"New" RCL Cruiser

[JennJ99738]

I say "new" because about 25 years ago, I went on a short cruise out of Los Angeles but have no real recollection of it.  Anyway, since then, I haven't really stuck to any single cruise line.  I have cruised Princess, HAL, Viking Ocean (once), NCL, Celebrity and just recently, Carnival.  My least favorite is NCL because we haven't found the food to be very good. Celebrity was my favorite. I have had a good time on all of them. I was really surprised by Carnival.  We had a great cruise out of LA on the Panorama.  Food was great. Comedians were great. Shows were so-so.

 

Anyway, I'm giving this information because I hope you all can help me.  My friend and I are trying to decide between 2 RCL cruises.  One is an 8 day on Mariner of the Seas out of Port Canaveral that goes to Bermuda, Nassau, and Coco Cay.  The other is an 8 day out of Fort Lauderdale on Allure of the Seas that goes to Labadee, Aruba, and Curacao.  The ports aren't extremely important. I've been to all of them except Coco Cay and Labadee obviously my friend has only been to Bermuda but really liked it.  I'm more concerned about the ships.

 

I know that Mariner is smaller and older but has received refurbishment.  Allure is newer and bigger but I've read reviews that it is showing its age and really needs refurbishment.  We have never been on a ship that has so many people.  

 

Can any Royal veterans give me a hand in trying to sort this out?  The prices are nearly identical so that's not a deciding factor. 

 

Thanks!

 

Jennifer

 

 

[firefly333]

I would take unamped allure over the older mariner any day. The cafe is better. Johnny rockets hopefully is serving breakfast when I do allure this dec. 2 surf zones vs 1. Zip line.

 

So what if it doesnt have wonderland and new amped slide . .to me its head and tails better than  a older ship. Dive show on allure, not on mariner. Real broadway vs collection of songs. 

 

Cocoa cay is more built up than labadee for private islands. No comparison. If you think allure is too old then for sure dont choose a even older ship lol. 

[OCSC Mike]

If all you care about is the ship… Allure & not even close imo.

 

Oasis class (ships like Allure with Central Park, boardwalk, etc.) is a huge step up from anything older.

Edited July 12, 2022 by OCSC Mike

[rockmom]

Allure, it's a fantastic ship.  And you mentioned food being something that seems to be important--Allure has TONS of restaurants, both included and specialty.  The shows are fabulous.  Mamma Mia and the Aqua theater show aren't to be missed.  

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

1 hour ago, JennJ99738 said:

I say "new" because about 25 years ago, I went on a short cruise out of Los Angeles but have no real recollection of it.  Anyway, since then, I haven't really stuck to any single cruise line.  I have cruised Princess, HAL, Viking Ocean (once), NCL, Celebrity and just recently, Carnival.  My least favorite is NCL because we haven't found the food to be very good. Celebrity was my favorite. I have had a good time on all of them. I was really surprised by Carnival.  We had a great cruise out of LA on the Panorama.  Food was great. Comedians were great. Shows were so-so.

 

Anyway, I'm giving this information because I hope you all can help me.  My friend and I are trying to decide between 2 RCL cruises.  One is an 8 day on Mariner of the Seas out of Port Canaveral that goes to Bermuda, Nassau, and Coco Cay.  The other is an 8 day out of Fort Lauderdale on Allure of the Seas that goes to Labadee, Aruba, and Curacao.  The ports aren't extremely important. I've been to all of them except Coco Cay and Labadee obviously my friend has only been to Bermuda but really liked it.  I'm more concerned about the ships.

 

I know that Mariner is smaller and older but has received refurbishment.  Allure is newer and bigger but I've read reviews that it is showing its age and really needs refurbishment.  We have never been on a ship that has so many people.  

 

Can any Royal veterans give me a hand in trying to sort this out?  The prices are nearly identical so that's not a deciding factor. 

 

Thanks!

 

Jennifer

 

 

Celebrity is better than the others. However Royal is right behind them. Very good food. Depending on which ship. it can be far better than all the others. The Oasis class ships are the very best bang for the buck. Best food and shows.

[Ozark_Kid]

2 hours ago, JennJ99738 said:

The other is an 8 day out of Fort Lauderdale on Allure of the Seas that goes to Labadee, Aruba, and Curacao. 

We have this booked for October.   We have cruised Allure a few years ago and loved it.  Oasis class ships are our first choice.   Love the layout and entertainment more than the other classes.  We have cruised Mariner a couple of times and really enjoyed it but enjoy Allure more.

[JennJ99738]

Thanks to everyone for their input!  Seems unanimous.  🙂  

[JennJ99738]

2 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I would take unamped allure over the older mariner any day. The cafe is better. Johnny rockets hopefully is serving breakfast when I do allure this dec. 2 surf zones vs 1. Zip line.

 

So what if it doesnt have wonderland and new amped slide . .to me its head and tails better than  a older ship. Dive show on allure, not on mariner. Real broadway vs collection of songs. 

 

Cocoa cay is more built up than labadee for private islands. No comparison. If you think allure is too old then for sure dont choose a even older ship lol. 

 

It wasn't that I thought Allure was too old but that reviews said that there were issues with maintenance.  I have gone on older ships and had a great time but the ships were in great shape and had recently been in dry dock.  

 

Thanks for the advice!

[firefly333]

3 hours ago, JennJ99738 said:

 

It wasn't that I thought Allure was too old but that reviews said that there were issues with maintenance.  I have gone on older ships and had a great time but the ships were in great shape and had recently been in dry dock.  

 

Thanks for the advice!

johnny rockets is only open for breakfast on these larger ships. I love the hash browns with onion and peppers and free. Just more choices for food and a better itinerary. Anything with the ABC islands is more unusual. 

 

Labadee has been forever and I did a excursion with a boat along the coast and got burnt to a crisp. I was under a canopy but the sun reflected off the water and I didnt realize I was burning since I thought I was sitting in the shade. Dont remember the private beach much. 

 

Oasis was fabulous. As you can see I have allure and harmony booked in my signature. 

[Surfguyxxx]

I too am an Allure voter.  More bells and whistles if you're just looking for a cruise ship.  As far as Johnny Rocket's; I've never had their breakfasts but have heard such great things about it.  

[loman]

Oasis class for us , we only book that class of ship .

Dont care much anymore where its going , as we cruise for the ship now.

Narrows down our search too, when looking to select our next cruise.

Enjoy your cruise , whatever your pick .🙂

[Rogueperson]

I will be the dissenting voice here.  Looking at your cruising experience, you *might* find Allure the same way I did. 

 

What every one says is true.  You can't compare Oasis class to anything out there.  However, my favorite class of Royal Caribbean has been the Voyager class and Mariner is in the class.  She's been recently upgraded and pretty impressive.

If i had to choose based on ship alone, I would actually choose Mariner because she's got the best melding of small and large ship appeal.  She's got just enough amenities on the ship to make it feel like a new ship, but not so big, it loses the feel that you're on the ship.  I feel that Freedom class and above, it feels less like being on a ship, then being in a resort.  To me, there's such thing as "too big", and Oasis class falls into that category for me.

However, I love the ABC islands, and would choose that itinerary over the Mariner one.  The ports are more fun in my opinion which is odd, because I normally find the Oasis class itineraries to be a little mundane in general due to the size of those ships.  However, you asked for ship advice, not port.  Allure was the last cruise I took prior to the pandemic.  It wasn't a bad cruise, but sadly, there was nothing that made it stand out really in my opinion.

[gcelkk]

I would choose Allure because of the itinerary and the options of things to do.  The Oasis class ship is awesome.

 

Where would you suggest I stay in Vegas? 

[cindyscruise]

I love Labadee.  A relaxing beach day for us.  Another vote for the Allure

[JennJ99738]

10 hours ago, gcelkk said:

I would choose Allure because of the itinerary and the options of things to do.  The Oasis class ship is awesome.

 

Where would you suggest I stay in Vegas? 

Depends on your budget and your interests.  If you plan on staying on the Strip and your budget is unlimited, I would choose Bellagio, Wynn/Encore, or Venetian/Palazzo.  If you want more reasonable but good location, I would choose Planet Hollywood, Mirage, or even Treasure Island.  Mandalay is nice, especially their pool area, but farther from everything and can be expensive.

 

If you're on a budget, Bally's, Harrah's, and Flamingo are in a great location but definitely show their age.  Flamingo has a beautiful pool area but the rooms leave something to be desired.  

 

I would avoid MGM due to size, Luxor, and Excalibur due to being way past their sell by date.  

 

If you want to rent a car and stay off the Strip (avoiding parking fees), and see more of the area like Red Rock, Mount Charleston, Hoover Dam, I would recommend Suncoast, Red Rock Hotel (although can be expensive) in the west side of the area.  My dad loves South Point which is on the south end of Las Vegas Boulevard (Strip).  These are more locals properties.  They have free parking, movie theaters, are smaller.  

 

If you have more questions, let me know.