Allure Christmas Cruise Review

[denamo]

This is a very general overall review of the Allure. I will tell you this was by far one of the best cruises ever. All of it due to the ship herself.

 

Embarkation - Arrived at port around 11:00. We were on ship by 11:30! Fast, efficient, and friendly!

 

Shore Excursions - Booked the zipline for sons. There was trouble with the printer, so tickets arrived in cabin later.

 

Haiti - Sons loved the zipline! We did it in June, so we go pictures of them as they zipped by! The lunch was good. We were not at all bothered at the artisan market. Headed back to ship.

 

Costa Maya - Did private excursion to Maya Chan beach. It was great. Food was wonderful. Followed the directions exactly as emailed and had no transportation problems. The road is filled with potholes which slows down the trip.

 

Cozumel - We stayed on ship since we've been several times. Many others stayed on board also.

 

Food - We did not have a bad meal all week! Had read on the boards some disparaging remarks regarding the food, so went in with caution. Should not have. Boni and Leo were wonderful all week in the MDR. Great service! We ate at Chops one night. Sons went to Samba and they raved over and over about it. Will have to go next time. Room service was optimum with service. Had room service most every morning with putting out order on door the night before. Ate most lunches at the Park

Cafe. Good variety of sandwiches and build your own salad. Did try Dog House. It is a nice addition. Don't know why they close so early. I would think that would be a good late night snack. I'm guessing due to the balconies, RCCL tries to keep the noise to a minimum in that area.

 

Cabin - Boardwalk balcony. Loved it! Where the action is. Tons of kids this week. Conceirge in Diamond Lounge, Maritza, told us there were 1900 kids on board.

 

Shows - Saw all but the ice show. Oceanaria is spectacular; Chicago is remarkable; Commedy Club was definitely entertaining; Headliner, Earl Turner was delightfully talented as well as his son who was with him; Blue Planet was not what I expected. I enjoyed Come Fly with Me more on the Oasis. Allure's show contained more interpretive dance. The tree was awesome in BluePlanet and the ocean scene was cool. I would recommend seeing it. Loved the Christmas caroling in the Promenade on Christmas eve. My personal pet peeve - on two different occasions, one man saving 10 seats and another saving 11 seats in the theater! grrrr. Chalked it up to this being a Christmas cruise and families wanting to sit together. Even though announcement is made, there was no enforcement of seat saving. I can take one or two, but eleven really takes the cake! Saw a big confrontation in the AquaTheater over seats being saved. Not willing to do that. Odd thing is that is was always older men doing the saving and getting confrontational when challenged. Really think the seat saving needs to be addressed. OK...off of soap box.

 

Overall impression - Never felt like this was only the third revenue cruise. We never saw any glitches. Seems like the Oasis helped work out many of those. It was busy all over the ship due to this being a big holiday cruise. Not packed kind of busy, just constant activity. Noise level was that of kids and famiies having a great time. Loved the Allure. Definitely entertainment venues are topnotch. Food is great. Cabin is very comfortable. Ready to go again!

[renech]

Thanks for the review! Glad to hear it was such a positive experience for you.

 

Can I ask you what deck your boardwalk balcony cabin was on, and how far aft? We have two of the furthest back aft BB cabins booked on deck 11 and I'm wondering about the view and sun exposure on the balconies.

 

Also, had you pre-booked all your shows, or did you do any walk-ins?

 

Thanks again!

[bajathree]

Good review....thanks:)

I was on Oasis Dec18....the same thing with seat saving.... been lots of posts about this issue. I saw people saving entire rows....Royal needs to step up to the plate and start enforcing this issue pronto or there are going to be brawls breaking out.....and that's no fun for anyone.

[denamo]

Thanks for the review! Glad to hear it was such a positive experience for you.

 

Can I ask you what deck your boardwalk balcony cabin was on, and how far aft? We have two of the furthest back aft BB cabins booked on deck 11 and I'm wondering about the view and sun exposure on the balconies.

 

Also, had you pre-booked all your shows, or did you do any walk-ins?

 

Thanks again!

 

We were on deck 11, five cabins from the aft. Loved the area being so close to the public balcony area at the end of the hall. It is a long walk to get anywhere, however. :) We had afternoon sun. We had days that were partly cloudy, so the sun was never an issue. We were on the starboard side. Can't really hear specifically what is going on in the Aqua Theater. You can get the gist of it, however.

 

We did pre-book all our shows. We would do something each evening. Basically the same process of going to the theater on a smaller ship each evening. Those without reservations were able to get into all shows. Of course, the "prime real estate" seating was gone by then. I can't say there would really be a bad seat expect in the Amber Theater behind a pole.

[bajathree]

Thanks for the review! Glad to hear it was such a positive experience for you.

 

Can I ask you what deck your boardwalk balcony cabin was on, and how far aft? We have two of the furthest back aft BB cabins booked on deck 11 and I'm wondering about the view and sun exposure on the balconies.

 

Also, had you pre-booked all your shows, or did you do any walk-ins?

 

Thanks again!

 

I just stayed in 11329.....best balcony cabin I ever had.... Honestly enjoyed more than the owners suite balcony I had on the Oasis inaugural. You don't get much sun....being from FL I like that , but if you are looking to sun on the balcony it may not be good. Views of the aqua theater and ocean are just gorgeous. Yes it's a bit of a walk but it was very well worth it for me....very quiet at night after all the shows...even slept with the balcony door open and listen to the wake.

[Cruising89143]

Earl Turner. RCI seems to book him over and over and over. I hope that he is not the headliner on our upcoming two weeks. They need to get some new acts.

 

Thanks for posting your review and glad that you enjoyed yourself.:)

[irun5k]

Chalked it up to this being a Christmas cruise and families wanting to sit together. Even though announcement is made, there was no enforcement of seat saving. I can take one or two, but eleven really takes the cake!

 

The whole seat-saving bit as you witnessed makes no sense to me whatsoever:

 

1) it is a *SHOW*... you're there to watch the show and not talk to the people next to you.

 

2) What is the point of seating 11 people together anyway? It isn't like person in seat #1 is going to chat it up with person in seat #11! Outside of the person next to you, or maybe one seat beyond that, you're not going to be talking to anyone. It would make far greater sense to just sit as couples or in smaller groups as you arrive, and meet up in a lounge afterwards for social hour.

 

3) If the 11 people are so valuable to one another that they have to sit beside one another, why didn't they arrive together!?!

[bajathree]

The whole seat-saving bit as you witnessed makes no sense to me whatsoever:

 

1) it is a *SHOW*... you're there to watch the show and not talk to the people next to you.

 

2) What is the point of seating 11 people together anyway? It isn't like person in seat #1 is going to chat it up with person in seat #11! Outside of the person next to you, or maybe one seat beyond that, you're not going to be talking to anyone. It would make far greater sense to just sit as couples or in smaller groups as you arrive, and meet up in a lounge afterwards for social hour.

 

3) If the 11 people are so valuable to one another that they have to sit beside one another, why didn't they arrive together!?!

 

It's not that they want to sit together and talk as much as 1 walks in to hold the BEST seats ...then the majority of the group always seems to show up 5 minutes before the show starts....if they all show up at all.

[East Bay Skiers]

..........

 

We did pre-book all our shows. We would do something each evening. Basically the same process of going to the theater on a smaller ship each evening. Those without reservations were able to get into all shows. Of course, the "prime real estate" seating was gone by then. I can't say there would really be a bad seat expect in the Amber Theater behind a pole.

 

 

I'm so glad you had a wonderful Christmas cruise! Thank you so much for the great review!!! Exactly one month from today we'll be on board:D:D Can't wait!

 

We have also pre-booked all our shows. My question is: Do they scan your seapass when you go in? or how do they know you have reservations? Just curious!

 

Thanks!!!

[TwoTravelin]

I also sailed on this cruise, and it was one of the best I ever experienced! Lots of gift-giving as well!

 

I did mention to Mr. "I'm Saving 11 Seats" that it was against policy to save seats, and he acted quite surprised when I mentioned where that information could be found. I honestly don't fault him, but his family members who would ask for such a favor!

[bajathree]

I'm so glad you had a wonderful Christmas cruise! Thank you so much for the great review!!! Exactly one month from today we'll be on board:D:D Can't wait!

 

We have also pre-booked all our shows. My question is: Do they scan your seapass when you go in? or how do they know you have reservations? Just curious!

 

Thanks!!!

 

Yes... your card is scanned.....and if you don't have a reservation you have to stand on the stand-by line.

[NolaFireLI]

The whole seat-saving bit as you witnessed makes no sense to me whatsoever:

 

1) it is a *SHOW*... you're there to watch the show and not talk to the people next to you.

 

2) What is the point of seating 11 people together anyway? It isn't like person in seat #1 is going to chat it up with person in seat #11! Outside of the person next to you, or maybe one seat beyond that, you're not going to be talking to anyone. It would make far greater sense to just sit as couples or in smaller groups as you arrive, and meet up in a lounge afterwards for social hour.

 

3) If the 11 people are so valuable to one another that they have to sit beside one another, why didn't they arrive together!?!

 

 

Love it... My guess is that "Mr. I have to save 11 seats" had white very thin hair, had been sitting there since the early seating of dinner had passed, was wearing pants that came up to his knees when he sat, and that the rest of his party of 11 had to go back to their cabins & get more Poly-grip applied to the dentures so they didn't slip out and fill up their wine glasses!!!

Yes -the saving seats policy should be enforced!! As someone who is sitting around this party of 11, I don't need to hear about how your granddaughter is doing just lovely at ballet lessons back in Wyoming. Save it for AFTER the show, when everyone in your party of 11 can hear your story at one of the many bars/lounges about how little Emily should be performing on the Allure!!

[NolaFireLI]

Silly me... Forgot to thank Denamo for the review!! I have 5 months before I'm on, and well I'm working on not even planning on eating in the MDR for dinner, but now with your review I might rethink that (yet again!!)

 

Thanks

[BillOh]

Sons went to Samba and they raved over and over about it.

 

Thanks for your review, there was a lot of worthy info, but I focused on this part. Did they talk about the service? A few bad reviews have specifically said service was slow. How old are your sons, would they have related that to you? I will be watching reviews such as yours to see if those type of reports continue or get better. While I have no idea what it takes to set up something new like this on a ship, I can imagine perhaps things getting better in coming months and I have more than 4 to go.

[erbunny]

Thanks for the review. I am very glad to hear that some of the minor glitches (MDR and room service) which bothered us on the Dec 1 cruise are being smoothed over. Allure is a beautiful ship and deserves to have the best possible staff.

[blueclawfan]

thanks for the short concise and honest review

[denamo]

Thanks for your review, there was a lot of worthy info, but I focused on this part. Did they talk about the service? A few bad reviews have specifically said service was slow. How old are your sons, would they have related that to you? I will be watching reviews such as yours to see if those type of reports continue or get better. While I have no idea what it takes to set up something new like this on a ship, I can imagine perhaps things getting better in coming months and I have more than 4 to go.

 

Our sons are 26 & 28. They said the service was wonderful. They did not have a wait for more meat to be served. They said the restaurant was not full at all. They had a 7:30 reservation. Maybe they've learned what numbers to have for a better experience from what was reported on the boards earlier.