Allure Report - 16 Months in the Making

[Jmmusings]

Loving your review I will be on Allure in 31 days. So close I can almost smell the sea

 

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[DScruiser]

Hi LuCruise, So glad you are writing a review on the cruise and I'm looking forward to following along! I'm guessing I'm the Periscoper you mentioned earlier as I did Scope the boarding. Allure really does bring the "Wow!" doesn't she?!

 

Di

[LuCruise]

Hi LuCruise, So glad you are writing a review on the cruise and I'm looking forward to following along! I'm guessing I'm the Periscoper you mentioned earlier as I did Scope the boarding. Allure really does bring the "Wow!" doesn't she?!

 

Di

 

Hi there. Ha ha...Yes, I'm pretty sure it was you since I recognized your name (or it is close to your alias) and I remember you from our our roll call. :D

You must be Gold too since it the periscope was when our line started moving. How did you enjoy?

[LuCruise]

Loving your review I will be on Allure in 31 days. So close I can almost smell the sea

 

Sent from my LG-V495 using Tapatalk

 

Thanks. Glad you are enjoying.

[LuCruise]

Day 1 - Boarding Day (continued again)

 

Before I move on to Day 2, here is a picture of the Ocean Aria stage before the show. They asked not to take pictures during the show (at least with a flash) and I listened like a good girl as I didn't want to anything to jeopardize their safety.

Edited April 21, 2016 by LuCruise

[DScruiser]

Hi there. Ha ha...Yes, I'm pretty sure it was you since I recognized your name (or it is close to your alias) and I remember you from our our roll call. :D

You must be Gold too since it the periscope was when our line started moving. How did you enjoy?

 

We're actually platinum, Scope name is @dschlich77

 

We really enjoyed the cruise, very relaxing. I had something booked almost everyday but we missed most and only went to three shows, even cancelled the Dreamworks breakfast cause we didn't want to get up that early!:D

 

It's sad to be home and back to reality.

 

Di

[LuCruise]

I echo what others have said about the My Time dining experience and being shuffled up to the Silk Dining Room. The servers make it very apparent that it's an inconvenience to them. Our server said it was a real pain and inconvenience for everyone on the night we were up there. Listen, I didn't ask to be put upstairs at his table. Even though it was "My Time" we had reservations for each night we went. So, it would seem that they would put the no reservations folks upstairs. Or maybe they put people up there who do not complain very much (like my husband and me.)

 

The server said that he had to get ready for the second seating, so we needed to order quickly. He was definitely not happy we were up there at all. Sensing that it was not going to get any better as the meal went on, we had started gathering our things to get up and leave. We weren't locked into being there, and were more than happy to just go upstairs to the Windjammer. Suddenly, my nieces became "Princess" and their fruit cups appeared and it was all happy smiles. I think they were worried that we were going to complain. I think it is the only time on the ship I felt like we were a bother to someone, and they made it quite apparent.

 

Still, even on the surveys, I did not complain. I did make observations but clarified them with the fact that the staff could not control how many people chose to eat at that particular time and I was sure it was difficult for them to get prepared for second seating.

 

Someone had mentioned that those folks with the lowest satisfaction ratings get assigned to the My Time Dining. I guess it is "punishment" for them, but it results in "punishment" for diners. They should definitely have a few very patient people in American Icon to deal with the uncertainty of My Time dining. Although, on most nights I had no complaints with our servers in American Icon. Most were quite good and very patient. IT was only the night we were sent up to Silk.

 

So we weren't the only ones with reservations that were put upstairs. My theory is that they were trying to minimize the wait for us since there were free tables, but of course, they didn't think of the downside of the service.

 

Very true about them having to clear us before the second seating. Didn't think of that (our reservation was 6:15pm so we were probably seated 6:30pm, which wasn't too much later than the traditional 6pm time).

 

Interesting what you say about the My Time waiters having the lowest rating. Our servers were great, but it did get a bit annoying in that they kept mentioning to "rate them as a 10". Having said that, I get it...if that's how they are promoted and it's our feedback that rates them, then they wanted to let us know. I guess it worked good both ways since they really were great to us (i.e. we got great service) and thus, we did rate them well with personal comments on the post cruise survey. So it's a win win for all.

 

Sounds like overall, your My Time experience we good (with the exception of the Silk seating).

[LuCruise]

We're actually platinum, Scope name is @dschlich77

 

We really enjoyed the cruise, very relaxing. I had something booked almost everyday but we missed most and only went to three shows, even cancelled the Dreamworks breakfast cause we didn't want to get up that early!:D

 

It's sad to be home and back to reality.

 

Di

 

Glad to hear you had such a relaxing time. So what shows did you make it to? We did the Character breakfast, and yeah, I thought twice about it too due to the early hour. It was cute.

I know..it was so hard to return.

[LuCruise]

Day 1 - Boarding Day (continued again)

 

When DH and I were on Royal last (15 years ago), they only had the paper cruise compass. They still have the paper cruise compass, but with today's technology they also post information digitally. At every elevator, they have this interactive screen to help you not look so lost. It's pretty cool since it can help you find things (including your room). It also tells you the crowd levels of the various restaurants (which is quite handy), and it's also an electronic version of the cruise compass.

 

You can see an example of it showing you how to get from your current location to point B (the red path)

 

Also, in the rooms there is a "TV", but it's not an ordinary TV. One channel shows only DreamWorks movies (of course). Another is about the ship and next cruise options (which our kids barely let us watch because of the DreamWorks channel). Another channel is interactive where for example they send you messages, you can check out the crowd levels of each restaurant, etc. And one screen has your entire schedule to let you know of your bookings (since not everyone has their schedule memorized by heart like I did...lol). It's quite neat.

Edited April 22, 2016 by LuCruise

[iamerica]

Can't wait to read more. Sailing this same itinerary next March. SO excited. Keep those pictures coming

[DScruiser]

Glad to hear you had such a relaxing time. So what shows did you make it to? We did the Character breakfast, and yeah, I thought twice about it too due to the early hour. It was cute.

I know..it was so hard to return.

 

We went to Ocean Aria the first night, the ice show the second day and Blue Planet on the last day. Ocean Aria was really cool but we both agree that Blue Planet was our favorite.

[capecg]

Just booked this same cruise for October SO EXCITED!

It's been 5 years since our last cruise and we are in desperate need of a vacation. This is my first stop for information. Looks like I chose the right spot. Will be trolling the boards but just have to say I really appreciate your insights.

[LuCruise]

We went to Ocean Aria the first night, the ice show the second day and Blue Planet on the last day. Ocean Aria was really cool but we both agree that Blue Planet was our favorite.

 

Those were great shows to see. Blue Planet was quite different. I thought it was really beautiful (but it was a bit to much for DH)

 

 

Just booked this same cruise for October SO EXCITED!

It's been 5 years since our last cruise and we are in desperate need of a vacation. This is my first stop for information. Looks like I chose the right spot. Will be trolling the boards but just have to say I really appreciate your insights.

 

Sounds like you are overdue for a holiday. Cruise critic is great, and glad I can help too with my report.

[legaljen1969]

So we weren't the only ones with reservations that were put upstairs.

 

Sounds like overall, your My Time experience we good (with the exception of the Silk seating).

 

Truly, yes. It was a pretty decent experience.

Edited April 22, 2016 by legaljen1969

[SailyaCruise]

I am loving your review. And your pics are FANTASTIC!! Please don't stop!! I want to read more!!! I have to wait until December for the Harmony!:(

[wdwluvin]

Really enjoying your review and your pictures! We are booked on the Allure on the same itinerary for next March.

Thanks so much for posting.:)

[LuCruise]

Day 2 - Nassau

 

Our first stop was Nassau. We were only there from 7am – 2pm so it wasn't a long stop. You hear a lot of complaints of Nassau so I wanted to find something where we would enjoy the day. If it had been a longer time, then we would have considered visiting the Atlantis, but the waterparks don't open until 10am so it wouldn't have been worth it.

 

I came across a great review on here (from mitsugirly) of Blue Lagoon and knew this would be perfect. It originally wasn't offered for our cruise but I kept an eye on the excursions and it was eventually added and so we booked it in advance.

 

The excursion tickets were waiting for us in our cabin when we arrived. We had to be at the excursion meeting spot for 7:45am. Since we knew the night before would be a late night for our kids, we thought the most efficient thing to do was to order room service for breakfast. Thus, the night before we had filled out the room service card and hung it on our door requesting it to be delivered between 6:30am and 7am. But 7am came and went and no breakfast. We waited about 8 minutes and then left and quickly grabbed something at Park Café. We were disappointed that the sheet let us specify the time range, but yet it didn't come. Luckily there was no line up at Park Café so we were able to grab something quickly and go.

 

That morning was quite cool and I was sorry that I didn't pack long sleeves (and worried as this was a beach day). There were lots of people signed up for our excursion. We waited in line and we were eventually lead to the ferry at the port, which was just a short walk. The ferry didn't leave until around 8:25am, but we were at the island around 9am. The ferry ride was nice and gave good views of the Atlantis and some fancy homes.

 

 

By the time we arrived, there was more sunshine and it was warmed up. The place was lovely with calm blue water and soft sand.

 

 

 

We grabbed a couple chairs and played in the water. You could use their mats, tubes and noodles so we picked up some to play. Next to our area there was a small section of chairs that said 'reserved'. Before our cruise (sometime in that 16 month wait) I had heard that there was a Lance Bass group on our cruise. Out of curiosity I had looked it up and saw that they had a 'private' blue Lagoon excursion, so I assumed this was them. (Pretty sure I saw him in the water later on, and he did come on our ferry to return)

[LuCruise]

Day 2 - Nassau (continued)

 

After a bit, our son tried the Aqua park (which is extra) and my daughter wanted to try out the hammocks. Our kids then noticed a few (very small) fish near the shore and wouldn’t go back in the water. (Oh oh...the beach that I had selected in St Thomas was known for snorkeling so I thought we'd have to make a change of plans…but will come to that later)

 

The Aqua Park ($15 per person...includes a life jacket)

 

A closer shot

 

And Hammock area

 

They announced lunch was ready so we went to the bbq. Food was standard but pretty good. They even had a veggie burger (which I was surprised that Royal didn't offer any). Blue Lagoon also apparently gives a really good dolphin encounter if anyone is interested. We didn't sign up but you can still watch them, so we went over to watch for a bit. The lady leading it seemed pretty good and it did look like fun.

 

Hope this lady doesn't mind being part of my report ;)

 

It was around 11:45am and the ferry left at 12:30pm. We were really nervous about being left behind so we went back to the beach area next to the ferry entrance and played there until they started letting people on. The ride back was again peaceful and I got some good shots of the Allure from the front.

 

 

If you don't mind paying for an excursion, I recommend Blue Lagoon. It was a lovely way to spend a few hours and really made our Nassau day enjoyable.

Edited April 23, 2016 by LuCruise

[Surfguyxxx]

I'm hooked like everyone else reading your posts. My trip won't be until 08/28 and have only been able to do dining reservations. The entertainment portion hasn't opened up for us. AHHHHHHHH! Being the planner and having to wait is brutal.

[LuCruise]

I'm hooked like everyone else reading your posts. My trip won't be until 08/28 and have only been able to do dining reservations. The entertainment portion hasn't opened up for us. AHHHHHHHH! Being the planner and having to wait is brutal.

 

That's so nice to hear. Thank you.

It's funny how there is no pattern since for us, our entertainment opened up first and then dining, and of course the time when it opens is different for every cruise. It's so exciting though when you can finally book, isn't it? Just keep check the cruise planner for the dining.

[LuCruise]

Day 2 - Nassau (continued)

 

We returned from the excursion to find a note on our door. We expected it to be about the room service (that didn't come in time...or perhaps not at all), but instead the note said “Good news. We have assigned you table 403 at 6pm in the Grande dining room”. Ugh, what??? :eek: We never asked to be switched to Traditional dining. We specifically wanted My Time so we could book our dinner times around the shows and I booked all our times the day that reservations opened back in November. I was panicking that they had deleted all of our My Time reservations (but our dinner times were still showing on the tv system). So after changing out of our swim stuff we headed to Guest Services to find out what was going on. The guy had no idea himself but said he would “take care of it” and just said to show up ‘early’ for dinner. We had the ice show before dinner so we could only head over after the show was done (which was basically when I booked our dinner that night anyways). Fast forward to dinner time and when we got to the lady with reservations, the guy had not taken care of it...we were still marked in the Grande. But thankfully it ended up not being an issue since our reservations were still there. So they were able to just put us back to My Time. We never found out what happened. Perhaps someone else requested it and they wrote down our room number by accident. Or they automatically switched us after we were sat at Silk thinking that was our preference. Well, in the end there was no harm done…thankfully…just a bit of my heart stopping for a short while.

[LuCruise]

Day 2 - Nassau (continued)

 

When we left Guest Services we headed to Boardwalk. It's a fun area with the carousel

 

 

This is also where they serve donuts in the morning...in case you want dessert after having a (large) breakfast, which we did on two occasions. Dog House hotdog restaurant is there...which DH enjoyed as an afternoon snack one time, and they have games and stuff. The Aqua theatre is on the end with a rock wall on each side. Our kids went on the rock wall quite a few times over the cruise (best time is close to when it opens or when returning to the ship after port days). According to our kids, rock wall #1 is easier than rock wall #2, but they both looked pretty darn challenging to me.

I must say that the rooms near the Aqua theatre look like they'd be so much fun if you like people watching. I think...that the rooms on the left are the bigger suite rooms (but someone correct me if I'm wrong)

 

My 6 year old got pretty high up. (My son got up there too)

Edited April 23, 2016 by LuCruise

[jimbri]

Enjoying your review. Great pictures.

[jd99]

Enjoying your report! We are booked on our first RCI this summer - the Allure in August - so I am so much appreciating your report. One quick question: we have been to Blue Lagoon in Bahamas before but it's been a while. Did you notice if they have stand up paddleboards to rent? Thanks in advance.

[Sass4]

Very nice review!