Allure Review - September 28th - By A Smuggler

[sonicbuffalo]

The attendants put a divider in the middle so more poeple could use the Flowrider. This one was more for the beginners and intermediate boarders.

 

 

Wipeout Bar near the Flowriders.

 

 

Good view of the Flowrider....you just have to look hard.

 

 

 

A Real Wipeout.....lucky picture!

 

[sonicbuffalo]

The Zipline swinging over the park.....

 

 

 

 

Some great friends we met and hung out with

 

 

Yours Truly and My lovely bride

 

[sonicbuffalo]

Chops Grill in Central Park.....

 

 

 

 

 

[sonicbuffalo]

The Royal Band.....on the Boardwalk.....

 

 

 

 

[cruiserdudebobby8]

Allure is so beautiful

 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Forums mobile app

[denamo]

Sonicbuffalo,

 

I followed your link to your NCL Sun cruise in your signature. I found a couple of comments on your take on Freestyle dining. Wondering now that you've done the Allure, and Carnival cruises what was your comparison? I ask because we've considered doing an NCL cruise.

 

BTW...never tire of pictures of the Oasis class ships. Been on this class several times. We greatly enjoy this class.

[cyndyga]

Awesome pictures and narrative! I'm going on the Oasis in January and your trip report has got me so excited!;):D

[sonicbuffalo]

Awesome pictures and narrative! I'm going on the Oasis in January and your trip report has got me so excited!;):D

 

Are you doing the Eastern or Western? Thanks for the compliments and I sincerely hope you have a great cruise! If you have any questions, Let me know....I'll do my best to answer them!

[sonicbuffalo]

Sonicbuffalo,

 

I followed your link to your NCL Sun cruise in your signature. I found a couple of comments on your take on Freestyle dining. Wondering now that you've done the Allure, and Carnival cruises what was your comparison? I ask because we've considered doing an NCL cruise.

 

BTW...never tire of pictures of the Oasis class ships. Been on this class several times. We greatly enjoy this class.

 

We had Our Time Dining on the Allure since we booked kind of late. That's the only way we could fit the shows in we wanted to see. As far as stuffiness, we like Freestyle Cruising the best. We like the relaxed MDR atmosphere. The RCL atmosphere really wants you to wear jackets for men and ties, and dresses or slacks for the women. We like the laid back atmosphere so much better. I think the only reason RCL really pushes for dressing up is so they can take more pictures. That being said, we dressed casually and I only wore a Hawaian Shirt and long pants for formal nght. I'm sorry but I no longer have room in my limited suitcases for formal wear that I'm only gonna wear once or twice. We enjoy the Oasis Class too, but we really enjoyed the NCL Sun cruise. We had a blast on that cruise.

[denamo]

Thanks Sonicbuffalo for your perspective. I never thought about the angle of taking pictures as a rationale for more dressy attire. Makes sense. We live in Tx and the NCL Jewel is in Houston soon. Know anything about that ship? We've met cruisers on a couple of our most recent Royal cruises who told us they really enjoyed NCL also.

[sonicbuffalo]

Well....it's time to wrap this review up. We're very thankful that we got to cruise on the world's largest cruise ship. To say we've cruised on a $1.2 billion dollar vessel is mindblowing. We met some great folks, and had a great time. I would have to say it ranks right up there as one of our favorite cruises.

 

I think our cruise to St. Lucia, St. Kitts, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten was our favorite cruise. It was our first cruise, and on the Carnival Miracle. We didn't know anything about cruising back then (6 years ago), but we researched excursions with the great help of this website. We learned early on not to take ship sponsored excursions if you can help it.

 

The Allure of The Seas was an exiciting ship. There is so much to do, yet you still have time to do absolutely nothing. We liked our Cruise Director, Ken Rush, and the Captain of the Ship, Captain Johnny. Captain Johnny was driving his motorcycle around on the Royal Promenade before the Royal Parade and we had just eaten dinner. We were at the rope line, and on the 2nd pass, he stopped right in front of us and started talking to us. Of course, I hadn't brought my camera (or I would have gotten great shots of Captain Johnny). If I had brought my camera, we probably wouldn't have been in the right place at the right time to have seen him so u close and personal. We really liked his good natured way. He talked to us a bit before moving on to speak with others and to pose for pictures. It was definitely a highlight.

 

Of course, the folks we hung out with and us were in our 50's and didn't sipline, or go on the Flowrider. All I've got to say is,"why didn't they have fun stuff like that when we were kids"?

 

Now for my grades of our cruise:

 

1.) Food = D - What can I say? At the Windjammer they have Chinese and Indian section, yet there are fewer than 1% Indians and Chinese on the ship. What gives? That cuts down on the American food choices. My wife and I don't think that is fair. Why cater to the Chinese and Indian's? They can bring their own curry and for the Chinese, their noodles and whatever version of stir fry they want to serve. MDR food wasn't much better. The lobster wasn't Maine lobster and was very rubbery. The menu wasn't very different from night to night. The food was over salted. Not impressed with any of the food except when we learned to go to Johnny Rockets for breakfast. There you could order your eggs any way you wanted, and they were fresh. There really isn't much of a line down there. We got there at about 7:45 each sea day and the doors opened at 8 am. RCL deserves their D rating. We enjoyed the meals much better on Carnival and NCL.

 

2.) Entertainment = A - We feel Royal has the best shows we've ever seen at sea. Chicago, the Aqua Show, The Blue Planet (which was awesome and not to be missed), and the Ice Game Shows were all stellar. We've seen a lot of shows, and Blue Planet tops them all. It was like watching a Las Vegas Show with a cross between Cirque De Soleil and well Chicago. The shows were fantastic. Don't miss them.

 

3.) Staff = B - Most were very pleasant but there were a very few that were not friendly at all. Some had snarls and frowns instead of smiles. Our waitress, Marianna, in the your time dining section, was the best waitress we've ever had. I hope she waits on your table. She was smiling and learned very quickly what we wanted each night and was very pleasant and just a fantastic waitress. We really appreciated her service. Very glad she waited on our table. The first night we ate with our friends, we had Anthony, and he was good also, but not as good as Marianna. I got spoiled and looked forward to Marianna waiting on us each night. Can't say enough good things about her! Our stateroom attendant was Elroy and he was good too, but we missed having new towel animals each night. We did get a few though. Overall, he did a good job.

 

4.) Specialty Restaurants = N/A - We don't eat in specialty restaurants. We figure if we're spending big money on a cruise, we shouldn't have to spend extra money to get decent food in a specialty restaurant.

 

5.) Bernard's Tours in St. Maarten = A - We had a great time with Bernard's tours. They have two large coolers full of drinks. You can have water, soda, or adult beverages. We loved stopping at Orient Beach and doing some swimming at one of the most beautiful beaches in The Caribbean.

 

****** Overall Score *******

 

C - mostly because of the food. The ship was immaculately cleaned and in like new condition. We loved the ship and everyone who loves cruising should cruise an Oasis class ship at some point. You won't be disappointed. Thanks for checking out my review! If you have any questions, please ask and I'll do my best to answer.

[debbs0723]

Thanks again for the review and pictures. We are going as a family of 9 for Thanksgiving. 4 of us have been on a few cruises. My parents have just been on one and my brother and his family are 1st time cruisers. Our jaws dropped on the Navigator of the seas so i can't imagine how they will drop on the allure, especially the first time cruisers. We are probably staying on the ship in Nassau, not sure yet about St. Thomas and because so many of us were going and pitching in, we were able to afford a private yacht in St. Maarten so im sure we will be doing Maho and Orient. It better be worth it :) As far as the food goes, that is disappointing but not shocking to hear. Our food wasn't amazing last time but yet I somehow still manage to put on a few pounds. Im usually just excited to not have to worry about meals for my family. Its so annoying that my kids want to eat every single day :). We will plan on Johnnys for breakfast but i can't see it being before 830am. Do you know if it gets too crowded later?

 

Thanks again,

Debbie

Edited October 15, 2014 by debbs0723

[flpab]

> quote>yet there are fewer than 1% Indians and Chinese on the ship. What gives? That cuts down on the American food choices. My wife and I don't think that is fair. Why cater to the Chinese and Indian's? They can bring their own curry and for the Chinese, their noodles and whatever version of stir fry they want to serve.>

 

 

I travel to eat different foods and eat out to try different food. I live in a very diverse state and we have Greek, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Tex Mex, Cal Mex and Cuban places everywhere. That is American food to us.

[trev71]

Nice review, Love looking at all the pictures reminds me of my time on the Allure

 

I agree about Nassau though it was not a fun port at all. Normally when the locals are hooping and hollering at you to go into their stores I usually use some of my French and say no english and that normally makes them back off. unless your in st martens :rolleyes:

 

We had a local made a rude comment at us in Cozumel but I didnt let one person bring it down for me. He was upset we didnt want to go in his store

[1northstar]

Enjoyed your review . Thanks for sharing.

[sonicbuffalo]

> quote>yet there are fewer than 1% Indians and Chinese on the ship. What gives? That cuts down on the American food choices. My wife and I don't think that is fair. Why cater to the Chinese and Indian's? They can bring their own curry and for the Chinese, their noodles and whatever version of stir fry they want to serve.>

 

 

I travel to eat different foods and eat out to try different food. I live in a very diverse state and we have Greek, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Tex Mex, Cal Mex and Cuban places everywhere. That is American food to us.

 

We are like you and like to try different things to eat BUT..........Every single day the same old thing? Not to my liking.

[rtazz17]

Nice review,thank you.

I will say Im not chinese but love the chinese food in the WJ.ALOT of people eat the chinese food as you could tell from the long lines.

[sonicbuffalo]

Chinese food and Indian food EVERY single day in Windjammer = boring!

 

Enough is enough.....fix something different!

[sonicbuffalo]

Thanks again for the review and pictures. We are going as a family of 9 for Thanksgiving. 4 of us have been on a few cruises. My parents have just been on one and my brother and his family are 1st time cruisers. Our jaws dropped on the Navigator of the seas so i can't imagine how they will drop on the allure, especially the first time cruisers. We are probably staying on the ship in Nassau, not sure yet about St. Thomas and because so many of us were going and pitching in, we were able to afford a private yacht in St. Maarten so im sure we will be doing Maho and Orient. It better be worth it :) As far as the food goes, that is disappointing but not shocking to hear. Our food wasn't amazing last time but yet I somehow still manage to put on a few pounds. Im usually just excited to not have to worry about meals for my family. Its so annoying that my kids want to eat every single day :). We will plan on Johnnys for breakfast but i can't see it being before 830am. Do you know if it gets too crowded later?

 

Thanks again,

Debbie

 

A private yacht in St. Maarten will be great! Hope you folks have a great cruise!

[sonicbuffalo]

Nice review,thank you.

I will say Im not chinese but love the chinese food in the WJ.ALOT of people eat the chinese food as you could tell from the long lines.

 

For the record.....I do love stir fry.....but change it up once in a while!

[sonicbuffalo]

[sonicbuffalo]

[sonicbuffalo]

[sonicbuffalo]

[sonicbuffalo]

Just wondering if the Oasis is back yet or when it will be back in Florida?