Another Allure Review ~ 9/22/2013

[flyawayca]

Be sure to make reservations for your shows!

 

Most people without reservations got turned away at the shows because they were sold out. This was especially true for Chicago and Blue Planet.

 

I did see a few empty seats for Ice Games and Oceanaria (in the splash zone) so you may be able to squeeze in at one of those shows without reservations.

 

Gold card members have seats reserved for them (for sure at Ice Games - I'm not sure about other shows) up until 10 minutes before the show starts. At that time any remaining seats are made available for anyone.

Edited September 30, 2013 by flyawayca

[fairweather]

Love your photos and hearing about your experiences. Your review is timely indeed as I'm beginning to pack for our cruise on the Allure which leaves this Sunday. I'm going to put a pen in my purse right now so I won't be left scrounging around onboard.

 

We are flying Southwest, too, and I didn't know your could get TV free. You learn something new everyday reading CC. Thanks for posting your review so quickly after your cruise.

 

How was Alan Brooks rocking as CD? I understand he just returned from vacation and must have been all charged up and ready to go. You haven't lived dangerously unless you have played dodgeball against his crew team. They take no prisoners.

[flyawayca]

Love your photos and hearing about your experiences. Your review is timely indeed as I'm beginning to pack for our cruise on the Allure which leaves this Sunday. I'm going to put a pen in my purse right now so I won't be left scrounging around onboard.

 

We are flying Southwest, too, and I didn't know your could get TV free. You learn something new everyday reading CC. Thanks for posting your review so quickly after your cruise.

 

How was Alan Brooks rocking as CD? I understand he just returned from vacation and must have been all charged up and ready to go. You haven't lived dangerously unless you have played dodgeball against his crew team. They take no prisoners.

 

Oh lucky! I wish I was getting back on. It's so hard being back home. And I didn't even go to work today!

 

Hopefully I can think of and post about some of my other tips and tricks so you can catch them before you leave.

 

Alan Brooks was a fun CD to have! I've never really paid much attention to CDs in the past but he stood out. He was funny. He did seem extra energetic too.

 

Darn! Now I wished I didn't miss watching that dodgeball game! Next time!

 

For the TV on Southwest it doesn't work on all devices. It works on most iOS devices (make sure they are updated) and some, but not all, androids. Just make sure you have a nice charged battery when you board your flight. I don't think they have had this very long, maybe a few weeks. So hopefully they will expand to all devices equipped with wifi soon.

[flyawayca]

With this big ship it can get very easy to get turned around. They did a really good job with signs and maps to help get you were you need to go.

 

By every elevator bank is also a touch screen TV you can use. It not only shows you maps of the ship, but it also lets you view the cruise compass and tells you how busy each dining area is.

 

Take a peak before you head to breakfast or lunch and see which areas are busier than others and avoid lines! :)

 

 

Edited October 1, 2013 by flyawayca

[flyawayca]

Johnny Rockets can be found on the Allure as well as most (if not all) other RCI cruise ships.

 

Go here for breakfast! I repeat, go here for breakfast! There was never any wait during breakfast here. Most of the time the place was pretty empty. The breakfast items were good, and fresh made to order. The menu isn't huge, but it has everything most would want. Eggs, country potatoes, hash browns, breakfast sandwiches, omlettes, even a burger, and more! What makes it even better, breakfast here is FREE!!

 

 

Lunch at Johnny Rockets cost $5pp. Milkshakes, malts, soda, and alcohol are additional prices on top of that. All of the food on the menu is unlimited though so have as many burgers, onion rings, french fries, and sadwiches you want. The sundae is also free!

 

If you are a Crown and Anchor member you will have a buy one get one free milkshake/malt coupon automatically loaded onto your SeaPass card. No more coupons to carry around!

 

 

 

Edited October 1, 2013 by flyawayca

[flyawayca]

We ate in the MDR every night except Wednesday night (we went to Giovanni's Table).

 

We never had a chance to make it to the MDR for lunch. No Tutti Salad for me :(

 

My last RCI cruise was on the Voyager in 2011. I don't remember for sure, but I believe that was during the "old menu". What I do remember was not being overly impressed with the food. On that cruise I remember stating that Carnival had better food in the MDR. But no more, the food I had in the MDR on the Allure was fantastic. I think this new menu easily beats Carnivals. And I'm not saying that to bash Carnival because I love Carnival.

 

I know food is subjective though because I just read a review from someone else on my exact sailing who didn't like the food. But to me, excellent. No complaints!

 

As for the dress code. I have noticed that the passengers on RCI cruises do tend to dress nicer than those on Carnival and NCL. Depending on who you are and your style that can be good or bad. I saw many people in formal night type dresses every night of the week. However, I did see a handful of people go into the MDR in shorts all nights of the week as well. Nobody stopped them. But, in all, everyone was slightly more formal than informal most nights.

 

For formal night I usually feel fine dressed in slacks and a nice blouse. I felt sort of dressed down on this cruise. I decided not to bring a dress last minute because I didn't want to have to walk around such a large ship in heels. Once I was there though I had wished I brought it.

 

Some MDR food porn:

 

 

 

 

I was surprised with this for my birthday:

 

Edited October 1, 2013 by flyawayca

[Pebbles468]

Flyawayca....

 

Can you tell me about the food porn in the MDR...

 

Was that lobster night (2nd Formal night??)

 

Prime Rib??

 

lamb??

 

 

 

 

Love your photos and hearing about your experiences. Your review is timely indeed as I'm beginning to pack for our cruise on the Allure which leaves this Sunday.

 

Will you be live blogging?? If not ... can you at least tell us all about your experiences when you return??

Edited October 1, 2013 by Pebbles468

[mikad]

Your review is great. We were on the same voyage in the room 12722 (you propably heard my daughter in the hallway many times ). I could even find myself and my daughter on one of your pictures. We had amazing time and wished we could stay on B2B.

[flyawayca]

Flyawayca....

 

Can you tell me about the food porn in the MDR...

 

Was that lobster night (2nd Formal night??)

 

Prime Rib??

 

lamb??

 

 

The lobster was on the 2nd formal night. My lobster was actually the smallest one served to my table. You can of course ask for another though if you want more. Our waitress told us RCI recently went from serving wild caught to farm raised lobsters due to supply and demand. And because of that the lobster tails will be larger than they used to be.

 

They served prime rib on both formal nights. The prime rib was the same, the sides were different with it each night.

 

The lamb was served on Friday night. It was good, but if you like lamb the one at Giovanni's was better. (I'll review that soon).

 

You can find a link to all the menus on RCCL's website. Or perhaps someone nice could link it here for you. I tried to find it again myself but couldn't. The menus on their website are in the same order you will find them on this cruise. I used them to decide which night not to come to the MDR. :)

[flyawayca]

Your review is great. We were on the same voyage in the room 12722 (you propably heard my daughter in the hallway many times ). I could even find myself and my daughter on one of your pictures. We had amazing time and wished we could stay on B2B.

 

Thank you!

 

We were almost neighbors. I am pleased to report I never once heard her in the hallway. But I am somewhat of a heavy sleeper so maybe that is why :p

 

Just a few door slams from someone in our hallway but other than that all was good for us.

[flyawayca]

Boardwalk Donuts!

 

Just an awesome little spot to stop and pick up some donuts. It's located on the Boardwalk (obviously) right across from the Boardwalk Hot Dog stand and near the carousel.

 

Flavor varieties include Key Lime, Sugar Coated, Original Glazed, Raspberry filled (which is actually just a plain donut with raspberry sauce spread on it), Strawberry, and Chocolate.

 

They were decent, not the best ever, but good.

 

I just loved this idea.

 

 

 

Edited October 1, 2013 by flyawayca

[flyawayca]

My group decided to try out Giovanni's Table. None of us have had it before. My aunt and uncle have had Portifinos in the past, just not Giovanni's.

 

We picked Wednesday night because it was my least favorite of all the MDR menus that week.

 

We picked Giovanni's out of all the specialty restaurants specifically for the crab ravioli (only available on the dinner menu) and the cannoli.

 

Giovanni's Table costs $15pp for lunch and $20pp for dinner. I am not a fan of extra charge restaurants whatsoever, but decided to try this one out for my birthday dinner (just two days after my birthday).

 

The service was just okay. Our waiter seemed busy. He was nice, we just didn't see him much and refills were slow. I do appreciate him going above and beyond for my husband getting him additional cannoli to-go. (We took additional cannoli to have as a snack after our show that night).

 

My husband got hooked on cannoli after having it in Boston at Mike's Pastry.

 

I attempted to make reservations for Giovanni's before the cruise. Not only did it say there was no good times available, it wanted me to pay right then. well, I had $100 in OBC and I wanted to use that towards it so we waited. The day we boarded the ship we went straight to Giovanni's to make reservations. All times were available for our group of 4 and I was able to use my OBC to pay. Yay, everything worked out.

 

I apologize for the dark pictures, but the restaurant was dark and I did not feel comfortable using my flash.

 

This was our favorite appetizer. The mozzarella cheese balls on bread:

 

The crab ravioli and mushroom risotto - amazing!

 

 

The lamb chops - delicious! Best I have ever had! Cooked perfectly medium-rare.

 

 

The New York Strip Steak - my husband said was "spectacular". The garlic fries with it though? No good. He did not eat them. No garlic taste whatsoever - we think they forgot to put it on. When we told the waiter all he said is he would tell the chef. Well, we didn't go there for fries anyway so no big deal.

 

 

And the excellent cannoli. The rum cannoli has a really strong rum taste. You may or may not like that. The regular cannoli I thought was better if you took the lemon peel off the top first (very easy to do). But that's just because I don't like lemon.

 

 

And just a little lesson for everyone.

 

Cannoli is the plural form of the word. If you are just talking about a single version of the dessert it is called a cannolo. There is no such thing as cannolis or cannolies.

 

Cannoli = multiple

Cannolo = one

:p

Edited October 1, 2013 by flyawayca

[flyawayca]

The Park Cafe. My favorite place to just stop and pick up something quick to eat.

 

A complimentary dining spot you can find on Deck 8 in Central Park.

 

It is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Other than the day you board it is never really busy. Inside can fill up fast but there is outside dining if you don't mind some of the humidity. Some days were better than others humidity-wise for us.

 

During breakfast they have make your own bagels. They also have yogurt cups with granola, fruit, breakfast burritos, and a few other things. I'm not a huge fan of breakfast so this place worked for me.

 

 

This place had some of the yummiest lunch foods. The roast beef sandwich really is to die for. I also really liked the make your own salad section. Lots of choices. It was also nice that they had bagged potato chips. And they weren't even the tiny bags. They had Doritos, Sun Chips, and Lays in different flavors during my cruise.

 

 

Sorry, the balsamic dressing on my salad kind of makes it look gross. But I assure you it was delicious!

Edited October 1, 2013 by flyawayca

[flyawayca]

The Wipe Out Cafe

 

A complimentary place to eat. Located on the aft of the ship on deck 15. It is right next to the sports court and a deck below the Windjammer.

 

It is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

 

This is one of the Coke Freestyle Machine locations. You can also find the free frozen yogurt and ice cream cones.

 

At breakfast they have all the basics eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, etc. They also have made to order omelets.

 

 

At lunch they have pretzel dogs. That is all I have to mention, pretzel dogs. Try one! Soooo good! And this is coming from someone who doesn't even really like hot dogs! Yum! I also really like the french fries here. On occasion we would just stop here for those as a snack.

 

 

This place really does close way to early. That was one of my bigger complaints about this ship. After 9PM the only place to get complimentary food is on deck 5 in the promenade. Either at Cafe Promenade or Sorrentos. And then those places were always really busy because they were the only ones open. And honestly those were my two least favorite places. This smaller location would be perfect for them to have open later. At least until 11pm. Plus the soda machine and ice cream get locked in here after they close so your stuck going back down to deck 5 again for soda if you are using the pool.

Edited October 1, 2013 by flyawayca

[shipshape sam]

Because it keeps coming up, I'm going to give you all my experience with watching the NFL on the Allure.

 

On Sunday the daytime games could be seen at the Aqua Theater (temporarily). They played the game until they started doing some of the shows there:

 

 

The best place to watch the games is On Air. From my pictures I can tell the games were the CBS games. They played all the Sunday games there, including the Sunday night game. They also played Monday Night football in On Air.

 

 

 

I believe the games were also played in the Casino bar, but I never made it down there.

 

Thursday Night Football - here was the downfall. The only place you could see this game was on the little tiny TV in On Air. They were doing karaoke at the time so there was no seating available. Plus the sound was turned off.

 

Once karaoke was over they put the Thursday game on the big screen in there, but there was only about 20 minutes left of the game. The Thursday NFL game was not shown in the casino this day because they were showing NCAA football instead.

 

Oh, and the games were also shown over the hot tubs in the Solarium :D

 

 

Amazing that you can't even enjoy a cruise anymore without TV screen showing football. I laughed out loud (LOL) when I saw the TV in the Jacuzzi!

 

I am a Skins fan, but I can miss a game while on a cruise. :)

 

Great pictures and review!

Edited October 1, 2013 by shipshape sam

[lvstitch]

This is great, thanks so much for sharing.

[smeck]

My husband purchased the soda package for $52.33 (price billed to our SeaPass after tips).

 

We both thought it was well worth it.

 

We bought the package after boarding the ship and walking by and seeing the cups they had set out in Central Park. I loved the cup they give with it, very cool looking.

 

The cups have a little chip in the bottom which activates the Coca Cola machines you find around the ship (in the Windjammer, Wipe Out Cafe, and by Sorrento's).

 

I think a machine should be located on the Boardwalk as well. I was disappointed one was not. They also do not have the machines on Labadee so I wouldn't bother bringing the cup with you onto the island.

 

The only downfall is you have to have the cup to use the machines. You do get a sticker on your SeaPass card you can use to get regular sodas from any bar on the ship if you don't want to carry the cup around all the time. You just won't get all the fancy flavors.

 

 

A quick note you can buy the soda package before you sail for a slightly reduced rate.

[flyawayca]

Amazing that you can't even enjoy a cruise anymore without TV screen showing football. I laughed out loud (LOL) when I saw the TV in the Jacuzzi!

 

I am a Skins fan, but I can miss a game while on a cruise. :)

 

Great pictures and review!

 

Thanks!

 

I love watching football, so if I get a chance on a cruise, why not? But you're right, I can miss a game as well. Gotta make sure to see all the shows on the ship! :D

[flyawayca]

A quick note you can buy the soda package before you sail for a slightly reduced rate.

 

I heard if you buy the package before the cruise you can't get your cups right away on the ship and you have to wait for them. Do you know if that is true?

[flyawayca]

This is great, thanks so much for sharing.

 

You're welcome! :)

[rcrdale]

I heard if you buy the package before the cruise you can't get your cups right away on the ship and you have to wait for them. Do you know if that is true?

 

If you buy the soda package pre-cruise (I always do), you get the cup when you get access to your cabin. Instead of having a sticker on your card, the coca-cola wording is imprinted on your card (no sticker to lose).

[flyawayca]

Sorrento's Pizza

 

It is located on the Promenade Deck 5. Right across from the Bow & Stern Pub. You really can't miss it.

 

It's almost always open.

 

What's nice is that they have a create your own pizza section. You can look to see what toppings they have available and have them create your own personal size pizza.

 

What isn't nice is most of the options available. They don't have very many "normal" options available. No sausage? They did have ham though. No spinach or chicken either. But they did have arugula and anchovies. But hey, maybe you will like the topping they have.

 

For regular ol' pepperoni or plain cheese they have those available all the time and you can get them by the slice.

 

They have another two pizzas pre-made that seemed to change on a daily basis. My husband really liked the Mexican pizza which has jalapeno and ground beef with taco seasoning.

 

On the tables you could find Parmesan cheese, an Italian seasoning (oregeno? basil?), and crushed red pepper.

Edited October 2, 2013 by flyawayca

[flyawayca]

If you buy the soda package pre-cruise (I always do), you get the cup when you get access to your cabin. Instead of having a sticker on your card, the coca-cola wording is imprinted on your card (no sticker to lose).

 

Oh okay thanks. Getting the soda package was a last minute decision we made on the ship. But I was wondering because I heard rumors about having to wait to get them so I wasn't sure what I would do on a future cruise. Buying in advance seems like a good idea, I don't mind waiting until I get in my cabin :)

[flyawayca]

The Boardwalk Dog House.

 

Located on the Boardwalk of course, deck 6 aft.

 

Pretty decent hot dogs. I never got to try as many as I wanted to. This is another place that they should probably leave open later. But I guess with Johnny Rockets open late next door they try to steer you there instead.

 

I tried the Sicilian and really liked it. The German Brat was good as well.

 

It's not shown on the menu but they offered coleslaw as well. It was terrible. I think it may have been made with Miracle Whip. I wasn't a fan...

 

 

 

Edited October 2, 2013 by flyawayca

[shipshape sam]

No Chicago Dogs on the menu! :(

 

I got to try the Hotdog stand only once on my Allure cruise. There is so much food to eat! Amazingly how we plan our days around food. :)

 

I also plan my day around beer and wine and martini's. I find, due to limited selection/availability, Boddingtons and buy and take back to cabin and put in frig. I have to always have room steward empty my frig so I can have room for real beer. :eek: