Allure Star Class May 21st-28th

[drdestructo]

My wife, father and I just returned from a fabulous week on board the Allure. This was our first trip as Star Class passengers and I thought I'd share our experiences.

 

 

First I'd like to thank previous posters like myraid and A&L_ONT who gave insight on their Star Class voyages to help us get an understanding of what Star Class entails. We booked Sky Loft 1718 about 14 months ago through Casino Royale. Booking through them made the final cost more manageable through the Casino discount. We had a choice of A&L_ONT's favorite 1720, but my wife preferred the ocean view.

 

Our Royal Genie was Susan Flannery and she was exceptional. We received our first email from her about 10 days before the cruise. We responded to her with our preferences for shows and specialty dining. Susan was always prompt with her replies. I sent her a private email explaining that this cruise was celebrating my wife's birthday and as a surprise some close friends would be joining us on the cruise. They were not traveling Star Class, but had purchased the 3 night specialty dining package. I gave Susan their reservation number and she linked our dining reservations for the five of us. When we ate dinner in Coastal Kitchen, we were able to bring the two of them as our guests.

After months of anxious anticipation, Embarkation Day finally arrived. We had arranged with Susan to arrive at the port at 11am. We dropped our luggage in the Star Class area at Terminal 18, and were promptly greeted by Susan. She had arranged for wheelchair assistance for my dad who is not too mobile. We were whisked through check-in and boarding had just started, so we were brought to our Suite.

 

 

 

Although we had seen a few pictures and videos of the Sky Loft, seeing it first hand was almost jaw dropping. The 2 story Sky Loft provided more than ample room for the three of us and the mobility scooter we had rented for my dad. It was a great place to call home for the next seven days. Susan gave us a sample itinerary based on our email exchanges prior to the cruise. She asked us if we had any special requests for the room in the morning. Martha is a Starbucks devotee and we all like the fresh squeezed orange juice, so Susan ensured that the coffee and juice was delivered to the room each day at the time of our choosing. We made arrangements to meet up with her later before our scheduled Aqua Theater show and then she was off to see her other Star Class guests.

 

 

 

We went to the Park Cafe to have lunch (and yes, the roast beef sandwiches were involved), and then to explore the ship (my wife Martha and I had been on the Oasis, but this was my dad's first time on an Oasis class ship). I had prearranged to meet our friends on the promenade deck in order to surprise my wife on the ship. As she headed to look into one of the shops they jumped out and screamed "happy birthday"! Martha was truly surprised and tears of joy streamed down her face. Surprise successful!

 

 

Throughout the week, we were grateful to experience the "Suite" life. Our room steward Lystra and her Assistant Keith were very gracious and helpful to us.

 

The Shows

The entertainment on this cruise was the best we've encountered on any Royal Caribbean ship. We saw the OceanAria Aqua show at 9pm on Sunday night, Ice Games at 5pm on Monday, Mama Mia at 5pm on Tuesday (Labadee), the headliner was Private Stock who did a tribute to Rock and Pop on Thursday at 8:30pm, and Blue Planet on Saturday at 5pm. In addition to the reserved seats for the three of us, Genie Susan graciously offered to provide seats for our other two non Star Class guests. This was not requested or expected, but nice to have our friends join us.

 

 

The Meals

We dined at most of the specialty restaurants and generally enjoyed them. We ate at Giovanni's on embarkation day. It was a nice dinner to start the cruise with our friends. On Day 2, Susan arranged for us to eat dinner at Izumi Hibachi. I asked for our friends meal to be put on my tab as it is not part of the dining package that they had purchased. On day 3 and 5 we ate at Coastal Kitchen. We enjoyed Coastal Kitchen very much. The menu's now change daily (sorry we did not think to take pictures). Night 5 was the 2nd formal night and they offered a poached lobster dish, but you could request a grilled lobster if you wished. On night 4 we went to Chops. On night 6 we went to Samba and on our final evening we returned to Chops. We also ate lunch one day at Sabor and our final lunch was at Johnny Rockets. Although all of them were good, the meal we liked the least was Samba. There was nothing wrong with the meal, but we can now say been there, done that.

 

 

Star Class Notes

On day two of the cruise we participated in the Meet and Mingle. We offered up our Sky Loft as part of the Cabin Crawl. Our room was the last scheduled stop on the cabin crawl, and I asked Genie Susan if we could set up some snacks for everyone. She responded with, "something like cheese and crackers?", and I said that would be great. When we arrived at our room, Susan had four different kinds of sushi, fresh guacamole and salsa with chips and multiple varieties of freshly baked cookies. It was an awesome spread.

In our pre-trip correspondence, I had asked Susan to secure a cabana on Labadee. I wanted our friends to be able to enjoy Barefoot Beach with us. I asked for Standard cabana #9. This cabana was almost always in the shade and centrally located between the water and access to lunch and restrooms. This worked out perfectly for our group of five. Rolex was our cabana attendant and he took great care of us all day. Martha and our friend Mike had reservations for the zip line and roller coaster, and Susan helped link their reservations once on board so they could do them together.

On the 2nd formal night, I had asked Susan to arrange for cake for Martha's birthday. Our friend Mike's birthday was also that day. After dinner in Coastal Kitchen the staff brought out a cake decorated in pink and blue for both of their birthdays, another nice gesture.

On our last sea day we used the suite sun deck. Susan explained to us that the cabanas are now first come first served. This was not an issue for us as we arrived early enough to secure one. It was nice having the opportunity to get beverages close by with the dedicated bar for the area.

 

 

We never took advantage of the one day Thermal Spa access. We just never got around to it. We went to Cups and Scoops once for ice cream and I was prepared to pay, but upon seeing our seas pass card, our server just gave us the $0.00 receipt to sign and that was a nice surprise.

 

 

Disembarkation was phenomenal! Susan asked when we would like to get off the ship. I know the crew has quite a bit to do on turnaround day, and we did not want to linger. We agreed that Susan would meet us at the room at 8:30am. She told us to keep our bags in the room. Susan met us at the designated time and our Assistant Room Steward Keith loaded our luggage onto a cart. We were then escorted all the way down to customs where our bags and my dad in a wheelchair where transferred to porters. Total time from room to curb was less than 10 minutes. Awesome perk.

 

Summary

Traveling in Star Class was a real treat. I don't know if we'll be able to afford Star Class in the future, but if I could get the same type of casino rate on this room, I'd definitely do it again. Susan and our room stewards added a lot to our experience. If you are Star Class, always ask your Genie if you'd like something. They may or may not be able to grant your wish.

 

It was nice to participate in the Meet and Mingle. We had a decent size group participate. In addition to the Cabin Crawl, we had a home town gift exchange and a slot pull organized by eleationismyship, our new cruise friends Maria and Doug. It was a great time.

 

Thanks for taking the time to read this. If you have any questions, I'll do my best to answer them.

[Gasmanctsv]

Thanks for your review! My wife and I will be in 1720 in October on the Allure and I love reading all these awesome reviews of Star Class! I can't wait for October to get here!

[bartel11]

It was great cruising with you. Thanks again for offering up your suite for the Cabin Crawl, the food spread was completely unexpected and a real treat! The first time I've ever been part of of a Cabin Crawl that did something like that!

 

Glad you enjoyed the cruise! You got me wanting to try Star Class now!

[drdestructo]

Great meeting you and your group as well. Thank you for organizing the cabin crawl. Your crown loft looked awesome as well. If you can swing the cost Star Class is definitely worth it.

[Lionesss]

What a beautiful review.

 

I really enjoyed reading it.

 

Sounds like you had a great time.

 

Thanks for sharing....

[chef_christoph]

Thank-you for your review. You've helped answer a couple of little things I was wondering about so I really appreciate you sharing.

 

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[vavasmom]

Thank you for the review. What a nice surprise for your wife's burthday.

 

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[Clarea]

Very nice review, thanks!

[easyboy]

Great review! Thanks.

 

 

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[drdestructo]

One more note...we decided pre-cruise to pack a little lighter as we planned to utilize the free laundry service. This was a great perk too...we sent out items in the laundry bag provided in the room a few times. All the laundered items were returned the next day in the late afternoon, which worked out great!

[Frick_&_Frack]

Thanks for the awesome review! Seems like all went very smoothly for you. Can't wait for my turn!

[A&L_Ont]

Dr D, I'm glad that you had a great Star Class experience and loved 1720. We have spent many a cruise in that lovely cabin.

[drdestructo]

Thank you Andrew! Your Live Allure Review gave us our first insight into Star Class. We have read how it has slowly evolved since its inception. I appreciated your candid glimpse into the part of "the Suite Life".

 

Bob aka drdestructo

[Sixtynifty]

My family and I had Susan as our genie! She was wonderful. We loved the Star Class experience. It was very expensive however traveling with two small grandchildren it was worth every penny and yes I will be paying for it for many months. My daughter and I agree it was a week we will always remember with love

[LoveTwoCruise]

We also had Susan as our Genie. She was awesome. She really went above and beyond to make sure we were well taken care of. We are doing Star Class again this coming Nov. Cant wait!

[drdestructo]

All of the Genies seemed to work well with each other on the Allure. In Labadee day, Susan was involved in crew drills and another Genie Phillip escorted us off the ship to our cabana.

[A&L_Ont]

Thank you Andrew! Your Live Allure Review gave us our first insight into Star Class. We have read how it has slowly evolved since its inception. I appreciated your candid glimpse into the part of "the Suite Life".

 

Bob aka drdestructo

 

Thanks Dr D. It's nice that I was able to help.:)

[drdestructo]

I neglected to mention that Coastal Kitchen was open on Disembarkation Day and had the same menu available as the rest of the week. It was a nice start to the day before leaving the ship.