Allure Review!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 5/11 Sailing

[papcx]

Loving it.

 

Looks like this will be a minute by minute review - I can't get enough.

 

Ps. It looks like you've added the links to your pictures thumbnails. You need to copy and paste the URL to the picture itself.

 

Good luck.

Edited May 20, 2014 by papcx

[anandaindonesia]

Thank you for sharing this.

 

Reading your writing, I am re-living my wonderful times on the Allure.

Unforgettable :) !

[EbayCruiser]

Exciting - keep 'em coming!! Can't wait for our upcoming Allure adventure!

[Ken076]

lyndamr -- Regarding your photos - In PhotoBucket, alongside the photo you want to post, of the four possible choices, did you click on the fourth choice "IMG" for the link? As someone suggested abvove, it does look like you're displaying the thumbnails for your photos?? this should generate an ~ 800x500 pixel image.

 

If you're interested, at the end of your review you could display a link to a PhotoBucket slideshow of your photos (you might want to put only the desired photos in a separate PhotoBucket album and generate the link to that album)?? I don't think anyone has done this yet.

 

 

ken

Edited May 20, 2014 by Ken076

[Cruisegirl6]

the

Edited May 20, 2014 by lyndamr

[Cruisegirl6]

I think I got it lol lol

[Cruisegirl6]

Day 1 Boarding:

 

Since our stateroom didn't get cold for us, I asked the cabin steward Wayne from Jamaica to please take off the heavy bedding and place a sheet and blanket on the bed and leave the rest off. When we arrived at our cabin to gather some items after our dinner the room was made up and a nice blanket was on the bed with a bottom and top sheet.

The pillows could use replacement two out of four of our pillows was filled with lumps but it was tolerable, now that I think about it I don't know why I just didn't ask for better pillows lol but they were ok.

 

We found ourselves going to sleep taking the blanket off then we both kicked off the sheet as it was too warm for us to sleep...not unbearable, not to a point where we were sweating this one night but just not comfortable as we like it.

 

OTHER ISSUES REGARDING STATEROOM:

 

We loved the balcony size, it was wide and longer than what we get on other cruise lines

 

We loved the fact of having a full size round table instead of the very low table, you are able to eat comfortable using this table

 

The closet contained about 35 hangers some hangers had the hooks that you can hang pants on

 

We had bath robes in our room perhaps because we are platinum members

 

The safe worked fine but this was the first ship where we were unable to fit our iPads into the safe

 

In the shower there is liquid soup and bar soap, I do believe the liquid soap also was hair shampoo but we brought our own hair shampoo

 

Not only did the bathroom contain a decent amount of shelving to place items on, but there was like an open medicine cabinet on the wall and a small drawer under it to store items...under the sink also had shelf space

 

Water pressure and hot/cold settings worked perfectly

 

Never had a problem flushing the toilet

 

I love the fact that they had a dim light in the bathroom so you can see when you enter the bathroom in the middle of the night, very excellent idea!

 

The min refrigerator did contain items but there was enough space to place a cup/small plate if you wanted to keep a drink or something cool in

 

This was the first ship that had iPod stations and a clock!! We were able to charge our iPhones in this station too.

 

There are three electrical sockets right next to one another, we were able to use two at a time but depending upon the size of the item to plug in, you can fit three.

 

The blowdryer was small and mine didn't work, but I always bring my own blowdryer, 1800 and never blew out the electric

 

To shut your balcony door properly so that the ac stays on you really need to make sure you shut it and it sealed otherwise if you didn't do this right you will hear wind coming in from the door cracks

 

When you go out on the balcony make sure the handle is all the way down this way the ac in the room won't shut off

 

There is a master switch when you enter the cabin right above the bathroom and cabin lights if you switch this you can switch all electric in your cabin off which includes the ac, we NEVER touched it lol

 

There is a long mirror next to the bathroom on the wall

 

There is a mirror in back of the desk on the wall

 

There are small end tables next to each side of the bed with shelves no drawers

 

The desk contained 4 drawers to place items in

 

Next to the desk, you will find two cabinets stacked on top of one another to store items in

 

Our luggage did not fit under the bed (we both had 25" pieces) but we were able to stack them up in the closet bottom shelf and our tote bags easily fit under the bed

 

There is a telephone that had a wake up call button

 

The room had a chair and desk

 

They no longer give ice in the room, but there is a sign if you want ice to let the cabin steward know and he will provide that to you

 

The room has a flat screen tv, sort of at an angle where if your in the bed you have difficulty watching tv BUT pull the screen out it moves to different angles and you will see the tv from your bed if you wish

 

The bathroom contained 3 small hooks on the door to hang items

 

The bathroom wastebasket is located under the sink you need to open the small door where there are shelves to store things and one of them will have the waste bucket attached to it

 

If you wish to open the balcony partition, ask the cabin steard to do so and it will be done, we did this since my father in law was right next door to our room

 

There is no smoking on the balconies and the same rules go for electronic cigarettes (we don't smoke but wanted those who do know)

 

The mattresses were very comfortable and sheets soft

 

They no longer provide you with beach towels in the room to take to port, I believe you need to get them at the pool

 

 

 

 

[papcx]

Looks like you've cracked the photos. Look good too!

[Lionesss]

WOW

 

Finding your review was a nice way to wake up this morning.

 

Yup Today is the first day of my mini Stacation.....house cleaning, mulching, yard work....off till next Tuesday.

 

Ok now some questions.

 

 

1. On Labadee, did they have a towel section before you get back on the ship to place your dirty towels or did you have to carry them?

 

2. If you ate in the MDR, were the meals painfully long?

 

3. Did you do the glow party??

 

4. How were the loyalty cocktail parties?

 

5. Did you do the Make a wish walk? We bought our shirts last year but did not do the walk, is it on the track or above the pools?

 

 

Thaks I will be asking more questions in the future.

 

 

Keep your posts coming.

 

Oh by the way NICE pictures.

 

Sea Ya

[Susie51]

Thank you for the details and pics.

[Cruisegirl6]

papcx it took me some time but thankfully to some people here helping it I was able to figure it out, Ken thank you!

 

Lioness- I had the eastern itinerary so we did not go to Labadee although I been there on other ships before. We had to carry our towels from the ship there were no towels available in Labadee on the island. But now there is a new system that you won't find these towels in your cabin you probably have to go up to the pool area to get them, but perhaps things change maybe you would want to write a post and ask this question to somebody who just got off the western itinerary.

 

We NEVER ate at the dining room, we only dined at the specialty restaurants, 2 X Chops, 1 X Samba Grill, 1 X 150 Park Place, 2 X Giovanni's and we also went to Vintages twice and tried all the complimentary places, I will get to these in my review when its time.

 

Yes, we went to the Glow Party but we did not go on the floor where everybody was dancing, they use the ice skating room so your able to get a seat and sit and watch/listen. It was packed and everybody had a great time.

 

We never went to the cocktail parties only because they interfered with our dining times.

 

We did not see anything to do with make a wish walk but I probably did miss it, it might of existed.

 

I will be happy to answer everybody's question if I am able to (I should lol minus questions about the MDR)

[Ken076]

I think I got it lol lol

 

 

Yes!!!!!!

 

 

Pre-Cruise you were concerned about where/how to make Specialty Restaurant reservations when you boarded; did you find any wandering reservation takers, or a kiosk? It was my impression that you could go to any of the Specialty Restaurants (at least in Central Park) and they could make reservations for any of the Restaurants?

 

That seemed to be the smallest ship bathroom (and sink area) ever, but the closing glass shower door is NICE!!

 

(At least in our Cabin) there's also another wall outlet literally hidden behind the mattress, such that you have to pick-up the mattress to see/access the outlet.

 

We weren't taken with Chops and in retrospect would have chosen Giovanni's.

 

We voted Allure our best cruise ever!

 

ken

Edited May 20, 2014 by Ken076

[Jenhem31]

Thanks for your review! I've got a little time to go before I sail her but I can't wait!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[barbienj]

Subscribing. Allure is on my list of ships to sail!

[Cruisegirl6]

First I have to say you all are very welcome, its my pleasure to write this review for you all as others have done in the past for me.

 

Ken- Yes, I was concerned but it worked out like a charm for us as I stated in the first post of my review we were eating lunch in the windjammer and a head waiter came up to us and asked if he could do anything for us, this is where we mentioned the things we needed to get done and he personally did it for us. If we didn't have him, we would have to go to one of the restaurants in Central Park and get those things done, by the way, you only need to go to one restaurant they will be able to help you with any of the specialty restaurants. There was no staff walking around taking the reservations and there was no kiosk, but you can make a call to the specialty dining as it is marked which number to call on the phone in the stateroom and you press the number for the dining place you want.

 

Yes, I love the shower door but I wonder if somebody is big I assume it must be difficult for them to get in and out??? The sink is rather small probably the smallest sink I ever had in any ship. If somebody want to just wash their hair in the sink it be difficult I would think.

 

We were content with the three outlets actually only used two each time, so we didn't check behind the mattress but it makes sense to have one there as some people may need it for medical equipment.

 

I will write specifically about each specialty dining we did (we did them all except for the Chef's Table, Samba Grill was HORRIBLE to all 7 of us, will explain everything when I get to it. We dined at Chops the second evening it was just ok but definitely went downhill in quality/selection and service. We decided to give it another try to find we were even more disappointed, we probably never go to Chops again, on the other hand, we didn't go to the main dining room so I can't compare Chops to that.

Edited May 20, 2014 by lyndamr

[sonicbuffalo]

I'm enjoying your review and pictures! Keep 'em coming....won't be long until we sail on the Allure!

[summer slope]

Subscribing to follow. Want to cruise on Allure next year.

[Cruisegirl6]

DAY 1 CONTINUED:

 

Muster drill took place around 4pm could of been later I really didn't look at the clock but our location to meet was in the On Air Club. They show you a movie, then talk a very little explaining where the exits are to the lifeboats, it was painless.

 

Our first evening dining was at Giovanni's at 7pm. We were seated at a nice table for 8 as we were 7 persons. Maria was our server she was excellent. I explained I had to be gluten free and dairy free and she said there was no problem. The appetizers are served family style as so were the sides.

 

Unfortunately I have no food photos, this is the first cruise where I haven't taken food photos, I am sorry, but I felt it was not polite to snap photos with the flash since we only ate at specialty restaurants. I will explain things the best I can:

 

APPETIZERS WE HAD:

Carpaccio that was served with arugula, this is my favorite appetizer but unfortunately it was so very paper thin that you could not pick up the carpaccio without breaking up the pieces of meat. It was too thinly sliced and could not taste it very much.

Antipasti was served with salami/supersatta, prosciutto, other types of meats and included sardines (unfortunately I didn't know but when it went into my mouth omgosh yuck lol) so those who do not like sardines look for them and pick them out....artichokes were a bit on the tough side but good, roasted peppers, zucchini, the olives were all tasty, gambonzola and blue cheese, this was served with a bed of arugula. We did ask for an extra plate of meats since this dish really served 4 persons and we were 7 and they brought us a plate of just the meat, it was delicious.

Marinated Duck Breast was smoked and tasty and good

 

PASTA:

We had the eggplant that was very good and the gnocchi that was in light blue cheese cause. We also had the Pappardelle which was a pasta in a radiccio cream and panchetta sauce that we all loved.

 

ENTREES:

My daughter and I had the beef tenderloin which was cooked as we asked for medium rare, it was extremely lean and tender but it lacked seasoning and lacked taste.

Father in law had the Veal Ossobucco which he said was excellent

Brother in law and my other half had the Chicken breast that was filled with ricotta and mushrooms wrapped in proscuitto looked a bit dry to me

Sister in law had the jumbo shrimp and said it was very good

 

Sides:

I ordered a baked potato, but on the table we choose asparagus, roasted cheese potatoes, mashed potatoes, broccolini, mushrooms and green beans.

 

Desserts:

I heard the creme brûlée was different, so I gave it a try figuring it didn't have a lot of cream and milk which it didn't and it was just ok, probably one of the most disappointing creme brulee's I ever had, the mud pie and velvet cake were just good I was told by family. My other half had this creme filling dessert he said was very good, but they could improve on the type of desserts they offer here.

 

Overall I rate the meal very good.

 

We were booked for the Aqua Show but we got our times wrong, we did show up towards the end and watched the last 20 minutes, for us we just rate it good, some divers did some impressive dives but perhaps we missed the best part? This was the last sailing this group was performing in the Aqua Show as we were told.

 

This show was also shown another evening but it was cancelled due to bad weather and wind.

 

We tried the cupcake cupboard and all were delicious, I was unable to get a gluten free cupcake so I just watched the others eat but I was told from the second day forward they will have gluten free cupcakes. I went back the next day and had a very tasty and delicious gluten free cupcake that I ever tasted. The left side contains cupcakes that changes daily and the right side they always have the same cupcakes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We spent a few hours at the end of the evening to the wee hours in the casino. The casino is very large and there is a smoking and non smoking side. I did not notice a bad smoke problem throughout the casino but my sister in law, father in law and my other half said they need to get a better ventilation system. If my eyes did not bother me and I didn't cough as I have asthma, trust me it was not that bad.

There were a couple of tables of roulette, a crap table, many poker and blackjack tables and a large amount of slot machines ranging from 1 cent machines, 25 cent machines and dollar machines. We found the slot machines in the smoking side to pay off better.

Edited May 20, 2014 by lyndamr

[hipster1]

Yay LyndaMr...pictures!!! I am loving your review..very detailed..thank you...if by chance you have any pictures of your daughters Central Park Balcony room, I would appreciate it..

 

I can't wait to read about Park 150. WE know we want to try it when we board..As for Giovanis..I guess food IS subjective. We just got off the Radiance, and were not that impressed, but we did love Izumis! Go figure:rolleyes:

 

Ali

Edited May 20, 2014 by hipster1

[emmy]

DAY 1 CONTINUED:

 

Muster drill took place around 4pm could of been later I really didn't look at the clock but our location to meet was in the On Air Club. They show you a movie, then talk a very little explaining where the exits are to the lifeboats, it was painless.

 

Our first evening dining was at Giovanni's at 7pm. We were seated at a nice table for 8 as we were 7 persons. Maria was our server she was excellent. I explained I had to be gluten free and dairy free and she said there was no problem. The appetizers are served family style as so were the sides.

 

Unfortunately I have no food photos, this is the first cruise where I haven't taken food photos, I am sorry, but I felt it was not polite to snap photos with the flash since we only ate at specialty restaurants. I will explain things the best I can:

 

APPETIZERS WE HAD:

Carpaccio that was served with arugula, this is my favorite appetizer but unfortunately it was so very paper thin that you could not pick up the carpaccio without breaking up the pieces of meat. It was too thinly sliced and could not taste it very much.

Antipasti was served with salami/supersatta, prosciutto, other types of meats and included sardines (unfortunately I didn't know but when it went into my mouth omgosh yuck lol) so those who do not like sardines look for them and pick them out....artichokes were a bit on the tough side but good, roasted peppers, zucchini, the olives were all tasty, gambonzola and blue cheese, this was served with a bed of arugula. We did ask for an extra plate of meats since this dish really served 4 persons and we were 7 and they brought us a plate of just the meat, it was delicious.

Marinated Duck Breast was smoked and tasty and good

 

PASTA:

We had the eggplant that was very good and the gnocchi that was in light blue cheese cause. We also had the Pappardelle which was a pasta in a radiccio cream and panchetta sauce that we all loved.

 

ENTREES:

My daughter and I had the beef tenderloin which was cooked as we asked for medium rare, it was extremely lean and tender but it lacked seasoning and lacked taste.

Father in law had the Veal Ossobucco which he said was excellent

Brother in law and my other half had the Chicken breast that was filled with ricotta and mushrooms wrapped in proscuitto looked a bit dry to me

Sister in law had the jumbo shrimp and said it was very good

 

Sides:

I ordered a baked potato, but on the table we choose asparagus, roasted cheese potatoes, mashed potatoes, broccolini, mushrooms and green beans.

 

Desserts:

I heard the creme brûlée was different, so I gave it a try figuring it didn't have a lot of cream and milk which it didn't and it was just ok, probably one of the most disappointing creme brulee's I ever had, the mud pie and velvet cake were just good I was told by family. My other half had this creme filling dessert he said was very good, but they could improve on the type of desserts they offer here.

 

Overall I rate the meal very good.

 

We were booked for the Aqua Show but we got our times wrong, we did show up towards the end and watched the last 20 minutes, for us we just rate it good, some divers did some impressive dives but perhaps we missed the best part? This was the last sailing this group was performing in the Aqua Show as we were told.

 

This show was also shown another evening but it was cancelled due to bad weather and wind.

 

We tried the cupcake cupboard and all were delicious, I was unable to get a gluten free cupcake so I just watched the others eat but I was told from the second day forward they will have gluten free cupcakes. I went back the next day and had a very tasty and delicious gluten free cupcake that I ever tasted. The left side contains cupcakes that changes daily and the right side they always have the same cupcakes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We spent a few hours at the end of the evening to the wee hours in the casino. The casino is very large and there is a smoking and non smoking side. I did not notice a bad smoke problem throughout the casino but my sister in law, father in law and my other half said they need to get a better ventilation system. If my eyes did not bother me and I didn't cough as I have asthma, trust me it was not that bad.

There were a couple of tables of roulette, a crap table, many poker and blackjack tables and a large amount of slot machines ranging from 1 cent machines, 25 cent machines and dollar machines. We found the slot machines in the smoking side to pay off better.

 

Enjoying the review ~ the sides and desserts you describe sound like they came from Chops not Giovanni's. Did you dine at Chops as well?

[Cruisegirl6]

Hi Ali, your welcome. I will find a photo of balconies looking down at Central Park I know I have at least one.

Yes, food is subjective, I am a foodie for sure when I go away I am a foodie, unfortunately this has been the first cruise where I did not take photos of food, again, didn't want to interrupt other people with the camera flash since we only ate at the specialty restaurants.

 

I will talk about Izumi in my review and yes, we did enjoy it, but found some areas where it needs to be tweaked to be better, I will get to that.

 

Emmy, your correct, all you have to do is ask the waiter if he can get you a certain dessert and they did it for us, perhaps because the places were nearly right across from one another. We went the first evening and had the regular dessert menu which most of us didn't find fascinating, so on the second evening dining we asked for certain desserts and they accommodated us. My other half did have the tiramisu, I have to be dairy free but took a tiny taste and it was very good. They offered a cannoli that looked good only none of us had it, I believe there was a custard with berries along with a few other choices.

 

 

I had to be gluten free so they gave me a cup of fresh cut berries which was extremely fresh and very good, but trust me I wanted the cannoli lol.

Edited May 20, 2014 by lyndamr

[Cruisegirl6]

Ali here are some photos I found of Central Park, a couple show the balconies, they are the very same size as if you chose a cabin facing the ocean. They are a very decent size and you will find two chairs and a tall standing round table that will be easy to have your coffee or eat something on. The wall part is glass so you will be able to see everything below while you sit on the balcony. I personally don't like the Boardwalk balconies I felt it was warmer, more sunnier and hotter and it was much more easy to look into the cabins opposite of you. The Central Park has trees, scrubs, bushes and vines more privacy and it is very lit up at night. During the day and night they have a recording of different sounds of birds chirping down to crickets and its very faint and tranquil real nice feeling, you do get the feeling your in a park. Here are the photos of Central Park:

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 20, 2014 by lyndamr

[Cruisegirl6]

DAY 2 Nassau 7am-2pm

 

Two months ago we were on another cruise and went to Nassau, since we done it all we went to the Fish Fry where you find a bunch of small local indoor and outdoor restaurants, this is where you get the best seafood on the island. We ate lunch at Twin Brothers, I highly recommend it as one of us had the whole fish it was a snapper I believe and it was huge and it was cooked perfectly inside of foil with spices, herbs and had plantains in it. I had the grouper which was cooked the same way and mine was filet with huge chunks of fish that was soaked in the juices of the plantains and carrots it was EXCELLENT! My other half had the seafood platter and he said it was excellent also....but we were unable to go here for lunch again since we had to be back on the ship by 1 to sail at 2 so we just slept in later and woke up had breakfast and it was like another sea day for us, which we love sea days. lol

 

Here is a photo of the place we ate named Twin Brothers:

 

So at 2pm we were back at sea and the captain announced that we would be in 12 foot waves for the next day and half on the way to St. Thomas but I not sure what happened either that ship handled it like glass or we went around it but the ship didn't move other than a few times you can faintly feel that your on a ship due to the waves being high but it was nothing.

 

Tonight we dined at Chops, had reservations for 7 at 7:30. We arrived and was seated in the rear but I have to say the tables and chairs of the other tables are close to you. I forgot the waiters name but he was good, he did his job well. Our drinks in all the specialty restaurants were covered in our beverage packages but I must say the wine selection overall in every place differed a bit but it was very limited. I would like to see better wines offered to be included in the package. I would have to say there was one type of wine of each grape that was included in the package, there really was no choice, but if you wanted a different wine that exceeded the $12 that is included in the package you are just charged the difference of the price and are able to choose a better wine.

 

Appetizers we had:

Shrimp Cocktail was good to very good

Smoked Duck Salad was very good and tasty

Oysters Duet, four of us (not myself as I do not eat seafood) had them and nobody cared much for them, I believe what they didn't like was the sauce that was on top of them, and yes, they were served in the shell.

Cheese n onion soup was very very rich and strong to my and my daughters liking (I took off the cheese and didn't eat the bread since I must be both gluten and dairy free)

Not So Traditional Ceasar Salad surely lives up to its name its a huge huge chunk of romaine all together where you have to slice it up yourself, we rather prefer the typical shredded romaine lettuce for a caesar salad. It did contain anchovy taste in the dressing.

Beefsteak Tomatoes with Purple Onions, I had this and the tomatoes were not very tasty actually needed a few more days to ripen

 

The menu did include the 18 ounce Porterhouse Steak as well as the 9 and 7 ounce Filet Mignon, it did have the baked potato but the creamed spinach was no longer available.

 

ENTREES WE HAD:

Daughter had the 12 ounce NY Strip said it was cooked perfectly but cool

I had the Porterhouse which was very good and not much fat but my other half also had the Porterhouse and he had huge slabs of fat on it with nearly not much meat. My brother in law had the chicken breast they said it was good and father in law had the Veal Chop I believe and he liked it very much and sister in law had the jumbo shrimp said it was just good.

 

The sides were placed on the table family style and I did have a baked potato.

 

Desserts were limited and most of us didn't have any as there wasn't anything that good, the creme brûlée was the worst we ever had. My other half had to be sugar free they did not have anything for him.

 

We had reservations for night 6 here and even though we all considered the meal ok we figured lets try it another evening so we kept our reservation. We all agree Longhorn Steakhouse offers a much tastier porterhouse and NY Strip.

 

I won't be speaking about entertainment as I cannot recall what we saw on which day so I get to that a bit later on.

Edited May 20, 2014 by lyndamr

[dacsmom]

I love your detailed review. In cannot wait to experience the Allure for myself in October.

[travelfan75]

can't wait to see more! we embark on her in 11 days for a 2 week b2b cruise, one week western, 1 week eastern. Soooo excited!!! you're very detailed which I love and the pics are great! thank you!