Allure Review - September 28th - By A Smuggler

[BillOh]

Oasis and Allure can't dock at Havensite, it would have to be dredged deeper. Royal does use Havensite for its other ships.

[sonicbuffalo]

Enjoying your review and candor. Taking this exact trip on November 23rd. Planning to stay on the boat in Nassau. Have been there before and just not dying to do anything. At most we would walk to junkanoo also. Your post about the lady that kept sleeping in your room was awesome.

 

Debbie

 

Thanks....that lady has been sleeping in my room for 35 years now!

[sonicbuffalo]

Oasis and Allure can't dock at Havensite, it would have to be dredged deeper. Royal does use Havensite for its other ships.

 

I wasn't aware of the depth issue....I know the Allure &Oasis has a 30 ft. draft. I would figured that Havensight would have been that deep. Thanks for your information!

[prekteacher]

Thank you for the review! Will continue to read as you go along. I am also on this route Nov 23. Not sure what to do about Nassau and my 12 yo for the Chicago show yet we do live in Chicago and the kids hear bad stuff everyday on the news here. Just try to avoid it on vacation. Appreciate the time you are taking to write about details we rarely hear about.

 

Barb

[sonicbuffalo]

Thank you for the review! Will continue to read as you go along. I am also on this route Nov 23. Not sure what to do about Nassau and my 12 yo for the Chicago show yet we do live in Chicago and the kids hear bad stuff everyday on the news here. Just try to avoid it on vacation. Appreciate the time you are taking to write about details we rarely hear about.

 

Barb

 

Thanks for the kind remarks, Barb!

[sonicbuffalo]

Here we are during Bernard's Tours of St. Martin. We had DJ as our guide. We have used Bernard's Tours several times since he goes to our favorite 2 beaches for stops. He stops at Orient Beach for a few hours and at Maho Beach where the big jets come in right over your head. I'll post a few pictures of the jet and airplanes we saw coming in. This is also where you get jet blasted when the planes are taking off if you want to stand next to the fence. I highly recommend Bernard's Tours. He provides soda, beer, and Rum Punch if desired. He had 3 bottles of Rum Punch. This is a little marina on the way to the French side of the island.

 

 

A village on the way. We were, I believe, on the French side.

 

 

Goats on a hillside near the urchin and shell guy on the way to Orient Bay.

 

 

[sonicbuffalo]

Some beautiful scenery near the shell guy.....loved the scenery.

 

 

 

The iguanas feeding frenzy....some guy was feeding them carrots and vegetables.

 

 

Here's one of the males....bigger and brown....man one was gigantic.

 

[sonicbuffalo]

More and more iguanas kept coming out of the weeds. It looked like a heavy population of them.

 

 

Daddy iguana ruling the roost.

 

 

 

The biggest of the big daddy's

 

[sonicbuffalo]

The oldest house on St. Marteen.....it's survived many of the major hurricanes. It is still standing but not sure if anyone is living there.

 

 

Here's Orient Beach. Just a brief look at it. The water was magnificent....so crystal clear and such soft silky white sand. I really loved swimming here.

 

 

A ship that ran aground during a hurricane on St. Maarten. Had to take the picture from a moving van.

 

[sonicbuffalo]

Here I took this shot of the fort overlooking Marigot, the French Capital on St. Maarten. It was a little shopping and restroom break. Some of our tour got food here. My wife got a soufle from the local bakery.

 

 

Motor scooters abound here on St. Maarten. Here was some locals riding by. I was walking back to the bus.

 

 

Here is the sign welcoming us back to the Dutch side. DJ, the tour guide said the Dutch are way more laid back in their lifestyle, and the French are more rigid in the way they treat everything. All the partying is done primarily back on the Dutch side.

 

[sonicbuffalo]

At the border.....the French and Dutch sides.

 

 

 

This is where DJ said they dock the big yachts here in the winter. It's a pretty large open bay.

 

 

Here we are at Maho Beach waiting to get pictures of the jets and airplanes landing. I bought a Diet Coke, and sat in the hot sun, just waiting. Finally, we spotted one getting ready to land.

 

 

[Single_dreamer]

Great review!

 

Sent from my SCH-R830C using Forums mobile app

[Funsinger75]

Thanks for the review! I'm sailing the Allure soon! Canada has actually issued a travel advisory/ warning to its citizens going into Nassau. Looks like some safety/theft issues there. I've done this port before and was debating on whether to get off the ship for such a short stay. Think I'll skip it this time!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[sonicbuffalo]

Great review!

 

Sent from my SCH-R830C using Forums mobile app

 

Thank you very much!

 

Thanks for the review! I'm sailing the Allure soon! Canada has actually issued a travel advisory/ warning to its citizens going into Nassau. Looks like some safety/theft issues there. I've done this port before and was debating on whether to get off the ship for such a short stay. Think I'll skip it this time!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Yes....after my encounter with the riff-raff there....I wouls stay on board!

Edited October 12, 2014 by sonicbuffalo

[sonicbuffalo]

Here's a series of the Jet getting closer....

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sonicbuffalo]

Back to the tour of St. Maarten....here's looking over the Dutch Capital of Phillipsburg, I believe.

 

 

Leaving St. Maarten.....until next time. We really enjoyed spending the day there....wished we could have stayed longer.

 

 

 

The Aqua Theater where all the high dive shows are performed. Great Shows!

 

[sonicbuffalo]

More of the Aqua Theater

 

 

 

They have 2 giant video screens on either side of the Aqua Theater stage

 

 

Rock Climbing walls on either side of the Aqua Theater stage as well. They go pretty high up. I wouldn't want to attempt it.

 

[sonicbuffalo]

 

 

The Boardwalk has the Carousel for the kids, and leads out to Johnny Rockets, which is excellent for breakfast, and leads also to the Aqua Theater. This is located on the 6th deck.

 

 

 

Free Hotdogs anyone?

 

[sonicbuffalo]

More pictures from the Boardwalk....we loved eating frsh eggs at Johnny Rockets in the morning of sea days. Free for breakfast and usually not very big lines. We always arrived 15 minutes early (7:45 am, and always got an inside seat.

 

 

More Carousel horses on the Boardwalk. The ship was remarkably easy to get around. Very easy to get oriented.

 

 

 

All of us adults even rode the Carousel....big fun!

 

 

[sonicbuffalo]

What Carousel would be complete without an Ice Cream Parlor?

 

 

 

 

 

[sonicbuffalo]

 

We talked to some people who ate at Rita's Cantina, and they said the food was awful. I wouldn't take the chance for a paying restaurant. I say don't eat there.

 

 

In the background of tis shot is Johnny Rocket's. Remember, free and great breakfasts on Sea days.

 

http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l521/sonicbuffalo/jpegs1-348.jpg

 

A few happy smiles from the crew....

 

 

Poncho Ginny

 

[sonicbuffalo]

The Aft Elevators are decorated with wire mesh dresses....they look pretty cool, but are hard to photograph.

 

 

The Schooner Bar located n deck 6 above the Royal Promenade

 

 

Guest Services located on deck 5 in the Royal Promenade.

 

 

Little shops like this abound on The Royal Promenade.

 

 

Cafe Promenade was always good for late night snacks or anytime snacks.

 

[sonicbuffalo]

The platform where the Cruise Director (Ken Rush) and other stood during parties. The Center of Action on the Promenade.

 

 

The Cupcake Shop....even if you're on a diet.

 

 

The Bow & Stern Restuarant. We stayed on the Starboard Side of the Lady Allure, and I recommend it as it seemed to dock closest to the dock so we could watch the late crazies running to catch the ship before it left. I loved our view. I can't really speak for the Port side.

 

 

The Booze Shop....that didn't get any of my money....I was a bootlegger....shame on me!

 

[sonicbuffalo]

Sorrento's had great (ok, not great, but very good pizza for snacks. They also had 2 Coke machines which helped keep my cup filled up. I think Sorrento's had about the best pizza I've had on a ship, no kidding.

 

 

Some acrobat and juggler's statues decorating the Promenade.

 

 

 

Starbucks......

 

 

[sonicbuffalo]

The Fine Jewelry Shop on the Royal Promenade.

 

 

Richard L. Priest, a police computer forensics expert, gave us a series of 4 or 5 lectures on cyber crime and the history of the computer. He was a very interesting speaker and spoke of the investigations of the Casey Anthony case, and the BTK killer.

 

 

My lovely wife about to sneak a snack at the Wipeout Cafe.

 

 

One of 2 Flowriders. I admit, I was chicken....it's for the tweens....and I wished we had these when I was a tween.

 

 

No matter where you go, there you are!