Allure of the Seas Review, May 22-29, Western Carib

[Just Jo]

Hi All! We had a wonderful time on our sailing and wanted to share since so many other reviews were so helpful to me prior to our trip. Plus what a wonderful way to pass the time at home AND at work ;) reading trip reviews! :D

 

DH and I traveled with his best friend G, and his wife E. We usually travel (cruise) together, and thank goodness we all get along splendidly! We are all late 30's - early 40's. G&E sailed on the Oasis for their honeymoon last year, and they enjoyed her so much they couldn't wait to get on her again or the Allure. DH and I were hesitant about being on such a large ship, but we finally caved and agreed to go. Great decision!

 

I'll break this down into categories, rather than day by day. I'm a little nervous! :o

 

Stateroom

We were in room a D7 balcony, 9318, port, 6 cabins from last aft. G&E were in 9319, a Boardwalk balcony, across the hall. DH and I love balconies and always prefer a water view. G&E enjoyed their room and said they might book a Central Park balcony next time on the Oasis class, as they did for their honeymoon.

 

Our stateroom attendant was Bobby (from the Philippines?). He was very nice and polite, and of my last three cruises that I remember vividly he was the most quiet. All of our past SA's have had such BIG personalities, I was beginning to think it was a prerequisite for the position!

 

Let's see if I can post a picture!

 

Still figuring out Photobucket. Sorry - that's too large. Anyway - our friends notice our closet door is not working properly. It has a mechanism like the European-soft-touch-drawer-close feature so that the doors do not move during movement of the ship (what an idea!). As soon as we met Bobby we told him about the door and he said he would get it fixed, and it was by the time we went to our room before muster. Yay!

 

We had robes in our closet, chocolates each night on our pillows, fresh ice every morning (I felt bad, as we never used it and it was wasted. I meant to tell him to not bother but I always forgot.), and a towel animal on three nights - once was a repeat or he just placed my "saved" animal back on the bed. We loved the large (ish) table on the balcony. On our last cruise it was tiny.

 

The tv had more channels available than we expected. Oh, DH luggage was never delivered to our room on embarkation day. Bobby said he finally saw "our" luggage as we were leaving for dinner just before 7:00 (?!!) which was fine, as we didn't need anything from them. And when we got back to the room around 10:30 mine was in the room and DH's was not. He called to the front desk and was told he had to pick it up from deck 2 or 3? Turns out his CPAP caused some concern. We had put locks on our luggage. Neither of us even thought for him to take the keys with him. When he got there they asked him to unlock it and he declined as he didn't have the keys and they released it to him with his explanation. He was not a happy camper, as it was late, it had been a LONG day, and I felt like I failed him somehow, to not know/remember/researched that this was even a remote possibility for his luggage to get held, since I'm on CC ALOT! :rolleyes:

 

Next up I'll tackle restaurants. And hopefully figure out pictures :(

 

 

[Just Jo]

We all love to try the specialty restaurants and this trip was no exception.

 

Izumi

Terrific! We ate here our first night, booking as soon as we got on board. Our server was Amelia (Philippines) and she was awesome! She was efficient and fun and our friends set up a birthday (DH & I are May) and anniversary (Oct. !?) surprise with candles and the obligatory HB song as well as a Happy Anniversary song! We tried the sake, hot and cold, and all of the food, soup, dumplings, sushi, hot rock was fabulous and fun and delicious!

 

Park Cafe

We ate here on embarkation day (thanks CC!), and timed it well enough we found a table fairly quickly. It was getting quite crowded. Also on the last day for lunch, much more crowded, and had to stalk a table. That's always a little uncomfortable. Wonderful roast beef sandwiches! The potato and leek soup was yummy and the salads were great!

 

Johnny Rockets

Tried this for breakfast and lunch. Not as much selection for breakfast as I imagined, and was still tasty. Lunch was the usual fare with good burgers and shakes and malts.

 

Chops

This was also booked immediately after embarkation. DH & I are quite the carnivores, and we had such a wonderful experience last time that I was quite adamant we needed to eat here again.

 

Appetizers were crab cakes, French onion soup and Oyster Duet, all of which were very good. Entrees were petite filets, boneless beef short rib and herb crusted jumbo shrimp. Again, all very good. However, the waiter suggested to E, who ordered the shrimp, that this was a steak specialty restaurant and she should really order steak. The shrimp was being served in the main dining room and if she wanted it she should go there. WHAT??? Now his tone of voice wasn't snarky necessarily, and we were all so shocked that none of us really said anything until she explained that she's not a big meat eater and WANTED THE SHRIMP. Wow. We're having a nice time, and we're not getting too upset about this, although a BIG tip reduction was being discussed.

 

When our sides arrive, we have an additional item we did not order and are missing another. Seems like a mistake, no? I mention it to the waiter when he comes by and this time he says in a slightly snarky tone about our missing onion rings "well they're still cooking!" and nothing about our additional item on the table. That's nice. We continue eating our delicious food, and decide to squeeze in some dessert. Mud pie and red velvet cake were very good. My creme brulee came flambe which was cool, but the brulee was not. The alcohol they used for the flambe was not burned off and left a terrible taste, and it was much thicker than I was used to, almost like a thin cookie. I simply took it off and ate the creme, and our lovely waiter noticed, and mentioned that everyone else usually does the opposite - eats the sugar and not the creme. Good for them! I would hope it usually tastes good enough to do that. So this meal, while the food was some of the best we had during our week, left a "bad taste" in our mouths from the service. Our friends spoke to the manager of Chops later in the week just to make it known what they experienced and were given what they felt was a heartfelt apology for the service, or lack thereof, and offered a free dessert or bottle of wine during another meal at their convenience. They were happy with the outcome.

[Just Jo]

Rita's Cantina & Rita's Fiesta

We had this place almost to ourselves on a rainy port afternoon after we returned to the ship. We were disappointed with the salsa, as it was thicker than we're used to, and our friends swear it was Pace from the bottle, lol. When we asked about the salsa our waiter said it was made off premises and definitely NOT Pace. The taco salads, shrimp flautas, chicken cigars, and quesadillas were pretty good. Fortunately we have a wonderful Mexican restaurant close to home, and unfortunately it sets the bar pretty high when eating Mexican elsewhere. Our waiter did point out to us that Rita's was Tex-Mex, not Mexican. Ok then!

 

Rita's Fiesta had some of the same food, the flautas, cigars, and quesadillas, along with steak (&chicken?) fajitas. The dessert platter was HUGE!! Seriously, what a waste of food! The flan, churros, and banana burritos were good though, just too much!

 

When it comes to participating in the Fiesta it's about location, location, location! We were seated in the next to the last booth in the corner, and we couldn't really see anything, or feel any breeze as there were no fans in our area. We thought about being asked to move, but we stayed put and stood up if we wanted to see better. Our dear friends got recruited for the dance-offs! I would love to post pics of that, but A) my pics are still TOO BIG, and B) our dear friends might kill me! :D Also, the drink vouchers.. as everyone has been reporting, you can use them for any type of alcoholic drink, so long as you're ok with house brands.

 

While I'm "on" Boardwalk:

Hot dog stand

Great! Nice selection of dogs, buns, and toppings and condiments.

 

Ice Cream Parlor

Also great! We had super-large banana splits, and how can you go wrong with that?

 

Vintages

I couldn't wait to be there! I'm new to wine, and really only have a taste for Rieslings so far, and found a wonderful one in 150 Central Park the night before (yes, I'm out of order :o). The iPad was fun to order from, kind of. It wasn't super user friendly, as the item names on the menu didn't exactly correspond to the iPad so we had to have the waiter look up a few things for us. Tasty tapas and wine! So glad we took the time to visit!

 

150 Central Park

Once again, our friends treated us to this restaurant, since they knew how awesome it was from the Oasis. Our waiter was Nickolay, "Nick" from Serbia, and he was the perfect blend of professional, efficient, funny, caring but not cloying. There was another waiter, Oliver, from the UK, and together, even in passing, they were like Laurel & Hardy! Too funny, they gave themselves the monikers of Roadrunner (Nick) and the Coyote (Oliver). At one point, later on, Nick was walking by our table, and ever so quietly let out a "meep meep" that E&I heard and we had tears in our eyes from laughter. For such an upscale restaurant, which we all love as much as fast food (ok, maybe a little more depending on our moods), it was refreshing to have a server with a sense of humor (hear that, Chops guy??).

 

Oh, I'm forgetting about the food!! What a lovely, lovely meal! Not sure if this was the A or B menu: it was the salad of green and white asparagus, smoked tomato soup (wow!), fresh pea ravioli, seared tuna (least favorite), wagyu striploin, and rhubarb gateau. Fabulous! Desserts were just ok though, as found to be almost everywhere on the ship, maybe Chops being the exception, and the brulee ;)

 

I almost booked the Chef's Table for myself only, as no else in our group is as adventurous with wine. I will definitely try it next time we're on Oasis class.

 

Sorrento's

Great pizza for when were tipsy or tired or both! I had the pre-made, as well as made to order which had a thicker crust and was so filling I don't think I finished it.

 

Promenade Cafe

E LOVED the ham and cheese croissants from here. The roast beef sandwiches were good, and they had some desserts from here too that they liked. Guess who was serving here on the next to last sea day, kinda late? The waiter from Chops. I felt so awkward when I told him my order because I'm thinking he's heard every bad thing I've said about him all week, which of course is ludicrous! My first thought was that every one of the staff has to wear more than one hat, and serving there is another of his "hats". Everyone else thought he was demoted for his terrible service of us and punishment from the Chops manager. (I still think I'm right :D)

 

Main Dining Room

We had MTD, and only ate in the MDR on the last night. Probably not the best night to pick. We were moderately disappointed with the food. Kinda bland. I thought the service was great though! From the check in desk to our waitress (one of the few names I did not write down) everyone was so professional and helpful and friendly. While we were waiting in line, a couple came up to say goodbye to the woman/employee checking us in. Big hugs all around! The employee explained that the couple were leaving after a back to back, and I thought that said alot about the service during their trip to warrant hugs. Awww :p

 

Btw, our waitress in the MDR, was a perfect example of how to "suggest" something from/off/on the menu. When it came to dessert, my DH ordered the apple spice cake, which didn't sound very appealing to me, but he wasn't very hungry anyway. With a huge smile on her face she said, "How about something else?" DH said it again, and she politely and warmly explained that it was not one of the better dessert items, and she suggested a few others. DH still was ok with trying it and she said she'd be happy to bring it out for him, and to let her know what he thought. It wasn't very good, lol! And because he wasn't very hungry he ate the apples off the top and we were all good and stuffed!

 

Room Service

Sadly, we only ordered room service once, for breakfast. It was ordered just after 8:00, promised in 30 minutes, and arrived just under. The hot food was still very hot, and the coffee wasn't bad. I wish we had had the time to order RS more often.

 

Cupcake Cupboard

Cute place. I took tons of pics (which you may never see!!), and I was disappointed with the flavors. I bought three: smores (our friends had it and enjoyed it, I didn't taste it), key lime and "I'm too tired to find it in my notes". To me, there was a little flavor in the icing, but not so much in the cake. I know I was in the minority at the table with that opinion.

 

Time for a breather - I totally understand now how reviews can get so long, or take so long to put together, and shoot, I'm not even including pics. :mad:

[Just Jo]

Giovanni's Table

We ate here for lunch, and had Mario from Rome as our server. The food was fantastic! We had a wonderful appetizer of fried veggies and grouper; entrees were lasagna, milk-fed veal meatballs, shrimp (guess who, lol) and the chicken. Desserts were tiramisu, cannoli (regular cream and chocolate) and berries anglaise. Delicious!!

 

Side notes: I noticed in several of the specialty restaurants that officer staff were dining also. I thought that was nice thing, seeing the staff enjoy the ship in that way. And on any previous ships and sailings, for dining venues, my first thought is "get me next to a window!". Not once on the Allure did I ever think that! I think Izumi was the only venue where I did have a water view, and possibly because of all the light from Central Park and Boardwalk you never felt that cave feeling of other traditional ships, and at times I did forget I was on a cruise ship! It was great! Not the forgetting part, the not missing the water view part ;)

 

Shows next...

[Just Jo]

Chicago

I thought this was a good production, based on my experiences. However, I don't think I'll book a show again on the first night because I was sooo sleepy that I may have checked the insides of my eyelids a few times longer than I meant to :o

 

Blue Planet

Didn't really know what to expect (one of the very few things I did not youtube about this cruise!) and enjoyed it. No inside eyelid checking during this performance! I was able to capture a few pics with NO flash! DH kept looking over at me every time I turned on the camera radiating from his body, "you better turn off that flash!!" Yes dear ;)

 

Oceanaria

Another thumbs up. We got lucky, with our friends knowing the best seats from which to watch the show, and getting there plenty early to get them. Very nice!

 

Our friends partook of the nightlife and other shows much more than we did. My internal clock usually gets me up by 6, if not earlier, and our cruise week was no exception. So I'm ready for bed by 10. (Insert age joke here) We tried to squeeze in several naps, but I couldn't always sleep. DH was coming off a grueling work week prior to our vacation so we were both spent most days by 9!

[monkeygirl55]

Enjoying your review!! Can't wait for the pictures ;)

[billiebob]

OceanariaAnother thumbs up. We got lucky, with our friends knowing the best seats from which to watch the show, and getting there plenty early to get them. Very nice!

 

Really enjoying your review Just Jo. :D Thank you for taking the time to let us know about your amazing cruise. :)

Just wondering, where are the "best seats" for watching Oceanaria? :rolleyes:

[Just Jo]

Labadee, Haiti

All of us did the Dragon's Breath Flight Line. Wow! It was awesome! When we were turning in our equipment, our guide was in the same room, and we jokingly said we'd all love to go again, and he replied he had another tour at whatever time, a short time later. We never asked if there's a fee for a second time around - I would think so??

 

The buffet lunch was nice. BBQ ribs, jerk chicken, couple types of salad, corn on the cob, coleslaw, muffins, brownies, cookies, lots of fruit. DH & I had a small snack of this while G&E went off to ride the roller coaster. It was perfect sitting under the pavilion, watching the water and other zipliners with the weather being so nice.

 

Falmouth, Jamaica

We did Dunns River Falls and Aerial Explorer, with a last minute addition of the Bobsled at our friends' suggestion. The bobsled was alot more fun than I expected, and DRF was alot tougher than I expected! I'd do the former again, and the latter is now crossed off my bucket list. I have a nice souvenir on my shin that I will relish for quite a while it seems from the adventure :)

 

We brought towels with us from the ship, but I forgot to bring extra dry clothes. Leaving my bathing suit on, I took off my outer clothes (just my shorts, as my shirt had bit the dust from my DH trying to save me from getting that souvenir) and wrapped up in a towel for the ride back. Therefore, I was wearing alot less clothes than I'm used to in public, a towel still, and I wasn't comfortable checking out all the wares in port. I just wanted to get showered and dressed! It will be a beautiful port when it's finished.

 

Cozumel, Mexico

Funny enough, the four of us have cruised three times together now, and each cruise has taken us to Cozumel. So of course, our ritual is to go to Carlos N Charlies. Guess what? It's not as much fun when you're not drunk! :eek: Ahem, what I mean to say, is that when you first get there and are settling in and they start with the whistles, it's a little bothersome. We still enjoyed ourselves, and even more so when we went upstairs to Senor Frogs. There were cruisers from NCL and Carnival there also. Good times :)

[Just Jo]

I, like alot of people, was hesitant to go on this behemoth because of the crowds. And now I'm a believer of the excellent way RCCI designs this class, and the way they disperse people and events so that you rarely feel like there's 5000-6000 on board with you. I think during formal night pictures and the parade (which we didn't stay for for that reason, but encountered, lining up 60 minutes before start time!) were the only times I felt crowded.

 

We walked off the ship on Sunday right around 6:15am. I don't love leaving the last day that early, however, you can't argue with being in your car less than 10 minutes later, and being at home by 9:30 before some of your cruisemates are even off the ship!!

 

Loved the trip, and the ship. Thanks :D

[Just Jo]

Really enjoying your review Just Jo. :D Thank you for taking the time to let us know about your amazing cruise. :)

Just wondering, where are the "best seats" for watching Oceanaria? :rolleyes:

 

 

Well, there are seats that are bench-type seats and seats that are more like a chair, and we were told the chair seats were much more comfortable. And we sat just to the right of center, about four rows from the back. Our friends had determined these were "the best" :D

[Just Jo]

Oh, I wanted to say hi to Chet and Brian. We seemed to run into them quite alot on the cruise, and on our excursions, after meeting them at the Meet & Mingle. Actually, I think Chet used the term "stalking" :p Well, Chet you WERE voted Sexiest Man, so how could I resist you?? ;)

 

The famous Radio was on our voyage also. I was watching him work his magic during the M&M, and I'm pretty sure I saw him on Labadee also, doing the same.

 

Hi also to Brittgrrl... I saw you leave the M&M before I could say hi. Our friends were disappointed that none of the officers attended our gathering, and it was still nice to see a few faces, and of course the cabin crawl.

[Just Jo]

Desserts at Rita's Fiesta

 

 

 

 

Banana split from the ice cream parlor

 

 

The wonderful salts at 150 Central Park

 

 

Red velvet cake at Chops

 

 

Desserts at Giovanni's Table

[billiebob]

Well, there are seats that are bench-type seats and seats that are more like a chair, and we were told the chair seats were much more comfortable. And we sat just to the right of center, about four rows from the back. Our friends had determined these were "the best" :D

 

Thanks for the info! :D Can't wait to see the show! :)

[Just Jo]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Babyberger]

Loved your review!!! Glad you finally got the pics to start posting!

 

We had tried Giovanni's on Oasis for dinner and were not WOWed but you and several others have mentioned how enjoyable it was for lunch, I think I will need to find a way to dump the kids at camp and have a nice lunch at Giovannis :D

 

Also, your comment regarding Carlos and Charlies was hysterical! Funny how your tolerance for noise seems to increase as the alcohol intake increases :p

[Chester & Brewster]

Great review. Glad I'm not the only one who can fill a whole review with food! :D

 

We did the same menu as you in 150 Central Park, and agree with you - the soup was amazing & the tuna our least favourite.

[Cruising89143]

Thanks for the review. Nice job. We will be back on board three weeks from today. How does the Allure stack up against the Epic?

[Just Jo]

Loved your review!!! Glad you finally got the pics to start posting!

 

We had tried Giovanni's on Oasis for dinner and were not WOWed but you and several others have mentioned how enjoyable it was for lunch, I think I will need to find a way to dump the kids at camp and have a nice lunch at Giovannis :D

 

Also, your comment regarding Carlos and Charlies was hysterical! Funny how your tolerance for noise seems to increase as the alcohol intake increases :p

 

Thank you! I'm still having an issue with the pictures - some resize fine and others don't. Not sure what I'm doing wrong. :confused:

 

Good luck with Giovanni's Table and with having the proper drink in hand to appreciate CnC! :)

[Just Jo]

Great review. Glad I'm not the only one who can fill a whole review with food! :D

 

We did the same menu as you in 150 Central Park, and agree with you - the soup was amazing & the tuna our least favourite.

 

Thanks! Perhaps my lack of skill with the picture resizing is a good thing, as I took over 1000 pics on this cruise, and might STILL be posting pictures if I could! ;)

 

Btw, loved your review and pics, of course! :)

[Just Jo]

Thanks for the review. Nice job. We will be back on board three weeks from today. How does the Allure stack up against the Epic?

 

Thanks so much!

 

Three weeks from today will be your second sailing on board the Allure, with a third scheduled? That's awesome! :D

 

I, personally, LOVED the Epic. She is much more a traditional style ship as far as layout with the lower ceilings and no promenade that all lovers of RCCI enjoy so much, and I never forgot I was on a ship which is fine by me! I loved the Epic decor tremendously, especially our room, and yet I know I will love any cruise cabin that I can call mine ;) SOOO my answer is they are almost to dissimilar to compare.. like apples and broccoli. I love both ships for different reasons and also for the same because I am on vacation! :)