Allure of The Sea

[E&Cmom]

Currently looking at a 7 day Western Caribbean cruise of of Fort Lauderdale in March. Just going back and forward with the travel agent and trying to figure out if it will be worth it with the flights. I have never cruised Royal Caribbean before just Disney and Princess. Going with my husband and 2 daughters age 13 and 10.

Any thoughts and advice ? Also how are the balcony rooms that look onto the boardwalk?

 

[DizneyNutz]

Currently looking at a 7 day Western Caribbean cruise of of Fort Lauderdale in March. Just going back and forward with the travel agent and trying to figure out if it will be worth it with the flights. I have never cruised Royal Caribbean before just Disney and Princess. Going with my husband and 2 daughters age 13 and 10.

Any thoughts and advice ? Also how are the balcony rooms that look onto the boardwalk?

We have not sailed the Allure although we just finished our first RCL cruise on the Oasis 7 Night Eastern. We have sailed Disney 8 times previous. We had a Central Park balcony not Boardwalk, but we enjoyed both our balcony over Central Park and the ship. Apparently Allure is rated a little higher than the Oasis. We enjoyed the ship enough to book another 7 night cruise on the Oasis and cancel a 4 night Disney cruise for just under the same price. So just giving some comparisons from someone else who mainly cruised DCL UNTIL NOW!

 

[KashasMom]

The Oasis was my then 6 year old daughter's favorite cruise/ship. The shows are family friendly, the pools are great, food was good and there were a lot of options. We loved that they had a dinner buffet (unlike Disney). She loved the rock climbing walls but was too young for the FlowRider and the zip line. If you're going in March, hopefully it won't be too crowded. We liked it so much that we're going on the Allure in a few weeks...can't wait!

 

[E&Cmom]

Thanks for the input! We did book. We are going on the March 19 sailing. Ended up booking a guarentied oceanview balcony.

I booked all our shows. We decided on " My Time Dining" Now I am trying to figure out if and what we are doing for shore excurions.

 

[starvenger]

I haven't done Oceanview on the Allure (doing that on Harmony this summer) but my presumption is that it's like Oceanview on other ships.

Bit late to the party on this of course but when I had Boardwalk balcony it was noisy during sea days and the nights that the Aquatheatre was open. Central Park balcony was a bit more relaxed - a bit of interior-facing serenity on a big ship.

What ports are you visiting?

 

[E&Cmom]

What ports are you visiting?

Labadee, Falmouth and Cozamel. We also have a day to kill in Fort Lauderdale since our flight home isn't until 8:30pm

 

[DizneyNutz]

Again we loved our balcony over Central Park. Quiet and relaxing for us,

 

[starvenger]

Labadee I'd probably just relax. I think Castaway Cay is much nicer but a private beach is a good place to just chill out.

Falmouth and Cozumel I believe the excursion options are essentially the same as on DCL. So if you've done anything there then you know the drill.

Falmouth I've done Dunns Falls which is fun. I can't vouch for any other excursions though.

Cozumel we went to Tulum. it's interesting if you're into ancient history and such. Last DCL cruise we were going to go to a beach at one of the resorts but it rained all day so we stayed on the boat.

 

[KashasMom]

Labadee, Falmouth and Cozamel. We also have a day to kill in Fort Lauderdale since our flight home isn't until 8:30pm

We've been to Falmouth twice before. First time we did the Heritage Walk, which was excellent. Second time we took the trolley from the end of the terminal. It covered some of what we'd seen before but a lot of new stuff too and obviously went further since we weren't walking. This time since it's only going to be my daughter and me we're doing the Aqua Tubing Adventure. I normally don't book through the cruise line, but we did for all excursions on this cruise.

Previously in Labadee we just went to the beach. It was nice enough. This time we're doing the Paradise Cove Escape & Haitian Village Experience. It's not necessary to do an excursion here if you're happy on the beach.

In Cozumel we have spent the day at Paradise Beach - took a taxi there. The entrance fee covered your beach chairs and a drink. The beach is nice, the pool is wonderful, and the food at the poolside restaurant was excellent. Another time we did the RCI Turtle Release Program. I am not sure if they still offer it but it was one of the best excursions we have ever done. This time my daughter wanted to see the dolphins at Chankanaab. We'll have lunch and spend some time at the beach.

We have a late afternoon flight so we decided to do the Everglades Airboat Ride. We normally don't do anything on the last day but I think we'll be happier than sitting at the airport. Your flight is several hours later than our so you may have some other options.

 

[Maineiak]

Booked a Central Park balcony, Eastern Caribbean for April 2018 on Allure.

Only cruised once, on DCL.

Should we book excursions through RCL or try to find others? Ports are Nassau, St. Thomas and St. Kitts.

Thanks!

 

[uncw89]

Labadee, Falmouth and Cozamel. We also have a day to kill in Fort Lauderdale since our flight home isn't until 8:30pm

We are booked on the Allure in June and our flight home leaves at 7!! We also need to find something to do embarkation day!

 

[KashasMom]

What excursions are you looking at? Those ports are easy enough to do on your own. In Nassau we've done Blue Lagoon Dolphin Experience, day passes at the Hilton (twice), and a great walking tour on our own (http://www.frommers.com/destinations/new-providence/walking-tours). In St. Thomas we've done a great private snorkeling excursion (11 of us - fantastic!), wandered on our own (including the skyride, which was just so so), gone on our own to Magens Bay Beach (nice, not fabulous), gone on our own to Coral World, which we liked (there is also a beach next door that people recommend but we haven't gone there), and did Godfrey's Tour, which was very good (http://godfreytoursvi.com/). Haven't been to St. Kitts so can't help there.

 

[disneyholic family]

we LOVED our boardwalk balcony rooms...
ours were very close to the back so we had a good view of everything - the boardwalk, the ocean, and the aquatheater...

DD and her husband were right next to us, so we had the two balconies open together...
DD ordered room service every morning and sat out there to eat...
all 4 of us very much enjoyed the location..
i have to go look up our room numbers..

we LOVED the allure!!!!! it was a FANTASTIC cruise!!!!!! all four of us loved it!!
we did the eastern..

coming back to edit - just looked it up.... we were on deck 11...
in staterooms 11721 and 11719

.

 

[disneyholic family]

regarding excursions, i highly recommend the blue lagoon dolphin swim, but i would book it with royal, not on your own...

in st thomas, we didn't like coral world, other people do...YMMV..

 

[KashasMom]

regarding excursions, i highly recommend the blue lagoon dolphin swim, but i would book it with royal, not on your own...

in st thomas, we didn't like coral world, other people do...YMMV..

You can't book Blue Lagoon on your own if they find out you're on a ship. You can book through the cruise line or through ShoreTrips.com. I booked 11 of us through ShoreTrips - no hassles and significant savings.