week. I hope not to disappoint.

 

Mustar Drill was around 4:30pm (give or take 5 minutes) and finished shortly after 4:45pm.

 

Shortly after Mustar Drill, I went to meet some fellow cruisers at the Sand Bar on Deck 15 for the sailaway meet up.

 

This is the band that was playing on 15th Deck. I will try and find the name of the band and post the info when I get the chance. (For some reason, my stateroom attendant has taken away my Day 1 Cruise Planner. I need to get a new one sorted!)

 

 

We had a Sail away meetup at the Sand Bar on the 15th Deck. Was good to have a few drinks with the Roll Call folks whilst the ship was disembarking Fort Lauderdale. The Disembarkation was around 5:30pm.

 

 

 

Dinner at 6pm in the Main Dinning Room. It was my first time sitting in the restaurant on Deck 4. On my B2B cruise last year, I was on Deck 3. I was fortunate that a couple of members on the table are Cruise Critic members.

 

 

My table number is 419, and it is in line with the Chandeliers and the performers are pretty much below the table.

 

 

After Dinner, I activated Internet Access and went straight to see Chicago. I think there are some familiar faces, but definitely some new faces from when I last saw Chicago on my previous Allure cruises.

 

 

Word of warning, you may be faced with the issue I had where I could not activate my internet access until after 7pm. It was sometime between 8pm and 9pm when I managed to get the access sorted. The new Wifi system has issues with the way it recognizes folio numbers. It may well be manually entered... who knows. So my advice to anyone who has issues on the Allure with activating the internet access, be patient and give it until after 7pm before going down to Guest Services.

 

 

Well that's it for Day 1, pretty much. Any questions, comments, suggestions, criticisms?

 

 

Day 2 will follow shortly along with some odd shots from my pre-cruise excursions.

[novicetraveller]

I would love to read your live report.

Greets Elvismeggi ( last year on Allure with you :rolleyes: and in 12 days again)

 

Hi Elivsmeggi. Good to hear from you again, and thank you for following my report. And thank you to everyone else who has subscribed to this thread. :)

[novicetraveller]

Apology if I have not replied to anyone's post on this thread. This is not intentional. If I can provide a response that isn't for the sake of it, even in jest, I will do my best to post it. If I have forgotten, please let me apologise now, as I don't mean to ignore you. :)

 

And thank you all again for following my live thread.

[novicetraveller]

Good morning everyone. It's Day 2 of the cruise. I have made my first visit to the Concierge Lounge on Deck 11 (2 decks above where I am staying). It's a nice location to get some quiet time from the crowds, however I was there around 7:30am this morning for breakfast.

 

Sunrise was at approximately 7am this morning so I took the opportunity to wake up early and see what I can do with my camera in the low light. It is a bit windy, which is to be expected. Below are some of the shots I took this morning.

 

 

 

[MarielH]

Am going to follow your cruise as we are on Allure 13 October also my son is a professional photographer who definitely is a Canon man. Enjoy your cruise!!

[mo&fran]

IN case you are not aware of this, the Concierge in both the concierge lounge and the diamond lounge are all part of the guest services staff on RCL ships. As such , they can perform many of the services that the desk can perform. You might ask them , especially when the GS desk is very busy.

[Realtor at Sea]

Really enjoying your review so far! Have fun!

[cruzegurl104]

Following along!

[lvstitch]

 

 

My table number is 419, and it is in line with the Chandeliers and the performers are pretty much below the table.

 

 

 

That is the table number RCL Dining just assigned to my group for our Nov cruise. Do you by chance have a picture of it?

[novicetraveller]

IN case you are not aware of this, the Concierge in both the concierge lounge and the diamond lounge are all part of the guest services staff on RCL ships. As such , they can perform many of the services that the desk can perform. You might ask them , especially when the GS desk is very busy.

 

Thanks for the information. I don't mind using the GS desk, and generally go when it's quiet. None of my issues are pressing in that I need immediate attention, but will bear in mind what you have mentioned. :)

[novicetraveller]

That is the table number RCL Dining just assigned to my group for our Nov cruise. Do you by chance have a picture of it?

 

I will try and get a picture of the table when I get the chance. The lighting isn't great in the Dining room, and I tend not to use Flash when I am amongst people I don't know. I will try and take one over the next couple of days and will post.

 

The table seats 10 people, so I don't know if it will determinately be the same table I am on.

[novicetraveller]

Ok, just a quick update, as I am going to go and do the Scavengers hunt. I will also need to get changed for the formal night tonight.

 

We had a Meet and Mingle this morning in Dazzles. It was well attended and got to meet a lot of people from Cruise Critic.

 

Also went to the Welcome Back Party. I also went to the Port show where I saw some excitable people who are looking forward to buying diamonds at the 2 main ports on the cruise (Jamaica and Cozumel).

 

Photos will follow shortly, so please bear with me.

[lvstitch]

I will try and get a picture of the table when I get the chance. The lighting isn't great in the Dining room, and I tend not to use Flash when I am amongst people I don't know. I will try and take one over the next couple of days and will post.

 

The table seats 10 people, so I don't know if it will determinately be the same table I am on.

 

Yep, I asked for a 10 top towards the center for the room...thanks so much.

[flyawayca]

I'm enjoying your review. Ill be on the Allure in just 2 weeks. Have fun!

[relaxatsea]

Thanks for your review and photos, I am enjoying them!

Wishing you a wonderful cruise!!

[novicetraveller]

A relatively quiet day today. I went into the Concierge Lounge for breakfast. This was my first visit to the Lounge and I am impressed by the decor and the service offered by the staff. I didn't feel rushed. I ordered the vegetarian breakfast, and the food was delivered quickly.

 

After breakfast, I went to Meet and Mingle in Dazzles on Deck 8. With 149 people registered, I didn't do a head count, but it felt that there were around 40 or 50 people there.

 

 

Shortly after Meet and Mingle, there was the Welcome Back Party. I wish it had been held about 30 minutes later, as I would have liked to have spoken to the other Minglers whilst they were there.

 

The Welcome Back was no different to last year. Introduction by Ken Rush, followed by:

 

Some impressive acrobatics

 

 

Diving (sorry the pictures didn't come out very well. Was facing against the back light, and didn't have time to change the Exposure on the camera).

 

The Captain and the other Bridge Officer did some attempt of some comedy and talked about the past, present and the future of RCI for a while, and briefly mentioned about the Quantum.

 

 

The show ended with a fountain display.

 

 

Wasted a couple of hours listening to some sales pitch about shopping in the 2 main ports (Jamaica and Cozumel), didn't really pay that much attention, other than to observe that it was all about the diamonds. If you are looking for something specific other than Diamonds, this show can be ignored. And you need to be excitable and get involved in the screaming in order to make going worthwhile.

 

Lunch. I went to Park Cafe again and had Salad and an Orange Sorbet.

 

 

(I had the cheesecake yesterday. I loved it. Please note that the deserts in Park Cafe change daily).

 

The Dreamworks show took place this afternoon on the Royal Promenade. It is worth going if you haven't been before. If you do go, either sit just outside Sorrento's or the area on the opposite side to get the best viewing experience, and arrive early.

 

 

I attempted the Scavenger Hunt, but shortly after abandoned it and went to Guest Services to book the Access All Area tour for Thursday (just after the Dreamworks Breakfast).

 

Not much else happened today other than today being formal night. I went to the Concierge Lounge this evening before Dinner. Had a chat with a nice gentleman about London Transport and the Metro. After that, I went to the Promenade, had a the photo done at the Vintage car and then went on my way to Adagio Dining Room for dinner.

 

A special Indian main meal was made for me courtesy of the Hotel Manager (Ryan Pereira). The main table waiter is a nice guy. I forget his name, but I will try and find it out as soon as possible.

 

Review on Oceanaria from tonight and Labadee will come tomorrow.

[crackycruiser]

Hi: Enjoying your review especially since I am also a vegetarian. I have heard that there is not Indian food listed on the MDR menu but that all you need to do is ask and you can get an Indian meal. What was it and how was it? Hope you took pictures of that!! Do you know if there is Indian food offered at the Windjammer? I'll be on the Allure the first week in November. Also looking forward to your posts and pictures about the ports. Thanks for taking the time.

[novicetraveller]

Hi: Enjoying your review especially since I am also a vegetarian. I have heard that there is not Indian food listed on the MDR menu but that all you need to do is ask and you can get an Indian meal. What was it and how was it? Hope you took pictures of that!! Do you know if there is Indian food offered at the Windjammer? I'll be on the Allure the first week in November. Also looking forward to your posts and pictures about the ports. Thanks for taking the time.

 

It was Bhindi Saag, Lentil Dahl, Roti / Naan Bread, Rice, Poppadom and Raita. I didn't take my camera into the MDR today as it was a formal night. The portion was enough for one person.

 

(For the non-Indians, Bhindi is the Hindu / Gujarati name for Okra or Lady's Finger).

 

I don't go to Windjammer anymore as it gets crowded and the food gives me an upset stomach, so I am unable to comment as to what is offered in there since the new menu had started.

 

I hope you enjoy your cruise in November. :)