Allure of the Seas-Sept. 30, 2012 My Experience

[swwake]

Ok, first. I don't think I ever put 2 and 2 together. Did I tell you I was born in Portsmouth, VA? Maybe I did one night on the cruise, but the alcohol fogs my memory.

 

So, from getting dropped off to being checked in took all of 15 minutes. Once check in was complete I headed upstairs to the waiting lounge area.

This is a very large area that is separated into areas for suite guests, VIP C&A status folks, folks with kids as there is a play area for them, and an area for all other passengers. I was in my assigned waiting area and while there spotted the first of quite a few of my CC Roll Call mates. The first 2 were Susan (Swakke) and Chris whom probably thought I was a crazy maniac :eek: calling their names and stumbling across the Suite guest waiting area. While standing and chatting with Susan and Chris another gentleman sitting nearby and witnessed my stumbling act asked if we were from the roll call to which the answer was yes. The gentleman was another of our roll call mates his name was Tony (AFSouth). We chatted some more and then proceeded to wait it out to board. I think things were just a little behind schedule as 11:30am came and went and we were still waiting to board. Next thing you know here come the folks that were doing back to back cruises. They were escorted from customs back to the boarding area to reboard. This is when I saw 2 more of my roll call mates, Al & Jan whom I had met previously on the Freedom of the Seas. I frantically wave at them and say hello......

I did not think you were crazy! It was refreshing to talk to someone we "knew" that early in the vacation!

 

My hallway. Long isn't it??:D

You know what I am going to say. I can't resist. "That's what she said"

 

Great review so far, so fun to read and see the photos. It takes me back a few weeks to all of the excitement.

 

And I love the pic looking up from the Rising Tide Bar. I don't think I've ever seen one with that perspective.

[Eng23]

Day 2 finds us arriving in Nassau, Bahamas. I was awakened by the feel of the ships thrusters as we were coming into Nassau. It was overcast with scattered rain showers. This would be the only day it rained on us the entire cruise. I had decided that I would spend very little time off the ship today as I have been to Nassau multiple times plus the weather wasn't so great. The plan was to hit Senor Frogs for lunch and a little entertainment. I pretty much kept to my plan so I am happy about that.

Some pictures:

Our closest neighbor.

Folks heading off the ship.

I also took some time this morning for more ship pictures.

The Beach Pool.

Central Park.

Cantilevered Hot Tub. It's the biggest hot tub I have ever seen!:eek:

[Eng23]

The elevators always reminding you of what day it is.....

Self explanatory. You could find me here most mornings!

Random art on the Promenade. Is that a cat in there????:D

The Bow & Stern Pub. One of a few venues that allows smoking inside.:(

[Eng23]

As I said the plan was to hit Senor Frog's for lunch and entertainment and head back to the ship. Here we go:

Hello Nassau!

And it's off to Senor Frog's. Senor Frog's is your typical tourist trap type place but it is a fun place. They also have some pretty funny t-shirts. Here we go:

The view from Senor Frog's.

Everything has it's place in Senor Frog's! :D

[Eng23]

The Harbor Lighthouse.

Let's get the party started!

Nice artwork! Right?

Here comes the silly train! :D

[Eng23]

Did I mention it rained? :(

So after a nice lunch and entertainment it was time to head back to the ship. Had to dodge a few raindrops on the way. So I make it back to the ship to pretty much just do more looking around the ship.

[Eng23]

Back onboard. Some more photo's:

A close up of the Aqua Duck.

The Bahamian Navy.

As the day progressed the weather slowly improved. By the time it was time to set sail the sun was out.

The Beach Pool with a few customers.

Sailaway time arrived and the weather was great now.

Senor Frog's, tis a silly place!

The Flowrider in action. I think that is my friend Susan! Susan turned out to be a pretty good Flowrider star. :)

[Eng23]

Bye bye Senor Frog's! See you next year!

Junkanoo Beach.

Stirring up the harbor.

I almost forgot to add that our departure was delayed apparently due to a medical emergency.

Hoping the patient and family do well.

Passing the lighthouse heading out to sea.

[Eng23]

After setting sail I roamed around a bit and took some more photo's before getting ready for dinner.

Aqua Theater.

Rising Tide Bar.

Tonight was the first formal night. My dinner was in the MDR tonight and afterwards I would be attending the Oceanaria show. I'm generally not much of a show person but this show was fantastic. I would say this might be one of the must see shows on the Allure.

Tonight's towel critter.

[Eng23]

As I said before Oceanaria is a great show. The unfortunate thing is no flash photography is permitted and that is for the safety of the performer's. The show is similar to a Cirqe Du Soliel show. There is high diving, low diving, gymnastics, and shows of personal strength. Trust me and make sure you see this show. Here are the only pictures I took just before the show:

Aqua Theater Suites.

And a parting shot for Day 2:

After the show I did a little bar hopping and then hit the sack. See you guys on Day 3!

Edited October 24, 2012 by Eng23

[VillaHappy]

I am really enjoying your review!

[Eng23]

Day 3 was our first sea day. This was to be a day of leisure. The only planned activities today were the C&A Welcome Back meet up at the Aqua Theater in the morning and the Cruisecritic Meet & Mingle that was set for 4:30pm. It seems Royal has been moving Meet & Mingle's to the afternoon on the Allure. Why? I do not know. The only other planned item was dinner at Samba Grill. I figure I'll let the photo's do the talking:

 

Capt. Johnny (on the right) and the hotel director spoofing the Oceanaria performers. This was the C&A welcome back meet up.

Silliness reigning supreme!

The Boardwalk area from the Aqua Theater stage.

The high diving platform, it's 65 feet from the platform to the Aqua Theater pool.

Hi!

According to Capt. Johnny this Crown & Anchor came off of the Sovereign of the Seas when it left the fleet. The other one is on the Oasis. Stay tuned....

Edited October 24, 2012 by Eng23

[Eng23]

The view from the "Secret Balcony".

The Aqua Theater from the "Secret Balcony".

More photo's:

Relaxing! I know it's not a very flattering picture! :eek:

[Eng23]

Heading to St. Thomas, it's thataway!

The Solarium.

The beautiful Caribbean!

Next, Let's go do the zipline!

[Eng23]

Had to try the zipline of course:

Here I come!

It's a quick ride.

Another brave soul.....

So, after a day of leisure and goofing off I went to our Meet & Mingle. We had a very active roll call with over 2000 posts. It looked like we had about 45 people show up. The Meet & Mingle is hosted by the ships activities director. So we all get to meet and put faces with the screen names. Some prizes are raffled off and a nice time was had. During the Meet & Mingle we finalized plans for a Slot Pull and Cabin Crawl on the Friday sea day (Day 6). More on those activities later.

 

After the Meet & Mingle it was time for some Schooner Bar time or maybe it was the Rising Tide Bar before getting ready for dinner at the Samba Grill. More to come...

Edited October 25, 2012 by Eng23

[Bookish Angel]

As an architecture fan, I am really enjoying your composition and perspective on a lot of the ship features.

Edited October 25, 2012 by Bookish Angel

[Eng23]

Dinner for tonight is in the Samba Grill. At night the Solarium Bistro turns into the Samba Grill. This is the Brazillian style steakhouse specialty restaurant. The fee is $25 and trust me that a meal in a similar restaurant back home will cost much more than $25. Once seated your server will introduce themself and take drink orders. The server will then explain how things are set up and the importance of using the lighted sign on your table to indicate keep bringing the food or stop. There is a salad bar and a small buffet with sides. The meats are brought to your table on skewers and sliced right in front of you. There are 7 different types of meats that are server in courses. Remember to use your light so the server knows what you want. I really enjoyed this specialty restaurant. The meats were very good as were the sides. One more thing, every so often a Brazillian dancer will come through and dance and encourage others to join her to do a little flamenco type dancing. Here are the 2 photo's I took:

The lighted sign.

The dancer.

After stuffing myself more than I should have it was time for an after dinner drink and off to bed. St. Thomas USVI is our next stop!

Moon over the Caribbean......

[Eng23]

As an architecture fan, I am really enjoying your composition and perspective on a lot of the ship features.

I'm glad you are enjoying the review. :)

[Eng23]

I am really enjoying your review!

Stay tuned. There is more to come! :)

[Eng23]

For all you photog folks out there I just wanted to say all of my photo's were taken using a Nikon AW100 camera. This is the waterproof (down to 33 feet), shockproof (up to 5 feet), and freezeproof (down to 14 degree's F) compact camera. That's if any of you were interested. :cool:

Edited October 25, 2012 by Eng23

[Eng23]

Day 4 finds us pulling into St. Thomas. For those of you who don't know, the Allure and Oasis dock at Crown Bay docks and not Havensight. These 2 ships can only dock at Crown Bay due to the Havensight pier area being too shallow plus the size of the ship would limit how many other ships could dock at the same time. Crown Bay is a little further from most of the popular spots in St. Thomas but I think you can drive from one end of the island to the other in less than an hour. The plan for the day is to venture out to Bolongo Bay Beach Resort where I have a 90 minute jetski tour arranged. After the jetskiing there will be lunch and libations at Iggie's Beach Bar. The jetski tour was arranged with 340 Watersports which is located on the beach at Bolongo Bay. By the way Bolongo Bay is kind of an out of the way place. It's about a 25 minute taxi ride once you get a taxi. The taxi setup at the Crown Bay port is very chaotic by the way so be ready for that. After the day at Bolongo Bay it's back to the ship to relax.

[holydad]

Good morning folks. I'm getting ready to start my shift at the firehouse. I'll be back with more of my review later today. Have a nice day! :)

Your review is just awesome. I will be sailing on the Allure in August. Also I will be staying at the Embassy the Friday before. And I am a lieutenant with the Philadelphia Fire Department.:)

[Eng23]

Sunrise:

 

 

 

Passing Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico again.

Hot tub from above.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Thank you for the wonderful review! I am enjoying every moment of it.:)

 

BTW - I have been on a number of cruises but have never been to Senor Frogs. Your pictures made me want to stop there for a quick libation. :D

Edited October 25, 2012 by Sunny AZ Girl

[Eng23]

Your review is just awesome. I will be sailing on the Allure in August. Also I will be staying at the Embassy the Friday before. And I am a lieutenant with the Philadelphia Fire Department.:)

Hi LT! You are gonna have a great time! I was just in Philly this year for the convention. You guys were great hosts! :D