Allure 9/22/13: A Story Review w/drama, humor, Pics & Video

[maureencruiser]

 

3 hour dinner at Chops including spooky conversation with mystery man:eek::confused:

 

 

Oh, Viv, I'm intrigued!

[txskier]

Great review and great pictures!!

[VegasChic]

Great review and great pictures!!

 

Thank you!!

Edited October 21, 2013 by VegasChic

[VegasChic]

Oh, Viv, I'm intrigued!

 

Yeah it was pretty strange! Stay tuned:)

[tinaky1114]

Viv, I am loving your review. You DD is absolutely adorable and you/your husband are a gorgeous couple.

 

I have an upcoming trip in December on Allure and my last cruise was on the Epic so I am enjoying your comparisons. One has me worried though and that was your comment about Epic having better MDR food. I know food is subjective but the week I spent on the Epic, the MDR food was inedible. This feeling was expressed by the entire group of solos I met the first night. The specialty restaurants were ok with the exception of Tepanyaki and Cagney's. Actually, if I had eaten in Cagney's the first night, I would've probably eaten there every night of the cruise because the food and service were outstanding. Can you expand on your thoughts as to the food comparisons. Just wanting to make sure if I need to make sure to schedule specialty restaurants ahead of time every night on Allure. I would have done this on Epic but there were some nights we could not get a reservation anywhere except MDR.

 

 

Now, comments on Vegas. I travel there a lot for work and have friends that live there including friends I made on the Epic. They make sure I get to see things outside of the strip. For a lunch, if you haven't eaten at Gordon Ramsey's Burgr at Planet Hollywood, it is a must do. Everything is to die for. But, you must get one of their milkshakes which are topped with pudding. I am not a big fan of pudding but it is all home-made to order and was one of the best things I have ever tasted.

 

Thanks for such a terrific review.

[VegasChic]

Viv, I am loving your review. You DD is absolutely adorable and you/your husband are a gorgeous couple.

 

I have an upcoming trip in December on Allure and my last cruise was on the Epic so I am enjoying your comparisons. One has me worried though and that was your comment about Epic having better MDR food. I know food is subjective but the week I spent on the Epic, the MDR food was inedible. This feeling was expressed by the entire group of solos I met the first night. The specialty restaurants were ok with the exception of Tepanyaki and Cagney's. Actually, if I had eaten in Cagney's the first night, I would've probably eaten there every night of the cruise because the food and service were outstanding. Can you expand on your thoughts as to the food comparisons. Just wanting to make sure if I need to make sure to schedule specialty restaurants ahead of time every night on Allure. I would have done this on Epic but there were some nights we could not get a reservation anywhere except MDR.

 

 

Now, comments on Vegas. I travel there a lot for work and have friends that live there including friends I made on the Epic. They make sure I get to see things outside of the strip. For a lunch, if you haven't eaten at Gordon Ramsey's Burgr at Planet Hollywood, it is a must do. Everything is to die for. But, you must get one of their milkshakes which are topped with pudding. I am not a big fan of pudding but it is all home-made to order and was one of the best things I have ever tasted.

 

Thanks for such a terrific review.

 

Hi Tina,

 

Okay well I'm not sure what happened to the food in the MDR on the Epic but my experience was a little different. My 1st sailing on the Epic was in 2010 when the Epic was a few months old. Food was great! but I only ate in the MDR twice as you know the Epic has many specialty restaurants so I did cagneys, teppenaki, noodle bar, le bistro and even O'sheehans one night so I only ate in the MDR 2x. I loved the Salmon and I cannot recall what else I ate since it was long ago. Last November we went on the Epic again and like the first trip we did many specialties I thought the food was good but I guess it has changed. I can tell you that when I complained about the food to the Executive Chef on the Allure, he advised that they were in the process of revamping their entire menu and there was a team coming in within the next coming weeks to improve the menu, I also heard this from another chef on-board. So change is coming for the better. I can tell you that the only dessert I liked in the MDR was the Key Lime Pie. Maybe I'm too critical as I've heard many people mention that they love the food in the MDR and the windjammer.

 

My recommendations is to book your specialty restaurants as soon as you get on board to get the discount. Another tip: the Specialty Restaurants tend to book up later in the week as after people try the food in the MDR they are more prone to dine at a specialty restaurant and this came directly from a waiter at one of the specialty restaurants. If I would have known I would have done one more. When we dined at Chops we had to sit outside because they were booked.

 

You have to remember they are preparing food for maybe 3000 people nightly. I don't know the ratio is of people that eat in the MDR nightly vs. Specialty Restaurant dining. I can tell you that it is edible and it's average for Cruise ship MDR dining. However, I had a better MDR experience on the Epic.

 

I don't know if this has been helpful or not but forget about other's opinions and try it for yourself you might be surprised;)

 

I will definitely try Ramsey's in April when I return to my home away from home!! Thanks for the tip and please report back on your MDR experience in comparison to Epic, it will make a great read.

 

Thanks for reading along and your very sweet compliments about my family! It brought a smile to my face after a stressful week!! :)

[tinaky1114]

Hi Tina,

 

Okay well I'm not sure what happened to the food in the MDR on the Epic but my experience was a little different. My 1st sailing on the Epic was in 2010 when the Epic was a few months old. Food was great! but I only ate in the MDR twice as you know the Epic has many specialty restaurants so I did cagneys, teppenaki, noodle bar, le bistro and even O'sheehans one night so I only ate in the MDR 2x. I loved the Salmon and I cannot recall what else I ate since it was long ago. Last November we went on the Epic again and like the first trip we did many specialties I thought the food was good but I guess it has changed. I can tell you that when I complained about the food to the Executive Chef on the Allure, he advised that they were in the process of revamping their entire menu and there was a team coming in within the next coming weeks to improve the menu, I also heard this from another chef on-board. So change is coming for the better. I can tell you that the only dessert I liked in the MDR was the Key Lime Pie. Maybe I'm too critical as I've heard many people mention that they love the food in the MDR and the windjammer.

 

My recommendations is to book your specialty restaurants as soon as you get on board to get the discount. Another tip: the Specialty Restaurants tend to book up later in the week as after people try the food in the MDR they are more prone to dine at a specialty restaurant and this came directly from a waiter at one of the specialty restaurants. If I would have known I would have done one more. When we dined at Chops we had to sit outside because they were booked.

 

You have to remember they are preparing food for maybe 3000 people nightly. I don't know the ratio is of people that eat in the MDR nightly vs. Specialty Restaurant dining. I can tell you that it is edible and it's average for Cruise ship MDR dining. However, I had a better MDR experience on the Epic.

 

I don't know if this has been helpful or not but forget about other's opinions and try it for yourself you might be surprised;)

 

I will definitely try Ramsey's in April when I return to my home away from home!! Thanks for the tip and please report back on your MDR experience in comparison to Epic, it will make a great read.

 

Thanks for reading along and your very sweet compliments about my family! It brought a smile to my face after a stressful week!! :)

 

 

Thanks so much for your quick response. Although I am a foodie and love great restaurants, I certainly don't expect 4 star quality on cruise ship feeding thousands of people even in the specialty restaurants. I also have a friend who owns restaurants so I am very understanding of what goes into the F&B business including costs. From the time of my Carnival Victory and Dream cruises, I could tell the quality of the MDR food had went down quite a bit although still had more than enough to eat :); however, my cruise fair had stayed around the same amount.

 

That is why I was so surprised on my Epic sailing. I am pretty easy to please but the food was so disappointing and the service was worse. The dining was only one issue, service in all areas except the entertainment staff was lacking. For instance, my room steward left dirty coffee cups in my stateroom for two days when I finally removed them myself. I kept wondering if it were just me but a number of people mentioned it. I am glad your experience was different than mine. We had a group of 12 solos ready to jump ship! :eek:

 

Interesting to hear about the new menus. Change can challenging in a kitchen so that could explain some of it, at least I hope. I plan on eating at least 3 nights in a specialty restaurant and will make sure to book them as soon as I board. Thank you for the advice.

 

I will definitely do a comparison review when I get back. Can't wait to read the rest of your review.

[VegasChic]

Day 6: Cozumel

I woke up this morning not certain whether to get off the ship or not. I've been to Cozumel many times and really just needed a day to just relax and do absolutely nothing. Then I decided to just get off and do a little shopping and come back and relax. Hubby wanted to spend the whole day in Cozumel and we couldn’t agree on anything. We started off going to Park Café (my favorite spot) for breakfast and had the usual fried egg sandwich, coffee and a raspberry pastry (Yum). I took my time and just wanted to chill for awhile I was not in a hurry unlike DH who was rushing me. I then decided I should probably call home. The entire week, I had not made one phone call, texted, emailed, FB’d… nothing!! I called my mom and as expected got yelled at for taking so long to call (typical Cuban Mom) and I can honestly say I will be the same when my daughter is a grown adult, married with child! We chatted for about 3 minutes as I quickly explained the cost of $3 per minute. Then I called my sister twice but couldn’t reach her. By this time, Hubby was rolling his eyes and standing stating that he needed to check his email. We both have businesses back home so we needed to be responsible and find out if everything was okay. I bought the mini wifi package of $29.99. It was a mission as I kept getting phone calls in while trying to purchase the package which I refused to answer however, I would have to start all over. By this point my husband left without even telling me. Good I thought now I could take my time and do as I please for once!! When I finished checking email, DD and I proceeded to get off the ship. It was a gorgeous day, Cozumel is absolutely breathtaking! As we reached the end of the pier and enter the port/shopping village. DH jumps out from behind a wall and comes and hugs me! He tells me his plan to rent a jeep for us and go beach hopping and wants us to stay with him. Okay sure why not (I thought), I’m on vacation after all, lets go!

 

 

 

We walked around the area a bit and I realize that I needed to get a swimsuit for DD. I could either go back to the ship or buy one. I chose to buy one because if I would have gone back I would have stayed. There were some nice retail stores across the street from the port and the one that was recommended was a sports apparel/swimwear store. I found something immediately and dd was happy. We hopped in the jeep with DH and we were off. I tried to buy sunblock as well but they wanted $30 for a regular sized tube (um I don't think so, I could buy my daughter another swimsuit for that price!). I said absolutely not! I kindly asked the clerk where on the island can I purchase at a more reasonable price and she told me about the supermarket. Not to far away, maybe 1 mile called Chedraui next to the Palace Hotel. Well we went there and I paid like $4 and saved $25 on a coppertone kids 50 spf.

 

 

 

 

 

We stopped at a cigar shop so hubby can get his fix, a Cuban then we were off driving the coast and my only request was a stop at the Rasta Beach Bar.

 

Along the way I started snapping pictures of the scene and looking through my photos I remember wondering what this place was it looked like someone’s house. I googled it and turns out it is a fabulous vacation rental house right on the water with a pool and 5 bedrooms.

 

[VegasChic]

 

 

 

 

 

[VegasChic]

 

 

 

We'be been to this club many times and the service is fantastic, I wanted to hang out there again later after the rasta beach but hubby tried out a new place!

 

[VegasChic]

We finally arrived at the Rasta Beach Bar...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[VegasChic]

 

 

 

 

 

[VegasChic]

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ocean Boy]

I love the Cozumel pics. They are ALMOST enough to get me to book a western itinerary again.

[VegasChic]

I love the Cozumel pics. They are ALMOST enough to get me to book a western itinerary again.

 

Hi ocean boy!! Thank you very much. Yes I agree regarding the western itinerary we always booked the eastern and this time I was so surprised by my experiences on the western! I love Jamaica and Cozumel they are both very beautiful with amazing beaches also Isla De Mujeres is also very beautiful and just a short ferry right away! Lots more pictures of Cozumel coming up later today had to go to work:(

[dadof2boys]

Your review is freaken awesome!

 

As to the Zumba, what the hell? Right there in the middle of the Promenade? That makes absolutely no sense! If people want to work out or take classes, go to the gym (where this should be held).

 

Anyhow, I'm trying to convince my wife to go on ALLURE. I told her I'm protesting all future cruises until it's on the Allure. We'll see.

[VegasChic]

I could have stayed there all day! Reggae music, beach, beer and sun is my definition of a perfect day!! After the After Reggae Beach Bar (sorry was calling it rasta bar, LOL), we headed to another picture perfect spot – El Mirador to grab some footage of the sea splashing up against the rocks. Hubby and DD stayed in the jeep while I got off and snapped some photos and video (of course I was in a hurry! It seemed to be the trend on this vacation).

 

 

 

 

 

 

[VegasChic]

More beach pictures...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JohnSnowGOT]

W:)W I am so digging this review!!!

Love your perspective and wonderful positive attitude!

You all seem like a cool family!

Thanks for this great review!

[VegasChic]

 

Then, we headed over to a beach where DD could play in the water. I wanted to go to Nachi Cocum after hearing so much about it, but my husband decided to stop at Mr. Sancho’s (I was not thrilled about the place).

 

 

 

 

 

They have an all inclusive area and a pay as you go area. The all inclusive was $55 pp and included use of the pool, drinks, beach rafts, nice beach chairs, etc., The pay as you go area looked liked the welfare version (no offense!) and guess which service we went with???? You guessed it the welfare version!! I tried to order a modelo negro "sorry mam no modelo negro!" I like ale's and strong beer what I got was piss water!! Sorry not sure what it was should of just had a corona. Then all of a sudden it starts pouring in rain! Okay time to get the hell out of here Yay :D Luckily DD got to play in the water for like 45 minutes. We paid the bill for the rented towels, beer and the quesadillas DH ordered and took off back to port.

[VegasChic]

More photos at Mr. Sancho's

 

 

 

 

 

 

[VegasChic]

They also had a mini spa where you can get a massage....

 

 

 

I have no idea what this is but they had these tanks where people soak their feet in and these little fish bite them (strange and a little gross!) :confused:

 

 

 

[VegasChic]

Your review is freaken awesome!

 

As to the Zumba, what the hell? Right there in the middle of the Promenade? That makes absolutely no sense! If people want to work out or take classes, go to the gym (where this should be held).

 

Anyhow, I'm trying to convince my wife to go on ALLURE. I told her I'm protesting all future cruises until it's on the Allure. We'll see.

 

Well Thank You!:D

 

Yeah I don't know who the Harvard grad was that decided to put zumba in the middle of the royal promenade but apparently, they think it's a great idea.

 

Curious, why is your wife not interested in Allure?

[smeck]

You would of loved Nachi Cocum we were their a few years ago and were going back in May.

[CaLigUrL1216]

They also had a mini spa where you can get a massage....

 

I have no idea what this is but they had these tanks where people soak their feet in and these little fish bite them (strange and a little gross!) :confused:

 

 

those fish are called doctor fish! I'm terribly afraid of fish so I'm not sure if I would ever do it :confused: But it's very popular in Asia and Europe.