Just back from Allure of the Seas, Eastern

[asunutgirl]

Sounds like I'll be decorating our stateroom on the Oasis! We are celebrating a college graduation and a high school graduation and traveling with European friends. I'm gonna own it an decorate all three doors!

 

[tltay2005]

Just got back from a Western Caribbean trip on the Allure. This was our 18th cruise overall. We loved the cruise and the ship. A few thoughts:

• Ocean view balcony was larger then the same category on other ships. Attendant was fantastic. This was the first cruise that charged for room service. Was this due to the number of guests?
• We had main seating traditional dinning. Outstanding service by wait staff of Cynthia and Simon. They were lots of fun and very patient with the spills and silliness from our table of eight. Food quality was good-very good in all venues, but very standardized. No omelet or waffle stations in the windjammer, for example. I would assume this was due to the number of passengers. However, we found good breakfast items at Jonny Rockets. You can find smaller cafes around the ship that our less crowded for breakfast and lunch
• The main shows were wonderful, but some of the venues for some of the smaller shows and activities were too small, esp. for such a big ship. Get to these venues early to get a seat. We all enjoyed the activities on board ship, except for the zip line. It looked like two clotheslines tied together. Not worth the wait for all the hassles of preparing to get on it. They would not let you ride unless you have closed toed shoes with socks, and all your pockets empty. Make sure you fill out your waivers online before you go and stand in line the first day to get a wristband that will allow you on the flow rider, zip line, ice rink, and rock walls. Best time to enjoy the pools and activities is when everyone else in in port.
• Yes, there were minors everywhere, but they were behaved for the most part. Please remember that I am a retired school teacher. After 27 years of being surround by young people, I have developed a thick skin with regards to minors. Please remember that when the ship says adults only, they mean it!
• We took tours in Cozumel and Costa Maya, but not ship sponsored tours. In Cozumel we toured the island with Trikes Cozumel. Very unique and lots of fun. In Costa Maya, we toured Mayan ruins with Native Choice tours. Our eight people got a private tour on our own van. We did not have any extra tourist trap stops and were the first people to arrive at the ruins. The guide was very knowledgeable and the driver followed behind us with a backpack full of bottles of cold water, Excellent tour at almost half the price of a ship sponsored tour. The only downside is the 10 minute walk out of the tourist area to their office. At the end of the tour they drop you off by the port security gate.
• All in all a good cruise, but my wife and I prefer a smaller ship. We are use to getting to know the cruise staff , but the staff on the Allure were too busy with too many people. Would we go on the Allure again? Yes, we went with a group and then ports of call were unique.

Room fee was added a while back. Continental breakfast and coffee still free, all other items have the charge which I think was around $8.00.

I would love to try one of the other classes of RCL ships, but living in Fl (therefore not willing to pay to fly to another port) and only cruising during the summer, the Mega ships are all they offer during that time. Maybe one summer they will switch things around.

 

[tltay2005]

Sounds like I'll be decorating our stateroom on the Oasis! We are celebrating a college graduation and a high school graduation and traveling with European friends. I'm gonna own it an decorate all three doors!

Go for it! We got lots of compliments on ours and it made our cabin easier to find.

 

[starvenger]

I am going on this itinerary in August. Can't wait!

Just got back from a Western Caribbean trip on the Allure. This was our 18th cruise overall. We loved the cruise and the ship. A few thoughts:

• Ocean view balcony was larger then the same category on other ships. Attendant was fantastic. This was the first cruise that charged for room service. Was this due to the number of guests?

As mentioned, they started charging a flat fee for all room service except continental breakfast.

We had main seating traditional dinning. Outstanding service by wait staff of Cynthia and Simon. They were lots of fun and very patient with the spills and silliness from our table of eight. Food quality was good-very good in all venues, but very standardized. No omelet or waffle stations in the windjammer, for example. I would assume this was due to the number of passengers. However, we found good breakfast items at Jonny Rockets. You can find smaller cafes around the ship that our less crowded for breakfast and lunch

You can actually get made to order omelettes (and eggs, I've heard) at Wipeout.

The main shows were wonderful, but some of the venues for some of the smaller shows and activities were too small, esp. for such a big ship. Get to these venues early to get a seat. We all enjoyed the activities on board ship, except for the zip line. It looked like two clotheslines tied together. Not worth the wait for all the hassles of preparing to get on it. They would not let you ride unless you have closed toed shoes with socks, and all your pockets empty. Make sure you fill out your waivers online before you go and stand in line the first day to get a wristband that will allow you on the flow rider, zip line, ice rink, and rock walls. Best time to enjoy the pools and activities is when everyone else in in port.

I've never seen the ice rink seats filled to capacity, so that's not an issue. The Tube (comedy club) is tiny on purpose, so again no big deal. Aquatheatre, however, gets crowded in a hurry so it's best to get there 15-30 minutes before showtime. If your booked time overlaps with the show, I'd suggest either eating in WindJammer or letting your waiters know that you've got a show booked at 8pm (or whatever) and you want to get there at 7:30. As on DCL, most of the staff try to be as accommodating as possible, although we've gotten a stick in the mud once before.

Best time to go on the zip line is at sea, after breakfast. To be honest though, the zip line for me is like Abyss on Harmony and Aquaduck on DCL - it's cool because it's a unique feature on a cruise ship, but as an activity it's not worth it if there's a large crowd.

We took tours in Cozumel and Costa Maya, but not ship sponsored tours. In Cozumel we toured the island with Trikes Cozumel. Very unique and lots of fun. In Costa Maya, we toured Mayan ruins with Native Choice tours. Our eight people got a private tour on our own van. We did not have any extra tourist trap stops and were the first people to arrive at the ruins. The guide was very knowledgeable and the driver followed behind us with a backpack full of bottles of cold water, Excellent tour at almost half the price of a ship sponsored tour. The only downside is the 10 minute walk out of the tourist area to their office. At the end of the tour they drop you off by the port security gate.

We were originally going to do a tour with Native Choice but the kids weren't into the idea of a 4-6 hour excursion. Also decided that Adventure Park would be fun (those zip lines look insane), but not really worth the cost of admission. So we've reserved seats at Tropicante.

Sounds like I'll be decorating our stateroom on the Oasis! We are celebrating a college graduation and a high school graduation and traveling with European friends. I'm gonna own it an decorate all three doors!

That's the spirit! If you're not getting a wifi package, I'd get some magnetic whiteboards to put on the doors as well for old(ish) school communication.

 

[luv2cruisedisney]

Sounds like I'll be decorating our stateroom on the Oasis! We are celebrating a college graduation and a high school graduation and traveling with European friends. I'm gonna own it an decorate all three doors!

We sailed on the Oasis for this past New Year's, and it was our first non-DCL cruise in over 10 years. We always decorate our doors and made magnets for this trip for our 2 rooms. Very sadly, half of them were stolen within the first hour they were out. And the magnets were personalized with our names, hometown, etc. Not a cool thing to start off your cruise with. While I don't regret trying RCCL, unlike many posters on this thread who enjoyed their RCCL experience(s), we are going back to DCL. There were too many things that disappointed, and while each single one was not a big deal, altogether they just made our experience too blah to want to repeat it. We had 3 adults and a 3-year old.

 

[asunutgirl]

We sailed on the Oasis for this past New Year's, and it was our first non-DCL cruise in over 10 years. We always decorate our doors and made magnets for this trip for our 2 rooms. Very sadly, half of them were stolen within the first hour they were out. And the magnets were personalized with our names, hometown, etc. Not a cool thing to start off your cruise with. While I don't regret trying RCCL, unlike many posters on this thread who enjoyed their RCCL experience(s), we are going back to DCL. There were too many things that disappointed, and while each single one was not a big deal, altogether they just made our experience too blah to want to repeat it. We had 3 adults and a 3-year old.

Hmmm...that's disappointing to hear. I'm sorry you didn't have a great experience. As much as we love DCL, we couldn't afford the prices on their European cruises.

 

[Frozen2014]

We sailed on the Oasis for this past New Year's, and it was our first non-DCL cruise in over 10 years. We always decorate our doors and made magnets for this trip for our 2 rooms. Very sadly, half of them were stolen within the first hour they were out. And the magnets were personalized with our names, hometown, etc. Not a cool thing to start off your cruise with. While I don't regret trying RCCL, unlike many posters on this thread who enjoyed their RCCL experience(s), we are going back to DCL. There were too many things that disappointed, and while each single one was not a big deal, altogether they just made our experience too blah to want to repeat it. We had 3 adults and a 3-year old.

Ditto above comment...sorry there were a bunch of things that weren't up to par for you. For a 3 year old, you may be better off with Disney. For us, our kids are older (now 13 and 9) and Royal is a much better match. We have 3 booked for the future.

 

[DVC_Dad_Canada]

Ditto above comment...sorry there were a bunch of things that weren't up to par for you. For a 3 year old, you may be better off with Disney. For us, our kids are older (now 13 and 9) and Royal is a much better match. We have 3 booked for the future.

Not to mention RCL is usually less than half the cost of an equivalent DCL cruise, even after adding specialty dining. I have three teens, and we'll never go back to DCL. Far to limited food and entertainment choices and far too expensive.

 

[starvenger]

This is the thing I love about cruising. There isn't a one size fits all answer to what cruise line people want to sail on. But chances are that you can find one that fits your needs and likes. You just gotta try them ("empirical research") and keep an open mind in order to figure that out.

 

[KashasMom]

I wanted to book the Harmony for next summer, just to try another ship and she sails from Port Canaveral which is much closer to where I live than Port Everglades, but the same cruise was $750 more on her than the Allure. I will keep an eye out for any price drops and may switch if it does.

I'd wait as well. We're going in November and got a pretty good deal. Summer is always high. I have my eyes on the Symphony next.

 

[KashasMom]

We sailed on the Oasis for this past New Year's, and it was our first non-DCL cruise in over 10 years. We always decorate our doors and made magnets for this trip for our 2 rooms. Very sadly, half of them were stolen within the first hour they were out. And the magnets were personalized with our names, hometown, etc. Not a cool thing to start off your cruise with. While I don't regret trying RCCL, unlike many posters on this thread who enjoyed their RCCL experience(s), we are going back to DCL. There were too many things that disappointed, and while each single one was not a big deal, altogether they just made our experience too blah to want to repeat it. We had 3 adults and a 3-year old.

Sorry the Oasis didn't work out for you. Possibly not the best choice with a 3 year old but their water park is so much better than Disney's. Disappointing about the magnets. I always decorate (on NCL and RCI) and have never had any stolen. We did have gifts stolen from our FE on DCL - multiple nights. I know this because we didn't join a group - I brought the gifts for my daughter.

 

[AlohaNow]

Thanks so much to everyone who contributed to this thread! I learned a lot about Allure and love all the photos. We just passed PIF so have our show times booked. We're up in the air about booking any dining. We may just do the Chops lunch because it's the cheapest option! Thanks again for this very informative thread!

 

[jenf22]

Thanks so much to everyone who contributed to this thread! I learned a lot about Allure and love all the photos. We just passed PIF so have our show times booked. We're up in the air about booking any dining. We may just do the Chops lunch because it's the cheapest option! Thanks again for this very informative thread!

What cruise are you on? We're sailing Allure on Oct 14th and can't wait!

Thanks to the OP for the great pictures and review!

 

[AlohaNow]

What cruise are you on? We're sailing Allure on Oct 14th and can't wait!

Yep, Allure on October 14th! I'll send you a PM!

 

[a1tinkfans]

Great info., thanks for posting.. especially all the pictures. We be Got an Allure trip booked ...with
38 family members!! Looking forward to lots of laughter

 

[DanInMN]

We are also on Allure October 14... 25th wedding anniversary, and bringing our twin teen Colombian daughters.