Allure OTS review 30 Jan - 6 Feb

[wayne_trisha]

A short basic review of our cruise 30 Jan – 6 Feb. Oh how I wish I was a resident on this ship!!

Demogprahics: Mid 40s couple on their 10th overall cruise (7th on RCCL)

 

Embarkation: We drove down a day prior. We parked right outside the terminal, loaded up, and walked in. Security is ot ready yet but BING and we are through the check-in process in 15 minutes Tops! The excited wait begins. YEAH!! 11:00 or very near about and we, as platinum members get in line. The reality is if it would have been a continous process we would have been on the ship in 20 minutes.

 

Cabin: 8321, boardwalk balcony. Bed near the balcony. What you expect from a room but with oms extra storage. LOUD! We will never take a boardwalk balcony again. I could sleep through nuclear war but not my wife. Aqua theater shows were very loud and I must agree for the periods I was awake (wine and after dinner drinks help sleep, my wife is not a drinker). View from the balcony was great but think shows need to be seen from the seats. CP or OV for us. The best part, this was only real comnplaint the whole cruise!! Yeah this cruise was AWESOME! CP or OV for us next time.

 

Food: IT IS EVERYWHERE!!!! First meal was the famous roast beef sandwich and it definitely did not let me down. WE LOVED THE PARK CAFE! Dinner 5 of 7 nights in MDR was EXCELENT! Service was top notch (we tipped extra!)! The food was good to great. Lobster sucked a$$ but was quickly replaced by a delicious cut of prime rib. The service team at our MTD table were GREAT! Giovanni’s was even better and I had the best sea bass in my life WOW! Dog house was good for lunch twice, could use some side dishes. Sorrento’s pizza just ok, I was disappointed in this area but you can make “create your own pizza”. Windjammer is like what you expect. We only ate here 3 times. Yeah , 3 times out of a possible 21+ meals. Wipeout café is nothing special.

 

Special Food: We loved Rita’s Fiesta the first night! Sold out! Drinks, food, music, danicing, and a great atmosphere. No way to eat everything they brought out to us and it was very tasty. Drinks were good and you can order what you want and give a tab for it. 10th cruise and we bought a photo from this night because it was special. We went by the next night and it was not really a fiesta. Open seats and no one dancinf and singing but we could have been early. Giovanni’s=delicious. “Z” was our waiter and we took his advice and it was an awesome dinner. WOW!

 

Shows: we loved Chicago. My wife loved OceanAria but I found it boring. Divers, and divers, and divers, and guess what comes next? Yeah, divers. Boring

 

Casino: non-smokers rejoice! Our few trips into the casino did not result in stinking like cigarettes and the residual smoke smell is actually pretty light. We are both ex-smokers and more sensitive to the smell. It was a very pleasant experience.

 

Gym and Spa: We know it exists but never went into either facility. We did walk/run the track on the 5th deck 4 or 5 days and it is great! The aft area on deck 5 is a AMAZING place to nap. The aft, the wake, the sounds of the seas; it does not get much better! The forward area has doors into the gym.

 

Shops: What you would expect. I am a very active reader and occasional poster here but I was surprised when we saw the Coach shop in central park. I also knew the seapass bill just went by at least $100. Walk though the Britto shop. He is truly an amazing artist. We bought a few things and I won a calendar/water bottle at a shop talk.

 

Art Auction: THERE WERE NO ART AUCTIONS DURING MY CRUISE!

 

Announcements: People normally do not make this an area of their review but announcements were really limited to the captain making a noon talk (and he is funny! Man who runs in front of car get TIREd)

 

Overall impression: this was our tenth cruise and our 9th cruise on Independence OTS was easily our worst. This was a free cruise through the RCCL Visa card (lots of college tuition makes free cruises!) It took nearly a year to cruise again because our last cruise was that bad(you can find the reviews on CC). This was clearly our best cruise and we loved loved loved the Allure!!!!!!! It is the truth that our only real complaint was noise from the aqua theater in our cabin. BRING EARPLUGS!

 

Disembark: WOW!! Even easier than getting on. Wake up, going to the C&A lounge, drink some coffee, eat a donut, get called, and then be off the ship in 10-15 minutes. So easy!

 

Any questions, fire away and I will try to answer.

 

And if you think I am some RCCL cheerleader, please go read my last review.

 

PS: sadly, the Monarch OTS (just 15-20 minutes from home and a favorite to go away for the weekend) looks oh so small when I drive by on my way to work. How does one go from INCREDIBLE!! To oldest ship in their fleet? I’ll let you know!

 

PSS: I think we may be addicted to this class but we need to look at our home port of Port Canaveral if we want family to go.

[LBumb]

great job

[bsbcgirl]

Thank you for a great review. I am doing Allure (Western) in July. Any comments on ports? Which night(s), if any, were a little weaker in the MDR?

[Cleocruiser]

Who were your servers in the main dining room? You said they were great. We would love to request someone that came recommended.

[seb]

Thanks for the review. We're doing Allure in May. We are also going to try Giovanni's one night. You mentioned they made some recommendations and they were great. Mind sharing :-).

 

Thanks

 

Steve

[wayne_trisha]

Thank you for a great review. I am doing Allure (Western) in July. Any comments on ports? Which night(s), if any, were a little weaker in the MDR?

 

In Labadee i parasailed while my wife sat on the beach. I don't really like Labadee after the changes. I think it is BS RCCL took the best and closest beach and made it for suite guests. We ate lunch and went back on the ship.

 

In Costa Maya (which you will not be going to in July) we caught a cab downtown tothe beach. Got off the cab and some dude set us up in some chairs on the beach in the sun and said we could move to the shade if we wanted to. $5 per chair, $10 for six Pacifico Sol beers, and we were happy. We didn't eat anything because we arrived in port after 12 PM and ate on hte ship. $3 to get to the beach, $2 to get back to the ship. We really loved the beach here!

 

In Cozumel we took the ship excursion Mexican tasting and cuisine. It is at Playa Mia which was a decent all inclusive reosrt. Luis was the teacher. We had a blast cooking, drinming, and then eating our creations. I highly recommend this tour. When we finished we had 2 hours or so until the bus left for the port. I had a few beers and we took a cab downtown at our expense so we could go to Cariloha and buy some bamboo sheeets. Great sheets! We love them on our bed. We then taxied back to the ship. This was a really fun day.

 

 

MDR food was good to great. The only real night that was not great was lobster night. The lobster was overcooked and had no flavor. I took one bite and sent it back for some excellent prime rib. I think one of the problems with the menu is whether or not you can find something you like. One night nothing on the main menu really looked good so I ordered the steak from the standby menu (that is what we call it). Johnny Rockets was what you expect at lunch and really good for breakfast (and free!). Our favorite place for breakfast or lunch was the Park Cafe. Great food.

[wayne_trisha]

Who were your servers in the main dining room? You said they were great. We would love to request someone that came recommended.

 

We had MTD with a 6:15 reservations all week . We wanted a table for two and the first night we were about to be set at a table for two but there were 5 in a row so it was essentially a long table for ten. We told them we didn't want that table but we did want just a table for two. We were escorted to back port side at the table closest to the kitchen and on the rail. No problems for us. I took the chair facing the kitchen. It was table 932. It is a table for four but we sat alone every night we dined in the MDR. After the first night we very happy with our wait staff. The waiter was David Pittoy (something close to that) from the Phillipines and his assistant was Kamar Vincent from Jamaica. They were friendly, prompt, and very personable. After the first night we asked, ok, maybe begged to get that table by ourself the rest of the cruise. The head waiter told us he could do it but we would need to come at 5:30. We agreed and a few nights were in at 5:45 but we always had our table.

 

One thing we did notice about MTD is that as it got closer to 6:30-6:45 the wait staff are like ants scurrying everywhere in there attempt keep the food flowing as people are in different parts of their meal. We could look down over the rail at traditional dining and this did not seem to be the case. The wait staff down below didn't seem to be in such a rush. Not that it bothered us. I enjoyed looking intothe kitchen and seeing how some of it operated.

[island777girl]

Is Giovanni's menu for lunch the same as for dinner? Do you need reservations for lunch time? Thanks...We are eating a Chops and Giovannis at night already but wondering about lunch menu. My hubby would like the sea bass.

[Greektreats]

What night is the fiesta? We are doing Eastern Caribbean in August and want to make reservations for that night.

[travelpeon]

One night nothing on the main menu really looked good so I ordered the steak from the standby menu (that is what we call it).

 

What day's menu was this? Trying figure out a night to use our agent's free specialty dinner voucher (with a variety of terms and conditions, of course, of being a land day, not valid at Izumi/150 Central Park/Johnny Rockets, and must be booked on board).

 

Also, bonus points for using the term "Lobster sucked a$$". The literal mental image is hilarious.

[wayne_trisha]

Is Giovanni's menu for lunch the same as for dinner? Do you need reservations for lunch time? Thanks...We are eating a Chops and Giovannis at night already but wondering about lunch menu. My hubby would like the sea bass.

 

I do not know about the menu but we wondered through central park numerous times around lunch time and the outside tables were never full nor were there people at the door trying to get in. I would imagine reservations are not needed but I do not know.

[wayne_trisha]

What night is the fiesta? We are doing Eastern Caribbean in August and want to make reservations for that night.

 

We went on Wednesday and it was full and fun. We were down on the boardwalk the next night and they were having the second fiesta night and there were plenty of empty seats. We had a great time and you can substitute other drinks for margaritas. My wife is not a tequilla fan and she ordered bud lights.

[bghtravelgal]

Thanks for the great review! Do you remember if the island time was different than the ship time in Cozumel and Costa Maya?

[BillOh]

Thanks for writing, you did an excellent job outlining your perspective. A couple of things contradict most reviews so far, but to me that is hopeful news, not doubting you.

 

You said MDR service was good and you even tipped extra. I have no doubt about this, but so many people have reported the MDR staff was over worked that things were slow and bad service. Again, your review makes me hopeful. At this point I plan on using the MDR 6 out of 7 nights.

 

Your report of the Casino being not that bad, at least air quality wise also contradicts some reports, but again, your review makes me hopeful. We won't spend a lot of time there anyway, but there is some hope.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for posting your review!

 

Kirk

[cocoabeana]

I was on the same sailing and my experience was great also, but our mtd experience wasn't as good as yours. The first 2 nights were great, but after that, not so good. We could never get in when we wanted and when we finally did get in our waitress was so busy she couldn't even deal with us. One night we couldn't even stay for dessert because dinner was so slow and we had a show to get too. This is my second time in mtd and we have decided that from now on we will do late seating. It was just to stressful

 

I also had a boardwalk balcony and never had a problem with the noise. I was the 3rd room down from the aquatheater and never had a noise problem. Maybe it was because I was on deck 11 and you were on deck 8, but we absolutely loved it and will book it again in a heartbeat.

 

Best cruise of my life, my 10th with rccl, yay I am finally diamond!

 

Will hopefully do Oasis or Allure again next year!

[1grandma]

We were also on the Jan. 30 sailing and agree with everything Wayne and Trisha said about embarcation and debarcation. We have sailed on almost all of the cruise lines several times and this was by far the best experience we have ever had. We were in a balcony cabin on deck 7, aft and had the quietest cabin ever. We never heard anyone in the halls and never heard any engine noise even pulling out or docking.

Food----In the Park Cafe, don't miss the paninis along with the roast beef sandwiches. One of our absolute favorite places was the Solarium. Breakfast here was fast and good, the perfect place to run over to the sports pool afterward for the water aerobics every day 9:00 a.m. (Say Hi to Mia) My husband loved the gym and always found equipment available when he looked for it. The solarium was also good for a quiet lunch. We always asked for Alexo and Fredi's table for dinner on the island in MDR. Julia and Anna (head waitresses) made a good team with Alexo. Can we forget James Brolin, Dean Cain and Jenny McCarthy? Great addition to the excitement already there. Can't wait to see the movie.

[wayne_trisha]

Thanks for the great review! Do you remember if the island time was different than the ship time in Cozumel and Costa Maya?

 

I didn't pay attention to the time but they did stress what time the bus was leaving from playa mia while in Cozumel and what the current time was. I would assume that meant the times for local and ship were different.

[wayne_trisha]

Thanks for writing, you did an excellent job outlining your perspective. A couple of things contradict most reviews so far, but to me that is hopeful news, not doubting you.

 

You said MDR service was good and you even tipped extra. I have no doubt about this, but so many people have reported the MDR staff was over worked that things were slow and bad service. Again, your review makes me hopeful. At this point I plan on using the MDR 6 out of 7 nights.

 

Your report of the Casino being not that bad, at least air quality wise also contradicts some reports, but again, your review makes me hopeful. We won't spend a lot of time there anyway, but there is some hope.

 

We did eat early and my wife and I could tell that things were ramping up as we finished dessert. I was pleasently surprised by the service we received based on what I had read.

 

The casino really was not too bad the few times we were in there as far as smoke is concerned. It was more of a light smell of residual smoke of past smokers and not people currently smoking. We were never in there after dinner or later when I imagine it is much busier.

[wayne_trisha]

I also had a boardwalk balcony and never had a problem with the noise. I was the 3rd room down from the aquatheater and never had a noise problem. Maybe it was because I was on deck 11 and you were on deck 8, but we absolutely loved it and will book it again in a heartbeat.

 

Best cruise of my life, my 10th with rccl, yay I am finally diamond!

 

Will hopefully do Oasis or Allure again next year!

 

Congrats on making diamond! We are a cruise away from emerald. I don't know but it was pretty loud during aqua theater shows. Like i said or at least I intended to, I slept through it all. Wine at dinner and drink or beer after and I had no problems sleeping. My wife was not so lucky but she is a light sleeper.

 

We paced it one day and it was around 55 seconds and about 95-100 steps from our cabin door to the doorway for the elevator. Lots of walking certainly helped keep off the pounds from those delicious roast beef sandwiches!

[cruzingduo]

Hi Wayne,

great review!

 

In Costa Maya do you know the name of the beach? We were there last month and went to Pex Quatro, I wasn't impressed. So much garbage in the water.

 

Did you do a slot pull?

[Dett]

Saw that you parked at the port. We are also driving down in May. Is the parking at the port plentiful?

[C & L]

I found the Allure's casino smoky on the maiden voyage. We walked through, when very few people were in the casino. Avoided it as much as possible.

[wayne_trisha]

Hi Wayne,

great review!

 

In Costa Maya do you know the name of the beach? We were there last month and went to Pex Quatro, I wasn't impressed. So much garbage in the water.

 

Did you do a slot pull?

 

No slot pull and actually we missed the meet and mingle so we never did any stuff with the roll call.

 

The beach was right where the taxi stopped. El taro or something like that. There was blue water, sun, a bucket of beers, and lounge chairs. I had all I needed until a walk to the bathrooms which were clean.

[wayne_trisha]

Saw that you parked at the port. We are also driving down in May. Is the parking at the port plentiful?

 

If you get there early you can park in the lot right across the street from the terminal. That lot would hold 400 cars? Maybe, not sure on the number. There is another parking area, I think a garage, nearby. We were about 75-100 yards from the terminal exit doors. It was nice! It took less time to walk across the street to the car then it did from the elevator to our cabin :)