Allure of the Seas, Eastern Caribbean Review! 9/16/12

[sarahecohen]

Great review so far! I love it! My boyfriend and I are sailing the Allure in November (sooo long from now!). I would have wanted earlier, but he works at a bank and had to schedule his vacation days ONE YEAR ahead of time. Poo.

 

Anyway, K reminds me so much of my boyfriend! He too is a bottomless pitt! I wonder where all that food goes to, and he barely gains any weight. So jealous. I convinced him to choose the Allure because of all the food options! :P

[mrsmoku]

Great review so far! I love it! My boyfriend and I are sailing the Allure in November (sooo long from now!). I would have wanted earlier, but he works at a bank and had to schedule his vacation days ONE YEAR ahead of time. Poo.

 

Anyway, K reminds me so much of my boyfriend! He too is a bottomless pitt! I wonder where all that food goes to, and he barely gains any weight. So jealous. I convinced him to choose the Allure because of all the food options! :P

 

 

A whole year!? That's terrible!!! Well, that's more planning time and more time to look forward to it!

 

Yes, I have no idea where it goes! Its unfair really. I want to be able to eat a dozen Krispy Kremes and then complain that I lost another pound after, but no, I smell one and I gain a pound! Your boyfriend will be VERY happy with the endless amounts of food on the Allure!!

[EuroDate20]

Great review! Looking forward to hearing more about your trip and Allure! How was the view of the ocean from the Boardwalk balcony?

[mrsmoku]

Day 5

Part 1

 

We woke up to the courtesy phone call from room service and spent a few minutes freaking out that we had overslept! We didn’t realize how tired we were! Thankfully, we were smart and ordered room service for an earlier hour to make sure we had enough time to get ready and meet our tour. We enjoyed our breakfast on the balcony and caught our first glimpse of St. Maarten.

 

 

We finished our breakfast and got ready for the day. We had booked a private excursion with Bernard’s Tours. The tour reviews were great and it seemed like everyone we talked to was going on it! The tour would take us to various spots on the island and to the famous Maho Beach.

 

We met up with our tour (and about half the ship!) and were separated into groups. Our driver was Sexy and we all piled into the mini bus. We were packed like sardines in there! I don’t know if it was the heat or the fact that we both were so tired from the day before, but it was not comfortable. I think had we not had every single seat occupied, it would have been a much more enjoyable ride.

 

We headed to the Iguana Farm to enjoy some of St. Maarten’s iguanas. We were given some lettuce to feed them and even hold them if we wanted. I jumped on that offer as I had iguanas when I was a toddler (what were my parents thinking!?) and I was surprised to find out that they had such soft, leathery skin. The Iguana man said it was like holding a Gucci bag and it was! It was neat but the man that owned the Iguana Farm was in the process of expanding the area so it wasn’t too pretty.

 

Feeding the Iguanas

 

Big Mama (I don’t know if that’s her name)

 

After 15 minutes, we all smashed back into the bus and headed to Oyster Pond. On the way, Sexy gave us some history on St. Maarten and explained about the two sides – the Dutch side and the French side. Once at the beach, we met the Sea Urchin man who had lots of shells and sea urchins he had found. He told us about the great qualities of eating a sea urchin and asked if any men would like to eat one. Crickets. No one wanted to. He offered to let us hold the sea urchin but neither of us were game. We all took some pictures and we were off to our next stop – Orient Beach!

 

Orient Beach has two sides, the swimsuit side and the nude side (or “the nude and the prude” as someone on the bus referred to it as). Before heading to the beach, Sexy offered us some of their famous Rum Punch. We both said yes and Sexy pulled out plastic shot glasses (should have been a red flag!) and proceeded to pour us a double shot size amount of rum punch. I assumed it was strong sense he only poured so much but I wasn’t prepared for how strong. Yeah, there was no punch in that one. It was straight rum with a hint of fruity flavor.

 

We walked a little to the beach and it was gorgeous! We had planned on walking down the beach but we saw some comfy looking loungers (on the prude side) and somehow found ourselves laying in them. The chairs cost $15 but came with an umbrella and 2 drinks at the bar so it was an investment well spent. There were vendors in full force wanting you to buy their goods but we just said no thanks (or didn’t make eye contact) and they didn’t bother you anymore. We decided to just enjoy the scenery and relax for the 90 minutes we had there. We both got drinks from the bar and our mood increased dramatically while we relaxed.

 

Loungers, drinks, gorgeous beach. Perfect.

 

After our stop at Orient Beach, we headed over to Marigot, the French marketplace. We had 30 minutes here and I KNEW where we were going – Sarafinas. We were both starving and one look at the display cases and we knew we had made the right choice. We ended up with quite a tray of delicious goodies and met many of our fellow passengers there. The 30 minutes came too soon and we all met back at the bus to head to Maho Beach.

 

Yum

 

Yum x2

[slh182]

Thanks again for your review and pictures.

 

We are leaving early on Saturday morning for Fort Lauderdale. I'm so excited and can't wait. We have also booked Bernard's Tours. I will definitely pass on the rum lol.

[mrsmoku]

Great review! Looking forward to hearing more about your trip and Allure! How was the view of the ocean from the Boardwalk balcony?

 

Thanks!

Here are some pics from our balcony looking out at the ocean

 

 

[sarahecohen]

 

Once at the beach, we met the Sea Urchin man who had lots of shells and sea urchins he had found. He told us about the great qualities of eating a sea urchin and asked if any men would like to eat one. Crickets. No one wanted to.

 

LOL! I'll tell you one thing, if it were my boyfriend there, he would have JUMPED on that offer! He loves eating ANYTHING and trying new foods. He probably would have shot his hand up in the air and jumped up! I'm surprised K didn't take up an opportunity to get something inside his stomach! :)

[mrsmoku]

Thanks again for your review and pictures.

 

We are leaving early on Saturday morning for Fort Lauderdale. I'm so excited and can't wait. We have also booked Bernard's Tours. I will definitely pass on the rum lol.

 

Of course! You'll have a great time!

Th rum (punch) would have been good if it was mixed with something but just a straight shot of rum at 10 am was a little much!!

 

Just try a sip! Maybe ours was a weird batch!

[carebott]

Thanks for the great review!! We are taking a private tour with Bernards in acouple weeks, just wondering what time you left and what time you got back to either Phillipsberg or the ship? Also did Sarafina's take USD? We are trying to decide what to do for lunch....would the Sunset Bar on Maho be good for 15 people? Thanks!

[mrsmoku]

LOL! I'll tell you one thing, if it were my boyfriend there, he would have JUMPED on that offer! He loves eating ANYTHING and trying new foods. He probably would have shot his hand up in the air and jumped up! I'm surprised K didn't take up an opportunity to get something inside his stomach! :)

 

Oh, well, K was thinking about it until the sea urchin man told us that eating a sea urchin would make you "more manly" and have "extra strong swimmers"...and guarantee you a boy right away...because of the poison in the sea urchin. Big BIG no.

[mrsmoku]

Thanks for the great review!! We are taking a private tour with Bernards in acouple weeks, just wondering what time you left and what time you got back to either Phillipsberg or the ship? Also did Sarafina's take USD? We are trying to decide what to do for lunch....would the Sunset Bar on Maho be good for 15 people? Thanks!

 

Thank you!

 

We left at 9 am and got back to the port around 3/3:30 pm. The boat left at 5 pm.

 

We paid with a card (if I remember correctly) and it was fine. We did not have to change our money at all and we used a mix of card and USD cash.

 

The Sunset Bar was very busy. It was more bar-like than restaurant-like but we didn't go in so it could have been more sit down further inside. For 15 people, I am not sure. Now the area around Maho is full of casino looking places and I *think* a Joe's Crab Shack. I will look for a picture if I have one of the Sunset Grill/Bar.

[whataboutport]

LOL! I'll tell you one thing, if it were my boyfriend there, he would have JUMPED on that offer! He loves eating ANYTHING and trying new foods. He probably would have shot his hand up in the air and jumped up! I'm surprised K didn't take up an opportunity to get something inside his stomach! :)

OMG I'm with him on that! i LOVE eating uni, so much in fact I named my dog after it. I'm thinking about booking the Bernard tour just bc of the sea urchins. :D

[mrsmoku]

Day 5

Part 2

 

Maho Beach was crazy! Crazy cool and crazy crowded! It was THE spot to visit and it was no surprise why. The airport was literally across the street. And not the streets we have here in the US with super wide lanes and space on the side to pull over but lanes that our bus seemed to barely fit through. It was crazy!

 

Maho Beach

 

Plane coming in

 

We took a look at the surfboard with all the flights coming in and was excited to see that a large commercial flight would come in while we were there. We watched some smaller planes come in and take off but our time was running short and the commercial plane had yet to land. It was coming up on our allotted time here and we were bummed we missed the big plane. Had we not been paying attention or something? It seemed unlikely as even the little planes made you whip your head around so we figured the flight was cancelled. On the way back with some other passengers on our tour, we realized that we all had the time wrong. K had programmed his watch to stay on ship time, as had everyone else, but St. Maarten was not on ship time and we were an hour off. We would have liked to see the massive commercial planes come in and take off but at least we saw three little planes.

 

K with his plane

 

If Maho Beach is the highlight for your day in St. Maarten, I would suggest catching a cab and spending a few hours there as the planes don’t come in every few minutes. There was a restaurant and bar on the beach and lots and lots of people. Cabs were plentiful there so it shouldn’t be an issue getting back.

 

We got a drink from the cooler and jammed back into the bus for the ride back to port. Sexy asked us if we would like to go to a souvenir store for 15 minutes near the port and everyone wanted to go. If you have ever seen people speed shopping, you can imagine what we all looked like. K and I ALWAYS forget to buy souvenirs and we are always so bummed when we get home and have nothing so we were making an effort to find some little things we wanted. After speed shopping, we all piled into the bus for the last time and got dropped off at the port.

 

I enjoyed the tour and it was organized well. It was an overall island tour with different activities which I really liked but in the end, we did want to see the commercial planes come in. We both had a great time and have lots of fun memories and pictures from it. If we go back to St. Maarten, I’m not sure if we would book the tour again but I am happy that we were able to experience it. In other words, it didn’t measure up to our St. Thomas excursion, but that bar was set pretty high and we knew it.

 

We walked around the port shops for a little before boarding the ship again. Everyone seemed to have a bottle of Guavaberry and after talking to a few people, decided to check it out. We ended up buying a bottle of the original flavor although they had lots of different flavors for sale. It’s a sweet liquor/rum and I actually really like it. Had I known how good it was, I would have bought a few more for gifts (they did have samples but I left the sampling in K’s able hands).

 

From the pier

 

We boarded the ship around 3 pm and found that it was pretty empty. We immediately headed towards the zip line to take advantage of the lack of a line. We had two more sea days left and knew that it would be busy if we waited. Because of the location of our room, we could watch people zip lining across and cringed when the zip liners either smacked their feet on the end platform or didn’t even attempt to stand up and made the crew member stop their forward motion. I was determined to not be that person.

 

After getting all rigged up, they hooked me up and off I went! The zip line was fun! It’s not very long but once you catch a glimpse of the Boardwalk underneath, it becomes even more exciting. As I neared the platform, I reached my feet down to stand up and, who would have guessed, I was too short to touch. So I swung up the way you do when you are abruptly stopped and the poor crew member had to practically body slam me to stop me. And of course, I still couldn’t touch so he had to push the kiddy stairs under me so he could unhook me. How embarrassing. And I’m not even that short! I’m 5’3” (or 5’2”, but who’s counting). K went next and of course, finished like a pro.

 

After our zip lining adventure, we headed down for hot dogs and then off to the rock wall. Only once I was half way up did I remember that I am scared of heights. I made it about ¾ of the way but ended up paralyzed after a look down and slipped. You are really really high up especially because you can see the water! Of course, I didn’t push off correctly so I ended up grazing the wall all the way down. So glad it wasn’t busy! K made it to the top like a spider monkey.

 

We went back to room to rest a little and get ready for dinner and the headliner show, Mosaic. Dinner was delicious and our waiter, Shawn, told us to make reservations for the next night, formal night. I gave him a heads up on my lobster appetite (which is quite large) and he promised he’d keep the lobsters coming. We brought our Gold Member coupons for drinks but K’s was denied because of that pesky ‘Gold Member’ sticker that wasn’t on his card.

 

We had reservations for the Headliner show that night but we both just wanted to relax! We went to Guest Relations to get K’s Gold Member sticker and then melted into the nearest hot tub.

 

It was a long, fun day but we seriously needed some rest! Tomorrow was another sea day so we planned on napping and exploring the rest of the ship!

[mrsmoku]

Day 5

Dinner

 

Crab Cakes?

 

Meat with shrimp?

 

I have no idea!

 

Cherries Jubilee possibly?

 

Something else delicious!

[soulpower]

Thanks for the pics from Bernard's Tour! BF and I have a tour booked with them, too, and I'm really looking forward to it!

[mrsmoku]

Thanks for the pics from Bernard's Tour! BF and I have a tour booked with them, too, and I'm really looking forward to it!

 

Nice! This was the beach and sightseeing tour but there is a shopping and sightseeing tour also. Which one are you booked for?

[mrsmoku]

I am sorry for the delay in posting! This weekend was extremely busy but now I'm able to set aside some time to finish!

Edited January 22, 2013 by mrsmoku

[mrsmoku]

Day 6

 

We woke up a little late but well rested for our sea day. Tonight was the second formal night (with lobster!) and we wanted to spend some time at the casino and just lounging around the ship. We decided to head down to Jonny Rockets for breakfast. We sat outside and enjoyed a large plate of eggs, bacon, and breakfast potatoes. It was way enough food for me but of course, not enough for K. We weren’t sure if we could get another order so he ended up grabbing some pastries at the Promenade Café.

 

Johnny Rockets was very good for breakfast. We didn’t dine there for lunch or dinner but we did on the Mariner and enjoyed it. We had a milkshake coupon from our Gold Member books but we forgot to use it. I truthfully didn’t like the Promenade Cafe all that much. The pastries were the same type usually served at my business meetings and there wasn’t much of an assortment besides pastries, cookies, and little sandwiches. K agreed that it wasn’t the best but he was just happy lunch was coming soon.

 

We found a seat by the pool and spent a couple hours relaxing with our books. The Captain announced that there was a slot for the Allure in Nassau so we would be docking the next afternoon. Everyone was very excited about the news.

 

A photographer was out taking pictures of everyone around the pool which caused some to strike their best bikini pose while others to shriek in horror. The “strikers” were so very entertaining to watch especially when they chased the photographer around so they could get “just one more” of them making their sexiest face while enjoying their drink or leaning against the step ladder. I do have to say that I admired their confidence and persistence.

 

After the pool (and show!) we moseyed around looking for lunch and decided on the MDR. We headed to the room and K’s jacket we dropped off on Day 3 had been fixed with an extremely similar button and a plate of chocolate covered strawberries waited for us. We (read: I) snuck a few of the yummy strawberries while we changed into MDR appropriate clothes and headed out for lunch.

 

Yum!

 

The lunch menu was the same so we ordered our favorites from last time and some new dishes to try. I got the Tutti Salad for an appetizer and loved it. They even gave me some mozzarella balls on the side so I munched on those and my salad before our entrée arrived. Lunch was once again delicious and we really enjoyed eating a nice lunch.

 

After lunch we went to check out the casino. On the way, we noticed that they were setting up for formal photos that night and somehow we ended up posed and smiling for a camera. Now, I have never thought that K and I look like siblings and we have never heard anyone say that to us but the photographer most definitely thought we were brother and sister. We were being posed in classic “sibling poses” (you know, the arms crossed with our backs touching, the “Brady Bunch” lean with hands on our hips, things like that) but decided to just go with it and take the pictures. We figured the photos would give us a good laugh… an ew!-we-look-like-siblings-in-this-picture-this-is-so-terrible nervous laugh.

 

After our sibling photo shoot, we arrived at the casino. The casino is split into two sections – a smoking section and non-smoking section. There was no actual barrier between the smoking and non-smoking section so the smoke still drifted around, but since tonight was a formal night, it looked like they were discouraging anyone smoking. We had some Gold Member coupons for Roulette so we played a game (I lost, as usual) and K played a few tables. I found the penny machines and we both took $5 and played…for a long time! It was insane! We would get down to $0.15 and then win $4 more, $3 more, $5 more, etc! This went on for at least an hour and half. I finally was able to clear out my money but poor K just kept winning. He was mortified when the machine kept making sounds every time he won something, which happened almost every time he pushed the ‘Spin’ button. People were starting to watch. We decided that if it hit $10, we would cash out and be done with it. But it would make it to $6, then $5, then $7, but never $10! We switched spots and within minutes, I was able to lose all the money (insert joke here).

 

By that time it was after 3 pm and our dinner reservations were for 5:30 pm. We ran back up to the room to quickly get ready for Formal Night and take some formal (couple) photos before dinner. Everyone was dressed very nice and there was definitely excitement in the air.

 

Except for one of K’s dishes, dinner was amazing once again. The dish in question was re-named ‘Cat Food’ because, well, it looked like cat food, smelled like cat food, and K said it tasted he thought cat food would.

 

Cat Food – beware

 

I tried one of the cold soups and ordered the Fisherman’s Plate (x4) with the lobster tail and some shrimp. K loved all of his meat dishes and we both enjoyed our desserts. To say we were stuffed would be an understatement!

 

Fruity soup – yummy!

 

Fisherman’s Plate

 

K’s dish

 

K’s other dish

 

(The desserts are in the following post)

 

Our comedy show started at 7:30 pm and we wanted to be early to get good seats. Since dinner had taken a little longer than planned, we rushed down to the lounge and were able to find a spot in the middle. We chatted with a very friendly couple while we waited and ordered a drink. They told us that they had already seen the show earlier in the week but it was so funny they wanted to see it again. That is always good news!

 

The show started and the first comedian was hilarious. I can’t remember any jokes but I do remember that he was very funny. I didn’t see any kids or teenagers in the lounge so there may have been an age limit. Not all his set was dirty but it sometimes was.

 

I wish I could tell you about the second guy but right after he stepped on stage, a very annoying and very drunk woman in the front decided it was her time to be a comedian. The comedian was able to ignore her loud talking for a bit until she decided to shout over his every word. So then he made fun of her as you would assume any comedian with an annoying crowd member in the front row would…but she still didn’t get it! She continued on and on and when she finally shut up and the comedian started, she started up again! It was so very annoying and most of us were trying to get her to be quiet so the comedian could do his set. By the time she piped down, there was only time for one quick joke that she managed to ruin again with her talking. It was insane! (I wonder why they didn’t have anyone remove her from the lounge…)

 

After the half funny/half disastrous comedy show, we wanted to check out our pictures. All the pictures were printed and put into a binder and filed away. We had quite a few photos so we split them up and started going through them. Most were pretty good, a few were not that great, and some were very nice. And then I found our sibling photos. Yikes! I hadn’t realized it but we were wearing the same color, we had the same type of smile, and our hair, eye, and skin color looked very similar. I don’t know if it was edited or what, but we could have easily passed for brother and sister. Easily. K thought it was the funniest thing ever but that photo is burned into my memory. It wasn’t funny, it was weird. So into the back of the binder, upside down and turned around it went while we searched our other photos for the best ones. We chose our favorite 4 and purchased them with our Gold Member coupon (buy one get one free!).

 

After getting our photos, we went down to the Royal Caribbean shop to buy our ornament and any other little things we wanted. I’m glad we went down that night because it was busy, but not nearly as busy as it was the next day.

 

We went to the room to change out of our formal wear and then caught a ride on the Rising Tide Bar. We had to wait a little for seats to open up but once we snagged them, we were happy campers. The bartenders and fellow riders were making up songs and singing along to the DJ and we all had a great time going up and down from the Promenade to Central Park. No one was getting off so the line was building up quite a bit. I would defiantly grab a seat as soon as you can and as early as you can. We spent an hour and half there but would have never guessed it!

 

After our fun night, we headed back to the room. We were going to be in Nassau the next afternoon and even though we didn’t have anything booked, we wanted to get off and explore still. It was our last day on the ship and we wanted to sleep in a little, enjoy the pool and explore Nassau.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

I collect the ornaments, too. I love RCI's ship ornaments that look like a scale model of the ship. They are white and blue, not brass. Did they have those? I usually buy them on the first day so I don't run the risk of them selling out (they did once, although the sales girl managed to find just one in the back of the store room for me).

[mrsmoku]

I collect the ornaments, too. I love RCI's ship ornaments that look like a scale model of the ship. They are white and blue, not brass. Did they have those? I usually buy them on the first day so I don't run the risk of them selling out (they did once, although the sales girl managed to find just one in the back of the store room for me).

 

Yes those are the ones we get too! They had a ton left when we went but I would get them early if you are worried, just in case. I like to write the cruise dates and our itinerary on them so I remember!!

Edited January 23, 2013 by mrsmoku

[Sunny AZ Girl]

I like to write the cruise dates and our itinerary on them so I remember!!

That's a GREAT idea!:D

 

Since we're sailing in April they don't always stock the Christmas ornaments as heavily as they do near the holidays. I collect them all year long when I travel and I know that others do the same, but some of the sales clerks act as if I'm crazy when I ask. I never have been able to find ship ornaments on NCL or Princess.:(

[LincolnLog]

Day 6

 

 

Fisherman’s Plate

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was just wondering, when you say you ordered the Fisherman's Plate (x4), does that mean you ordered 4 of them? Sign me up!

[caneguy]

Day 5

Part 2

 

Maho Beach was crazy! Crazy cool and crazy crowded! It was THE spot to visit and it was no surprise why. The airport was literally across the street. And not the streets we have here in the US with super wide lanes and space on the side to pull over but lanes that our bus seemed to barely fit through. It was crazy!

 

Maho Beach

 

Plane coming in

 

We took a look at the surfboard with all the flights coming in and was excited to see that a large commercial flight would come in while we were there. We watched some smaller planes come in and take off but our time was running short and the commercial plane had yet to land. It was coming up on our allotted time here and we were bummed we missed the big plane. Had we not been paying attention or something? It seemed unlikely as even the little planes made you whip your head around so we figured the flight was cancelled. On the way back with some other passengers on our tour, we realized that we all had the time wrong. K had programmed his watch to stay on ship time, as had everyone else, but St. Maarten was not on ship time and we were an hour off. We would have liked to see the massive commercial planes come in and take off but at least we saw three little planes.

 

K with his plane

 

If Maho Beach is the highlight for your day in St. Maarten, I would suggest catching a cab and spending a few hours there as the planes don’t come in every few minutes. There was a restaurant and bar on the beach and lots and lots of people. Cabs were plentiful there so it shouldn’t be an issue getting back.

 

We got a drink from the cooler and jammed back into the bus for the ride back to port. Sexy asked us if we would like to go to a souvenir store for 15 minutes near the port and everyone wanted to go. If you have ever seen people speed shopping, you can imagine what we all looked like. K and I ALWAYS forget to buy souvenirs and we are always so bummed when we get home and have nothing so we were making an effort to find some little things we wanted. After speed shopping, we all piled into the bus for the last time and got dropped off at the port.

 

I enjoyed the tour and it was organized well. It was an overall island tour with different activities which I really liked but in the end, we did want to see the commercial planes come in. We both had a great time and have lots of fun memories and pictures from it. If we go back to St. Maarten, I’m not sure if we would book the tour again but I am happy that we were able to experience it. In other words, it didn’t measure up to our St. Thomas excursion, but that bar was set pretty high and we knew it.

 

I am enjoying your review. It has given me many ideas to do when I go back on the Allure or Oasis for the eastern Carib. I was lucky enough to see some big jets come into Maho Beach and was also lucky to get some pictures of them. You can see them in my review and the thread is - Allure 1-6-13 with pictures.

 

I also love your pics of the food...

[mrsmoku]

That's a GREAT idea!:D

 

Since we're sailing in April they don't always stock the Christmas ornaments as heavily as they do near the holidays. I collect them all year long when I travel and I know that others do the same, but some of the sales clerks act as if I'm crazy when I ask. I never have been able to find ship ornaments on NCL or Princess.:(

 

I never thought that they wouldn't have them! They are so fun on the tree, granted I only have 2, but I will be collecting more!

[mrsmoku]

I was just wondering, when you say you ordered the Fisherman's Plate (x4), does that mean you ordered 4 of them? Sign me up!

 

um...yeah, I ate 4 lobster tails :)