Allure ideas--quiet spots, not-to-miss foods, must knows from experienced!

[DebandPaul]

We will be on the March 10th Eastern Caribbean trip on the Allure with friends and our daughter and SIL. I cannot emphasize enough how much we are looking forward to this trip! This winter in North Dakota has been brutal!

This will be our third cruise, the last one was on Celebrity to Alaska in 2009. We are sorta foodies, raised our four children and are looking for quiet child-free spaces, and no doubt will enjoy everything. Any advice for our first time with RCI and the Allure?

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, DebandPaul said:

Any advice for our first time with RCI and the Allure?

Just keep reading Allure reviews.

[Clarea]

4 hours ago, DebandPaul said:

We will be on the March 10th Eastern Caribbean trip on the Allure with friends and our daughter and SIL. I cannot emphasize enough how much we are looking forward to this trip! This winter in North Dakota has been brutal!

This will be our third cruise, the last one was on Celebrity to Alaska in 2009. We are sorta foodies, raised our four children and are looking for quiet child-free spaces, and no doubt will enjoy everything. Any advice for our first time with RCI and the Allure?

 

It's going to be tough to find child-free spaces on an Oasis class ship.  Chef's Table for interesting food, though children are allowed there.  The casino is restricted to 18 and over, but it's not quiet and Royal allows smoking.  Celebrity might be a better choice.

[GaryA55]

Try the Park Cafe (breakfast and lunch items) - although not child free, they are minimal and the setting is peaceful.

 

Chefs Table - don't wast your $$

 

Go to your on line Cruise Planner and you'll see Specialty Dining packages, consider that as an option. Well worth the $$ as the meals are outstanding.

 

Promenade - You will spend much time walking this but be aware, many kids and some parents will be clueless when their little one is running....

[RazorbackIslandGirl]

Chef's Table if everyone likes wine. 150 Central Park is a wonderful meal also. I always go to Chop's just for the mushroom soup!

[jean-lynd]

We just got off of the Allure last Sunday.  We loved the Solarium.  It is adults only (16 and over) and on the very front of the ship with great views.  They have hot tubs, a small pool, lots of lounge chairs, some cushioned wicker chairs, a bar and the Solarium Bistro.  We usually ate breakfast and lunch in the Solarium Bistro.  They do allow children in the Bistro but we never saw any and there was never a line and we never had trouble finding a table.  They have outside tables that we really enjoyed. 

 

Another good spot for free breakfast is Johnny Rockets.  We ate there one morning and really enjoyed it.  We didn't set foot in the Windjammer all week! 

 

We ate all of our dinners in the main dinning room with my time dining.  We didn't eat at any of the specialty restaurants so I can't help you with that.

 

Helpful hint - There is a touch screen directory near the elevators. If you touch on "Dining" it will show you a list of all dining locations that are currently open and how busy they are.  We used it every day to figure out where to eat breakfast and lunch.

 

Central Park is another area that is quiet and restful. A lot of the specialty restaurants are located there and there is a nice bar.  In the evenings they frequently had live music.

 

Make sure to make reservations for the shows you want to see in Cruise Planner if you haven't already.  Don't miss the Oceanaria show.  It is wonderful!  If Adam Kario is still the headliner we really enjoyed him.  He is a juggler but also a comic.  I haven't laughed that hard in a long time!  We were disappointed in the ice show and didn't see Mama Mia.  Blue Planet was good but once was enough.  I would go see Oceanaria and Adam Kario again if I could.

 

Make sure to load the RC App onto everyone's phones.  It is very helpful and you can text each other on the ship.

 

If you have any other questions I will try to answer them.  I hope this helps!

 

 

 

[zdad59]

We just got off Allure last Sunday as well.    Solarium was an awesome place.   Peaceful.   A pool and two hot tubs.    Plenty of places in both sun and shade.   If you like a mixed drink, Kareme in the Solarium Bar is awesome.

 

Mama Mia was GREAT.    Blue Planet was GREAT.   Ocean Aria was very good.   

 

Central Park in the evening is very peaceful and relaxing.

 

I have a review up that You can find.   I go through the hits and misses in the MDR.    If you like French Onion Soup you really need to read it.

My Review

Edited March 3, 2019 by zdad59

[Gatordad815]

I haven’t been on Allure yet, but have been on it’s virtually identical sister ship Oasis twice. While we do have small children, when they went to Adventure Ocean in the evenings, my wife and I found several “adult” places to spend time that we really enjoyed.

 

While the casino is not the quiet area you are looking for, it is adults only fun. And half of it is non smoking which we appreciated (yes it still smells but not nearly as bad).

 

Jazz on 4 is an intimate venue with great live music-very relaxing. I’m not sure if kids are officially excluded, but I never saw one there.

 

As already mentioned, Central Park is lovely. And while kids are allowed, it’s still quite a relaxing atmosphere.

 

The solarium is adults only and very relaxing.

 

Vintages in Central Park was very quiet and peaceful. 

 

The boardwalk, promenade, and pool areas are very family-friendly and there will be lots of noise and kids in those places. But there are plenty of alternative places you can enjoy some adult time! Have a great trip!

[jean-lynd]

6 hours ago, zdad59 said:

We just got off Allure last Sunday as well.    Solarium was an awesome place.   Peaceful.   A pool and two hot tubs.    Plenty of places in both sun and shade.   If you like a mixed drink, Kareme in the Solarium Bar is awesome.

 

Mama Mia was GREAT.    Blue Planet was GREAT.   Ocean Aria was very good.   

 

Central Park in the evening is very peaceful and relaxing.

 

I have a review up that You can find.   I go through the hits and misses in the MDR.    If you like French Onion Soup you really need to read it.

My Review

We crossed paths with your group many times. We even let you have our table as we were leaving the Bistro the one day that it was some what busy. I think it was the second sea day. We were also on deck 11 and we loved Kareme!

[zdad59]

5 minutes ago, jean-lynd said:

We crossed paths with your group many times. We even let you have our table as we were leaving the Bistro the one day that it was some what busy. I think it was the second sea day. We were also on deck 11 and we loved Kareme!

 

Awesome.     I hope we were polite and weren't unruly .    It was a great trip, except for the early closing of everything the last night.   

[jean-lynd]

6 minutes ago, zdad59 said:

 

Awesome.     I hope we were polite and weren't unruly .    It was a great trip, except for the early closing of everything the last night.   

Oh yes - all was good! We stayed up on deck to watch the procedures in Miami. Always amazed at how they maneuver these ships!

[nhraformula00]

Deck 5 in the rear of ship is nice quiet place to sit in the shade and enjoy watching the water and waves. It is where the running track goes around the ship. 

[elainesj]

I'm going on this cruise as well! We are all super excited. Hoping to meet folks from our Roll Call at the Cruise Critic Meet and Mingle 🙂

 

I heard there is a "secret" deck on Deck 14 forward I will try to locate.

 

We have been having a blast going through the activities that have already been posted in the app. We all plan to have the app loaded and ready to go on our phones. Nice that the app has a built in app!

 

[jean-lynd]

1 hour ago, elainesj said:

I'm going on this cruise as well! We are all super excited. Hoping to meet folks from our Roll Call at the Cruise Critic Meet and Mingle 🙂

 

I heard there is a "secret" deck on Deck 14 forward I will try to locate.

 

We have been having a blast going through the activities that have already been posted in the app. We all plan to have the app loaded and ready to go on our phones. Nice that the app has a built in app!

 

The sundeck isn't really a secret. You get to it down a short hallway of cabins on the port side. There is a sign on the wall by the doorway to the hallway.

[ChollaChick]

In order to use the app do you have to purchase Voom?

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, ChollaChick said:

In order to use the app do you have to purchase Voom?

No.

[Foodluvr]

Card Room and Library are good quiet places. Although not off limits to kids, they are rarely in there.  Vintages is another option!

 

We really enjoyed Sambra and Park 150 on our cruise.

 

 

[MomtoCCC]

On 3/3/2019 at 11:39 AM, jean-lynd said:

 

Make sure to load the RC App onto everyone's phones.  It is very helpful and you can text each other on the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

[MomtoCCC]

Did you have to purchase Wi-Fi or anything to use text feature?  We went on recent Carnival cruise and we could send texts through their App - had to pay $5 extra (just a one time fee) .  It was very handy.  Does the Royal App have a similar feature?

[jean-lynd]

6 minutes ago, MomtoCCC said:

Did you have to purchase Wi-Fi or anything to use text feature?  We went on recent Carnival cruise and we could send texts through their App - had to pay $5 extra (just a one time fee) .  It was very handy.  Does the Royal App have a similar feature?

You don't need to purchase anything - just load the App.