First time, Allure of the Seas

[apurvanataraj88]

Hey community,

 

My wife and I are going to be on Allure of the Seas on September 1st, 2019 to celebrate our wedding anniversary. This is going to be our first ever cruise. I have researched as much as I could, and I am still continuing with more information look up. I booked a Boardwalk Balcony room, 10329 which has a nice view of of the Sea, Boardwalk, and the Aqua Theater.

 

Our ports of call will be Labadee, Falmouth, and Cozumel. I booked a ParaSailing excursion in Labadee, and purchased a Classic Soda package (we are not big on alcohol) as well as a BOGO Specialty Dining package for the first 2 nights.

 

I could use any tips or advice from you all to help truly enhance my week on the Allure. Would like to gather as much information and knowledge as possible in the next 5 months.

 

Regards

[katiel53]

If you booked a Boardwalk balcony, it comes with a free classic soda package for 2 people, as well as a meal (not breakfast) for up to 4 people at Johnny Rockets and some rock climbing instruction.

 

When you get onboard it is best to make your reservations for the BOGO dining asap.  I have read just recently that it can no longer be used at Chops.  I don't know from personal experience because it is supposedly a recent change.

 

Allure is my favorite ships and have been on her 4 times so far with 2 more trips planned.  I'm sure you will get a lot of info on here.  Do a search for reviews and that will help.  There are also some reviews in the tab named Research.  They are usually shorter, but still have info.  Enjoy your cruise.

[Sherri914]

31 minutes ago, katiel53 said:

If you booked a Boardwalk balcony, it comes with a free classic soda package for 2 people, as well as a meal (not breakfast) for up to 4 people at Johnny Rockets and some rock climbing instruction.

 

 

Is this an ongoing, unadvertised perk?  I've just booked on Allure (boardwalk balcony) and there was no mention of a soda package, meal at Johnny Rockets or climbing instruction.  

[apurvanataraj88]

You are amazing. I called them up and got confirmation on this. You saved me 170US with this information. Thank you so much.

Edited March 14, 2019 by apurvanataraj88

[mattb31]

6 minutes ago, Sherri914 said:

 

Is this an ongoing, unadvertised perk?  I've just booked on Allure (boardwalk balcony) and there was no mention of a soda package, meal at Johnny Rockets or climbing instruction.  

 

http://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Oasis/16050978_EAT_DRINK_PLAY_Consumer_Boardwalk_Flyer.pdf

 

It's usually pretty well advertised when you book.

[apurvanataraj88]

I found a RC blog with some written details. Its a blog by Matt. I also called up one of RC's reps, and was told it is

• a Johnny Rockets meal for 4
• Classic soda package for 2
• exclusive Rock climbing for the family

Edited March 14, 2019 by apurvanataraj88

[taglovestocruise]

Be sure to pre book all your shows as soon as reservations open, and be sure to get into the showrooms 15 minutes prior to show time.  Try to make the Aqua Show reservation for early in the week as it is canceled in stormy weather . Skip Windjammer for embarkation day lunch and head to Central Park Cafe or Solarium Bistro.  You will probably find that no BOGO reservation were  pre assigned, go to any Specialty restaurant to make or change your reservations as soon as you board, there is a kiosk for reservations in the promenade but it may have a long line.. Seldom are you held to the first two nights on Oasis Class.  We have been on three different Oasis class ships and Allure is still our favorite.  Cabins are not opened until about 1:30 so no need to rush to get onboard.  Go to youtube and watch full ship tours. happy cruising

[Sherri914]

 
http://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Oasis/16050978_EAT_DRINK_PLAY_Consumer_Boardwalk_Flyer.pdf
 
It's usually pretty well advertised when you book.

Thanks! I’ll look into that. I booked with RCI over the phone and she never mentioned it. Good to know!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jordanaire]

1 hour ago, mattb31 said:

 

http://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Oasis/16050978_EAT_DRINK_PLAY_Consumer_Boardwalk_Flyer.pdf

 

It's usually pretty well advertised when you book.

 

Does this also include the Central Park balcony cabins?

[apurvanataraj88]

12 minutes ago, jordanaire said:

 

Does this also include the Central Park balcony cabins?

 

Here, this one has both Boardwalk, and Central Park cabins (scroll down):
https://media.tdc.travel/tdc_media/tmp/uploads/corporate/pdf/royal_caribbean_spt_2017/Dine_Drink_Discover_EN.pdf

 

Attached image is taken directly from http://www.royalcaribbeanincentives.com/ship/allure-of-the-seas/deck-plan/ which is RCL's official website.

Edited March 14, 2019 by apurvanataraj88

[dwayneb236]

We had Boardwalk cabin on Harmony. Some people have complained about possible noise issues. Was not a problem at all for us and we can be early to bed at times, We slept great. With balcony door and drapes closed, nothing heard for us.

We loved the Allure too.

Edited March 14, 2019 by dwayneb236

[zdad59]

Solarium Bistro for breakfast and lunch is great.   We sailed on Allure last month and never had to set foot in the Windjammer buffet.    You are on the opposite end of the ship though.    Johnny Rockets has a free breakfast every morning that’s good.   The Boardwalk Hot Dog Shop is tasty for lunch if you like that kind of fare.    

 

As as others have said, book your shows early.  Mama Mia is long (2 1/2 hours with an intermission) but it is VERY GOOD.    Ocean Aria, the water show and Blue Planet are also very good.  

 

The Solarium is a great place for adults to relax.   Lots of seating, both in sun and shade.  

 

There are several trip trip reports from Allure on the site, including mine.   Take the time to read them and you’ll be set for your trip.  

[apurvanataraj88]

11 minutes ago, zdad59 said:

Solarium Bistro for breakfast and lunch is great.   We sailed on Allure last month and never had to set foot in the Windjammer buffet.    You are on the opposite end of the ship though.    Johnny Rockets has a free breakfast every morning that’s good.   The Boardwalk Hot Dog Shop is tasty for lunch if you like that kind of fare.    

 

As as others have said, book your shows early.  Mama Mia is long (2 1/2 hours with an intermission) but it is VERY GOOD.    Ocean Aria, the water show and Blue Planet are also very good.  

 

The Solarium is a great place for adults to relax.   Lots of seating, both in sun and shade.  

 

There are several trip trip reports from Allure on the site, including mine.   Take the time to read them and you’ll be set for your trip.  

Hey thank you ZDad. I found your posts on this site. Will take a look.

[Paulette3028]

3 hours ago, apurvanataraj88 said:

Hey community,

 

My wife and I are going to be on Allure of the Seas on September 1st, 2019 to celebrate our wedding anniversary. This is going to be our first ever cruise. I have researched as much as I could, and I am still continuing with more information look up. I booked a Boardwalk Balcony room, 10329 which has a nice view of of the Sea, Boardwalk, and the Aqua Theater.

 

Our ports of call will be Labadee, Falmouth, and Cozumel. I booked a ParaSailing excursion in Labadee, and purchased a Classic Soda package (we are not big on alcohol) as well as a BOGO Specialty Dining package for the first 2 nights.

 

I could use any tips or advice from you all to help truly enhance my week on the Allure. Would like to gather as much information and knowledge as possible in the next 5 months.

 

Regards

You will have a great time....and if you booked a cabin with a view of the sea, Boardwalk and Aqua Theater that is the best!   We had a cabin like that on one of our Oasis class ships....it is fabulous.  What is even great to do, is NOT worry about seeing the Aqua show from the Aqua theater itself.  Bring on a bottle of wine and open it and watch the Aqua Show from your balcony....that is what we did....it was GREAT!

 

For anyone responding to this thread who has been on Allure recently, could you tell me who your Activity Manager was?  I keep a listing of Activity Managers on Cruise Critic and it takes cruisers letting me know who was the Activity Manager working as the assistant to the Cruise Director to keep it as current as possible.  Thanks in advance.

[Sherri914]

20 minutes ago, Paulette3028 said:

What is even great to do, is NOT worry about seeing the Aqua show from the Aqua theater itself.  Bring on a bottle of wine and open it and watch the Aqua Show from your balcony....that is what we did....it was GREAT!

 

On thing we learned on our first Oasis cruise was that if you do go to the Aqua Theater to watch the show, take something to wipe your seat down.  We all sat down in the seats and when we stood up, our shorts were covered in black ash/soot.  They told us it comes from the stacks on the ship.  The soot lands in the seats.     Next time we were on Oasis, we booked a boardwalk balcony and enjoyed the show from there! 

[dwayneb236]

forgor

30 minutes ago, Paulette3028 said:

You will have a great time....and if you booked a cabin with a view of the sea, Boardwalk and Aqua Theater that is the best!   We had a cabin like that on one of our Oasis class ships....it is fabulous.  What is even great to do, is NOT worry about seeing the Aqua show from the Aqua theater itself.  Bring on a bottle of wine and open it and watch the Aqua Show from your balcony....that is what we did....it was GREAT!

 

For anyone responding to this thread who has been on Allure recently, could you tell me who your Activity Manager was?  I keep a listing of Activity Managers on Cruise Critic and it takes cruisers letting me know who was the Activity Manager working as the assistant to the Cruise Director to keep it as current as possible.  Thanks in advance.

if I was home could tell ya. kept all my papers. was a very funny lady

 

Edited March 14, 2019 by dwayneb236

[apurvanataraj88]

1 minute ago, dwayneb236 said:

forgor

if I was home could tell ya. kept all my papers

 

 

Please do update us once you are able to. Any and all advice is going to help me (and others) alot.

[jean-lynd]

59 minutes ago, Paulette3028 said:

You will have a great time....and if you booked a cabin with a view of the sea, Boardwalk and Aqua Theater that is the best!   We had a cabin like that on one of our Oasis class ships....it is fabulous.  What is even great to do, is NOT worry about seeing the Aqua show from the Aqua theater itself.  Bring on a bottle of wine and open it and watch the Aqua Show from your balcony....that is what we did....it was GREAT!

 

For anyone responding to this thread who has been on Allure recently, could you tell me who your Activity Manager was?  I keep a listing of Activity Managers on Cruise Critic and it takes cruisers letting me know who was the Activity Manager working as the assistant to the Cruise Director to keep it as current as possible.  Thanks in advance.

Here name was Kim on our 2/17 sailing. Not sure if I ever heard her last name. I hope this helps!

[Paulette3028]

7 minutes ago, jean-lynd said:

Here name was Kim on our 2/17 sailing. Not sure if I ever heard her last name. I hope this helps!

Super Thanks, that is more recent info than I have had....so very much helps!

[Sstoehr12]

We were just on the Allure 2 weeks ago and it was amazing!   So many great things to do and see... definitely book seats at the shows when your booking window opens online.   We went to Mamma Mia the first night after sailing out of Miami and it was a great way to start the cruise... then the Oceanaria Aquatheatre show on night 2.   My husband and I never made it to comedy club because they were all booked up, but we did see all of the other shows.  We also loved walking through Central Park at night and stopping to listen to music, etc.  And hopped a ride or two on the Rising Tide bar just for the novelty of it.   My kids loved all of the activities including rock climbing, mini golf, wave rider and we all tried the zipline!   I had read on here about Central Park Cafe for lunch.  We went right there when we boarded the boat and pretty much every day after that for lunch.   We found the Wipeout Cafe up on the 15th deck back towards the basketball court was a great option for breakfast.  It had a nice buffet with everything you needed and then tables outside.  We really liked it on the days we were coming in to ports.  It was the perfect place to sit and watch the islands get closer and then docking.   i would be happy to answer any specific questions you can think of.

 

I just went back through my Cruise Compasses and don't see the Activity Manager listed.  There were two super bubbly ladies that led the shows, games and activities but I just can't remember their names....  

[apurvanataraj88]

1 minute ago, Sstoehr12 said:

We were just on the Allure 2 weeks ago and it was amazing!   So many great things to do and see... definitely book seats at the shows when your booking window opens online.   We went to Mamma Mia the first night after sailing out of Miami and it was a great way to start the cruise... then the Oceanaria Aquatheatre show on night 2.   My husband and I never made it to comedy club because they were all booked up, but we did see all of the other shows.  We also loved walking through Central Park at night and stopping to listen to music, etc.  And hopped a ride or two on the Rising Tide bar just for the novelty of it.   My kids loved all of the activities including rock climbing, mini golf, wave rider and we all tried the zipline!   I had read on here about Central Park Cafe for lunch.  We went right there when we boarded the boat and pretty much every day after that for lunch.   We found the Wipeout Cafe up on the 15th deck back towards the basketball court was a great option for breakfast.  It had a nice buffet with everything you needed and then tables outside.  We really liked it on the days we were coming in to ports.  It was the perfect place to sit and watch the islands get closer and then docking.   i would be happy to answer any specific questions you can think of.

 

I just went back through my Cruise Compasses and don't see the Activity Manager listed.  There were two super bubbly ladies that led the shows, games and activities but I just can't remember their names....  

 

It is so encouraging to see you had a great time. Makes me more impatient for my journey. I had some questions:

 

1. I have a BOGO Specialty dining package for 2 nights. I know a courtesy reservation will be made for the first night. When and where would I be able to see this, and maybe change the reservation to a restaurant of my choice?
2. There are still 170 days for my sailing. Will i be able to see a more enabled Cruise Planner once I am within the 90 day range?

3. My wife and I are both vegetarians. Will the Specialty dining restaurants be able to accommadate our restrictions?
    I emailed RCL and my invoice shows vegetarian under Special Services.

4. Will there be any kind of recognition of celebration of a special occasion? (we're going for our 2nd wedding anniversary)

 

That's all for now. May reach out again if something else pops up.

[jean-lynd]

We didn't eat at the Windjammer all week. We found great breakfasts at Johnny Rockets and the Solarium Bistro. We had most of our lunches at the Solarium Bistro. There are great touch screen directories near the elevators. If you touch on dining it will show you what venues are open and how busy they are. We used that every time before we headed to any venue for lunch or breakfast. I hope this helps!

[apurvanataraj88]

2 minutes ago, jean-lynd said:

We didn't eat at the Windjammer all week. We found great breakfasts at Johnny Rockets and the Solarium Bistro. We had most of our lunches at the Solarium Bistro. There are great touch screen directories near the elevators. If you touch on dining it will show you what venues are open and how busy they are. We used that every time before we headed to any venue for lunch or breakfast. I hope this helps!

Oh my god this is a fantastic tip. I haven't seen any other forum or blog talk about the directories. Thank you.

[jean-lynd]

2 minutes ago, apurvanataraj88 said:

 

It is so encouraging to see you had a great time. Makes me more impatient for my journey. I had some questions:

 

1. I have a BOGO Specialty dining package for 2 nights. I know a courtesy reservation will be made for the first night. When and where would I be able to see this, and maybe change the reservation to a restaurant of my choice?
2. There are still 170 days for my sailing. Will i be able to see a more enabled Cruise Planner once I am within the 90 day range?

3. My wife and I are both vegetarians. Will the Specialty dining restaurants be able to accommadate our restrictions?
    I emailed RCL and my invoice shows vegetarian under Special Services.

4. Will there be any kind of recognition of celebration of a special occasion? (we're going for our 2nd wedding anniversary)

 

That's all for now. May reach out again if something else pops up.

Things will show up piece by piece in the planner. Make sure you load the RCI APP before you go. The main dining menues were available in the App very early on. I hope this helps!

[Sstoehr12]

29 minutes ago, apurvanataraj88 said:

 

It is so encouraging to see you had a great time. Makes me more impatient for my journey. I had some questions:

 

1. I have a BOGO Specialty dining package for 2 nights. I know a courtesy reservation will be made for the first night. When and where would I be able to see this, and maybe change the reservation to a restaurant of my choice?
2. There are still 170 days for my sailing. Will i be able to see a more enabled Cruise Planner once I am within the 90 day range?

3. My wife and I are both vegetarians. Will the Specialty dining restaurants be able to accommadate our restrictions?
    I emailed RCL and my invoice shows vegetarian under Special Services.

4. Will there be any kind of recognition of celebration of a special occasion? (we're going for our 2nd wedding anniversary)

 

That's all for now. May reach out again if something else pops up.

We had our kids with us so the Solarium wasn't really an option for us... and we did use the digital screens to help navigate the boat.   They were pretty cool.... stop along the way as you see the periscopes sticking up out of the floor, each has a little treasure in it.  

 

 It does say that 90 days out everything will show up, but I found that it showed up earlier... so definitely check earlier.  I also watched for sales on excursions, etc.   If you booked something and you find the price is a better deal you can cancel and rebook at the lower price.   

 

We only did one specialty dining and that was the Brazilian Steak House.... obviously not your thing as a vegetarian, so I am not sure about the menus there, but as someone else mentioned the menus are posted on the app, etc.  Definitely download the app and start looking for things on there.  Unfortunately that was one issue we had.  My husband and I had both downloaded the app and on Allure you can use it to text each other while on the boat, but I could never get my phone to properly connect.  It was an issue with my phone though, not the app....   But then I couldn't see the things I had booked like shows and dinners, so I went to customer service and got a print out I could carry with me.  

 

I am not sure if they do any sort of special recognition of events...  we were travelling for my 40th birthday and our 15 year anniversary and I had mentioned that in response to a question I had while messaging with a representative through Facebook... that is how I found the answers to most of my questions... I would Facebook message them and had an answer within minutes...   anyway when we got in our room there were cupcakes and a bottle of champagne from the social media team welcoming us on board with a card.... it was such a nice way to kick of the trip.