dwHokie

Soft 17. Dealer always stands on hard 17. $15 tables and higher are always 3:2, so I always just find one of those. Difference between $10 and $15 min is worth it to get 3:2.

On the recent RCL cruises I've been on, $10 was the minimum for blackjack, but was ALWAYS a 6:5 table. $15 and up were always 3:2. You could almost always find a $15 3:2 table.

Thank you, much appreciated!

@brillohead, sorry to bother, but also planning for a day in Roatan (never been there) and love to snorkel. We were looking at Infinity Bay given we'll have others in the party that would like to lounge by the beach/pool and I was hoping to snorkel offshore there with our older boys. Is your recommended snorkeling spot near there / walkable? We'll have at least 8 in our party and maybe 11. I'm assuming there may be a more cost effective way to just get to Infinity Bay / West Bay Beach for a large group vs. $20pp, but would love any insights there as well. Appreciate you both tag teaming on this live review, fun to re-live our recent trip on Allure (we were also on the frigid return to Galveston when all the CP plants were damaged). They did try to cover and even remove some of those "planters" to take indoors, but obviously it wasn't enough.

@Jay Bee see my review in my signature on a recent sailing on Allure. We got the exact same thing. You'll also get a text a couple days out asking you to follow the email (one hour later arrival) vs. the time on documentation. Our boarding time was pushed from 10 to 11 and we were onboard by 11:10, walking right on. We were underway just after 5.

Thank you for sharing! I totally missed that on our cruise...but was so nice to be able to book shows in advance vs. worrying about it as soon as you got onboard.

@theotherchad I apologize, I should have also mentioned for this last cruise we also booked Izumi, Chops and Sabor well in advance on the Royal app with zero issues. As well as our other my time MDR reservations which also went off without any hitch.

Thanks to a tip from my sister, I was able to book Mama Mia, the ice show and the aqua show 60 days in advance on the Royal app on Allure...no issues at all. All the rest have to be booked onboard. Specialty dining can be booked on the app as soon as you have a cruise reservation, as far as I can tell. I booked Izumi for our Harmony cruise next December almost a year and a half out. If you have groups sailing together, you can link the reservations and secure specialty dining at the same time together with the linked reservations in the Royal app (shows work the same way). You will see the available times start to decrease as you get closer to the cruise...so if you have a large group, you may need to split up into smaller tables to get the time you want.

You are certainly welcome...we loved Allure as well and would sail again on her any day. Thank you so much and no problem!

There is an opportunity to register the first day from 1:30-4:30pm where you sign them up and select who can sign them in/out of the club with their sea pass. For example, we gave our 15 year old access to be able to pick up the little ones if needed. You do have to specifically give both Mom/Dad access...if you don't, then only the one that registered can sign in/out. But after that, you can just show up any time the club is open...no need for reservations, etc. The teen club is completely come/go as they want.

It was $100 + tax and I only booked it a week in advance. But when I booked, the North lot was full and only the South lot and Pier 14 were available. It was less than 5 minutes walk from the South lot to the terminal (I did get a spot right near the entrance as there were plenty of spots). With 4 kids, the proximity and not needing to do / wait for a shuttle with the kids and all the luggage was worth the extra $$ to us. This was especially helpful the day we got back with sub-zero temperatures as I was able to get them back in the car very fast. See my earlier post around embarkation and the parking map which hopefully helps...and the first picture there is a good vantage point of how far it is from the South lot to the terminal. There is no sidewalk and you do have to cross one street internal to the cruise port only between the North and South lots. The rest you're just walking through the South and North lots to get to the terminal. I will be booking the South lot again when we cruise from Galveston next...it was super easy. I've also seen some other posts on here with coupon codes to save $10 and $20 on port of Galveston parking.

Thank you so much, really appreciate it. They're good kids.

You are certainly welcome. Awesome to hear and no problem. We truly enjoy cruising with the kids and it's awesome to see them enjoy it as much as we do. Sounds like a very similar story with your family...thank you for sharing.

No problem at all, had fun reliving the trip. Thank you and you're welcome! We hope we're planting the seed with our kids as well.

You are certainly welcome and we can't wait until next December...need someone in the family to plan one for all of us again as well (Christy -- hint, hint 😀)

Thank you all for the information on Coco Cay and alternate ports out of Galveston. Interestingly, I had read a post about Coco Cay and stopped by Next Cruise...none of the printed itineraries had been updated yet and the gentleman there I talked to was not aware of any alternate ports yet. But great to know they're out there now.

Day 6 -- Disembarkation We leveraged the assisted luggage option given the kids and luggage for 6, so our scheduled time to depart the ship was 9 - 9:15am. We were supposed to be out of our room by 8am and in a public space our our departure lounge (Amber theater). We had things packed up easily by then as we had to have the large luggage out the night before by 10pm. We stopped by the Amber theater to drop off our backpacks and I took the kids to Windjammer one last time (Mom stayed to watch our stuff). It was packed, but we did enjoy a nice last breakfast. Note that they did have some coffee / beverages and very light breakfast fare (muffins, croissants) in the Amber theater. We headed back to relieve Mom so she could grab something to eat, arriving back to the Amber theater by 8:45am. At that point we realized they were already calling out #30 on the baggage tags and we were #22. So they were well ahead of the printed schedule, just a heads up if you want to get off as early as possible. We were in no hurry since we were driving home, but Allison decided she would just get breakfast on the way home so we headed off the ship at that point (it was 8:50am). They had us walking directly to the running track outside the Amber theater and then walking back to the middle of the ship outside. That would not have normally been an issue...but here's the weather we were walking outside in: The wind was substantial with a 3 degree wind chill!! I can only think they didn't want to open the doors midship due to the wind and wanting to not impact the promenade. We didn't have to wait long and at least we were in the sun. We walked right through immigration with a cursory check of the kids birth certificates (they didn't even check our passports) though they did ask our 8 year old to name everyone in our party. 😄 We easily found our luggage, there was a line of porters to help and we walked right through the final customs check. I jogged to the South lot since the kids were waiting outside and had no issues pulling right up to where our luggage was staged. The car was loaded and we were driving away at 9:15am. Again, just a very efficient process and the new terminal made it very, very easy. Here was the view of the water / white caps that day driving across the bridge in Galveston. We were back home in Round Rock just after 1pm. Final thoughts: We had an amazing cruise together. The kids absolutely loved it. We have a tradition of going to the beach every summer which the kids love. After we returned home, my wife asked the kids if they had to pick one vacation between the beach and a cruise which they would select and it was a resounding vote for a cruise. The service we experienced from all RCL employees was the highlight of the trip. Just can't say enough about how well we were treated by everyone from our cabin steward to our waiters to the bartenders to the folks in the kids club. I certainly felt like it was better than our last cruise this past summer (which wasn't bad). The new terminal in Galveston and having an Oasis class ship less than a 4 hour drive from home is a gamechanger for us and it could not have been easier. We can't wait for next December on Harmony. I was a little concerned on cruising on an un-amplified ship after cruising on Harmony, but we honestly didn't miss the water slides / Ultimate Abyss...there is just so much to do. The view from the boardwalk without the Abyss was much better and I liked the solarium on the Allure. We also preferred El Loco Fresh to Mini Bites. We did miss Jamie's and the fact that there are only 2 ping pong tables in the back vs. 4 on Harmony as they were always packed. With all that said, I wouldn't hesitate to sail on Allure again as she is in great shape and I didn't notice any differences in upkeep vs. Harmony. My only ask for RCL is they consider alternate itineraries for us here in Galveston. Would love to be able to get to Coco Cay or at least some other alternate ports from here other than Roatan, Cozumel and Costa Maya, even if it meant a 9 or 10 day cruise. Thanks for following along and I'm happy to answer any questions. -Dan

Thank you so much! You bet, no problem at all.

Very welcome...we feel like we waited for the perfect time for the younger ones, but certainly the older boys missed out a bit...but catching up now as best we can! Have a great trip! No problem at all, great to have a documentary to look back on in the future as well. And again, I've learned a ton from these forums so happy to give back in any small way I can. No major issues when we got home (thanks for asking), other than my "smart" thermostat decided to turn off the heat downstairs for the last few days since we weren't around...right when we needed it to keep all the pipes warm. It was 54 degrees in the house downstairs when we walked in! Will probably lose a few plants outside as we didn't get them covered until we got home, but could have been worse.

Thank you much! Sand and water were great there, very soft sand. Lexi thoroughly enjoyed playing in it!

We had a final balcony happy hour to watch sunset and I got a few pictures up on deck as well on the way to get James and Lexi from their last kids club trip. We also hit the carousel one last time before getting ready for dinner. 20221222_190310.mp4 We arrived at the MDR right at our 7:15 reservation time and requested Adrin and Michael's section and were immediately seated again. Looked like Adrin and Michael already had their hands full with a couple of other tables as they were literally running around when we got there...I hope we didn't mess them up by requesting them. They apologized that it might take a little longer tonight and we told them to relax and assured them we were in no hurry. The meal did take a bit longer that last night (about an hour and 40 minutes), but still faster than some of our experiences with early seating on the last cruise (albeit that was with 12 people across 2 tables). No lobster on the MDR menu since it was only a 5-day cruise, which was a bummer, but Allison and Ethan ordered the broiled whole lobster for an additional charge anyway that last night and they both said it was really good. My prime rib was just okay that night. But overall, we had a great experience in the MDR with my time dining at 7:15pm. We wished it was a little earlier for the kids sake, but that was really the only complaint. Service from Adrin and Michael was great and they knew us and our preferences by the 2nd/3rd night. The weather definitely started to pick up around dinner time and you could really feel the ship moving. Here's a picture of the front we were sailing into around 6pm or so from our balcony: At one point that evening around 9pm, I turned on the cruise mapper on the stateroom TV and there was a 62 knot effective wind across the bow with us doing 18 knots and the temperature was 60 degrees. So it was blowing 40+ that last night and you could definitely feel it. You could actually hear the ship smacking into waves from our stateroom, granted it was very far forward. All the upper decks and even the solarium were closed that night due to the weather. I did grab a video before they shut it down up on the pool deck and then one later on in central park to try and give you a flavor of the wind, but these don't do it justice. It was literally hard to stand up straight on deck 15 at this point. You could also literally hear it howling from our balcony with the door fully closed. 20221222_221250.mp4 20221222_221732.mp4 The kids were not phased at all and Lexi bargained to go back for one last hour at the kids club from 9-10pm that last night. And then she got her last pizza in as well. 😂 They were setting back up the balloons in the royal promenade for the next cruise as we headed to bed that last night. One last check on the weather around midnight and there were still 60 knot apparent winds across the bow and the temperature had dropped to 39 degrees.

Day 5 -- last day / day at sea Most of us slept in the last day after a full day of beach and snorkeling the day before. But Drew was up and took pictures of sunrise! Allison, Ethan and I skipped breakfast as we had the sushi / sake pairing at Izumi at 10:30am. Drew hit Windjammer himself earlier and I got the little ones breakfast there as well before dropping them off at the kids club. I booked Izumi for lunch with a 12pm reservation well in advance as we had loved the a la carte lunch on Harmony. When I got onboard the ship, I noticed my reservation had been changed to 10:30am and was now labeled sushi / sake pairing, which we did not prefer as we had Ethan with us who loves sushi. I spoke to the head waiter at Izumi a few days before and he said they were not offering the a la carte lunch that day. I assured him I had signed up for it previously and showed him my confirmation email. He said they could try and get us in at 1:30pm...I told him I booked 12pm for a reason well in advance. In any case, we ended up trying the sushi / sake lunch as they told us it was fine to bring the 13 year old, he just obviously wouldn't do the sake. It ended up being a good experience, but I still prefer the a la carte lunch at Izumi better. You just get more of the sushi you really want (ex: creamy truffled tempura lobster role) vs a single piece. Here was the menu: They took time to explain each course as well as the sake that paired with it. The yellow tail carpaccio was amazing and again, super fresh as compared to the tuna tartare we had in chops the night before. The second and third pairings were also very good with my personal favorite from our last cruise, the creamy lobster tempura. It was not as melt in your mouth good as the one I had on Harmony, but it was still really good. The 4th course was a large bowl of fried rice and filet to help fill you up and was also excellent. We finished with the same dessert we had on our previous cruise, the mochi ice cream, which was certainly very different, though not amazing. All in all, glad we got to go to Izumi again, but would prefer the a la carte lunch next time (already booked for our next cruise). The rest of the day was spent pool and jacuzzi hopping and doing some of the older boys favorite activities like rock climbing, the zip line and mini golf. 20221222_152438.mp4 I spent some time in the casino and continued a strong streak for the week in black jack. I gave some back in 3-card poker, but did hit a 3 of a kind. But finished well up overall given blackjack. Didn't play anything else other than these 2 games. The $15 tables pay 3:2 on blackjack vs. the $10 ones pay 6:5, so play the $15 tables for much better odds. Now for one of the more interesting parts of the cruise. We were sailing towards a severe cold front where temperatures in the teens and wind chill in the single digits was expected back in Galveston when we docked. I was a little worried about the weather the final sea day, but it held in the 70s all day long, although it was overcast. The captain made an announcement about half way through the day that we would see some activity around central park as they worked to relocate fragile plants from the weather. He apologized that we would see them being moved and sometimes staged in the halls and apologized. To me it was really interesting to see this operation. One of the more amazing moves was the plant wall that goes from floor to ceiling on either side of central park. First picture shows it earlier in the cruise and you can see how lush and thick it is. They slowly moved all of these until the entire wall was gone! I really hope these weren't damaged in the move as they were beautiful...will be very interesting to hear back from the following cruises on Allure how the plants made it back (and when) and how they survived. They were also moving many other sensitive plants and they were planted in these modular beds which looked pretty easy to move. They covered other plants with plastic. Most of the plants you could see them wheeling back into the crew areas...but some got some more visible staging. Very interested to hear back from others that cruised after us to hear how this turned out for central park.

I think it differs by ship, but it is definitely tied to a sail away party / first night of the cruise celebration. They were setting it back up the day we left the ship for the next cruise.

Hi Kellie -- I booked it myself directly with their website. Everyone has to go back through the port security on the way to the ship, so you'll have to do the same. And this security was specific to the international pier, where it was just us and Celebrity docked, not the full 8 ships. With that said, you'll have plenty of time from 8am-6pm and the good thing about an excursion booked through the ship is they will not leave without you and I'm sure they'll factor this in the return timing, having much more experience than we did. I think having 5 vs. 8 ships could help considerably with the crowds at Playa Mia as well. Have fun!

We were on our way shortly after 4, so I'm assuming everyone made it back through security as we certainly didn't wait very long after 4 to leave. This evening we had reservations at Chops at 8pm for the older boys and the adults and the plan was to get the little ones dinner in advance and then kids club from 7-10 so we could dine at Chops. Given everyone was pretty hungry after a day of swimming / beach and limited food for Allison, we had a wine and El Loco Fresh (chips & cheese quesadillas) balcony appetizer party to watch sunset. I promise this is not Ethan's wine, he just grabbed Mom's seat when she got up. Trellis bar in the middle of central park was our go-to spot to grab drinks and bring back to our room as it was very close to our room. Lexi and James wanted pizza and soft-serve which we were able to easily do before dropping them off in the kids club at 7pm. As we walked in, they welcomed James by name. I said, "Uh-oh, that's either a good thing or a bad thing you know him by name!" and they assured me it was a good thing. But either way, great for the folks there to know your kids by name, especially with how many they see. As I mentioned earlier, I have a bass trombone and a trumpet player and as it so happened, there were trombone and then trumpet soloists accompanied by a piano in central park at 6:30pm (trombone) and 7:15 (trumpet). Drew, Ethan and I watched as we waited for our Chops reservation and Drew had a good conversation with the trombone player (Maxwell) who was very kind in talking to a 15 year old for a good 10 minutes after his set. We walked into Chops right at 8pm, excited for our specialty dining together. Unfortunately, I have to say Chops was a big disappointment. We're not overly picky as you can hopefully tell from the review so far. But if I pay $50pp at a steakhouse, I expect good appetizers, mains and sides, especially when it's RCL's signature specialty restaurant. Service was good...so that was not the concern. It was the quality of the food across the appetizers, mains and sides (the desserts were amazing). The tuna tartare was not fresh -- had much better tuna in Izumi both this cruise an the previous one on Harmony. You just can't serve this dish if the tuna is not fresh. The "jumbo lump" crabcake was a joke. I was born and raised in Maryland, so I know a good crabcake, and this was all filler (no jumbo lump) and was not fresh crabmeat. My wife loves lobster bisque...and it was also bad (we both tried it). No sherry, was not creamy, no lump lobster and hers even had shell in it. To his credit, the waiter could tell we were not happy with the apps and brought out others. The shrimp cocktail was good, as was the mushroom soup (was actually quite good) and Drew enjoyed his beef carpaccio. But the damage was done. Tuna tartare and the crabcake below. For our main, all 4 of us ordered the 9oz filet and we asked for all of the sides except for the spinach and the french fries to share. 3 of the steaks came out medium and 1 came out truly medium rare. I don't ever send food back, but did in this case, although my wife was too nice to send hers back (Ethan and Drew's were cooked appropriately). Mine came out a second time half medium and half medium rare, so they clearly had a problem with consistently cooking the filet. Now this is Chops...so if you can't cook a filet medium rare in two tries, something is wrong. Sides were just okay. We did like all the fixings that came out with the baked potato and the gruyere tater tots were really good. Nothing special about the mac and cheese or asparagus and they never brought out the mashed potatoes (though we did not mention it). The desserts were excellent. The warm chocolate cake was one of the best desserts of the week and Allison and Ethan loved the key lime pie. Drew got the red velvet cake which was also very good. Ethan made the mistake of telling the waiter he loved the key lime pie (and it was gone) so of course another one came out. Drew finished half of his and asked for a to-go box and another whole slice came out to go. So again, the service was what you would expect, but after some of the reviews I had read, I had concerns about Chops already, and with this experience, we won't plan on returning. We've just had other spectacular meals at Jamie's, Izumi and now Sabor on this trip, it just isn't worth the extra price we paid. Hopefully others have better experiences. The desserts: We finished the meal right on time to get Lexi and James from the club at 10pm and they were hungry and feeling left out on the dessert side. So in a bit of a late-night tradition for this cruise, we hit Sorrento's and then Cafe Promenade for them. We returned to our rooms to find these guys, which the little kids enjoyed and we headed to bed after a long day in the sun.