Spring break on the Allure...a photo review

[Ocean Boy]

Maybe something changed?? I just booked our next cruise with Royal directly and they said it was fine to book our 18yo and 11yo in the Boardwalk balcony across the hall from our oceanview balcony. They said it can only be done over the phone by RCCL.

Not sure why they would do it if its not their policy. :)

The fascinating thing about RCI is that they are so consistently inconsistent with so many different policies.

[jpolm]

I cannot wait to read your review!

 

And how is it that the mom is always sandwiched between the kids on a plane, while Dad seems to be off in his own row enjoying a drink and noise cancelling headphones? It happens every.single.time we step on an airplane.

Seems I too can relate to this. Dh gets to sleep or put headphones 🎧 n etc across the he aisle while kids tapping at me, mom mom, even when dh was sitting next to him this last time I still got the tapping even when my eyes were closed too!

[kbklcamp]

Your review is hilarious [emoji23]

 

 

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[micmacmissy]

Oh, BFE sista (yeah, I'm still following you!!!), I just laughed out loud !!! :'):') I think that same captain is on every ship. Our first cruise was out of New Orleans and the only word we could recognize was "reeeever" about every 15-20th word. We finally quit trying to understand anything Captain Kangaroo ... errrr, Caveman .... had to say!! As long as we got there and back we were happy !! ;p

 

 

Dang- how did I miss Captain Kangaroo??? Good one!

[Johndoe813]

I have had the same issue when booking cruises and changing cruises. When I complained to the RCCL customer service agent she told me that their system was sexist and always put the male as the primary person. Ridiculous since I had cruised tons before I met my husband and I was the once who had attained the status!

 

Well that is not true because my wife is always listed first and i signed her up and i book everything she just wants to know when to show up and where we are going. lol

[micmacmissy]

Okay...so we're at the end of day one, we're stuffed with Giovanni's olive oil cake, and we head to the Aquatheatre to see Oceanaria. I'm going to be honest with you, when we took our kids on their first cruise (Independence of the Seas), I think they were scarred for life by the "entertainment". I'm telling you, that ship had some seriously BAD shows. One was a horribly themed story book show with some 9th tier "singers" and "dancers" and costuming that looked like it came off the Donny & Marie show. Even my then 10- and 13-year olds were rolling their eyes.

 

In fact, I've NEVER seen even a halfway decent show on a cruise ship. (And this is coming from someone who saw Bowser from "Sha Na Na" perform classical piano at sea. I wish I were kidding about that.) But I dutifully pre-booked ALL the shows the Allure had to offer after reading raves about how good the shows were.

 

But it wasn't easy convincing the kids to actually go. We dragged them to the Aquatheatre with the promise that if it was horrible, they could leave. But it wasn't horrible! It highlighted some neat acrobatics and diving. I wish they would leave it at that. But no, there is a super cheesy (like, Sorrento's-in-the-promenade cheesy) theme, with seahorse statues and weird seaweedy drapey costumes and VERY DRAMATIC music. But, we watched the whole thing, and the acrobatics, trampoline stuff, and diving was cool. Even the kids stayed for the duration, so we'll chalk that up as a win.

 

I do suggest booking this show on the first night, or early on. Later shows were cancelled due to winds/waves. Also, PREBOOK. If you did, they scanned your sea pass and you sailed on through. If you didn't, you waited in some ridiculously long line with no chance of getting through. No fun on vacay when there are lines, lines, lines!

[micmacmissy]

DAY TWO - Nassau, Bahamas

 

The ship is only in port from 7am-2pm, which is a bummer, because that isn't much time to do ANYTHING. We hit up the Windjammer around 7am to eat a little before our excursion. It was busy, but you were able to circulate and find a table with no problem. This was the case all week! We just never found it to be crazy busy.

 

Our windjammer favorites: croissants. Yum! French toast wasn't terrible, but the eggs were. Plenty to choose from. Overall VERY clean and lots of staff around. It's good enough in my book.

 

So we pre-booked Blue lagoon Beach Break through RCCL, which is NOT usual for us. I usually like to scope out my own excursions, but I suffer from FOMTCS syndrome, so it was important for me to have the safety of a RCCL excursion. (FOMTCS= Fear of Missing the Cruise Ship). I am seriously paranoid about this, you guys. If you don't mind me pulling out my counseling degree and getting all Freudian on you, I think this is due to the fact that on our first cruise waaaay back in 1999 on Celebrity Mercury, we were standing out on deck slowing edging off the pier in Calica, Mexico, when two people came running up screaming as they shipped pulled away: "OUR KIDS! WAAAAIT! OUR KIDS!!!!" Yep, these two knuckleheads missed the boat and it was horrible to watch. As mean and sarcastic as I am, I don't find humor in the pier runners. It just freaks me out! (That story has a happy ending because Celebrity Mercury actually stopped in the water, LAUNCHED A DARN TENDER and fetched these two lucky devils and delivered them back to the ship! I have never heard of that happening, but it was cool to see.) So to this day the FOMTCS haunts me. And short port days it haunts me BAD.

 

So this "Deluxe Beach Break" was a bargain at $85 per person <eyeroll>. Exactly what is so deluxe about shuffling on a ferry with 150 other sweaty people in Nassau, Bahamas? Puhleeze.

 

Anyway we met in Amber theatre at 7:30am and it was organized chaos. Lots of waiting, lines, shuffling, more lines, finally herded into a ferry to go over to Blue Lagoon. The ferry takes about 1/2 an hour (drinks / snacks available for purchase on ferry). The tour operators point out Oceanfront houses as you pass them, telling you which celebrity lives in each one. But I think they're full of crap. Are you HONESTLY telling me that JayZ, Oprah, Tiger Woods, Garth Brooks, and Donald Trump live on the same street? I'm thinking they're more likely to be in Saint Tropez than Nassau Bahamas. But what do I know? I bet those tours guys just make #$%& up on each tour, and they probably have a competition among themselves to see who can come up with new celebrities each time.

 

Once you arrive, they will give you a coupon for one lunch and one drink while you're on Blue Lago on. We got on the ferry around 8:15am arrived there about an hour later. It was very pretty there...I have no idea why I didn't take more photos. (I did take some of my kids but I'm weird about posting my kids online; I don't want anyone to point out how much they look like David Beckham.)

 

 

Aren't our pedis cute, though???

 

Blue Lagoon is very pretty and is prefect for families with little kids- the entire cove is only about two to three feet deep, so your kids can play endlessly and wander through the lagoon and you don't have to worry about them getting in over their little heads. When it was time to leave, the tide had gone out and that made the water level really low- like maybe a foot deep?

 

There were plenty of chairs and umbrellas, and we just threw down and relaxed and read. (We walked farther down, past the water toy area, so we could have some solitude.) You can get a floating mat (free! Oh yeah, not free, you paid $85 for that thing) or a tube floaty, and just chill out. There are also a few trails and you can explore the area, or you can make like me and see if it is possible to burn fewer than 12 calories in 3 hours.

[micmacmissy]

Their system to ferry back was weird- one left at 11:00am, and the next at 12:30pm. It was too early to go back at 11am, and 12:30pm felt a little too long.

 

The other thing MANY people do at Blue Lagoon is some sort of animal encounter- dolphin, sea lion, or kangaroo. My daughter (vegan, animal lover, animal rights activitist- where did she COME from? Is David Beckham a vegan???) really did not want us to go to Blue Lagoon (even to the beach part), because she didn't want to contribute to a company that is exploiting animals. Isn't that noble of her? Well, there aren't many other options in Nassau. So I told her INSTEAD I would redeem our visit by putting in a public service announcement in my cruise review. So here goes:

 

**********PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT************

 

You should not swim with dolphins, sea lions, or any other animal in captivity because my daughter says it's wrong.

 

She also says you should google a place called Taiji Cove, which is someplace in Japan where they do horrible things to dolphins. There are even YouTube videos if you're so inclined.

 

********************************************************

 

I personally love a good steak, thoroughly enjoyed the Shamu show when I went to Sea World, and have been to the circus no less than 3 times In my life. I also own delightful leather boots, and would own that Louis Vuitton crocodile bag if I could afford it. And please don't tell anyone, but I also got my chocolate lab from a breeder! (Horrors! I know, I'm evil!)

 

So, no judgments here, folks. You do you. In the meantime, I am learning from my daughter. Last night I made tacos out of Gardein instead of ground beef. And I'm still alive to talk about it.

[micmacmissy]

 

Goodbye, Nassau!

 

I honestly can't remember what we did the rest of the day. I believe the kids retired to their room for a very taxing round of FaceTime, husband went to the gym, and I hit up the casino with $50. The casino isn't too smoky (during the day), but oddly, the gym IS. What is that all about???

 

Our plan for night #2 was My Time Dining in the MDR for dinner, but first, hubby and I hit up the Trellis bar for a pre-dinner drink. Located in Central Park, this is a lovely area to relax in! Aside from the bar, which has 7 or 8 bar stools, there are two or three small tables adjacent to the bar. It was quiet, one or two people there, so we plunked down at a table for a drink. And chatted. And after a few minutes, looked over to the drink waiters, like, ummm, hi...? Uh, how 'bout a drink? They just continued to polish glasses and chat amongst themselves.

 

Finally, hubby got up, walked the 3 steps to the bar, and STILL they didn't acknowledge him. So I'm calling you trellis bartenders out RIGHT HERE. This was the crappiest service we had all week- in fact, it was the only service we had that was subpar. These guys could not be bothered to take a drink order even with my husband standing right in front of them!

 

Ugh. But we're on vacation so we're not going to let that upset us, okay!? A drink or two and all is well. I hate to say it, but that scenario played out exactly the same way on the next two nights. Why did we keep going back? Nope, we're not gluttons for punishment- we just really liked that particular bar. And the nice ambiance was worth the surly, disinterested barkeeps. And on one or two nights they had a piano player in there- lovely! And on night 7, there were two kids banging on the piano- not so lovely!

 

Now let's move on to our first night in the MDR. On Indy, we had GREAT service in My Time Dining. Same table and waiters each night, and our waiters (Norbert and Bogdan) were so fantastic that when we came home, our daughter got two gerbils and named them...Norbert and Bogdan. That is NOT a joke, you guys.

 

On Allure it was quite a bit more rushed but the service was still attentive and moved along- we finished in about 80-90 minutes on the nights we ate in the MDR. Please, don't ask me for menus, or what menu was what night- I think that first night was like Basil or Paprika or something. All I know is that the appetizers and salads were very good, and the entrees were for the most part very good. I'm not shopping for it, cooking it, or cleaning it up- so I'm fairly easy to please. In real life, we probably fall more on the foodie side of things. We do not go to chain restaurants and tend to like finer food than can be found at them. That said, for how many they are serving, the MDR does a fine job. I'm not complaining.

 

Now, what comes after all that food and drink? Yep: potty time. I'm sorry, but we gotta have a conversation about the bathroom situation on Allure. So buckle up.

[micmacmissy]

So, why is it that on Allure the public bathrooms are all near the elevator banks? Why isn't there a restroom in each of the specialty restaurants and in the MDR? It is kind of weird...if you're in Giovanni's and you have to pee, you have to leave the restaurant and go through Central Park near the elevator bank to find the bathroom. Now, is that a very big deal? Well, okay, no, it's not. But it would be so much more convenient to have a bathroom right there in each restaurant.

 

Now this is going to sound strange, but no stranger than anything else I've said so far. On Celebrity Silhouette, every public bathroom had a different design/style. So each time you went in one, it was like, "ohhhh, cool wallpaper" or "weird, a long narrow sink" or something like that. But every single public bathroom on Allure was the. Exact. Same.

 

And...I hate to say it AGAIN, but...what is that SMELL?

[LuCruise]

Loving your report. It brings back nice memories of our Allure cruise. We also went on Blue Lagoon excursion for same syndrome as you (ha ha...loved that). We really liked it there...calm, pretty and my son tried the aqua park. I think I remember you posting asking about it? The comment about your daughter reminded me (unless that was someone else with an animal rights child and so was doubting going there). Good for her...to stand up for what she believes in.

 

Ha ha...I noticed the same with the washrooms. We didn't do speciality but same thing at Park Cafe.

[karen_g]

" ***********PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT************

You should not swim with dolphins, sea lions, or any other animal in captivity because my daughter says it's wrong."

 

Excellent daughter! If you ever get tired of her, I would like to volunteer to adopt her! (LOL)

 

 

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[A&L_Ont]

So, why is it that on Allure the public bathrooms are all near the elevator banks? Why isn't there a restroom in each of the specialty restaurants and in the MDR? It is kind of weird...if you're in Giovanni's and you have to pee, you have to leave the restaurant and go through Central Park near the elevator bank to find the bathroom. Now, is that a very big deal? Well, okay, no, it's not. But it would be so much more convenient to have a bathroom right there in each restaurant.

 

Now this is going to sound strange, but no stranger than anything else I've said so far. On Celebrity Silhouette, every public bathroom had a different design/style. So each time you went in one, it was like, "ohhhh, cool wallpaper" or "weird, a long narrow sink" or something like that. But every single public bathroom on Allure was the. Exact. Same.

 

And...I hate to say it AGAIN, but...what is that SMELL?

 

You know people in NYC pee in a Central Park, why not on the ship. 😀

[SG65CB]

We had the kids in a Boardwalk balcony and we had an Oceanview balcony directly across the hall. The only way for our TA to book this is to put one adult and one kid per stateroom- RCCL doesn't allow you to book two kids, not even across the hall.

 

So we try to straighten out our staterooms, cause no way were hubby and I sharing a room with a kid. We love our kids, but come on. It's vacation! And there's no way I'm staying with one of those little shower-hogging little monsters. I thought Guest Services would be able to just fix that onboard but no...you must keep the rooms one adult/one child. Instead they give you an additional seapass that acts as your extra room card (no charging privileges, though, just opens the door). This I will say, was a total pain in the neck.

 

You would think they have the technology available to allow one seapass card to open two doors.

 

They force you to book one adult in each room, but by giving you and your son a door-only seapass they know exactly why - so you can have the adults in one room and kids in the other. What is the point?

[floatel_lvr]

The fascinating thing about RCI is that they are so consistently inconsistent with so many different policies.

 

Certainly one of their strong points. As well as such clear communicators of policy changes.

[floatel_lvr]

You know people in NYC pee in a Central Park, why not on the ship. 😀

 

Wow, singling out NY??? I am sure that never happens anywhere else... ;)

[Gronkfan1974]

Gym on Oasis also smelled of smoke! What IS up with that? [emoji23]

 

 

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[Ocean Boy]

Their system to ferry back was weird- one left at 11:00am, and the next at 12:30pm. It was too early to go back at 11am, and 12:30pm felt a little too long.

 

The other thing MANY people do at Blue Lagoon is some sort of animal encounter- dolphin, sea lion, or kangaroo. My daughter (vegan, animal lover, animal rights activitist- where did she COME from? Is David Beckham a vegan???) really did not want us to go to Blue Lagoon (even to the beach part), because she didn't want to contribute to a company that is exploiting animals. Isn't that noble of her? Well, there aren't many other options in Nassau. So I told her INSTEAD I would redeem our visit by putting in a public service announcement in my cruise review. So here goes:

 

**********PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT************

 

You should not swim with dolphins, sea lions, or any other animal in captivity because my daughter says it's wrong.

 

She also says you should google a place called Taiji Cove, which is someplace in Japan where they do horrible things to dolphins. There are even YouTube videos if you're so inclined.

 

********************************************************

 

I personally love a good steak, thoroughly enjoyed the Shamu show when I went to Sea World, and have been to the circus no less than 3 times In my life. I also own delightful leather boots, and would own that Louis Vuitton crocodile bag if I could afford it. And please don't tell anyone, but I also got my chocolate lab from a breeder! (Horrors! I know, I'm evil!)

 

So, no judgments here, folks. You do you. In the meantime, I am learning from my daughter. Last night I made tacos out of Gardein instead of ground beef. And I'm still alive to talk about it.

I have to say I'm with your daughter on this one. I once saw a program on this cove in Japan. The whole thing got me so upset that I went out into our garage took one look at our Toyota Avalon, decided I was having nothing to do with a Japanese car and it was replaced within a week. However, my Weimaraner came from a breeder too!:D

[cstimmons]

My daughter is very similar to yours. Did you have many issues with her being a vegetarian on ship? I recently canx my reservations for the blue lagoon as it just doesn't seem worth it. Thanks for the review so far.

 

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[A&L_Ont]

Wow, singling out NY??? I am sure that never happens anywhere else... ;)

 

LOL, I think you missed the joke. It's not a shot at NYC. It's a joke about the distance to the washroom from the specialty dining venues and peeing outside, which happens everywhere.

 

If Oasis Class ships had a Victoria Park, which is in our near by hometown, I'd be named the city London in my comment. :)

Edited April 20, 2017 by A&L_Ont

[descotes]

Anyway...back to Guest Services. A quick word to you parents who are smart enough to put the kiddos in a separate stateroom...this is great. Two bathrooms, privacy. A must when you have two teenagers. We had the kids in a Boardwalk balcony and we had an Oceanview balcony directly across the hall. The only way for our TA to book this is to put one adult and one kid per stateroom- RCCL doesn't allow you to book two kids, not even across the hall.

 

So we try to straighten out our staterooms, cause no way were hubby and I sharing a room with a kid. We love our kids, but come on. It's vacation! And there's no way I'm staying with one of those little shower-hogging little monsters. I thought Guest Services would be able to just fix that onboard but no...you must keep the rooms one adult/one child. Instead they give you an additional seapass that acts as your extra room card (no charging privileges, though, just opens the door). This I will say, was a total pain in the neck. #firstworldproblems, I know! Two of us (me, because I was booked in Boardwalk but staying in Oceanview and my son, booked in Oceanview but staying in Boardwalk) had to keep track of two seapasses all week. Not a biggie for my son who wore a lanyard, but kinda a pain for me to remember to have both cards at all times. (Until Louis Vuitton comes out with a lanyard I absolutely REFUSE to wear one!) Oh- they were selling plain lanyards as you walked into the ship. Buy them there- if you wait till you board, the ones in the shop are the thick ones and are $8. Just FYI. The cheaper ones looked better....

 

Interesting -- we had our 16 yo and a (almost) 14 yo on our last cruise on Adventure and we had adjoining Oceanview Balcony rooms. We did the same thing as you - 1 adult on each room - but when we got on board we switched it with no issues. This time we're going on Allure in November and doing the same as you. Us in Oceanview Balcony and kids across the hall in Promenade balcony but we're currently booked as it should be - us in 1 room and kids in the other. Kids are 17 and 15 at time of sailing.

[gsuoumu]

So we get onto the Royal Promenade and we're just sort of taking it all in. It's so cool. It's huge. There are lots of people, but not THAT many people, and there is always a weird smell. A really gross, weird smell. Like - I'm sorry - but it smells like feet. And not just any feet. WARM, STINKY feet.

 

You know how all cruise ships smell kind of the same? Like a cool, clean, newish kind of smell? I can't put my finger on it, but you know what I mean. You come back in from a long, hot day in port and you "Bing!" In your sea pass card and step onboard and inhale and it's this nice, cruise shippy smell.

 

So at that moment, and for the next day or so, I couldn't place the smell. And then I realized...and I'm sorry you guys, I know there are fans out there, but...I realized the smell was Sorrento's.

 

DISCLAIMER: We are from the northeast, and lived a good long time in metro New York. You know, the pizza capital of the world (ok, ok, after Italy).

 

So I apologize to you folks from Pitchfork, Wyoming or Tumbleweed, North Dakota or Cut N'Shoot, Texas (okay, that last one is real, google it) who love Sorrento's - but this #$%& Sorrento's is serving is NOT REAL PIZZA. And for the love of Papa John, the cheese they're using smells like feet. And it stunk up the Royal Promenade all week long. I'm not kidding. It was super nasty.

 

I'm sorry...but it's true! Even my teenage son wouldn't go near that place. And if you know a growing 16-year old boy, you know that's saying something.

 

I know I'm late to the party and all...

 

BUT THANK YOU. The smell of that place disgusts me. It almost ruins that entire portion of the ship for me. And my wife drags me there every night in our drunken stupors because she thinks that pizza has magical healing powers or something. The worst pizza ever made.

 

/rant

[micmacmissy]

Wow, singling out NY??? I am sure that never happens anywhere else... ;)

 

As a former NYC/Long Islander, I'm going to have to agree with my friend here. No one pees in the real Central Park! (At least...no one who's sober.) ;p

[micmacmissy]

LOL, I think you missed the joke. It's not a shot at NYC. It's a joke about the distance to the washroom from the specialty dining venues and peeing outside, which happens everywhere.

 

If Oasis Class ships had a Victoria Park, which is in our near by hometown, I'd be named the city London in my comment. :)

 

It's okay Andrew...we're just teasing you. (Let's go Rangers!)

[micmacmissy]

My daughter is very similar to yours. Did you have many issues with her being a vegetarian on ship? I recently canx my reservations for the blue lagoon as it just doesn't seem worth it. Thanks for the review so far.

 

No worries on the vegetarian thing...they were GREAT with her (at least in the specialty restaurants). In Chops, they looked at us a little crazy, like, why on earth would you bring a vegetarian HERE? But then our waiter offered to make her something special, or fetch her pasta from Giovanni's. And the night we were in 150 Central Park the chef made her a special eggplant parmigiana, which was fabulous.