Allure of the Seas Review
Allure of the Seas is a Lovely Experience
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We chose this cruise because we had seen this ship in port on other cruises (Carnival) and it seemed so much bigger and better, plus we really liked the ports it was visiting (Bahamas, St. Thomas and St. Maarten). It was a lovely ship with so much to do. The only negative with a large ship is the embarkation process took a very long time (90+ minutes). Our window to check-in was 12:30-3:30. We arrived at the Port Everglades port in Fort Lauderdale at 1pm. By 3pm, the line was much shorter, so next time I would arrive later. Also, when trying to get back on the ship from Port, the one day with an early return time (1:30pm in Bahamas) had very long lines to board the ship. The other days the boarding process went very quick.
There were plenty of restaurants and things to do on board. Central park is beautiful and the shows were great! Loved Mama Mia!, the Aqua show, and also the comedy shows. The food in the buffet (Windjammer Cafe) was good, but not great - they had a lot of unusual food choices which just weren't appealing to me. Sometimes it was a little tough finding a table in Windjammer, but we always managed to find one and often next to the window with a great view of the ocean. The food in the dining rooms was very good and the decor lovely - there were 3 different dining rooms to choose from, but I believe they all had the same menu. They had prime rib, steak, chicken, pasta, and seafood dishes as well - and each day new items were added. There was always had something enticing on the menu. In the diningrooms, the passengers dressed from casual to fancy, so you could wear whatever suited you and feel comfortable.
The pool area was much less crazy than Carnival - although music was playing, it wasn't too loud and we always found a spot in the pool and also a lounge chair to use. It would have been nice to have one large pool, rather than several small ones, but I really loved the baja shelf where you could sit in the pool, keep cool, and relax.
Cabin Review
Superior Ocean View Stateroom with Balcony
Our cabin was occupied by two people. We had an outside balcony with a perfect view of the ocean. It was perfect for two, but couldn't imagine adding any more people to this room. The bed was very comfortable. For two people, there was plenty of storage - under the bed (where the suitcases fit nicely), in the closet (even had an additional pull down bar for another closet rod), and the dresser area which included a few drawers. It would have been very tight to have the couch made into a bed, so luckily we didn't need to use the couch. Unlike other ships (Celebrity, etc), the balcony is not obstructed below by a deck below. There are two outlets - one on the dresser area and one under the bed, so we brought an extension cord for easy access to the one under the bed. I liked being on Deck 8, which is the same level as Central Park, since it was very easy to walk from the front of the ship to the back without having to maneuver down narrow hallways. The balconies that overlooked Central park also had a great view - I would not have liked the ones that overlooked the boardwalk as this area was quite noisy with the Aqua Theater (shows, movies, etc.), the bands, and the carousel.