Cruising with Theme Park Review - Feb 2011

[testtrack321]

I don't think there will ever be a full scale roller coaster but I could totally see more things like zip lines, water coasters and other "attractions" getting added. Maybe a fully enclosed alpine coaster or something?

 

Give them the Stratosphere treatment with a version of the Big Shot, X-Scream, or others on the side of the ship.

[delan]

GAGA CLASSES!!! hashtag: bookingacruiserightnow!!

[PSiRockin]

I just had a genius moment- Skycoaster on a ship. It's like rides on the moon, but with cruises. This thread makes my day better.

[disneyfan1313]

Hey, I resemble that remark!

 

My wife always gripes at me about wearing a t-shirt when we go out to eat at a decent place. I do wear work clothes when we go to Chez Nous, and other high end places. So, alas, I know I'll have to dress up some to please the snooty ship Gods if we go on one. ALthough we're looking at a Disney cruise, and they are probably the last ones to enforce anthing.

 

Proud to have eaten at Antoine's in New Orleans in a t-shirt and blue jean shorts.

 

-RO

 

Actually you would be surprised! DCL does enforce dress code very strictly in the upcharge restaurants (Palo and Remy) and will enforce the general dress code (no tank tops, shorts, etc) in the main dining room. They do have a "dress-up" night which is really only enforced by peer pressure. I personally really enjoy dressing up on a cruise... I'm the weirdo who will put on my tux and then wear it all night until 2am when the clubs close!

[coasterville]

Thanks Robb,

 

I've often thought about cruising, and that looks simply breathtaking.

 

I just looked up typical fares just for kicks, you can get a (lowest grade) stateroom on a 7 day cruise on the Allure for under $900. That's incredible when you consider what all Robb has showed us.

 

I have talked with others who have cruised and the "Avoid Carnival at all costs" is almost, without exception, the first piece of advice I always hear.

[Guy T. Koepp]

I am so glad I finally had the time to catch up on this TR. It looks as if you all are having an awesome time. I am so sad that I am not able to make the October cruise. I know you guys will have a blast! I can't wait for all the awesome pictures. The ship looks amazing. I'm looking forward to the next time we are able to go cruising with you guys. I really want to try a flowrider. It is one of those little things that has somehow slipped by my to do list. It looks like a blast. Oh! The Domo shirt is awesome!

[slither37]

This last report had everything. Food. Lube. Booze.Predator. Pipe shaped like a penis. Ball in a Cup. Swedish instructor.

And what could possibly top the bacon cupcake, honestly?

 

Ok, no coasters, but pretty darn everything else you need to live a happy life.

 

No matter how many pictures I see of the ship, I get the sense that in order to appreciate the immense size of it, you have to see it in person. (TWSS)

[BelizeIt]

Well I have never had the chance to travel on a cruise ship before, but as always the Alveys have opened my eyes to new possibilities.

 

This ship is amazing, and I can be assured that your trip is living up to your expectations.

 

These 7 day cruises seem to be the best way to go. You can see all that the ship has to offer, and have an amazing time.

 

I look forward to the TPR 'Cruise' trip at the end of the year.(for invited guests)

 

Whether its Theme parks or Traveling the Oceans, TPR seems to cover it all!

[Lenaapple1974]

WOW. Completely amazing. I just spent the last... I don't know how long reading all 24 pages. Thank you Robb for posting each day! Anyone who is a first time cruiser should totally read this thread. If anyone previously had questions, they are now all answered.

 

I specifically did not read any menus today. I am starving...will not make it worse!

 

Lady Gaga class....very scary. I will take nothing but the real thing! (4/23 GA!! Woot!)

[Brandy524]

Just got caught up on the last couple of updates. Wow, I had to hold back my laughter at the Gaga dance class because I'm work! Scary. Everything about the ship is just amazing. Seriously making me want to start saving for a cruise. Thanks for all the inside info on pricing and what's included!

[The_Mad_Hatter]

Wow! Thanks for all the pictures. Looks amazing!

 

Theme parks on a cruise ship? sure... http://disneyandmore.blogspot.com/2009/11/ss-disney-incredible-wdi-project.html

[robbalvey]

Wow! Thanks for all the pictures. Looks amazing!

 

Theme parks on a cruise ship? sure... http://disneyandmore.blogspot.com/2009/11/ss-disney-incredible-wdi-project.html

Heh, interesting article. Oddly enough, I had a very brief encounter with this project when I worked for Disney that I'm probably not allowed to talk about. Let's just say that I'm not shocked the project never got the green light.

[SharkTums]

Finish the update!!!

 

The last day was sad, cause we knew reality was fast approaching but we did some more awesome stuff!!!

 

And Maureen, you'll see pictures of the Dreamworks Character Breakfast including the Penguins!! And yes, they'll be on the Freedom!

[broomy]

Also what are the prices like for the zip wire and flow rider? Cheers.

All included. There is no charge at all. You can book a private session for the Flowrider, which is what we did last night, which is $60 per person, and it limits the group to 8 people. We only have 4 people last night and plenty of time on the Flowrider (our session ended up being about 90 minutes)

 

The rest of the time I've been going during the normal public sessions, and I still got in a TON of Flowrider time.

 

But yeah, those two attractions, the rock climbing wall, the carousel.... all included. No additional cost.

 

--Robb

 

 

Thanks very much. When you think about it and take into account all the things you get for nothing it really does seem like great value for money.

[moinab]

And Maureen, you'll see pictures of the Dreamworks Character Breakfast including the Penguins!! And yes, they'll be on the Freedom!

 

Lose. Their. Minds. Christian may actually explode.

 

 

ETA - for those who are interested in cruising, after reading this thread, but may be a bit more *ahem* budget conscious, the Freedom and Voyager class ships can be tremendous bargains. Obviously, you won't get all the amazing amenities of the Allure, but you will still get a fantastic vacation for several hundred dollars less (which adds up, if you have 5 people in your party, like we do!)

[HowieP]

My father and my family are planning a cruise for next year and this looks like one awesome ship. I'm suggesting this one to him when I see him.

[robbalvey]

Going to finish this next update in two parts because it's a big one! Basically, the last two days of the cruise all rolled up into one huge update! here goes....

We pull into Cozumel, Mexico and see two Carnival ships... Ha! The Allure is bigger than those two ships put together!

Turns out there would be a total of 9 different ships in port today! That's a LOT of margaritas and nachos to serve!

Oh, yeah, thank you day plates for letting me know!

It's early morning and people are already zip lining across the ship!

The information screens have this AWESOME feature letting you know what restaurants are currently open, and which ones are busy. Loved this little touch.

In this picture you can *kind* of get a sense of how huge the Allure is compared to another ship. And the Carnival Freedom I believe is one of their biggest ships!

"Thank you to my daughter and her wonderful iPhone 4 so we didn't have to pay for this picture!"

I swear to god, first glace I thought it said "Have a nice day, asshole!" LMAO!

Yup, it's official. We're in Cozumel!

Noted!

Oh, man, we totally have to book the next TPR Cruise on the Trans Caribe!

"Just imagine what I could do with a four hour erection!"

"Oh Jesus Christ!!!"

Well...it's true!

Piers?

Good puzzle for the next Club TPR Games page?

This one was my favourite!

No words....

"Mexican Coke is better than ANY Pepsi!"

Typical Mexican cruise ship port stuff.... ukulele, ball in a cup, etc, etc....

And PLENTY of tequila!

I am SURE these are all officially licensed products.

I couldn't find option #2 for Piers in Cozumel, so instead he got this lovely shirt!

Well...at least it's 1/2

Cozumel defunct water slide!!! OMG alert the press we must save this important relic of the amusement industry!!! Anyone in Ohio interested?!?

F U too mr. Monkey!

WANT!

There was no Predator in Cozumel, but oddly enough plenty of Ghost Rider?

Back on the ship, having lunch at one of my favourite new restaurants...Park Cafe....

Where they have "better than normal sex salad" every day!

"I love you Mr. Ice Cream."

Kristen's animal of choice was the shark of course! So proud!

The hot dog place....

Sooooo good!

If anyone on RCCL ships does the logo and mascot trivia...here's all the answers!

And of course Elissa has everything all organized and planned out in the cabin!

More of these bizarre little things around the ship that you can look into...they actually hold a scavenger hunt where you have to go and find all these things.

This is what you see when you look inside.

See ya later Mexico!

Here's another one....

This one at least has boobs....sorta.

it's getting dark...that means....DINNER!

Gordon Ramsey would have the crab cake.

Tonight, I'm going to get porked!

And the pork was amazing!

I got a "backup chicken" just in case....

And for dessert, this awesome cheesecake!

That's what the Rising Tide looks like on top, when it's down on the ground floor.

F U too, Mr. Monkey!

Looking at our account you can see how my cruise is going: Cupcake, Cupcake, beer, beer, beer, beer, cupcake, cupcake, beer, beer....pretty awesome if you ask me!

Blue Planet was another "Cirque" wannabe show. It wasn't really my thing, but Elissa's parents loved it! And no, this isn't based on the IMAX movie of the same name!

Not being a rocket scientist or anything here, but I *think* that's the Blue Planet.

There was lots of singing and dancing and stuff like that...

Then they brought out this big tree which gave me nightmare flashbacks to "Light Magic!"

The whole trampoline thing seemed pretty popular on the ship.

Finale! Hooray!

 

Part 2 of this final update coming next!

Edited February 22, 2011 by robbalvey

[jray21]

I swear to god, first glace I thought it said "Have a nice day, a$$hole!" LMAO!

 

I totally thought that too! I had to do a double take to see what it said. I have been around TPR too much! The food looks incredible as always!

[robbalvey]

More Allure of the Seas photos....

Awww....last full day of the cruise...very sad.

But it was the day of our Dreamworks character breakfast! Check out the menu.

They brought me this deadly chocolate muffin!

No, really, they are actually trying to kill me with this food!

"Mommy....why are you letting CoastinKatie touch me?"

Highlight of the entire cruise!!!

Meh, after the Penguins, Alex doesn't doesn't seem quite as cool.

At 8:45am, The Gravity Group got money. (that's what it says on the schedule!)

RANDOM SHARK!!!!

I see don't flush your flying carpet, Jeff Johnson depends, vaginal blood soaker, and SMALL CAR?!?!?

This is in Central Park and is called the "living wall", but since all living things eventually die, isn't this really the "dying wall." Something to think about!

KidTums has a Giant Octopus on her face!

They really are milking as much as they can out of that Dreamworks deal!

Spectacular location for this theater!

And it even has comfy chairs!

Oh, geez...here comes CoastinKatie spreading her ass burgers all over the place...

Proof that some bikini's should not be made in certain sizes!

Lunch at Rita's Cantina! Note that this was the only upcharge table service restaurant we went to the entire cruise! All the other table service meals have all been included!

The chips & salsa options were amazing!

Very colorful.

This upcharge restaurant is only $7 per person, and you can order whatever you want off this menu!

As you can see, I took full advantage of that!

And so did the rest of us!

The star attraction of Rita's Cantina was the fresh churros, ice cream, and fruit. OMG, sooo good!

That's more like it!

"Do I make your horny?"

Another awesome thing was these kiosks that allowed us to check in for our flight! It even printed out our boarding passes!

We walked into the ice skating show and saw a Monopoly sign, a crab, and a lady in a pink tutu. That's it, we're done!!!

FACT! Princess Fiona is the god mother of the Allure of the Seas!

"Hey! You wanna know a little secret about this ship?"

It's not advertized anywhere, but on some of the upper decks (I believe it's 11 and 12...), there is a place you can go that overlooks the Aqua Theater.

You can see it on the other side, deck 6 is the boardwalk, deck 7 is another public area, decks 8, 9, and 10 are all the Aqua suites, but then on decks 11 & 12, those balconies are open to the public!

And look at the amazing view from up here!

There are even deck chairs and tables so you can hang out up here.

I seriously love little "hidden gems" like this on ships. There aren't any signs leading you into this area, and it's not advertized anywhere. You just have to "know about it."

To give everyone a full re-cap of the ship, let's take a close look at some of the themed decks starting with the Royal Promenade.

Yes, Royal Promenade...that's what we said.

Of course we start off with my favorite part of the promenade!

The "On Air" club is where they host a lot of "tech" related events. They do the Wii Sports challenge and Karaoke in here.

Bolero's is another bar with a lounge band at night. This is the place where the Lady Gaga dance class was held!

The Shop is where you go to buy stuff...duh! If you want any logo merchandise here or you want to buy "The Captain", this is the place to be!

Another shop. Not even sure I went in here the entire cruise.

More shopping. Cloths and random stuff.

They sell straw wine in here!

While Sorrento's isn't "new", the "make your own pizza" bar was, and probably the best new addition to the "included" food options on the ship.

This is the ship's "British Pub" - lots of beer and a dude that plays guitar and sings for you. Kind of like K.K. Slider, but less dog.

And this has to be the best new addition to the RCCL ships! Soooo good!

This is another shop....I guess!

Cafe Promenade - Is it sad that there are so many included food options, that we never even made it to this one?

Directed by Ron Howard. Starring Val Kilmer, Joanne Whalley, Warwick Davis.

Trivia on top, complaints dept down below.

Another bar....

...in case you needed a new watch or some diamonds or something....

The photo place is right above the champagne bar.

And one last look down the Royal Promenade!

Next we'll go take another look at the Boardwalk...

"I want to be big...like John Holmes!"

Runner up for best new place on the ship!

Never had anything from here...it's an upcharge, which may be why, but the ice cream did look amazing!

Pets at Sea is RCCL's version of "Build a Bear."

We got some amazing photos of KidTums in here!

Johnny Rockets...

Rita's Cantina...

Here you can be a kid in the candy store.

Pinwheels is a shop full of random toys and plush animals.

They put out an unlimited amount of donuts until around 11am!

And of course you can't forget the star attraction of the Boardwalk, the Carousel!

"Deck 4" isn't really themed, but it houses a lot of important feature of the ship...

The casino is very good at taking a lot of your money, and not giving much of it back!

Studio B is where they do all the ice skating and TPR Quest!

You can take your chances and hope to see someone funny in the Comedy Live club.

Everytime I saw this all I could think about was Roxanne Blaze! (Google her!)

And of course, the jazz club.

And finally, a look at my favorite new section of any ship, Central Park!

If you're into wine or tapas style dining, you do not want to miss this place!

Craig T. Nelson inspired luxury items.

They sell colourful luggage!

The more "Serious" portrait studio.

Mmm...sex salad!

Italian fine dining.

The Trellis Bar. This place was great at night to sit and have a beer, and just "hang out" in this nice quiet area.

The Rising Tide in "low tide" mode....

Steakhouse fine dining.

And finally, 150 Central Park, probably the most luxurious of all the upcharge restaurants!

Seriously, this is one INSANELY HUGE ship! That took you through just 4 of the decks, and that doesn't even include any of the sports deck, gym, pool deck, etc!

Our final dinner service of the cruise...

I choose MEAT!!!

This onion soup may not look like much, but don't be fooled....it's great!

Now THAT is a nice sized piece of animal!

So many things I want!

I will settle for only these two!

On the final night of the cruise something amazing happened....

They were playing a Katy Perry concert in the Aqua Theater!!! OMG! Tyler would have died! (Damn, she really DOES look like a Furby!)

I seriously cannot say enough awesome things about Allure of the Seas. Thank you again Royal Caribbean for building such an awesome ship!

 

Hope you all enjoyed our Cruising with TPR updates! Looking forward to the October cruise!

[Hhappy]

Thanks for all the updates, looks like an awesome ship.

 

Guess i'd better start saving money for a cruise on this one.

[BeemerBoy]

I guess it wasn't really until this last update that I got that sense of "having to remind yourself that you're on a ship" you spoke of. The quality of everything you showed looked amazing. And the food.....wow. Yeah, October's gonna be good.

[moinab]

^No joke! I'm going to have to schedule in at least 2 hours of workout time, every day, to avoid gaining 10 pounds!

[sspaz1000]

It looks amazing. Thank you for the fantastic report.

 

I'm now looking into booking a cruise next year.

[xmichellex]

Thanks again so much for all the pics! I need to show my bf this TR because he's kind of afraid of going on a cruise... I don't think he realizes that you can go on a ship like this where it's seemingly endless. Of course, he's still terrified of rogue waves, haha, so hopefully he can get over that one!

[terrancew_hod]

 

Robb, you know I had to chuckle because this is our company's software that I have to learn top to bottom... and I was looking at this code last week.

 

Of course on my development machine (with the HD LCD connected), I had to modify the ship's wine list as follows:

 

I need to order a bottle of this fine wine...

 

(this reminded me to get my butt down to Port Everglades and get my port id so I can get a tour of that ship)

 

Terry

 

EDIT: I just told some people in the support department about the screenshot and they said they totally understand about getting all those cupcakes and recommend if I make it on the ship to get one too.

Edited February 22, 2011 by terrancew_hod