Never say never.........you had me at the Allure Promenade 6/24/2018

[cynt]

Yeah another Allure review. 101 days until I board her.

 

I just purchased my DH the replenishment pkg. Thx for the details of what you actually consumed on the pkg. Glad to hear vitality smoothies are included.

 

Was hot chocolate offered any where? Not the pkg powder but warm milk and chocolate syrup?

 

What about real milkshakes? Ice cream n milk. Thx

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[nidaco]

Ice Coffee question:

There is a STARBUCKS Kiosk but it is NOT INCLUDED in any package (Replenish or Deluxe). My dd is a coffee snob so I told her if she wanted Starbucks she would have to put cash on her Sign and Sail card. She chose not to do that. ;) We were able to purchase Ice coffee at Promendade Cafe and Central Park Cafe. Not sure if there was somewhere else on the Allure to purchase ice coffee.

 

Regarding, if the actual coffee was cold or hot when poured over ice. I am honestly not sure so I can't answer your question. Sorry

[nidaco]

Hot Chocolate/shake question

 

I am not sure but I do know I saw the packages of hot chocolate in various places.

 

Now about the shakes.....I forgot that my dh and son went to Johnny Rockets on Thursday for lunch. The total charge was $25.77. My dh just told me my son ordered a shake and my dh has an ice cream soda/float. It appears that both were included in the total. My son has no clue how the shakes were made but thought his was pretty decent.:)

[nidaco]

It's me again...the OP. Now regarding laundry.....

 

It doesn't matter how many times I watch youtube packing videos or go on Pinterest, packing is just not my forte. I iron, roll, blah, blah blah and I still have to send stuff out to be pressed once I get on a ship. This is where I really love Carnival....there are laundry rooms with washing

machines, dryers and IRONS!! When we are on Carnival my hb the first sea will bring our stuff and iron it. He is an exceptional ironer. Halfway towards the cruise I usually do a couple of loads on Carnival in addition to having free laundry since we are Platinum.

 

On RC there are no laundry rooms. One the fist sea day I gave AnnMarie some things to be pressed and ended paying express. Totally my fault...I dropped the ball and should have given the clothes the first night. I think either Wed. or Thursday there was a laundry deal. First bag was 24.00 bucks and the second bag was 12.50. We took advantage of that deal and had the clothes by Friday night. (wash and fold). Of course we still came home with lots of laundry.

[riclop]

It's the best class of ship.

[cynt]

Thanks.

 

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[Aubreysmom09]

I'm so sorry to hear about your cat :loudcry: Something happening to my fur babies is always a big fear of mine. I am also a teacher, but I am in VA. I have a really good friend in NH that teaches, and she was very ready for school to be over with.

 

I'm looking forward to your review. I want to go on a bigger ship, and I am looking at Oasis for Spring Break. My husband on the other hand really enjoys the smaller ships. Mind you he has only been on 2 cruises both on Carnival :rolleyes::rolleyes: I have been on a couple Royal cruises and a couple on Carnival. I'm really liking how this review is going, so I can say see the big ship isn't that bad :'):')

[nidaco]

Day One

 

My family and I walked up the gangplank and stepped aboard on the Promenade....there was no looking back. Couldn't believe we were here and on this cruise I had been planning for months. All the other RC ships we sailed had a Promenade but somehow there was an extra "wow" factor on the Allure. A couple of favorites from other previous ships can be found right on the Promenade: the Champagne Bar, Promenade Cafe and the Pizzeria. The Promenade overall just felt so much grander on the Allure. There was also the Kate Spade store, jewelry store, the pub, etc. As we're walking along the promenade various cruise staff out with the drink package kiosk and of course menus for the restaurants. We already had our drink packages and weren't interested in the restaurants. Of course, my dh wanted to get my last name straightened, remember it is hyphenated. We waited about 5 minutes or so and finally spoke to Andre at Guest services. This would not be the last encounter my family would have with Andre.;) So Andre was able to see the mistake and gave me a new sign and sail card right on the spot and told me I was the only to have their card.:o Now since I had the Deluxed package, it had a DX on it.

 

 

Off we went to see the Boardwalk (Deck 6). My dh was really interested in that part of the ship and it became one of his favorite areas on the ship. My family loved the Merry go Round and couldn't believe it was on the ship. Of course, there was Johnny Rockets which my dh and son would return later in the week for lunch. Yes, in the past from years ago when there was no fee we would always go once for lunch at JR (usually the Labadee day). But now, my daughter and I are not so interested Johnny Rockets. My dd loves guacamole and chips so Sabor was a favorite of hers. Plus the rock climbing walls were back there too but you have to access from another deck which my son did later in the week.

 

Our next stop for the Central Park (deck 8 Middle).This was truly one my favorite parts of the ship. My dh grew up in NYC and just thought it was such a great idea. Someone of course was taking care of the plants as we made our way to the Central Park Cafe. The cafe was actually pretty busy but we managed to find something to eat. I believe they had sandwiches and I had chicken noodle soup which I thought was pretty good.

 

I think four of the restaurants can be found there and you're able to access the Rising Bar as well when available. My favorite thing to do is grab a glass of wine from Vintages. Absolutely loved Vintages and it was NEVER busy. If you enjoy a quiet atmosphere Central Park and Vintages is the place the be. Throughout the week I saw people napping in the chairs or reading a book in the Central Park area. Really a quiet place....so different than the Boardwalk or the Pool deck area.

 

Speaking of pools....off we went to deck 15 to check out the various pools, the Solarioum area and the splash park. What I love about RC are the LIFEGUARDS. I also love seeing lots of security around the entire ship including the pool deck. After cruising around this deck we went up to deck 16 to see the Wipeout Cafe. My dh, dd and ds wanted some french fries so off we went. We also checked out the Flowrider. My ds loves the boogie board Flowrider. This is definitely his favorite activities on RC ships which has these. On the first day it was open from 1:15-3:30. My recommendation is to wear a bathing suit and fill in all the paper work prior to boarding and head for that time.You also have to go the Boogieboard/surfing desk to get a wristband.

 

***JMHO- My dh and I thought the Flow rider should have been open more often throughout the week, especially port days. Not everyone disembarks the ship at the ports. This was one of the ONLY disappointmentswe had for the next seven days.

 

 

We continued to walk around some more and around 1:20 we made our way down to deck 9. By the time we arrived on deck 9, passengers were being allowed to check out their cabins. Off we went...we did not meet or see AnnMarie (our lovely room steward) at this time. Our cabins were 9402 and 9404. Again, let me reiterate , we loved the cabins and the location. Although, the cabins are next to each other the set up inside with the furniture was different. We all felt the inside cabins on RC are larger than Carnival. I don't know the exact measurements of both are just our sense. Yes, the sign and sail cards are waiting for you at your cabin. Our luggage had not arrived yet which was not a deal breaker for us. Since we're Platinum on Carnival we're able to go to our cabins as soon as we board the ship and our luggage is there. Not the case on RC which was not a big deal. BTW.....the air conditioners in both rooms worked really well.

 

But of course we had to go back to guest services to have new cards made. When booking our cabins an adult had to be in each cabin. This has happened in the past on Carnival and RC. It will be our second stop at Guest services to have new cards reprinted so the kids are in one room and we're in the other. When that was done we returned back to Central Park for a few drinks.....wine (at Vintages), fresh soda and fresh OJ from Central Park Cafe. After we finished our drinks we began to explore the ship. At four we headed down to the Vitality Spa/gym for the required Guest Assembly Drill which would officially begin at 4:15ish . I can't remember how long it took but we stopped at Vitality Spa Bar for fresh OJ. The Vitality spa also has smoothies and other fresh fruit/veggie drinks. It also offers small premade sandwiches as well.

 

****will continue Day one tomorrow. Thanks for being patient.

 

Nicole

[js]

Thank you! Sailing Allure next month. Love your review and thanks for taking thr time to write it. Did you use the gym? Was the Vitality cafe in the actual spa. Is the spa by the gym? We are on Deck 6 and I know the gym is on six but not sure where the spa is located. We enjoy good wine and Vintages. Cannot wait to read more. Thank you.

 

 

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[Clarea]

... Was the Vitality cafe in the actual spa. ...

The Vitality Cafe is at the entrance to the spa / fitness area.

[lovelife]

Following. Thanks for taking the time to review my favorite ship. I said the same thing about never wanting to sail on a ship that big when Oasis set sail. I've been on Oasis class 16 times now and have loved every moment of it.

 

Curious about the statement that Carnival has guest laundry rooms. I've been on three Carnival cruises and have never seen or heard of them.

[nidaco]

Following. Thanks for taking the time to review my favorite ship. I said the same thing about never wanting to sail on a ship that big when Oasis set sail. I've been on Oasis class 16 times now and have loved every moment of it.

 

Curious about the statement that Carnival has guest laundry rooms. I've been on three Carnival cruises and have never seen or heard of them.

 

 

Carnival Deck plans shown online don't include launderettes. What I can tell you the passenger Launderettes are NOT on every deck. Ask your Carnival room steward. We have done laundry/ironing on the Vista, Breeze, Dream and Miracle. I think Glory and Liber ty but it has been awhile since we have been on those ships. You use your Sail & Sign card to pay for the washer/dryer. I think it's 3.00. We usually bring three laundry pods with us but you can purchase detergent in the launderettes too. Hope this helps.

[nidaco]

Thank you! Sailing Allure next month. Love your review and thanks for taking thr time to write it. Did you use the gym? Was the Vitality cafe in the actual spa. Is the spa by the gym? We are on Deck 6 and I know the gym is on six but not sure where the spa is located. We enjoy good wine and Vintages. Cannot wait to read more. Thank you.

 

 

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I did use the gym and usually very BUSY..There is a track (perimeter of the ship) on deck 5 which has lots of shade. I believe you can access it by stairs from the Vitality gym. We didn't discover this until day 5 (PR port day). Usually, I attempted to workout around 7 AM.

[nidaco]

Day One (Con't)

 

After stopping off at the Vitality Juice bar, we headed down to our room and finally met AnnMarie. We always had great room stewards whether on Carnival or RC. For some reason

we all LOVED AnnMarie. I spoke to her and let her know we have 5:30 dining and that we would probably return to our room after dinner to change into more comfortable clothes. My dh and I also explained that we are up earlier than our children but I would make sure they would be up at a decent hour in the AM. By this time our luggage arrived but not enough time to completely unpack since we had showers to take. Unfortunately, we were about 10 minutes late to dinner but for the rest of the week we made sure to be on time.

 

Now off to dinner we go. I did request 5:30 main dining time. We have only done anytime dining on Carnival with was hit or miss. On the Breeze in August 2017 (we were on during hurricane down in the gulf:() we lucked out with anytime dining and had the best wait staff ever. Well guess what? The gentleman from the Breeze are now tied with Joe (head waiter) and his assistant, Made from this cruise. They gave great service and were just so sweet. They weren't showy but very efficient and actually sort of shy. Some nights they were able to talk about their lives back home depending upon if the other tables showed up. So concerned if we didn't like anything or if we wanted something else or additional. I honestly don't remember what we had and I didn't take any pictures of any menus....I should have. All I know is that we had more than enough choices to eat. My dh especially loved the rolls/bread.

 

 

When dinner was over, we returned to our cabins which were already done and changed into comfy clothes. We had a little time to kill before the early "Mama Mia" production so we walked around the promenade and headed to MamaMia. We had great seats and really loved the. Entertainment is definitely a step above Carnival, even on the Adventure, LOS and FOS. I loved sinning along and just tough the production was outstanding. When the show ended, my kids headed back to their cabin and we continued to have a drink.

 

If any questions, please feel free to ask. Tomorrow I will attempt day two. Thanks for reading this wordy review.:o

[nidaco]

FYI....Prior to cruise I purchased the social media package for my daughter. God forbid, she is not contact with her bf.:rolleyes: Personally, I put my phone in the safe as soon as my dh opened it up. Didn't take it out until the night we disembarked the ship. My dh had the Royal APP on his phone. He prefers the Carnival APP but can't recall why. I think I purchased the more expensive social media package. Oh well, live and learn. My ds did download a bunch of stuff from Netflix and Amazon for his iPad so he could watch something right before he went to sleep. I would recommend downloading stuff.

[Clarea]

FYI....Prior to cruise I purchased the social media package for my daughter. God forbid, she is not contact with her bf.:rolleyes: Personally, I put my phone in the safe as soon as my dh opened it up. Didn't take it out until the night we disembarked the ship. My dh had the Royal APP on his phone. He prefers the Carnival APP but can't recall why. I think I purchased the more expensive social media package. Oh well, live and learn. My ds did download a bunch of stuff from Netflix and Amazon for his iPad so he could watch something right before he went to sleep. I would recommend downloading stuff.

What is this social media package?

[Biker19]

What is this social media package?

I assume confusion with Carnival speak for VOOM.

[traveljunkie88]

Following along and enjoying this review so much! We can't wait to board Allure in just over a month Thanks for taking the time to write your trip report!!

[nidaco]

I assume confusion with Carnival speak for VOOM.

 

 

Yes, thank you for that correction. I meant VOOM on RC and the Social Media package is Carnival.

[nidaco]

Sorry it has take me so long to continue.....real life gets in the way. I have decided to shorten my description of our cruise on the Allure. It was becoming to wordy.

 

Day 2/First Sea Day

 

I woke around 6:30 is which is late for me and headed for the gym. The gym was pretty busy but I was able to snag one of the last cardio machines available. Spent around 40 minutes there and returned back to the room to shower. My dh woke up and I woke up the kids. We decided to eat at JR for breakfast at least once. It was pretty busy around the time we arrived (9:30). Honestly, we liked the JR setup better on Explorer and Adventure of the Seas. The food was fine but my dd wasn't thrilled with her egg sandwich. Not to worry because they headed to the donut area while I went back to our room to find something.

 

We had the "Top Tier Event" scheduled for 10:45 at the Aqua theater deck 6. This event was for Platinum and above only which included cocktails. We thought it wasn't very well attended but enjoyed. A few of the performers (divers & acrobatics) entertained us with a few of their tricks. I think after that we walked around as well.

 

Later we found a spot on the pool deck. Around 12:30 ish we decided wanted some lunch. Can't remember what my ds did but we went to the Dining Room. We all enjoyed our lunch. It was actually pretty busy but we lucked out with a table by the window. My dh and dd ordered off he menu and I had the tutti salad (?) and a cup of soup. My salad was delicious.

 

We returned to the pool deck and fell asleep on chairs....must have been bloody Mary's in AM and the wine at lunch. At some point my daughter went back to the cabin and had someone literally vomit in front of her by the elevators. I know TMI......but later that night she began vomitting in the cabin after AnnMarie made up our room in thePM. I immediately took the Lysol wipes and cleaned everywhere in her cabin and ours.

 

That same evening we had tickets for the later Oceanaria Aqua Show at 10:15. After some discussion, we attempted to for the standby for the earlier show. It wasn't meant to be so we walked around and had a few drinks until we were allowed to start sitting for our 10:15 show. My dd was in our cabin not feeling well so she missed the show.

 

The show was excellent and we were blown away. Again, RC's entertainment is a step up from Carnival. We decided to call it a night.

[nidaco]

Food....our thoughts

 

Windjammer: We only went there once after we returned from the beach on St. Maarten. The food was fine it was the crowds.....we did not return after that. I actually liked the Windjammer set up better on the LOS & FOS right off the pool deck. My dh and I would get our drinks at the Windjammer 's which was located at the front on the LOS & FOS. The bar also had fresh OJ which my dh LOVES!!! So not a fan of the Windjammer due to the crowds on the Allure.

 

Dining Room Lunch (Sea Days): We absolutely LOVED the dining room for lunch on Sea Days. I thought the menu selections, tutti salad, and the pasta bar (?) was excellent. Well, my dd thought the pasta bar was excellent. There were also some buffet items which we didn't try at all but looked pretty good. Of course, we sat, ate and had a drink as well. I would recommend the Dining Room for lunch. My ds really enjoyed his burger in the dining room.

 

Dining Room Dinner: Our experience was wonderful and most nights it was difficult to decide what we wanted. Most time items came out warm to very warm. What I do remember is my onion soup (every time I ordered) came out steaming! Each night of our cruise we ate dinner in the Grande dining room with our wonder servers Joe and Made. By the second night Made knew what we wanted to drink and was quickly brought to the table as we all sat down. Just wonderful service!!!

 

Dining Room Breakfast: Not our favorite. We much prefer Carnival's Dining Room Breakfast Menu much more (Sea Days & Port Days) All four of us agreed that Carnival has the better choices and actual food in the morning (both sea & port days). at the dining room. This is not a deal breaker just our opinion.

 

Solarium Bistro: We at there once for breakfast and I thought it was fine. It was buffet style for breakfast. Loved the atmosphere.

 

Wipeout Cafe: My family ate there at lunch time at some point, I can't remember. Nothing special. We also ate breakfast the third day when my dd still wasn't feeling good. It has a small selection of items but it does make omelets to order. Just an FYI

 

 

Since we did not eat the any of the fine dining restaurants (Chops, etc) I really can't comment. During the trip other passengers told us they had wonderful meals at the various fee restaurants.

 

Now what I am going to say may annoy some on these boards but we , especially my kids, think the lunch choices on Carnival are better and tastier. For example, there is the deli, burrito/taco bar, Guy's burgers, the pasta bar and on some ships the stir fry/wok selection. Sorry all the names have slipped my mind even though I have been on so many Carnival cruises. Both my children prefer the lunch choices on Carnival. Is this a deal breaker? No, again just our two cents.

 

Trust me.....between the eating and drinking we came home heavier.

 

Tomorrow to continue to Day 3. Ask questions and I will try to answer.

[nidaco]

Regarding food....

 

I really like Central Park Cafe. This ended up being our go to place for OJ & ice coffees. Plus, I liked the selections of sandwiches, the fresh salad, and the soups.

 

Nicole

[mom2tcdx2]

I will have to kind of agree so far with Carnival and their lunch options, I really do like their choices so much more. Was hoping to see quite a selection when we sail the Allure in October. Not that I have ever gone hungry on a cruise LOL.

[Ocean Cat]

Yes,Carnival Breeze has Indian food which I know I’m going to miss on my Allure cruise.

[nidaco]

Yes,Carnival Breeze has Indian food which I know I’m going to miss on my Allure cruise.

 

I did forget to mention the Indian food area which actually pretty tasty on Carnival. Thanks for the reminder.