Rockiesfan

23 hours ago, amindu said:

Does Royal hold back cabins?  I am interested in a specific category on the Allure, Cat 1A Ultra Spacious Balcony, and it has been showing sold out since release I believe.  I find it hard to believe all those sold out the day of release on Deck 11, it just shows the aft balconies near the rock climbing wall.  

Yes they definitely do. On Wednesday morning I looked online at cabin availability on the 2025 Odyssey TA, and none of my top cabin choices showed as available. I had to call anyway to book with refundable deposit, and all of my top cabins were available through the phone agent.

I sailed on the Grace Lines Santa Paula and Santa Rosa in 1968 and 1969 on 14 night Christmas Cruises in a very large ocean view cabin to San Juan, St. Thomas, Kingston, Port Au Prince, Curacao, Aruba and La Guaira (for Caracas). The fares both years for the first 2 passengers in the cabin was $600 each and in 1968 the 3rd person was $100. In 1969 the 3rd person was free. There were no port taxes and fees on top of this. I remember we went to the company's Philadelphia office with our passports and vaccination certificates (had to have smallpox again) and the fare was paid in cash. They typed up the tickets on the spot.

 

Cruising was very different back then. Long evening gowns, mink stoles and jackets along with long kid gloves were part of the uniform for women on sea nights. Men wore tuxes or white dinner jackets every night if the ship was at sea. On port evenings a dark suit and tie was expected for dinner. Women wore nice short dresses for dinner on port nights. There were cocktails with the Captain in the lounge on all the sea days. Mixed drinks were 35 cents each! There was a full orchestra playing at dinner every night. Everyone stayed dressed all evening. We had friends sailing on other ships over the holidays and made arrangements to meet on the pier after dinner whenever we were in port together. We were allowed to visit each other's ships. The ship's officers knew everyone by name.

Thanks for posting these memories; they are fun to read!

I have asked several times when sailing on Allure and was told that the package can't be used at Hibachi-EVER. Those were the exact words.

 

I am surprised that you were allowed to do so on Harmony, but on Allure, Hibachi is booked for every night so they don't need to allow those with the package. Again, that's what I was told.

 

We are going on Allure again this summer and I will ask again, but I already know the answer.

Thanks for this info. It sounds like a pretty firm no.

I would like to know this as well. Anyone have any info?

We sailed on Allure Jan14-21 and went to Samba the first night. My favorite restaurant is Texas de Brazil and although the idea is the same, it is not as good. There is a salad bar with regular salad things, and a new addition, at least to us, compared to a year ago January, there is another area that has side dishes.

 

They had corn, mashed potatoes, au gratin potatoes, asparagus, rolls and possibly a few other things. The dessert area is better than last year's also.

 

The meats were quite good as was the service. The manager of Samba came around several times to see how things were. I do believe that many complained about how poor everything was last year and they are making a real effort to improve things.

 

I don't think all the meat was that great in that the sirloin steak was tough. Unlike Texas de Brazil, when it comes to serving filet mignon, there were only 2 pieces of meat on the skewer and there were 2 of us, so I felt they didn't want anyone to take more than 1 piece at a time.

 

I do have to say it was like night and day compared to a year ago in January. We are going again in July and I am sure we will go to Samba again as it was a good experience and we have a 5 night dining package.

Thank you for this update on the menu at Samba. We sail in a month and are debating whether to go there one night, or stick to the other specialty restaurants. We have a vegetarian in our group and, based on older reviews, we were going to skip it, but now are reconsidering....

Ourusualbeach - thanks for posting that link! I've never seen that format before; it's great.

Thanks Bob!

You can buy a bottle of wine at a bar, but they generally won't hold the partially consumed bottle for you. The Main Dining Room is equipped to save partially filled bottles of wine for guests. Also, the bottled wine selection at a bar (except for Vintages) will not be as extensive as at a restaurant.

If DH buys a bottle at Chops and doesn't finish it, and our next dinner is in the MDR or a different specialty restaurant, can the second restaurant retrieve the bottle? Or does it stay in Chops until later in the week when we next eat there? Just trying to figure out the logistics and decide what is easiest; DH drinks and I do not.

Also, is it awkward to bring our own bottle to the restaurants? Or is it common? It seems like a long walk from the cabin to the restaurants to carry just one glass.

You need an HDMI cable, Apple Lightning Digital AV Adapter ($49-one end has a lightning connector and the other an HDMI port), and a Samsung remote or a universal remote with an "INPUT" button that has Samsung TV codes since the TV's are Samsung. I have a Samsung remote, but you can get a cheap RCA remote from Target "RCA 2 Device Large Button Remote Control - Black (RCRH02BR)" for $4.99.

 

I used this on Allure and Anthem with absolutely no problems. Plug the lightning end of the adapter into the iPad and HDMI into the other end of the adapter. Plug the HDMI into a port on the TV. Then change the input on the TV to your HDMI TV port with the input button on the remote. Your iPad home page will appear on the TV once you've changed to the correct HDMI port. All but one GS cabin TV required me to change the input and one automatically changed to my iPad. I practiced on a TV at home prior to sailing with the remote of my current TV. Plus, it's fun viewing your iPad videos and photos on the big screen TV instead of the iPad or iPhone. Also, you can do the same hookup with the iPhone.

Thank you for this very clear explanation!

Right now I'm on Oasis. Any packages or paid reservations already made prior to the cruise will not have anything additional charged. New, on board purchases are getting the 18% applied.

Can anyone else confirm that already purchased/prepaid dining packages are not being charged the additional 18% gratuity? I've purchased the 4-night package for 5 people and an additional 18% additional fee would be a significant upcharge!

Thanks for your great review!

My family will be on the Allure in March. I always make up a photo scavenger hunt of things to find on the ship. We've been cruising for years and they are young adults now, but they still want to play :)

If you have any pictures of unusual things or small details, please post them. (But not from the suites as we'll be in regular balcony cabins.) Thanks!

Thank you OP for the video showing the connecting door placement - it's very helpful! :)

found the answer :)

we're vegetarian

I am too. How were the vegetarian options? I haven't cruised RCI since 2011 and the MDR menus look like they have fewer vegetarian options now.