The Allure of the Seas: Deck 15 Overview

Almost to the top now!
Deck 15 starts out at the stern with the mini-golf on the left.  On our first cruise, I thought "Mini golf?!  Meh."  But we played a round, and it was actually very challenging!  And I got a hole-in-one!  So now we make sure to play a few rounds over the week.  One of the great things is that it's "self-serve", you don't have to book a time and try to remember :)

 As always, RCI incorporates art into every aspect of the ship!

 Look who we found on the course!  LOL.

 There is also a little children's course right next to the adult course!

 Adorable!

Back here, you can get a view down over the Aquatheater and see just how high those upper platforms are!  Scary!

We're talking on the deck above the upper "Allure of the Seas" label.  Look how high it is compared to the Norwegian Pearl, which is not a small ship!

On the right side is the Sports Court.  Can't tell you much about it except it's a multi purpose sports court :)

Ahead ship, on the next section that goes across the ship, is the teen area.  There's a pizza/burger type joint, a patio type area, ping pong tables.  A great spot to watch the AquaTheater shows if you don't get tickets.  I don't have pictures of the teen area, though I'm sure you'll find some online.  Inside here, there is "The Living Room", a hangout, Fuel Teen Disco, and Challenger's Arcade. All intended for teens, but I think anyone can walk around.
Across the hall is Sea Trek (snorkel/scuba outfitting) and "Breeze" which I think was a little gift shop.

Then the ship splits again.  On the left is the sports pool, and on the right, the kid's "H20 Zone".  Then there's a bridge, with two bars, and then it splits again with the main pool on the left and the beach pool on the right.
It's hard to tell in my photos which pools are which, except for the Beach Pool.  It is salt water and has a sloped area where the chairs can sit so you can get your feet wet.

This is the Beach Pool

 This is someone beached by the pool..

 This is standing near the front and looking back, so the beach pool is on the left/upper portion.  I imagine those aren't quiet and serene balconies...

 This is taken from the same spot, just a little more to my right, so it's showing the main pool and two hot tubs

 This is showing it from the other end

 This is the kid's H2O Zone at the top, and the sports pool in the foreground.  The kids have their own hot tub (on the left) and a "whirlpool" on the right.  That is so much fun when you get a group of people going around the circle fast...

Here's the Beach Pool at night, after it had rained.  The water was quite a bit higher.

While three pools (and water play area) might sound awesome, there were a few issues, due to how it's spread out and split by the open middle area.  If you have multiple kids, then you'll have to make them all be in one area.  The H20 Zone and Beach Pool are too far apart to be supervised by one parent.  Also, if you want to leave your stuff and roam around the pools, it'll be out of eyesight quickly.  It is nice to have variety though, especially if you don't mind there's no shallow ends, and they're not very warm!

Further on up, on either side, are the giant hot tubs that extend over the side of the ship. 

 See how big it is?  Up there in the middle of the picture, right next to the Norwegian Pearl.

And again, centre of the picture!

Some of it is open at the top, and they had TVs on showing sports (no sound).  There's also pretty twinkle lights that change colour.

Really, each hot tub is split into two.  Each of the smaller ones is about the same size as the hot tubs on the Freedom class.  You can fit a lot of people in one of these!  Keep in mind though that quite often one will be shut down for cleaning, often around 11pm.
At the front of the ship is the Solarium Bistro...a "healthy" alternative...if your idea of healthy is turkey bacon and egg whites...we tried it once.  Since I do low carb/high fat, I didn't go back again.  It's a nice spot, but was very busy for breakfast.  At night it becomes a Brazilian restaurant. 
In front of the Bistro is the Solarium adult only pool.  Actually, the brochure says "hydrotherapy pool".  It's definitely NOT a swimming pool.  We were rather disappointed.  The Solarium pool on the Freedom ships is a real pool.  This pool...a wet gossip joint for the older folk :(

This was the best time we had in the pool---late on the very last night!
They show really cool chairs with awnings...but they're never available.  It was still a nice place to relax, away from the children and noise of the main deck areas.  It's just too bad there wasn't a real pool for adults that want to swim without kids (the sports pool does have lap swimming in the mornings, but I'm not a lap swimmer).

The Allure of the Seas: Deck 14 Overview

Deck 14 is still mainly cabins.  The aft end is closed off and joins both sides, though there's no access from one side to the other.  Mid ship is the "card room".  Didn't check it out.

At the forward of the ship is the kids' area.  This is an amazing area for children.  There are 9 or 10 rooms, ranging from Workshop to a science lab, to a theater, to the kid club rooms.    On the Freedom ships, they share the deck space with 'the public' near Johnny Rockets.  The artist sketch of the Oasis shows the kids' area having the front deck area to themselves, however, photos of the Oasis (and my photos of the Allure) show this not to be the case.  It appears you can access the front deck by going down the long cabin hallway on either side of the ship, and there's doors that open to the front.

 This is as forward as you can get outside, though it's not the highest.  And, in a port like Nassau, you're still running back and forth to check out the maneuvering.

The kids' area on the Allure kind of made me jealous, LOL.  I wanted to play and explore.  Indeed, they do offer some adult classes, but well...you have to pay extra and try to schedule them into your already busy day.

 There is still a kids' arcade in this area, so keep an eye on your kids' Sea Pass!  We did find the arcade on the Freedom ships to be very noisy, dark, and rather distracting to the other kid areas (it was like a hallway).  The Oasis ships also have another area on deck 15, in the "teen zone".

Many people love this ship because there is so much to do for the kids.  However, the thought of my kids running around on a ship with over 6000 guests (PLUS crew), makes me a little uneasy.  We might take them when they're in their older teens (there's a 5 year age difference between the oldest and youngest, so maybe when they're 17-15-12?).  I know the kids' programs are very secure and well run, but if I found the ship overwhelming, tiring, and huge at my age and cruising experience, then what would a 7 year old feel?

For more pictures, check out http://www.beyondships.com/RCI-OOS-Tour-3.html
This looks like a great site for "touring" other ships as well.  It organzies the pictures more by "theme" (ie:  kids' stuff) than by deck

The Allure of the Seas: Decks 9-12 Overview

There's not much to say about these decks!  Deck 9 has the second floor of Dazzles.  Deck 10 is strictly cabins, deck 11 has a small library and concierge lounge, deck 12 has the second floor of the concierge lounge.  Deck 12 also has the largest, and third largest suites.  The Royal Suite is 1275sq ft with 335sq ft balcony and the Presidential Family Suite has 1142 sq ft with 476 sq ft balcony.  Those two suites are bigger than our first house, LOL! 

An inside cabin on the Oasis/Allure ranges from 149sq ft to 260 sq ft (of which, there are FOUR).  We had booked "category z" which means you are assigned an inside room, usually in the category Q size (149sq ft), of which there are only 45.  Most interior cabins are in the L, M, N group, of 172 sq ft.  The first two ships we went on, the interior cabins were 152 sq ft.  I can't imagine being in a smaller room, though I guess it's only 1'x3'ft difference (seriously though...where do they take out that space?!).  We feel very blessed to have been upgraded to a Superior Ocean View Stateroom with Balcony (182 sq ft with 50 sq ft balcony...the room didn't feel a whole lot bigger than 152 sq ft, and the balcony was a touch small (would have liked a lounger), but still awesome!). 

On the next few classes down, the interior rooms are larger--160-165 sq ft, but on the Vision Class they go down to 140 sq ft, and on the Sovereign class they're 119sq ft!  Yikes!  Some of these smaller ships do long cruises and I don't think I'd want to be in an inside room going for 12 days through the Greek Isles.  However, there are some larger interior rooms, just at a higher price! (and by larger, I mean, the same as the smallest on the bigger ships LOL).  However, even the Ocean View rooms aren't much bigger--122 sq ft, on the Sovereign class, which has only one deck of balcony rooms (all Junior Suites (173 sq ft) and larger).  You better pick a cruise that has a lot of port days because there's not a whole lot to do on that ship either!

I know people say "Oh, you never spend much time in your cabin anyway".  Well, we did, for several reasons.  Make sure you have at least a couch--I was looking at a Princess brochure for their newest ship, and the interior rooms don't have a couch; they don't even show a chair other than at the desk.  Don't be surprised once you board. Spend some time on YouTube and on Google and get pictures (and videos) of possible rooms.  On the Sovereign Class, the brochure picture for the interior room shows the bed pushed against one wall (so you get in either from one side or from the foot).  This would drive me crazy and I'd have to have the "outside" half, so I can have the night table and access to the bathroom LOL.

The Allure of the Seas: Deck 8 Overview

For the most part, deck 8 isn't much different than the other decks above/below.  It's mainly a cabins deck, with only two attractions.  But one of those attractions is a large selling feature for the ship.

Starting at the rear (aft), this deck is the first deck beside the rock climbing wall with suites at the very end (decks 9 and 10 also have suites).  These suites look like they would be fun, with great views of the AquaTheater...if you don't mind always being on display to anyone that turns their head and looks up.

I'm a little confused though...the layout in the brochure shows the Rock Climbing wall on Deck 7, with no suite (with balcony) beside it.  Does that not look like a balcony suite?  There should be only three suites, deck 11 shows a little staircase behind a wall, which might have access from the deck 10 suite, though the floorplan doesn't say this suite is two stories....and in the picture below, you can see people on deck 11:

So what's that area on the same level as the rock climbing wall?  A prep area for the wall?

Further up the ship is the nightclub "Dazzles".  I think we checked it out, but didn't stay (we're not nightclub people). Dazzles is not really in Central Park itself, but is accessible at the rear end of the Park after going inside.  It over looks the Boardwalk and AquaTheater.
This picture is the forward portion of Central Park.

The glass structure at the top is a giant skylight.  The triangle glass structure at the bottom of the picture is a sitting area that I'll show later.

 Here's another view of the skylight.  The great thing about this is that it allows a LOT of light into the Royal Promenade.  I always thought (on the Freedom and the Liberty) that the Royal Promenade needed sunlight.  Since the pools were on the upper decks above the Promenade, that wasn't possible.  It's not practical to have the Promenade open to the sky (too many shops, displays, etc), so this set up was a great way to improve the lighting on the Promenade.

In fact, it seems it lets in so much light, they put up that awning?

Look how bright it is!  Natural light!  Yay!  All thanks to this:

In the bottom of this bad shot is the Rising Tide Bar.  We never experienced it, since it wasn't open all the time, and like most things on the ship, you have to schedule it into your day.

 Royal doesn't leave any surface untouched.  You'll find art everywhere, and sometimes the lighting is the art.

 These light bubbles change colours slowly.

 Central Park is a wonderful place for a stroll.  The plants are real, but the sounds are a recording.  However, you might get lucky and spot a bird or two.  It is humid in this park, perhaps because it's mid-ship and no breezes really get to it.  I hope they realize this and add fans at some point.

This is the triangle shaped structure I mentioned earlier.  It'd be nice in a light rain, but it doesn't shade the sun at all, and it's sort of like a greenhouse under it.

 More art.  I loved these glass birds!

 An interesting sculpture, representing stone and ice.
You can also sometimes find Dreamworks characters here!

I know my pictures are rather scattered, but here's the lowdown on the floor plan.  Enter at the rear, two floors above the start of the Boardwalk.  Dazzles is to the rear (aft/stern).  Go past the elevators and to the outside.  On the left is Chips Grille (usually in the Windjammer area on other ships).  It's awesome for a special meal.  On the right is 150 Central Park, another restaurant.  Didn't go there.  In between is the Rising Tide Bar dock with a little bar in front of it.  Follow the path ahead, and on the left is Park Cafe.  A great spot to get a custom salad at lunch, or sandwiches.  On the right is Giovanni's Table, a family restaurant we didn't check out.  In between is the covered seating area.  Move ahead, another little bar in the middle, with "Picture This", "Parkside Gallery" and "Coach" on the left and "Vintages" (a wine bar/restaurant) on the right with the large skylight between them.  Then you go through doors again and are back inside, where there are a lot of inside cabins in the forward area.

The Allure of the Seas: Deck 7 Overview

Well, there's not much to write about this deck!  At the stern, is the rock climbing walls.  They advertise how there's two walls on this ship, but we had the same issue as before--scheduling!  We never did get around to trying them.    The kids' section looked good though!

 You can just barely see the round windows between Johnny Rockets and the lowest row of balconies.

 Those are some pretty sweet suites to the right of the rock climbing wall!

The rest of this deck is cabins.  There are a few cabins that have views of the Boardwalk and Royal Promenade, but no balcony, and then there is a whole block of inside cabins near the bow.  The cabins right at the bow...I can't figure out the colour coding in the book, but the plans show them being totally inside the ship, and I don't see how those bow windows actually meet up with the rooms, considering the slope of the front of the ship....

They either must have a very sloping wall in the cabin, or it's a false front on the ship.  Anyone actually know?

The Allure of the Seas: Deck 6 Overview

Deck 6 is the deck we were on, and I think it's a pretty good one to be on, for any of the ships.  Close to the Royal Promenade, but not too far from the gangway or upper decks.

Lets start at the stern (the back).  This is the main deck for the Aquatheater.

 Don't forget a hat and water if it's sunny out!

 Just before the Aquatheater is the Boardwalk Bar, Johnny Rockets is on the left, and Seafood Shack is on the right.

 As you move towards the bow, there is the Star Pier, Candy Beach, Pets at Sea, Pinwheels, Boardwalk Donut Shop and Ice Cream Parlor.  I don't remember the "Donut Shop" being a real shop, just a spot where racks of donuts were put out by a sitting area across from the Hot Dog Stand (which isn't listed on the Oasis deck plan, so maybe these are different).  The Hot Dog Stand was good, with some very interesting options.  The other shops are money-grabbers, especially for the kids.  A bulk candy store, and kids' based gift shop.  Keep your SeaPass locked up!  The ice cream parlour is worth a stop though!

 As you enter the Boardwalk zone from the inside, you come up to 4 or 5 displays showing the progression of how the horses for the carousel are carved.  We did ride the carousel, and it was fun....but not something high on our list to do.  Maybe if we were three...

 However, don't skip by the Fun House Mirrors!  I'm not showing the pictures of us!  LOL!
You can only access the Boardwalk zone from the inside, slightly to the stern of mid-ship.  This is so when there is rough weather, like we had on our last day, they can close it off.  What this means though, is that if you're in one of the rooms that are on either side, heading towards the stern, you have to walk up ship before being able to get to your hallway. 
Once inside, the mid-ship zone includes the future sales office, Focus (where you get those pictures they're always taking on the piers), the Schooner Bar, and the Diamond Club.  Of course, you can't access any of these (or their stairs down to the Royal Promenade) from the cabin hallway.
Up at the bow is the main entrance to the Vitality Spa and Fitness Center.  We had a tour, but nothing is free.  On smaller ships, my inlaws told me they would go to the fitness centre to use their (larger) showers, but you can't seem to do that on this ship.  If you are on the walking track on deck 4, you can enter the fitness center and go upstairs, take a little shortcut.
There is no access to the helipad at the front of the ship, though I think you can take a ($$) sunrise yoga class on it.

 Our cabins were right at mid-ship.  To get anywhere, we had to walk 1/4 of the length of the ship(either direction), and then backtrack or continue to the bow or stern.  Sometimes it would have been nice to take one of the "secret" doors in the cabin hallway and nip through to "Focus" and down the stairs to the Promenade.  These two pictures show the view in the hall, outside our door.

"Long Stretch of Lonesome" (Patty Loveless) is playing in my head, alternating with "I Would Walk 500 Miles"....However, I do think it would have been more upsetting to have a room right down at the stern, behind Johnny Rockets, and have to walk 1/4 of the way up ship to just turn back to walk the same distance!  Perhaps Royal should think about this.  For little kids and the elderly, it's a LONG way just to get out of the hall!