Just off the Mall of America, I mean Allure

Basics-family of four 59,49, 20,18. Cruised 8 times previously on Carnival and NCL. We've been happy with all of cruises because we're glad to vacation together. We enjoyed our trip to the Eastern Caribbean but would not sail a ship this size or likely with RCCL again. Generally we've found cruises to be a good value for the $ spent. Unfortunately this was not the case here. Restricted to the Spring Break school schedule meant RCCL got more of my $ than they should for this trip. Food was just awful (main dining room slightly better but still mediocre). Reservations were required for everything...what a drag. You can't just play it by ear and decide spur of the moment to see a show. Want to eat on MTD plan? Make a reservation or wait in a line that wrapped around the hallway. Room steward and dining room staff were excellent! We had 2 interior rooms which cost more than our 2 bedroom suite on NCL last year. Rooms were a little stuffy/musty. Would be nice if tv photos from bridge were of the sea instead of the Royal Promenade. Who wants to look at the interior of a ship? Anyway, halls were kept clean, noise was not a factor and we all slept well. I missed seeing the sea. Other than deck 5 (walking track) and deck 15, you can't view the ocean. There was no place to sit with a cocktail and watch the world go by. The ship ultimately felt like a shopping mall to us and just not our vibe. Within 2 days we had all said, we miss Carnival! So, overall, great vacation and memories made. Lesson learned for us bigger is not always better. Happy Cruising!

Sorry you did not enjoy the ship. We board April 2nd. I think you are right about MTD and an interior cabin. We have balconies and no MTD; shows and restaurants are booked so anticipating a great trip.

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Thanks for the mini review. We are booked for November and I am questioning my choice but hope it turns out well. Have not disliked a cruise yet.

These Oasis class ships do not appeal to us at all. It sounds as if trying to get a sea balcony would be a challenge considering not too many people would desire getting a "balcony" overlooking the main promenade area. Those ships, including the Quantum class, are just too large for our preference. I'd feel like I was at an Embassy Suites! I wish all future guests on those ships however do have great cruises, but we're sticking with the smaller class of ships.

I also agree that the Oasis ships are just too big for our taste too.

Thanks for sharing your comments. Your experience on Allure will hopefully, be very different than ours in May. We love this class of ship and do not mind making reservations in advance. When we sailed Oasis, we went standby for most of the shows and just cancelled the reservations we made in advance. Hopefully, we will be able to do the same if our plans change while we are on Allure.

Enjoy your next cruise on whatever ship makes you happy.:)

I've cruised on Allure and have a Oasis cruise coming up only because of the convenient port. Otherwise, I wouldn't cruise on these behemoths again. I agree with your feeling that it's harder to get the sense of being on a ship. The tradeoff is all of the other activities, which my kids enjoyed on Allure more than I did - they loved all the options and things to do. As far as the food goes, I think the quality has been declining on all ships, including NCL and Carnival. The RCL decline seems to be a little faster IMO. Sometimes it's the little things that rub the wrong way, such as eliminating blue cheese dressing in the Windjammer and the chocolate milk that used to be available at breakfast (both missing on my RCL cruise on Freedom last Fall). Other things are even more obvious, such as mystery meat instead of strip steaks in the dining room. I still think cruising is a great value though, and will enjoy sampling as many ships and cruiselines as I can :-).

Not for us either I think, but some love the big ships, I guess that's why the companies offer so much variety.

What time did the Chick-fil-A close in the food court?

These Oasis class ships do not appeal to us at all. It sounds as if trying to get a sea balcony would be a challenge considering not too many people would desire getting a "balcony" overlooking the main promenade area. Those ships, including the Quantum class, are just too large for our preference. I'd feel like I was at an Embassy Suites! I wish all future guests on those ships however do have great cruises, but we're sticking with the smaller class of ships.

Actually, many many people book the interior balconies and love them - I have friends who prefer them over an oceanview, which makes no sense to me, but no - RCCL has no problem filling those cabins, at all.

We're sailing on Allure for Spring Break in mid April. Originally booked on X Silhouette with just my mom, but when my 14 yo's plans had to change, the only ship that worked with our already purchased airfare was Allure.

We've sailed on Oasis, and all said they preferred Freedom. But X didn't have anything that my son enjoys (flowrider, ice skating, rock wall), so we'll do it again for him.

We have MTD but all reservations are already made, eating 3 nights in specialty due to D+ and other offers, all show reservations made as well. I never expect that my cruise vacation will allow me to just decide to do something on the spur of the moment. Too many years at Disney taught me that reservations are your friend.

Not for everyone, but they keep building them and sailing full every week after week. Just think there will be 5 Oasis class ships carrying over 30K passengers each week. Know my kids love them...

What time did the Chick-fil-A close in the food court?

Bahahah! Exactly! Especially during Spring Break-pre-teens everywhere trolling the mall. Although a Chick-Fil-a sandwich would've been a step up from anything served in the Wipeout or Windjammer.

What time did the Chick-fil-A close in the food court?

Closed on Sundays!:D

Actually, many many people book the interior balconies and love them - I have friends who prefer them over an ocean view, which makes no sense to me, but no - RCCL has no problem filling those cabins, at all.

We had a Central Park balcony on Oasis and loved it. IMHO, these ships are the destination and I really didn't expect or need a traditional cruise experience. There were enough places on the ship to see the ocean and then we had the ports for a break. I loved all of the activities on Oasis and had a great time.

While many people love the mega-ships, many do not. We did not. I'm glad we tried it once, but I have no desire to ever do it again. Had we not had an ocean view balcony, I would have had little opportunity to experience and enjoy the ocean. The OP hit on so many of the same feelings we had about our Allure cruise--too scheduled, MDR was only fair, and we thought the Windjammer was abysmal. I always preferred "smaller" ships, and our Allure cruise only reinforced that opinion.

Basics-family of four 59,49, 20,18. Cruised 8 times previously on Carnival and NCL. We've been happy with all of cruises because we're glad to vacation together. We enjoyed our trip to the Eastern Caribbean but would not sail a ship this size or likely with RCCL again. Generally we've found cruises to be a good value for the $ spent. Unfortunately this was not the case here. Restricted to the Spring Break school schedule meant RCCL got more of my $ than they should for this trip. Food was just awful (main dining room slightly better but still mediocre). Reservations were required for everything...what a drag. You can't just play it by ear and decide spur of the moment to see a show. Want to eat on MTD plan? Make a reservation or wait in a line that wrapped around the hallway. Room steward and dining room staff were excellent! We had 2 interior rooms which cost more than our 2 bedroom suite on NCL last year. Rooms were a little stuffy/musty. Would be nice if tv photos from bridge were of the sea instead of the Royal Promenade. Who wants to look at the interior of a ship? Anyway, halls were kept clean, noise was not a factor and we all slept well. I missed seeing the sea. Other than deck 5 (walking track) and deck 15, you can't view the ocean. There was no place to sit with a cocktail and watch the world go by. The ship ultimately felt like a shopping mall to us and just not our vibe. Within 2 days we had all said, we miss Carnival! So, overall, great vacation and memories made. Lesson learned for us bigger is not always better. Happy Cruising!

The big ladies are not for everyone. We happen to love all the activities, shows that Royal provides. Even saying that, the 'big ladies' do take a lot of getting used to.....and one needs to know what YOU as the cruiser are not willing to do, as well as what you are willing to live with to have the cruise experience you want.

Our first experience on this class was Allure in a balcony overlooking Central Park....had an overall great time, but missed seeing the ocean because as you point out that to see the ocean you need to be on the running track or the pool deck....no easy place to sit and just enjoy the ocean view. We did not like the Solarium because it was blazingly hot with no open windows for hot air to escape....just not enjoyable.

Then Harmony was announced w/waterslides for adults..... I knew we would do the Oasis class again if just for the waterslides. It had a solarium we also did not like, simply because it did not have a pool other than hot tubs....what a waste IMO. But the waterslides made up for it. When we sailed on Harmony we took the balcony overlooking Boardwalk that was closest to the aft of the ship...it gave me the ocean to look at and down to the Aqua Theater and Boardwalk which was nice.

We made reservations for our shows and then when we saw the daily compass if we needed to change something to another day, when we saw something we wanted to do, it was never a problem. We got to do all that we wanted.

We have always had Main Dinner seating, because we like to know where our table is and who we will be seated with.....but we are going on Allure this coming November and are considering trying MTD, but knowing us, we will make a reservation for a specific time each night depending upon what we are doing that day.

Another disappointment we had with Allure was closet and drawer space for our clothes -- we felt it was poorly designed.....Harmony is MUCH BETTER.

As I look at it, the entertainment and activities on board will be the deciding factor in ship......I can say that we do prefer the smaller size ships like the Freedom class or even Voyager (I can't speak for Anthem since we have not sailed on her), but sometimes they are not sailing from a port we need to be departing from.

Cruising just like anything else is a mix of choices.

We have been fortunate to have sailed on at least one ship from every current RCI ship class except Quantum and like them all for different reasons, and some better than others. Oasis class ships - in particular Allure - are one that we have enjoyed quite a bit. Never had any issue with getting an outside balcony, never had an issue with crowds as for as many passengers as they have, they also have more and larger venues to accommodate them.

Also have found the food to be very good, in particular in the specialty restaurants, which we dine at almost exclusively. Entertainment is very good and very diverse. The Windjammer is hit or miss on any ship and IMO is not RCI's best dining attempt. But overall, it is a ship class that we really like. In fairness, however, Freedom class is probably our favorite.

Basics-family of four 59,49, 20,18. Cruised 8 times previously on Carnival and NCL. We've been happy with all of cruises because we're glad to vacation together. We enjoyed our trip to the Eastern Caribbean but would not sail a ship this size or likely with RCCL again. Generally we've found cruises to be a good value for the $ spent. Unfortunately this was not the case here. Restricted to the Spring Break school schedule meant RCCL got more of my $ than they should for this trip. Food was just awful (main dining room slightly better but still mediocre). Reservations were required for everything...what a drag. You can't just play it by ear and decide spur of the moment to see a show. Want to eat on MTD plan? Make a reservation or wait in a line that wrapped around the hallway. Room steward and dining room staff were excellent! We had 2 interior rooms which cost more than our 2 bedroom suite on NCL last year. Rooms were a little stuffy/musty. Would be nice if tv photos from bridge were of the sea instead of the Royal Promenade. Who wants to look at the interior of a ship? Anyway, halls were kept clean, noise was not a factor and we all slept well. I missed seeing the sea. Other than deck 5 (walking track) and deck 15, you can't view the ocean. There was no place to sit with a cocktail and watch the world go by. The ship ultimately felt like a shopping mall to us and just not our vibe. Within 2 days we had all said, we miss Carnival! So, overall, great vacation and memories made. Lesson learned for us bigger is not always better. Happy Cruising!

Absolutely agree!

Oasis-class ships suck!

Shortly after the launch of Oasis a reviewer commented that he thought the major fault for him was that there were virtually no places inside the ship to sit and see the ocean. This has been a constant issue with many cruisers myself included. Everything faces in. As I recall you couldn't even get a window table in one of the specialty dining restaurants with an ocean view. I thought for sure RCCL would make a few adjustments to the blueprints for subsequent builds for this class but apparently they haven't.

Guess I am in the minority but I love the Allure. Been on it twice will be on it in 2 weeks, again in June with my granddaughters and again in February. Having been on 64 cruises (mostly RCL, Princess and HAL) the entertainment is far superior to any other class of ship (just got off the freedom 2 weeks ago) and the variety of places to eat is great. (I very rarely eat in the DR) I can always find a place to have some alone time and never felt crowded. It is not for everyone which is why there are so many ships that are all different. Find the style you like and enjoy it.

The big ladies are not for everyone. We happen to love all the activities, shows that Royal provides. Even saying that, the 'big ladies' do take a lot of getting used to.....and one needs to know what YOU as the cruiser are not willing to do, as well as what you are willing to live with to have the cruise experience you want.

 

Our first experience on this class was Allure in a balcony overlooking Central Park....had an overall great time, but missed seeing the ocean because as you point out that to see the ocean you need to be on the running track or the pool deck....no easy place to sit and just enjoy the ocean view. We did not like the Solarium because it was blazingly hot with no open windows for hot air to escape....just not enjoyable.

 

Then Harmony was announced w/waterslides for adults..... I knew we would do the Oasis class again if just for the waterslides. It had a solarium we also did not like, simply because it did not have a pool other than hot tubs....what a waste IMO. But the waterslides made up for it. When we sailed on Harmony we took the balcony overlooking Boardwalk that was closest to the aft of the ship...it gave me the ocean to look at and down to the Aqua Theater and Boardwalk which was nice.

 

We made reservations for our shows and then when we saw the daily compass if we needed to change something to another day, when we saw something we wanted to do, it was never a problem. We got to do all that we wanted.

 

We have always had Main Dinner seating, because we like to know where our table is and who we will be seated with.....but we are going on Allure this coming November and are considering trying MTD, but knowing us, we will make a reservation for a specific time each night depending upon what we are doing that day.

 

Another disappointment we had with Allure was closet and drawer space for our clothes -- we felt it was poorly designed.....Harmony is MUCH BETTER.

 

As I look at it, the entertainment and activities on board will be the deciding factor in ship......I can say that we do prefer the smaller size ships like the Freedom class or even Voyager (I can't speak for Anthem since we have not sailed on her), but sometimes they are not sailing from a port we need to be departing from.

 

Cruising just like anything else is a mix of choices.

Sorry OP was so disappointed. These ships are probably better planners.

As for storage, everyone is different, but I was really impressed with all the storage, cupboards and shelving

We had 4 to a cabin and had n issues. The closet had space age shelving, which was great. Tons of extra shelving plus 2 night tables with 3 separate shelves and washroom had tons of different shelves (and I'm one to have tons of toiletries).

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We are going to be on the Allure (4-16) and are so looking forward to our cruise. We have been on 86 cruises before and have been on the Oasis once before in 2010. Enjoyed it very much. We always thoroughly enjoy our cruises on small and big ships!! John F :)

Sorry OP was so disappointed. These ships are probably better planners.

 

As for storage, everyone is different, but I was really impressed with all the storage, cupboards and shelving

We had 4 to a cabin and had n issues. The closet had space age shelving, which was great. Tons of extra shelving plus 2 night tables with 3 separate shelves and washroom had tons of different shelves (and I'm one to have tons of toiletries).

 

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I don't know if the cabin layout is much different from cabin to cabin....but we had a balcony overlooking CP on Allure and the bed was located right next to the closet and it was difficult to easily get things in and out of the closet. The end tables had NO drawers in our layout either. Bathroom shelving was nice, I will admit.

Guess I am in the minority but I love the Allure..

You are only the minority in this thread.;)