Allure-Aug 27th live review

[Deptacon]

Thanks for the Review. We are sailing next week.

 

What were the Dining package options and costs when you boarded? How much for 2, 3, 4?

[boommer425]

Thanks for the Review. We are sailing next week.

 

What were the Dining package options and costs when you boarded? How much for 2, 3, 4?

 

I think they had 3, 4, 5 and ultimate

 

On my cruise planner before the cruise they had first night done right for 15

 

Price for ultimate was 168

85 for 3 then 15 extra for each additional night

 

Personally I think the 3 is the perfect amount but depends on the menu for me which I will post our menu order and the menus are all posted all over this website

[boommer425]

Great review! I even started a list of tips that you provided, thank you! I wanted to know if you or someone else can post the daily compasses. Now that the itinerary has changed, I wanted the updated schedules. Thank you in advance!

 

I will be back on Sunday and if you send me your email I will send you pictures of each

[caa419]

Sounds like you are having a great time. Who did you email regarding your dining table location? I would love to do that for my 9/17 cruise. Thanks!

[boommer425]

Sounds like you are having a great time. Who did you email regarding your dining table location? I would love to do that for my 9/17 cruise. Thanks!

 

I will have to get back to you on that. I know I found an email on the boards here and I'll have to dig thru my email and see what I can find.

[boommer425]

Hello again from the beautiful Allure of Seas!

Day 3: Sea day

Today was our first real sea day on this trip. I want it to be known I still haven't really felt the boat move at all and I'm am pretty pone to getting motion sickness during dinner especially at the aft of the boat.

Today we did a lot of rest and relaxing kind of the nice thing about sea days. Once we woke up we found a late light breakfast at park cafe which is really nice only being a 2 mins walk down the hallway from us. They had make your own bagel, assorted muffins, breakfast sandwiches, assorted fruit, parfaits and oatmeal. My wife opted for the sandwich and said it was really good and fresh. I passed as I was saving room for Izumi sushi for lunch. Most of the locations open for breakfast was open till 11 or 1130 for the windjammer. After breakfast we went and watched people on the flowrider and played a round of mini golf. I regret to inform you all that my wife won by 2 strokes.

We then headed to Izumi for lunch to use one of our specialty dining package nights. We had 4 sushi rolls which we didn't care for 2 of the 4 roll but the other two were really good. The Izumi Ryu was really good.

After lunch we headed back to the room with every intention of watching the worlds sexiest man contest in the aqua theater but ended up laying down and taking a two hour nap which was probably needed as she works full time and goes to school full time and I work two jobs. By the time we woke up it was 4 and we decide to go check out our pictures in front of the classic car and get ready for dinner. Dinner was good as the main dining room continues to improve each time I'm on a bigger boat. We had the garlic tiger shrimp and the lasagna and both were amazing. My wife tried the strawberry bisque soup which said she said was delicious and like eating melted sherbet. After dinner I decided it was time for some more blackjack and again I won some more money after going down to my last 20 bucks. I was able to make a come back and am happy to report I'm up a good amount since when I got on the ship. I also noticed before dinner they had a table that was 6 dollar minimum which after dinner was back up to 10 dollar minimum.

After I finished at the casino we went to walk around and ended up visiting the candy store on the boardwalk which was pretty cool. I was going to get ice cream at scoops but they are out of the flavors I wanted. I am continually impressed with this ship and the amount it offers. We then headed to the promenade to go to on air the karaoke bar for family feud. We end up getting our picture taken with a pirate and finding a trick bar tending competition which was highly entertaining. After that ended we found a make shift drink station selling martini glasses and light up glasses with a cocktail included. The price was 2 for $15or one for $10. Obviously the better deal was 2 for $15 which is what we did and you were even allowed to pick your rum from an assorted selection.The drink was pretty good and the staff member actually let us know to come back tomorrow and she will have a really good drink deal for us. Then the curious part of me came out and began questioning more what the deal was and was able to find out it was the 10 drinks for 79 dollars which is a great deal! It includes drinks up to 13 dollars which is awesome! My wife and I aren't huge drinkers so the alcohol package for us wasn't worth it this trip. For those that are drinkers buy the drink package ahead of time it was 56 dollars per a day once on board. I believe it was on 52 for my sailing as a pre-cruise purchase. I can tell you my one drink on day one was 14 dollars after 18% Gratuity. So you can do the math and general rule of thumb from what I've figured out is 5-6 drinks a day and you will break even.

We then headed to on air for the family feud game and if this is something your interested make sure to get there early as we got some of last seats 30 mins prior to beginning of the show. We had a blast at show and laughed really hard. Next up is love and marriage game show which always is enjoyable and a cruise classic. For those bingo lovers they do have bingo cards on sale and did a game before the love and marriage game show. I did not look into the price of them. This show of love and marriage was one of the funniest I have ever seen and the prizes were really good for all participants. This was the first time I got to see the activity manager in action and wow was he funny for the pre show. I honestly missed his name but I can foresee him being a cruise director very shortly. The game show was hosted by Mitch, who has been the cruise director for the past 5 months. He made the show even more entertaining and can see why they continue to keep him on Allure.

My tip for the day is go to Sam's or any bulk store and buy your sun screen and aloe ahead of time it's pricey on board. I saw one bottle for $15 dollars or two for $25. I know at my Sam's it was 4 for $15

Next stop is St Thomas at 1pm. We have an excursion planned for sapphire beach based on recommendations from people on cruise critic.

 

Continue to follow along and if you have any questions I'll do my best to find out.

[UK Fan]

I'm really enjoying this thread! Keep the posts coming!

[dst]

Thanks for letting us follow you on your trip

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Luv2Cruise525]

I will be back on Sunday and if you send me your email I will send you pictures of each

 

Thank you SO much! My email is luv2cruise525 at aol dot com.

[mrchips14]

Thanks for the review, we sail on Oct 15th.

Was the 10 drink special listed anywhere (Compass)?

Where were they sold?

 

This would make more sense for us too.

 

Thanks

[boommer425]

Thanks for the review, we sail on Oct 15th.

Was the 10 drink special listed anywhere (Compass)?

Where were they sold?

 

This would make more sense for us too.

 

Thanks

 

I did notice them at the pool bars on embarkation day but when I said something they forgot to take them down. Just remember it usually isn't till atleast day 4 before they are offer it but for us having two sea days at the end of the cruise it works well for us

[Dremac373]

Awesome review thank you for sharing. Congrats on you winnings at the tables, I've always wondered if anyone actually wins anything substantial. Also thanks for the tips on the drinks

[SomeCallMeRick]

.Looking forward to your live review! We are sailing the Allure on Sept. 17th !:cool:

 

We're on the same sailing and have the countdown going! :cool:

[beckyboo1986]

I've really enjoyed reading your reviews. I think it's swayed me not to bother buying the drinks package.

 

I honestly can't see me drinking 5-6 drinks each night. Hopefully they'll be some good offers around the ship when I do fancy a cocktail.

 

Do you know if you're able to bring wine on the ship to have with dinner? How does it work please?

[boommer425]

I've really enjoyed reading your reviews. I think it's swayed me not to bother buying the drinks package.

 

I honestly can't see me drinking 5-6 drinks each night. Hopefully they'll be some good offers around the ship when I do fancy a cocktail.

 

Do you know if you're able to bring wine on the ship to have with dinner? How does it work please?

 

You are table to bring two bottle with you per cabin but at dinner they might charge you like. 10 or 15 dollar corkage fee

[boommer425]

Hello all!

I'm a little behind as back to back port days has kept me pretty busy. I am writing this sitting under an umbrella on a beach.

Day 4: St Thomas

Today was our first real port as in my mind Nassau didn't really count, actually we could have skipped Nassau and that would have been fine with me. Once we woke up and got dressed we headed to park cafe for breakfast which was much more crowded this morning. They had breakfast sandwich and burritos which were both really good. After breakfast we headed back to the room to grab our stuff then check out the solarium as it was one place we had not explored yet. It was pretty nice and spacious with a nice breeze going thru the area. I was able to snap a few shots of us pulling into St Thomas at Crown Bay. We then started to head down to the gangway on deck three and it was prefect timing as about 1pm we were cleared to disembark.

We had an excursion planned thru Royal Caribbean at Sapphire Beach. I though that it was pretty reasonable price. Our tour included transportation, chair rental, snorkeling equipment, and one drink. The meeting place was very easy to find and after about 30 mins of standing in the shade waiting for others to get there, we were escorted to our flat bed truck that had benches and a canopy for shade. The truck held 25 people with five rows. After about a 40min drive up and down the hills of St Thomas we were at sapphire beach at about 215pm. The guide then passed us off to an employee of the dive shack at beach. This beach was picture perfect. The water was absolutely clear and a beautiful sapphire color. They had kayaks and floats for rent. I think the float was 8 dollar for two hours. The beach did have some shaded areas but no umbrellas in sight, although we had a great island breeze. We had about 2 hours of solid beach time. I did not partake I the snorkeling but I did hear people say they saw a sea turtle and other assorted fish. The beach never felt crowded which was nice and very relaxing. We did end up having a late lunch at the beach bar there which was honestly ok for the price I paid. For two bottles of water, a mahi sandwich and chicken sandwich it was 40 bucks including a 5 dollar tip. I did notice the frozen drinks were all about 10 bucks for each. In my own opinion, eat before you go there and save the money. They did have cheaper options such as hot dogs for 9 dollars. I did hear from the bar tender they were renovating soon. For me I would go back for the beach in a heart beat. For our free drinks we had the rum punch and it was very good as I couldn't even taste the alcohol. It then was then about time to meet our driver and head back. Please don't be those people that show up 5 mins late or can't remember where the pick up location is as we left two people behind. We then had a skyline drive along the mountains in which was very pretty. We even stopped at a look out point to take pictures of our ship and crown bay. The previous two we left behind then caught up with us saying they were at the wrong location and couldn't remember which way back to the drop off location. Our driver even waited 15 mins extra and then even went to the beach to look for them. We got back to the ship just before 6pm which meant dinner in the main dining room wasn't going to happen as we had the traditional at 530pm. After showering and getting all the sand off me we headed to the buffet as it was Caribbean night and I was interested to see what it entailed. The buffet was extremely busy, which was frustrating as RC should have anticipated people coming back later as no excursion is shorter than 3 hour and multiple people probably missed the early dining time. They only had one side open and it took us a while to find a table as table were not being cleared quickly at all. After finally finding a table I went to grab food while my wife waited. This is where is started to go down hill. After I returned from getting food from a decent selection it seemed as a guest in a large group became sick and proceed to to get sick all along the back of the buffet sitting area, which killed my appetite as it made the whole back area smell till housekeeping got there to clean it up. The food was ok but I think the person getting sick and it being crowded deff put a damper on things.

After dinner we walked around the boat and went back to the promenade where we bought out drink card. I think it was like 92 including tax and gratuity. This card is shareable and we have pretty much 3.5 days to use it. After that we stopped by next cruise area to look at Harmony for next year. The price wasn't any better than I could book on my own. They only extra they offered was 50 dollars(100 total) more onboard credit than on the website and the option to only put one name on the room so you would have to put down 250 instead of 500. They did say it was combineable with a TA offer as well.

We then headed to the aqua theater for beauty and the beast. It was a really nice out with the ocean breeze. I did notice they need to some work on the LED screen needs to be done as one had a whole section out and some of them were distorted. Hope this gets fixed sooner rather than later as I expect most thing to be in working order on a ship the size of allure.

After this we called it a day as it was going to another beach day tomorrow in St Kitts.

Tips for the day: Do your research before booking excursions check multiple websites. If it's within 10 dollars a person just book with the boat. Bring a beach bag with you or back pack as they do have towel station set up to grab towels as you leave the boat and to return as you come back. Also if you have a boardwalk balcony you will be able to watch the diver practice in the aqua theater

St Thomas was beautiful and I will deff go back as I don't feel like I could ever get sick of that beach.

Tomorrow we are in St Kitts and have planned to take a taxi to reggae beach bar which I have read is one of the better beaches in St Kitts.

 

Thank you all so much for following along and keep you questions coming

[boommer425]

Thanks for the review, we sail on Oct 15th.

Was the 10 drink special listed anywhere (Compass)?

Where were they sold?

 

This would make more sense for us too.

 

Thanks

 

To expand on this they even sent a message to our stateroom about it and was posted at most bars

[boommer425]

Day 5: St Kitts

Welcome back to those that are still following along. This has been such a lovely week and it going by so slow which is nice!

Today we woke up and were already in port at St Kitts. We hurried and got ready and grabbed a quick breakfast at park cafe which has become our favorite free place. After breakfast we headed back to room and grabbed our stuff stuff and went to the gangway which was pretty clear by 10am. I then noticed just how naturally beautiful this island is and how it reminds me of the Hawaiian islands. We found our taxi and your stand and told them we wanted reggae beach bar and the. Had us sit with some other people. After a few mins a group of about 12 of us boarded an air conditioner taxi van for the 25 min drive to the beach. The drive was amazing we even saw at one point both Atlantic and Caribbean Sea at the same time. The beach itself was ok compared to sapphire and felt more like a party beach than to relax which was ok. The beach was decent enough. The bar service was good at first but slowed down as the day went on and more people arrived. Drinks were a lot cheaper here as 6 bucks per a frozen drink. They also had jet skis for rent here although I never saw any prices. If you plan on going here I would make sure to get off the boat by 945 at the latest as they ran out of chair fairly quickly. I would probably go back here in a future visit but would want to explore other beach next time. Our group agreed to a 2pm meeting time for our driver to take us back. It was nice as you don't pay him till you get back to the port. Our driver was about 10 mins early to start looking for people but at that point I was ready for some AC. The reggae bar also had a menu similar to most beach bars but we decided to just eat once back on the boat. I felt bad for the driver as I noticed earlier three people pack and head to bar area but they weren't anywhere around at 2pm and I even glanced around the bar and didn't notice them. I did end up giving the driver some extra money on top of the 28 dollars for two of us round trip. We also got passed off to another driver halfway but that was pretty seamless. The port is very nice and ha lots of shops ands restaurants and even a casino. After getting back to the boat we grabbed a quick snack at park cafe the back to the room to relax and start getting ready for 150 Central Park. I have heard mixed reviews on this specialty restaurant, some people love it but some say it's ok.

After some rest it was time for dinner at 150 Central Park. I was honestly on the fence about it but I can tell you everything was fantastic! The tuna tartare was outta this world! It was even made table side which was a very unique experience. The main course we had was the cod and half order or beef tenderloin and the scallops. The cod was good but my wife did not like the mustard sauce. The scallops are more a soup and really shouldn't be a main entree. The beef tenderloin was extremely tender but had some parts that were very tough. Overall I thought it was a good restaurant just wish they added some other entrees. After dinner I heard to the table and my wife was off to watch the movies in the aqua theater which after about 30 mins of playing I joined her. The two movies were guardians of galaxy 2 and fast 8. I did end up going back to the casino earlier and lost the money I won earlier in the night so today was a wash at the tables for me.

My tips for the day: when you go up at the tables walk away. St Kitts was beautiful but if your not into the party scene I would head to another beach. If you leaving from where your taxi driver dropped you off early tell someone and make sure he gets paid. I have also found you could watch the movies from a boardwalk balcony but you end up hearing the music from the boardwalk instead of the movie.

 

The next two days are sea days and I plan to go ice skating at least once and get back on the flow rider. We skipped ice games as we wanted to see the movies in the aqua theater more and just wasn't too interested after watching the preview. Any last minute questions please let me know and I'll find out for you.

[wolfegizmo]

Thanks so much! Enjoying your review!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[ourfamilylovescruising]

No it was included on the menu

 

so glad to hear this!! when we went it was an upcharge which was my biggest complaint

[David0422]

try Johnny Rockets for breakfast.

It is free and delicious; you won't be disappointed.

Sailed Allure 2 weeks prior.

[FL_Cruiser_519]

Can you post the Cruise Compasses when you get home?? Please and Thank You.

[Dennis#1]

Day 5: St Kitts

Welcome back to those that are still following along. This has been such a lovely week and it going by so slow which is nice!

Today we woke up and were already in port at St Kitts. We hurried and got ready and grabbed a quick breakfast at park cafe which has become our favorite free place. After breakfast we headed back to room and grabbed our stuff stuff and went to the gangway which was pretty clear by 10am. I then noticed just how naturally beautiful this island is and how it reminds me of the Hawaiian islands. We found our taxi and your stand and told them we wanted reggae beach bar and the. Had us sit with some other people. After a few mins a group of about 12 of us boarded an air conditioner taxi van for the 25 min drive to the beach. The drive was amazing we even saw at one point both Atlantic and Caribbean Sea at the same time. The beach itself was ok compared to sapphire and felt more like a party beach than to relax which was ok. The beach was decent enough. The bar service was good at first but slowed down as the day went on and more people arrived. Drinks were a lot cheaper here as 6 bucks per a frozen drink. They also had jet skis for rent here although I never saw any prices. If you plan on going here I would make sure to get off the boat by 945 at the latest as they ran out of chair fairly quickly. I would probably go back here in a future visit but would want to explore other beach next time. Our group agreed to a 2pm meeting time for our driver to take us back. It was nice as you don't pay him till you get back to the port. Our driver was about 10 mins early to start looking for people but at that point I was ready for some AC. The reggae bar also had a menu similar to most beach bars but we decided to just eat once back on the boat. I felt bad for the driver as I noticed earlier three people pack and head to bar area but they weren't anywhere around at 2pm and I even glanced around the bar and didn't notice them. I did end up giving the driver some extra money on top of the 28 dollars for two of us round trip. We also got passed off to another driver halfway but that was pretty seamless. The port is very nice and ha lots of shops ands restaurants and even a casino. After getting back to the boat we grabbed a quick snack at park cafe the back to the room to relax and start getting ready for 150 Central Park. I have heard mixed reviews on this specialty restaurant, some people love it but some say it's ok.

After some rest it was time for dinner at 150 Central Park. I was honestly on the fence about it but I can tell you everything was fantastic! The tuna tartare was outta this world! It was even made table side which was a very unique experience. The main course we had was the cod and half order or beef tenderloin and the scallops. The cod was good but my wife did not like the mustard sauce. The scallops are more a soup and really shouldn't be a main entree. The beef tenderloin was extremely tender but had some parts that were very tough. Overall I thought it was a good restaurant just wish they added some other entrees. After dinner I heard to the table and my wife was off to watch the movies in the aqua theater which after about 30 mins of playing I joined her. The two movies were guardians of galaxy 2 and fast 8. I did end up going back to the casino earlier and lost the money I won earlier in the night so today was a wash at the tables for me.

My tips for the day: when you go up at the tables walk away. St Kitts was beautiful but if your not into the party scene I would head to another beach. If you leaving from where your taxi driver dropped you off early tell someone and make sure he gets paid. I have also found you could watch the movies from a boardwalk balcony but you end up hearing the music from the boardwalk instead of the movie.

 

The next two days are sea days and I plan to go ice skating at least once and get back on the flow rider. We skipped ice games as we wanted to see the movies in the aqua theater more and just wasn't too interested after watching the preview. Any last minute questions please let me know and I'll find out for you.

 

 

 

Following your reviews. Most interesting, and very well written. Sure sounds like you all had a very good time on this cruise. Thanks for the write-up.

[boommer425]

Day 6 and 7: Sea Days

Hello again everyone sorry I got a bit behind with the two sea days back to back.

Day 6: Started with sleeping in enough to the point that Johnny rockets was going to be the best lunch option as it was included with having a boardwalk balcony. Lunch was decent but I honestly didn't care about that and was just super excited to have one of their amazing milkshakes. We did encounter a problem as you have to bring your letter you get day one to get your free meals and we didn't know this ahead of time. We also are gold members one of the perks was BOGO milkshakes there. After lunch we headed back to our room to watch the belly flop contest from our balcony. It was pretty funny and a guy from Florida won. I did personally feel some of the scores were higher than they should have been but it was all in good fun. My wife then had some school work to do so I headed to the casino where the tables had 6 dollar limits. I played for about 45 mins staying about even. They then changed dealers and it was all down hill. The first three hands the dealer had were 21. That should have been my sign. At this point I had ran out of singles so I was playing 10 dollar hands. The next part is for those blackjack fans. I had pair of 8 with the dealer showing a 4. I then split them and got another 8 and did another split. So at this point I already have 30 dollars in vested in the hand. I then got a 3 at which point you double down. I got 21 awesome. My next split I stayed at 18. The next hand I again end up at 11 and doubled down so 50 dollars total invested. Got a 20. At this point I was sitting extremely well or atleast so I thought. Dealer hit 21 on the dot. My jaw about hit the table and I was down to 25 dollars so I put it all on one last hand and dealer again hit 21. I decided this would be an end to my time casino time on this cruise. I ended up winning about 100 dollars total which paid for my tips and excursions I hadn't prepaid. Not too bad for probably 8 hours of playing time.

After the casino I went to check the bill via in room tv and checked all my charges and noticed a couple discrepancies. I then went to guest services which still took about 30 mins to correct them. Some of the stuff was we should have buy one get one on things but we thought they were pre loaded on our card but you have to make sure to mention it to your server and that was our fault.

After getting that sorted out, we rested some and then headed off to dinner. I was so excited as it was lobster night and I love lobster. Dinner was pretty great our server did ask we rate him and his assistant well when we get a survey and made it sound as if his job depended on it.

After dinner we walked around the boat looking for new drinks to try. We did end up trying a fe different ones. I found one called a Caribbean cooler which was really good! After that it was time for Blue Planet, which to be honest isn't a must see and is just ok at best. It was a lot of singing of slow songs and dancing. After that show was over we walked right over and got in line for the quest game show. This is a forewarning, I have never done this show with RC and only have heard it's really funny. I will not ruin it for anyone but if you enjoy adult humor and are not embarrassed easily this game show was great! At one point I was laughing so hard, I was crying. I will tell you as a whole adult we sand the lyrics to fresh prince of belleair which was great! This isn't one of those of you should go cause it's fun. It's honestly the CAN NOT MISS show for adult humor. It was hosted by the cruise director and his staff. Mitch was quite funny as he came out in a maple leafs jersey supporting his home town team. After the show we called it a night and went to bed.

DAY 7 = :(

Everyone hates to see the dreaded Saturday in the elevator as it means we are coming to the end of our cruise. Our day started late as we took full advantage of the black out curtain in the room. We again grabbed lunch at park cafe. I honestly can't get enough of those roast beef sandwiches! After lunch we watched the let you entertain me aqua show. They tried to get the crowd to dance but it was blistering hot out and the show was ok at best. It did have its highlights though. I feel like this show would have been better at night or early evening hours as it was just took hot at noon and most people left with in 5 mins of the show starting.

We then headed back to the promenade to do some shopping and see if they had any good deals. We didn't end up finding anything we wanted. We then headed back to room to get some AC and cool off. I did get to watch the history of Royal Caribbean which was very interesting for me to see how the brand became what it is today. It was then time for some tanning and flowrider. The line today was about 25 mins or so for 6 people ahead of me. They did have it divided into two half so more people could ride at once and had two lines going. We found the back of the boat near the wipe out bar to be very peaceful with good music, nice breeze and great view of the ocean. After about 2 hours we returned our towels. Make sure you return your towels by the end of the cruise otherwise they charge you 25 dollars per towel.

For dinner we headed to chops and again it was amazing. After dinner we waited around in the promenade area for the parade which was really cool and I highly recommend this as it was really neat and everyone had a good time seeing all the dream works characters and entertainment crew dancing and having a good time. After this we headed to rising tide bar for a trip down from Central Park. I will say Central Park is extremely peaceful at night and a great spot to just sit and relax. After going down we headed to bow and stern for our final drinks. The pub did have some really unique spins on some drinks. Then it's off to bed. We will being doing the own your own walk off as early as possible to avoid traffic.

Tips to finish off the cruise: take advantage of your crown and anchor members. Do not try to do everything as you will probably need a vacation from your vacation. If you have a problem with your bill fix it before day 7 as the line was extremely long every time we walked past it.

I can honestly say this ship is amazing and you need more than 7 days to do everything on board. This boat has so much to offer and is great for every type of person and family. This cruise has changed my opinion of RC big time and I will be back but I know to keep booking the oasis boats as this class is the leader of the industry by far. Next cruise for me will be a May cruise with friends on Harmony hopefully. Hopefully one of the oasis class ships will do a transatlantic from Florida in the next two years as it's high on my bucket list.

 

I want to thank each and every one of you for following along. I will post the cruise compasses and menu order for the dining room once I get back home

[caa419]

glad you enjoyed your trip. We are 2 weeks away and crossing our fingers for good weather! thanks for all the info!!