Allure of the Seas Review. Nov 8th-15th 2015

[MikeACY]

Allure of the Seas.

November 8th -15th, 2015

 

Embarkment: Simple and Easy. Room was ready by 1:00 PM. The crew tells you to go to the “Windjammer Buffett” for lunch. But when you enter the ship ask them if there are other places available, and there usually is. We went to the “Solarium Bistro”...not crowded

 

Ship: Clean, very BIG. So much to do. I have read some reviews that said that after the shows, (or if you didn’t see a show) there wasn’t anything to do. I didn’t find this at all. There are plenty of pubs, shops, food places to visit, or just simply walk around “Central Park”, Boardwalk” or the “Promenade”. On some nights there was entertainment in the Promenade such as meet the captain, Disco night and a parade containing the crew on the last evening.

 

Cabins: We were on deck 7 forward with a large window. The room we found to be larger than on most ships. However the shower was very small. Instead of a curtain, there were plastic doors that closed in a Simi circle. I’m 6’ 3 and 240 pounds and it was tight. The shower contained Shampoo only in the dispenser. Bar soap was supplied. The bar soap holder in the shower was a joke. The bar soap continued to fall thru the metal grate holder. Being 6’3…well picking up the soap wasn’t easy..lol. Beds were extremely comfortable. There was a hair dryer in the room, an outlet that held three plugs, but very little closet space.

 

Crew: Fantastic!! Very friendly. Every time I passed a crew member they always said “Hello” and “How was your day”. I just wished the passengers were so kind/friendly. It seems to me that some cultures just don’t believe to wait their turn in line. And thank u to the “adult” gentleman who continued to make cannon balls in the adult pool.

 

Shows: The best! Professionally done. It was nice, for a change, not to only see shows that contained the “RCCL Dancers”. Comedians! OMG…I was hurting from laughing so much. I would suggest you make reservations prior to the cruise. Reservations for the shows start approx. 90 days prior to sail date. When you are within 90 days, continue to check the RCCL web site every day to book. Some shows became available 90 days prior to cruising, others 75 days. Although it was a hassle to do this, it guaranteed a seat at the show. A word of caution…after making your reservations, continue to check your “Calendar” located at the RCCL web page. RCCL, without notifying me, changed one of my show times that I booked. It conflicted with one of my dinner times. I scrambled to change it. If you decide not to reserve shows and hope for the best being on “Stand by”, at least do this one…the Comedy show. The room is extremely small and very few standby passengers made it in. Besides the main shows there was other entertainment…there was a “Water Dancing” show, parades at various times thru out the ship, white shirt party night, Disco nights, etc etc.

 

Dinning: “Windjammer Marketplace” Buffett. I found the reviews to be correct. The food was just warm, but the selection was plenty. “Park Café” had awesome Roast Beef Sandwiches, and the Hot Dogs were very good at the Boardwalk Dog House. Sorrento's Pizzeria (open until 2am) was good also…and you can have them make a personal pan pizza just for you. We didn’t do any of the specialty restaurants…I never see a need for that since their “up charges”, in my opinion, are ridiculous. $39.95 for a lobster dinner? Really…I pay less than that at home. I found the food in the American Icon main dining room to be excellent. We had “My Time Dinning”. What was nice about My Time Dinning was I was able to make reservations for each day of the cruise at different times (if I choose) depending on the time we had on the Island, show times, seas days, etc. Some nights we ate at 6 (Sea Days) some at 8:15 (we were on St Thomas until 7:00) Most of the time we also had the same table ever night. (RCCL maître d kept a record of where you sat the night before). “My Time Dinning” doesn't require reservations, but we choose to do so.

 

Pools: We had no problem finding a chair/lounge to sun on. Unlike most cruise ships, the pools were fresh water just like the hot tubs. The areas were not crowded at all. I believe it is because there is so much to do all over the ship that people are spread out.

 

Bar Service: Bars/pub everywhere. Prices…approx. $6 for beers, $10 drinks plus 18% tip. Around the pool there could have been more waiters, BUT it was nice not to be hassled. There are drink packages available.

 

Photos: This was so cool! When you get your sail card, on it is a Photo Number that list what Folder your pictures will be in. No more searching hundreds of photos. Just go to the photo shop, find your folder and your pictures will be there. They use “facial recognition” (scary I know) to organize your pictures in the proper folder.

 

Things to do: Included with your cruise was Zip lining (although very short distance), 9 hole mini golf, ping pong, basketball court, Two wave riders, (one for surfing, one for boogie boarding), two rock climbing walls, merry go round and open ice skating at specific times.

 

Disembarkation: Easy, fast. Three nights before your cruise ends, on the Cabin TV you choose what time you wish to leave the ship in 30 minute windows. The two nights before the end of the cruise, you will get luggage tags with numbers on it. The numbers correspond to the time you selected. For example, we chose to disembark between 8:30-9:00 am….our luggage tag number was 17. On the last day we awoke, went for breakfast then went back to our room and watched the TV for our number to be called. No more waiting in the theaters/hall ways. We simply walked off, gathered our luggage, went to customs and were outside the terminal by 9:10.

 

Summary: This ship by far is in a class of its own. Everything is done right; the service, the entertainment, the dinning. There is almost no need to leave the ship. Although there were over 5300 passengers on this cruise, I found the lines to actually be less than I have encountered on cruises that hold less passengers. The buffet food could have been hotter, but the selection was plentiful. The only complaint I can say about the cruise was that in many areas there was no place to find water/ lemonade/unsweetened ice tea, coffee, tea etc. These were found only in the restaurants. As I’m sunning on a lounge chair, I don’t want to have to dry off to go inside to get a drink. Of course I have the option to get a waiter (if I can find one) to get me an ice tea, but I’m sure he/she would rather serve someone a “real drink”. Again this isn't really a big deal, but I know on other ships there was always a drink dispenser within easy walking distance. Other than that, we had a great time and look forward to going on this ship in the future. Any questions please don’t hesitate to email me at MikeACY@Verizon.net.

[FloatMe]

Thanks for the review!

[tunisbridal]

Thank you. Going jab 31

[kalliekae]

Thank you for the review. We're looking forward to our cruise on her in 13 days.

[spazzyjanet]

Thank you for the review!

[3OhioCruisers]

As far as the bar soap holder......I always put a wash cloth over it and that way nothing will fall thru. Just an FYI.

[LuCruise]

Great review. Sounds like you had a great time.

 

Thanks for the tip about checking show resevations. I have gone in but didn't check the times carefully. Will do so, especially as we get closer to our cruise.

 

I do wonder about those showers...how hard it'll be to help my little one shower without soaking up the whole washroom. :D

[Bellyflopchamp]

Great review. Sounds like you had a great time.

 

Thanks for the tip about checking show resevations. I have gone in but didn't check the times carefully. Will do so, especially as we get closer to our cruise.

 

I do wonder about those showers...how hard it'll be to help my little one shower without soaking up the whole washroom. :D

 

We were on this cruise as well and have pretty much the same opinion. I was also going to suggest that next time you put a washcloth over the soap holder. It worked great for us. I am 6/2 and weigh over 300 lbs so I know just how tight the bathroom is.

 

We also brought our toddler and she loved the shower. She would just go in there and hide for a while. My wife had trouble showering with her in there, but we were able to give her a shower by herself just fine. We also brought a small inflatable tub and used that on a couple of the nights.