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Allure of the Seas 3/30/14 Review with photos and some video!

dpmfloyd
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JenLovesToTravel

JenLovesToTravel

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My wife and I are fresh back from another excellent Royal Caribbean Cruise. Over the course of the next few days, I will share with you some experiences, pictures and even some video of our time aboard.

 

This was our 3rd cruise. Our 1st was on the Oasis for our honeymoon and our 2nd was on the Jewel roughly a year ago.

 

Leaving New England and Arriving in Fort Lauderdale:

For the first time ever, we flew out of TF Greene in Providence. What a huge change of pace from flying out of Logan in Boston! We had a 10:35am flight which went non-stop to Fort Lauderdale. There wasn’t a line at the ticket counter and the TSA line was all of 8 people deep. Amazing. We’ll be remember that little gem next time. Like many, we flew down the day before our cruise in an effort to make it a more relaxed start to our vacation

 

I'm originally from Massachusetts and fly home about 5 times a year to see my ailing dad. I ONLY use TF Green Airport. I've traveled through just about every airport on the east coast and it's by far the easiest, most relaxed experience. If only they would offer some more non stop service to destinations off of the east coast, I would be in business.

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dpmfloyd

dpmfloyd

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Day - I think i screwed this up, so I'm just going to call it the last full day.

 

 

We woke up knowing we wanted to eat breakfast in the solarium and then relax in a kid free environment. We left our stateroom, headed to the pool deck and grabbed a pair of towels. The solarium was empty. We picked a pair of loungers facing out over the front of Allure, plopped our stuff down and grabbed a quick breakfast.

 

 

It was a hair before 9am and I don’t remember seeing more than 10 people. After a quick bite, we returned to our loungers and soaked up the sun and soft sea breeze. The bar staff circled around, happily filling my order every time. We soaked up more than our usual sun when we decided to grab lunch in the windjammer.

 

 

After lunch, we returned to the room to pack. We can all agree, this is the single worst moment of any trip. Some would argue, leaving the ship is but I feel there is nothing worse than putting your stuff away, only to have it stay with you until you have to cart it off (unless you don’t do express check out).

 

 

After packing it was time to get ready for dinner. I had made reservations for Izumi. We enjoyed this location on the Oasis and were looking forward to another visit. We were seated along the windows, looking out over the deep blue sea. I forget what we ordered, but it did not disappoint. Our waiter was very friendly, very social and happy to chat with us about his cruising experience. The restaurant was empty. Only after we left did another party show up.

 

 

The day before, I made reservations for a 7:30pm flowrider lesson. After dinner we returned to the room, changed and made our way up to the flowriders. There needed to be a minimum of 4 people for lessons to be held. I was nervous being the last day, no one else would sign up. I’m happy to say I was wrong.

 

 

I had only used the flowrider once on this trip, to boogie board. I felt gypped and was happy to pay the price for us to get some more hands on time with it. One of the best decisions I made. I had used it on the Oasis when it was open for general use - but the staff was rude and had no interest in teaching anyone how to surf. That did not happen this time around.

 

 

The staff were very welcoming, friendly and full of helpful information. My wife was excited to boogie board, and try surfing. She didn’t like surfing so she stuck with the boogie board. I was the opposite, I was determined to learn how to surf and it paid off. After a few rotations and more instruction I was able to stand up and control the board. By no means am I trying to make you think I was a pro, but I was able to move the board back and forth a tiny bit before falling. I call that a success!

 

 

The lessons were fun, but it was only after they were over we knew the end was near. We returned to the room, cleaned up and headed out for one last romp around our favorite bars. It turned into a late night bar crawl. It was fun, and it really sent us out with a bang.

 

We returned to the room to pack up some final things, as we settled in for the saddest night of sleep.

 

 

Up next: Express Check out - Quick Conclusion and MORE PICTURES!

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dpmfloyd

dpmfloyd

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Disembarkation Day:

 

 

We had set our alarm for 6am. We had 9:45am flight out of FLL to PVD and knew express checkout was the way to go. After waking up, we bounced around collecting the last of our things. After a final check, we headed for the exit. We were on the gangway at 6:30am on the dot. Since we didn’t have two free hands, we had to take the elevator down to the ground level of the terminal. The security line wasn’t a terrible wait. They were setting up the ropes for the lines that will be coming shortly behind us when the rest of the ship vacates.

 

 

After clearing customs, we were in a cab headed to FLL. The ride was quick and cheaper than I thought. I had read many times cabs charge more for the return trip - if $15 including tip for two people is an upcharge, then people need to have their heads checked.

 

 

We were flying Southwest and already the security line was a small zoo. I remembered how bad it was when we arrived a week earlier, and this was nothing compared to what i saw then.

 

 

We were on the gangway and through airport security in 60 minutes flat. We had a good amount of elbow room for a 9:45am flight. We grabbed some breakfast, looked out over the airport and were forced to stare at the very top of our amazing ship.

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dpmfloyd

dpmfloyd

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To Conclude:

 

The Allure is an amazing ship. With only one or two hiccups with staff, the people that work on board give 110% and sincerely hope you have a wonderful cruise. I don’t care if they were lying through their teeth, I left the Allure feeling as though the staff cared about me having a great time.

 

 

There were some policy changes prior to our cruise. One of which stood out. The towel policy. You no longer had your Sea Pass scanned to take out a towel, they simply handed them over to you. While it was easy and convenient, it was also a huge problem. There were used towels left EVERYWHERE. The staff worked hard to move them as quick as possible, but I could not believe the places I would see them! They ask you return your towel after you’re done with it. Simple. There is no need to drape yourself and walk around the ship as if you were wearing a kilt only to leave it on the Rising Tide Bar.

 

 

On our Oasis trip, I felt as though I couldn’t walk through the Promenade without a sale being held, or being handed a slip of paper informing me of a future sale. I was happy it wasn’t as bad this time around. The only time I was handed anything was when we would leave a show or round of bingo in the theater.

 

 

Prior to our cruise, I had read a lot about people being upsold. We only experienced this once, it was during our lunch at Giovanni’s. After our meal, our waiter nicely told us about the Allure Dining Package. I nicely passed, but he reminded me of the great savings, and brought over a guest services rep to sign me up. Again, I passed and I am glad it ended there. At no other time did I feel as though people were getting me to pay more.

 

 

My wife and I are not drinkers, if you read this review I’m sure you probably just said, “Ya right!” We have wine and beer at home, but in the amounts we had aboard the ship. I was happy to drink nothing but umbrella drinks and cocktails for a week straight. We got our moneys worth. While the package does include tips, I did feel the pressure from the bar staff each time I ordered a drink. My wife and I decided on a few simple rules, if we were at a bar ordering a drink - no tip. If someone approached us and brought us a drink - $1 tip. If we felt the bar staff warranted a tip, we’d give them $1 and if we thought the person delivering our drink didn’t earn a tip, we had no problem not tipping. Our bartender in the MDR was fantastic. Friendly, fun and an absolute blast - we tipped him very well. In the end, between the two of us, we tipped a total of $60 on top of our package. I feel $60 split between many, many drinks is a small price to pay for great service.

 

 

We don’t have another trip booked just yet, but we’re looking to cruise on RC again either in the Fall 2014 or Spring 2015, hitting some new islands in the Caribbean.

 

 

Thanks for reading!

 

 

and stay tuned, at least 15 more pictures to post!!

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FunCruiser56

FunCruiser56

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WOW! Thanks for a great review, wonderful pictures too. You made me sad thinking about the last day of the cruise and we don't even board till next month;) That last day packing is the worst, we usually try and watch a movie and drink the bottle of wine we never got to while we do it, makes it a little easier.

 

Bev

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dpmfloyd

dpmfloyd

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WOW! Thanks for a great review, wonderful pictures too. You made me sad thinking about the last day of the cruise and we don't even board till next month;) That last day packing is the worst, we usually try and watch a movie and drink the bottle of wine we never got to while we do it, makes it a little easier.

 

Bev

 

That's a great idea. We wanted to be done with it as quick as humanly possible and get back to whatever fun we could have. Our last two cruises, we were bums. We got mopey and sulky and sad and stayed in our room. We were still on vacation, I was happy we bolted from our room and went from bar to bar, poking our noses where they hadn't been before. We will be doing it that way again! :cool:

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dpmfloyd

dpmfloyd

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Thoroughly enjoyed every word and picture. Thanks so much for helping my horrid case of PreCD...onward to Allure!!!!!!!

 

 

 

MSN-Emoticon-woohoo-210.gif

 

 

Thank you for following!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

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Dave85

Dave85

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What a wonderful review, thank you so much for sharing! Your pictures were incredible too. Can't wait to sail next month!!! I know BecciBoo and I both booked GT for lunch on embarkation day based on your recommendation (we were talking about it on our roll call) :p

 

I will say your comments (and those of others who have sailed recently) about the new towel policy are very interesting. I was initially all for getting rid of the checkout with card policy, but I'm really rethinking my position. I will say this -- you really reassured me with your Jaws music and describing how diligent the pool deck staff were about doing their job! I was very happy to hear that.

 

Thanks again for a wonderful review.

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Ocean Boy

Ocean Boy

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What a wonderful review, thank you so much for sharing! Your pictures were incredible too. Can't wait to sail next month!!! I know BecciBoo and I both booked GT for lunch on embarkation day based on your recommendation (we were talking about it on our roll call) :p

 

I will say your comments (and those of others who have sailed recently) about the new towel policy are very interesting. I was initially all for getting rid of the checkout with card policy, but I'm really rethinking my position. I will say this -- you really reassured me with your Jaws music and describing how diligent the pool deck staff were about doing their job! I was very happy to hear that.

 

Thanks again for a wonderful review.

 

I was very much against the check out policy until we sailed Allure last month. I, too, have reconsidered my position as it was for us exactly as described in this thread.

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dpmfloyd

dpmfloyd

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What a wonderful review, thank you so much for sharing! Your pictures were incredible too. Can't wait to sail next month!!! I know BecciBoo and I both booked GT for lunch on embarkation day based on your recommendation (we were talking about it on our roll call) :p

 

I will say your comments (and those of others who have sailed recently) about the new towel policy are very interesting. I was initially all for getting rid of the checkout with card policy, but I'm really rethinking my position. I will say this -- you really reassured me with your Jaws music and describing how diligent the pool deck staff were about doing their job! I was very happy to hear that.

 

Thanks again for a wonderful review.

 

Thank you so much for the nice words! :) Please be sure to come back and let me know how much you both loved GT on your first day! I originally thought the change to the towel policy was a great one. No lines, no scanning cards - just easy grab and go. Well, it is easy. But I'm floored by the inconsideration of people to leave used towels wherever they feel. You had pool staff running around bringing towels back to the station. It's very uncalled for. I never thought people would take advantage like this.

 

One thing you should know, in the morning, when you're taking towels - they would allow one person to only take two. Which is a very fair rule, but it makes claiming that many chairs so much easier if a few people out of a large group grab a large chunk of towels early on.

 

Sea days were the worst for the main pools, however, the solarium appeared to fill up later than the other pools.

 

Happy sailing, you'll love the Allure!

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maggieq

maggieq

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That was a great review. Believe it or not our first cruise on the oasis was not our favorite. We thought the ship was too big and too scheduled. We thought our favorite ship class was the freedom. Well we finally gave the oasis another shot and now it is our favorite class of ship. We would be going back on again in May but we really want to go back to San Juan. Actually, kicking myself we went on the reflection in jan and missed the allure like crazy. I will say out of the two, I love the sat to sat cruising on oasis but like the entertainment better on the allure.

 

Every time I am in my seat for the aqua show, I look back and think omg this is some ship......

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