LIVE ~ Adventures on Allure of the Seas

[Dinkachu]

 

ALLURE DEPARTURE: Dec. 20th from Ft Lauderdale. The port was crowded. We were told Allure was sailing full and had already checked in 6100 people. RCI employees were so helpful, especially Carmine Williams, who maneuvered my wheelchair past lines and got me checked in very quickly.

 

Our Allure departure was delayed a bit by some blustery winds, but once your on the ship it does not really matter if we are docked or moving, we started enjoying our cruise.

 

ALLURE is just breathtakingly beautiful. Everything is clean and fresh after dry-dock. Christmas decorations made the ship even more beautiful.

 

LUNCH was at a deserted Johnny Rockets since both Windjammer and Park Cafe (our 1st and 2nd choices) were full. We had great burgers at Johnny Rockets - no complaints on that account. We did miss the singing and dancing waiters and service was very slow. The fee is 6.95 and the milkshakes (an extra charge) are now served in water glasses instead of the tall milkshake glasses we had last time. But quality remained high and we were happy with our lunch.

 

The sail away party was so cute! Dancing, singing, etc. We watched from our Boardwalk balcony and blew bubbles as we watched the wake of our ship and the buildings disappear in the background.

 

We booked over a year ahead of time, but still got put into MTD. We looked forward to trying MTD for ourselves. Sadly, our experience was not a good one. We had 5:30 reservations, booked way ahead of time. We arrived at 5:15 and stood in a long line for reservations. We were seated at 5:55 - yikes that was a long wait with a reservation. Bread was already on the table when we sat down. An assistant waiter came to take our drink orders. We told him we were ready to order our meals as we had Mama Mia Tickets and needed to be out by 7:30. No problem was his response. At 6:11 we got drinks and asked if we could order our appetizers and meals and have them served at the same time - reminded him about he show. We were told he was not THE waiter and he would go get The waiter. At 6:16 we asked the head waiter about our non-appearing waiter. He apologized and left to find the waiter. Assistant waiter showed up with drinks and left to find our waiter. Waiter finally arrived - out of breath - at 6:25. He took our order and we told him we wanted appetizers and entrees delivered together as we had Mama Mia show tickets. He said he understood and left. Some of our party began eating the bread that had been on the table when we arrived. Our waiter showed up at 6:50 with 4 of the 6 appetizers and no food. He said he was sorry. He left again - returning at 7:10 with the other 2 appetizers and no entrees. One of the appetizers was not correct. We left. On the way out we told the head waiter why we were leaving. We had a 5:30 reservation and should have been done with dinner no later than 7:30. It was now 7:20 and we had not seen one entree and were on our way to a show. He said he was sorry and that it was the first night. We'll give the MDR another try on Wed. We booked Chops for tomorrow night. Can't make any comments on the food - I only had a roll.

 

MAMA MIA - Marvelous. Those 2 1/2 hours flew by. I thought it would be a long time to sit, but it was great! The singers are very talented. It was fun!

 

ROOM SERVICE - When we first started sailing with RCI, anyone could order from the MDR menu for room -service. Now, we have a limited selection - but that is okay, we just wanted a snack - since we missed dinner. I ordered 'Honey Stung Chicken' and Hubby had a Pizza and Spinach Artichoke dip with chips. This is NOT the HONEY STUNG CHICKEN from cruises past. That was real, white meat chicken breast with honey sauce. This was 2 frozen, over fried, processed chicken with NOT ONE HINT OF HONEY. The CHEESE PIZZA was COLD (as in ICY) in the center and BURNT on the bottom - how do you even do that? The highlight was the SPINACH ARTICHOKE DIP - it was delicious. It's just food, not a big deal. Just make sure we don't rely on room service for the rest of the cruise.

 

We tried to get comfortable on our VERY HARD BEDS and enjoyed being rocked to sleep by the wavy motion of ALLURE as we sailed toward Nassau.

[SoccerMom#3]

We'll be on Allure in 3 weeks. I'll be interested to hear how MTD goes for you for the rest of the cruise. We have MTD and have made dinner reservations based on the time of the shows we've booked. Hopefully last night with dinner and seeing a show was a one time thing. How frustrating that must have been for you. It sounds like you were more than patient and understanding .

[Dinkachu]

We'll be on Allure in 3 weeks. I'll be interested to hear how MTD goes for you for the rest of the cruise. We have MTD and have made dinner reservations based on the time of the shows we've booked. Hopefully last night with dinner and seeing a show was a one time thing. How frustrating that must have been for you. It sounds like you were more than patient and understanding .

 

We try not to let little things ruin our fun. We figure one meal is just not that important. We are going to try MTD again and I'm hoping for better results.

[SoccerMom#3]

We try not to let little things ruin our fun. We figure one meal is just not that important. We are going to try MTD again and I'm hoping for better results.

 

Completely agree with you. No cruise is ever perfect and rolling with the punches is the way to go :-) I figure being at sea and having someone make my food and make my bed is better than me doing that at home :-)

[cb at sea]

I agree if someone makes your food, all is good...but it would be nice if they actually BRING you the food they've made! Egads...the 1st night dining room experience should be the same as any night....after all, it's not the wait staffs 1st night...they've been doing this for a while....

[Keith1010]

Have a great cruise.

 

Keith

[DeesEscape]

Great attitude toward the little "tests" you have already experienced and overcome since embarking. :)

 

We will be in your shoes in less than 2 weeks time so I am very interested in your opinion/reviews of all things Allure. I hope the bed toppers I requested make a difference in the VERY HARD BEDS as I'm looking forward to getting some real good sleep/rest while on vacation. We also have MTD more on the early side 6:45 and sooner but you were there even before the official start of MTD and ended up with bread for 2 hours of your time. Hopefully, from here on out it will be a lot smoother and enjoyable for you and your family. Makes me glad I booked our only specialty restaurant (so far) on the first night in anticipation that it might be just as you stated in the MDR.

 

Continue to roll with the punches and have a great vacation. Here's to following your lead. :D

[LuCruise]

Yikes. That's a horrible MTD experience. Hope it was one off thing. I've heard first night is the worst but doesn't make sense as they do this week after week. How many were in your party?

 

Good to hear the sail away parade was great as was Mamma Mia. The show a do look amazing.

 

Looking forward to hearing more.

 

Sent from my ONE E1005 using Tapatalk

[spazzyjanet]

We will be following along! I assume that there are a lot of kids on your holiday sailing? They must not be too out of control yet :)

 

I'm glad that we switched to early seating in leiu of MTD since reviews have been pretty consistent as far as waits. Also glad that we are doing Giovanni's Table the first night.

[ChipandNic]

We will be boarding on Jan 24th! Can't wait!! Please could you tell me if Centre piece band are still in Dazzles of an evening and how much longer they are on the ship for please? Would love to see them again. Spent many nights dancing away to their music!!....many thanks

[JamesEM]

Thanks for your report.

[harry0]

Just off the Allure and we too had horrible wait times in MTD with reservations. Back to traditional dining for us!

BUT THE SHIP IS AWESOME!!

Edited December 23, 2015 by harry0