For this cruise on
Allure, we went on the cheap and booked an inside cabin on deck 8. The inside cabins are actually quite nice on
the Oasis ships and have plenty of space for two. Our cabin was located conveniently near
Central Park and was a nice central location on the ship. No complaints at all about the cabin.
This was an Eastern
Caribbean itinerary with stops in St. Maarten, San Juan, and Royal's private
stop in Labadee, Haiti. Unlike our
previous trips on Oasis Class ships, this one left from Miami, so we got our
first look at Royal Caribbean's new terminal which was just completed
last year. We arrived very early, around
10:30AM, and it was a bit of a zoo with people arriving and others still
leaving. Traffic was a mess and
it took quite a bit of time to get to where we could drop off our bags. After that, getting to the parking was somewhat of an adventure. The terminal layout is
good with everything under one roof, baggage drop off, parking, and check in,
however we found that there wasn't much direction or signage on where to
go. We wound up almost leaving the
terminal area because we missed the turn to enter the parking garage so we had
to flip back around. (Tip: stay to the
left after you drop off your bags as the parking entrance is up a ramp to the
left, if there are signs, I missed them.)
Once we got all that
sorted out, we proceeded to the check in area.
If you already checked in online, you just go to a rep who has a
portable tablet that scans your paperwork and takes your picture, that's it. That went smoothly but boarding seemed to be
held up for some reason. We got to the
boarding area and they were not letting people on the ship just yet. By this time it was about 11AM and there were
already maybe a couple hundred people in the waiting area. The waiting area appeared to be all one large room and I
didn't see any separate areas for Diamond, Pinnacle, etc members. The wait in the boarding area of the terminal
lasted about 20 minutes or so and they finally started calling groups to
board. First time we've had to wait to
board, a little inconvenient, but not the end of the world.
 |
| Giant moving propeller at top of escalator in RCCL Miami terminal |
 |
| Terminal from on board the ship |
Last time we were on
Allure was back in 2015 and she still looks great. We didn't notice any issues with her
appearance or any lack of maintenance problems.
Everything seemed pretty "tip top" to me. First thing we did was head for the
Windjammer to get some food and plan our day.
Lunch was fine and we did some exploring until the cabins were ready at
around 11:30 - 12:00. That really
signals the start of our cruise when we can drop off our stuff in the cabin and
get to enjoying things. After that,
there was a quick meet & greet at the Trellis Bar in Central Park set up
through the Crown& Anchor Society Facebook group prior to the lifeboat drill. That was fun and it was nice to meet some new
people.
Entertainment wise
on this cruise, we didn't do too much.
We did get to the Aqua Show on the first night and it was great. Unfortunately we missed Mamma Mia. We did have a reservation but decided to not
go since I was unsure I wanted to sit through about 3 hours of that. From what we heard, we missed out. Everyone we talked to who saw it, loved
it. Oh well, maybe next time.
On the all-important
food side of things, we mixed up our dining with a little bit of this and a
little bit of that. We did eat dinner in
the Dining Room a couple of nights and the food was fine, no issues. Service, as always, was great. On the first formal night we did Sushi at
Izumi. We absolutely love Izumi and this
did not disappoint. Maybe one day we'll
try the hibachi side of Izumi. The rest
of the nights we kind of just grazed on the seemingly endless options on Allure. Pizza at Sorrento's, Windjammer,
Roast Beef sandwiches at Park Cafe, Dogs at the Boardwalk Dog House, etc. There is no shortage of places to eat on
Allure or her sisters. The highlight,
dining wise, may have been lunch in the Dining Room. We haven't gone to lunch in the dining room
in many, many years but we've been meaning to try it again. I have to say, it did not disappoint. I'm not sure if it's an Oasis Class thing or
if they do it on all ships now, but lunch in the dining room on sea days
consists of table service from a menu and/or a rather large buffet complete
with fresh pasta station and other hot dishes.
On the last sea day, they had a huge dessert buffet with literally
dozens of fresh cakes, pies, ice cream and other yummy stuff. Definitely something to check out if you have
a chance.
 |
| Dessert section of lunch buffet in dining room |
As I mentioned
earlier, we stopped in St. Maarten, San Juan, and Labadee, all places we've
been to several times before. We did get
off the ship briefly in St. Maarten to walk around the port area and check out
the shops. We love San Juan but we were
not there very long. I believe we
arrived at 7AM and were only there until 1PM.
Too early for us so we stayed on board.
At Labadee, we also stayed on board and took advantage of the relatively
empty ship.
 |
| Allure in St. Maarten |
Our evenings were
mostly taken up spending time in the Diamond Club. We really love the perks of being Diamond and
we have met so many great people hanging out there over our last few cruises. This cruise was no different. We had a great time and the staff there is
just fantastic.
Always sad to see a
cruise come to an end. One of these
days, we'll try to book something longer than a week. Tough to do right now with my work schedule
though.
Allure and her Oasis
Class sister ships are lots of fun and would be good for "new"
cruisers as they have got something for everyone. Allure is scheduled to undergo the RoyalAmplified treatment in 2020 after Oasis gets it done this year. That should add some of the new features seen
on the latest ships like Harmony and Symphony of the Seas. We've already seen the changes to Mariner of
the Seas and they were pretty cool.
Next up is Adventure of the Seas in April.
Next up is Adventure of the Seas in April.
Hits:
- Tons to do
- Ship is still looking good
- Great staff
- Lunch in the Main Dining Room
- New friends
Misses:
- Missed Mamma Mia (totally our fault)
- Delays getting onboard (not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things)
No comments:
Post a Comment