Royal Caribbean International’s Allure of the Seas has dozens of free activities… so what does it cost to do them on land?

ROYAL Caribbean International’s Allure of the Seas arrives in Europe next year after a £136million makeover. With so much included in the cruise price, families could spend a week trying all the activities.

To show how much value there is on board, we challenged Sun writer Richard Moriarty to replicate on land some of the ship’s free activities.

ENTERTAINING our two sons at the weekend is never plain sailing. Barney, seven, is 100 per cent boy — constantly in need of attention, new thrills and spills and always on the go.

Younger brother Louie, four, follows in Barney’s slip stream, usually holding a couple of cars to comfort him along the way.

Our weekends involve a constant round of football, swimming, Lego club, more football and maybe a trip to the park — to play football.

So we seemed the perfect fit for this land and sea challenge — trying to recreate all the activities and entertainment on board Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas.

And what a lot there is to do! Some were expected — swimming, a theatre and plenty of restaurant choices.  But others — ice skating, rock climbing and escape rooms — weren’t.

From our home in Manchester, I tried to marry up cruise activities with similar ones offered close to us.

First was the Sky High Adventure in Droylsden (£35 for a family ticket) which saw us don harnesses for a “clip and climb” one hour experience scaling various different manmade walls.

Barney loved it, reaching the top of four climbs, but Louie lost his courage at the harness stage and consoled himself with a run on the soft play area.

Half an hour in the car and we were back home for a rest before heading back out to for a 30-minute game of laser tag at Sector 7 in Didsbury (£27.95).

Having chosen the hottest day of the year, the place was deserted, allowing a family game which saw daddy being shot over and over again as the boys ran directly behind me at all times.

By this point, we’ve completed two activities, spent one hour 25 minutes in the car and travelled 27 miles.

Hungry from our exertions, we drove 25 minutes to the city centre to Home Sweet Home, a diner-style restaurant which is similar to the Johnny Rockets eaterie on board Allure.

‘CHEFS FLICK FOOD’

A huge basket of chicken and chips plus ice cream later, we’re full and enjoy a game of table tennis in the sunshine. All this before going to see Toy Story 4 — Allure of the Seas has its own 3D cinema.

Tickets are £23 for the four of us, but pester power at the pick and mix (and a beer for me) increases the bill by £14. The film is brilliant — paying £14 for parking less so.

Sunday starts at a slower pace than usual, partly as the kids are very tired from what they have christened their “crazy, amazy weekend”.

We don tracksuits for our next 40-minute trip to Planet Ice in Altrincham for some ice skating.

A family ticket costs a hefty £45.40 but you can skate for four hours. Barney finds it difficult and to get frustrated after ten minutes.

A friendly ice marshall spots his distress and gives him a quick one-to-one, then the boys enjoy themselves for a couple of hours. Then we head to Altrincham for a quick bowl of pasta at a restaurant.

Our next stop is eight miles away at Paradise Adventure mini golf at the Trafford Centre. Another £26 for some quick fire fun as the boys excitedly fly around the 18 holes.

Then we drive five miles to Manchester centre for dinner at the Sapporo Teppanyaki restaurant — which offers a similar menu to the Allure’s Izumi restaurant.

The boys are mesmerised as the chefs flick food towards customers like feeding time at the zoo. And for his encore, he expertly cooks up a feast which we all devour.

Then we drive 30 minutes back home and the boys are asleep for 8pm, giving me time to tot up some facts and figures from our weekend.