Allure of the Seas 09/02/12 review

[jackson bernard]

Allure of the Seas 09/02/12

 

Pre cruise

 

Uneventful flight on Jet Blue to Fort Lauderdale the day before the cruise. Took a taxi to the Embassy Suites on 17th street. Fare was $15 with tip. No line for check in, and were given a room on the 11th floor. The location of the hotel was fine for one night pre-cruise, there are plenty of restaurants, a grocery store etc. within walking distance. The beach is not within walking distance, so I would hesitate to book this if you are planning to spend time at the beach. The area looked fine to me, but we did see a few homeless walking around. The room itself was fine, and although a bit dated, it was clean and comfortable. The breakfast buffet was good, a bit crowded, but there were no problems finding a table if you walked away from where the food is served. There is a made to order omelet station that had a long line, but surprisingly the line moved very fast, and the omelets were delicious.

'When we booked the hotel, they offered transportation to the ship for about $20 more than just the room. We opted to book the room only, and it was a good thing we did, because as we were leaving he hotel, there were a ton of people in the lobby waiting for the hotel provided shuttle to the ship. It looked to me like the shuttle would have to make several trips back and forth to get everyone there.

At around 11:00 we left the hotel and hopped into a cab. The fare to the port was $12. Fast easy and convenient. Our luggage was loaded onto the cart, went through security and right up to the check in desk with no lines whatsoever. Check in took about 10 minutes, and the person checking us in was very nice. Very friendly, and welcoming. We were sent upstairs in the terminal to board the ship, were there were tons of people waiting to get on. We were not sure where we were supposed to go, as there were several sections roped off, but before we could even ask, we were ushered to our spot. After a short 10 minute wait, we were allowed to board.

 

The ship

 

It is what it says it is. The largest cruise ship at sea. It has shops, show rooms, bars, restaurants, casino, swimming pools, mini golf, basketball, flow riders, etc. It also has thousands of people on board. The promenade was very crowded when there was anything going on, such as parades or sidewalk sales. Other times, deserted. The rooms were not supposed to be ready until 1:00, and knowing from the reviews that the windjammer would be crowded we headed to the park café in central park for the famous roast beef sandwiches. The secret must be out, because the line was out the door, and there was no place to sit inside or out. After getting our lunch 30 min later, there was still no place to sit, so we ended up sitting on a short wall to have lunch. Frankly, the sandwich was okay, but nothing to write home about. It is really just two slices of roast beef on a small bun with some mustard horseradish sauce.

A short while later, the rooms were ready so we made our way to our cabin. We were in cabin 106** which was an ocean view balcony cabin on the starboard side, just off the rear elevators. The location was perfect for us. Most things we were interested in were just a short elevator ride away, not on the other end of the ship. The cabin was quiet, with a nice view of the sea. It seemed a little smaller than other balcony cabins we have had, especially around the bed, but plenty big enough for 2 people. The real problem with the cabin was the air conditioning. It never got so hot to complain about, but at times especially at night the room became uncomfortably warm. The A/C stayed on with the balcony door just closed, so we could spend time on the balcony without the room becoming stifling hot. I hear other room the AC would turn off unless the balcony was locked, but that was not our experience. One day while sitting on the balcony, someone from a few doors down locked themselves out on their balcony and asked us to call for help so we did. Trying to figure out how this happened, we found that if you turn the handle for the door down, then close the door, it automatically locks.

The room has a large flat screen interactive display where you can make reservations, check your account, get messages, book excursions etc. It was very slow, so you did not know if when you pressed a button on the remote control if it actually took. Then all of a sudden it would advance 3 or 4 times, passing what you were looking for. We ended up not using the system because we did not trust it enough to book any reservations, and did not want any problems if it didn’t work right. The room steward was great. Nice and personable, and did a great job. I noticed the crew refers to you by your first name which is fine with me, but may be a little too casual for others.

We did not use any of the pools on the ship, but I did notice there were not too many reserved chairs in the morning, and there always looked like there were plenty of lounge chairs both in and out of the sun for one to use. Some of the pools were quiet, and others had bands, or other activities throughout the day.

The showrooms were another story. Even though you had reservations for a show, you had to show up at least a half hour early in order to get a good seat. There were a lot of people saving 6, 10, 12 prime seats for their friends, many of whom did not show up or showed up just a few minutes before show time. Although they did make announcements not to reserve seats, nobody enforced the rule. I suspect these people were often times reserving prime seats for their friends without reservations.

 

Show reservations

 

We made a few of the show reservations from home prior to the cruise, but some were not available so we had to book them onboard the first day. I found this process to be extremely confusing and stressful. We did not want to miss any of the shows, because that’s one of the things we really love about cruising. We made our way down to the ice rink, where they have several people trying to help you through the process. Availability changes from one minute to the next, so if something shows available, it may not be by the time you cancel the same show on a different day and come back to reserve the one that was available a few minutes earlier. Trying to work everything in, we ended up with 2 shows on some nights and no shows on others. I think I prefer a set schedule, no reservations required policy, but, with all the people on board I guess that’s impossible.

 

Shows

 

The comedy show was great. It is in a very small venue, maybe 100 seats. There were two comedians who took the stage and were so funny our sides hurt. We are still laughing about some of the punch lines.

Chicago the musical. Great acting and singing. That’s it. Otherwise very outdated and boring. It may have been edgy 40 years ago, but times change and now it is just corny. If we weren’t stuck in the middle of a row, we would have left about halfway through.

Ocean Aria diving show. Good show especially considering they are at sea and everything is moving.

Blue Planet. A cirque type show that was terrific. The sets were amazing as were the talented cast.

Ice Show Typical if you ever been to an ice show before. It is just on a much smaller rink.

 

Food

 

We had traditional dining at 06:00. I was surprised the food was so bad in the main dining room. The service wasn't much better. In more than a dozen cruises, this is the worst we have ever had at sea by far. The wait staff just went through the motions, never coming back until time to order the desert to find out how everything was. The steak was dried out, the shrimp fishy, and the soup terrible. When the assistant waiter came over to clear the plates, instead of offering something else she asked "are you a gourmet?" Are you some type of chef? I found her comments condescending and rude. The head waitress came around asking how everything was and when told what we thought she just said thanks for your feedback. I saw a lot of people at neighboring tables complaining about the food, but I really don’t think the waiters care at all what you think. We reflected this both in their tip and on the survey. We ate at the restaurant 3 nights as we had specialty dining for 3 and preferred the Windjammer both for food and service over the dining room.

 

Chops

 

Great steakhouse. Service and food great. Enjoyed every bite, left so full I could hardly breathe.

 

150 park.

 

This is a place for foodies. 6 different courses plus desert of weird combination food. Ravioli and potato chip anyone? The portions were miniscule, to the point it was laughable. I guess that’s the way they do it in these types of restaurants, but we left hungry. Unfortunately the only other place open was Sorrento’s for pizza, or the promenade café.

 

Giovanni’s Table

 

Ate at Giovanni's table one night. Appetizers were good, but the main dish was not good. It was supposed to be some kind of baked stuffed shrimp, but it was so dried out it was inedible. We were never offered any alternative when expressing our displeasure with the meal. We would not book here again.

 

SPA

 

Went to the spa for a $30 haircut. They had a special, 3 things for $99, massage, facial, manicure etc. Picked 3 things plus the haircut. After the hard sell, it ended up costing me over $600 for facial cream etc. I thought it was a rip off until I got home and people in work thought I got a face lift! now I think it was worth every penny.

 

Excursions

 

The person helping us at the excursion desk was less than helpful and kind of had an attitude. We wanted to book a few excursions. The sea lion swim in Nassau, and the Boss underwater scooter on St. Thomas. The sea lions were sold out in Nassau, but she offered no alternatives whatsoever. When we asked if there was something similar, she said just take a cab to the beach, so we did not book anything at all. Later that night, when looking for something as we are not really beach people, we noticed they also offered the sea lions through the ship at the Atlantis. We waited until the desk opened and booked it at 07:15 with a departure time of 07:30 on the same day. That meant we had to run around and gather up our stuff and be out on the pier in only 15 minutes. It was stressful, but we made it.

 

Sea Lion Swim at Atlantis

 

The sea lion swim at the Atlantis was great. There were only 4 of us on the excursion and we spent an hour with the sea lion in the pool. The trainers were informative and we had a lot of fun with these animals. The trainer said we were lucky because there is usually a dozen or so participants, but since there were only 4 of us, we did the usual routine and then helped with training a younger sea lion. This was the best animal encounter we have ever done, and we have done similar activities around the country.

 

Sea Boss underwater scooter on St Thomas

 

I did not like this excursion at all. The crew running the ship were obnoxious and rude. Screaming in peoples ears, making fun of how fat some of us were etc . I think they were trying to be funny but it did not make for a pleasant day. They put the scooters out in 2 groups, of 10 people. You get about 30 minutes underwater with the scooter, but, they don’t go up or down, and you just follow the people in front of you for 100 feet, stop so they can take pictures, and then follow the group back to the boat. It was boring. It is not like they had an area that you could just ride around on them in taking in the scenery. I think if anyone from Royal Caribbean Shore Excursion department went on this excursion they would have been appalled.

 

St Maarten

 

We decided to take a cab to Orient Beach. Great day. Rented chairs and umbrella and two drinks for $14 from the guy with the orange chairs. If you go there you can't miss them. Food was good there and not too expensive.

 

Casino

 

Large casino with plenty of slot machines. They have both a smoking and non-smoking side. Some people are just unreasonable. One day, we were sitting playing one of the slot machines in the smoking area for a good half hour when some lady sat down next to us and began to play. Well, 30 seconds later, she starts waving her hand in front of her face like some kind of idiot, and she starts complaining to her husband next to her about the smoke. Then he starts waving his hands in front of her face I guess so she could use both hands to play the machine. Clearly these dimwits were trying to make a scene. If not, and it bothered them that much they would have just played the same exact machines on the other side of the casino.

 

Final thoughts

 

The ship was immaculate. The people that clean must be invisible because we did not see anyone.

The ship rolls a lot. Even though the water was like a sheet of glass, the ship rolled back and forth constantly, worse than any other ship I have ever been on.

There is no welcome aboard show, and no farewell show

The tipping situation is getting out of control, especially when using the specialty restaurants, a tip is included in the specialty restaurant fee, but, you are still expected to tip your waiter, asst waiter, and head waiter in the main dining room on those nights.

[swwake]

Thanks for posting your review! I love Allure reviews.

 

Interesting that your coworkers commented on your facial. I may want to try that!

[Wildcatfish]

Thanks for the review! I especially appreciate the info on Embassy Suites.

[BGCruiser85]

Interesting review. I was also aboard and at the 6PM traditional dining. I know the food thing is subjective, but I don't think I could disagree any more about the food or service. This was our 6th cruise and one of the best in terms of service across all areas of the ship. The food was every bit as good as I've had on any Royal ship over the last 10 years. Served hot and very tasty.

 

With a little advance planning the show reservations are not difficult either. Using a cruise compass found online, a little simple cross referencing allowed us to have 1 show per day reserved at times that didn't conflict with dinner. I arrived close to a half hour early for each show to get a good seat knowing that I'd need to from cruisecritic research.

[jackson bernard]

Interesting review. I was also aboard and at the 6PM traditional dining. I know the food thing is subjective, but I don't think I could disagree any more about the food or service. This was our 6th cruise and one of the best in terms of service across all areas of the ship. The food was every bit as good as I've had on any Royal ship over the last 10 years. Served hot and very tasty.

 

With a little advance planning the show reservations are not difficult either. Using a cruise compass found online, a little simple cross referencing allowed us to have 1 show per day reserved at times that didn't conflict with dinner. I arrived close to a half hour early for each show to get a good seat knowing that I'd need to from cruisecritic research.

 

Obviously you must have had a different wait staff than we did, and probably ordered different things off the menu. To me the food we ordered was cafeteria quality. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

So you expect people to scour the internet looking for cruise compasses that may or may not be out of date to decide which shows to see, (with a little cross referencing of course). Then go online to find out what day and time the shows are still available and create some type of matrix, perhaps an excel spreadsheet. After that show it to your traveling companions for their selections and concurrence, and make revisions so each everyone is happy. Finally, go online to book the reservations. Of course by the time you do that, some shows may be full, so you have to start all over again.

 

Too much like work for me. I wanted a vacation, not another job.

 

Obviously others were having the same issues as there were about 10 people helping passengers and the line was still out the door.

[supsan]

Great review! I find it amazing how so many people could be on the same ship and have such varied opinions. Now this was only our second cruise we do not have much to compare it to.

 

We also dined at 6:00 in The MDR. I thought the food was good, but not great. My wife did send two dishes back because she did not like them. Our waiter and his assistant were both great in service and personality. We actually hugged both of them on the last night. We only ate in the windjammer twice, both times for lunch, the food was ok, but it was very crowded and getting a seat was annoying. The other complement venues on board were good.

 

I agree with your assessment of the specialty restaurants, Chops was very good. Giovannis was ok.

 

I only booked six weeks before the sail date and had no trouble booking shows with no conflicts, I thought it was easy, but again I have nothing to compare it to. I also agree with your opinions of the shows.

 

Yes I felt the ship move more than I thought I would. However there were six to ten foot swells which does explain it.

 

Overall we had a great time and we will definitely book another cruise.

[pthree]

Thanks for the review.

 

The food in the MDR seems to be an issue with a lot of people. I guess some do not understand that not everyone has the same taste buds and foods are not gonna taste the same as they would at restaurants back home. To each their own.

 

On the Freedom we had crab cakes and my cousin and I swear they were the best we have ever had. Even better than the ones in Maryland;). My mom didn't think so much of them. That's not to say they were nasty or great by our standards, they just didn't suit her palate.

 

again thanks for the review...

 

btw are you gonna post any pics??

[BGCruiser85]

 

So you expect people to scour the internet looking for cruise compasses that may or may not be out of date to decide which shows to see, (with a little cross referencing of course). Then go online to find out what day and time the shows are still available and create some type of matrix, perhaps an excel spreadsheet. After that show it to your traveling companions for their selections and concurrence, and make revisions so each everyone is happy. Finally, go online to book the reservations. Of course by the time you do that, some shows may be full, so you have to start all over again.

 

 

Depends upon what you want out of your vacation. If you don't want to put any effort in something then don't be surprised when you don't get what you want out of it. I work 2 jobs, take care of a house and still had time to work through the details to make a great vacation.

[jackson bernard]

Thanks for the review.

 

The food in the MDR seems to be an issue with a lot of people. I guess some do not understand that not everyone has the same taste buds and foods are not gonna taste the same as they would at restaurants back home. To each their own.

 

On the Freedom we had crab cakes and my cousin and I swear they were the best we have ever had. Even better than the ones in Maryland;). My mom didn't think so much of them. That's not to say they were nasty or great by our standards, they just didn't suit her palate.

 

again thanks for the review...

 

btw are you gonna post any pics??

I have to organize them first. Probably tomorrow I will get around to it

[dchillis]

Where's the pic's?

[cruisinskier]

Thanks for the review. We are just back from the Oasis and had a great time. However I have never been pushed to buy so much stuff as I was on this ship. At every interaction, someone was pushing a product, trying to get you to book an alternative restaurant or even sell us a wine aerator. We enjoyed the cruise, had a great week but are still not sure bigger is better. Lots of choice but lots of walking, not overly crowded until you try to get back on the ship in a port.

 

Anyway, glad you had a great trip and congrats on the "facial"!!

[sleepless]

Obviously you must have had a different wait staff than we did, and probably ordered different things off the menu. To me the food we ordered was cafeteria quality. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

So you expect people to scour the internet looking for cruise compasses that may or may not be out of date to decide which shows to see, (with a little cross referencing of course). Then go online to find out what day and time the shows are still available and create some type of matrix, perhaps an excel spreadsheet. After that show it to your traveling companions for their selections and concurrence, and make revisions so each everyone is happy. Finally, go online to book the reservations. Of course by the time you do that, some shows may be full, so you have to start all over again.

 

Too much like work for me. I wanted a vacation, not another job.

 

Obviously others were having the same issues as there were about 10 people helping passengers and the line was still out the door.

 

 

Royal Caribbean does post the show schedule when you make your reservations online for the shows. It really doesn't take that much time at all. Besides, it is part of the pre-planning fun.

[gambee]

The ship rolls a lot. Even though the water was like a sheet of glass, the ship rolled back and forth constantly, worse than any other ship I have ever been on.

 

This is hard to believe. I never heard anyone mentioning this before, it was my understanding that the ship was very calm and rarely rolled.

[jackson bernard]

I was only giving my opinion about the show reservation process. If others have different opinions that's fine, we are all different. I just don't knot he/she has to be so rude

[gambee]

I was only giving my opinion about the show reservation process. If others have different opinions that's fine, we are all different. I just don't knot he/she has to be so rude

 

 

I do a lot of reading and everyone says to reserve all the shows in advance and that is what I did. What people fail to realize is that they have a lot of people in those ships and the size of the venues although larger are not large enough. You said the comedy club holds about 100, even if they do 3 daily shows they will only be able to fit 2,100 people in there out of the 6,600. I guess here is when people that do their research benefit. I dont even think there are 3 daily shows, what is it more like 2?

 

There are a few sacrifices that come with sailing in ships this size, but I think the benefits outweigh the negatives.

[jpjolo]

Depends upon what you want out of your vacation. If you don't want to put any effort in something then don't be surprised when you don't get what you want out of it. I work 2 jobs, take care of a house and still had time to work through the details to make a great vacation.

 

Depends on what kind of job you do.

[hollon]

Thanks for the review, OK, I want to know about the facial cream??? I'm in my 40's and would love to know what you bought incase I want to go online or next cruise. We were on the allure and our ship never rocked except for one day. It is funny how people can be on the same ship and experience something different. I don't know if anybody ever ask me to buy anything extra, if they did, I just said "no thank you" and they were never rude. I do wish they had a "welcome aboard and Farewell", but too many people.

[cruisingagentone]

OK I'm going to start something here I'm sure...Why didn't you say something to lady who was acting up in the smoking section I certainly would have told her to move if she didn't like it. So here I go where else could you smoke on the Allure? It seems every ship is different.

And by the way I had the new menus on the Freedom and was not impressed:)

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Thank you for taking the time to post a review. Your opinions do matter. What is interesting is that many people who are not on CC (like the majority of cruisers) are not going to be aware of the importance of pre-planning for this type of cruise. My DH is not a pre-planner or a pre-scheduler at all. He enjoys our vacations very much, mostly because he reaps the rewards of my obsession with pre-planning. But that is what I enjoy doing. He doesn't.

 

I am sure there are many people who leave the Allure or Oasis frustrated with the process, It seems it is not just the book-go-relax type of vacation many people enjoy. I am glad that RCI is sending out weekly e-mails to us to remind us to prepare for the journey. Hopefully, people are paying attention to those.

 

As far as food and service are concerned - Everyone's taste is different. I don't doubt the OP's opinion of the food at all. I have read mixed reviews. But since I am easy to please in this regard I will reserve my opinions until I have my own experience. For service - I would have been highly disappointed if my service was the same as the OP's in the MDR. I hope your displeasure was communicated with the comment card as those go right to RCI headquarters and are read. I am sorry that your comments to the HW did nothing to improve your experience. Usually that is an effective tool. I would have probably filed a complaint with the food & beverage manager, but that does take time and I know that on vacation you don't want to spend time complaining about something that should have been done right the first time.

[BillOh]

Sea Boss underwater scooter on St Thomas

 

I did not like this excursion at all. The crew running the ship were obnoxious and rude. Screaming in peoples ears, making fun of how fat some of us were etc . I think they were trying to be funny but it did not make for a pleasant day. They put the scooters out in 2 groups, of 10 people. You get about 30 minutes underwater with the scooter, but, they don’t go up or down, and you just follow the people in front of you for 100 feet, stop so they can take pictures, and then follow the group back to the boat. It was boring. It is not like they had an area that you could just ride around on them in taking in the scenery. I think if anyone from Royal Caribbean Shore Excursion department went on this excursion they would have been appalled.

 

That's dissapointing to hear. On our first cruise in 2006 it was run by a different company that I think went out of business. We had a great time then and I would consider doing it again, but I'll keep your experience in mind.

[ddsdoc]

great review!!! we are staying @ embassy suites also for oasis in feb....did you have to call for a cab or were they lined up for you outside the hotel?

[madoan76133]

This is hard to believe. I never heard anyone mentioning this before, it was my understanding that the ship was very calm and rarely rolled.

 

We were also on this sailing and the ship rolled ALOT! It was pretty bad on Tuesday and Friday.

[jackson bernard]

Thanks for the review, OK, I want to know about the facial cream??? I'm in my 40's and would love to know what you bought incase I want to go online or next cruise. We were on the allure and our ship never rocked except for one day. It is funny how people can be on the same ship and experience something different. I don't know if anybody ever ask me to buy anything extra, if they did, I just said "no thank you" and they were never rude. I do wish they had a "welcome aboard and Farewell", but too many people.

 

Here is what I bought

 

Elemis pro collagen quartz lift cream (for the lines on the forehead) apply in morning

Elemis pro collagen eye renewal (for around the eyes) apply in morning

Latherapie intensive eye gel (apply at night)

Latherapie hydrating eye mask (1X per week)

Latherapie pearls of youth (2 different oils in one for the occasional breakout)

[jackson bernard]

great review!!! we are staying @ embassy suites also for oasis in feb....did you have to call for a cab or were they lined up for you outside the hotel?

 

There happened to be one waiting outside the hotel lobby. I asked the front desk the night before the same question and they said if there are none there then they will call one for you.

 

There is also private shuttles in the front, but they seemed to be waiting for the vans to fill up, so, I think just hopping in a cab and leaving is the best option.

[Movieguy214]

Look, these boards are full of different opinions so cognitive dissonance is something that is hard to get away from. You say orange and I say apple.

 

But, I am shocked when I hear that people didn't like the food on Allure. It was so good that the only alternative restaurant I ate at was Rita's. I've mentioned this before, but the first three dinner meals I had were pan seared sea bass, roasted ruck, and lamb shank on the third night. Now, I don't know what people normally eat, but that seems fairly fancy to me. And all three were very good. Now, I've heard the menu has changed so there is that, but otherwise, it amazes me to hear how people don't like the MDR.