Allure of the Seas - Our First Cruise on a Megaship

Port Canaveral

We’ve put off sailing on a megaship for a couple of reasons. For one thing, we were concerned about crowds and long lines. But also, we normally take 3 or 4-day cruises and those tend to be on the smaller ships.  When we found out that Allure of the Seas would be doing short cruises out of Port Canaveral, we decided it was time to give a megaship a try.

When we got to the port around noon, I realized that one of my worries was unfounded. Royal Caribbean had the embarkation process down to a science. It took longer to find a parking space than it did to board the ship. The first thing we did after boarding was check in at our muster station. Then we headed up to Deck 15 to the Solarium Bistro for lunch. The Solarium was the adults-only area at the front of the ship with a small pool, two hot tubs that jutted out over the sides of the ship, a bar and the Bistro, which served a buffet breakfast and lunch. Because of the Solarium’s out-of-the-way location, we figured most people wouldn’t have discovered it yet, so it would be easier to get a table than at the Windjammer. While we ate our lunch, I had my first mojito, which was good and extra minty. I know I’m on vacation when I have my first mojito!

the Solarium

After lunch we explored the Pool and Sports Zone on Decks 15 and 16. There were already lots of people in the pools and trying out the Flowriders. The zipline was open! I’d really wanted to go on the zipline on our MSC cruise, but I’d chickened out at the last minute. This time I was determined to try it. I’d had a mojito and was feeling brave. :-)  The zipline stretched over the Boardwalk area of the ship, 9 decks below, but it was too short to be scary. By the time I had the chance to look down, I was at the other end! But it was fun, so I did it twice.

Allure turned out to be much easier to navigate than I was expecting, despite its size. The Oasis-class ships are arranged in “neighborhoods”. All you had to do was remember which deck a neighborhood was on and you could find your way around. In addition to the Pool and Sports Zone, there was the Royal Promenade, the Boardwalk, Entertainment Place and Central Park. The Royal Promenade was like a mini mall with lots of shops and bars. Entertainment Place was where you could find the ice-skating rink, the comedy club and the casino. The Boardwalk was designed to look like an old-fashioned amusement park. It had a full-size carousel, a hot dog stand and even a Zoltar fortune-telling machine.

the Boardwalk

the zipline from below

My favorite neighborhood was Central Park on Deck 8. It was in the middle of the ship but was open at the top, so you felt like you were outdoors. There were live trees and thousands of plants, vine-covered trellises and park benches. Bird songs were piped in over the speakers. We’d booked an ocean view balcony cabin on Deck 8, and it was the perfect location. Whenever we needed to cross the ship, we would walk through Central Park. It was so much nicer than walking down an endless dark hallway!

After the sail away, we watched the sunset from the pool deck, then got ready for dinner. Royal Caribbean had recently updated their main dining room menus and I was looking forward to seeing the changes. The new menus didn’t seem all that different. The main change was that the “classic” items were no longer offered daily, which meant I wouldn’t be able to order escargot every night. Bummer… But it was on the menu that night, so I ordered a plate along with beef Bolognese and chocolate custard.

We had reservations for the aqua show at 10:30, which felt like 11:30 thanks to the end of Daylight Saving Time. To keep ourselves awake until the show, we went to the Schooner Bar to listen to the piano player, Connor Schenk. He played lots of 90s music but also some Billy Joel and John Denver. When he got to “Country Roads”, he said we should shout out the name of our own hometown since no one was actually from West Virginia. Of course, someone in the audience was from West Virginia. :-)

At 10 o’clock, we headed to the Boardwalk to make sure we got good seats at the Aqua Theater. The show, Oceanaria, was amazing, filled with high dives and acrobatics. One acrobat balanced on the head of another, others tumbled off a trampoline like they were on puppet strings. Watching the divers leap from the 30-foot-high platforms into that tiny pool was incredible. It was the first time we’ve seen an aqua show and I loved it.

Sea Day

In the morning, we slept in and had breakfast in the Solarium Bistro. Since we had a whole day at sea ahead of us, it seemed like a good time to hide some of the Armed Forces “cruising ducks” that I’d bought in honor of Veterans Day. This was easier said than done. The neighborhood-layout reduced crowding by disbursing people throughout the ship, but there never seemed to be a time or place where there WEREN’T people around. It made it very hard to hide ducks without anyone seeing.

We spent the morning relaxing in the Solarium. The Solarium was covered by large glass panels that filtered the sunlight but the gaps between the panels allowed a breeze to come through. It was a beautiful sunny day, and we could see the tall buildings along the Florida coast as we sailed south. We’d been lounging for about an hour when suddenly there was a rush of activity on the other side of the Solarium. I didn’t see it happen, but Ron said a man had collapsed and another passenger immediately ran over and started chest compressions. The “Alpha Alpha Alpha” call came over the speakers, and officers and security guards arrived, forming a ring. There was nothing we could do but stay out of the way and pray. For 45 minutes, the responders worked hard to save the man as the captain turned the ship back towards land. A Coast Guard rescue boat arrived, but when it rode away slowly, we realized that the man hadn’t made it. I guess if my last hours on earth are on vacation with my family on a beautiful, sunny November day, that would not be such a bad thing, but we were so sad for the man’s family.

After lunch, we watched the belly flop contest at the Sports Pool and then went to the Royal Promenade so that I could get a mojito from Boleros, the Latin-themed bar. Before the cruise I found out that Boleros made three different mojitos, and I wanted to try them all. (Click here for my mojito review.) When I stopped to take a few pictures of the Promenade, Ron spotted a tiny duck sitting on one of the lamp posts. He had found a mini duck! When you find a duck, you’re supposed to take a picture and post it on the Cruising Duck Facebook page, but on our way back to the cabin, two teenage boys on a scavenger hunt ran up and asked if we had anything we could trade for a paper clip. The only thing we had with us was the duck. We made the trade and the boys ran off again, so I never got a picture of the duck to post. But I did take a picture of the paper clip. :-)

Royal Promenade

It was French night in the main dining room that night, so of course I ordered escargot again. I also had the French onion soup (which was fantastic) and seafood fettuccine and cappuccino cake (which were OK). We had reservations for the adult comedy show after dinner. For some reason, the comedy show was held in a tiny lounge. This was the one show where you really needed to have reservations. The stand-by line wrapped all the way down the hallway to the casino. There were two headliners – Steve White and Dan Grueter. We’d seen Steve White before so a lot of his material was familiar, but there were some ship-specific jokes. My favorite part was when he called the zipline “the clothesline” and said the crew hung the laundry on it at night. Dan Grueter was more interactive with the audience and was hilarious. I’d love to see one of his full-length acts sometime.

Champagne Bar

Central Park from above

When the show was over, it was 10:30, which felt like 11:30, so we headed to bed. Ugh, I really hate the time change. Can we please stop messing with the clocks now??

Nassau

I woke up just in time to watch a beautiful sunrise as the ship pulled into port. Good morning, Nassau!

We had booked the 9:45 Art of Chocolate and Factory Tour at Graycliff, so we got off the ship at 9 to give ourselves time to explore the new cruise port before the tour. On our last cruise to Nassau, the port was still a torn-up construction zone, but it had been completed in May and looked great. The walkways were shaded, and the shopping area was much larger and less congested. There was a designated taxi stand so you didn’t have a hundred people asking if you needed a taxi. Definitely a big improvement over the old Festival Place.

When we got to Graycliff, we found out that we were the only two people signed up for the chocolate tour. Our guide Dawanna started by telling us about how the Mayans used cocoa beans as medicine and also as currency, trading beans for food or goats. Then we got to sample each of the three kinds of chocolate that they make at the factory – white, milk and dark. White chocolate is actually not made with cocoa beans, just cocoa butter, milk and sugar. Graycliff's dark chocolate was 70% cocoa and 30% sugar, and their milk chocolate was a mixture of the white and dark chocolates. Dawanna told us that cocoa is not grown in the Bahamas, so Graycliff sources their beans from Mexico or Jamaica.

After donning hair nets and aprons, we got to “make” our own chocolate. First, we rubbed the insides of chocolate molds with a cloth which would give the chocolate a glossy surface. Then we filled the molds with our choice of chocolate and nuts or cranberries. Dawanna also gave us marshmallows and pretzels to dip. After about 10 minutes in the chiller, our chocolate was hardened enough for us to remove it from the molds and box it up to take home. It wasn’t the most educational tour, but I enjoyed seeing the process. Besides the chocolate that we’d made ourselves, we bought a box of bonbons from the chocolate shop and a couple of cigars.

Our plan was to have lunch at the Fish Fry, but it was still early so we decided to walk back to the ship first to drop off our chocolates so they wouldn’t melt. Then we headed back out into town, in search of the bus stop which had been moved from George Street to Frederick Street. Once we found the bus, we had to wait about 15 minutes until it filled up before the driver would leave. Finally, we made it to the Fish Fry, where we ate lunch at Oh Andros. Ron and I both ordered fish burgers and shared a giant plate of peas and rice. It was so fresh and delicious! I think I could eat Bahamian peas and rice every day. :-)

Since the weather was so nice, we ended up walking back to port. Just before we got to the security line for the cruise terminal, I spotted a colorful Junkanoo costume through the open door of a new museum, the Museum of Junkanoo. I was so drawn to the bright colors that we decided to check out the museum. Junkanoo is a Bahamian national festival that takes place between Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. Like Mardi Gras or Carnival, the highlight of the festival is a parade with bright costumes and music, but it has a different history with its origins in West Africa. The early Junkanoo costumes were made from simple materials – strips of cloth and paper or even sea sponges. Now they are elaborate masterpieces that take months to create. The museum showcased some of the winning costumes from the previous years’ parades and they were incredible! I was really glad we’d stopped in.

By the time we got back on the ship, we were tired out from all the walking and took a nap in the cabin until time for the sail away. We watched the sunset from the pool deck as the ship pulled out of port. There was a flash of green as the sun sank into the water. Goodbye for now, Nassau! We hope we’ll see you again soon!

The menu in the dining room that night was Caribbean. No escargot but I ordered French onion soup again. It was as good as the night before – my favorite item on the new menus. After dinner, we went to the Boardwalk and rode the carousel, then listened to the live music at Dazzles. The band was very good when they were performing the Top Hits set but not so good when they got to the Country set. You could tell that they did not like singing country music. :-)  We listened to a couple of songs and called it a night.

Coco Cay

The next morning, we ate breakfast in the Windjammer as the ship docked at Coco Cay. We’d been to Coco Cay once since they added the waterpark and pool, but the last time we were the only ship there. This time we would be sharing the island with Anthem of the Seas, another megaship. That was 12,000 people…ugh!

We got off the ship around 8:30 so that we could find chairs and try to enjoy a little quiet time before the hordes arrived. There were actually plenty of chairs, and we settled in on two shaded loungers between the Oasis pool and Chill Beach. The weather was gorgeous again – warm and sunny.

Oasis Pool

After a while we decided to take a walk down the beach to check out the floating bar at South Beach. That’s when we found out that the beach path was blocked by the new Coco Beach Club and over-the-water cabanas, and we had to walk around the club and through the mangroves to get to South Beach. The cabanas looked really cool but to rent one for the day cost over $3000! Insane! Ron and I decided that Royal Caribbean had finally passed the tipping point with all their extra charges. Our MSC cruise a couple of months ago was less expensive, included drinks and Wi-Fi, and we weren’t jammed onto their private island with 12,000 other people. We had lunch at the Skipper’s Grill buffet but then headed back to the ship. I was peopled out. If we do another Perfect Day at Coco Cay cruise, I’m going to make sure we pick a date when there won’t be two megaships there at the same time.

That night we had dinner reservations at Giovanni’s Table in Central Park. The park was even prettier at night than it was during the day. The trees were lit up with twinkling lights and the bird songs were replaced with the sound of crickets. It was really kind of magical. Our waiter at Giovanni’s, Austin, somehow managed to talk us into ordering half the menu. He told us that Giovanni’s had “family style” dining so we should feel free to share. Perfect! We usually eat that way anyway. When it comes to dining, my family has the “what’s yours is ours” mentality. :-)

We started with Caprese salad and calamari, which was so tender that it was almost like eating a mozzarella cheese stick. Then Ron and I each got a plate of beef carpaccio. Austin said the pasta dishes could be ordered in half portions so we shared half portions of the tagliatelle carbonara and gnocchi gorgonzola for our side dishes. For our main dishes, Ron ordered filet mignon and I had branzino. And for dessert, we had the tiramisu and chocolate hazelnut cake with cups of cappuccino. Oh my! The flavors were so amazing, especially the sauce on the gnocchi. What a fabulous way to end the cruise. I was glad we’d saved it for the last night.

After dinner, we went to the ice-skating show, Blades. The premise of the show was that the music was from the skaters’ own playlists. I really enjoyed the variety of music. One of my favorite parts was a single skater and a duo dancing around each other to the song “When I Was Your Man”. Very poignant. I also liked the hula hooping skater who kept adding more and more hoops until she looked like a human slinky.

When the show was over, we were ready for bed so we went back to the cabin to finish packing. From the balcony, we could already see the distant glow of the lights on the Florida coast.

Our first cruise on a megaship was a success. The things I was worried most about – long waits to get on and off the ship, long lines at the buffet or elevators – turned out to be non-issues. Allure was surprisingly easy to get around, and our cabin’s location close to Central Park was perfect. I hope Royal Caribbean puts more of their megaships on the short itineraries.

Highlights – Central Park, the aqua show, trying a zipline for the first time, the day in Nassau, dinner at Giovanni's Table