Allure of the Seas sailing from Barcelona 5-19-15

[MMOMOM]

Fabulous time! An absolutely amazing time beginning in Paris for a couple of days, taking the High Speed Train to Barcelona to spend another two days before boarding the ship. Wonderful tours of Rome and the Amalfi Coast before our return to Barcelona and spending one more day before flying home. Truly, a trip of a lifetime! The Allure is fabulous and other than being a little chilly and windy, we have not one complaint! I've posted below the link to my review. Anyone having any questions, I'd be happy to answer. :)

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=504765&et_cid=2183449&et_rid=17298207&et_referrer=

[sparklymermaid]

Fabulous time! An absolutely amazing time beginning in Paris for a couple of days, taking the High Speed Train to Barcelona to spend another two days before boarding the ship. Wonderful tours of Rome and the Amalfi Coast before our return to Barcelona and spending one more day before flying home. Truly, a trip of a lifetime! The Allure is fabulous and other than being a little chilly and windy, we have not one complaint! I've posted below the link to my review. Anyone having any questions, I'd be happy to answer. :)

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=504765&et_cid=2183449&et_rid=17298207&et_referrer=

What a great review, thank you. If you do not mind, may I ask the cost of the tours? I am on the eight day cruise so I will be visting Florence and Pisa.

[MMOMOM]

What a great review, thank you. If you do not mind, may I ask the cost of the tours? I am on the eight day cruise so I will be visting Florence and Pisa.

 

Hi sparklymermaid! No problem. You can go to their website and they describe all the different tours, prices, locations, etc. They were great to work with from the beginning. Sarah sends you all the information, agreements and paperwork and is very nice, as well as professional and efficient. The Rome tour was 490 Euros payable in Euro in cash at the end of the tour. The Amalfi Coast Drive was 320 Euros payable in Euro in cash at the end of the tour. They do take a credit card to hold it when you book, but don't charge it. All the cars are Mercedes and the drivers all speak English. There is a basic itinerary, but you can request to change whatever you want. Actually the driver and the car are yours for the day to do what you please. We felt it was well worth the money. We don't normally even book excursions, but prefer to research ahead and do our own thing, but in reading about everything entailed, decided it was much easier and better to do it this way. They picked us up at the ship at 8:00 on the Rome tour brought us back around 5-5:30. We were picked up again at 8:00 for the Amalfi tour and could have been brought back to the ship, but we chose the option of taking the Ferry back. We took the 4:30 Ferry and got back to the ship between 5-5:30. Again ... for our purposes, well worth the money. You can also add people to split the cost, but we preferred to do it alone so we really could do exactly as we wanted. Good Luck and let me know how it goes. :)

[transam84]

Great review! Thanks so much for sharing. I am so excited. We are going in Oct. I loved Oasis so much we picked Allure over many other choices for our first Mediterranean cruise. I am a little nervous about the inter porting thing. We also have MTD and I have all my reservations. I heard there is now a Coastal Kitchen on Allure. I don't see it as a choice. We are in an Owners suite. Did you see Coastal Kitchen? I heard it is awesome and would love to try it. Thanks! Laura

[MMOMOM]

Great review! Thanks so much for sharing. I am so excited. We are going in Oct. I loved Oasis so much we picked Allure over many other choices for our first Mediterranean cruise. I am a little nervous about the inter porting thing. We also have MTD and I have all my reservations. I heard there is now a Coastal Kitchen on Allure. I don't see it as a choice. We are in an Owners suite. Did you see Coastal Kitchen? I heard it is awesome and would love to try it. Thanks! Laura

 

Thanx, I think you will love her and have a great time! We knew nothing about the inter-port thing, but I guess from reading here that it's done a lot. It really didn't affect us at all. I've read here that some people complained and said the staff was confused. We didn't find that at all. When talking to them, and we like to converse with staff from time to time, they would ask if we were getting off or staying or something like that and that it was hard to know, but not as a problem, just a comment. It never affected anything we were doing. We did notice there seemed to always be a long line at the Customer Service Desk when we walked by from time to time. But, as I said, we thought the staff was wonderful on all counts! Regarding the MTD, I too made reservations this time and I usually don't, but as stated in the review, I think everyone seemed to show up at the same time for all the reasons I pointed out, both with and without reservations, and there was a line. However, the most we ever waited was 5-10 minutes and they were seriously bending over backwards to please everyone. Since you have an Owners Suite I would imagine you could use the Coastal Kitchen. We had a JS and it's not included. We did get up to see it though. You need a card to enter and of course ours didn't work, but we walked in when someone was walking out. It seemed okay, but of course nothing was going on at the time ... we were just exploring the ship during the day. Enjoy your trip .... I'm sure you will ... not much to 'not like'! Happy Sailing! :)

[Jem 12]

Hi just thought I would write a quick reassurance re the inter port comment, I presume by this you mean the fact that the ship takes on passengers at two different ports ie Barcelona and Rome, we found it to be a benefit, the day we arrived in Barcelona to board there was no queue at all. The day we were docked in Rome (we didn't get off) the ship was very quiet with passengers but everything was open so it was lovely, the kids could enjoy the quieter pools and flow rider etc.

 

Also the day we departed in Barcelona all restaurants etc were open so there was none of that last morning where you feel very much as if your cruise finished the night before.

 

We were not in a suite so I'm sure your experience will be even better.

 

We loved 99% of the Allure, the guest relations were very helpful but completely overwhelmed with all the different nationalities, there was always a very long queue.

 

We did have an issue with an event that was held in the disco (blaze) the security officer and Dj were completely in the wrong and although we complained on board it was not followed up with us by the activity manager.

 

Have a wonderful cruise.

[MMOMOM]

Hi just thought I would write a quick reassurance re the inter port comment, I presume by this you mean the fact that the ship takes on passengers at two different ports ie Barcelona and Rome, we found it to be a benefit, the day we arrived in Barcelona to board there was no queue at all. The day we were docked in Rome (we didn't get off) the ship was very quiet with passengers but everything was open so it was lovely, the kids could enjoy the quieter pools and flow rider etc.

 

Also the day we departed in Barcelona all restaurants etc were open so there was none of that last morning where you feel very much as if your cruise finished the night before.

 

We were not in a suite so I'm sure your experience will be even better.

 

We loved 99% of the Allure, the guest relations were very helpful but completely overwhelmed with all the different nationalities, there was always a very long queue.

 

We did have an issue with an event that was held in the disco (blaze) the security officer and Dj were completely in the wrong and although we complained on board it was not followed up with us by the activity manager.

 

Have a wonderful cruise.

 

I agree Jem 12! We noticed no difference really. We did however, leave the ship in Rome, but really it all went very smoothly. Also, as you mentioned, when we debarked in Barcelona, we also liked the fact that the last morning just seemed like a 'usual morning' and not the last day feeling. It was nice.

 

I think you hit it on the head when you mentioned the many, many different nationalities. There were so many different languages the crew had to deal with and if people thought there was any confusion, that could be a big part of it. They aren't used to all of that to that extent in the Caribbean. However, that being said, I still maintain they did a great job .... service was excellent to the point that especially where MTD was concerned, they literally bent over backwards to make every single passenger happy. We commend them!

[transam84]

Thanx, I think you will love her and have a great time! We knew nothing about the inter-port thing, but I guess from reading here that it's done a lot. It really didn't affect us at all. I've read here that some people complained and said the staff was confused. We didn't find that at all. When talking to them, and we like to converse with staff from time to time, they would ask if we were getting off or staying or something like that and that it was hard to know, but not as a problem, just a comment. It never affected anything we were doing. We did notice there seemed to always be a long line at the Customer Service Desk when we walked by from time to time. But, as I said, we thought the staff was wonderful on all counts! Regarding the MTD, I too made reservations this time and I usually don't, but as stated in the review, I think everyone seemed to show up at the same time for all the reasons I pointed out, both with and without reservations, and there was a line. However, the most we ever waited was 5-10 minutes and they were seriously bending over backwards to please everyone. Since you have an Owners Suite I would imagine you could use the Coastal Kitchen. We had a JS and it's not included. We did get up to see it though. You need a card to enter and of course ours didn't work, but we walked in when someone was walking out. It seemed okay, but of course nothing was going on at the time ... we were just exploring the ship during the day. Enjoy your trip .... I'm sure you will ... not much to 'not like'! Happy Sailing! :)

 

Thanks again. Good to know there is definitely a Coastal Kitchen. I would like to try it.

[transam84]

Hi just thought I would write a quick reassurance re the inter port comment, I presume by this you mean the fact that the ship takes on passengers at two different ports ie Barcelona and Rome, we found it to be a benefit, the day we arrived in Barcelona to board there was no queue at all. The day we were docked in Rome (we didn't get off) the ship was very quiet with passengers but everything was open so it was lovely, the kids could enjoy the quieter pools and flow rider etc.

 

Also the day we departed in Barcelona all restaurants etc were open so there was none of that last morning where you feel very much as if your cruise finished the night before.

 

We were not in a suite so I'm sure your experience will be even better.

 

We loved 99% of the Allure, the guest relations were very helpful but completely overwhelmed with all the different nationalities, there was always a very long queue.

 

We did have an issue with an event that was held in the disco (blaze) the security officer and Dj were completely in the wrong and although we complained on board it was not followed up with us by the activity manager.

 

Have a wonderful cruise.

 

Thanks so much for the reassurance. It sounds like the inter port thing could work in our favor. We are getting on in Rome so I am hoping it won't be too crowded. I like the idea that the ship is in full swing when we get on board. There won't be tons of people with carry ons walking around and rushing to Windjammer or Park Cafe. I also agree that it won't be as depressing the last day since not everyone is getting off. Although I will still be sad to leave, I think the feeling will be lighter. Feeling much better! Thanks again!

[KzooKT]

Thank you for the great review. We head out on Allure Med on July 26. Regarding the Diamond Lounge - is it open any time other than for "happy hour"? Can you get coffee or sodas at other times? Many thanks!

[Clarea]

Thank you for the great review. We head out on Allure Med on July 26. Regarding the Diamond Lounge - is it open any time other than for "happy hour"? Can you get coffee or sodas at other times? Many thanks!

You can get specialty coffee in the DL 24 hours. Sodas only during the nightly cocktail hour.

[KzooKT]

Thanks!

[gw2fll]

You made my day by creating this thread. We will be sailing our first Mediterranean cruise and our first cruise on Allure of the Seas. So excited for October to get here. I did have a couple of questions that I hoped you could answer / help with.

 

We will be boarding in Barcelona. How do they handle the muster drill for those passengers boarding in Rome? Do we all have to participate in the drill or just the new passengers. Common sense tells me just the new passengers, but thought I would ask.

 

I think the "Broadway Show" is Chicago. Is that correct? How does that differ from the "Headliner Show".

 

When were you able to make reservations for the "Broadway Show"? I have reservations for the Ice Show, Ocean Aria, Comedy Show, and Blue Planet, but do not see the ability to reserve the "Broadway Show". Since I already have dinner reservations for every night, prefer to not have to rebook everything around the show if I can avoid it.

 

Any feedback (positive or negative) you would share regarding the "Broadway Show" and the "Blue Planet" show? (As I mentioned, this is our first time sailing Allure, so we are like a sponge for any information we can get to make the most and best use of our time during this experience.)

 

Lastly, I'm looking for the "Dailies" / "Compass" for the sailing so I can get a sense for events and how the cruise flows. Could you share those if you still have them.

 

Thank you very much for your help and assistance. It is greatly appreciated.

[Jackamama]

. I think the "Broadway Show" is Chicago. Is that correct? How does that differ from the "Headliner Show".

 

 

The Broadway Show is no longer Chicago. For your sailing it will be Mamma Mia. I'm afraid I can't answer your other questions yet as we will be on Allure in 2 weeks time. Hope you have a wonderful cruise!

[gw2fll]

The Broadway Show is no longer Chicago. For your sailing it will be Mamma Mia. I'm afraid I can't answer your other questions yet as we will be on Allure in 2 weeks time. Hope you have a wonderful cruise!

 

Thanks for the info. I hope you have a wonderful cruise.

 

Still on the hunt for the 7 day Compass, so if you wouldn't mind sharing yours I would greatly appreciate it. Just trying to get an idea of how the cruise will flow. We are so excited - Mediterranean plus Allure. Yippee.

[92ufgator]

i am sorry if I am missing it, but could you let me know the name of the tour company you used in Naples? We are sailing on 7/12 and that is my last day to confirm our plans. I have a quote for 500 euro, but your price sounds better!

[MMOMOM]

i am sorry if I am missing it, but could you let me know the name of the tour company you used in Naples? We are sailing on 7/12 and that is my last day to confirm our plans. I have a quote for 500 euro, but your price sounds better!

 

No problem ... we used APTours and you can find them online, FB and great reviews on Trip Advisor. I had seen so many good things on Trip Advisor and that's why I contacted them. I highly recommend them, both tours were wonderful! In Rome we did the full tour of all the sights and the Vatican with the car picking us up at the ship and returning us back for $499. It was just my husband and myself. Again, for Naples, the driver picked us up at the ship and we did the full Amalfi Coast Tour for $320. We chose the option of taking the Ferry back to the ship from Sorrento which was fun. Again, it was wonderful! It was also just my husband and myself for this. You have the option of more people to cut the cost I think though, but for us and the type of travelers we are, this worked. Good Luck! Let me know how you make out and have a fabulous time! :)