My Week On The GREATEST Ship In The World! Allure OTS 10/30/11: A Pictorial Review!

[JP32]

Yeah I would have to agree with you about him and yes his name was Tony Tillman. He was ok, but if I wanted more singing I could have just gone to Boleros or some place else. Other than that the cruise was amazing. I actually tried the cupcakes. They were fine, but not to my liking. To me there was just too much icing.

Too much icing, no such thing:p You should see my family at birthday parties, everyone wants an end piece for more icing and we end up with a square of the cake left in the middle:D

[maritar]

Its in the casino, starboard side outer wall, just as you enter from the hallway that wraps around from Studio B. I don't know how well it will work, but I'm attaching a deck plan and I circled the area.

 

Thank you very much! Yes, I can see the area you circled. :)

 

They are not always easy to find, but many ships have these little gifts that the ship yards place on board. They are like a little signature by the workers.

 

I have seen couple of those and always like to take pictures of them.

 

Thanks again for a great pictures and the review. Can't wait to sail with the Allure in Dec. and see everything in person.

[DarthGrady]

Sorry, almost forgot the Diamond Club:

 

Lastly on Deck 6, but certainly not least, is the Diamond Club. It is a private lounge for Diamond, Diamond Plus and Pinnacle members of the Crown and Anchor Society. The lounge is located directly above Boleros, and has it’s own balcony overlooking the Promenade. The lounge is very nice, as is the balcony seating. It has coffee and teas available at all hours, and they also serve a continental breakfast in the mornings. The Diamond event was held in Jazz on 4 each night, which I found to be a bit odd. The actual Diamond Club seemed like it would be plenty large enough to handle the crowds we saw in the Jazz club each evening.

 

 

 

The patio area

 

 

Inside the lounge

 

[kellyclayt]

Darn! I am getting a "Bandwidth Exceeded" message on your photobucket account, so I can't see your pictures. I was really looking forward to seeing them:(

Edited November 11, 2011 by kellyclayt

[DarthGrady]

Central Park:

 

Nestled in the very heart of the ship is its crown jewel, Central Park. Royal Caribbean could have just built The Boardwalk and hit a home run. With Central Park, they knocked it out of the park and into the next town. The first step into Central Park is nothing short of breathtaking. Living trees, shrubs, grasses and vines growing all around greet you warmly. The sweeping glass canopies look more like sculptures than functional skylights and overhangs. There are two areas in the middle of Central Park that don’t have balconies. These areas are instead covered with ferns, vines and flowers that create a living wall. Bird sounds plays softly over hidden speakers, and a few real ones have even taken up residence. There are benches and seats tucked away all over, allowing visitors to sit and relax while in the park. The planning and execution of the park are stunning, and one forgets they are even on a cruise ship while spending time there.

 

Along with the experience of the park, visiting guests also have many dining, shopping and beverage options. There is a Coach store, along with a Britto art gallery in the park. “Vintages” is the ship’s wine bar. It has great lounge and couch seating that seems more like a living room than a bar. I’m not a wine drinker, but it looked like they had a very large selection. “The Trellis Bar” is an open-air pub located close to the middle of the park. “Chops” steakhouse is located in the park, as is “150 Central Park” which is the ships high-end supper club. “Giovanni’s Table” is a family style Italian restaurant. Cover charges apply to all, and all have patio seating.

 

My favorite place in Central Park is the Park Café. It is a free restaurant that serves sandwiches, wraps, soups and salads. They have a very good roast beef sandwich that I had several times. In the mornings they serve great breakfast sandwiches, the ham egg and cheese English muffin was my favorite. They also have a really nice “build your own bagel” station. My only complaint about Park Café is that it should have been bigger. After the first day, most folks figure out how bad The Windjammer is (more on that later). Park Café then gets very crowded, even with its’ outside seating. Some folks even had to sit at the patio tables of Giovanni’s Table.

[riclop]

Central Park:

 

Nestled in the very heart of the ship is its crown jewel, Central Park. Royal Caribbean could have just built The Boardwalk and hit a home run. With Central Park, they knocked it out of the park and into the next town. The first step into Central Park is nothing short of breathtaking. Living trees, shrubs, grasses and vines growing all around greet you warmly. The sweeping glass canopies look more like sculptures than functional skylights and overhangs. There are two areas in the middle of Central Park that don’t have balconies. These areas are instead covered with ferns, vines and flowers that create a living wall. Bird sounds plays softly over hidden speakers, and a few real ones have even taken up residence. There are benches and seats tucked away all over, allowing visitors to sit and relax while in the park. The planning and execution of the park are stunning, and one forgets they are even on a cruise ship while spending time there.

 

Along with the experience of the park, visiting guests also have many dining, shopping and beverage options. There is a Coach store, along with a Britto art gallery in the park. “Vintages” is the ship’s wine bar. It has great lounge and couch seating that seems more like a living room than a bar. I’m not a wine drinker, but it looked like they had a very large selection. “The Trellis Bar” is an open-air pub located close to the middle of the park. “Chops” steakhouse is located in the park, as is “150 Central Park” which is the ships high-end supper club. “Giovanni’s Table” is a family style Italian restaurant. Cover charges apply to all, and all have patio seating.

 

My favorite place in Central Park is the Park Café. It is a free restaurant that serves sandwiches, wraps, soups and salads. They have a very good roast beef sandwich that I had several times. In the mornings they serve great breakfast sandwiches, the ham egg and cheese English muffin was my favorite. They also have a really nice “build your own bagel” station. My only complaint about Park Café is that it should have been bigger. After the first day, most folks figure out how bad The Windjammer is (more on that later). Park Café then gets very crowded, even with its’ outside seating. Some folks even had to sit at the patio tables of Giovanni’s Table.

I have read many reviews on CC on the oasis and allure among others and simply put your reviews are the best !!!! thanks for taking the time.

[DarthGrady]

Darn! I am getting a "Bandwidth Exceeded" message on your photobucket account, so I can't see your pictures. I was really looking forward to seeing them:(

 

I noticed that about the same time you did. Serves me right for not looking before I leaped. I usually use Walgreens.com to host my images for these reviews. I decided to try Photobucket this time since their controls are so much easier. I didn't realize they capped the number of views for each image. I should have done more research! :o

 

Anyway, I went ahead and upgraded to the Pro account so you all can still see the images. Let me know if there are any more problems.

[jpcruiseguy]

Suddenly tonight I cannot see your pictures anymore.....just getting a photobucket mesage stating the bandwidth is too much to view pic. What can I do to view them again??

Edited November 11, 2011 by jpcruiseguy

[MrFunInTheSun]

Another Grady the great review!! Wahoo!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk. Please excuse typographical errors.

[DarthGrady]

Suddenly tonight I cannot see your pictures anymore.....just getting a photobucket mesage stating the bandwidth is too much to view pic. What can I do to view them again??

 

They should be refreshed now, the upgraded membership took a few minutes to go through.

[DarthGrady]

OK, back to the photos:

 

Central Park

 

 

 

 

 

[DarthGrady]

Britto

 

 

Giovannis Table

 

 

 

[DarthGrady]

 

 

Park Cafe

 

 

 

[DarthGrady]

 

 

 

 

 

[DarthGrady]

150 Central Park

 

 

 

 

[DarthGrady]

 

Chops

 

 

 

Chops outdoor seating

 

Umbrellas, in case it rains

[DarthGrady]

Hand washing station

 

 

 

[DarthGrady]

 

 

 

 

A couple of the resident birds

 

 

[LTyler]

Beautiful pictures thanks for helping me relive one of my most favorite ships!!! :):)

[DarthGrady]

I think that pretty well wraps up Central Park. I need to finish writing about the upper decks, so that will have to wait until tomorrow. After that it will be on to the actual cruise! I can't believe this thing is already like 8 pages long and I haven't even gotten to us leaving port yet!

[kellyclayt]

Yay! These are awesome pictures. They are really making me excited for my cruise. Thanks!

They should be refreshed now, the upgraded membership took a few minutes to go through.

[BillOh]

Its in the casino, starboard side outer wall, just as you enter from the hallway that wraps around from Studio B. I don't know how well it will work, but I'm attaching a deck plan and I circled the area.

 

They are not always easy to find, but many ships have these little gifts that the ship yards place on board. They are like a little signature by the workers.

 

I totally missed this one, or my memory is fading. I did see the one that is on deck 14 in front of the ship.

[BillOh]

 

 

Wow, You've done it to me again. This very table (table for 2 in the center) is where my wife and I had dinner on May 2nd, 2011, our 30th anniversary. This has to be the most complete pic review I've seen.

Edited November 11, 2011 by BillOh

[Eng23]

Hello Grady. I am enjoying your review, I cruise Allure next year and I am really looking forward to it. Just a quick question, in the Schooner Bar were there windows that look outside of the ship? On the deck layout maps it does not appear that there would be windows. In one of your pictures it looked like there may have been some windows. Looking forward to the rest of your review and a heads up about the Schooner Bar. Thanks, Harold. :D

[will773]

Can't wait for the "actual cruise" part!!!! :D