Day 1 aboard the Allure of the Seas the biggest cruise ship in the world!
We arrived to the terminal at 11:05, the terminal is extremely organized and very easy to follow. We dropped off our 3 bags and went to check in. Right after check in, immediately the carryon with the wine wasn’t to security for further inspection. Two ladies not employed by RCCL, I think they were customs or police officers not sure, started to search the bag. They were very polite, but they told us that we could not bring liquor aboard, and it will be confiscated and given to us at the end of the cruise. We tried to explain to them that the rules had changed, but they insisted otherwise gave us a ticket and took our wine. I was not too upset about it, I figured first thing once I board I will try to get my wine back.
The terminal was huge, and as many have mentioned there is a designated area for suit passengers, we headed over to the where they dump the rest of the passenger , lol. I took the opportunity snap a few pictures there, while mom used her Ipad and the bf went to the bathroom.
Allure of the Seas Terminal
I also took notice that the coke package label is imprinted your seapass while the wine package is a sticker. I read about that in the past, and it puzzles me why they do it that way. The reason why it bothers is because as you will find out later on the review mom, and I love jacuzzies and if you take that card with the sticker you might risk it coming off (although it might be waterproof). I never took that risk and just kept my moms card while in the jacuzzi, no biggie.
At 11:59 they started boarding our section, before us were suites and C & A. This is when you truly start to feel the crowds going on the bridge to get onto the Allure of the Seas was very very crowded. I was just hoping that this was not how it was going to be the rest of the cruise.
As we walked into the Allure of the Seas with a face of amazement the first thing that we were asked to do was to use the hand sanitizer, so we did it and kept on walking. This is the first thing your eyes will see once they adjust to the light change.
It was incredible, no amount of pictures can truly describe what you will see one you board the Allure of the Seas. It is just on explosion of colors and the magnitude of the space that just sends you into a state of shock for a few seconds. But once again the crowds are overwhelming, I lost my mom for a few second but I quickly located her.
Then after I held a grasp of myself I saw guest services straight ahead of me, so I made a dash for it to try to claim my wine back. Before I could get to the counter I was approached by a lady and asked what my concern was, I told her my wine had been confiscated, and she told me that its RCCL policy of no liquor being allowed on board. I told her that they changed the policy two days ago, and she told I was most likely confused. Then I pulled the UK statement she read it very fast and asked me for my name. Then she said to me “Mr……… your wine will be in your stateroom after sail away” she asked for my info, I thanked her and we left. She was very nice and polite, I wish I got her name, but unfortunately I was too busy thinking I had other things to run to and get fixed. My mom was busy snatching a million pictures and using her 3G signal while it lasted sending pictures to all her brothers and family relatives.
Then we headed down to the Allure of the Seas Studio B to get all the reservations for the shows together. If you go there early it is very likely you will get every show you want.
To get there we went through the casino, as you walk into the door the first thing you notice is an intoxicating smell of smoke. I made no comment of it, but soon enough the bf brought it up, I was glad I was not the only one that noticed it. It was a good thing that we are not big casino people. That said the casino is very nice and large.
Allure of the Seas Casino
Here is studio B, there was a short line to make the reservations. I believe we waited about 10 minutes in line.
ok, I hope you’re reading because I will mention something important. We noticed this during the entire cruise. You will almost always find less crowds in the port side of the Allure of the Seas. This was the first time we saw that. While we waited in line, there was no line in the other side. We deiced to just stay in line and wait anyway.
After we got all the shows together for all 3 of us we took an elevator up to go to central park so I could get the other two restaurant reservations of our package and also to buy the dinning package for my bf.
My first stop was Giovanni’s as this was the restaurant that we would be dinning on our first night on the Allure of the Seas. I went in and asked to buy one more central park dinning package and to change the reservation into a table for 3.
I was told that the package was $70, but I remembered paying $65 on the internet for my mom and I. I asked why and they said that it was because RCCL had changed the pricing of the packages. I told them ok no problem and changed the reservation, $5 were not going to kill me. They said that they would try to get me the $65, but with no promises, I was charged $70 in the end.
These pictures are inside Giovanni’s.
Allure of the Sea Photos
At around 1:30 mom and I went our way, the bf was having a heat stroke and he wanted to stay indoors until the room became available at 2pm.
So we went our own way exploring the Allure of the Seas. First we did the pool deck.
Ok maybe I don’t pay attention to detail, but I never saw this current pool in any of the other reviews. So I took tons of pictures of it, I will post later on. I wanted to try it, but it was in the kids area, so um yeah… I think I just passed on that idea.
Next up we decided to stop in the windjammer, it was HUGE. I am really not sure what people complain about, there are two sides to it and there is usually one RCCL employee waiting outside, and he finds you a table in seconds. Very efficient and lots of food choices.
After the windjammer we decided to go the Royal Promenade, since we just rushed through it when we boarded the Allure of the Seas. Let me just stop here and make a comment. Up to last day when we were getting off the Allure of the Seas, I could see things that I did not noticed before. There are so many details to enjoy here, take your time and look around, it’s full of surprises.