Thursday, March 7, 2013

The Allure of the Seas: Cabin Overview

I've been wanting to do an overview of the ship for awhile...but it's a HUGE ship...I like blogging on my laptop so I can watch TV at the same time, but I've been having laptop problems, and when I sit at the desktop computer, I get distracted by a lot of other things LOL.  Onwards.

As I mentioned, we had booked the cruise as an "inside guaranteed" room.  All we knew is that we'd be somewhere on the ship, in an inside room.  On the previous cruise, we had ended up on deck 2 and were hoping for a better placement this time.  We didn't get our placement until two days before the cruise (the day before we were leaving).  Immediately we looked at the ship plans and found out we were mid-ship, BALCONY!  Unbelievable.  I've wanted a balcony every time, but it's just too much more.  I felt incredibly blessed to be "gifted" this upgrade, at no cost!  When we got to the room, there was a "Diamond" welcome package for the original room-bookers, a Portuguese speaking couple.  We enjoyed the snack basket, but couldn't use the coupons.  Asking our room steward for new coupons was the first sign he wasn't quite up to the job, it took a lot of run around with guest services to finally get them (if we even did, I don't remember now).
How wonderful to walk into the room, full of light!  The room is pretty much the same as inside rooms.  Some rooms have the bed near the doors, but I'm glad ours was this way.  Just make sure to close the blackout drapes when you go to bed!
Not too big! I don't understand people who say you don't spend anytime in your cabin.  We spent quite a bit of time there!
 View of the ocean.  We didn't see any wildlife, but it was nice to see ships and islands, and judge our speed based on the wake.  I also loved that I could get fresh air at anytime.  That is my big pet peeve about inside cabins, especially if you're on a deck with no outside access.
 At the dock in Labadee.  It was nice seeing ports from the balcony, but it was also nice being up top where you could get a wider view.
 I had always wanted to order room service breakfast.  We decided we really had to do it this time.  We had some trouble figuring out the menu.  You indicate the number of guests on the front, and give the quantity for each item you order.  We didn't know, for example, under "white toast" to put 1, for one slice, or 1 for "one order" which is how many slices?  We selected 7:30-8:00am, I think it was, and we were hoping for closer to 8am.  Well, wouldn't you know...it came at 7:34!  The pictures are a little hazy because it was so humid outside that my camera--cold from being inside--fogged up.
 Okay, the breakfast was not as good as going to the restaurant.  The coffee on board sucks, but at least I was able to enjoy it in my robe (courtesy of the couple that were supposed to have had that room) on the balcony.
I didn't take a picture of the bathroom on the Allure, but it was pretty much just like the ones on the Liberty/Freedom ships.
We had heard about the locking door handle, and to make sure not to get locked out on the balcony.  I thought maybe we could just leave the door open a little.  Nope.  It makes a horrid whistling noise.  Also, leaving the door open really warms up the room.
Probably the best thing about having the balcony, was watching the storm on the last day.  That was awesome.  I'm thrilled we were in our room when the front moved across, and not making a mad dash for cover up on the outside decks!
Hope those videos work, Blogger and YouTube have changed again!