Our fabulous week on the Allure! 3/9/14 Sailing

[TryingCruising]

Background:

We're a married couple in our early 30s. This was our 4th cruise. We've been on NCL twice in the past few years and first cruised Royal on Adventure in 2006. We spotted the Allure while on a cruise last year and decided that would be our next vacation. After monitoring pricing, we finally splurged on booking a balcony about 6 weeks out. We lucked out on somewhat decent airfare. Well as much as a bargain as spring break from the snowy Boston area can be when flying on a weekend! This trip was an overall splurge to enjoy time together and get away from the stresses of everyday life and hectic work schedules. That said, we decided ahead of time not to spend much money off the ship and did no excursions besides a day resort in Cozumel. Our goal was relaxation and reconnection. We achieved both!

 

After booking, I immediately started reserving shows and a few prime times were full. We were still able to select shows we wanted to see, then I made My Time Dining reservations for those evenings so we wouldn't have to feel rushed. (We love the Freestyle dining option on NCL. My Time worked well for us and I'll share more about each day as I work through this review.) This worked out well for us. I also went through MANY reviews here on Cruise Critic. I had been doing that over the past year any way, but stepped it up to an almost obsession as we started a rushed countdown. I've decided to pay it forward and attempt a review. I'm not an amazing photographer, but I hope to feed the need for others to see more about the Allure and witness another perspective. I confess to starting a review of the NCL Dawn last year and then not finishing it. I am really hoping to see this one through, which is part of why I waited to settle back into the work routine to start. I kept a journal that I wrote in each night or morning of the trip to help me track some details.

 

This was one of our best vacations ever. We enjoyed almost every moment and have no real complaints. I'm so glad we decided to do this trip, and I can't wait to cruise with Royal again sometime!

 

Sorry this got long! Now onto the stuff you're looking for...

[TryingCruising]

We flew into FLL on the day before our cruise. Thank goodness we did this because our flight was 3 hours delayed leaving Logan due to weather where our plane was departing before getting to us. We were lucky enough to still make our connection in Newark. Our flight down was eventful due to an older women next to us having some medical problems. I truly hope she was ok. She became alert and was taken out by paramedics once our plane landed. The Jet Blue attendants were also wonderful in caring for her.

 

We left the airport so excited to enter the taxi line and warmer weather. We shed our sweatshirts and waited a few minutes for our taxi to take us to our hotel: Hyatt Pier 66. It was about a $20 10-15 minute taxi ride. I was panicked a bit booking a hotel because the most recommended ones from here were all full. We usually enjoy Hyatts so went with this one due to its close proximity to the port.

We were very happy with this hotel decision and recommend it highly. The best part was that we arrived up in our 14th floor tower room just in time to see the Oasis sail away.

I was shocked we had such a great view of the port and even more impressed by the timing after check-in took a bit of time. I had commented to my husband earlier on the plane that I wished our flight arrived early enough to go watch the Oasis sail away. It was thrilling to see what I've watched on a webcam for weeks.

That small excitement of seeing the ship grew as I realized it also meant we'd spot Allure in the morning! (We were room 1468 incase anyone is curious)

 

We freshened up and headed to Pelican Landing for dinner. This raised outdoor seating restaurant was a beautiful spot over the water. Steven Spielberg's massive yacht was at the side of it. It was crazy to see the size of that 7 Seas! The restaurant was crowded but we didn't mind waiting a bit while we enjoyed our first drink of vacation.

The restaurant wait wasn't well-organized. As a restaurant worker myself, I always have a lot of patience and understand no job in hospitality is easy. We tried to find a spot to stand out of the way and marvel in our vacation starting. We were seated right next to the 7 seas yacht and had a very friendly waiter. The food was a bit delayed coming out of the kitchen (due to the business, I'm sure) but it was well worth the wait. We enjoyed our dinners before walking back down the boatyard towards the hotel, spotting more fancy yachts along the way. We crashed in the hotel bed to read and get a good night's sleep before boarding the ship. We also lost an hour tonight due to daylight savings time.

Edited March 27, 2014 by TryingCruising

[sleepless]

Great start with your review. I will be ok the Allure in July.

[TryingCruising]

I woke up real early that Sunday morning...I think it was still in the 4AM hour. I looked out to spot some bright lights out in the ocean, but couldn't make out ships vs barges in my tired state. I wanted to watch Allure pull in but ended up going back to bed. I woke up a couple hours later to spot the Allure docked and waiting for us.

There were many ships in port this morning. I let the husband sleep in a little longer before I had to have my coffee fix. We went down to breakfast in the lobby of the Hyatt. This was the only disappointing part of the hotel because it was expensive and not too great. I am not a big breakfast fan. I just need coffee, yogurt and fruit or something like that to be happy. After breakfast we passed a bit of time repacking our carryons for the ship and reading a little bit on our awesome hotel balcony.

 

We left our hotel room around 10:30ish because I was wondering if daylight savings would cause a delay in boarding. The people working to turn over the ship did just lose an hour! I was surprised to find a shuttle van setup out front the hotel and the concierge urged us to use that over a taxi. We paid $7 a person and waited for the second shuttle. Well the second shuttle comes within 20 minutes as predicted, but two ladies cut us off and take the final spots. I was a bit annoyed but not going to let them stress me out on my vacation. We had to wait a bit longer and finally another shuttle arrived. I made sure we were near the front of the line for that. We met a kind, large family that had seen what happened and helped us be sure to get on this shuttle. The driver of our van was very confused and toured us around the whole port until he finally stopped at a ship that no one on our shuttle was boarding. He seemed a bit embarrassed about that and then headed straight to the Allure!

 

The terminal was busy but well organized. We were through security quickly and only had to wait behind one other party in the Gold member line. We headed up to the waiting level and it was packed.

It was probably about 11:45/12 at this point. We were shuffled around a couple rows of chairs. It took an hour for our group we were sitting with to board. From there the walk up the gangway was fast. We were now eager to see this beautiful ship.

I will admit that in our wait I was worried maybe I did too much research. Would the ship still WOW me since I scoured pictures? Well YES. Yes it did. We wandered into the Royal Promenade just taking it all in. The wide size of it was amazing and it just seemed to clean and new.

We continued our giddy ship tour as we checked out Central Park. I had talked up

I had talked up the roast beef sandwiches at Park Cafe so we thought we'd grab one for lunch. The line was crazy at the Park Cafe, so we decided to skip it.

 

We headed back aft and up to deck 10 to check out our balcony room: 10276.

We layered on some sunscreen and decided to go check out the pool decks and find some lunch.

[TryingCruising]

Great start with your review. I will be ok the Allure in July.

 

Thank you! I think you'll have an amazing vacation. We absolutely loved this ship!

[Arch713]

Thank you so much for taking the time to write a review! I don't leave until August and need more reviews to get me through until then!

 

Can't wait to read more!

[perkli25]

I love your review already! We are on the Allure in 2 months. This will help get me through the wait.

 

 

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[Mary521]

We leave in 52 days, we've cruised her before and I still can't get enough reviews and pics! Thanks

 

 

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[prekteacher]

Great start to your review! Im enjoying it so sending wishes and luck to continue on with this one. My family will be on Allure Thanksgiving week. I too cant get enough of these reviews!

 

Barb

[bowie123]

Subscribing! Looking forward to the rest of your week! We will be on the Allure in June! Can't wait!!:)

[TryingCruising]

Day 1, continued

After wandering the pool deck a bit, our hunger was in full force. We went into the Solarium Bistro and found some great lunch options. It was busy in there but moving. We found a table to eat at with ease.

 

We slowly wandered further aft after lunch.

Usually we board and settle by a pool to enjoy sun and drinks. With so much to see on this ship, we wanted to take advantage of a not yet full ship to see the sights. We found the Wipeout Bar which became our favorite bar for the week. It was a great place to enjoy a drink, watch the wake on sea days, and you could view the Flow Riders.

There were many delicious beverage choices.

This was a nice place to sit and the bartenders were always friendly. I enjoyed a pina colada and my husband had a mai tai. We spent our last bit of time on social media, making friends jealous and telling the family we had made it aboard.

 

We were then off to scope out the boardwalk. This was the most intriguing part of the ship to me when booking. I loved the open air at the back of the ship and all the little details in this space.

We never did end up riding the carousel!

We reviewed more details as we decided to wander back to the room and check for luggage.

Sure enough, both suitcases arrived. This always makes me breath a bit easier! We started the unpacking process and met our cabin steward. She did a nice job and was friendly in passing. We didn't really see much of her during the week.

 

It was soon time to head to muster. Our station was the aqua theater. I'm glad we arrived a bit early so we didn't end up with seats in the direct sun. We lounged back and waited a bit for the video part. It all went by pretty quickly. We grabbed a drink for sail away at the busy boardwalk bar and headed to the cabin surprised to find the ship already in motion. Our balcony is my favorite spot for sail away because we can enjoy the start to the cruise and the excitement of it all in a quieter location. As I mentioned earlier, I'd been watching the webcam and waiting for the day we'd be on this side of it!

[TryingCruising]

 

Fort Lauderdale sail away is quick because you aren't next to land for long. We finished our packing and got ready for our 8PM dinner reservation. The reservation line that first night was short. (My Time dining was on deck 5 of the Adagio dining room. There are two lines, one for reservations and one without.) We waited in the little waiting area about 10 minutes before we were brought in to a table close to the door. Our waiter was Syaiful from Indonesia. He was very friendly and eager to please. We had the same server for most of our dinners this cruise and enjoyed him. The dinners were delicious. We felt like the food had changed for the worse between our two Norwegian cruises so we were very happy with the quality on Royal. This first night was our favorite meal in the dining room. I had the pork chop and the husband had the salmon. I tried to photograph the menus from our TV because I searched for them before we left. They aren't all in the photos, or are they the best, but I hope they help someone!

 

After dinner we walked the jogging track on deck 5. This became a routine every evening and was a great way to get moving a bit after eating 3 courses! We came back in the promenade and settled at the pub. Hubby was excited by a couple options on the beer menu, mainly La fin du monde.

Jimmy was playing the guitar and having audience participation. He was also funny. We enjoyed his entertainment for a couple hours...they flew by. We then tried our first slice of delicious Sorrento's pizza (since it was right across from the pub) and headed back to our stateroom to call it a night.

 

Random info I forgot to mention:

I bought a water package and received 8 1-liter bottles in my stateroom after dinner. This was the perfect amount for me. I always drank tap at the restaurants, and I was impressed how easy it was to get a cup of water around the ship. It was in all the eating areas and I loved the easy accessibility. I really only used my bottles in the room and on our Cozumel day. I tend to drink a lot of water!

[TryingCruising]

Thanks for the comments! I'm so happy to see that you are already enjoying my review! I was going back and forth on whether to organize it daily or shorter and focused, but I decided to do this journal format since that's how I recorded it. I think the pictures and info will be heaviest in the beginning and then shorten quite a bit.

 

It's time for me to stop tonight. I hope to be back after dinner tomorrow with another day.

 

Thanks again for checking it out! :D

[lindy sails]

Great start! Can 't wait for you to come back for more of your review.

Leaving on the Allure In May!

 

 

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[workinmom3]

Sailing on Allure in May & love reading anything I can.

 

 

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[UnionCruiser2007]

Can't wait to read more. I will be going on the Allure in Oct.

[Totalelf]

Ready to read more.... Leave on Allure this Sunday!

 

 

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[kruzerci]

Can't wait. Leaving for allure in 38 days :)

[sauvichick]

I love Allure reviews! Keep it coming. Sailing in less than 100 days give or take.

 

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[JamesEM]

Thanks for the info, will be on the Allure this Fall.

[dz9yvr]

I woke up real early that Sunday morning...I

 

We left our hotel room around 10:30ish because I was wondering if daylight savings would cause a delay in boarding. The people working to turn over the ship did just lose an hour! I was surprised to find a shuttle van setup out front the hotel and the concierge urged us to use that over a taxi. We paid $7 a person and waited for the second shuttle. Well the second shuttle comes within 20 minutes as predicted, but two ladies cut us off and take the final spots. I was a bit annoyed but not going to let them stress me out on my vacation. We had to wait a bit longer and finally another shuttle arrived. I made sure we were near the front of the line for that. We met a kind, large family that had seen what happened and helped us be sure to get on this shuttle. The driver of our van was very confused and toured us around the whole port until he finally stopped at a ship that no one on our shuttle was boarding. He seemed a bit embarrassed about that and then headed straight to the Allure!.......

 

 

Hi, glad you enjoyed the Allure, I'm sorry that you fell for the shuttle scam at many of the hotels. A cab ride from the hotels in your area is only about $12 - $15, so it makes no sense for you to pay $14 for two and need to wait for the shuttle. The hotels push everyone to the shuttle because they get a kick-back from the shuttle company. Next time just ask for a taxi. It's so bad at some hotels, you may need to make the call to the taxi company.

[happy cruiser1234]

Hello, we were on the same sailing! And like you, this was one of our favorite vacations. We have already booked again for March break 2015, eastern route this time. I'm looking forward to the rest of your review! Great pictures!

[mrpayroll]

We were on Allure in January and LOVED it. Looking forward to the rest of your review. ( in our sixties and rode merry go round several times ) Also did the zip line....next time will try rock wall....:)

[Cruisegirl6]

Thank you for this review love it.

 

There have been many reviews in the past year and half where people said their cabins were too warm during the night even with their ac setting lowest, did you find this to be true?

[bobbiejean]

I was on the Allure the week before March 2. They transitioned people and crew over to daylight savings time Friday at 3 am. Did'nt hardly notice as last 2 days were sea days. Good idea. Not so hard to get up on Sunday to leave. Wonderful cruise and ship.