Quick Review of Allure 3-11 to 3-18

[ginak1112]

Just back from the Allure Western itinerary. We are Diamond members traveling with our 18 year old daughter and another family with a 17 year old.

 

Embarkation was the easiest I have ever seen! The ship is huge and beautiful. We all had Central Park Balcony rooms. The cabins were very nice and almost identical to Celebrity's Solstice class. They even copied the bathrooms. My only complaint was the closet which had sliding doors; hangers would get jammed and the doors would not be able to open. Not a big deal though. Lots of storage space everywhere.

 

There are so many things to do on this ship and we didn't make a dent even with our 3 sea days. You could stay busy 24/7! You don't really feel the amount of people because there are so many common areas. Deck chairs were incredibly easy to find. I was shocked!

 

We saw all of the shows with the exception of the ice show. We had reservations but just never made it. Chicago was excellent as was the Aqua show and Blue Planet. Comedy was good and Headliner okay. It was the Texas Tenors from Americas got Talent. I had pre booked all of the shows ahead of time and coordinated them with our dinner times. It is fairly easy to get into them if you are not prebooked as there is a standby line at the door.

 

There are many, many food choices. I prebooked Chops Grill and 150 Central Park. I had learned of a tip here on CC about a first nite special at Samba Grill and took advantage of that. It is not really advertised but when you get on the boat you can book the first or second night for half price. It is a fantastic deal at only $12.50 pp. We booked 8:00 and there were only 2 other tables with diners. Needless to say, we had excellent service. There is a Samba dancer who changes costumes and comes to teach you to dance. Food was good. Chops Grill was the usual and 150 CP was an interesting experience. There is a set menu where you get several portions of small plates. The menu changes on day 4 in case you don't like the first one or want to dine there again. I ate breakfast every morning at the CP cafe. They have a bagel station or breakfast sandwich that is good. It is never crowded there and a great choice. I ate lunch either there or the Solarium bistro for a healthy choice. The CP cafe has that great roast beef sandwich or a chopped salad that they custom make for you. I never even saw the Windjammer on this cruise. My daughter said that it was terrible, crowded and nowhere to sit. We ate at Johnny Rockets one day for lunch and it was the usual. My daughter ate at Ritas and the Wipeout cafe and enjoyed both. The dining room dinners were fair. Appetizers were good and the main courses were ok. Meats were terrible and dry. I usually eat fish but the few that I ordered were mysterious to me, almost like a tilapia with a strange texture. Yuck. I had a good pasta one night, a stuffed shell. The lobster tail was good. Desserts were not great and few choices. The promenade cafe was very good with great small sandwiches.

 

Ports: Labadee was nice and we have been there several times before. This time we rented a cabana and that was a very nice change. We really made the most of our day because we had this nice spot to go back and get out of the sun. It was a hilltop location with a beautiful view. The lunch is very nice with seafood skewers, steaks, etc. and is only available in this area for cabana guests. Falmouth does not have much to do so I would recommend a tour. We did a rafting excursion with Bracco Adventures. They picked us up and it was a 20 minute drive. Very nice. We shopped a bit back at the pier. Cozumel took us to Senor Frogs so my daughter could have some spring break fun. We ate and drank! Shopped a little of course.

 

Never made it to the Diamond lounge. We were with others who were not Diamond so we didn't want to ditch them. I did see that they were holding their nightly cocktail time in Blaze disco due to the amount of Diamond members. Next time!

 

Internet was pretty slow and out a lot. Very hard to access from the cabin on my Ipad.

 

My only negative comment will be that if you are looking for an old school, traditional type of cruise, this boat is not for you. I felt myself spending too much time in the huge 2 story promenade or central park. There is no view whatsoever of the ocean from these places. You don't even know you are on a ship. There are no windows from these common areas because you are in the intererior of the boat. There are no windows in restaurants which I really missed and it is hard to see the ocean from the lounge chairs on deck. If I went again, I would get a real balcony to enjoy the ocean view a little more.

 

All in all, it was a great, relaxing week!

[will773]

Glad to hear you had a great trip! Don't you love the Allure! :D

[sdrocks]

We have this booked for October & I cannot wait. Was on Oasis in March,2011 so know what to expect.

As others have posted, never had a bad cruise. ;):)

The more the merrier for me.

Counting down to retirement in next 18 - 24 mos then lookout !! :D

[tennisstar28]

Is room service free on the Allure, we will be on it in September. I heard that if you order from midnight to 5 am. It costs an additional $2.95 for each entree? Do you know if this is true. I want to use it but not pay anything additional for it.

 

Thanks

[gelo7]

Good that you had a good cruise.

[ginak1112]

Is room service free on the Allure, we will be on it in September. I heard that if you order from midnight to 5 am. It costs an additional $2.95 for each entree? Do you know if this is true. I want to use it but not pay anything additional for it.

 

Thanks

 

Room service was free up until midnight and then a charge until 5am. It might have been 3.95 more or less. I never ordered it.

[vettecruiser1]

Does the Oasis have a special at one of its resturants the first 2 nights for 1/2 price?

[mgoblue19]

Room service was free up until midnight and then a charge until 5am. It might have been 3.95 more or less. I never ordered it.

 

Recommend tipping a few bucks when they deliver as well, but otherwise free until midnight.

 

I used it last summer on my Allure cruise and it was good to get a late night desert, personal pizza (when I didn't want to go to Sorrento's), or a good order of fries while watching tv.

 

Nothing spectacular food wise, but tasty and good comfort food for me I guess. I liked having the option that late at night.

[cruisemama1]

Thanks for your review. Is the Samba half price nights 1 and 2 for only those who have prepaid tips?

[ginak1112]

Thanks for your review. Is the Samba half price nights 1 and 2 for only those who have prepaid tips?

 

I'm not sure. I had my time dining with prepaid gratuities but I don't know if that mattered. I called from my cabin to inquire about the special but that wasn't mentioned. I never saw this advertised anywhere but when I asked about it they confirmed that they did indeed offer this special.

[ginak1112]

Does the Oasis have a special at one of its resturants the first 2 nights for 1/2 price?

 

I'm not familiar with the Oasis but do know that they do not have a Samba grill. I have seen the Solarium bistro mentioned which, on the Allure, doubles as the Samba grill at night.

[Valerie]

Glad you had a great cruise. Will be on her in August. Thanks for the tip about Samba. BTW, did the have a theme night...white night?

[hollon]

Can you pay for one night at samba grill or do I have to pay for two? Also is day two formal or casual?

[ginak1112]

Glad you had a great cruise. Will be on her in August. Thanks for the tip about Samba. BTW, did the have a theme night...white night?

 

There was a black and white late night dance party one of the nights.

[ginak1112]

Can you pay for one night at samba grill or do I have to pay for two? Also is day two formal or casual?

 

We only went on the first night and that was half price. On our cruise, day 2 was formal but I know that it can vary from week to week and is at their discretion.

[tctriv]

I reserved a cabana on Labadee for our April Cruise, thought it might be a nice change since we have been there a million times since early 90's, but could only get a hilltop. I was concerned about the distance to the beach/ocean. Is it a long walk/climb from the cabana to beach? Also, is the attendant around enough, there will be 5 adults? Did the cabana have electricity? We wanted to plug in an MP3 player with small speakers. Thanks for the info.

[Cthy651]

Happy to hear you had a great time, will be sailing on the Allure on May 6 - any idea who the cruise director will be, and also who was your headliner.

 

Thanks

[Cruising89143]

Just back from the Allure Western itinerary. We are Diamond members traveling with our 18 year old daughter and another family with a 17 year old.

 

 

Thanks for your review. This is my favorite ship of all time. She is a different experience but I love Central Park in the evening. It's so nice to have dinner in either Giovanni's or Chops while sitting on the patio.

[dory123]

There wasn't much of a distance to the beach from the cabana, it's really just the hillside of the cove, not up too high. There is a cabin attendant assigned to your cabana (they may actually take care of a few cabanas) and we never had any issue getting anything we needed. I don't recall electricity specifically, but there was a ceiling fan so there may be a plug somewhere.

[tctriv]

There wasn't much of a distance to the beach from the cabana, it's really just the hillside of the cove, not up too high. There is a cabin attendant assigned to your cabana (they may actually take care of a few cabanas) and we never had any issue getting anything we needed. I don't recall electricity specifically, but there was a ceiling fan so there may be a plug somewhere.

 

 

Thank you for the information!