(Compared to the Symphony of the Seas – her younger, sister ship.)
We sailed on the Allure out of Fort Lauderdale October 1, 2022. As of the date of this post, the Allure home ports in Fort Lauderdale, but it is scheduled to home port out of Galveston, Texas soon. Great news for those who would like to sail on a large ship out of that port.
The Allure is in the Oasis class of ships. Each one boasted, “The Largest Ship at Sea,” until the next Oasis class ship was built slightly larger than the last.
I can only compare this one to the Symphony of the Seas, and there are some noticeable differences.
The Boardwalk, on deck 6 aft- while the Symphony has the Ultimate Abyss dry curly slide obstructing the view of the ocean from boardwalk view cabins, the Allure does not have this slide. (And I kind of hope it stays that way, but I have heard that they are scheduled to add it during the next “dry-dock.”) We really enjoyed riding the slide on the symphony, but I am staying in a boardwalk balcony stateroom, and I LOVE the view I have of the aqua theater and the ocean without a slide in the way.
Hey, there’s my stateroom! Boardwalk View Balcony 11711. I’m waving in the picture, but I look pretty tiny way up there on deck 11.
The Allure has the Sabor Bar right behind the aqua theater where the Symphony has the exit to the Ultimate Abyss. (Hint: if watching the show at the aqua-theater, do not sit too close to the back. Noise from the bar seating could annoy you if they are there socializing rather than watching the show.)
The Allure and Symphony both have a carousel that is free to ride.
There is a climbing area for younger kids and two rock climbing walls that can be accessed by a staircase to deck 7 above the boardwalk. – Also free.
There are two free eating venues here: The Boardwalk Dog House open for lunch and dinner and the self-serve donut cases only open at breakfast. There are some complimentary, self-serve drinks here in this area too
Most everything else in this area is an additional cost:
There is an arcade area. On the Symphony, the arcade is large and accessible to Playmakers, but on this ship, they have a small arcade here on the Boardwalk and a larger one next to the teen area of the kids club.
Both ships have a candy store. The Symphony has a hard-scoop ice cream case within the candy store on the Boardwalk while the Allure has Cups and Scoops, an ice cream and cupcake store next to the donut shop.
They both have Johnny Rockets (Specialty Restaurant) which serves breakfast and lunch menus and offers milk shakes a la carte.
Where the Symphony has Playmaker’s Sports Bar, the Allure has Sabor, a Mexican specialty restaurant.
One sea day afternoon, they set up a carnival atmosphere on the boardwalk with free popcorn, cotton candy, balloon swords, and carnival games for the kids. My granddaughter loved eating cotton candy and showing off her hula-hooping skills.
But the absolute best area in the Boardwalk is the Aqua Theater on both ships. Symphony’s show is a martial arts-themed show entitled “Hiro.” The Allure’s show is “Ocean Aria.” Both shows feature talented divers and acrobats.
Both ships have a similar Central Park Neighborhood on deck 8.
The Central Park is filled with live plants and guests enjoy calm, piped-in birdsongs in the mornings and crickets chirping in the evening.
Also, for a couple of hours in the evening, guest entertainers perform.
The Central Park is home to the Park Cafe which is open for breakfast and lunch until around 5pm in the Central Park. The Park Cafe has a soda vending machine as well as self-service tea, lemonade, juice, coffee and hot tea. They also offer specialty coffees for a fee. I really appreciate the walk-up window here for my morning coffee. Even mid-way through the voyage, people would line up at Cafe Promenade on deck 5 for coffee, but I never had more than one person in front of me here at the Central Park Cafe. By day three, the barista even knew my name and preference for caramel flavoring.
The main dining room covers 3 decks in the aft of the ship. Decks 4-5 host early and late seatings and deck 3 is for “my-time dining,” where guests can show up for dinner whenever they want, and if a table is unavailable, they will receive a beeper to await an open table. Guests with my-time dining can possibly be seated at the other dining rooms as well.
Of course there is a buffet open for 3 meals per day. Royal’s buffet is called the Worldfresh Marketplace. The servers pre-fill glasses with lemonade, water, iced tea, and strawberry kiwi. Coffee, hot cocoa, and hot tea is self-service.
For those who purchase the soda package, they offer refill stations here. Guests receive a cup with an electronic chip which activates the machine. – Only those cups work in these machines.
On deck 5, the Cafe’Promenade has breakfast pastries in the morning, and sandwiches/soups and other desserts during the day including cookies! This venue is open 24 hours a day and also offers specialty coffees for a fee.
Across from the Cafe Promenade, Sorrento’s Pizza has really good, complimentary pizza and antipasti and a self-service drink station.
The Promenade is beautiful. Besides the cafe’ and Sorrentos Pizza, you will also find guest services, shopping and various venues for live entertainment like On-Air which hosts trivia by day and karaoke by night.
The Promenade also hosted a parade twice. (Same parade. If you want a seat, go EARLY. Otherwise be ready to stand with the crowds.) The second parade time was less crowded than the first one. They also showed the parade on the stateroom TV. they mentioned that EVERY performer from the ship was in the parade.
The Promenade has a beautiful car which is the backdrop for a lot of photography sessions by the professionals and plenty of selfies by guests.
The Solarium Bistro in the Solarium area offers complimentary dining during the day and becomes the Samba Grill, Brazilian Steakhouse (specialty restaurant) in the evenings.
They bring out appetizers and sides for the table to share, and they keep bringing out a variety of meats as long as you want it.
And if you are not fully stuffed, the desserts are amazing. That chocolate one was a dome of thick mouse/brownie cake covered in sprinkles. Almost too rich if there is such a thing.
There are several other Specialty Restaurants, too.
Giovanni’s Table – Italian with indoor and outdoor tables in Central Park
150 Central Park –
Chops Grill – with indoor and outdoor tables
You will not go hungry on the ship, and if you don’t want to leave your room, complimentary continental breakfast can be offered through room service. For other times of the day there is a small room service delivery charge. At the time of this post it was $7.95 (I highly recommend the wings and the chicken quesadilla.)
There is plenty to do onboard.
Deck 16 has two flow riders and a zip line. We could watch the zip-liners from our balcony!
Deck 15 has the main pool, the beach pool the sports pool and the H2O zone.
Also on deck 15 is the sports court, table tennis in an area protected from the wind, mini golf and the wipe-out cafe for some quick pool food.
There is an adults-only solarium for a quieter atmosphere.
And there is a teens-only area if you want a noisier atmosphere! I normally do not get to see the teen area because adults are not allowed, but my grandson said it was a good area to hangout.
There is a dedicated smoking area outside on deck 15 toward the solarium with tables, chairs and ash trays. People who want to avoid the smoke can easily walk on the opposite side of the ship on this deck.
Deck 14 mostly has staterooms, but the kids’ club areas are located here as is the card room where they supplied cards, checkers and a few other board games.
The Oasis Library is on deck 11.
There are multiple entertainment venues on the Allure
The Main Theater is on decks 3,4, and 5 forward. The Broadway-style show on this ship is Mama Mia. They also use the theater for guest entertainers like vocalists, comedians, and illusionists, and they show movies on the big screen here, too. No photos or videos are allowed during the copyrighted shows, so I forgot to even get a generic picture of the theater.
Dazzles is a two-story music venue in the evenings with a floor to ceiling view of the boardwalk. It hosts some trivia and game shows during the day. At times this is also an open, quiet venue.
Deck 4 is the location for “Entertainment Place”
Studio B is the name of the venue that hosts an ice skating show and guest skating sessions. Get there early enough to find a seat that is not behind a support pole. Guests must wear long pants and socks to participate. The ship provides the skates and helmets.
Besides Studio B, there is a jazz club, a comedy club, a walk-through art gallery, and the casino.
This ship has a gorgeous spa and fitness area with a juice bar. The gym equipment is complimentary and they offer some complimentary workshops. Some exercise classes, the juice bar, and the spa treatments are all at an extra cost.
People who prefer to walk or run on a track will be happy to know that they can walk outside on deck 5 all the way around the ship.
We stayed in a balcony stateroom which had a view of the boardwalk. Our room connected with my daughter’s room. They were in 11713. The two twins were put together to make a queen and they had a sleeper sofa.
The cabin steward would make the sleeper sofa into a double bed for the kids every night while we were gone to dinner. It made the room a little tight at night and early morning, but it worked and everyone had a place to sleep.
My cabin was next door. The Layout is different, as the bed is next to the balcony. For a full review of my cabin and what it is like on the balcony overlooking the boardwalk, check out my YouTube review here.
The Allure of the Seas was GREAT. We had a wonderful family vacation. I know I compared the Allure to her sister ship in this review. For a full review of that ship, follow my link to the Symphony of the Seas.
Thanks for this very helpful tour of the Allure of the Seas. Great pics too!