Just off the Allure some thoughts, 8 day cruise 5/14 - /5/22

[smeck]

Embarkation:  A breeze no Issues, we had the Key (more about that later) basically walked right on. 
 

Cabin:  We had Cabin 9652 Oceanview Balcony.  We usually Cruise in a Junior suite  so we are use to a lot more space and Storage  we survived.  We scored a great deal on the cruise and couldn’t resist.  Everything was functional especially  in that small shower.  Our state room attendant was the best we ever had and added to our experience immensely. 
 

Food.  First the positive we loved Sorrentos and can’t believe I’m saying this, the Windjammer was probably the best of any of our many Royal Cruises. 
My time dining was a mess we went once and never went back we had reservations yet we had to wait in a line that was at least 25 deep.  I overheard many people complaining about the same thing it has to be fixed. The one time we did manage to get into the dining room the food was decent and the waitstaff excellent. 
Solarium Bistro. What a alternative to the Windjammer for Breakfast never to crowded and very good offerings once you try it The Windjammer for breakfast will be a thing of the past. 

The ship: The Allure was in pretty good shape but if definitely is in need of a Amplification. I really hate the new furniture in the Windjammer it looks cheap and not that comfortable. I wish they would get rid of those Coke Freestyle machines they’re always missing ice or the flavor you want.  
    When in the Amber theater I always felt warm and stuffy and the seats can use a little updating. 
Pool area:  the chair hogs were at it big time.  Unless Royal starts to crack down on the issue it will force everyone to adopt the same behavior. Soon people will be going out at midnight to lay claim to a chair. 
    One thing I want to mention, it may seem petty but at the time it really perturbed me.  After about a half hour of searching for a chair my wife and I found a a couple of spots against the rail. As soon as we sit down a Royal employee in housekeeping comes up and says we have to move we can’t block the rail incase someone needs to grab a rail.  At first blush that sounds pretty reasonable until I look to the left and see at least fifty chairs blocking a rail and people sunbathing, this was on both the Starboard and Port side of the ship.  We moved the chairs not wanting to make a fuss but I still don’t understand the difference between the rail we were blocking and the rail being blocked by at least fifty chairs, go figure rant over. 

COVID:  Covid was rampant on the ship all you heard wherever you went was coughing, I had friends who were quarantined and was told that they ran out of rooms and having them quarantine in there own cabin. I attribute the outbreak due to the ships being at compactly, no social distancing in the dining room and entertainment venues, in short a Petri dish of Covid. Plus in The Windjammer people serving themselves using the same utensils over and over again. 
 The Key: One word don’t. Very limited benefits a basic ripoff. 
 

Overall we had a good time but Royal needs to improve in certain areas to get back the cruise experience we enjoyed in years past. 

 

Edited May 22, 2022 by smeck

[doppelganger2621]

We have a group of 9 going on Allure next month and I’m under no illusion we would be able to find chairs together. It was a problem on our first cruise on Liberty 10 years ago.

[firefly333]

I'm not on allure until dec and dont care if it's ever amped. I didnt like hearing the WJ has new uncomfortable furniture. 

 

I'm on grandeur right now and a cold front went thru and it's a little cool and been raining a lot today. No problem getting a chair lol. Pool is closed. 

 

I'm looking forward to allure and a bigger ship with better wifi and computerised. Gotta be better. 

[smeck]

38 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I'm not on allure until dec and dont care if it's ever amped. I didnt like hearing the WJ has new uncomfortable furniture. 

 

I'm on grandeur right now and a cold front went thru and it's a little cool and been raining a lot today. No problem getting a chair lol. Pool is closed. 

 

I'm looking forward to allure and a bigger ship with better wifi and computerised. Gotta be better. 

Wi-Fi is very spotty. 

[sjb317]

49 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I'm not on allure until dec and dont care if it's ever amped. I didnt like hearing the WJ has new uncomfortable furniture. 

 

I'm on grandeur right now and a cold front went thru and it's a little cool and been raining a lot today. No problem getting a chair lol. Pool is closed. 

 

I'm looking forward to allure and a bigger ship with better wifi and computerised. Gotta be better. 

I wouldn’t count on WiFi being better.  Allure was terribly slow, even with the surf and stream.  It was faster to use my phone as a hotspot whenever we were in port than to use Allure.

 

Sherri🙂

 

[Biker19]

57 minutes ago, sjb317 said:

It was faster to use my phone as a hotspot whenever we were in port than to use Allure.

That's generally been true for a very long time and to be expected (due to the nature of sat based internet).

[mek]

"COVID:  Covid was rampant on the ship all you heard wherever you went was coughing, I had friends who were quarantined and was told that they ran out of rooms and having them quarantine in there own cabin."

 

 

This is the way it should be for everyone - get rid of the isolation cabins and just let positive people quarantine in their own cabins.

Also, the pre-cruise testing isn't preventing cases on the ship, so really pointless.

[Jingerwoppy]

We're also headed for the Allure in December. The biggest we've been on so far is Liberty of the Seas. Looking forward to it. Just got of Grandeur a few days ago and it was a little different but still nice. 

 

Hope testing is done by then but now that monkey pox is out.......

[h20skibum]

We were on the same cruise.  Don’t count on the Wi-Fi.  It was horribly slow on Allure.  Average time for a cruise critic page to load and be able to post was between two and a half to three minutes.

 

It was the same even trying to load the Royal Caribbean website, and you would think that they would want it to load fast.

 

Yes, there was Covid onboard, but all Royal ships are in Orange category except Grandeur.  

[bucfan2]

1 hour ago, h20skibum said:

 Don’t count on the Wi-Fi.  It was horribly slow on Allure.   

I realize I'm in the minority, but this is music to my ears.....not having good service helps up avoid the temptation to log on (my phone remains at home when we cruise; wife brings hers for one-in-a-million emergency need).  I laugh at the check-in page on RC that states 'must download app'...although someday it'll probably be necessary but far from it now.

Edited May 23, 2022 by bucfan2

[Lionesss]

@smeck

You summed it up quite nicely.

 

I too was surprised that the WJ food was the best it ever was, we had breakfast and lunch there a few times.

 

It did not affect us, but I also heard that people had bar charges on their sea pass from drinks using their room number from the pool, so now you have to scrutinize you on going tab closer on the TV.

 

But I loved it the day the rain showered upon all the towels laying out on loungers.

 

Take care

 

[topnole]

13 hours ago, mek said:

"COVID:  Covid was rampant on the ship all you heard wherever you went was coughing, I had friends who were quarantined and was told that they ran out of rooms and having them quarantine in there own cabin."

 

 

This is the way it should be for everyone - get rid of the isolation cabins and just let positive people quarantine in their own cabins.

Also, the pre-cruise testing isn't preventing cases on the ship, so really pointless.

I really hope this is not the way it “should” be.  
 

I for one wouldn’t prefer to cruise on a ship that has so much Covid that the quarantine ward is full and random cabins all over the ship have Covid positive passengers.   Feel bad for the room stewards who then get exposed and then potentially expose the other 10 or so cabins the serve.  Folks can argue about severity or the need to return to normal, but Covid is one of the most contagious viruses we know of and it will spread like wild fire on ships if folks just continue on their way like the old “normal” way of doing things.  
 

The reality is that the cruise lines will be out of business if Covid optics look bad for an extended period of time.  The hard core cruisers will cruise regardless.  That isn’t near enough to sustain these cruise lines.  They need new customers all the time and the once every couple year

type customers.  Many of them won’t cruise if ships appear to be Covid incubators.   
 

 

[mek]

3 hours ago, topnole said:

I really hope this is not the way it “should” be.  
 

I for one wouldn’t prefer to cruise on a ship that has so much Covid that the quarantine ward is full and random cabins all over the ship have Covid positive passengers.   Feel bad for the room stewards who then get exposed and then potentially expose the other 10 or so cabins the serve.  Folks can argue about severity or the need to return to normal, but Covid is one of the most contagious viruses we know of and it will spread like wild fire on ships if folks just continue on their way like the old “normal” way of doing things.  
 

The reality is that the cruise lines will be out of business if Covid optics look bad for an extended period of time.  The hard core cruisers will cruise regardless.  That isn’t near enough to sustain these cruise lines.  They need new customers all the time and the once every couple year

type customers.  Many of them won’t cruise if ships appear to be Covid incubators.   
 

 

Sorry, but IMO the reality is Covid is with us and apparently will be for a long time.  It seems to have reached a point where the illness is mild with some people experiencing no symptoms at all and hospital rates are low.

I, (along with the majority of people), are back to living their lives pretty much the way it was pre-covid and I see no reason why cruise ships shouldn't operate the same way.  It makes no sense to continue acting like it's 2020 - 2021. Just my opinion.

[Blauelini]

5 hours ago, Lionesss said:

@smeck

It did not affect us, but I also heard that people had bar charges on their sea pass from drinks using their room number from the pool, so now you have to scrutinize you on going tab closer on the TV.

 

Are you saying people are giving staff random stateroom numbers to charge drinks to? Did anyone tell GS about this? 

[Biker19]

8 minutes ago, Blauelini said:

Are you saying people are giving staff random stateroom numbers to charge drinks to?

That or the person working the point of sale terminal is dyslexic.

 

Biker, who lost two of his C&A drinks to another cabin.

[Blauelini]

1 minute ago, Biker19 said:

That or the person working the point of sale terminal is dyslexic.

 

Biker, who lost two of his C&A drinks to another cabin.

Did they get it sorted for you or no? 

[Biker19]

5 minutes ago, Blauelini said:

Did they get it sorted for you or no? 

Sorta, instead trying to find the issue, they noted the account to no longer have a drink limit. The erroneous charges stopped after two days.

[topnole]

1 hour ago, mek said:

Sorry, but IMO the reality is Covid is with us and apparently will be for a long time.  It seems to have reached a point where the illness is mild with some people experiencing no symptoms at all and hospital rates are low.

I, (along with the majority of people), are back to living their lives pretty much the way it was pre-covid and I see no reason why cruise ships shouldn't operate the same way.  It makes no sense to continue acting like it's 2020 - 2021. Just my opinion.

I live my life normally too and just got off a cruise and did it no differently than I did pre-Covid.  But I’m relatively young and healthy.  A negative for the cruise lines is a large percentage of folks cruising are in a high risk category category for either age or health issues.  
 

My assumptions about the future with Covid and cruising are not based on what I think of Covid or how I behave, but instead on what I think folks think who have never cruised or do it very infrequently.  I’ve talked with friends since our return and most have zero desire to get on a ship in the near future because of the public perceptions.  If Covid outbreaks happen a lot and get highlighted by the media, that the cruise lines will take a hit on potential future bookings from newbies.  
 

By the way, in the good old “normal” days, cruise lines stocks would generally have abnormal negative returns once news hit in Noto outbreaks.   The perception of virus outbreaks has never been good for business and the cruise lines must show they can contain them to be sustainable for the long run.  People don’t want to get sick when traveling intentionally.  Doesn’t matter whether it is flu, Covid, or whatever.  If spread is happening a lot and is highlighted, that is bad for business.  

[smeck]

7 hours ago, Lionesss said:

@smeck

You summed it up quite nicely.

 

I too was surprised that the WJ food was the best it ever was, we had breakfast and lunch there a few times.

 

It did not affect us, but I also heard that people had bar charges on their sea pass from drinks using their room number from the pool, so now you have to scrutinize you on going tab closer on the TV.

 

But I loved it the day the rain showered upon all the towels laying out on loungers.

 

Take care

 

We found the Solarium Bistro a GREAT alternative to the Windjammer for Breakfast. Much less crowded and a great selection from made to order omelets to French toast.  A hidden Gem. 

[UNCFanatik]

2 hours ago, topnole said:

I live my life normally too and just got off a cruise and did it no differently than I did pre-Covid.  But I’m relatively young and healthy.  A negative for the cruise lines is a large percentage of folks cruising are in a high risk category category for either age or health issues.  
 

My assumptions about the future with Covid and cruising are not based on what I think of Covid or how I behave, but instead on what I think folks think who have never cruised or do it very infrequently.  I’ve talked with friends since our return and most have zero desire to get on a ship in the near future because of the public perceptions.  If Covid outbreaks happen a lot and get highlighted by the media, that the cruise lines will take a hit on potential future bookings from newbies.  
 

By the way, in the good old “normal” days, cruise lines stocks would generally have abnormal negative returns once news hit in Noto outbreaks.   The perception of virus outbreaks has never been good for business and the cruise lines must show they can contain them to be sustainable for the long run.  People don’t want to get sick when traveling intentionally.  Doesn’t matter whether it is flu, Covid, or whatever.  If spread is happening a lot and is highlighted, that is bad for business.  

 

Whats your solution? How do would you keep Covid cases from being on ships? 

 

 

 

 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

1 hour ago, smeck said:

We found the Solarium Bistro a GREAT alternative to the Windjammer for Breakfast. Much less crowded and a great selection from made to order omelets to French toast.  A hidden Gem. 

wow, solarium bistro does made to order omelets now? They didn't in 2019... My DH was very sad about it.

 

Back then we couldn't even get into the WJ - long lines and crowded. So, we went to the Solarium bistro and loved it, but they didn't do omelets.

[topnole]

30 minutes ago, UNCFanatik said:

 

Whats your solution? How do would you keep Covid cases from being on ships? 

 

 

 

 

I’m not paid to make those decisions and clearly there are no easy solutions for any of the cruise lines.  But I’m not sure dropping the current protocols is in their favor.  Whether testing helps or not, many folks like the optic of it because it makes them feel safer.   And yes, it would be a bit easier without testing. Particularly for us as we have unvaccinated kids.  But it may well be the cost of doing business for the companies and the passengers.   Time will tell.  
 

The reality is that none of the current protocols impacted my cruise much, if any.  I think most people feel this way, so I tend to think the companies will stick with the current status quo for a while yet.  It sucks for the employees having to mask however.  
 

But again, the reality is there are no easy solutions.  A highly contagious virus (of any kind) and a packed cruise ship don’t go particularly well together.  
 

The solution may just play itself out naturally in the next few years as nearly everyone finally gets Covid.   Hopefully after that, immunity for more and more folks kicks in long term.  Who knows.  

[gatour]

Yet another thread the devolves into a covid debate.

[topnole]

1 hour ago, gatour said:

Yet another thread the devolves into a covid debate.

I’m not debating anything about Covid other than I don’t think it is good for business (which is obvious) and I’m not sure it is in there best interest to drop current protocols for that reason alone.  Having been on Allure the week before the OP, I can tell you that Covid was definitely going around a lot on the ship.  I’m happy no one in my family got it,

and I’m quite certain in part that had to do with the protocols in place.  
 

Just think back to the one sided press following the grandfather lifting his granddaughter out of the window by the pool.  RC was getting creamed in the media as the plaintiff’s lawyer made illogical arguments that non cruisers bought hook, line and sinker while Royal had to sit quietly and wait to win in court.  
 

Can you imagine what would happen if they removed all protocols and went back to “normal” precovid processes.  In a short order of time the frivolous law suits would pile up and the media would run with the one sided stories.  
 

Time will tell of course.  But when they remove more restrictions is anyones guess and not something I have great confidence in either way.  But I do tend to think they are smart enough to keep most of the current protocols in place to reduce potential liability.   Again, time will tell.  I’m just glad cruising felt pretty much normal even with the current protocols.  Either way, no way I would touch Royal stock with a 10 foot pole.  Just a brutal industry right now.   I will be a customer however.  

Edited May 23, 2022 by topnole

[Ukigirl]

3 hours ago, smeck said:

We found the Solarium Bistro a GREAT alternative to the Windjammer for Breakfast. Much less crowded and a great selection from made to order omelets to French toast.  A hidden Gem. 

Loved Solarium Bistro, ate most of my breakfasts and lunches there, it was never crowded