What an amazing experience. For first time cruisers, you cannot go wrong with the Allure. Even though we thought the ship was wonderful, we were happy to hear about the renovations in 2020 so that we could experience it anew all over again in the future.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
My son and family loved the sailing away party and waving good-bye at the port. We had to get down to dinner pretty quickly for our 5:15 seating, but it was still fun.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
Food was plentiful. I loved the diversity and the availability. The Windjammer is great but we encountered some lines, so the MDRs were a good option and alternative for breakfast and lunch some times. The food there was just as good and you even got table service. I liked the make-your-own-chopped-salad at the MDR for lunch (American Icon restaurant). We did not eat at specialty restaurants but we did do the sushi class at Izumi and really had fun!
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
I loved that there were different kinds of trivia every day, multiple times a day. A hidden gem was the shuffleboard courts behind the Aqua Theater, where my son played tirelessly for hours! My husband enjoyed the zip line, and of course, the pools were great. Despite MANY signs and tips saying "don't hog a chair," people definitely would reserve pool chairs and then leave the area. This was not really a problem for us, but I can see that people would get annoyed if they wanted to be out in the sun. I also really had fun at karaoke and the "Finish the Lyrics" game.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Mamma Mia was probably the worst of the bunch, but the rest of the shows were great. I am a big a cappella fan and the Edge Effect did not disappoint at all. We also saw Blue Planet, Ice Games, and Ocean Aria, all of which I would definitely encourage people to see! Blue Planet was very creative.
Children's Programs
4 out of 5
We only dropped off our son once to Adventure Ocean, but he seemed to have fun. I took off a star because I think they need a better system of being able to communicate with parents in case of emergency. They told us they would just call our cabin if we were needed, but the time our son was in the club, we were in the sushi making class.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Our room steward was phenomenal. He really played up the towel animals for our son. We didn't know that he would convert the couch into the bed at night for our son, so that was a lovely surprise. Our MDR server was all right; not phenomenal service, but also didn't do anything wrong. The staff was kind and friendly and helpful
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
The neighborhoods really help make the ship seem navigable and help people figure out where to go and how to get there. The elevators were a little slow, but when you're on the world's third largest cruise ship, that is understandable.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
We had watched a number of YouTube videos and pictures to see what our room would look like. It was an Inside Promenade-View room, so we had a window that looked out onto the Promenade. Unless you stood right by the window, people below could not see into the room. You could also not see people across the ship on the opposite side. The blackout curtains were great and kept the room dark. You could not hear people in the cabins on either side of our own. We had anticipated some noise coming in from parties on the Promenade at night and brought a speaker to play white noise at night. However, our room was under a maintenance area one deck above us on 8 and there was a lot of noise on our ceiling from something rolling around constantly. I had to call guest services twice on two occasions to get them to stop. I would say that the room itself was fine for two adults and a six year old, but that noise from above was very distracting.
Ship tip
An over-the-door shoe organizer to hang on the back of the bathroom door is an excellent way to add storage for everyday essentials like sunscreen, sanitizer, sunglasses, and more.
We did the Sawgrass boat tour and wildlife center. I would not call this excursion "excellent," but our son had also pretty much had it by the time we disembarked and I would not fault the center for that. There were animals that you could see and my husband held a baby alligator. The tour guide, Laurie, was very smart and knowledgeable, and the tour also provided a free transfer to the airport.
We did a non-RC excursion run by Bernard's Tours. It was fabulous! The island itself was lovely and they gave us an adequate amount of time to spend there.
We did not choose to do an excursion in San Juan, but instead took a free golf cart/taxi to the El Morro fort where we did a self-guided tour. The day was excruciatingly hot, but the fort was really neat with lots of things to see, great views, and wild iguanas. From the very top of Old San Juan, it is a VERY short walk back to the port and we stopped on the way for icees on the street and popsicles. RC did NOT give a lot of time in San Juan: we had about 6 hours from the time of docking to the time of departure. It would have been nice to have more time there, but since it was also SO very hot, it was not a bad thing to be back on the boat.
We made this our lazy day and left the ship late. We took the water taxi boat out to Columbus Cove and then easily found some beach loungers in the back by the bathrooms and lunch place where we set up and then went in the water. It was crowded, but still enjoyable. The free lunch there was a cookout-type style with burgers and hot dogs and such. We only spent about two hours at the beach and then took a tram back to the ship. I didn't realize how big Labadee was. I would probably have explored a little more if we didn't have our son with us.
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