Allure April 30th - May 7th Random Thoughts

[paul&michelle]

Hello All,

My wife and I just completed a week aboard Allure, and I thought I would share a few random thoughts. If you are looking for an in-depth review, this is not it. Other folks do a much better job with those.

 

 

Anyway, this was our 11th cruise with Royal, and was our last as Emerald members. Finally made Diamond. Yay! This was our first time on an Oasis class ship, and have now sailed on all classes except Quantum. After sailing Allure, I think our favorite is still Voyager class, followed closely by Freedom. While on board, we booked Freedom for next May out of San Juan. We like the Southern itinerary, having sailed 4 times on Adventure. Don’t get me wrong, we liked Allure very much, and wouldn’t hesitate at all to sail again if the timing,cost and itinerary were right.

 

 

So here’s my completely random thoughts, in no particular order.

 

 

Boarding – easy. We got to the pier at 10:30, and were eating lunch in the Windjammer at 12:00 sharp.

Food- very subjective, so not going to comment except that we pretty much ate ourselves stupid all week. The menus in the main dining room have been around for a while and we were completely familiar with them. Nothing new or unexpected. We ate once at Chops for dinner, and the food was outstanding.

 

 

Service – Main dining room wait staff were excellent, as wasour stateroom attendant. Waiter in Chops was excellent as well. That being said, we found that the other folks, such as bartenders in several lounges, retail clerks, and casino staff just didn’t seem to be as “on the ball” as we have come to expect. Not sure why.

 

 

Ship – Definitely impressive, to say the least. According to the captain, there were 6300 guests on board. However, except for the nightthey had the $10 t-shirt/watch/handbag sale, it never felt crowded. Compared to the smaller ships, we never had a problem finding chairs on the pool deck, even on sea days. They might not have been right next to the pool, but they were always available. The area directly aft of the flowriders always seemed to have a few empty chairs. We also found that we never had to wait for an elevator very long. We usually book inside or promenade cabins,but this time we had a deck 12 balcony. I’m glad we did. I had heard that the Allure as an “inward facing” ship, and that is indeed true. If you didn’t have some sort of an outside cabin, you would be hard pressed to see the ocean without going to the pool deck. Definitely more like spending the week in a shopping mall than on a cruise ship. Like I said before, it’s a wonderful ship, just not our favorite.

 

 

Ports – Labadee is always a favorite, but the barbecue buffet was a real circus, no doubt because of the increased guest numbers. Cozumel is, well, Cozumel. We have been there many times. Since there were 3 other ships in port that day, including Liberty, we figured it would be a good day to stay on the ship. Good move. We had our choice of over 4000 deck chairs, and you could hear the crickets chirping in the Windjammer at lunch. The last time we went to Jamaica, we docked in Ocho Rios, which was nice. Falmouth, on the other hand was a huge disappointment. We did theMargaritaville sail/snorkel tour. The catamaran and crew was most excellent. Snorkeling, not so much. No reef, mostly sand and sea urchins. We are Jimmy Buffet fans, and have been to a few Margaritavilles. This one was awful. It’s only redeeming feature is that it is just a few feet from the gangway. We sat there for over an hour, and they played nothing but rap and “modern”rock. Not one JB song! I like all types of music, but come on, folks, this is Margaritaville.

 

 

Anyway, that’s all I’ve got.

 

 

Happy Cruising!

 

 

 

Paul & Michelle

Edited May 9, 2017 by paul&michelle
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[grandmarnnurse]

Following. I've cruised the Oasis and loved it. Thinking of trying the Allure.

 

 

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[travelb]

Thank you for commenting on your snorkeling experience. We were thinking about that excursion but it doesn't sound like it's worth it. I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise!

 

 

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[vanesssss]

I was on the same sailing as you, also on deck 12 (were you my annoying neighbor?? ;p) and agree about the bartenders in some of the lounges being 'off.' We encountered more good than bad, but there were a handful who were a bit on the rude side and you could tell they did not want to be there at all.

 

As for Falmouth, this was my 2nd time there and I'd be fine staying on the ship next time.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Thank you for commenting on your snorkeling experience. We were thinking about that excursion but it doesn't sound like it's worth it. I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise!

 

 

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If you like All inclusives for the day try Royalton White Sands in Falmouth. We paid $98 pp plus $20 for the cab each way which was about a 10 to 15 minute ride.

 

Very impressive resort. We loved it.

 

Bill

[NiceAunt]

We were also on this same cruise and would agree with most of your comments except we could never find pool chairs on days we were at sea. Port days, no problem.

 

We thought Labadee was way too crowded, only spent about an hour walking around and went back to ship. Felt same as you about Falmouth, other than shopping and the Margaritaville (playing no JB songs), there wasn't anything else to do there unless you had an excursion. In Cozumel, we did the Cozumel Bar Hop (off ship excursion) and had a great time. There were others on the Hop for their 3rd and 4th time, so it is a popular excursion.

 

We had the best bar service in the Schooner Bar. The others were okay.

 

Overall, the food was above average. We preferred the MDR over the buffets.

 

A very very nice ship, but too big for our tastes. We'll try a smaller ship next time.

[George C]

We were docked next to you Friday in Cozumel,(Liberty) ship looked great, we booked Oasis for next year it will be our 1st time on this class

[easyboy]

Thank you for your thoughts!

 

 

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[DerekDun8]

We were docked next to you Friday in Cozumel,(Liberty) ship looked great, we booked Oasis for next year it will be our 1st time on this class

 

LOL that's funny because I was on Allure and am now looking to book Liberty after being beside you and with us being a little higher up and getting a good view of the pool/play areas.

[riclop]

Thanks for your thoughts.

[George C]

LOL that's funny because I was on Allure and am now looking to book Liberty after being beside you and with us being a little higher up and getting a good view of the pool/play areas.

 

For a GS Liberty was more than 1k per person less than Allure

[karen_g]

I was interested to hear that Labadee felt crowded. Was there more than 1 ship there? Or was it just because Allure itself carries so many passengers?

 

 

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[DerekDun8]

I was interested to hear that Labadee felt crowded. Was there more than 1 ship there? Or was it just because Allure itself carries so many passengers?

 

 

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We were the only ship there. I also think it depends where you go. My family first went to Columbus cove. It didn't get busy until lunch time. Then we ate lunch and then went to the rougher side which had tons of open chairs from others leaving. I didn't think it was overly busy but It's probably when/where/time you go.

 

 

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