Allure Feb 17th - 24th, Quick Trip Report

[lgonquin]

Just back from the Allure, Feb 17th sailing to the Western Caribbean.  I wanted to provide some quick thoughts and observations for anyone sailing in coming days or months....

 

First, these boards continue to be a wealth of information.  Thank you to everyone that posts details or answers questions when asked.  You all helped make this trip a huge success. Thank you!

 

Boarding:  Quick and easy. Arrived curbside at 10:30, thru check in and onto the Promenade, it was 45 minutes. Lunch at Park Cafe was uncrowded. Rooms opened promptly at 1:00.  

 

Shows:  We did them all and enjoyed them all!  Momma Mia was excellent.  The singers are awesome.  Ocean Aria and Blue Planet were as advertised. Worth the time and very enjoyable.  

 

Entertainment:  Too much happening all over the ship. Can’t see or do everything.  Highlights were Piano guy in Schooner was fun. Lots of sing along stuff. Pub guitarist was awesome too.

 

Service:  First off, these people work their @$$ off to make you happy.  Respect that!

Bar service at the pool was unbelievably excellent.  How they learn your name and favorite drink I’ll never know.  Never had to go without for more than minutes. 

Main dining was also excellent. We had 16 people with Anytime dining.  We ate together several nights and they accommodated without issue, and on fairly short notice.  Service was spot on. Nothing went back for correction. Food quality was good. No complaints.  Even picked up the pace when we had show reservations. 

Specialty Dining did not disappoint. We did the 3 night plan at Chops, Samba and Giovanni’s. Food and service at Giovanni’s was BEST.  Chops a close 2nd. 

 

Ship Shape:  All in all, still a beautiful ship.  Very clean and well maintained. She is showing wear & tear in some areas, but that’s being picky. All is good.  Do not fret.

 

Excursions:  All I can say is do your homework and use Cruise Critic.  

Nassau - We walked around town and to The Fry. Stopped at a very crowded Junkanoo Beach and went back to ship.  

 

Cozumel - Researched on CC and TripAdvisor and decided on the Cozumel Bar Hop.  Excellent day!!!  The tour is everything as advertised.  Well run, entertaining, and the bar stops are picturesque and everything you would imagine a paradise beach bar to be.  Never felt unsafe.  Nobody got sick from the water or ice.  No worries about getting back to ship.  They know your ship schedule better than you do and drop you pier side. 

 

Roatan - Went with ship tour to Sol Y Mar Beach Club (adult only, all inclusive).  We picked this in hopes of it being an uncrowded getaway, staying away from the West End crowds. Not so much.  But, the area is wonderful, well equipped and the staff is amazing.  They met us in the water with trays of drinks without asking.  Awesome service all day.  In the end, the crowds weren’t bad and it was a great day.

 

Costa Maya - Bummer!  Due to high winds/seas, our scuba tour was cancelled. Nobodies fault, but a disappointment nonetheless.  Tour was credited without issue.  We made the best of it at the port bar/pool/restaurants.  Was a good day.

 

Departure:  Just like boarding, it went quick and smooth.  Running ahead of schedule.  Out of room, off ship, grabbed luggage, thru Customs and standing at the cab stand in 30 minutes.  Royal clearly knows how to handle large volumes of people.  

 

Side Note:  Departure details used to be on a separate sheet delivered with the Cruise Compass. Answering the questions would result in tags and assigned times.  Now they have a small paragraph in the Compass that refers you to a survey on TV. Old school me missed that (my fault) and required a visit to Guest Services to ensure a safe departure time.  Problem solved. 

 

Suggestion:  With increased use of the Royal app, you use the paper Compass less, missing important info like departure set-up.  I would suggest going back to paper to force the point. 

 

By the way, the app worked well for calendar events, show times, reviewing your bill and making reservations.  Texting worked, but was spotty and doesn’t provide notifications of new messages. You need to constantly look at your phone. 

 

Last thing, we had the dreaded “Alpha, Alpha, Alpha” call on Saturday afternoon.  Captan announced later that we would be sailing full speed back to Miami and arriving approximately at 1:00 am.  We did so and the ambulance promptly took the person away.  No info on who, what happened or extent of injuries. Hoping for the best. As a result, there were no noticeable changes to service.  Since most sleep thru arrival anyway, no issue. 

 

It was a great trip.  No complaints or turn offs. Wonderful ship and crew.

[Setting Sail Gal]

Thank you for all your feedback.  Sailing on the Allure for a B2B and carefully gleaning information to make this vacation the best.

[MrFunInTheSun]

2 hours ago, lgonquin said:

Just back from the Allure, Feb 17th sailing to the Western Caribbean.  I wanted to provide some quick thoughts and observations for anyone sailing in coming days or months....

 

First, these boards continue to be a wealth of information.  Thank you to everyone that posts details or answers questions when asked.  You all helped make this trip a huge success. Thank you!

 

Cozumel - Researched on CC and TripAdvisor and decided on the Cozumel Bar Hop.  Excellent day!!!  The tour is everything as advertised.  Well run, entertaining, and the bar stops are picturesque and everything you would imagine a paradise beach bar to be.  Never felt unsafe.  Nobody got sick from the water or ice.  No worries about getting back to ship.  They know your ship schedule better than you do and drop you pier side. 

 

Roatan - Went with ship tour to Sol Y Mar Beach Club (adult only, all inclusive).  We picked this in hopes of it being an uncrowded getaway, staying away from the West End crowds. Not so much.  But, the area is wonderful, well equipped and the staff is amazing.  They met us in the water with trays of drinks without asking.  Awesome service all day.  In the end, the crowds weren’t bad and it was a great day.

 

 

 

Welcome back! Glad you had a super trip on Allure. Am looking forward to boarding her in about 68 days. Am happy to see you did the Cozumel Bar Hop, indeed it is the best. They surely know how to gather some folks together for a good time and get them safely back to the ship. Every time I sail to Cozumel I try to do this. Anyone sailing to Cozumel looking for something to do, I recommend it. Well worth the $57 plus tips and drinks.

 

When on Symphony of the seas just over a week ago we did the Cozumel Bar Hop, we too had a super time. We also sailed to Rotan and also went to Sol Y Mar Beach club and had a wonderful day.

[driftersdream]

Thank you so much for the positive feedback.  We leave in 6 days!  I can't wait.  Do you recall if they offer luggage valet on Allure at the new terminal?

[lgonquin]

14 hours ago, driftersdream said:

Thank you so much for the positive feedback.  We leave in 6 days!  I can't wait.  Do you recall if they offer luggage valet on Allure at the new terminal?

Sorry, I can’t confirm valet service.  With my own confusion over departure, I might have missed the offer.

 

I can confirm Royal offers transfers to the airport at $16.00 p/p. Several in our party used this, but they self carried off the ship. 

[stevekc]

15 hours ago, driftersdream said:

Thank you so much for the positive feedback.  We leave in 6 days!  I can't wait.  Do you recall if they offer luggage valet on Allure at the new terminal?

They don't offer valet through the Miami airport we were told when leaving the allure February 3rd. 

I thought they had in the past, however not for sure. 

I do know they still offer the program at Lauderdale and Canaveral still. 

Steve

 

[LBumb]

Great review

[zdad59]

We sailed with you.    It was a great cruise.   You review is pretty spot on.    MDR for us was good, but not great.   A first for us as we are big MDR fans.    Kareme at the Solarium Bar was THE BEST!    I have a review gong too.   Please comment as you see fit.

[nalatrixie74]

thank you for your review! we sail in November! 

[gsb]

10 hours ago, zdad59 said:

We sailed with you.    It was a great cruise.   You review is pretty spot on.    MDR for us was good, but not great.   A first for us as we are big MDR fans.    Kareme at the Solarium Bar was THE BEST!    I have a review gong too.   Please comment as you see fit.

Who was your headliner?

Thanks

[zdad59]

41 minutes ago, gsb said:

Who was your headliner?

Thanks

 

Adam Kario, a comedy juggler.     Pretty good show.   Only 50 minutes long.   Easy to watch. 

[goneclear]

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience.

We will be sailing Allure in April. Thinking of doing the

 Sol Y Mar Beach Club tour. Can you by any chance remember what

time you have to assemble for this tour?

Thanks.

[lgonquin]

8 hours ago, goneclear said:

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience.

We will be sailing Allure in April. Thinking of doing the

 Sol Y Mar Beach Club tour. Can you by any chance remember what

time you have to assemble for this tour?

Thanks.

We did the 10 - 2 time slot. Worked well. Enough time in the sun, then some free time back on board. Was a short 15 minute bus ride.

 

Meeting on the pier was a bit chaotic. Signage was fine, but weaving thru the pier area and getting to the bus was crowded.  Stick together and watch the leader.  

 

Nice beach club. 

[lgonquin]

10 hours ago, zdad59 said:

 

Adam Kario, a comedy juggler.     Pretty good show.   Only 50 minutes long.   Easy to watch. 

 

Agreed. Made a typically boring show entertaining. Beware, many laughs are at audience members expense 😁.