I sailed Allure and had a terrible time. Change my mind

[biomedbob]

I always go for the "good rows" that folks are saving and go to the center.  I'm not big or agressive.  We just sit down and wait for the outcome.  We always win!

 

[molsonschooner]

2 hours ago, ryano said:

I dont see how I could possibly change your mind.  I havent been on one of the giants yet.   My last two RC cruises have been on Freedom and I too LOVED that ship!  I was SO sad to disembark!    I am so hoping Harmony of the Seas is as good.   ive been waiting to sail on an Oasis class ship for 10 years now since Oasis came out.  I finally found a great price on an accessible oceanview balcony (first balcony ever) and am really looking forward to this cruise.   It sucks to spend that kinda money and come away with a bad experience.  Dont swear off cruising altogether though!      

Ryano, I just want to tell you that we had an accessible ocean view balcony on Harmony a few weeks ago. We had absolutely no issues. 

[grandgeezer]

We only cruise Oasis class ships. We feel the pluses way over shadow the minuses.

[SAmome]

1 hour ago, lazydayz said:

OP, I feel your pain. While we had a good time on Allure in March, hubby suggested and I agreed to take a break from Oasis class. Just too many people and a few we encountered were very rude. Most were nice, but an encounter or three with rude ones started making us and our granddaughters uncomfortable. When you are spending many thousands of dollars, you deserve a pleasant vacation. We are off to the Mariner next. 

 

I've said Oasis class is my favorite class but I got off of a Mariner sailing recently and was super impressed.  Everything smooth; good service and food.  RCCL is not responsible for the weather or the other cruise pax but these were also fantastic for the cruise.  I'm tempted to book similar time again. 

 

It seemed like there were some groups from Mexico celebrating upcoming weddings and the dance clubs lively but these 20/30 somethings were very polite and friendly with everyone.  I didn't come across one employee or passenger that was rude or unfriendly.  We kept remarking how the cruise pax were so nice and friendly with one another.  It seemed like the average age was younger than some of my previous sailings but other than that I'm not sure if it was just my random experiences or if there was some demographic reason for good fellow cruisers.  

[Robo1098]

I have no argument to your review. These things seem to vary from ship to ship and from one sailing to another. Some of these things are just rude people and bad behavior. Can't blame the ship too much. Sometimes you just have to make the best of it because it is too much money to throw away. Not saying that this behavior is acceptable.

[goncruzn]

It's a shame you had to go through such unpleasant experiences.  I love the Oasis class ships and I've never had any "bad" experiences.  Maybe some annoyances here or there, but nothing I can even remember.  I also choose to cruise in the Fall mostly.  While there are children onboard, I know it's not nearly as many as there are during spring break and summer months.  Saving seats in the theater (as well as by the pool) is an issue and Royal really needs to put people in place that can say no.  It's a rule and it needs to be adhered to.  Of course, there are exceptions to every rule, but saving a seat for large groups of people is a bit much. I can tolerate a couple, but over that, sorry, find an empty seat somewhere else.

 

Hopefully, you will not give up on cruising.  Every experience will not be like this one.  Try changing the time of year (it's tough with kids, I know), but you just might have a better experience.

[actuarian]

I also think that the Oasis Class ships are just too big.  My wife and I cruise only on Voyager and Radiance Class ships.  We particularly love the amplified Voyager class ships, the Mariner and the Navigator.  Of course, those ships do mostly short cruises but, when we want a longer cruise, there is always Celebrity.  However, I do think that the rules prohibiting the saving of seats (except in the case of an single person who has to use the restroom) should be enforced.  I think that they should announce before each show that saving of more than one seat is not permitted and that any person or group who persist in trying to save more than one seat will be told to leave the theater. 

Edited May 3, 2019 by actuarian

[brillohead]

It sounds like you just aren't an assertive person at all?

The things that bothered you are things I wouldn't have allowed to get under my skin. 

Saving seats in the theater?  I'll allow someone to save a couple seats... Dad and son saving seats for mom and daughter who are in the restroom, that's reasonable.  Husband saving for a wife who went back to the room to get a cardigan, that's reasonable.  But an entire row?  Nope, there is no seat-saving, it is a rule that is declared obviously in signage and in the Cruise Compass, and this seat is empty so I'm going to sit in it.  Same thing for the Aqua Theater.  There's no reason to get into a fistfight about it -- just tell the "savers" to go get an employee to tell you to move. Since seat-saving is not allowed, that's not going to happen.  

Teens shooting golf balls all around the course?  I'd tell them to knock it off, and if they didn't, I'd call security to come remove them from the course.  (There are house phones all around the ship that you can use to call security.)

Not enough time in San Juan?  Many/most of RCCL's port stops are shorter than normal in SJ... I just cruise there more than once so I can see more of it!  We hit San Cristobal the first time, and El Morro the second time, and walked around town the third time.  

Labadee is always a favorite stop of mine -- a relaxing beach day.  If I had the drink package and was presented with a receipt to sign that had a dollar amount on it, I would point it out to the server right away, not wait until I was back on the ship.  Same with a pineapple drink -- if I couldn't understand the waiter and I saw the charge on the receipt, I'd ask for my drink in a regular cup instead.  And if there are seven hammocks and 5000+ passengers, it's pretty obvious that not everyone is going to get a hammock... but there are a gazillion lounge chairs and plenty of beach on both sides of the peninsula.  

St. Martin, I always know ahead of time what I want to do, just like any other port stop.  I either go shopping, take a separate excursion, rent scooters and drive all around the island, etc.  If someone tries to sell me something I'm not interested in, I just say, "no thank you" and that's that. If you couldn't handle the beach vendors on St. Martin, I hope you never set foot on the island of Jamaica!  

And the Solarium is NOT listed as a Quiet Zone on any ship.  Just because you ASSUMED that doesn't mean it's the case.  It's an area to not be around young children.  I've seen adults being loud and obnoxious in the Solarium on Navigator, Freedom, and Oasis/Harmony/Symphony.  

Some things can't be avoided -- inconsiderate people are everywhere.  However, in reading your review, it seems like a lot of your issues could have been alleviated if you had either stood up for yourself (seat savers, golfing teens), or just been aware of the situation you were in (drink cost, St. Martin beach vendors).  

 

[jbethel11]

5 hours ago, YamahaRyoko said:

two teenagers who were running all over the course smacking balls across it.

Unfortunately, this is the EXACT behavior us teenagers are stereotyped for. Not fair how morons like them decide to ruin the experience for the rest of the teens. 

 

5 hours ago, YamahaRyoko said:

The solarium is also 16+, which to me means "older kids still allowed".

Should be at least 18+!

 

5 hours ago, YamahaRyoko said:

A senior citizen lady sits behind us every day, making nasty remarks to our server every time he checks on their table.   "Try not to take 4 hours today" and "You screw something up every day" and "Maybe you should find a new line of work"  It was so terribly awkward

Ah, what do you know, those people shouldn't be cruising if they are going to complain about everything! Once again, another unfair stereotype for senior citizens, as I am sure there are really nice ones who cruise, but they are covered by these people. Smh. 

[Midwestgal]

Interesting .....seems kind of like people were just annoying to you period. Sometimes our frame of mind makes things worse than they actually are.

sorry your cruise was so bad

Edited May 3, 2019 by Midwestgal

[Desert Cruizers]

Sorry you had a bad experience, while the daughter & I are looking forward to our first ever Oasis Class on the Allure next year with the Western Med & TA back to Miami, we love the Radiance to Freedom Class size. 

[sailor05]

I hope I don't have these issues next week! I'm already starting pissed off due to our itinerary change which I still have not even received an email about, found out about it here. When it comes to seating at shows I'll let someone save a seat, maybe 2 otherwise I sit my butt down. They have no recourse, I'm the one right and they are WRONG. On the pool deck, if I can't find a chair in the sun, I'll sit in the shade and "hawk" the chairs with towels. After about 30-45 mins the chair is mine, again, I'm the one who is right and they are WRONG. I don't take a towel, so the one on the chair gets thrown wherever is convenient. 

[OneWord]

45 minutes ago, Midwestgal said:

Interesting .....seems kind of like people were just annoying to you period. Sometimes our frame of mind makes things worse than they actually are.

sorry your cruise was so bad

Agreed

[GUEST71919]

6 hours ago, cynt said:

You might want to try a luxury cruise line like Paul Gauguin.  Fewer people and less chaos.

 

 

What the OP needed was our group aboard the Allure, yes??? 😉 It was great fun. We need to do round 2!

[SAmome]

This is a valid complaint about the massive seat saving and some people feel more comfortable with comfrontation than others, but RCCL should be stepping in and resolving the issue.  They haven't for years and maybe need to start hearing about it on comment cards or at guest services in hopes to change something.

 

It's not hard for RCCL to have an employee going up and down the aisles during showtime and inserting themselves into the situation and enforcing the rules.  They should do this on off chance it could become a heated exchange.  They could state seat saving is NOT allowed but come to some sort of compromise.  "Sir, there are 5 in your party now, each take a seat and save the seat next to you for their spouse or child that might be in the restroom, the other seats and certainly rows of seats are available to these guests.  Others from your party arriving later can sit elsewhere in the theatre."

 

It's not like during a show you can chat beyond whispers to your immediate left and right.

[marci22]

I think you just had some bad luck. Sometimes there are a few really rude people onboard and somehow they keep running into you. Once we asked to change our dining table figuring we would never see those people again, and we kept running into them onboard every time we turned a corner. Better luck next time.

[Cruisegirl6]

I have been on the Allure, the Oasis 6 times and the Harmony.  I never encountered any of what you did.  Shows, well, we just don't do them, but the trick I guess is to arrive very early to get a seat where you want.  The movies, we don't care about but I believe if you want to see movies its on the big screen out near the aqua theatre...we don't do the pool thing so not sure whether they show movies out at the pool...curious whether they do or not, maybe the screens if they were there were broken?

 

You went during the number one time of the year I would NEVER cruise, spring recess.  I always found traveling anywhere during this time you encountered loud obnoxious people.  I also avoid Christmas and Thanksgiving times to travel.  I never had this problem on any of my cruises to be honest.

 

The seating you had in the ice show, it just was a poor seat, lesson learned, so you should never get a seat in that area again, your best a few rows up.

 

Your dining issue, should never had happened!  That definitely sure can ruin a cruise even for me.  I never had that issue but then again, I always book months in advance so I always have gotten the time dining I wanted, which is always my time dining.

 

I never felt there was too many people on this class of ships, other than three time...the day of embarkation and the day when they have the shops put on the sale for two hours on the promenade deck and the disco party, other then that never encountered crowds.

 

I think you should give cruising another try,  you just now more experienced what to do and don't cruise during spring recess.  Thank you for your review.

[screenname2004]

16 hours ago, YamahaRyoko said:

Labadee:  Professional photographers were trying to take pictures of groups at the Labadee letters with the ship behind it, but inconsiderate people kept running up and posing for their own photos.  One lady stood but 10 feet in front of the photographer to get her own photo.  When she was done, she lingered around "taking in the moment".  When asked to move, she got nasty about it and said "You can wait two damn seconds". 

2

We were on the same cruise as you. When did you get off the ship? When we were at the Labadee letters in the morning, there was no ship photographer, only one staff member to direct people to walk around and not interfere with people taking pictures with their own camera. It worked out well. We have couple of nice pictures at the sign with Allure in the background.

 

[Saturngrl]

I certainly agree that cruising during Spring Break time of year will invite the experience the OP had.  One of my siblings did the Oasis this past March during Spring Break and encountered similar experiences expressed by the OP.  His group also failed to fully plan their cruise, including My Time Dining reservations and arriving early to shows (even with reservations).   They also failed to plan how they would spend each day in port.   Thus,  crowds, kids and calamity. 

 

My friends and I will sail the Allure in January 2020 and believe me, we will have the Key, full reservations on board and in port and have a much better time for it.  Sometimes, OCD pays off.....lol.

[Desert Cruizers]

It doesn't matter the cruise line or the ship, we all at one time will encounter rude people. We don't even have to be on a cruise. I think the one area that seems to have the most problem is Elevators,  some people believe in rushing on before letting others off or not letting people on who have been waiting awhile. Courtesy goes a long way in life. 

[grandgeezer]

If you didn't like it, you didn't like it. Stick to your convictions and stand up for it. Not everybody likes the same thing and not every buddy has the same experience.

[Merion_Mom]

3 hours ago, Desert Cruizers said:

It doesn't matter the cruise line or the ship, we all at one time will encounter rude people. We don't even have to be on a cruise. I think the one area that seems to have the most problem is Elevators,  some people believe in rushing on before letting others off or not letting people on who have been waiting awhile. Courtesy goes a long way in life. 

 

And yet, elevators are one thing that the OP didn't report having problems with.

[YamahaRyoko]

4 hours ago, screenname2004 said:

We were on the same cruise as you. When did you get off the ship? When we were at the Labadee letters in the morning, there was no ship photographer, only one staff member to direct people to walk around and not interfere with people taking pictures with their own camera. It worked out well. We have couple of nice pictures at the sign with Allure in the background.

 

Time stamp says 10:15am on my cell pictures.  There indeed was a ship photographer, wearing white shirt and camera in hand without tripod at the front of the picture line.  There was also another staff member.  We suggested blocking that right side off and she noted that they are not allowed to block them.   I have no reason to make this up as BNBR implied.  I gain nothing by lying to people on a cruise forum.  I don't get a free cruise or any money back.

[Paelos]

If somebody is trying to save a row at the back of the theatre and there's tons of other good seating? OK I get that.

 

If they are trying to save the middle of the rows? Get real. I'm getting a bourbon and taking my seat. Come get me out of it haha!

[YamahaRyoko]

10 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

And yet, elevators are one thing that the OP didn't report having problems with.

 

^_^

Busy and crowded but we didn't have any BAD experiences with it.   In fact, I'm quite chatty in the elevator.  I go against the social norm of expected awkward elevator silence.

 

I did find out that if your door is closing and its about to go up or down, someone hitting the button will stop the doors and re-open them.  You COULD sit there and troll people by pressing the button every time their doors close.  That's kinda funny but then they might have an experience like mine, so we'll reserve it for those who really deserves it.

 

Oh and... every single public stall I used was clean.  Pretty nice

Edited May 3, 2019 by YamahaRyoko