Thursday, January 6, 2011

Western Caribbean cruise on the Allure of the Seas, Dec. 5-12, 2010

After four days at Fort Lauderdale, it was time for us to board the Allure of the Seas, the newest of the Royal Caribbean fleet of cruise ships. Her itinerary was not that interesting but this was her maiden voyage and that was good enough for me. I wanted to get a feel for the largest passenger ship... so far; she is 5 centimeters larger than Oasis of the Seas, her sister ship built a few years earlier LOL.


The ship sailing away with 5,200 passengers and more than 2,300 crew!


Nice view of an almost empty beach from the top deck.


Some staterooms have a view of a park instead of the ocean!


This crowd was watching an outdoor aqua show, one of the many Las Vegas-style shows on board.


My point and shoot camera couldn't capture the acrobatic movements of these performers. I had to wait until they were literally standing still to get a decent shot.


This is the rising tide bar, one of my favorite hangouts. The bar goes three decks up and down while you drink (all the moving bars I've been to before just slowly rotate 360 degrees). After you have one drink too many, you don't really care whether the bar is moving or you are LOL.


If somebody give this to me with the stipulation that I cannot sell or give it away, I'll hate the giver for the rest of my life. Think car insurance, gas mileage, maintenance and repair, secured parking, etc., etc. I'll never have the peace of mind that I do with my 14 year old pick-up in serious need of a paint job LOL.


Our first night dinner

As good as it looked, I did not enjoy it as much (no reflection on the chef's expertise) - I'd rather have a fish taco at my favorite hole-in-the-wall Mexican joint.


A well-marked shipboard walking/jogging tract


2.4 lap equals 1 mile

20 comments:

Reena said...

hahaha. sabi na nga ba, may punchline dun sa revolving bar eh. :D

san ka sa group pic sir bert? did you just cropped your face off from the pic? daya! lol

looking forward to reading the next post on this trip!

George said...

This looks like a beautiful ship, but in some ways it's almost too big. I would think that being aboard seems more like being in a city than on a ship. Perhaps I'm just getting too old to appreciate progress!

The Nomadic Pinoy said...

It's almost like a small city with all that people crammed in the big boat. How long does it take to disembark at each port of call?

docgelo said...

i'm almost speechless;
here you again, impressing me effortlessly with your rich and famous-lifestyle.
honestly, it's so inspiring! more of these, please...

PS : i wish i can take my family to a similar cruise ship by the time i reach your age. but wait, you're only 5 years senior than i am, right? LOL!

bertN said...

Reena, I got myself out of the frame dahil mahiyain ako. Walang katotohanan yung sinasabi ng misis ko sa lahat na mahiyain lang ako kapag gusto kong mahiya LOL.

George,it is good you are just getting too old...I'm already there! Just kidding.

Now that I got a feel for a sea behemoth, I'd rather sail on a smaller, less city-like ship.

The Nomadic Pinoy, not as long as I feared it would be. With a few minor glitches, they got embarkation and debarkation down to a science.

docgelo,my rich and famous lifestyle? I have a lifestyle that is astronomically far from "rich and famous" because I'm neither.
I'm a retiree living on a fixed pension that is slowly being eroded by the rising cost of living. Where I live, everything is going up fast except woman's skirt LOL.

rob said...

.. the ship really looks large just by looking at your pictures!

bing said...

hello, bertN! maligayang bagong taon sa yo! :-) late na for a christmas greeting.

i have this dream that i can be able to go to places, too, when i am nearing 'old age'. pero sana nakakalakad pa ako ha ha

it looked you had fun. medyo madaya nga not including yourself in the pic ha ha

Hearing Aids said...

I really appreciate your post and you explain each and every point very well.Thanks for sharing this information.And I’ll love to read your next post too

bertN said...

rob, I actually prefer sailing on a smaller cruise ship.

bing, don't wait until you reach a riper age. Do your traveling now, it is more fun when you are younger. Have a great 2011!

Hearing Aids, thanks for your visit.

RIZALENIO said...

Wow! More than 5 thousand passengers and the crew are almost half of the passengers? Parang MALL OF ASIA ang cruise ship na ito. Ramdam pa po ba ang alon? :)

HAPPY WEEKEND! :)

bertN said...

Rizaleno, you can still feel the waves but not as much as when you are in a small boat.

Sidney said...

That is an amazing boat... sooo big !
WOW !
I did not know those boats were that big.

Photo Cache said...

wow that is huge.

i still have to do the carribean cruise someday. show me what i'll see when i go.

Chyng said...

my heart is beating as i scroll your blog. ako na ang nainggit!! im going to save up to experience a cruise someday ^_^

Missy said...

wow nice pictures and the ship is so humongous! Kakainggit! I want to see that rising tide bar ;-) How I wish by the time we retire too, we can do the same as you're doing right now ;-) just go around the world hehehe. I've been to cruise ship (NCL) but only in Hawaii so no casino inside :-(

bertN said...

Sydney, I think this is the biggest cruise ship to date.

Photo Cache, you'll visit more interesting places if you do an eastern caribbean cruise.

Chyng,I'm sure you'll experience cruising sooner than you think. It is not that expensive compared to a land tour.

Missy, don't wait till you retire. Just keep doing it now - you will enjoy it more.

kg said...

ang ganda ganda naman! i've always wanted to go on a cruise! haay...kelan kaya!

thanks for dropping by my site!

bertN said...

kg, it's just a matter of time and priority. Don't wait to be an oldie like me to do what you want to do.

sheng said...

This will sure be a perfect gift for me on my birthday! (in your dreams, sheng!) Haha, seriously, this one is heaven on sea!

Bob Crunch said...

That boat is absolutely beautiful. These are some awesome photos!