Allure OTS Photo Heavy Trip Report – The “allure” of the Eastern Caribbean

[Rosy1013]

Following this thread!

[fletch1027]

Some more underwater photos of the fishes that were swimming around us. On all the snorkeling trips I have been on so far, the guides will often toss some food in the water to attract the fish to come around. Kind of what they did on Jaws but on a much smaller scale and with no blood. :-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

to be continued…

 

[Canukcruisenewbie]

Great review so far. Love the spreadsheet. Mine is getting pretty crazy. Btw, how did you know before arriving on the ship which menu would be offered each day in the MDR? We are hoping the lobster is on the second formal night. It would be our only dinner in the MDR so I want to get it right. lol. We have 150 CP for first formal night booked.

 

 

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[slowmotion815]

subscribing, and loving your detailed review. I leave for Port Everglades next saturday for 8 days on Freedom!

[fletch1027]

Assuming you come in the day before your cruise, the next time you cruise Allure, I recommend you come here and watch Harmony sail away. Our roll call group got together to watch Oasis leave the day before our cruise. Great time.

 

That would be fun. Whether we sail out of PC or PE we are always at a Disney Vacation Club resort the night before, so we aren't "in town" yet the night before.

 

 

I always enjoy reading other people's perspective of ships I've been on and seeing their pictures of places I've been. Looking forward to the rest!

 

Me too! Reading other people's reviews is what made me want to start doing them myself! :)

[fletch1027]

Thank you. Last cruise, my older ds went so they had each other. Im not too concerned if he hangs out with us. Based on our experience with our older ds, this is probably our last "family" vacation for many years. He is looking forward to casino and adult solarium. :)

 

 

That's how we felt. We would never admit it but we were glad she spent more time with us then she would have if she was still 17 (which she was 2 weeks before we left). :)

 

 

Headed on the Allure on Sunday and love seeing all the pictures. Keep them coming!

 

On a side note I remember how disappointing it was cruising after aging out of the teen activities. You would think they would figure something out for this age group.

 

 

Agreed! There's definitely a void there...

[LuCruise]

Loving your review and pictures. I felt the same as you with Nassau...Wanted to book something that would make the day enjoyable rather than just a time waster. Your under water pictures are really neat.

 

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[KPfromCT]

Loving you review!!!:D

Thanks for taking the time to do it!:D

Patiently waiting for more.......

[Cuizer2]

 

Since most of this report will be photos, I figured it may be of interest to fellow nerds what I brought along with me to take pictures with:

 

 

 

In this photo, among the luggage tags and ever-present Diet Coke is the camera stuff I brought along:

 

1: Joby Gorillapod – Cool mini-tripod that has bendable legs used to take still shots. The legs fold up nicely for both using as a little monopod and also for packing it up.

 

2: Olympus TG4 – Great waterproof (up to 50 feet) camera. It takes great photos with several formats and also has the raw as well as jpg options. It is also threaded so polarizers and other filters can be used with it. It’s not the cheapest waterproof camera out there but it is far from the most expensive. It’s also rated as “shockproof” to 7 feet, but I didn’t drop it to test that theory. :-)

 

3: Nikon*Coolpix P510 – I love this camera as well. It is a little smaller and way cheaper than a full blown DSLR. Its big draw for me is the 42x optical zoom it has which is awesome for a “mirrorless” camera at this price range.

 

4: iPhone 6 – Not much to say here. It takes great pictures for a phone and its convenient because it’s usually in my pocket.

 

 

To be continued…

 

 

If all of your camera equipment is on the table, how did you take the picture?

[riclop]

Thanks for the report.

[fletch1027]

As are we....

 

 

Following this thread!

 

 

Welcome aboard!

[fletch1027]

I largely agree with you based on my trips there on Allure and Oasis. However, its worth noting when we went on Majesty in last October of 2013, she was in port till Midnight and Atlantis had an offseason rate. We had a great day at a reasonable price. At least I can say I've been there. Enjoying the thread. [/thread hijack]

 

Agreed - the Nassau trips with the bigger ships w/ shorter port times, I have heard horror stories of people paying a couple hundred dollars for a ship excursion to Atlantis and only having enough time to ride a couple of water slides...

[fletch1027]

Great review so far. Love the spreadsheet. Mine is getting pretty crazy. Btw, how did you know before arriving on the ship which menu would be offered each day in the MDR? We are hoping the lobster is on the second formal night. It would be our only dinner in the MDR so I want to get it right. lol. We have 150 CP for first formal night booked.

 

I found the MDR menu schedules from searching around these CC boards. I'm not 100% sure about now, but back in Feb and our previous 7 night cruises the 2nd formal night has always been the one with the lobster tail. The official menu name for it was the "Fisherman's Plate"...

[Ninafirstcruiser]

So excited to see photos from the Allure, as I and my boyfriend will be on the same in 30 Days, our first cruise ever :D

[fletch1027]

subscribing, and loving your detailed review. I leave for Port Everglades next saturday for 8 days on Freedom!

 

You will have a blast I'm sure! We will be on the same 8-night next month! We chose the extra drive down to Ft. Lauderdale vs. cruising on the Oasis because of the new itinerary & ports!

 

 

Loving your review and pictures. I felt the same as you with Nassau...Wanted to book something that would make the day enjoyable rather than just a time waster. Your under water pictures are really neat.

 

Thanks! It's a lot of fun to take snorkeling pictures. Hopefully my next time will have better conditions. I got some good ones a few years ago in Grand Cayman.

 

 

Loving you review!!!:D

Thanks for taking the time to do it!:D

Patiently waiting for more.......

 

Thanks for following along!

[fletch1027]

If all of your camera equipment is on the table, how did you take the picture?

 

You got me! I believe for that photo I must have used my wife's iPhone... :D

[fletch1027]

Mercifully for you guys, this is the last batch of underwater pictures. Luckily the thread rolled to a new page or else the previous page would have been all fish - and I never found Nemo! :-)

 

With the weather and underwater visibility being what it was, I was constantly firing off photos, hoping I would get some that were keepers. That’s the great thing about a digital camera – take a ton of them and delete the ones you don’t like!

 

Hopefully some look cool, however I am eager to get some better ones on my next trip!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

to be continued…

 

 

[fletch1027]

Popping back up to the surface for the last time but before swimming back to the boat, I took this pic of the little island nearby.

 

My first thought was George Costanza’s famous quote from the Marine Biologist episode of Seinfeld, “The sea was angry that day, my friends- like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli.”

 

 

 

Heading back to the boat, this photo is also a good representation of the skies and the seas. The waves were choppy enough that the bottom of the boat isn’t visible between waves

 

 

 

This photo is a little out of sequence but I put it here when I noticed the lady in the foreground hunkered down with her sweatshirt on and her head down

 

 

 

Before we started back to Nassau, this guy suddenly appeared at the side of our boat selling conch shells and stuff like that. It’s was like the Bahamas version of Amazon Now, except that no one ordered anything. Poor guy had to hang on for dear life between waves

 

 

 

This is the tip of Paradise Island, Nassau’s version of the "other side of the tracks"

 

 

 

to be continued…

 

[fletch1027]

Thanks for the report.

 

Thanks for following along!

 

 

So excited to see photos from the Allure, as I and my boyfriend will be on the same in 30 Days, our first cruise ever :D

 

Wow, first cruise! You're starting out with the biggest one! Our first cruise was on Monarch of the Seas over 10 years ago. While a lot of people on the CC boards love smaller ships like Monarch, we had a bad experience. Also for me and my ADD, I can't sit still for very long so on sea days I need big ships like Freedom & Oasis class to keep me occupied... :)

[drrich2]

In case it's of interest. The main fish seen in your photos is the sergeant major; they look kind of like bluegill in shape, with a yellow coloration on the side and vertical black bars. In one of your later photos, the more long-bodied shaped fish that's a dull white with a yellow stripe down the side and yellow tails are yellow snapper.

 

Richard.

[Bellyflopchamp]

We were there just a few months before you in in November of 2015. Great reliving our time there.

 

We also did a ship excursion for Nassau due to the short time in port. One other thing we did was check out the new (at least it was when we went) brew pub that they have right near where the ship docks. It is Pirate Republic. Beer was great and food was pretty good too. If we go back again with a short stop like that we would probably just bounce off the boat to head there and maybe one or two of the shops. Only thing that is really worth it. Head back tot he ship and enjoy the emptiness for a while.

[pudy68]

 

 

Also for those that are curious, here is a screenshot of my Voom speed, which was very fast all week:

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry for the stooopid question, but I see your phone said "no service" so did you leave it in airport mode while using their network?

[fletch1027]

In case it's of interest. The main fish seen in your photos is the sergeant major; they look kind of like bluegill in shape, with a yellow coloration on the side and vertical black bars. In one of your later photos, the more long-bodied shaped fish that's a dull white with a yellow stripe down the side and yellow tails are yellow snapper.

 

Richard.

 

 

Thanks for the fish ID's - some of them looked vaguely familiar but I'm not a big fish guy. :)

 

 

We were there just a few months before you in in November of 2015. Great reliving our time there.

 

We also did a ship excursion for Nassau due to the short time in port. One other thing we did was check out the new (at least it was when we went) brew pub that they have right near where the ship docks. It is Pirate Republic. Beer was great and food was pretty good too. If we go back again with a short stop like that we would probably just bounce off the boat to head there and maybe one or two of the shops. Only thing that is really worth it. Head back tot he ship and enjoy the emptiness for a while.

 

Thanks for the tip. Being in port from just 7-2 is very limiting - not that I have found many things of interest in Nassau... :)

[fletch1027]

Sorry for the stooopid question, but I see your phone said "no service" so did you leave it in airport mode while using their network?

 

I have done airport mode sometimes like when I took that snapshot. Most of the time now I turn off Cellular Data instead. On an iPhone it is under Settings / Cellular / Cellular Data. I never answer the phone when it rings - unless it's from a number that could imply an emergency. By doing it this way, I can still receive text messages and reply back if needed (with my AT&T plan it is free to receive text messages and 50 cents each if I need to send one).

[fletch1027]

As we passed by the end of Paradise Island (before passing Atlantis), the tour guys told us the names of the celebrities that owned the houses along the way. Unfortunately, I cannot remember which house goes with which names, but the list of celebrities includes: Beyonce, Tiger Woods, Johnny Depp, Nick Cage, Oprah and a couple others I cannot remember

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now here is a cool house that may look familiar to some. It is a rebuilt house that was originally blown up for a scene from the James Bond movie Thunderball which had several scenes in the Bahamas!

 

 

 

We’re almost but not quite back to shore.

 

to be continued…