Non Foodie reviews Allure specialty resturants

[tazdeb]

Hello everyone. My wife and I just returned from the July 3rd cruise on Allure of the Seas. This was our 8th cruise overall and 6th on Royal. However, this was our first without our now college age daughters and our first on an Oasis class ship.

I am not going to give an intensive review of our trip but I will say I was an Oasis class skeptic when it was announced but now that Ive gone on one I will say it is an engineering marvel. We never felt overcrowded and although we sometimes felt the loss of intamacy found on smaller ships I would cruise on her again.

Since we did not have our kids with us this time we decided to try something we have never done on a cruise before, try the specialty restaurants! As a mater of fact we vowed to not eat in the main dining room at all.

Now I am by no means what you'd call a foodie. I dont know the difference between a ceviche and a crepe. I judge a restaurant experience by how I feel inside and out after Im done. With that in mind here is my reviews of our meals during our cruise. I will judge between 1 to 5 for both food and ambience.

 

Day one. We had an exciting time exploring the ship and did checkout our assigned table in the Silk portion of the main dinning room. It is a beautiful space. It was the last time we stepped foot in there. While exploring we had the famous roast beef sandwiches in the Central Park cafe. They were very good but if you go ask for 3 right away as they are not that big. The cafe is a great place to grab some coffee in the morning, sit outside in a park like setting and grab a small bite to eat like fruit and bagels. Id rate it a 3/3. We then found a hot dog place on the boardwalk. I couldn't pass this up so I tried one. Not bad. Nice view of the kids on the carousel. 3/3. At about 6pm we decided to eat our main meal in the windjammer. As mentioned many times on this board it is smaller than on other ships but I found it to be big enough and never had a problem finding a table when we ate at different times during the week. It has multiple stations with different food from salads to prime rib and one station that was themed to Asian food. The windjammer is shaped like a giant U with views of the pools, ocean, miniature golf course, boardwalk, sports court, ocean and kids pool depending on where you sit. The food was always hot and filling, the tables cleared promptly and the deserts were great. 3/4.

 

Day 2, Sea day. Our cabin was at the front of the ship. Since most of the restaurants are in the middle to back of the ship Royal Caribbean decided to put one in the front. It is on deck 15 and called the Solarium cafe. Basically it is a glassed in area of the solarium that has nice faux marble tables and serves a windjammer type buffet. Although the selection is not as extensive as the windjammer it did comprise of different types of fruit, breakfast meats,eggs oatmeal, dry cereals,etc... It was never crowded and the views were very nice of the ocean and fountain of the solarium. We made this our go to place for breakfast along with the Park Cafe. 3/3. (This is the same space that turns into Samba Grill at night. More on that later.)

For dinner we had reservations at Giovanni's Table at 6:30. We arrived at 6:00 and had a few drinks outside at the Trellis Bar. I recommend everyone have at least one drink at this very romantic outside bar in Central Park. There was a guitarist playing and the lights were just coming on. It got us in the mood for our Italian feast. We entered Giovanni's and were led to a table for 2 by the window. The place is decorated like a Tuscany home with shelves full of nick/nacks and dark wood tones. Very Nice. Unfortunately, our table had the dreaded wobbly leg. It wouldn't stop rocking. We asked to be moved and were accommidated to a corner table with no problems. Our waiter arrived promptly and we ordered a bottle of wine. He was Italian and spoke with a lovely accent which made it seemed like we really were in Italy. We ordered antipasto, calamari,and linguine with clam sauce. Each course was brought with a smile and an explanation of how it was made. Our main courses were Veal and Lamb. Both were excellent. The whole dinner was romantic,unobtrusive yet attentive and we were finished just in time for our 8:30 reservations to Momma Mia. Definitely worth the upcharge. 4/4

 

More To Come

[pasodancer]

Following your review - looks like first 2 days were memorable! Cannot wait to read more!:cool:

[Ocean Cat]

Thanks for the well written review.

[PhilNDebbieAtSea]

Sounds yummy so far!!! Thanks for sharing!!! Glad you enjoyed!!

 

 

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[tazdeb]

DAY 3 Labadee. Woke up had a quick bite at the Park Cafe then got off the ship for a beach day. It was the 4th of July and the ship decorated everything in red white and blue. In the afternoon there was a BBQ on shore that had ribs,hamburgers,hot dogs etc...very nice.

 

That night we had a 7:00 reservation at The Samba Grill. This is a Brazilian style steak house where they come to your table and serve you as much meat as you want. It is in the same location as the Solarium breakfast location. We were wondering how they would turn it into an upscale/upcharge restaurant and the short answer is they dont. Very disappointing. In the morning it is a breakfast buffet with faux marble tables and a view of the solarium. At night it is a buffet with faux marble tables and a view of the solarium. I don't know about you but if I'm paying a $39 upcharge I at least want a table cloth. Furthermore, I don't think my view should be of people with no shirts and bathing suits lounging 5 feet away. In the morning the solarium is not that crowded yet. By night time it is packed with chairs full of clothes and people lounging about. I think this place needs some curtains at the very least. We were seated at our table and our waiter took our drink order and we were instructed to help ourselves to the salad and potato bar. We were then asked to choose our sauce types. We were then handed a disc with a red side and a green side. When we wanted a meat selection we should turn the disc to green. There were 8 different types of meat and all were hot, tasty and plentiful. Technically you could eat til you drop. We weren't rushed but the whole experience seemed off and out of place. Not worth the upchage unless your really hungry. 3/2

 

Day 4 Falmouth. Slept in, went to the pool, and ate a late brunch in the windjammer. Went shopping in port then ate dinner at the Margaritaville. Typical Magaritaville food but the atmosphere was fun. Got back on the ship just in time at 6:30. 3/4

 

More to come

[NouCruzer]

.... I dont know the difference between a ceviche and a crepe.

 

Not a foodie either, but I think that I can help you out a bit...

 

 

A ceviche is a large fissure in the ice that one must be very diligent to avoid when mountain climbing...,

 

And a crepe is an old guy who follows you and your wife around while muttering nasty things and laughing under his breath....

 

 

Now,where is that tongue in cheek emogi... ;)

[tazdeb]

Day 5 Sea Day Second formal night. Ate breakfast at the solarium grill. Spent the day doing trivia,going to the casino, ice show etc....

That night we had a 6:30 dinner reservation at Chops Grill before our Headliner show reservations. We arrived at 5:30 to have some drinks at the Trellis bar again. No music yet but still a great place to have a drink, people watch, take some pictures, ETC....

We arrived on time and were seated at a window table. The decor is very classy with plush seats, white table cloths, servers in tuxes etc..The waiter introduced himself and recommended some unusual martini cocktails. Since we had the drink package we said why not? We then ordered our appetizers. Shrimp cocktails were not on the list but I requested it anyway. The waiter said he would make me happy. He then brought us a plate that had every type of seafood appetizer on it. There was 6 shrimp,6 oysters, 6 clams, 6 pieces of Salmon, Calamari ,and Ceviche (now I know it is a marinated selection of raw seafood). We then each had a salad and ordered our main course. I had the N Y Strip and my wife had the Prime rib. The potato's and veggies were brought out in a big dish in the middle to share. Since it was lobster night in the main dining room 2 tails were given to us without us asking. Everything was excellent. After another round of drinks the waiter surprised us with a selection of desserts decorated with anniversary wishes. (We had mentioned to the Trellis bar waitress that the reason we were on this cruise was to celebrate our anniversary one day before we got on the cruise). This is what specialty restaurant dining was meant to be. 5/5.

 

Day 6 Cozumel. Slept in. Ate brunch at the Park Cafe, went ring shopping downtown Cozumel. Had a snack at Senior Frogs. Got back on the ship went to the pool.

That night we went to Johnny Rockets. The only other ship we were on that had this was the Freedom of the Seas and we did not go then and we don't have this brand by our house so we didn't know what all the fuss was about. It is basically a 50's themed dinner at sea. The vibe was fun with the waiters doing dances while serving your burgers and fries. Because we were Emerald members our shakes were free. Food was good ,vibe was fun. Sometimes you just want to eat casual and not care about getting dressed in long pants. This was that night. 3/4

 

Coming up our last specialty restaurant and final thoughts.

[pharaoh]

I completely agree with your assessment of Samba. It was totally out of place and really unenjoyable. However, we did manage to have table cloths when we went a couple of years ago lol. I was also put off by the lovely view of people getting in and out of the hot tubs just a few feet away (we were seated pretty much at the entrance).

 

Enjoying your review so far! I love Allure so this is bringing back great memories. We also loved Giovanni's, I'm hungry just thinking about it! :)

[tazdeb]

Day 7 Sea Day Last night of cruise. Where did the week go? Got up early, went to the pool for a few hours then packed up and ate brunch in the windjammer. Packed our suitcases then explored parts of the ship we missed. Went out on the wings on deck 14, went behind the Aqua theater etc....

Tonight we had reservations at Sabor the mexican restaurant on the Boardwalk. We again arrived early and had a drink at the Carousel bar. Looking into Sabor we were a little concerned because there was just 10 other people in there. We were shown our table and were told it was quiet because the last night the waiters in the main dining room put on their going way show (you know where they march in with the flags of their countries). We ordered our Margaritas and Coronas and were given our menus. This place is a make your own plate place. We ordered the fresh guacamole. Then our appetizers (more Ceviche). We then ordered 6 different types of ingredients 9chicken, pork, beef, etc..)to make our own tacos and quesadillas. This food was very good and with the open air setting with a breeze very nice. This was the second best tasting food of the week. It was just the right amount of spicy but not to spicy. I think on a different night this ratting would be one higher. Next time we'll eat here before the Aqua show. 3/3

 

Over all thoughts. First of all the cruise was great. I never had a bad meal or food that was terrible. All the waitstaff from the Pizza place to Chops had a smile on their face. We bought the 4 night dinner package for $100 a person on sale before we boarded. I didn't know if this was a good deal or not but I think it was worth it if you want a little more quiet formal experience. Speaking of which I never wore a tie all week but did wear dress pants and dress shirt to every specialty restaurant. My wife wore sun dresses and pant suits.

We also bought the drink package and were glad we did. It was $49 a day per person. Now that might seem high but beers are $8.50 and mixed drinks are $13. Since bottle water, juices, and pop are included its a no brainer if you drink at all. We would order 1 fresh OJ with Breakfast then have a bottle water to go as we changed for the pool. Order 2 drinks by the pool, 1 or 2 around dinner. 1 after the show, and more water before bed. The typical day I just mentioned would cost $75 a day. Now I know it doesn't really cost Royal Caribbean $13 a drink but thats what they charge me. And the best part of the drink package? You can be adventuress. Never had a coconut Mojito? Order one. Don't like it? Dont drink it. Try a Chocolate Martini. Repeat.

We were told that there are more specialty restaurants on there way. Would we skip the main dining room altogether next time ? Probably not. But it was fun this time.

[jaredsmom]

Enjoyed your review....thanks for sharing!

[Merion_Mom]

Thank you for taking the time and effort to post your review.

 

I am confused by your numerical rating system. Would you mind explaining it?

 

:)

[mrpotatohead]

I enjoy reading anything about food and think you had similar views to us on Allure.

 

However, you now have a further reason to go back, you missed the best specialty restaurant of them all. 150 central, the steak for two is the best on the ship imo. I think we went 4 times on our b2b last year :)

 

 

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[shellden]

Great review, we cruise in October and I have been thinking about doing the same type of dining, mix it up. You helped me decide Thank you!!!

Happy Post Anniversary.

[tazdeb]

Thank you for taking the time and effort to post your review.

 

I am confused by your numerical rating system. Would you mind explaining it?

 

:)

 

Hello, the first number is for food quality/taste. The second is for circuses/ambience.

[tazdeb]

I enjoy reading anything about food and think you had similar views to us on Allure.

 

However, you now have a further reason to go back, you missed the best specialty restaurant of them all. 150 central, the steak for two is the best on the ship imo. I think we went 4 times on our b2b last year :)

 

 

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Hello, 150 Central was booked all week!!!! It must be good.

[Kesali]

We also bought the drink package and were glad we did. It was $49 a day per person. Now that might seem high but beers are $8.50 and mixed drinks are $13. Since bottle water, juices, and pop are included its a no brainer if you drink at all. We would order 1 fresh OJ with Breakfast then have a bottle water to go as we changed for the pool. Order 2 drinks by the pool, 1 or 2 around dinner. 1 after the show, and more water before bed. The typical day I just mentioned would cost $75 a day. Now I know it doesn't really cost Royal Caribbean $13 a drink but thats what they charge me. And the best part of the drink package? You can be adventuress. Never had a coconut Mojito? Order one. Don't like it? Dont drink it. Try a Chocolate Martini. Repeat.

 

I keep looking at the drink package and thinking it's just not worth it for me. BUT, as you said, if I'm having juice in the morning and will want cold water as well..

 

 

Do you recall what the charge is for OJ, water and pop? I'd really like to figure out if a drink package would work for us or not. Not a big pop drink but one or two during the week maybe. Our son would enjoy pop but I'm not letting him have unlimited all week.

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[Theredofshaw]

We loved Sabor on our Allure Med cruise a couple years ago. Their margaritas were outstanding! My wife usually only has one, think she was up to 3 one night. We ended up eating there twice.

[Ferrier]

Awesome review. Would love to see a similar one for the Pacific jewel from someone who has been there and done that 😁

 

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[DISFANS3]

Great review..

[tazdeb]

I keep looking at the drink package and thinking it's just not worth it for me. BUT, as you said, if I'm having juice in the morning and will want cold water as well..

 

 

Do you recall what the charge is for OJ, water and pop? I'd really like to figure out if a drink package would work for us or not. Not a big pop drink but one or two during the week maybe. Our son would enjoy pop but I'm not letting him have unlimited all week.

 

I'm sorry, since it was included I didn't check prices for OJ but I assume it was probably $2-$3 for freshly squeezed. Bottled water was $3. There is more for your son to drink in the soft drink machines than just carbonated pop. There are also flavored waters. He would get a cup with a chip in it that allows him to choose from the over 20 choices.

[Kesali]

I'm sorry, since it was included I didn't check prices for OJ but I assume it was probably $2-$3 for freshly squeezed. Bottled water was $3. There is more for your son to drink in the soft drink machines than just carbonated pop. There are also flavored waters. He would get a cup with a chip in it that allows him to choose from the over 20 choices.

 

Thank you!

[dathy]

Here's my take on any drink package. Congrats to those who can make it worth it! I so envy you guys! For you, definitely worth it. I also agree that it's a great way to try out different alcoholic drinks. Very smart way actually. After having gone on so many RCCL cruises, so many, I am one of those Crown & Anchor people. During C&A get togethers, I am pretty sure wine or some sort of alcohol is free. Also from 4-7, or something like that, in the C&A lounge, wine or some other sort of alcohol is also free. We always bring our own refillable and insulated water bottle (got it at Costco), since cold, filtered water is also free at every bar, restaurant, etc. I think you already have figured out where I am going with this one... Also after having done sooooo many cruises, we have learned the very hard way a long time ago that sea air, totally different foods and desserts than what we normally eat, and the motion on the ship combined with alcohol, esp different types of alcohol will eventually leave us drained, and I mean REALLY drained, sluggish and incredibly tired to the point of missing much-wanted excursions or ship activities. As a result, boring, I know, but we really do limit, and I mean limit our alcohol on the ship to a very small amount. We also found that a large consumption of soda will also wreck havoc on ourselves as well as our kids by having them bounce off walls and other assorted items when combined with other high sugar stuff found all over cruise ships. True we can dump them off at the kids camp, but eventually we have to pick them up... Like I said in the beginning, I so envy those of you who can not only drink on the ship, but mix alcohol. That's a real RCCL WOW moment! However, I have met many, many people since RCCL started the drink packages who regretted indulging to the point of no return because they had the drink package. Let's just say that these peoples' WOW moment was not so WOW. For these reasons, we prefer to pay as we go and skip the drink packages. :)

[dathy]

Also, you are allowed to bring your own wine on the ship. I can't remember how many bottles. The ship will just charge a corkage fee. What they will do is the first time it is opened, your cabin number will go on the bottle. No matter which dining room you are in, specialty or regular, you can just tell the wait staff, and they will go and get your bottle. I don't know if this is helpful to those who may be undecided re drink packages. :)

[frank808]

2 bottles per cabin. Corkage fee only if you bring the bottle to be opened and consumed in a public venue. If you open it in your stateroom and bring a glass or three to public venue there is no corkage fee.

 

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