Cruising on Allure of the Seas
Allure of the Seas, built in 2010, is the second build of 5 Oasis Class Mega Ships from Royal Caribbean with many options for your families or groups. We found boarding Allure to be such a smooth operation at Port Everglades, Florida. We went from the taxi, to check in, through security and onboard this ship within 30 minutes! When you board the Allure, you enter on the Promenade deck and are immediately in the action. This ship has so many things going on and to see, you really need a few days to learn your way around her.
From numerous bars and restaurants, to shops & entertainment, no one offers more options of all 4 of these important cruise components than these Oasis Class ships. With over 6000 passengers on this cruise, it never felt that crowded as this ships foot traffic flows very well. For this cruise we had a Balcony Stateroom on deck 7 starboard (right) side forward #7556. The cabin itself was of good size and very functional, although the decor was a bit dated and aging. The balcony itself offered a decent place to relax with 2 chairs and a small table as most balconies have. The cabin offered plenty of storage for a comfortable 7 night cruise and some firm mattresses that made us happy as well. As in all Oasis class ships, we toured Allure’s seven different neighborhoods during our cruise. We really enjoyed Central Park very much with all of its specialty restaurants, such as Chops Grill and Jamie’s Italian among others nestled around the lush green trees, flowers and plants. They even have hidden speakers with birds chirping in Central Park to give the full outdoors feel while you walk through it. It’s really an amazing experience to be around so much real live foliage and be in the middle of the ocean at the same time. It’s a neighborhood you won’t want to miss!
Time to eat in the main dining room. We found the main dining room experience to be a very nice experience and the wait staff to be very attentive and polite. They offered nightly specials and then a classic menu as well each night. We were also fans of the Windjammer buffet experience on the Allure! Not only did they have a nice selection of tasty items to pick from but they also had ample seating on two different sides of this huge ship for people to enjoy and not feel so rushed.
On the upper decks of this 16 deck behemoth is the lido area with 4 good sized pools and hot tubs for you to enjoy as well as a kids water park with a dump bucket and so much more! This ship has 2 separate flow rider surf simulators running at the same time towards the back of the ship so those lines weren’t long to jump in that fun! Que the potential for team building activities. They also had zip lines running across the top of this ship that carried you directly over Central Park about 10 decks below you! They have the Ultimate Abyss dry slide off the back of this ship. You enter this huge sea creature’s mouth while sitting on a dry rug design and it quickly drops you down 10 stories where you finally land down by the Boardwalk neighborhood. Since you just landed in the Boardwalk Neighborhood from the Ultimate Abyss, you should probably check that neighborhood out too :)!
You guessed it!! Another amazing neighbor that can’t be missed! From old time places to hang out like the 1950’s Johnny Rocket’s for a burger, to the Candy Beach store and so on. It’s like stepping back in time. And to top that experience off you can take a ride on a wooden horse on the hand carved Electric Carousel that welcomes you into the Boardwalk Neighborhood.
After checking out the neighborhoods, we went to the main theater onboard and watched a few different shows. We found the shows to be of good quality and entertaining as well. We did try some specialty restaurants as well. Those were also very good and worth the $59 per person up charge.
The Casino on Allure of the Seas is one of the largest at sea and has all your favorite table games. The slot machines however, are a bit dated as this ship missed its last refurbishment in March 2020 and has not been rescheduled or updated since 2015. The aging slot machines in the casino show that age a bit with very few newer slots machines to choose from.
Another section of entertainment is the Royal Promenade. At various times of the cruise live parades with costumes, floats, and music will take over the promenade and the audience really enjoyed themselves. During the down time the Royal Promenade offers lots of variety shops to purchase items tax and duty free as well as to get a bite to eat when the mood strikes.
My final take on Allure of the Seas: as currently the 4th largest cruise ship in the world, Allure of the Seas in itself is something to see!! It’s equipped to offer space for your groups or families and they will never get bored for a minute while sailing on her. While Allure is in need of a refurbishment at some point, simply to update some decor and such, it’s still a very beautiful and impressive ship. Allure of the Seas has stood the test of time as being one of the BIG 5 Oasis class ships that still delivers a very positive & memorable cruise vacation experience week after week to 6000 people at a time and has for 12 years now. I would recommend Allure of the Seas for your incentive or corporate bookings without hesitation.
Written by Kurt Budde: October, 2022
