Allure of the Seas Thoughts and Tips June 12, 2016

[texasmom121]

We just got off our cruise on the Allure, so I thought I would share some thoughts from our trip. Our group was my husband, my son (12), my daughter (7), my mom, and me. We cruised on the Oasis last summer and loved it so much we had to go again. My husband and I have cruised several times (this was our third time on an Oasis class ship). My kids have cruised three times (second time on Oasis class). My mom has cruised many times, too. Our itinerary included Nassau, St. Thomas, and St. Kitts.

 

We always fly in the night before the cruise and stay in one of the port hotels. We like to get onboard early, so we try to arrive at the terminal right around 10:30. There are practically no lines to check in, and we usually don’t have to wait very long after checking in before we get on the ship. We were boarding around 11:15 or so. Now, we aren’t Windjammer people (in three trips on Oasis class ships I still have not stepped foot in there), so we go straight to Park Cafe for roast beef sandwiches. Don’t miss them! And, Park Cafe also has wonderful salads. They don’t let you into your cabins until 1:00, though, and your luggage may not arrive in your cabins until quite a bit later. Ours didn’t arrive until right before dinner this time, although on other cruises we’ve had it by about 3 or 4. You just never know. Just explore!

 

We booked connecting balcony staterooms on deck 8. We love the Central Park area, so we like to stay on deck 8 and walk through it to go from one part of the ship to the other. We also like to have the option of using the stairs when we can, because elevators can be tough to come by at times. With the Boardwalk on deck 6 and Promenade on deck 5, this location is great for us. When you have connecting cabins you can have them take down the partition between the balconies, too, so you can have one larger balcony. There are a few things we travel with to make life easier in our small rooms. I take an over-the-door hanging shoe organizer to hang on the bathroom door. This keeps all of our bathroom items organized and off the counters. It’s a huge space-saver for us. I also take my own foaming hand soap. It’s just a lot less messy than using the bar soap. Since there are five of us, we take a pack of extra hangers (we can always leave them if we don’t want to pack them). If your kids like to have a night light, take some battery operated tealights. We take a dry erase marker to write notes on the mirrors. It’s a great way to communicate with each other and to communicate needs with our cabin attendant. We ask the cabin attendant to empty our mini-fridge so we can put our own stuff in it, since we don’t use the mini-bar. We also give our cabin attendant a little extra tip (in a card my kids make for him/her before we arrive), and we leave notes with chocolates (that I bring with us) during the week. Just a little incentive for good service.

 

I am affectionately called my family’s “cruise director.” As soon as reservations are opened up online, I book our shows and dinners. We always love to go to Chops for dinner, and this time we also tried two new restaurants. We went to Sabor one night and LOVED it! The guacamole and chips and salsa are amazing. Everything we tried was really good. We also tried the hibachi at Izumi. We enjoyed it, but I’m not sure we would do it again. It was good (not great), but really not anything we couldn’t do at home. Now, the one downside to our entire cruise was the main dining room. First of all, we had to do My Time Dining this time, as opposed to having main or late seating. I booked our MTD reservations for each night we were planning to be in the dining room, and I’m SO glad I did. Every evening when we arrived, the line for those without reservations was really long. Even with reservations we had to wait for a table. I have to say we were not at all happy with MTD. One of the things we love the most about the dining room is having a waiter that knows exactly how you like everything and takes amazing care of you. With MTD, you get a different table most nights, so it’s more like going to a restaurant with different servers every time. We didn’t feel special at all. We also didn’t have the best service. Things were really slow, especially on formal nights. If you are planning to go to dinner and then go to a show, be sure you allow plenty of time to eat, because it can be a lengthy meal. I usually schedule at least 2 1/2 hours for dinner, and honestly, we had a couple of nights where we were rushed. We never really found a great option for breakfast. Johnny Rockets does a pretty good made-to-order breakfast (no additional charge for breakfast). The dining room was just ok. You can either sit and order or do the buffet. Park Cafe’s breakfast this time was not all that great. Since it’s close to our cabin, usually we like to run in and grab something with a cup of coffee or Diet Coke, but we were pretty disappointed this cruise. Oh, and we learned something interesting. They don’t use powdered scrambled eggs in any of the dining venues anymore. I guess they finally listened to everybody and started using real eggs.

 

Last year on the Oasis, we tried to watch Cats. We didn’t make it half an hour. It was not very good. This year, we were excited to see Mamma Mia. It did not disappoint! It was great. The cast was so talented. Blue Planet was visually amazing and the performers were great. And, of course, the Aqua Theater show was great. Don’t go looking for a great story. Just enjoy the performance. The divers are phenomenal. And, I suggest booking it early in the week. We always go the first night, just in case high seas or other factors cause them to cancel the performance. They actually did cancel a few nights because of a medical issue, although they were able to reschedule them later in the week. If you don’t make reservations for the shows, you can show up ten minutes before the show starts and they will release any remaining seats. There are always seats available, so don’t worry too much if you miss out on making reservations.

 

So, we weren’t very excited to go back to Nassau, although our kids had never been there. And, to top it off, we were only there until 2:00, so it wasn’t even a full day to go to the beach. So, we just walked around a little bit and then came back to the ship to enjoy the pools before everyone got back on. In St. Thomas, I booked a day of sailing with Simplicity Charters out of Red Hook. Captain Charlie received lots of good reviews on Cruise Critic and on Trip Advisor. I have to say, it was our favorite port day EVER. I cannot recommend them enough. We snorkeled with sea turtles and went to a quiet beach on St. John. It was a great way to get away from the crowds on the excursions. And, the sailing was amazing. Great, great day! In St. Kitts, we took a cab over to the Marriott resort and bought a day pass. It was a wonderful day, too. The beach is beautiful, the pool is great, and the staff was wonderful. My daughter had her hair braided by the sweetest lady (Clarice), and I had a fabulous beachfront back and foot massage. It wasn’t crowded and was so quiet. Great beach day!

 

Overall, we had a fabulous vacation! We love the Oasis class ships, and can’t wait to try the Harmony someday. I have to say, we are beginning to wonder if RCI is trying to drive you toward the specialty restaurants by lowering the quality of the food and service in the main dining room. Hopefully, we just hit some off nights. I still have no problem recommending the Allure and RCI to anyone looking for a great vacation.

 

Now, to get back to cooking and doing laundry and making beds and… ;)

[LuCruise]

Great feedback. Sound like you had a pretty good cruise overall.

Too bad you didn't love the MTD experience. We were on it too as we wanted the flexibility with times. Most nights we had around the same time and we ended up having the same watiers each night (from night 3 onwards). If you go again, you can try asking the waiter if you can sit in his/her area each night.

 

I agree with you on Blue Planet (beautiful but not really a story), and Mamma Mia is a great performance.

Edited June 22, 2016 by LuCruise

[mjtripper]

Thanks for your review - we are on the same itinerary we leave in 11 days!

Can't wait. While I have sailed other ships this will be our first time on the Allure. Do you happen to have the cruise compass?

[NSnewcruiser]

Thanks for your thoughts and tips.We are sailing the same itinerary next year.You wouldn't happen to have the compasses?

[lovelife]

Thanks for your take on my favorite ship! We are on her next and can't wait. :)

[micmacmissy]

Wow, thanks for the review. We are doing this exact cruise for spring break next year, and I was looking for good family-friendly excursions.

 

I just emailed Simplicity Charters- that sounds wonderful, thanks for the tip!!!

[squiffynimrod]

Did you notice if they offered the 10 drink card at any time?

And a price if they did?

 

Thanks.

[texasmom121]

Thanks for your review - we are on the same itinerary we leave in 11 days!

Can't wait. While I have sailed other ships this will be our first time on the Allure. Do you happen to have the cruise compass?

Sorry. I don't have the compasses. Wish I had thought to take pics and add them.

[texasmom121]

Wow, thanks for the review. We are doing this exact cruise for spring break next year, and I was looking for good family-friendly excursions.

 

I just emailed Simplicity Charters- that sounds wonderful, thanks for the tip!!!

Hope that works out for you. They were great! Have fun!

[texasmom121]

Did you notice if they offered the 10 drink card at any time?

And a price if they did?

 

Thanks.

 

We had the drink package so I didn't pay close attention, but I did notice it toward the end of the week. I want to say it was around $80, but don't quote me on that!

[WiscoGirl32]

Thanks for review! Going to check out simplicity charter tour on St. Thomas! Sounds awesome!

 

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[frank808]

Did you notice if they offered the 10 drink card at any time?

And a price if they did?

 

Thanks.

On allure right now and the 10 drink card was offered this morning on day 4. 10 drinks for $79 and i believe tip is included.

 

On grandeur it was $79,plus tip making the card $93.22 which doesn't save you much.

[chenj78]

Did you notice if they offered the 10 drink card at any time?

 

And a price if they did?

 

 

 

Thanks.

 

 

$79. I think it was around day 4.

 

 

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[icruise74]

Thanks for your review - we are on the same itinerary we leave in 11 days!

Can't wait. While I have sailed other ships this will be our first time on the Allure. Do you happen to have the cruise compass?

 

I'm sailing on July 3rd as well. Countdown!!!

[CruisenDad]

My family and I were on Allure in late May. We also did MTD and it really worked out well for us. Our server and assistant server were so good we went to the women who was working check in outside the dining room and asked if we could be assigned to them the rest of the cruise and she set it all up. Most nights we ate at 6:00 but ate at 6:30 and 7:30 two nights and we still have our requested servers.

[riclop]

Thanks for your thoughts.

[frank808]

On allure right now and the 10 drink card was offered this morning on day 4. 10 drinks for $79 and i believe tip is included.

 

On grandeur it was $79,plus tip making the card $93.22 which doesn't save you much.

Sorry it is $79 plus 18% tip. So $93 for 10 drinks.

[squiffynimrod]

Thanks for the drink card info everyone!

On the Allure Jan.15/2017.

[Merion_Mom]

texasmom: GREAT review. Thanks for taking the time to share your family's experiences.

 

Good information for the next time I'm in St. Thomas. ;) :)

[WiscoGirl32]

Simplicity Charters Tour - did you do the full day or half day tour??

 

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[lizzyandrew]

I was on the June 12 sailing too!! First time on oasis class ships. Oh my--- magnificent ship and HUGE. We had a fantastic time.

 

We did the Dolphin Discovery in St Kitts. It was an amazing excursion and I'd highly recommend it. The only negative was that absolutely NO pictures can be taken and they try to get u to buy. But the experience was priceless.

[paigebeverly]

We were on the same cruise. Loved the ship..loved it so much we booked her next year and the same cabin. Stayed in 8327 boardwalk balcony and enjoyed being ableft to watch the shows at the aqua theater from our balcony.

 

We did the dining room only 4 nights and service was incredibly slow 2 of the nights. They would give us ice water, hard bread, and the menus and we wouldn't see our waiter for 20 or more minutes. Actually had to get up and find him once. The final formal night was the best experiance in there.

 

We did Johnny Rockets, Giovannis, and Chops other nights. Chops being wonderful.

 

The best thing about the ship is the size. We were able to use the amenities and not feel crowded.

[eellery]

Thanks for the info. We leave on the Allure Sunday! Thanks for the info on the drink card, did you notice if there's a coffee card? We're doing MTD- fingers crossed! We've booked Giovanni's Table one night. Looking forward to Mamma Mia, booked it the first night, water show the second night.

 

 

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[Clarea]

Thanks for the info. We leave on the Allure Sunday! Thanks for the info on the drink card, did you notice if there's a coffee card? We're doing MTD- fingers crossed! We've booked Giovanni's Table one night. Looking forward to Mamma Mia, booked it the first night, water show the second night.

No coffee card.

[Merion_Mom]

Thanks for the info. We leave on the Allure Sunday! Thanks for the info on the drink card, did you notice if there's a coffee card? We're doing MTD- fingers crossed! We've booked Giovanni's Table one night. Looking forward to Mamma Mia, booked it the first night, water show the second night.

 

 

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RC has never had coffee cards. That's a "Princess thing." :)