Tltay

More random pics.

Here are just some random photos from around the ship. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Again, we did not spend anytime in the pools, but here are some photos. One pool stayed open until 11pm and one hot tub was open (as far as we could tell) all night. The other pools and hot tubs closed at different time ranging from 7pm to 9pm.

One thing that I really loved about this ship and think all ships should have them (hint hint DCL) is the information boards by the elevators on each floor. The touch screen interactive one was really neat and I love the one right next to the elevators that list everything on that floor. Also the elevators and shafts themselves were gorgeous.

We are not big drinkers, so we did not spend a lot of time in the bar or lounges unless we were there for bingo, trivia, karaoke or another event. There are plenty of them around the ship for those that do like to hang out and have a drink or two. Husband drinks beer and they ran around $8.50 (with the included 18% tip) and I like a fruity drink, so I stuck to Pina Coladas and other frozen fruity drinks which ran about $11 (with included 18% tip).

Some more about some of the activities we did on the ship. We love trivia, so went went to as many as we could. The staff was a lot of fun and we met a lot of other cruisers this way. We tried one scavenger hunt, but that was just too much for us, lol. You only got 15 minutes to run around the ship and collect the items, and those that have sailed on an Oasis class ship now how huge the are. We also did Bingo once. We loved to play on the Dream and often played more that once as they made it a lot of fun, almost like a mini show, but on the Allure it was just Bingo, with a little humor thrown in. We also went to a few of the karaoke sessions, family and adult, that was a lot of fun. The live band that plays in Dazzles was amazing, I think Centerpiece was their name.

We went to all the show except Mama Mia. The adult comedy show was great. We enjoyed the two ice shows and the aqua show. Blue Planet was ok, I just think we were expecting more of a Cirque type show and it was more singing than anything else. All the venues had comfortable seating (for the aqua show get there early to get a chair vs the hard bench). For a lot of the shows they were selling popcorn and drinks outside the venues, but we always went to one of the included/free places and grabbed a snack and drink to take with us.

We live in Florida, so we get plenty of sun and swim time, so we did not spend hardly anytime sunning or swimming. We did spend one port morning in the hot tubs since our excursion was not until after lunch. That was nice, had the whole tub to ourselves and it was one that overlooked the side of the ship so we could watch people roaming the pier and shore. We loved to walk around the track on Deck 5, not for the exercise but for the amazing views.

We never got around to trying the rock climbing wall, carousel or the flow rider, but we did go ice skating. If you go ice skating you have to wear long pants and make sure you have socks. We also had fun looking for all the "small wonders" around the ship. We spent a little time in the casino, just playing slots, and honestly the non smoking side was not bad at all. Played mini golf once, the course is pretty basic with no hard obstacles, just tread carefully as there are a lot of dents under the carpet you can see and it would be easy for one to trip. Table tennis was also fun, tables a little warped but what can you expect as they are exposed to moist salter air all day. On one of the sea days they had a family carnival out on the boardwalk with free cotton candy, hard ice cream and popcorn.

There are so many activities I recommend bringing a highlighter and marking the things you want to do each day.

More dining venues.

Here are a few pictures from some of the food service areas around the ship. We tried to eat at every venue at least once. In my opinion, the only place that really didn't have anything satisfying to eat was the Promenade. The only thing there that was worth eating were the cookies, but it was a great place to grab a cup of coffee. They offered a variety of sandwiches, but they were 95% bread and 5% filling. Oh yeah, the donuts from the Boardwalk were horrible. Everywhere else we ate the food was decent to good to very good. Only one thing stands out as being great and that was the chocolate souffle from the MDR, it was wonderful. We ate dinner 4 nights in the MDR (American Icon, our service team was great) and three nights in the WJ. I didn't take food pictures, sorry. The Solarium, Wipe Out Care and the Park Cafe had ice machines and the water, tea and lemonade available. At the other self service places they had water and tea but no ice. They usually had hard dipped ice cream and toppings each night in the WJ until 9pm. Soft serve yogurt was available on the pool deck (tucked away on the side of the bar) and in the Wipe Out. The WO was only open till 6pm and the stand by the bar was usually closed by 8pm, so if you want a late night ice cream cone, you are out of luck.

Here are some photos from St Maarten and Saint Martin. I didn't take a lot of photos since the island is still has a lot of damage and the landscape was devastated in some parts. There were people who were still living in tents in the city and boats were decaying on the shores. So sad.

Another area that I see that RCL needs some help with is excursion organization (unless our experience was unique to this cruise). We booked two through them and both times the meeting place was off ship. One (St Maarten) was on the dock, that wasn't too bad, but the second was off the dock and on the sidewalk (San Juan). This was quite chaotic as there were numerous excursion groups trying to find their guide along with the locals trying to sell their own tours. Disney idea of having a meeting place on ship and exiting together is much better. We did the bus tour in St Maarten that takes you to both sides of the Island and the ATV tour in San Juan. the port area of St Maarten has all been rebuild and was really nice. The bus tour would of been good except there was still so much hurricane damage in St Maarten and Saint Martin, that it was quite depressing. At San Juan we had about an hour to walk around the area before our excursion. The area around the port is very nice and it was a short walk to a Fort. On the bus ride to the ranch we got to travel through down town San Juan, there is still minor damage, but not much. And boy do they love their graffiti. There is also a Walgreens and CVS right at the port if you need to restock on any needed items. The ATV excursion was a lot of fun, it was on a working Paso Fino horse ranch, we really enjoyed that one. Here are some photos of Jan Juan, will post St Maarten in the next post.

Few more pictures from Labadee.

Here is a little bit about Labadee. It was beautiful and we did find a shady spot in Columbus Cove. The only bad thing (and I am surprised RCL does not have more control) were the local vendors they allow on the property that you have to pass to get there. They were just a pushy as those on Nassau. We could of waited for the tram, which would of made it easier when passing them, but we decided to walk. Again, just a firm "no thank you" and keep walking. We did not take the water taxi because two in our party were doing the zip line first thing (which they loved) so we went to Adrenaline beach first. While they did that, I did swim a little and the water near the shore way at the end was sandy and nice. I noticed a lot more rocks and grass closer to front (nearest the ship) beach area. I asked about an umbrella, as there was hardly any shade and was told they didn't have any (?) not sure if that was the case or he just didn't want to get me one, I was willing to pay for one if they were available. We did the jet ski/wave runner excursion, that was a lot of fun. Neat to see other parts of the island that you couldn't see from the beach or ship. The only disappointment for me, and again just a personal thing, is that I was hoping to be able to snorkel and see some fish. Honestly there is nothing to see in the waters, but they were nice for swimming. Also, the food was not that great, but that was ok, there was plenty on the ship when we returned.

Here are some pictures, sorry they are fuzzy, but it was actual the haze in the air. The captain said it was actually sand blown from the coast of Africa!

Nice comparison. Hard to compare because of the huge difference in size of the ships, but I think you were fair.

 

Personally really enjoy the ice show and aqua show on RC.

 

My daughter and family are huge Disney fans and cruise with them frequently, but have also cruised the Oasis.

 

A couple of comments. It seems as if some of your "negatives" were actually more the fault of parents/passengers rather than RC. When accompanied by their parents/guardians, there is no curfew for kids; otherwise there is usually a curfew, normally around 1:00 p.m. The fact that there were kids in bars/shows is a parenting decision. Pretty sure they are allowed in bars/shows on Disney, but shows are perhaps not as adult.

 

Would be interested in knowing how your price compared. I usually find Disney to be so much more expensive than RC.

On Disney (at least on the Dream) kids were only allowed in the bar/lounges until 8pm.

How do I get my photos to show in the post and not as a link? This is my first time posting photos.

Here are some pictures of our room, 9190. A lot of people always ask about storage and electrical outlets. I tried to take pictures of all the storage areas with the doors open so you can see inside. We moved the small table that was in front of the sofa over to the side between the sofa and closet to give us more walking space. There is a small trash can under the table. There were also two small end tables on each side of the bed that had two shelves. There were three outlets on top of the desk and one or two below the desk. The shower was hard to photograph, but there is a bar about a foot off the floor to help with shaving and a corner basket to hold shampoo, conditioner, etc. There were also two hooks near the top of the shower and three or four hooks on the back of the door. Under the sink there was an additional trash can and two shelves. The bathroom also has an automatic night light which was really nice. Did not have to use the one we brought.

You have to keep the balcony door closed and the handle in the locked/down position or the A/C will not work. It will still run, just not blow cold air.

There is a small fridge in the cabinet next to the three drawers. It was cold enough to bring room temp bottle water to cool and keep it that way. There is a hair dryer in the top drawer, it worked but it's highest setting is what I would consider "warm/med" so if you have long thick hair, be prepared for it to take a while to get it dry.

We just got back from the Eastern Caribbean sailing on the Allure. We had only sailed with DCL on the Dream, so we went in with a very open mind and we were not disappointed. Was is Disney, no, but we knew that going in and had a great time.

Yes, there are a lot of things that RCL could learn from DCL, but there were also a couple of things that we actually liked better and wished the Disney ships had.

For one thing, loved the interactive information boards on each floor by the elevators. Also loved that room service called before delivery.

Many more pools and hot tubs on the Allure and one pool stayed open till 11pm and two hot tubs were open 24 hours.

There were many more venues for included food and beverages and they were located on different floors which made it nice on such a big ship.

There were many things that were about the same as on the Dream, such as the rooms. We had a standard balcony room and it was about the same size as the standard balcony room on the Dream. There were not two bathrooms, and I think that is where the extra square footage on the Dream comes from. There was plenty of storage space, including under the bed. The balcony was much larger than those on the Dream, but the shower much smaller, that is one thing I did miss from the Dream's rooms.

Another thing that was very similar was the staff. All that we met were very friendly and helpful. They always greeted us with a smile and never seemed put out if we asked for something.

The ship itself was very clean and well maintained.

Food, I personally never had anything I did not like, but some in our party (there were 6 adults) had a few items they didn't. We did not do any upcharge restaurants, only the MDR and ate at least once from all the other included food places.

Now for the things that Disney does better and RCL needs some help with.

Kids, they were everywhere, including where they shouldn't be. They only have one adult only area, the Solarium which included a pool, two hot tubs and a buffet, and that is 16 and up, not 18 like Disney. There were never kids in the pool or hot tubs, but they were in the buffet area and on the deck around the pool and spas. They were also in every bar/lounge area at all hours. I was shocked at how many parents brought their kids to adult themed shows and games. Some of the games were very adult themed and the staff warned the parents, but never asked them to take the kids out. Had issues with kids running up and down halls and even playing hide and seek in the public bathrooms.

Shows, hands down Disney's are better. The only show we enjoyed better, and that is because DCL does not offer them, was the comedy shows. They were very good.

This may sound petty, but I missed having towel animals every day, I just think it was nice to come back to your room to a little surprise. On Allure, we got them three nights out of seven.

Personal touches, now this may be because the Allure was so large, but on the Dream you seemed to know who the Captain and Cruise Director were from the start. They always came out after the shows and interacted with the crowd. On the Allure, I don't think I ever saw the captain or even knew his name.

Ice cream stations, yes I am a middle aged adult, but still love ice cream and on the Allure they never seemed open long enough.

Will post some more details and some picture in the next post.

On a recent Disney cruise out of Port Canaveral, husband had a small pocket knife (was attached to a money clip, really didn't even think about it) that was confiscated at security check in. No big deal, what was amazing was the stuff we saw when we went to claim it upon leaving the port at the end of the cruise. A full size machete, multiple large hunting knives, a crock pot, a hot plate, blender and too many irons to count.

It'll fit fine with their floating lounges, pool noodles and cooler :'):')...

 

Sorry OP couldn't help myself...needed a laugh after a bit of a stress this week.

No problem, totally understand. We live in Florida and make fun of the tourist all the time. Cracks me up what some people bring to the beach or theme parks.

I was just there last week. There is plenty of shade under the trees.

In the pictures, looks like Nellies beach and Columbus cove have shade from trees, but we were looking at Adrenaline beach (better snorkeling) and it doesn't look like there is much natural shade there.

You are seriously considering hauling a beach-sized umbrella in your luggage????

LOL, no, I was planning on just a small expandable rain umbrella and a clamp and attach to my chair.

First time with RCL, so first time to Labadee. In looking at photos, I see clamshells but no umbrellas. Do they have them? If not, can you bring your own. The clamshells are nice, but know they can also block any breeze, so we would much rather use an umbrella for shade. Thanks in advance for any help.

So glad I read this as we too cancelled a Disney cruise and booked one on the Allure. We have only sailed Disney in the past, and was so afraid of being disappointed. Great review, thanks for sharing.

We have done many 3 & 4 nights with DCL on thier bigger ships and as long as you go into it knowing you can and will not be able to do everything you will have a great time. Do some research ahead of time and decide what you want to do and you will not be disappointed. Also, get on board as early as possible, that will give you extra time to explore and learn your way around.

We picked up the “Tips to Save You Time”, and the list of places open to eat on boarding day. Just don’t wear a yellow shirt on boarding day.

 

 

For this cruise, in addition to the $350 OBC that was available to book things pre-cruise, we also had another $200, plus a spa treatment from the TA. First thing on the ship we get signed up for the VOOM one device package, then head to the Port Merchant Alcohol display.

 

Last cruise, DW sampled some Baileys Salted Carmel and took some home with us. She wanted to make sure she could get a couple bottles to take home after this cruise. The boarding day special was two 1-Litre bottles for $40. It would not be this cheap on the ship again, and it was more expensive in both Jamaica and Cozumel. So we are 20 feet inside the ship, and already we have lightened the OBC by $150.

 

More papers from boarding day.

 

 

 

 

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On your tip card it states luggage delivery at 8pm. Is that correct? First time with RCL so I want to be prepared and pack dinner clothes in my carry on if this is the case. Thanks.

I had the same dilemma for our upcoming cruise until I saw the meeting times. The Carabali one was at 7am vs 8:30am for Camp Rico. We chose the later one. May want to look at that for your cruise if having a little more time in the morning matters to you and your family.