Just some observations and opinions on our recent Allure sailing (4/22-4/30 E Caribbean)
Boarding and Day 1 stuff
Boarding was incredibly easy; probably the quickest in 15+ cruises! If all your docs, vax and test (we did Walgreens rapid NAAT) info is in order, you’ll sail right through. Didn’t even have to stop at the desk. Unlike others have stated though, they did thoroughly check vax card, even for the booster stamp.
For the first time ever, we brought two bottles of wine and they didn’t even look in the bag.
We were on board before 1:00, went straight to dining reservations and most of our preferred times were already booked. By the end of the week, because of cancellations, etc, we were pretty much able to eat where and when we wanted though.
Stayed in cabin 10598. Mid ship, large balcony. I didn’t compare views with port side, but this starboard cabin had lovely views at each port when docked. Sofa is near balcony, bed next to closet. The divider on one side of the balcony was loose and rattled loudly! Nothing a washcloth couldn’t remedy 😄 We did report it so hopefully it was taken care of for the next sailing but they didn’t fix it while we were there.
Our cabin attendant was great. On the first day we asked for a few things: ice, extra pillows, robes and wine glasses, all of which were provided quickly. She made sure we had pool towels and kept the ice bucket full and wine glasses fresh. She does however need towel animal lessons 😄 The two she left were scary looking! One looked like a troll and the other like a walking dead zombie.
Thought I might miss the cruise compass but actually loved using the app. I remember when the app was first available a few years ago and it was pretty useless but it’s great now. (I do appreciate that some people prefer to not use their phones on a cruise). We carry our phones anyway, for pics and texting. Used it to make/cancel reservations and particularly liked being able to check the daily activities at a glance, especially when changing mind about current activity. I also like getting the reminders of upcoming events that are on my calendar.
Internet service is meh. We upgraded to stream within five minutes of using the wifi. I know this comes as no surprise but still mentioning it. Not sure why they even offer the lower tier. Seems useless but I guess if you want to send an email and forget it, it would be fine. Even the stream (and we did not actually stream anything!) was spotty and fairly slow most of the time. We survived and it didn’t ruin any part of the experience, but if you really need to rely on the internet for anything, prepare to be frustrated.
Dining and Drinking
Had two BOGO for specialty restaurants and purchased the 3 restaurant package. Did Izumi and Giovanni’s twice each and 150 Central Park once. Service in all three was fantastic. The food in Izumi (sushi side), we thought was amazing. Giovanni’s was excellent! Fish and pasta cooked perfectly and was delish. This was our first time eating at 150 and I kind of had high expectations based on reviews but I have to say I was disappointed. It wasn’t awful but not sure I’d go back. The service/server was the least engaging of the three (but still good!) and the food was pretty average. My fish and hubs’ meat were overcooked; everything else was just okay. We actually changed a second 150 reservation and went back to Giovanni’s a second time.
I think we made a mistake buying the drink package. I mean, we don’t drink a ton, and hubs even less than me. But we always like a couple glasses of wine with dinner and some days we drink a bunch of pinas 😄 And nights I’m in the casino I have a couple/few glasses of champagne. But we also drink a ton of water and coffees, so decided to just get the package. In retrospect, we probably should have purchased refreshment packages. Between 5 drinks vouchers and just paying for any extra drinks, I think we’d have paid a lot less but that’s our fault. I do wish there were “tiers” of drink packages. I definitely prefer to just order stuff and not worry about the bill at the end, hence the package, but I know we don’t even come close to taking advantage of it.
On past cruises, I’ve always enjoyed the Main Dining Room but man, it was awful. Had one dinner and attempted breakfast but had to walk out. The service, the food, the condition, ugh. I’m going to assume it’s cause lack of staff but after this, I’m not sure I even want to go there again! If anyone is truly interested I’ll give details, and again, nothing that ruined the cruise but enough to just keep me away from it!
On the other hand, all the staff at the Windjammer were fantastic. It was always clean, the staff were extremely attentive and went out of their way for us and others several times, without being asked! The food was typical Windjammer quality - very good for what it is. Obviously not fine dining! Had most breakfasts, couple lunches there and one dinner (after awful MDR experience). I will note that the selection of food is not as varied as I remember but what’s provided is pretty good. I love that they always have giant bowls of fresh spinach and other greens available, since that’s about the only healthy thing I eat all week.
It was self serve at Windjammer. Which - eh, I was thinking yeah, if I could choose, I prefer staff serve but didn’t feel ALL that strongly either way. Then, first time in there, adult woman who totally should know better in front of me waiting for salad fixings - picks at her plate with her fingers, shoves into mouth, licks fingers, then picks up tongs at salad bar. Good grief! I’d read such things and honestly thought it was an exaggeration or story. I mean, who does that! LOL. Needless to say I didn’t touch her tongs hehe. But yeah, how many times does that happen and you are unaware? And ftr, never saw a child do anything like that.
Shows
Had seen Mama Mia, so skipped that this time
Comedy was pretty good. We laughed a lot!
Aqua show was very good. Was surprised how short though. I’m fairly certain it wasn’t even 30 minutes the night we went.
Juggler on the last night was excellent.
Went to some game shows and such and they’re always fun 😄
Billy Pando in the Schooner bar - he was okay, once, and for an hour or so. But repertoire was super limited, repeated stuff (2x!) within an hour and just didn’t engage that much. He has a nice voice though! Maybe I just didnt have chemistry with him 😄 cause to be fair, there were groups who seemed to adore him. Also maybe I’m spoiled as the last couple cruises we had Matt Yee every night in the Schooner and he’s a freakin hoot and SO much fun.
Not really sure why they bother with RSVP since the only time it seemed to matter was for the comedy show.
Excursions
We’ve done this eastern itinerary a ton and used to do a lot of excursions with the kids, but mostly we did this cruise to chill and didn’t plan much excursion-wise.
HOWEVER - the one thing we always do, and did this time, is the beach and lunch at Orient Beach. So, they had everyone on excursions (or some? Not sure but not just ours), meet at the Amber theatre. We were giving stickers with numbers, which I still don’t know the reason, and ushered into the rows of seats to sit and wait until they ushered us out and to the gangway. So, we get off the ship and it was just like always, you find your excursion on the dock. UGH. It was like we were in kindergarten. Very confused why we needed to be herded like that. Ship was not even at capacity. I know it wasn’t to be sure excursions could get off in time. Whatever, very annoying and a waste of time.
The Orient Beach excursion was slightly different and I know it’s because of the hurricane a couple years ago. But the beach club at the location is different than before and just not as good. We probably won’t do that excursion again but it’s partly for that reason and partly because honestly we’re probably just burnt out on that one
Other ports we either stayed on ship and enjoyed the pool deck or got off and did a little shopping. We need to book a different itinerary heh
Just want to mention that the excursion desk staff were very helpful. We booked and cancelled a couple of things and they were always happily accommodating
Overall, great, relaxing cruise. This was hubs’ and my first cruise alone in 18 years and we sorta missed the kids hehe but had a great time. Every staff member we encountered was super friendly with a nice word to say (MDR notwithstanding but nothing I would complain about on the survey). There were several people who really stood out and absolutely increased our enjoyment.
So, not sure this was helpful to anyone but I’ve come here so many times for tips and info and thought I’d try to help a little. If there are any questions I’ll try to answer!
