Great ship, Great staff, good locations

Allure of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 35

Overall rating:

5 out of 5
Verified Review
Allure of the Seas

7 Night Eastern Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: July 17, 2016

Ship: Allure of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 8568

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

This was my wife and I's first cruise, and everyone tells me that I will be spoiled forever.  Allure of the Seas is a huge ship with a park, promenade, and boardwalk that go right down the center of the ship.  It was an adventure just exploring and finding all the features that this ship offers.  

 

The food was excellent.  We went to "my time" dining every night and got to know our waiters very well.  We only ate at the Windjammer once or twice and that was for lunch.  Most of the other times were either at the Solarium bistro or at the Central Park Cafe.  

 

We were never bored: we went to most of the shows, and they were excellent.  We had a hard time finding dancing that fit us.  One of the dance bars was much to "rap" for us.  (We are in our mid-forties.)  The dance bar that we thought would be good for us, never actually had people dancing, even though the music was excellent. On our third try, we just started dancing by ourselves, and after two songs the whole dance floor was covered. Unfortunately, we got there late and there were only 2-3 songs before they closed down.  

 

The landfalls were ok- St. Maartin was fun- we just went to the beach and stayed there for the day.  We didn't bother getting off the ship in St. Juan since it was only a 1/2 day in port and we weren't going shopping.  Labadee is ok, we went on the snorkeling excursion and found the reef to be bleached and over fished. Not very healthy at all.  I wouldn't recommend it.  Other than that, Labadee is a very big beach.  There are jet skis and other active water sports that are available.  I couldn't believe that the zip-line cost 95$.  I would never consider spending that much on one zip-line trip, but I saw many people did.  To each their own.

Casino was underwhelming, especially the poker section.  They could do so much better it's pathetic.  

 

Over-all a wonderful trip and we will definitely go cruising again. 

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5
First cruise, told to expect a small cabin, still surprised by it though. Clean, but not nearly enough storage space. My wife never unpacked her suitcase.

Ship tip

Central Park is the only place that has fresh squeezed orange juice: even though there is a price listed replenish drink package (non-alcoholic package) includes it. That drink package does NOT include starbucks or the only smoothie bar (near the spa) even though I thought they were included.

Ports of call

Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida

3 out of 5

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

5 out of 5

San Juan, Puerto Rico

1 out of 5

Labadee (Cruise Line Private Island)

3 out of 5
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6 Comments

Jules15    8 years ago

Well navigator is an older ship. Not sure if that was one that was done over. It def won't be the Allure, but I'm sure you will have a great time . I know what U mean though, I would be comparing everything. Lol

kazy66    8 years ago

Great review! We are similar age bracket- what was the best dance area that you found called please? We are in similar minds to you about excursions- stay on ship in San Juan, lie in and (hopefully) enjoy an empty ship. Is that what you found?

Travelgirl27    8 years ago

We love the Allure...been twice. We are going on the Navigator for the 9 night southern because of the ports and I have to say I am a little nervous about "downsizing".

Travelgirl27    8 years ago

Starbucks is not included on the Oasis class of ships which includes the Allure. I had the Ultimate package and was told that any ship that has a free standing kiosk that those Starbucks are not included and those ships serve Seattle's Best Coffee in the promenade cafe and elsewhere that is included.

dandycruiser    8 years ago

Great review. Im glad you enjoyed yourself. My first cruise is in November. We are so excited.

meghad23    8 years ago

When I got the ultimate package I was told Starbucks was included, but asked first and the person said no... So needless to say I just skipped it. This next time around on the oasis, I'm going to just hit the regular cafe for lattes or iced coffees. 

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