Allure of the Seas Review

5.0 / 5.0
3,136 reviews

Allure was fantastic!

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Allure of the Seas
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Sydney Sailor
2-5 Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Sep 2011
Cabin: Central Park View Stateroom with Balcony

On September 25, 2011, my family of ten (79, 55, 54, 43, 42, 35, 33, 30, 28 (& pregnant)and 27)sailed on the Allure of the Seas. We left Ft. Lauderdale and it was showering but warm and then the sun came out and it was sunny and warm for the next 7 days. The seas were like glass. The captain said he had never seen the Caribbean so calm. The ship is huge, but it didn't really feel that way. The venues are a little cozier than on the Adventure of the Seas and the Freedom of the Seas, which we had sailed on before. We had almost 5,800 guests on board and it was not crowded and you could always find a corner of the ship that was deserted and private. We had a drink one afternoon in the bar overlooking the pool area and we were the only ones in there except for a scuba class over in the corner. I was in a hot tub (even the cantilevered one) by myself many times during the week. The pools were crowded, of course, but that was the only time we really realized how many people were on the ship. There was not an issue with lounge chairs as there was on the Freedom either. One point about our stateroom. We had six rooms, five of them next to each other and we had our cabin attendant open our balconies so we could walk from one to another. That was great. We could walk out there and see who was up (when we got up, we each opened our curtains so you could tell) or have a big group out on one balcony. We overlooked Central Park. We also had our cabin attendant empty the mini-bar on day one and we used it as a small fridge for our own stuff.

The ports were great. Labadee, which was a favorite of mine a couple years ago on the Freedom, was beautiful, but I HATED the way you had to walk by the Haitian vendors who would hollar at you and harrass you as you walked by. I liked the way it was your choice to subject yourself to that before. Now, you can't avoid it if you go to Columbus Cove. All of us women felt uncomfortable by this. We never even looked at what they were selling because of this, although we would have bought things had it been different. The water was great, the sand fine and soft and the food the ship brought on the island was satisfying and overall a very good day. It was fun at Columbus Cove that the ship was parked right out in the water in front of you, so all of our pictures of each other in the water had the ship in the background. My husband and daughter did the zip line and loved it.

Next stop, Falmouth, Jamaica. We had decided to not get off the ship because most of us had been to Jamaica before and felt that it was not someplace we wanted to go again (because of the reason we didn't like Labadee above). The Jamaicans can be very pushy and rude. What we found in Falmouth was a very different scene. The vendors were very polite, they had great things to sell and they bargained with you, but very respectfully and non-pushy. We actually spent several hours wandering the shops and stalls looking at the handicrafts and jewelry and we bought a lot of nice things. My husband, daughter and son-in-law went past the gate to the "real" Jamaica and said it was as we remembered it; very poor, pushy vendors, but great food in a little hole-in-the-wall they found. I was happy to have stayed in the cruise port. So, if you want authentic, wander away from the port, if you want a relaxed shopping experience, stay in the port area.

Cabin Review

Central Park View Stateroom with Balcony

Cabin C2

Our cabin was good. I would have preferred the other "hand" stateroom which was on either side of us that had the bed nearer to the balcony. Our bed just seemed to be in the way. We had five staterooms next to each other and we had them open up the balconies so we could go one to another and it was fantastic. Also, we had them empty the "mini-bar" on day one and used the fridge for our own stuff.

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