What makes Allure different?

They’re sisters, and they have the same DNA, but the two biggest cruise ships in the world are not identical twins.
As Allure of the Seas nears completion in a shipyard in Turku, Finland, I joined representatives of the world’s media for an early preview, and discovered what makes her different from Oasis of the Seas.
First surprise was a claim by Captain Hernan Zini that Allure is longer, and can rightly lay claim to the “biggest” title. The difference is not exactly great, or indeed noticeable. Oasis is officially 360 metres long, or 1,187 feet. Allure is 360 metres and five millimetres, or 1,187 feet and three-tenths of an inch.
Which is all very well, except that being metal, the vessels’ hulls will expand when they get hotter. And as Oasis is currently sailing in Caribbean waters, she is probably at least a metre longer than her younger, and supposedly bigger, sister.
Allure’s Amber Theatre, seating almost 1,400, is equipped to show 3D movies, and it will be a short while before Oasis’s Opal Theatre is fitted with the necessary equipment.
There are other changes to Allure’s entertainment offerings: Chicago – minus just two songs from the West End version – will be the musical offering, and the ice show will be Ice Games, loosely based on Monopoly.
Where rival Norwegian Epic, launched earlier this year, has Nickelodeon characters like SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer to entertain the children on board, Allure will have Shrek, Princess Fiona, Kung Fu Panda, and other stars from the DreamWorks repertoire.
They will take part in parades on the Royal Promenade, be central to the Let You Entertain Us show in the Aqua Theatre and How To Train Your Dragon on the ice rink. Kids – and parents – will be able to have breakfast with the characters.
It’s too late to incorporate DreamWorks characters into the carousel on Allure’s Boardwalk, but there are changes in that neighbourhood, with Rita’s Cantina Tex-Mex restaurant replacing the Seafood Shack, and the introduction of a hot dog restaurant alongside the Johnny Rockets burger bar
Finally, another Epic innovation has found a place on Allure. The healthy-eating Solarium bistro will be transformed at night into the Samba Grill churrascaria, where barbecued meats will be carved tableside by parradores. It’s a match for the Moderna restaurant on the NCL ship.
The Brazilian all-the-meat-you-can-eat theme carries a $25 cover charge ($15 for vegetarians happy to eat from the salad bar) but it has not been welcomed by everyone on board.
Putting his 360 metre tape measure away for a second, Argentinian-born Captain Zini claimed the Brazilians stole the idea from his home country. “We produce the best beef in the world,” he told me after a tour of his still-unfinished bridge. “Uruguay comes second, and the Brazilians are only third.”
I wasn’t about to argue with him.