This was my favorite cruise that I have ever been on and I think it was mostly because of the crew. The crew for me always makes the cruise for me. The ship itself was also very fun for my family. I would not hesitate even for a second to get back on board Allure.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
This was the fastest embarkation I have EVER had. From the time we got dropped off at Port Everglades to the time we boarded the ship was maybe 10 minutes. Check-in was so smooth, easy, and painless.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
We ate in the main dining room 3 nights of our cruise and the service was ok, not the best but certainly not the worst. The food was also not the best. They mixed up my order 2 of the 3 nights that we ate there. We ate at 4 specialty restaurants which were AMAZING. One night we ate at Sabor, the Mexican restaurant, which was very good. Another night we ate at Samba Grill, Solarium Bistro transforms into Samba Grill at night, which is a Brazilian steak house which was SO GOOD and so much meat. We also ate at Giovanni's Table for dinner which was also very good- sort of a traditional Giovanni's experience. Another great thing on the Oasis Class ships is the Izumi Hibachi option. We ate there for lunch one day and the food there was the best food I ate all week, and our chef was so funny and nice.
Izumi Hibachi & Sushi
5 out of 5
Food was the best I ate all week, filet mignon with shrimp. The chef was also very funny and very nice. All around great experience.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
I did most activities that Allure offered, but I could not get to them all. I tried zip-lining, the flow rider, rock climbing. All were very fun and would do them all again in a heart beat. The pools were also very fun. I often found myself gravitating towards the beach pool since it was always easy to find a seat there and was never crazy crowded.
Flowrider
5 out of 5
This was my first time on a flow rider and it was so much fun. The staff there helped me out so much and without them, I would never have been able to "get the hang of it."
Entertainment
5 out of 5
We saw Blue Planet in the Royal Theater. This was a good show and everything, but it was hard for me to appreciate because it was just not my style of show that I generally prefer. We also saw Ice Games in Studio B, the ice rink. This was a fantastic show because the audience got to be somewhat involved and the ice skaters were just so talented and so good at what they do. My favorite show on board was Oceanaria which is the show in the aqua theater. If I had to describe this show in one word it would be "WOW." This was so cool to watch because the divers were so cool, and all of the technology that was incorporated such as the water cannons/jets out of the ground, the rising platforms that allowed the performers to be on "land" and the trampoline tricks were all extremely cool.
Aqua Theater
5 out of 5
We had a boardwalk view balcony and whenever I walked onto the balcony, I would look at the aqua theater and chances are, there was something going on. Throughout the day there were either fountain shows, or you could watch the performers practice for shows, and they would even show movies there. When not sitting in the scorching sun, preferably in the shade, this was by far my #1 venue to go hang out at.
Children's Programs
Not traveling with young kids
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Our MDR waitress was not the best we had. The best server that we had was on Grandeur of the Seas where our waiter really took the time to get to know us, and on Allure, our waitress just did not do that at all. On Grandeur, my waiter would come up to us, shake out hands every night, and call us by name which we really enjoyed on Grandeur but we missed having that experience on Allure. Our stateroom attendant was one of the best that we ever had, was so personable and didn't even bat an eye when we asked him to do something. There were a couple of things that I needed to ask him to do and I felt funny asking him, but he was happy to take care of it for us. All other staff were amazing to us from the staff in the Windjammer to the Captain, they were all so nice. I would like to mention 3 crew member's names because they were so good at what they do and they were so nice to talk to- Captain Ron Holmes, Cruise Director Mitch Merucci, and Activities Manager Amy Tripp. Great job guys!
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Up until going on Allure of the Seas, the largest ship that I had been on was Explorer of the Seas. This was quite a jump in size, and I loved it. I truly love big ships and I now classify myself as a "big ship guy." Everything about the ship was awesome from the layout of venues to the size of my cabin, everything was just terrific.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
We had 2 connecting boardwalk balcony rooms cabin number 10701 and 10699. We asked out stateroom attendant to remove the balcony divider and he did that with no problems. Everyday our rooms were perfectly clean. I actually thought the rooms would be a lot smaller than they were, but I was wrong. The rooms were a great size and we had no problems with fitting out stuff in the closets and storage space provided. I loved the boardwalk balcony because I could go on the balcony at pretty much anytime of the day and look down and I would usually see something going on either on the boardwalk, or in the aqua theater. I was able to stick my head out one night and watched the aqua show from a distance from my balcony.
Ship tip
My best tip for someone going on Allure of the Seas would be to try as much as you can. On Oasis Class ships, you cannot do it all on a 7 night cruise. That being said, you need to do everything you can while on board. I once heard a cruise director say, "You can sleep when you get home," which is just to say that there is so much to do on board and you should try to take advantage of all of it.
I had never been to Nassau before and I had heard of a website that granted you day passes to resorts and we got one to the British Colonial Hilton for the day with lunch, pools, beach and wifi all included. This was a 5 minute walk from the ship and it was very nice. We got off the ship quickly, got there and played in the pools and on the beach for a few hours, had a late lunch and then went back to the ship since we left at 2:30 in the afternoon.
We have been to St. Thomas before and we didn't do anything special. We walked around the port area for about an hour and got back on board. When we got back on board, there was no one on board so all venues were pretty much empty which was great on the pool deck.
I have a kid (20) that gets car sick especially in the back seat of a car. Cruise ships have never been a problem. Very different especially on a big ship like this. If in doubt, buy something like Bonine and have it ready the morning of sailing. If nothing else just knowing you are prepared overcomes the mental block.
I'd get there around 10:30am. Ship often boards around 11 depending on customs. Cabins ready around 1pm so if you have alot of carry on luggage plan accordingly. Terminal 18. If you haven't booked reservations for shows I'd do that 1st. Don't miss them.
So I am crazy and get to the port between 10:30 and 11:00 but I would say get there between 11:00-11:30 and you should be able to get right on board. For what you should do first- walk around the entire ship and get your bearings because this is a huge ship. I did several activities on embarkation day- zip line, mini golf, etc. So walk around the whole ship and do anything that interests YOU.
Wow! First cruise!!! I bet you won’t be getting much sleep tonight. I think you will have a great time. I think at least 2 of the 3 crew members that I named are still on board. If so, you will have a fantastic cruise. You will have a fantastic cruise either way actually.
It always seems like everyone has a different experience on board which I think is a good thing because we can all share our experiences like this and talk about them
Great review! We also loved the Allure! The only difference is we had a fantastic MDR experience! Really has to do with the waiter, her name was Naning and she went above and beyond.
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