Just got back from the Allure, where we won our next cruise!!!

[birdofsong]

First, I have to say that of the 6 cruises I've been on, this was absolutely the best. The ship is amazing, the entertainment was top notch, and the crew was wonderful, friendly, and incredibly accommodating.

 

There are so many great reviews on here about this ship, so I'm not going to go into too much detail, but my favorites are as follows:

 

Central Park (all the greenery is so pretty-- you truly don't feel you're on a cruise ship. It has a very upscale and intimate feel walking along the deck on the first formal night, with the lights twinkling and the wind gently blowing)

 

The entertainment!!! The cast was top notch in everything. My favorites -- Chicago (I've seen the London production and liked this more), Mo5aic (they were so good that we came back the next night instead of going to the ice show and were able to get in to see them again). I know this was a special headliner act, but if they book other acts of this caliber, they are sure to be enjoyed. We plan on seeing their show in Vegas the next time we're there. Comedy -- both comedians were fantastic. They also did an additional, family friendly show on the last night, which was enjoyable, and totally different from their main show. There was a great Crown and Anchor show featuring the Chicago cast, as well. The only production I didn't care for much (other than the ice show, which I skipped) was Blue Planet. It felt fairly disjointed. Again, the talent was great, but it really didn't feel like it was a cohesive show. Oceanaria (the water show) was very good.

 

The staff. Our cabin steward (Adolph) and the dining room staff (Leslie Williams and Andy Sam) were so friendly, prompt, and helpful. My mother has a bunch of dietary restrictions (gluten, salt, and dairy), and the head waiter came every night to get her order for the next night taken care of, to make sure she had good food to eat. The chef made her a special dessert every night. Some were misses, but we were so impressed at the lengths they went to to make her happy. We did not eat at any of the specialty restaurants, but we enjoyed all of our meals in the MDR.

 

We are Karaoke people, so we went for a few nights, and were very impressed with the sound, but very unimpressed with the selection. The staff, again, was awesome there.

 

Every band or musician we heard on the ship was top notch. We had a great time dancing to Muzik Express in Dazzles.

 

The casino was nice, but it wasn't kind to us. :(

 

As far as the ports are concerned...eh. Been there, done that before, and wasn't much impressed the first time. We chose this cruise for the ship.

 

My personal highlight...WE WON OUR NEXT CRUISE AT BINGO!!! I'm looking at a Southern Caribbean cruise for the next one! Aruba, here I come!

[luckyprincess]

OMG!! That is so awesome!! Congrats! Remember when you said you would take me on your next cruise if you won a free one? :D

[dacsmom]

That is awesome that you won a cruise. Hopefully I will do the same in October.

[robin13]

Did you use the electronic Bingo cards or were they the old fashion ones? The reason I ask is because when I was on IOS in April almost everyone that won had the new cards. Since I hadn't played Bingo in a long time I didn't want to spend $55 but in hindsight I wish I had.

[birdofsong]

Did you use the electronic Bingo cards or were they the old fashion ones? The reason I ask is because when I was on IOS in April almost everyone that won had the new cards. Since I hadn't played Bingo in a long time I didn't want to spend $55 but in hindsight I wish I had.

 

We got the bigger package, which had both the paper cards and the tracker cards. The winning number was on the tracker. Another person also had the winning number and there was a tiebreaker on a paper card. They pulled the next number and it was on our card and not the other guy's card. The package that included the tracker was $67.

[lme901]

Congratulations!

[robin13]

We got the bigger package, which had both the paper cards and the tracker cards. The winning number was on the tracker. Another person also had the winning number and there was a tiebreaker on a paper card. They pulled the next number and it was on our card and not the other guy's card. The package that included the tracker was $67.

 

Thanks for letting me know and congrats on winning the cruise. I really thought that I had a good chance of winning as there were only about 50 people playing. So wish I had gotten the tracker cards as there was a guy that had three of those machines and he won twice. He wound up winning around $100 after all was said and done. Next cruise I will be going with those machines.

[slyster]

Wow that's awesome! We used the computerized ones...i'm assuming that's the tracker one? Others had noticed that there were more winners on those too but I also noticed more than half the room was using the computer ones

[prekteacher]

Congrats! How awesome for you! I am glad to hear about the MDR as we have two children with nut allergies and had a good experience on Freedom before. I hope Allure's MDR is as positive. Thanks for writing about your experiences and have a great next cruise- i do love bingo!

 

Barb

[Paulette3028]

First, I have to say that of the 6 cruises I've been on, this was absolutely the best. The ship is amazing, the entertainment was top notch, and the crew was wonderful, friendly, and incredibly accommodating.

 

There are so many great reviews on here about this ship, so I'm not going to go into too much detail, but my favorites are as follows:

 

Central Park (all the greenery is so pretty-- you truly don't feel you're on a cruise ship. It has a very upscale and intimate feel walking along the deck on the first formal night, with the lights twinkling and the wind gently blowing)

 

The entertainment!!! The cast was top notch in everything. My favorites -- Chicago (I've seen the London production and liked this more), Mo5aic (they were so good that we came back the next night instead of going to the ice show and were able to get in to see them again). I know this was a special headliner act, but if they book other acts of this caliber, they are sure to be enjoyed. We plan on seeing their show in Vegas the next time we're there. Comedy -- both comedians were fantastic. They also did an additional, family friendly show on the last night, which was enjoyable, and totally different from their main show. There was a great Crown and Anchor show featuring the Chicago cast, as well. The only production I didn't care for much (other than the ice show, which I skipped) was Blue Planet. It felt fairly disjointed. Again, the talent was great, but it really didn't feel like it was a cohesive show. Oceanaria (the water show) was very good.

 

The staff. Our cabin steward (Adolph) and the dining room staff (Leslie Williams and Andy Sam) were so friendly, prompt, and helpful. My mother has a bunch of dietary restrictions (gluten, salt, and dairy), and the head waiter came every night to get her order for the next night taken care of, to make sure she had good food to eat. The chef made her a special dessert every night. Some were misses, but we were so impressed at the lengths they went to to make her happy. We did not eat at any of the specialty restaurants, but we enjoyed all of our meals in the MDR.

 

We are Karaoke people, so we went for a few nights, and were very impressed with the sound, but very unimpressed with the selection. The staff, again, was awesome there.

 

Every band or musician we heard on the ship was top notch. We had a great time dancing to Muzik Express in Dazzles.

 

The casino was nice, but it wasn't kind to us. :(

 

As far as the ports are concerned...eh. Been there, done that before, and wasn't much impressed the first time. We chose this cruise for the ship.

 

My personal highlight...WE WON OUR NEXT CRUISE AT BINGO!!! I'm looking at a Southern Caribbean cruise for the next one! Aruba, here I come!

 

DH and I were also on the Allure for your sailing; actually my DH was the 'commissioner' for the game where you won the cruise. I very much enjoyed you at Karaoke, since my hubby enjoys it a lot, we were there often. If you were unimpressed with the choices on this ship, the choices were much better on this ship, than on previous cruises we have taken. On past cruises it was much more difficult for my hubby to find songs to do.

 

We did the Southern Caribbean in the summer of 2013 on Jewel; it was nice; but nothing on the ship to compare to the On Air venue for Karaoke. The Karoake was a lot of fun regardless, much more Latin singers which brought a different type of flair....and it was ALL GOOD!

[kirian]

That's fabulous - congratulations!!!!

 

I don't typically play bingo, but I might just take it up now that I know you can win a cruise :D

 

Melissa

[Kcruiser2014]

Congratulations on winning the cruise !!! Always awesome when something like that happens!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[NolaFireLI]

Oh how my DH would be thrilled if I won a cruise at BINGO!!!! :D (...said the girl with the video internet BINGO addiction!!)

 

Reading this post has made me decide - YES... I will be playing Bingo on the Oasis this November!!!

[Mrs_Tiki]

Although I don't play Bingo, I've always thought that it was cool when they give one of the unoccupied big suites as a prize. But a whole new cruise is even better. Way to go!!!!

[birdofsong]

DH and I were also on the Allure for your sailing; actually my DH was the 'commissioner' for the game where you won the cruise. I very much enjoyed you at Karaoke, since my hubby enjoys it a lot, we were there often. If you were unimpressed with the choices on this ship, the choices were much better on this ship, than on previous cruises we have taken. On past cruises it was much more difficult for my hubby to find songs to do.

 

We did the Southern Caribbean in the summer of 2013 on Jewel; it was nice; but nothing on the ship to compare to the On Air venue for Karaoke. The Karoake was a lot of fun regardless, much more Latin singers which brought a different type of flair....and it was ALL GOOD!

 

Hi there! Tell your husband he was the BEST commissioner! We really did have fun at Karaoke -- there were just some questionable versions of songs. We're a bit picky, I suppose, because we run a Karaoke business. When we were on the Vision last year, we ended up running their sound for them, because they were entirely clueless. They also couldn't get their CAVS machine working right, so we hooked up our I-pods and did some songs that way. We have a couple of thousand Karaoke tracks between us on our I-pods, and the right cable to make it work on a sound board. :)

 

We have the Jewel or the Adventure to choose from for Southern. I'm leaning toward the Adventure, mostly because of the size and features of the ship. I've heard good things about the Jewel, though, as well.

[ken3028]

Hi there! Tell your husband he was the BEST commissioner! We really did have fun at Karaoke -- there were just some questionable versions of songs. We're a bit picky, I suppose, because we run a Karaoke business. When we were on the Vision last year, we ended up running their sound for them, because they were entirely clueless. They also couldn't get their CAVS machine working right, so we hooked up our I-pods and did some songs that way. We have a couple of thousand Karaoke tracks between us on our I-pods, and the right cable to make it work on a sound board. :)

 

We have the Jewel or the Adventure to choose from for Southern. I'm leaning toward the Adventure, mostly because of the size and features of the ship. I've heard good things about the Jewel, though, as well.

 

It's the "commissioner" here, thanks for the compliment. You and your wonderful wife were great at Karaoke and now I understand some of the comments you made about adapting to the songs.

 

I'm kind of surprised that the folks on Vision let you hook up your I-Pods to the CAVS system, we've had friends sail with RCL about 3 or 4 years ago (I think on Liberty) who had some of their Karaoke tracks on CD and USB and the staff wouldn't let them use it because they were afraid of copyright violations. Maybe things have changed over the years, and after seeing the list on Allure I know they are popping discs into their system.

 

Hope to see you again cruising somewhere in the future.

 

Ken

[Ladysilver]

Good review and CONGRATULATIONS!! :)

[delirious9876]

It's so cool winning a cruise.

 

I won one in Bingo on New Years Eve on Mariner in 2006. It was a great start to 2007 !!!!!

[jules815]

First, congrats on winning your cruise at Bingo. It sounds like you had a great week. :)

 

Can someone explain the electronic (tracker) cards?

[maureencruiser]

Wow that's awesome! We used the computerized ones...i'm assuming that's the tracker one? Others had noticed that there were more winners on those too but I also noticed more than half the room was using the computer ones

 

And, don't forget, there are like three times as many cards on the electronic as well. So, many more than half the games were electronic. I haven't played in a while, so, I don't remember the prices, but, the machines are a much better deal and you can just sit there and enjoy a beverage, you don't touch them. :)

[sillygirl777]

Congrats :)

[Paulette3028]

Hi there! Tell your husband he was the BEST commissioner! We really did have fun at Karaoke -- there were just some questionable versions of songs. We're a bit picky, I suppose, because we run a Karaoke business. When we were on the Vision last year, we ended up running their sound for them, because they were entirely clueless. They also couldn't get their CAVS machine working right, so we hooked up our I-pods and did some songs that way. We have a couple of thousand Karaoke tracks between us on our I-pods, and the right cable to make it work on a sound board. :)

 

We have the Jewel or the Adventure to choose from for Southern. I'm leaning toward the Adventure, mostly because of the size and features of the ship. I've heard good things about the Jewel, though, as well.

 

Let me ask you this since you run a Karaoke business, why the explosion in interest in Karaoke? We have been cruising just 10 years, and Ken got into Karaoke about 8 years ago on a ship; there were a few (very few singers) and never a crowded room of listeners; mostly it was family of singers or those that thought watching people who had a little too much to drink 'sing' was funny.....but of course these people would not do it.....so what has happened in the interim. Sure, people who do sing, don't have to worry about seeing too many of these people ever again, but what would you say is the overall explosion of Karaoke, even on land.

[Paulette3028]

Have you booked the cruise you won yet?

[jpcello]

There was a great Crown and Anchor show featuring the Chicago cast, as well.

 

I was hoping for this. Last year on Oasis we went to the C&A cabaret show of the headliners from Hairspray and it was amazing. My sister and I are both theatre lovers and we're looking forward to Chicago (and the cabaret show).

[tlatrice]

When you win a cruise, do you have your choice of itinerary/ship? Also, what kind of stateroom is it? Inside only? Oceanview? Balcony?

Edited August 7, 2014 by tlatrice