Allure of the Seas Review

Just home from a fun week on the Allure of the Seas; unlike the prior two cruises we managed to have the normal itinerary (Eastern for this cruise) and not be impacted much by hurricanes (there were a couple in the Atlantic, but both hundreds of miles away - only impact was mildly bumpy seas a couple of nights). Overall this was a nice cruise, but there were definitely some pros and cons.

To give a little background this was my 11th cruise; I have now sailed five times each on Celebrity and RCI and have done three different ship classes on Celebrity and four with RCI. We flew in the afternoon before and scored a great deal Hyatt Place Dania Beach via Hotwire ($80 including all taxes/fees).

Boarding went extremely smoothly. My wife is a bit "Type A" and likes to be extremely early, so we were at the port by about 10:20am. We were among the first to check in and then had a seat to wait for boarding to commence; we were on the ship about 11:30am. Aside from cruising, my wide and I are really into dining, so our goal was to hit all 26 food venues on the ship (I had even mapped out an attack plan). Our first order of business was to make reservations at Chops and 150 Central Park (we had booked the Chef's Table Package) and then we were off to the Park Cafe for our first meal: Their much acclaimed roast beef sandwiches. These sandwiches were excellent and Park Cafe ended up being our favorite of the free food venues; it was a nice way to kick off the cruise and we managed to beat the crowds (by the time we finished a line had already started, so be sure to get there early)!

Our stateroom was awesome for a non-suite (three of our last four cruises were in suites, so we were a bit worried, but it was laid out well and nice appointed with great features such as an Ihome (with two berths) and enough outlets to plug in four devices on the desk. We were in Boardwalk Balcony room #12329. This and the sister room on the starboard side (as well as the two sister rooms on Deck 11) are probably the best non-suites on the ship. They are the aft most staterooms so you have a full view of the boardwalk, excellent view of the Aqua shows and nice view of the wake and ocean off the aft of the ship. Just down the hall there is also a massive public balcony that almost nobody uses. Our stateroom attendant (Mitzi) was actually the best we have ever had; so friendly, attentive and thorough.

Our ports were Nassau, St. Thomas and St. Martin. We did this cruise mainly for the ship and had been multiple times to these ports before. In Nassau and St. Martin we just walked around town for a little while (and found a spot to use wifi - in St. Martin there is a McDonalds that has fairly speedy free wifi; in Nassau we paid $3 at Starbucks for unlimited wifi that was not quite as speedy). In St. Thomas we booked a semi-private sailboat charter (they link you up with up to four other people). This was a blast and I highly recommend them: Rumbaba Charters - http://www.rumbabacharters.com/. We spent about six hours sailing and hit some beautiful secluded areas for swimming and snorkeling. The owner and his assistant were so friendly and they served a nice variety of cocktails and cooked some great chow on the boat. It was a bit pricey $140, but it was so nice being with just four other passengers after being on a ship with 5,400)!

Despite Allure's massive size, it is laid out really well (and there are cool digital maps in all the lobbies where you can map a course, check menus, check current activities etc.), so after just a few hours we knew our way around. I was blown away with how much there was to do. We took advantage of much the ship had to offer including making it to most shows, some Crown & Anchor events, ziplining, mini golf, rock wall, trivia, a spa treatment, the Meet & Mingle party, and Quest. The Aqua show is not to be missed and is probably the most fun show I have seen on a cruise ship; Chicago and Blue Planet were both good, not great and the Ice Show was kind of lame (odd Monopoly theme that just did not work). Captain Johhny was very visible and seemed like a cool, genuine guy and the Cruise Director (Alan Brooks) was good as well.

This was my first cruise as Diamond (courtesy of my Elite status on Celebrity) and the Diamond Happy Hour was great. Longer hours than Celebrity and much larger variety of cocktails available and better appetizers. The servers were outstanding and we loved Kenton, the Diamond Concierge (such a down to Earth, personable guy and he was extremely friendly with us - he heard my wife mention I liked chocolate covered strawberries and he had them sent to our room as a gift the next day). We made friends with another couple in the lounge and had drinks with them nightly. There were a little over 200 diamonds on board and the lounge often was only about half full.

Food wise we had a fun time hitting all 26 venues. 150 Central Park (which I reviewed in a separate thread) was a highlight in addition to the Chef's Table - such a fun experience and outstanding food. Park Cafe and Solarium Bistro (excellent crepes at lunch, nice Asian soups and a wonderful salad bar) were our favorite free venues. The ice cream shop had some excellent gelato and the flavors rotate some each day (one day I had an outstanding banana cream pie and cookie dough flavors in a waffle cone with caramel) which at just over $4 (including the gratuity) was a good deal (it was a very large portion). My wife loved the Cupcake Cubbard which features gourmet cupcakes (the flavors also rotate here daily) that come to a little overt $3 (with gratuity). The coca cola flavored cupcake was pretty cool. We enjoyed our lunch at Rita's (great fish tacos) but took a pass on the Rita Fiesta party (seemed fun if you like loud venues and lots of boozed up people, but we are past the point of seeking that type of atmosphere). Izumi was also pretty good; not as good sushi as what is served at my favorite land based venues, but definitely the best sushi I have had on a cruise ship. Chops was just fair; nice ambiance in Central Park (we dined al fresco), but our server had too many tables and my steak was overcooked and the quality of the meat seemed not much better than what is served in the main dining room. The biggest disappointments were Samba Grill (horrible service with extremely push hard sell on alcohol and lots of overcooked, poor quality meats; interestingly the chicken dish and the plantains were the only items I enjoyed there) and surprisingly Giovanni's Table (I had heard so many good things about this venue and had greatly enjoyed Portofinos on other ships, but our server was a dufus - he mixed up our appetizers, never filled our water glasses, the venue was noisy, my wife's gnocchi was grossly overcooked and my rissotto was too rich and lacked any hint of the truffle element described on the menu). Vintages on the other hand was quite good; the five tapas plus dessert for $8 is a great value; large portions, tasty food with a nice presentation and the interior of Vintages is the coolest looking venue on the ship IMHO. Nice selection of wines to boot; they had three Belle Glos wines (our favorite). The buffet was a zoo the couple of times I popped up there and the selection was underwhelming - definitely more about quantity than quality. Our one night in the MDR was a decent experience; we prefer the ambiance of the specialty venues, but our meal was pretty good quality wise in the MDR and our servers friendly.

Most of the staff we encountered was friendly. At times it was noticeable that there is more passengers-to-staff than on Celebrity - i.e. at times public bathrooms in the evenings near the bars would be rather dirty and at times I noticed cigarette butts in public areas. One interesting tidbit: During a Q&A with the Captain, Hotel Director, Engineer and Cruise Director somebody asked the Hotel Director about the dress code, reading from the Cruise Compass about no shorts or caps being permitted in the dining room. That person commented that even on formal night several people had on shorts and stated they asked the Maitre'D who told them there is nothing he can do about it. He then asked the Hotel Director his thoughts on what the Maitre'D said and on the lack of enforcement (most people present seemed to applaud the question) and the Hotel Director kind of weakly replied that they have "guidelines" but that they are not going to deny someone dinner and that there is "nothing we can do about it." I thought this was a lame response. Either enforce the dress code or do away with it; how can a Hotel Director claim they can't do anything about it?

Allure is a fun ship with something for everybody. We had a nice time trying out much the ship had to offer and as runners really appreciated the large dedicated jogging track (nearly half a mile per lap)! However there were some negatives. In addition to the misses at Giovanni's and Samba Grill there were two big negatives:

1) Way too many indoor smoking venues. As someone who is detests cigarette smoke and lives in a city with an indoor smoking ban in all but private residences and who's last few cruises were on Celebrity (also with an indoor smoking ban) I could not believe the amount of smoking venues on Allure. The problem with indoor smoking venues is the smell drifts into nearby venues and also there are issues with the venting of the ship where smoke from smoking venues is vented into non-smoking venues. The gym was totally unusable the first couple of days of the cruise - it reeked of cigarette smoke (even my wife who is much less sensitive to smoke than me was not able to stand the odor; fortunately by mid cruise the odor was considerably less). The front portion of the MDR on deck four reeks of smoke from the nearby casino. The non-smoking side of the casino is a joke as the smoke easily drifts from the other side. The stench from Bolero's permeates much of the Royal Promenade and even impacts to an extent the Diamond Lounge. The other clubs (Dazzles and Blaze) have smoking areas and are unusable if you are sensitive to and bothered by smoke. Even Central Park (an outdoor smoke free area) smells in some areas as large vents blow out smoke from indoor smoking areas. I definitely will not sail on RCI again until they ban indoor smoking.

2) While I love all the energy and activities of RCI, my wife and I both found that we prefer the more upscale ambiance on sister line Celebrity. On Celebrity I have never seen people use the hallways or balconies as storage areas; on Allure many of the hallways were difficult to traverse because people would leave strollers out there (sometimes even double strollers) and close to 20% of the balconies had all sorts of random objects left out (some literally looked more like storage closets than balconies). While we met lots of nice people, there also were far more rude guests than we have encountered on any of our Celebrity sailing. During Chicago a woman behind me was speaking (not whispering, but in a loud voice) almost continuously during the show. My wife and I (and others nearby) gazed at her, but she kept gabbing. Finally I told to her keep it down or I would get a staff member to intervene. She did tone it down but then when the show end she waved her finger in my face and started yelling that I was a. This was the worst of the incidents, but there was lots of yelling in hallways, people smoking in non-smoking areas, people not washing after using the bathroom etc. Sure some of this occurs on Celebrity, but not nearly as much.

All-in-all I am glad that I sailed on Allure; it was mostly a good cruise, but certainly not anywhere near my best cruise. It was cool to experience such a massive ship with so much to do and see. RCI and Celebrity are both great lines, but have different areas of emphasis and depending on what you are seeking on a vacation one might be better than the other for you. While when I first started cruising RCI was definitely the best line for me, at this point in my life this cruise definitely reinforced that currently Celebrity is a better fit. While I may sail RCI again at some point down the road, I am glad my next couple of cruises are with Celebrity and we are considering trying out a luxury line at some point down the road.

I am working on creating a photo album of the cruise and will post a link if I get that up and running. In the meantime I am happy to try and answer any questions anybody might have.

Thank you for your review. I sail on Allure later this month. I am disappointed to hear of the indoor smoking issues. I like you do not like cigarette smoke. Although not as much of a food buff as you I am planning on trying the Samba Grill. I hope to be able to enjoy my sailing as you did even with the minor issues.

This is a great review. Thanks so much for writing it. I sailed Oasis once and we were very disappointed that we couldn't practice our Salsa skills at Boleros due to the smoke. Sad to hear about the gym as well.

I have a couple of questions for you. We have booked the Chef's Package as well. Where do you go to make your Chops and 150 reservations?

Also, I recently read a review (may have been Oasis?) where a passenger said she was eaten up by mosquitoes dining outside at Chops. Did you have any mosquito issues? I thought it was interesting to hear of bugs at sea.

Thanks again for your review!

I have the picture album up; some of the pictures are out of order, but I am too tired to fix it now: http://s497.photobucket.com/albums/rr333/buffy88nw/Allure%20Cruise/

Thanks for your review! It's always good to hear the pros & cons.

BTW... Did they have roasted pineapple skewers at Samba Grill?

Thanks for the photo link. Gets me so excited for our cruise in 3 weeks! Jen is adorable!

I meant to comment about the storage/strollers in the hallways. I have never seen that and I agree with you that it's tacky. If I see it I might have to make a comment to Guest Relations or something.

Thanks for your review! It's always good to hear the pros & cons.

 

BTW... Did they have roasted pineapple skewers at Samba Grill?

I did not notice the pineapple skewers; they may have been there, but they were not brought to our table. I did enjoy those at similar venues on land, so it would have been nice.

Thanks for the photo link. Gets me so excited for our cruise in 3 weeks! Jen is adorable!

 

I meant to comment about the storage/strollers in the hallways. I have never seen that and I agree with you that it's tacky. If I see it I might have to make a comment to Guest Relations or something.

Thanks for the comment about Jen. :)

This was the first time I had seen the strollers too; not sure if it is common on Allure/Oasis or if one person on my cruise did it and then others with strollers saw it and decided to follow suit. It definitely bothered the stewards as they were not able to move their carts by without first moving the stroller or scooter out of the way, but I think they feared being stiffed on their tips if they instructed the passengers to move their items. Definitely something the floor supservisors (or higher ups) should have addressed as it looked ridiculous, inconvenienced the stewards, made it hard for people in scooters or wheelchairs, and was a bit of a safety hazard.

This is a great review. Thanks so much for writing it. I sailed Oasis once and we were very disappointed that we couldn't practice our Salsa skills at Boleros due to the smoke. Sad to hear about the gym as well.

 

I have a couple of questions for you. We have booked the Chef's Package as well. Where do you go to make your Chops and 150 reservations?

 

Also, I recently read a review (may have been Oasis?) where a passenger said she was eaten up by mosquitoes dining outside at Chops. Did you have any mosquito issues? I thought it was interesting to hear of bugs at sea.

 

Thanks again for your review!

Thanks for the informative review! :)

Thanks for sharing.

Excellent review, although now I'm a bit worried about some of my dining experiences. :(

I have the picture album up; some of the pictures are out of order, but I am too tired to fix it now: http://s497.photobucket.com/albums/rr333/buffy88nw/Allure%20Cruise/

Great pictures of the new foods at 150 Central Park. I'm dining there on a Tuesday so being able to 'see the menu' really helps! :D

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Excellent review, although now I'm a bit worried about some of my dining experiences. :(

The restaurants you mentioned on the other thread I all enjoyed aside from Samba Grill, so for the most part I would not worry. 150 Central Park was outstanding, Vintages really good and Izumi good. If you like your meat medium to medium well you may like Samba Grill, but if you prefer medium rare and are accustomed to prime beef then I would recommend changing Samba Grill to something else. The set up at Samba is beautiful, but if they are crowded the acoustics make it rather noisy. We had a dud of a waiter, but that can just be luck of the draw sometimes.

I have an early dinner reservation at the Samba Grill (6pm) so maybe it will be a little quieter than later on in the evening. I also have an embarkation lunch (and dinner the next evening) at Giovanni's because, like you, I have heard so many good things about it.

I'll probably be retracing your steps and have already mapped out eating in most every venue on the ship. Since I did this same itinerary last year (minus Labadee) on the Celebrity Millennium B2B (remember my LIVE thread? ;)) I'll be staying on the ship the entire seven days with maybe a quick walk on the pier to stretch my legs and get some pictures of the ship.

P.S. Vintages is right across from my Central Park View stateroom so I do plan on visiting there several times for tapas. Looks very nice. ;)

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This was the second time we sailed on Allure the first being May 2011 and the difference was very noticeable and disappointing. We were on the 9th floor balcony rear of the ship we love the larger balconies.My only complaint regarding the rooms were the closets and having your bed right up against them.It is difficult to get anything in and the depth is too short and hits the hangers and bends men's suits at the shoulder .So ridiculous and poorly designed. As it is on this ship they took away storage space by the TV and desk area.

As for the stroller issue we also had that and wheel chairs /scooters we did call the main desk and the strollers we gone. As for the smoke I was shocked how bad it was but I also noticed most of the people sailing were from Europe, South America ,Brazil and smoked in non smoking areas including their balconies.We normally sail May thru July and we never experienced this.

We had dinner in Giovanni's also and were seated in a corner which was nice until a loud group of 10 was sat next to us and we honestly could not hear ourselves talk. I finally requested we be moved to the opposite end and then it was nice and the food yummy the best cannoli . We also did 150 central park and loved everything the cucumber martini is fantastic. We also ate at chops and had the best filet mignon ever and for the price it was amazing. I always take advantage of room service for breakfast its good and we always get rooms next to our friends and the balconies open and we can all eat together. We also send someone down to central park deli and bring bagels back to the room for breakfast. Its vacation I don't want to serve myself.lol My problems were at the pool people were holding chairs and I finally saw a sign on day two that said any empty chair for more than 30 min would have to get there things at the towel station. So I watched 4 chairs by the pool sit empty for 45 min and I went to the towel station and asked the girl there if she would have someone remove the stuff she gave me an attitude which I have never experienced on RCCL in 14 cruises and I told her so. She said i would have to go to a pool attendant which I did and he started questioning me was I sure how long it was!!! I was so annoyed I I finally asked the great guy who served us drinks and he had no problem doing it and helped us move our stuff there.

Also in the MDR we notice the water/bread person was never around and our waiter LINA (who was amazing) served our water. When we finally asked her she said the helpers now had to go get the food from the kitchens. It felt like everywhere there were less employees. It would explain the poor service and long wait times . Our room attendant Mariela Elena was nothing short of amazing and I have sailed on Silver seas where we had two 24 hour room attendants and honestly she was up there even giving me her phone number to call if i needed anything and I did call one late night to request more pillows and was greeted with a wonderful attitude. I slept in one morning and she never bothered me and told my hubby call when i get up and she will come. So all in all we had a rest full time but I do see the big difference in service now was it from less worker/cruiser ratio or tired overwhelmed ready for there own vacation I don't know but we are done with the big ships .Our friends went on Oasis and said the same things. Our next cruise is on the jewel of the sea next year and I think the service will be better. Bottom line there is just to many people not enough employees to get good service! i still think they offer the best food and friendly service.

Great photos , thank you so much :p. Our cruise start on Saturday...

A question: Can we bring some bottle of Soda on the ship or will it take away from us ( I have seen on one of your picture, that you have soda in the refridgerator) :confused:

And what happen, if we have our camping cutlery with us

( because we have after the cruise another week in Florida??)

Thank everybody for an answer :o

Nice pictures! I was thinking that you should post a picture of the hallway strollers and then I saw there was one, lol. We saw tons of strollers on our July cruise, but I didn't notice them in the hallway because we were right by the elevators. It must be a safety hazard.

Thank you for your review. I sail on Allure later this month. I am disappointed to hear of the indoor smoking issues. I like you do not like cigarette smoke. Although not as much of a food buff as you I am planning on trying the Samba Grill. I hope to be able to enjoy my sailing as you did even with the minor issues.

I probably hate cigarette smoke as much as you and the OP and I had no problem what so ever on Allure. The only time I noticed it all was when I walked down one side of the ship and they had little cubby holes (bad description) where people could sit around and smoke. Of course it was allowed in that area and I was just passing by.

Perceptions can be different, and I suppose things can vary from week to week. I had a great time in Samba and don't even remember being offered bar service. We skipped formal night on Allure as we have done that enough, but we chose not to go to the dining room. We did go down to get a cupcake before 2nd seating dinner and did get a few looks from the early diners because we were not in formal wear.

Great photos , thank you so much :p. Our cruise start on Saturday...

A question: Can we bring some bottle of Soda on the ship or will it take away from us ( I have seen on one of your picture, that you have soda in the refridgerator) :confused:

And what happen, if we have our camping cutlery with us

( because we have after the cruise another week in Florida??)

Thank everybody for an answer :o

The soda in the pictures are sodas that are already stocked in the minibar - not sodas we brought on. While RCI has a rule stating no beverages may be brought on the ship, typically they only enforce this for alcohol - so if you bring some sodas with you there is a good chance you will be able to get on board with them. With the camping cutlery they might store that for you on the ship during your cruise if you have sharp objects.

Enjoy your cruise. :)

I probably hate cigarette smoke as much as you and the OP and I had no problem what so ever on Allure. The only time I noticed it all was when I walked down one side of the ship and they had little cubby holes (bad description) where people could sit around and smoke. Of course it was allowed in that area and I was just passing by.

 

Perceptions can be different, and I suppose things can vary from week to week. I had a great time in Samba and don't even remember being offered bar service. We skipped formal night on Allure as we have done that enough, but we chose not to go to the dining room. We did go down to get a cupcake before 2nd seating dinner and did get a few looks from the early diners because we were not in formal wear.

I am glad you did not encounter the same smoke issue; perhaps there were a lot more smokers aboard my sailing than normal. I was shocked at how bad the smoke was in some spots. This was my first cruise ever where I could smell smoke in the gym, main dining room, and theater (fortunately for the MDR and theater it was only towards the front). There also was a lot of smoking occurring in non-smoking areas such as Boardwalk balconies, sports deck (when I played mini golf one day there were several littered cigarette butts on the greens), and non-smoking side of pool deck. I would be fine with indoor smoking areas if the smoke can be contained to those areas, but unfortunately (at least on my cruise) the smoke spilled into most of the indoor non-smoking venues. I still was able to have a nice overall cruise, but the smoke issue was by far the largest negative aspect of this cruise. As I am particularly sensitive to cigarette smoke I always use my wife as a barometer (as she is much less bothered by it and does not have as keen a sense of smell as me), but even she was shocked at how foul the odor was in so many areas (though she was not able to smell it in some areas where I could such as the theater, main dining room, and Central Park - but she noticed it strongly in the gym and the promenade).

We were a bit surprised at the "hard sell" on alcohol at Samba Grill and hopefully it was just overzealous waitstaff rather than something they are encouraging the staff there to do. I have come to expect a hard sell at the spa (and surprisingly on this cruise had a pleasant experience there with no attempt to sell me products whatsoever following a massage), but Samba was the only of the 24 dining venues we frequented where we received a hard sell. They have two bottles of wine on the table (turned out to be some of the most expensive on their wine list) and when we first sat down a waiter came over saying he strongly recommended we go with the wines already on the table. When we said no, he said he would bring the wine list then. We told him we had drank a lot the prior two evenings at Chef's Table and 150 Central Park and just wanted water tonight. He then tried to talk us into having cocktails if we did not want wine. We again reiterated water only. A few minutes later another waiter approached us asking what kind of wine we would like to order. The service was then rather cold, inattentive and robotic for the remainder of our meal. Across all my cruises I have probably dined in specialty restaurants over 30 times and Samba marked the first time I ever received poor service (and was also the first time ever I did not tip extra in a specialty venue).

I am glad you did not encounter the same smoke issue; perhaps there were a lot more smokers aboard my sailing than normal.

From your detailed description, your probably right.

Hi there. Thanks again for your review.

Where did you make your Chops and 150CP reservations on Day 1 when you boarded?

Did you experience mosquitoes while dining outside at Chops?

Hi there. Thanks again for your review.

 

Where did you make your Chops and 150CP reservations on Day 1 when you boarded?

 

Did you experience mosquitoes while dining outside at Chops?

We just went directly to the restaurants to make reservations. The earlier you get there, the more options you will have. We did not notice any mosquitoes while dining outside.

Thanks for the photo link. Gets me so excited for our cruise in 3 weeks! Jen is adorable!

 

I meant to comment about the storage/strollers in the hallways. I have never seen that and I agree with you that it's tacky. If I see it I might have to make a comment to Guest Relations or something.

I think it is a safety issue and it should not be tolerated. I feel the same way about the dirtbags that put their trays from room serice in the hallway. All hallways must be passable in the event of a fire. Foodtrays, strollers and wet towels should not be thrown outside the the room....how are wheel chairs going to get through in the event of a fire.

It is unthinkable that rude people would be so inconsiderate.