Brief review of Allure (3/26/17) from a Suite Perspective

[CruisinShips]

Loyal Royal cruisers. Have sailed on the Oasis twice...this was our first time on the Allure. I need to qualify this review by saying it comes from a slightly different perspective as we had the privilege of staying in a crown loft suite (stayed in one on our last cruise on the Oasis last year). It was awesome.

 

There were two of us, a couple in our mid-fifties. We seek a different type of experience than do many others who go on a cruise vacation...more so during spring break. By that I mean we aren't looking for lots of activities (rock climbing, flowrider, ice skating, etc.). We go on a cruise looking to relax, have drinks, nice meals, see an occasional show, visit some different bars, get some sun during the day and do a couple of excursions at ports. So for that reason, the mega-ships are probably a bit overkill for us, but the Coastal Kitchen/Suite Lounge is the most important aspect of this ship for us. And there, the staff was absolutely on their collective game and were amazing. We had breakfast there every day, lunch a few days, dinner 4 of 7 nights, and cocktails every evening. While the food isn't necessarily the greatest we have ever had, it was all very good and exceeded our tempered expectations.

 

We didn't see the MDR nor did we venture into the Windjammer. Had two meals at Chops (get the grilled fillet, definitely skip the NY Strip), one at Giovanni's (pretty good), lunch at Sabor (fair and the guac was disappointing), a hot dog, a couple of lunches at the Solarium Bistro (healthier and less crowed venue). Overall, the food was good for us.

 

Only negatives (and these are relatively minimal and expected) were

1) the crowded elevators (the only downside to deck 17 is that the Windjammer is right below on 16 and elevator gets uncomfortably jam-packed with people coming and going) and you can't escape the people traversing the ship/elevator with plates of food (we named them "The Walking Dead" because they look like zombies walking with blank expressions and plates in their hands). We finally learned to bypass the aft elevators as much as possible and walk along the pool deck to get to the other elevators.

2) the much discussed chair hogs that were out in full force and starting around 7AM making it next to impossible to find any decent pool-proximity seating throughout the day.

3) The feeling of being swarmed at every turn by employees trying to sell specialty restaurant reservations...on the first day it was akin to walking through the Nassau straw market.

4) The TV programming is absurd. I get that you shouldn't watch too much on a cruise...but there is one channel in particular that repeated the same episodes of Big Bang Theory, Two Broke Girls, Mike and Molly, and Person of Interest over and over and over and over. Just thought I'd mention it lol.

 

Otherwise...from a suite guest perspective, the suite sun deck was a nice option for us, particularly on the last sea day when we chose to go there rather than trying to find a chair near the pool. We used the priority disembarking in St. Thomas (wasn't offered in St. Maarten and we didn't leave the ship in Nassau) and it was a nice perk. We also used it on the last morning and it was nice too.

 

In St. Thomas we did the Extreme Tree Limin Zipline (not booked through the ship) and it was awesome. In St. Maarten we did Captain Bob Cass's boat ride/snorkeling excursion (also privately booked prior to the cruise) and would recommend it to everyone enthusiastically.

 

All in all it was a great week and the Allure staff was absolutely fantastic.

 

Happy to answer any questions.

[George C]

We do cruise in suites but smaller RCCL ships to save some money, really plan to try bigger ship next year for Costal kitchen ( currently eating almost every meal in specialty)

One of the perks we use the most is DVD player so we do not want to watch the same stuff over and over

[OhioMike2016]

Was on the same cruise as OP and I know what you mean about the aft elevators. My biggest frustration with those elevators is that every now and then, a kid or kids decides to be a little too cute and presses every button so that the elevators stop at EVERY floor. Not too funny when you have to be someplace or just hungry.

[egurbi]

Thanks for your review. I'll take you up on your offer to answer questions:

 

For the suite lounge: is the cocktail hour adults only, or are well behaved kids welcome during that time (and other times as well)?

 

For coastal kitchen formal nights, were they strictly observed?

 

For the tree limin experience in St. Thomas, what was the cost of transportation to and from and did you have to arrange in advance for the return transportation.

 

Thank you!

[CruisinShips]

For the suite lounge: is the cocktail hour adults only, or are well behaved kids welcome during that time (and other times as well)?

 

Kids are allowed, and unfortunately on a couple of occasions we had a certain teenager who brought his fairly loud and bathing suit-wearing pals in with him for some snacks and no one said a word to them. Fortunately, they didn't stay long. But yes, you can bring kids.

For coastal kitchen formal nights, were they strictly observed?

 

No. People were all levels of dressed up on formal nights in Coastal Kitchen. I skipped the sports jacket myself on the second one. But I still looked great. ;)

 

For the tree limin experience in St. Thomas, what was the cost of transportation to and from and did you have to arrange in advance for the return transportation.

 

Taxi was about $10 pp each way. Beware the taxi drivers are fairly obstinate there. They will make you wait until they fill up their car or van and some don't seem to want to go up the hill to that place. Coming back there was a van waiting (we still had to wait for him to fill it up with others going back to the ships) but the people at the zipline place help you get on a taxi.

[egurbi]

Thank you for the prompt reply. Two other questions have come to mind, so here goes:

 

Was Coastal Kitchen open for lunch for embarkation day, and if so what hours and was it more than just buffet service?

 

How was your check in experience as a suite guest? Any tips you can pass on for expediting the process?

 

Thank you!

[frank808]

Thank you for the prompt reply. Two other questions have come to mind, so here goes:

 

Was Coastal Kitchen open for lunch for embarkation day, and if so what hours and was it more than just buffet service?

 

How was your check in experience as a suite guest? Any tips you can pass on for expediting the process?

 

Thank you!

 

I don't believe coastal kitchen was open for lunch on embarkation day but the suite lounge had some lunch items out. I suggest visiting park cafe for some roast beef sandwiches.

 

There is a suite line at ft lauderdale for expedited checking through the xray machines.

 

We tried sky class for the first time last oct and now when we sail oasis class have to book sky class. Love the coastal kitchen and suite lounge. My wallet wished we have never tried a cls. At least on other class of ships with rccl we are happy from insides to balconies.

 

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[frank808]

To op was max the bartender in the suite lounge still onboard? He was great bartender and made some great drinks.

 

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[scopewest]

Thanks for your review!

[janza]

Great review! I was reading it thinking " this is what I'd write" lol

You can't beat the suite perks, especially on Oasis class. Besides the priority on and off, we loved CK, the suite lounge and especially the suite sun deck. No chair hogs up there and your own bar! It was never crowded. A huge plus.

[juliea344]

I don't believe coastal kitchen was open for lunch on embarkation day but the suite lounge had some lunch items out. I suggest visiting park cafe for some roast beef sandwiches.

 

There is a suite line at ft lauderdale for expedited checking through the xray machines.

 

We tried sky class for the first time last oct and now when we sail oasis class have to book sky class. Love the coastal kitchen and suite lounge. My wallet wished we have never tried a cls. At least on other class of ships with rccl we are happy from insides to balconies.

 

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Did you have Inout, or Johnny, from Romania as a waiter in CK? He is the absolute best. I totally agree, I don't need a suite on a smaller class but if there's a CK I definitely need a suite!

 

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[tomatecerise]

On Allure We found the French post on tv whou hou! Same movie in loop. For 7 days.

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[CruisinShips]

Thank you for the prompt reply. Two other questions have come to mind, so here goes:

 

Was Coastal Kitchen open for lunch for embarkation day, and if so what hours and was it more than just buffet service?

 

How was your check in experience as a suite guest? Any tips you can pass on for expediting the process?

 

Thank you!

 

CK was open, but it was just a buffet...although it was, as I recall, a little more extensive than the usual happy hour fare.

 

Our check-in experience was not great this time. Probably the first time I can say that in all of the times I have been in a suite on various ships. We arrived at around 11ish, had a line that wasn't moving. We realized there was only one person handling suite check-ins and they were slow. The others who I believe were supposed to be handling suite lines were mulling around like bank tellers on break lol. After too long, the line monitor sent us to a non-suite check in line and I felt like we may have been one of his first customers. We weren't upset, but it wasn't ideal. Oh, and then on our first night on the ship we received a message that we needed to go to guest services to have our pictures re-taken and they said apparently there was a problem that involved lots of passengers. THEN on the third day, I received a message that since i was doing cash payment on my account, I needed to make sure I didn't exceed my $500 limit. Problem was I had provided my credit card and WASN'T doing a cash account. Concierge was able to fix that for me.

 

To op was max the bartender in the suite lounge still onboard? He was great bartender and made some great drinks.

 

Max was there and he was our favorite bartender by far. I gave him a nice tip with our first round of drinks and we were set with him for the whole cruise. We walked in several times and just pointed to ask if we wanted our usual.

[frank808]

Did you have Inout, or Johnny, from Romania as a waiter in CK? He is the absolute best. I totally agree, I don't need a suite on a smaller class but if there's a CK I definitely need a suite!

 

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Sorry did not have him. Had another waiter that we asked for whenever he was there. I cant remember his name but he was from the Philippines.

 

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[frank808]

CK was open, but it was just a buffet...although it was, as I recall, a little more extensive than the usual happy hour fare.

 

Our check-in experience was not great this time. Probably the first time I can say that in all of the times I have been in a suite on various ships. We arrived at around 11ish, had a line that wasn't moving. We realized there was only one person handling suite check-ins and they were slow. The others who I believe were supposed to be handling suite lines were mulling around like bank tellers on break lol. After too long, the line monitor sent us to a non-suite check in line and I felt like we may have been one of his first customers. We weren't upset, but it wasn't ideal. Oh, and then on our first night on the ship we received a message that we needed to go to guest services to have our pictures re-taken and they said apparently there was a problem that involved lots of passengers. THEN on the third day, I received a message that since i was doing cash payment on my account, I needed to make sure I didn't exceed my $500 limit. Problem was I had provided my credit card and WASN'T doing a cash account. Concierge was able to fix that for me.

 

 

 

Max was there and he was our favorite bartender by far. I gave him a nice tip with our first round of drinks and we were set with him for the whole cruise. We walked in several times and just pointed to ask if we wanted our usual.

We had the same experience as you. He had our drinks ready whenever we walked in at happy hour. Great guy. Also in the diamond lounge there was a great waiter named ray. He also just asked if we wanted the usual whenever we walked in. Great service on the allure dl.

 

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