Allure of the Seas Review."Manhattan of the Seas".Cruise it "ALIVE" & pics,menus,ETC.

[funtom]

Just back from the Allure - one of the best cruise ship afloat.

I call this ship Manhattan of the Seas.

A giant with its Pros and Cons.

 

Design: 5-

Cabins: 4

Dining: 4

Specialty Restaurants: 2

Entertainment: 5+

Ship's Condition: 5

Crew: 5

Value for money:

first time 4+

second time 3-

 

We had a great vacation (with some exceptions) on this spectacular ship.

Will we cruise on the Allure again?

Most likely not.

Will we recommend this ship?

Yes. It's a must see ship (one time).

Why?

 

Please click here to see our picture gallery of the Allure of the Seas with comments, menus, daily programs and video.

 

I have taken tons of pictures.

I am trying to focus on those of them that are not exact copies of what you have already seen.

This hard work takes time.

Our picture gallery will be uploaded step by step and updated.

Please stay tuned and come back from time to time.

Happy cruising!

 

Preview pictures:

 

 

 

[jeffinsa]

Thanks so much. This has given me the best idea of what my room will look like. I guess I was thinking the windows would be more inclined taking away more of the room but it doesn't look that bad. Looking at the picture of the front view....I am on the 4th row of windows and the first window to your left (looking straight at the front from the hellipad) cabin 10510.

 

I am looking forward to all tips and photos and if you happen to have more pics of the forward cabin rooms from the inside or anyone..please let me know or post.

 

Also, does anyone have any tips on excursions? I booked the St. John Shopping and Self Tour for 6.5 hours in St. Thomas, then a 3.5 hour submarine/boat tour and sightseeing in St. Maarten. I haven't done anything for Nassau as I didn't know if there was much time to do anything and don't want to be rushed. Actually, I was hoping to just self explore in Nassau and see if I can go to Atlantis and just walk around .....is it possible or do I need to sign up for an excursion to get there? I am first time cruise and never been to any of these places. How about the one's I signed up for ....anyone take any or heard any input?

[BrianAlt]

Curious about this...

 

Specialty Restaurants: 2

 

I haven't heard a bad thing about Allure/Oasis specialty restaurants until this. Sure, a few complaints here and there, but nothing to bring it down to a 2. Most have said, "Specialty Restaurants: GREAT! MDR: so-so." This is obviously different. Will you be writing up the specifics of your complaints?

[bajathree]

Curious about this...

 

 

 

I haven't heard a bad thing about Allure/Oasis specialty restaurants until this. Sure, a few complaints here and there, but nothing to bring it down to a 2. Most have said, "Specialty Restaurants: GREAT! MDR: so-so." This is obviously different. Will you be writing up the specifics of your complaints?

 

I was wondering the same:confused: as I dine exclusively in the specialties.

[Cruising89143]

I was wondering the same:confused: as I dine exclusively in the specialties.

 

Same here. Best places to dine on the ship IMHO. Much more quiet and much better food.:)

[AF-1]

We went to giovannai's table for dinner; this was the only specialty restaurant we ate in; food was great; desserts were great; our wait staff was just ok. we had an excellent wait staff in mdr; so we compared the two and mdr wait staff won; but Giovanni's won for food

[funtom]

Most have said, "Specialty Restaurants: GREAT! MDR: so-so." This is obviously different. Will you be writing up the specifics of your complaints?

 

Sure.

With pictures (being uploaded).

The issue with specialties is not too dramatic: specialties are optional and "included" dining on Allure is adequate.

[negrilbride]

For some reason, I can only see pictures of the outside of the ship when I follow your link. I don't see any of the other materials posted that you mentioned. I have tried both IE and Firefox. Any suggestions?

[funtom]

For some reason, I can only see pictures of the outside of the ship when I follow your link. I don't see any of the other materials posted that you mentioned. I have tried both IE and Firefox. Any suggestions?

 

Sorry.

I am working on other materials (uploading).

Design, cabins, dining, etc. will follow.

Thank you.

[bajathree]

Sure.

With pictures (being uploaded).

The issue with specialties is not too dramatic: specialties are optional and "included" dining on Allure is adequate.

 

Well then why only the 2 rating for specialties compared to the 4 rating for the MDR:confused:....does it have to do with they cost extra:confused:

[funtom]

"Included food" is sufficient on Allur. So it's not necessary to go to specialty restaurants.

That's why I say the ussue with specialty restaurants is not dramatic.

But if we go into...

Food is subjective.

The food in the most anticipated Samba Grill (2 out of 5) and the most expensive 150 Central Park (1 out of 5) happened to be almost inedible.

Chops was OK (4).

Looked at Giovanni's table. Did not find anything tempting for extra $$.

Never considered Rita's Cantina or Johnny Rockets.

More details in my picture gallery (working on that).

 

MDR 4 means 4 out of what you can expect from a mass market ship MDR.

Specialties 2 means 2 out of what you can expect from highly advertised extra charge restaurants (yes, on a mass market ship).

[funtom]

Past cruisers,

What is this for?

 

Do you remember?

 

 

[funtom]

Just added another 60 pictures of the Allur of the Seas to my gallery (junior suite, standard balcony, interior, overlooking the bow - with slanted windows).

Ehjoy!

[AF-1]

Just added another 60 pictures of the Allur of the Seas to my gallery (junior suite, standard balcony, interior, overlooking the bow - with slanted windows).

Ehjoy!

Wonderful pics; you took a lot of time putting this together; thank you.

[TheGenie]

Thanks! Very comprehensive coverage so far, and it is very nice to see your high resolution images and details. I appreciate the time you took to add your descriptions so we know what we're looking at. I'm looking forward to more!

 

Again, Thank you!

[bilyclub]

Past cruisers,

What is this for?

 

Do you remember?

 

 

 

 

 

It acts as a support for the fold out bridge/platform above the pub.

[funtom]

Thanks! Very comprehensive coverage so far, and it is very nice to see your high resolution images and details. I appreciate the time you took to add your descriptions so we know what we're looking at. I'm looking forward to more!

 

Again, Thank you!

 

 

You are welcome (to all)!

More to come.

[QTMichele]

Love your photos!

 

Did you go to Falmouth? If so, please report. Thanks!

[MInurse]

I was on the same cruise as the OP. A little different experience, but it's all about perception. As we embarked the ship we were awe struck! What more can you say? It was like fantasy island ship. A very gracious waiter from Chops offered to take a pic of me and my DF. I said "oh you're from Chops", and he said come eat here tonight as Chops will be very slow on day one and the MDR will be crazy. Well, I had made a res for Chops on the second formal night, so off to the MDR we went. Holy moly, it was chaos. I gave the person who took our drink order my sea pass and didn't see her again for a looong time. After 20 minutes or so, we flagged down the head waiter and he laughed and said that I should not worry, she has always returned with the wine and the sea pass. Well, I did not appreciate his laughter and I felt he did a very poor job. We had no bread, no water, no anything. The young girl did return with our wine and my sea pass. She also took our order and in due time our food arrived. We did have to ask for bread. I was very upset, I could see the wait staff hustling and could not help but remember the words of the young waiter from Chops warning me not to eat in the MDR on day one. I vowed to the head waiter to never eat in the MDR again. The food was so so. The onion tart was great, the prime rib was just okay. I told the head waiter the warning I had received not to eat in the MDR on day one, and I questioned him as to why the MDR staff was hustling if the Chops staff was slow. My management style is to pull the staff where the volume is. He knew how upset I was, although I did not blame the staff, I blamed the management for not utilizing the wait staff properly between dining venues.

I received 2 calls and apologies the next day. I was requested to give the MDR another try on the second formal night. They tried to bribe me with the lobster tail, however, it took a free bottle of wine to get me there again and of course my Chops ressie had to be moved.

The head waiter did a fine job with service recovery.We enjoyed the wine. . lobster was so so.The head of the specialty restaurants called me and explained that they do not share wait staff between the MDR and the specialty restaurants, although it made no sense to me, at least on the first night. So be prepared to wait and have more patience than I did ; or skip the first night in the MDR and go to Chops lol.:D

[AF-1]

I was on the same cruise as the OP. A little different experience, but it's all about perception. As we embarked the ship we were awe struck! What more can you say? It was like fantasy island ship. A very gracious waiter from Chops offered to take a pic of me and my DF. I said "oh you're from Chops", and he said come eat here tonight as Chops will be very slow on day one and the MDR will be crazy. Well, I had made a res for Chops on the second formal night, so off to the MDR we went. Holy moly, it was chaos. I gave the person who took our drink order my sea pass and didn't see her again for a looong time. After 20 minutes or so, we flagged down the head waiter and he laughed and said that I should not worry, she has always returned with the wine and the sea pass. Well, I did not appreciate his laughter and I felt he did a very poor job. We had no bread, no water, no anything. The young girl did return with our wine and my sea pass. She also took our order and in due time our food arrived. We did have to ask for bread. I was very upset, I could see the wait staff hustling and could not help but remember the words of the young waiter from Chops warning me not to eat in the MDR on day one. I vowed to the head waiter to never eat in the MDR again. The food was so so. The onion tart was great, the prime rib was just okay. I told the head waiter the warning I had received not to eat in the MDR on day one, and I questioned him as to why the MDR staff was hustling if the Chops staff was slow. My management style is to pull the staff where the volume is. He knew how upset I was, although I did not blame the staff, I blamed the management for not utilizing the wait staff properly between dining venues.

I received 2 calls and apologies the next day. I was requested to give the MDR another try on the second formal night. They tried to bribe me with the lobster tail, however, it took a free bottle of wine to get me there again and of course my Chops ressie had to be moved.

The head waiter did a fine job with service recovery.We enjoyed the wine. . lobster was so so.The head of the specialty restaurants called me and explained that they do not share wait staff between the MDR and the specialty restaurants, although it made no sense to me, at least on the first night. So be prepared to wait and have more patience than I did ; or skip the first night in the MDR and go to Chops lol.:D

I experienced the same thing in Jan. Day one MDR was out of control. Day two it came together. We ate in Giovanni's table on day three; I must say the food at Giovanni's was great; desserts were wonderful; but the wait staff in MDR was better than Giovanni's. Maybe our table lucked out; our two waiters were on top of their game.

[funtom]

Love your photos!

 

Did you go to Falmouth? If so, please report. Thanks!

 

No, I didn't.

[funtom]

It acts as a support for the fold out bridge/platform above the pub.

 

Bingo!

 

[jacksmom09]

We are really enjoying your great pics!:D

[funtom]

More Allure of the Seas photos are coming.

Started uploading Dining Section. MDR, menus, food...

More to come.