Quick Review: Allure 2/19-2/26/17

[imlulu]

I rarely do a review after cruising, but thought I would as so many have questions about Allure. I didn't really take many pics so not included.

 

We booked this cruise back last May. We were tied to this week due to school winter break. My youngest ds is a senior in HS and wanted to cruise on Oasis class. Allure won as we got a great price for school vacation week. :) The itinerary was western. There were 3 of us: DH, me, and 18 yr old ds. We are pretty seasoned cruisers and this was our 3rd time out of FLL on RCI.

 

 

Precruise: we flew down on 2/18 from Providence on SWA. We used hotel shuttle from airport (very quick as he was at airport terminal when we called for pickup). We stayed at Cambria Suites in Dania Beach. Hotels were pricey this weekend and limited by the time I booked. It was very clean, but a bit out of the way. We ate at a Cuban restaurant(las vegas Cuban?) on main road which was good. The hotel did not include breakfast and we got up late. We had coffee, packed up, and used Uber to port at around 11:15ish.

 

CHeck in: very smooth and painless, no wait and we were on board by 11:50 I believe.

 

Ship: The ship is large and showing a little wear and tear, but overall very clean.

 

Cabin: we booked an ocean view balcony (D3) and ds used the fold down couch. We were aft starboard 10674 close to elevator. We loved the location. The bed was near closet but very easy to use and pretty much stored all our stuff. There were lots of hangers. The mini fridge was empty and working. We did think the cabin was smaller than Liberty including the bathroom. However, it was fine for the 3 of us. My ds is 6ft and DH a little under to give you an idea. Our room steward was from Jamaica and kept everything maintained. The only thing I found was that people let the cabin doors bang and it really was loud.

 

 

Gym: lots of equipment , but gets very warm in there. We found it less busy midday and on. Towels are available, but bring your own water.

 

 

Jogging Track: we preferred to gym as you got a breeze at least. We used it late afternoon/ evening. We sat in the aft deck chairs here when we left Labadee and again on last sea day. Very peaceful!

 

Spa: We didn't use except for the Vitality Bar. It was super slow place to get water or even a latte.

 

Voom and Stream: I got a great deal on the package a couple of weeks before cruise. DH and DS both got the 1 device. WE got it for $7.49 per day and onboard it was $14.99 per day. It was fast and worked all over the ship. It was easy to log in from 1 device to another. My ds facetimed his GF with no issues.

 

Drink packages: DS got the soda package which he usually gets. The freestyle machines pretty much worked all the time. DH got the nonalcoholic package and really made use of lattes and bottled water. I got his package for $18 per day a couple of weeks before cruise. I believe it was $26 per day on cruise. Drinks were pretty pricey, but I believe we only bought a drink in Labadee. Beer prices were more reasonable and DH had a Few throughout the week.

 

Speciality dining: we did the following:

CHOPS: very good (booked on ship), dessert was disappointing

 

SABOR: a la carte still and no tableside guacomole, they do ask if you want mild, meduium, or hot. It was ok I thought but ds really liked it. We had prebooked but ended up changing day and time on board. We didn't need a reservation the night we went. It was mostly crew.

 

IZUMI HIBACHI: very good (prebooked but changed time once on board) I had the udon with chicken. We also added rainbow roll and tempura.

 

 

Johhny Rockets: not really speciality but for a fee..we ate lunch on 2nd sea day here. It wasn't super busy, but was super slow. It was typical JR.

 

 

Other food:

Wipeout: nice omelette made to order in AM, has frozen yogurt machine in afternoon, never too busy

 

 

Solarium Bistro: it was fine for breakfast. We didn't do lunch here. I'm not so sure about it being "healthy" but it was fine.

 

 

WJ: we had breakfast on last day here and dinner a couple of times. DS had lunch 1-2 times possibly. Dinner options were actually very good. The only day we found it busy was on boarding day. We skipped.

 

MDR: we only ate here on formal night 1. It was actually very good and service was great!

 

Park Cafe: DH and I had salads a couple of times for late lunch. One time, we walked in and the second time there was a wait, but more so due to folks not knowing what they wanted when their turn. We never had issue finding table inside or outside though.

 

DogHouse: we had a couple, of times. I had the Sicilian both times and found it better on day 1.

 

SOrrentos: I actually thought the pizza was better than on Liberty. We never waited and you could order your own personal pizza.

 

 

CAfe Promenade: great for quick drink, DH really used his coffee and water package here. Desserts were ok and DH liked the King Arthur sandwich.

 

 

Ice cream machines on deck: bust, the "ice cream" was usually a Liquid.

 

 

Deck Chairs: I really only needed on last sea day. I ended up on Sun Deck for a little bit. It was nice and quiet for the most part.

 

 

Whirlpools: I found them readily available when I wanted to use. I pretty much stuck to the cantilevered ones.

 

 

Pools: didn't use

 

 

Shows: prebooked

Mama Mia: it was ok. I am an ABBA fan, but found it just ok. It is nowhere Broadway caliber IMHO. You could have walked in and found a seat.

 

 

Ice Games: cute, You could have walked in and found a seat.

 

 

COmedy Show: THe first comedian was funnier then the second. I think I had seen both on other ships though.

 

 

Oceanaria: the diving was impressive, but the show itself and music not so much. It was ok.

 

 

We skipped the rest as by the end of the cruise we weren't too interested.

 

 

Trivia: I really like it and it was busy during most times. You had to get there early to even get a seat at a couple of decades trivia.

 

 

Music: we went to Jazz and a couple of the brass shows (funk, Earth wind and fire), My ds is a musician so he enjoyed. The Funk show in Dazzles was packed. There were lots of older couples on this cruise. They saved seats, but would leave after a few minutes of show starting. It was a confusing practice.

DS and DH also attended some Dixieland music on the Boardwalk and enjoyed that.

 

Quest: DS went and loved it.

 

QUestiins with Captain: DS went and actually got to ask a question. We kept missing in the tv though. :-(

 

Parades and anything Move it: we skipped :-)

 

Photos: I stopped buying a long time ago. We did take on at formal night. DS and I both had our eyes closed! ;p

 

Arcades: bust for older teens in ds opinion

 

Mini golf: we have had better options in other ships

 

Zipline: line was too long on last sea day when we actually got up there. Since it is so short, it wasn't worth the wait for us.

 

FLowrider and rock climbing: didn't do

 

Excursions: we did 2 and prebooked through RCI with some great discounts 2 weeks before.

 

Cozumel: All terrain buggy and snorkeling

We really liked this one and thought the guides were great. I would not recommend this for younger kids as the snorkeling is off the beach and a bit tough. You also get pretty gritty in the off road part of tour.

We also did Margaritaville here. We got apps and drinks and had a great time.

 

Falmouth: Bobsled and Dunns River Falls

We really liked this one too. We didn't find the Falls slippery at all. The Tour guide also escorts you in and out at each location so was not bothered at all.

We got back to port at 2:45 and boarding was scheduled for 3:30. It was when you realized there were over 6000 folks on the ship. Plus, Independence was in port. We ended up getting Dairy Queen. :-)

 

Labadee: I wanted to either para sail or zip line here vs just laying on beach. DH didn't even want to get off. DS insisted it be a beach day so I didn't prebook. It was much pricier on board than if I had prebooked for the zipline at least. We decided to just beach it. We walked over to Columbus Cove which was a pretty easy walk. We didn't go through the Village as we followed signs by the water slide. We found some loungers in shade and I rented a mat. It was really packed on the beach and in the water. The other beaches also looked really packed. We had the barbecue lunch which was ok. We stayed for a few hours. DH walked back and DS and I took tram as we stayed a bit longer. I would have preferred to do something or stay on the ship vs just laying on the crowded beach.

 

 

Departure: painless..we had a reservation for Thrifty at 9 as we had a late flight. We had 5 and walked out of cabin at 8:15. We were in our car at 8:55 and heading to water taxi.

 

 

Post Cruise: DH wasn't feeling well (chills) so we rode water taxi from stop 6 to 12 and then up to 4. We had lunch in Las Olas. DH bought medicine and we headed back. We picked up Starbucks. Since, it was almost 4, we decided to try our luck watching the ships depart down on the beach with the rocks. We got the last parking space. THe public beach gate is now green which was confusing! We watched a number of ships head out including the Allure. It was a fun experience

particularly watching folks on beach get soaked after ship goes by. We headed to airport to make our 7:50 flight. Again, we experienced no real lines.

 

 

We had a great time, but unless I got a great price on an eastern itineriary, I am not sure if I would do Oasis class anytime soon. We chose the cruise for the ship and have experienced it. I am interested in an Alaskan cruise in the next couple of years.

 

 

I will try to answer questions, but can't guarantee as I have long work week ahead. Thanks for reading and hope folks find helpful!

[davekathy]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review.

[Clarea]

Thanks for the very detailed report.

[packerman8]

Thank you for the review. You answered a lot of questions that I had. We are leaving in approximately four weeks and are super excited.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Cruzinbabe06]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review.

[easyboy]

Thank you for your feedback.

[androckb]

Thanks for the review, appreciate others posting their experiences!

[Clarea]

Thanks for the report. Glad to hear a non-negative report on the pizza.:)

[juliea344]

Where is the water taxi and how was your service with Thrifty? We had a car booked because of a late flight also. I thought it would be fun to explore but no one felt like driving so we cancelled it and just loitered at the Hyatt regency. Lol

Also, how long was the ride to Dunns Falls?

Edited February 28, 2017 by juliea344
Forgot to ask something

[imlulu]

Where is the water taxi and how was your service with Thrifty? We had a car booked because of a late flight also. I thought it would be fun to explore but no one felt like driving so we cancelled it and just loitered at the Hyatt regency. Lol

Also, how long was the ride to Dunns Falls?

 

 

Thrifty was excellent and super easy. I had reserved early based on feedback. We walked in and did not wait at all. From cabin to driving out of lot, took 35 minutes.

 

The water taxi has different stops. We parked in lot right near 6. It is at the Hilton Marina...very easy.

 

Dunn's river falls took about an hour. On the way there, guide gives a some history and info on Jamaica, sings some songs, etc.. it went by really quick. There were 22 people on tour so very easy to maintain.