Allure of the Seas 09/02/12 review

[Mim Lloyd]

Our cruise on Allure next year will be our 5th in the Caribbean with RCL. Last year, on Liberty, we only went to the MDR twice. Partly because it takes so long to dine and there's things we want to be doing and also because we noticed that there was a definite push by the cruise line to get their staff to sell stuff. Our waiter was a nice enough chap on the 2 nights we were in the MDR but he never stopped trying to get us to buy the cookbook, wine, extra cost steak etc. A simple 'No thanks' didn't put him off at all and we just couldn't completely relax as he was constantly hovering over us. He was very nice and very polite but also seemed very desperate to make a sale! Thankfully we never prepay our gratuities so ate in other areas for the rest of the cruise and tipped accordingly there.

 

Regarding the movement of ships - my brother-in-law, husband and myself never felt anything but my sister often commented on feeling a list when at sea. Maybe it's due to an individual's inner ear balance sensitivity.

[CruiseLover15]

I was on this cruise as well. Thanks so much for taking the time to do a review. Just offering my opinion on some of the things.

 

I did feel the ship swaying a little more than normal and even worse on some days, but I like the swaying. Didn't see anyone sick at all. I don't think they were using the stabilizers, maybe trying to save fuel. I do a lot of my cruises in September so I am used to a little sway. I was on the Mariner a while back with 7 to 10 foot swells and I felt it a lot more.

 

We didn't have any problems with people pushing stuff on us on the ship at all. We were asked a few times but just said no and kept going. Now, Orient beach was a different story. The people walking up and down where you rent chairs were constantly asking us to buy something. In the 3 hours we were there, we were probably asked 25 or more times. Now that was annoying!

 

We checked the menus ahead of time and since we are tired of the old menus we only ate in the MDR 2 nights. We did MTD and sat in 2 different areas. The first waiter was fine but on the second time there we had a great waitress. Her name was Hera, she was very friendly and good at her job. We filled out a WOW card for her. The food was fine the 2 nights we were there, but not great. We did the Allure dinning package and chose Chops, Samba and Giovannis. We liked all 3. Giovannis was my favorite. The lasagna was great and even though it was only on the menu for lunch they would let you order it for dinner. We went twice and the filet was great too.

 

We did book our shows early without any problem, but it does take a little pre-work which I don't mind doing and it is part of the excitement for me. We did try to show up 30 minutes early when possible. Although it would be nice to walk in near show time and get a good seat when you have reservations. I think it is crazy for the people to be saving so many seats. I could see a seat or two for people that had to run to the restroom or something, but 8 to 10 is a little ridiculous. Yes the comedians were great!!!! We also really enjoyed the Aqua and Blue Planet show. We are not big musical fans so we did leave early at Chicago.

 

This was my 12th cruise, all with Royal and probably my favorite. For some reason, I liked it even better than the Oasis and would love to book it again for next year, if I can afford it. :rolleyes:

[rlpolobear9]

I think it's all about perspective some people have to work two jobs and some don't it does not matter where your from... Some people have different ate from others.

 

I travel extensively and always find that people from different parts of the country and economic situations have totally different opinions about many things... i.e. what is a fine dining experience to some may not be the same for everyone or what is hot (me and my wife always fight about this)

 

It doesn't mean anyone is better, smarter or special just different an it really is what makes this site great becacuse there so many perspectives to draw from. Like I know most people from smaller areas of the country won't have the same taste as me being in the NYC area and what is expensive to me won't be the same to people from other parts of the country in NYC it's normal to have $15 drinks and $50 entrees

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

It doesn't mean anyone is better, smarter or special just different an it really is what makes this site great becacuse there so many perspectives to draw from. Like I know most people from smaller areas of the country won't have the same taste as me being in the NYC area and what is expensive to me won't be the same to people from other parts of the country in NYC it's normal to have $15 drinks and $50 entrees

 

Those are words of wisdom.

[qdog123]

I have to concur on the ship rolling. This was our fourth sailing on an Oasis Class ship and the first time I've ever felt any motion. We even booked a midship suite on deck 6 and felt the rolling so it was extreme for this size vessel. I'm pretty sure Captain Johnny skipped the stabilizers even though he said he'd deploy them. It was most visible when you were at the aqua theater looking out the back of the ship. You could see the horizon rise and lower in a rather dramatic fashion. Even still it was not so bad that it would get anyone I know seasick.

 

Service in the MTD on deck 5 was less than stellar. We experienced two waiters fighting over thier service area the first night and then the only other night we went we were interrogated by our server as to why we were seated in her section instead of the our original section. What a cluster. Menu was not great either thus the reason we only did MTD two nights.

 

I was a little surprised that one of the commedians in the comedy club was the same as one from our cruise last September on the Allure with almost no change in his act. I did enjoy using the suite perk of not having to reserve shows as thier online booking system is a royal pain. Did anyone ever notice that they don't tell you online that a showtime is sold out until you go thorugh the process of selecting it? They should remove the sold out showtimes form the booking system to help alleviate this problem.

 

Most staff were good at the bars, but the customer relations desk was a joke. We had to have our cards replaced 5 times each due to a problem in thier system that would deactivate our cards anytime we used them on our stateroom door. Thankfully this was fixed by day three, but the supervisors were less than helpful in finding a speedier resolution. The concierge lounge was constantly packed and took us a half hour to get a drink, so we spent every other night at the Diamond Lounge. Kudos to Kendron and his team for making the lounge such a great experience.

 

Spa was definitely an experience. In the past my wife has commented that the sales tactic used to sell thier products was to make you feel stupid for not buying them. This trip she went in for a simple pedi and the rep had ZERO couth. My wife wanted a simple pedi, no massage or anything, and the rep basically asked her "What's the point?" To top it all off, the rep asked her if she was pregnant (which she's not!) which anyone with half a mind knows is a big no no...

 

To anyone looking to book a suite on the Allure, don't bother if you are looking to be treated special. The only perk that was worthwhile was the larger room and the ability to get into the shows without a reservation. I definitely prefer the service on the Freedom and Voyager class ships so will stick with them until I hear that the service has gotten better on the Oasis Class ships.

 

My .02...

[gambee]

I have to concur on the ship rolling. This was our fourth sailing on an Oasis Class ship and the first time I've ever felt any motion. We even booked a midship suite on deck 6 and felt the rolling so it was extreme for this size vessel. I'm pretty sure Captain Johnny skipped the stabilizers even though he said he'd deploy them. It was most visible when you were at the aqua theater looking out the back of the ship. You could see the horizon rise and lower in a rather dramatic fashion. Even still it was not so bad that it would get anyone I know seasick.

 

Service in the MTD on deck 5 was less than stellar. We experienced two waiters fighting over thier service area the first night and then the only other night we went we were interrogated by our server as to why we were seated in her section instead of the our original section. What a cluster. Menu was not great either thus the reason we only did MTD two nights.

 

I was a little surprised that one of the commedians in the comedy club was the same as one from our cruise last September on the Allure with almost no change in his act. I did enjoy using the suite perk of not having to reserve shows as thier online booking system is a royal pain. Did anyone ever notice that they don't tell you online that a showtime is sold out until you go thorugh the process of selecting it? They should remove the sold out showtimes form the booking system to help alleviate this problem.

 

Most staff were good at the bars, but the customer relations desk was a joke. We had to have our cards replaced 5 times each due to a problem in thier system that would deactivate our cards anytime we used them on our stateroom door. Thankfully this was fixed by day three, but the supervisors were less than helpful in finding a speedier resolution. The concierge lounge was constantly packed and took us a half hour to get a drink, so we spent every other night at the Diamond Lounge. Kudos to Kendron and his team for making the lounge such a great experience.

 

Spa was definitely an experience. In the past my wife has commented that the sales tactic used to sell thier products was to make you feel stupid for not buying them. This trip she went in for a simple pedi and the rep had ZERO couth. My wife wanted a simple pedi, no massage or anything, and the rep basically asked her "What's the point?" To top it all off, the rep asked her if she was pregnant (which she's not!) which anyone with half a mind knows is a big no no...

 

To anyone looking to book a suite on the Allure, don't bother if you are looking to be treated special. The only perk that was worthwhile was the larger room and the ability to get into the shows without a reservation. I definitely prefer the service on the Freedom and Voyager class ships so will stick with them until I hear that the service has gotten better on the Oasis Class ships.

 

My .02...

 

thanks for the info, it's well appreciated:)

[jpjolo]

Our cruise on Allure next year will be our 5th in the Caribbean with RCL. Last year, on Liberty, we only went to the MDR twice. Partly because it takes so long to dine and there's things we want to be doing and also because we noticed that there was a definite push by the cruise line to get their staff to sell stuff. Our waiter was a nice enough chap on the 2 nights we were in the MDR but he never stopped trying to get us to buy the cookbook, wine, extra cost steak etc. A simple 'No thanks' didn't put him off at all and we just couldn't completely relax as he was constantly hovering over us. He was very nice and very polite but also seemed very desperate to make a sale! Thankfully we never prepay our gratuities so ate in other areas for the rest of the cruise and tipped accordingly there.

 

Hmmm, that we didn't experience. But then again we had dinner at the MDR only on 3 of the 7 days, with 3 in specialty restaurants and once at the WindJammer. The only thing we bought was the wine package but we did that as soon as we got on board. Enjoy a good bottle of wine now and then. They did try to sell us the Il Decantino at Giovanni's but wasn't really a hard sell.

 

 

Regarding the movement of ships - my brother-in-law, husband and myself never felt anything but my sister often commented on feeling a list when at sea. Maybe it's due to an individual's inner ear balance sensitivity.

The 02-Sept to 09-Sept 2012 trip was bad. It was more a forward/backward movement than side to side. The pools were splashing over the sides. Could have been the leftover effect of the storm that passed by the week before.

[jpjolo]

...

Service in the MTD on deck 5 was less than stellar. We experienced two waiters fighting over thier service area the first night and then the only other night we went we were interrogated by our server as to why we were seated in her section instead of the our original section. What a cluster. Menu was not great either thus the reason we only did MTD two nights.

...

My .02...

 

Any idea if the main dining room standards / menus are set ship-specific or corporate wide? Seems my experience with the main dining room at the Allure was quite different from the one I had on the Voyager or even on the Brilliance. Or could it be the service standard has been steadily declining as the years went by?

 

Sorry if this has been discussed somewhere else.

 

Joe.

[jpjolo]

...

We didn't have any problems with people pushing stuff on us on the ship at all. We were asked a few times but just said no and kept going. Now, Orient beach was a different story. The people walking up and down where you rent chairs were constantly asking us to buy something. In the 3 hours we were there, we were probably asked 25 or more times. Now that was annoying!

...

 

Hehehe.... We were in the water most of the time so we got away from those pesky vendors. And the guys with the orange chairs tend to shoo them away in a "passive-agressive" sort of way.

[hubofhockey]

Jackson, thank you for taking the time to write a detailed and specific review. We're on the ship in seven months and haven't been on RCI since 2006. Wondering if you could have gotten those spa products cheaper on eBay or Amazon. But it sounds like you believe you got some good value there.

 

It's funny you mention the roast beef sandwich. On Princess, it's the "yummy" chicken salad sandwich at the International Cafe and on Carnival it's the chocolate melting cake for dessert that are cruise critic favorites. I'm really not crazy about either. But I suppose I'll give the roast beef a shot, when the place isn't crowded.

 

Someone else mentioned that there was a lot of movement on your cruise. But that might go with the territory of active weather fronts in late August and early December in the Caribbean.

 

As far as tipping goes, I believe all waitstaff gratuities are pooled and that the specialty restaurant servers are in that pool and that you are free to tip extra, when you believe it's warrented. Maybe it's different on RCI than other lines that we have been on. We typically provide cash tips in these cases to make sure our server gets to keep the cash. But I would agree that tipping policies are confusing at best.

[jackson bernard]

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:)

 

We didn't say anything to her because she and her husband were making big enough fools of themselves already.

[hubofhockey]

Here is what I bought

 

Elemis pro collagen quartz lift cream (for the lines on the forehead) apply in morning $70.94 buy it now

Elemis pro collagen eye renewal (for around the eyes) apply in morning $69.95 for 15 ml

Latherapie intensive eye gel (apply at night) $70 (under La Therapie)

Latherapie hydrating eye mask (1X per week) $74.50

Latherapie pearls of youth (2 different oils in one for the occasional breakout)$84.84

 

If you really enjoy those items, you can purchase them on eBay much cheaper at about half the rate, shipping included. I once bought some Elemis products on a Princess cruise (they told me they weren't available elsewhere :rolleyes:) and wasn't sure if I was being "gamed". In any case, you didn't pay double. But you could have purchased the products for less. I checked your items to see if the RCI staff does the same hard (over) sell for items. Of course, when you are in the spa, there is no time to write down the names of these products. But when you run low, you may not want to wait until your next cruise to buy this stuff.

[elou]

Great review. Would you have the Eastern Compass to post?