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Allure Review July 8 ~ 15


bellemiche

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Thought I would share our wonderful experience celebrating our 10 year anniversary on the Allure!

Saturday July 7 - We arrived early afternoon at the Renaissance Cruise Port FLL. Our room wasn't quite yet ready, so we left our luggage with them and walked over to Publix to get our wine. We stopped at Duffy's for a drink and to watch soccer and shortly after our room was ready.  That evening, we walked back to the Harbor Shops Plaza for dinner at La Bamba (as recommended by @Lovetocruise2002) and back to Duffy's to watch UFC (hubby's request). Bed was comfortable and we had a good night's sleep.

Sunday July 8 - Woke up and walked over to Einstein Bros. and Starbucks for breakfast and a coffee. We signed up for the shuttle ($6 per person) for a 10:30 am departure. We arrived at approximately 10:45 am and waited shortly (20 - 30 mins) in the Diamond area before boarding. Once on board, we walked around a bit and made our reservations for the specialty restaurants (Chops for Day 2, Giovanni's Table for Day 4, and 150 Central Park for Day 6). Our junior suite (room 7640) was ready at around 1 pm and our luggage came shortly after, as did champagne and chocolate covered strawberries. ?

We were feeling a little hungry, so we headed to Park Café for a kummelweck sandwich (yummy). After that we changed into our suits and went up to the solarium pool (not busy).

For dinner, we first went to the Diamond Lounge for drinks and onto Coastal Kitchen for dinner. Our server Rexcel in the Coastal Kitchen was wonderful and we got to know her throughout the week as she became our regular server. 

After dinner, we watched Oceanaria and stopped in at karaoke (On Air) on our way back to the room.

to be continued...….

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Monday July 9

We slept in a bit then got dressed and headed to the Cruise Critic meet and greet in On Air. We won a prize pack of RC items (backpack, hat, water bottle, pen, keychain, highlighter, reusable bag) and ended up using the back pack throughout the week. ? 

Once the meet and greet was over, we had a breakfast sandwich in Park Café.

Throughout the day, we went back and forth between the main pools (quite busy due to it being a sea day) and the solarium pool. Lunch at Windjammer was okay and we easily found a seat even though it was busy. 

That evening we enjoyed dinner in Chops. We had the crab cake and grilled black peppercorn bacon for appetizers (both were very good). For the main, the filet mignon was excellent but we found the mac and cheese a little dry. They brought both of our desserts (key lime pie and liquid center chocolate cake)  on the same plate and sang us "Happy Anniversary" to the tune of "Happy Birthday." 

We had 10:30 pm reservations for the comedy club. The comedians were Rick Corso & Graham Kay and they didn't disappoint. We laughed a lot!

On our way back to the room, we stopped by the Schooner Bar and listened to the singer who was also playing acoustic guitar.

 

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Tuesday July 10

I got up and went to the gym around 7 am while the hubby slept in. We headed to Johnny Rockets for breakfast around 9 a.m. and it wasn't busy at all. We had the breakfast sandwich and patty n' eggs (the latter became my hubby's favourite).

First, we tried out the TV show trivia at On Air, but unfortunately didn't do very well. Lots of newer shows that we were unfamiliar with.

Next, we spent time at the solarium pool and had lunch at the solarium buffet.

In the afternoon, we went to watch the Sexiest Man Alive competition at the aqua theatre. When that was finished, we headed back to On Air to watch soccer. 

That night, we had drinks in the Diamond Lounge before heading to Coastal Kitchen.

We were quite tired, so we didn't do much that night. Our first stop (St. Maarten) was also in the morning, and we wanted to be up and off the ship asap.

 

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Following along as we will be on the Allure in October for our Anniversary and my Birthday.  Our TA indicated both on our reservation.  Did your reservation have that noted as well.  My wife will like the Happy Anniversary plate so I was wondering if you mentioned it to Chops or if they already knew about it. 

Oh, how crowded was the Solarium on the sea days?    Thanks

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Wednesday July 11 

We arrived in St. Maarten and headed over to Hertz to pick up our jeep. We reserved it online (no credit card needed to reserve) for $93. After giving our information and getting a map, we were brought to our jeep. The map wasn't the best and the signs weren't the greatest, but we had lots of fun kind of winging it. First stop was Friar's Bay - it was beautiful and only about 10 people were there. We got out and went for a short swim before getting back to our adventure. I had read about Pic Paradise as having beautiful views of the island, so when we saw the sign on our drive, we decided to go there. Glad we had the jeep because the road became quite bumpy and closer to the top it was a very narrow road (more like for one car). We didn't end up hiking to the top, but we stopped and got out where we could turn around and took some nice pictures. Next stop was Maho Beach where we opted to go have a drink and bite to eat at Sunset Bar & Grill.  Lastly, we went to Mullet Bay where we went for a swim before going back to the port. When we arrived to return our jeep, the rep for Hertz wasn't there, so we put the keys in the drop box. 

That night we had dinner at Giovanni's Table. We shared the antipasti and gnocchi for appetizers. I opted for the ossobuco (delicious) and my hubby had the pasta of the day (chicken marsala). For dessert, I chose the tiramisu (one of the best desserts I had all week ?) and my hubby had the cannoli. 

We made reservations for the 70's Disco Inferno VIP experience on the Rising Tide Bar. It included drinks, snacks and favors ($26 pp if you have a drink package and $52 pp if you don't). We went to the bar around 9:30 and the disco street party started around 10:15 pm. It was a fun way to watch the street party! The chocolate martinis went down very well! ?

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Just now, mbk999 said:

Following along as we will be on the Allure in October for our Anniversary and my Birthday.  Our TA indicated both on our reservation.  Did your reservation have that noted as well.  My wife will like the Happy Anniversary plate so I was wondering if you mentioned it to Chops or if they already knew about it. 

Oh, how crowded was the Solarium on the sea days?    Thanks

They made note of our anniversary on our reservation but we didn't mention it to Chops. 

On sea days we tried to go to the Solarium by 9:30 am so we could get chairs. By the afternoon, it got quite crowded.

You will have a great time celebrating both your birthday and anniversary!

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1 hour ago, bellemiche said:

They made note of our anniversary on our reservation but we didn't mention it to Chops

Thanks.  We are in flux as to what restaurant we will be at so it sounds like it will follow

 

1 hour ago, bellemiche said:

On sea days we tried to go to the Solarium by 9:30 am so we could get chairs. By the afternoon, it got quite crowded.

Good advice

 

1 hour ago, bellemiche said:

You will have a great time celebrating both your birthday and anniversary!

You don't know how much we are both looking forward to it and need a week of escape where no one can reach us / or we can't do anything about anything!

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2 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

OMG...you did not tell me there was wildlife out of nowhere!  I don't even like dogs and cats!  Cows are even worse ?

@Lovetocruise2002 Well it's not like we were hanging out with them! They weren't at the beach! ?

They just happened to be in an area near Friar's Bay and this one wandered onto the road. 

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1 hour ago, bellemiche said:

@Lovetocruise2002 Well it's not like we were hanging out with them! They weren't at the beach! ?

They just happened to be in an area near Friar's Bay and this one wandered onto the road. 

Cows & me...really bad news, one of the worst experiences of my life!  There's a story to that....?

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Thursday July 12

The ship was docked in San Juan from 7:00 am until 2:00 pm. We were up early and went to the Windjammer for some breakfast before meeting for our tour. We chose the "Wonders of San Juan" tour which was 3 hours. We walked to the end of the pier and easily found our group and guide. My hubby and I ended up at the back of the bus, and although it wasn't a big bus, at times we had difficulty hearing the guide because the air conditioner was directly above us. The tour took us through old San Juan, to a beach at Isla Verde, for a food/drink stop at Loiza, and Santa Maria Magdalena de Pazzis (cemetery). Our guide was very knowledgeable and had a good sense of humour. We enjoyed the tour and found that the length was perfect. 

After returning to the ship, we took a short nap and then went to the solarium area. It wasn't too crowded at first, but as more passengers returned to the ship it got busy.

We had dinner in Coastal Kitchen (which was great as usual) and then went to the Royal Promenade for the 50's & 60's Rock & Roll Dance Party (9:30 - 10:15).  At10:30, we went headliner show in the Amber Theatre - Tony Tillman. He was okay, but I've seen him previously and some of his show seemed the same.

 

 

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Friday July 13

We booked an over the water cabana for the day at Labadee. We splurged to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary. ?

We got off the ship shortly after docking to fully enjoy the day swimming and lounging in our cabana. After a short walk to Nellie's Beach, we checked in at the hut and were escorted to #5. It was the last one so it was pretty private. There was a cooler filled with 6 large bottles of Evian water, as well as towels and two floating mats.

In order to get into the water, you needed to go down a ladder or walk around to the beach. The ladder steps are just narrow bars, so anyone who has some mobility issues would find this difficult to get in and out. Right below the ladder were a couple of rocks but it was mostly sandy. The water was beautiful and we enjoyed going back and forth between floating in the water and relaxing in the cabana. For lunch, we walked over for the buffet -- ribs, hamburgers, hot dogs, salads, and desserts. We stayed and sat at the picnic tables provided in the eating area. While we were eating, some Haitian dancers entertained us. We stayed at the cabana until 3 pm.

We had reservations at 150 Central Park for 8 pm. I wasn't quite sure whether we would like the menu or not but it ended up being our best meal out of the 3 specialty restaurants we tried! For appetizers we had lobster gnocchi and the agnolotti (both yummy). We chose the beef tenderloin for 2, but I mentioned that we both like ours cooked differently, so our server said that they can cook one for each of us. We were both very happy with our choice! For dessert, I had the chocolate tarte and my hubby had the warm doughnuts ?.

We ended up going to the Quest later that night. We definitely laughed a lot! Although our "team" didn't win, it was a good time overall. 

 

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54 minutes ago, bellemiche said:

We got off the ship shortly after docking to fully enjoy the day swimming and lounging in our cabana. After a short walk to Nellie's Beach, we checked in at the hut and were escorted to #5. It was the last one so it was pretty private. There was a cooler filled with 6 large bottles of Evian water, as well as towels and two floating mats.

Love, love, love those cabanas!

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24 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

I have!  But you know me...not a beach person, or really an outdoor person.  But I'm getting one in March!

March has nothing to do with the cabana, it has to do with Star Class!!!

Thought I was going to be the first in my little group of local cruise enthusiast, but a co-worker got invited to stay with friends on Harmony in a 2 bedroom Aqua Theater, so he will get to experience Star class before me. I'm still on for January 2019

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4 minutes ago, tiny260 said:

Thought I was going to be the first in my little group of local cruise enthusiast, but a co-worker got invited to stay with friends on Harmony in a 2 bedroom Aqua Theater, so he will get to experience Star class before me. I'm still on for January 2019

It will still be great regardless!!!!

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Saturday July 14

Our last day we had breakfast in Johnny Rockets and afterwards went up to the solarium pool before it got too crowded (and hot). We basically just spent the day lounging and wandering around the ship. Before dinner we visited the diamond lounge for one last time, then had our last supper in Coastal Kitchen. We ended up going to the comedy show (same comedians from the comedy club) that night in the Amber Theatre and had a few good laughs. 

Sunday July 15

We opted to walk off with our luggage to avoid the crowds. We headed down to deck 5 around 7 am and there was a short line that ended up moving quickly. After a 5 minute wait at customs, we were off to the airport in no time! We would rather be at the airport early than fight with the crowds.

 

***This was only my hubby's second cruise and he had a great time. The first one was a New Year's cruise on Princess, so he wasn't so keen on going on another one. I have him hooked now!!!**

I will be going on the Oasis on July 29 with my mother and we are staying in a Crown Loft Suite (first time --so excited ?). I will try to live blog that week.

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@bellemiche thanks so much for doing this! I see you were in a junior suite and went to CK. Were you able to reserve those days on your first day or did you have to see about availablity on a daily basis? I’ve heard mixed responses to this. If you had to do it same day, did you find it difficult to get a spot? By the way, belated happy anniversary! 

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8 hours ago, spiralqueen said:

@bellemiche thanks so much for doing this! I see you were in a junior suite and went to CK. Were you able to reserve those days on your first day or did you have to see about availablity on a daily basis? I’ve heard mixed responses to this. If you had to do it same day, did you find it difficult to get a spot? By the way, belated happy anniversary! 

Thank you! ?

We were able to make our reservations the first night for the entire week - no problems at all! 

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