Allure could be better

[SaintL]

Went on Allure june 26th sailing. Everything seemed age restricted. My adult son couldnt even play indoor volleyball closed for teens. Ship was not that clean. Gum on bottom of table stand on deck 5. Never saw anyone clean only saw cruise director before a show. Never saw him anywhere else. Breakfast food was cold no matter where we went. Had to ask 3 different staff members to please clear the table with other guests dishes at the windjammer. The only good thing was dinner we had two great waiters. Vandyl and Eric awesome people. Always had drinks at the table before my kids got there. Went on Norweigan yrs ago greatest cruise director still remember his name he got everyone going in the morning til the next day. I cant even remember The Allures cruise directors name. No more cruising for awhile and by the way awful beach at Labadee rocks all over people couldnt get in and out of water I busted my knee open trying to help my mom out. If u want a better area walk about a mile in the heat Rccl think of a better port to stop in

 

I am always amazed that people actually care about a cruise director, to me this is a job that is no longer needed. I couldnt tell you who the cruise director was on any of my cruises, there job was to entertain you and i think ships today can do the entertainment well enough on thier own without someone telling you a play by play.

 

Would like to see this position eliminated.

[juiceman]

I am always amazed that people actually care about a cruise director, to me this is a job that is no longer needed. I couldnt tell you who the cruise director was on any of my cruises, there job was to entertain you and i think ships today can do the entertainment well enough on thier own without someone telling you a play by play.

 

Would like to see this position eliminated.

 

To me, the only time I think a cruise director is really important is if the ship is sailing through bad weather & all of the outdoor decks are closed. He/she can have things for the passengers to do while they are cooped up inside. Other than that, I agree with you.

[Smitty815]

Not going to lie, I stopped reading when you complained that your adult son couldn't play with teenagers. There is absolutely no doubt that the rest of your complaints are just as ridiculous.

 

 

I have been on the Oasis and Allure 4 times and there are LOADS of opportunities for Adults to play Volleyball, Soccer, Basketball, Dodgeball, Ping Pong, etc.

[cruzeluver]

You do not have to walk far at all to get to the sandy beaches at Labadee. Did you somehow miss the free trams carting folks back and forth? Only beaches that are to the left are rocky. Beaches on the right are sandy and just lovely. Some of our favorites.

[sdpete]

This does not sound like the ship I cruised this past April.

[bluewater5]

I was on the Allure, June 12 cruise. First time on RCL and I loved the ship and the crew. EVERYONE worked so hard, service, cleaning, etc. Food was always hot and fresh in the Windjammer and tables cleaned timely.

 

It is so unforturnate that some don't appreciate things and expect more.

[potterhill]

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[Anchor Down!]

Went on Allure june 26th sailing. Everything seemed age restricted. My adult son couldnt even play indoor volleyball closed for teens. Ship was not that clean. Gum on bottom of table stand on deck 5. Never saw anyone clean only saw cruise director before a show. Never saw him anywhere else. Breakfast food was cold no matter where we went. Had to ask 3 different staff members to please clear the table with other guests dishes at the windjammer. The only good thing was dinner we had two great waiters. Vandyl and Eric awesome people. Always had drinks at the table before my kids got there. Went on Norweigan yrs ago greatest cruise director still remember his name he got everyone going in the morning til the next day. I cant even remember The Allures cruise directors name. No more cruising for awhile and by the way awful beach at Labadee rocks all over people couldnt get in and out of water I busted my knee open trying to help my mom out. If u want a better area walk about a mile in the heat Rccl think of a better port to stop in

 

I am sorry that your cruise wasn't all that you imagined. I was on this sailing and will say that my experience was very different than yours. I don't deny that you saw gum somewhere but I found the ship to be very clean and the crew working hard to keep it that way. I actually saw two crew members on their knees close to the Solarium cleaning a tiny little black spot on the tile floor that I never would have noticed had they not been there.

 

Tim Connor was the cruise director and my impression is he does a great job. On a ship with as many overlapping activities as Allure I don't see how he gets to all of the events that he does. I did spot him relaxing for a bit having a drink with another crew member and standing at one of the tables by Starbucks.

 

My wife and I loved Labadee! We reserved one of the beach beds on Adrenaline Beach and had a great time! I did step on some coral also but that was my fault for not heeding the warnings I had read on here and the signs that were on the beach. Our attendant, Johnny, worked his tail off constantly going back and forth in the heat to get drinks for everyone. He also got us onto the coaster without us having reservations.

 

Again I am sorry you didn't have the experience you were expecting but hopefully the next one will be much better.

[troykahack]

Went on Allure june 26th sailing.

 

awful beach at Labadee rocks all over people couldnt get in and out of water I busted my knee open trying to help my mom out. If u want a better area walk about a mile in the heat Rccl think of a better port to stop in

 

We wear beach shoes, take some next time... it's a beach, in the islands... not super sandy beaches some places have... Labadee is one of the best beach areas... you think Labadee has rocks, try Coco Cay, which we love too....

 

I really don't think it is a mile walk.... book a suite, they will take you by gold cart to their private beach...

Edited July 13, 2016 by troykahack

[Fouremco]

Another student from the creative writing class who forgot that you must at least try to make it sound believable! :rolleyes:

[nolesrule]

I am always amazed that people actually care about a cruise director, to me this is a job that is no longer needed. I couldnt tell you who the cruise director was on any of my cruises, there job was to entertain you and i think ships today can do the entertainment well enough on thier own without someone telling you a play by play.

 

Would like to see this position eliminated.

 

The Cruise Director isn't just an emcee and announcement maker. A CD is the person in charge of overseeing the management of activities and entertainment onboard the ship.

 

It's a bit like saying the ship doesn't need a captain because you don't need the mid-day announcement about location, ship speed and weather.

[ryano]

Allure just scored a 100 last month during a unannounced inspection by Vessel Sanitation Program for the third time since she was built and has never scored lower than 92. Ships dont score those kind of #s from no one cleaning lol. I guess because you didnt see it, it didnt happen though :o

Edited July 13, 2016 by ryano

[Lionesss]

For a minute I thought the OP was really stating some realistic facts.

 

DUH

 

Me wrong..........................

 

 

Love the Allure, and cannot wait to sail again in less than 4 weeks.

 

Sea Ya

[DING-DING]

I was also on this cruise along with 21 family members and we all had a fabulous time! I thought the ship was very clean and we saw the cruise director many times. We had breakfast at Johnny Rockets several mornings and it was always hot and delicious. Maybe next time will be better.

[Big_G]

The Cruise Director isn't just an emcee and announcement maker. A CD is the person in charge of overseeing the management of activities and entertainment onboard the ship.

 

It's a bit like saying the ship doesn't need a captain because you don't need the mid-day announcement about location, ship speed and weather.

 

You beat me to it. While I 'couldn't care less' to meet the CD on a ship, I surely appreciate their efforts. They are in charge of the entire entertainment budget. People think they are just a face on the ship when they're actually management.

[Yorkvillain]

I believe the indoor volleyball is held every night from 6 PM to 2 AM in Port Merchants.

[JAYRAY1259]

I was on this sailing with the wife and 11 family members, We celebrated our 50th Anniversary while on board. Wife and I have been on 11 cruises 10 with RCCL twice on the Allure and once on the Oasis, found them both to be fabulous. the wait staff in the MDR was absolutely incredible. The food was for the most part pretty good and the entertainment was excellent. Especially enjoyed MaMa Mia and the comedy club. The only thing I would do different is book after school goes back, there was a lot of kids on this sailing and we had some younger people with us, 11, 14 and 15. Things were a bit crowded in the venues in their age bracket. Forgot about everyone waiting for school to let out for the summer to book with their kids. I did the same thing. Next time I'll let the kids miss a week of school and book after they go back. They are all smart enough to catch up, lol. to hell with their perfect attendance for the year. lol. So other then that We enjoyed ourselves and we felt that the staff was excellent, service was great and would not hesitate to go on the Allure again. Although I would probably do the Harmony next time, after all it's the biggest ship in the world now, Hahahaha, size matters as they say.

[PlanoDebbie]

We were just on the Allure last week and it seemed pretty clean to me. I must have lower standards. We saw people cleaning around the ship every day. I have a feeling a lot of cleaning gets done at night when we're all in our cabin. We had no complaints about the cleanliness of the ship at all.

 

I will agree that the Windjammer was always packed and difficult to find a clean table. Being our first time on that ship, we didn't have a good feel for where are of the "included" dining places were. Most of them had a very limited variety of food choices as well. I think they could have done a better job of helping newbies locate all of those other dining options to reduce the crowds in the Windjammer.

[Merion_Mom]

We were just on the Allure last week and it seemed pretty clean to me. I must have lower standards. We saw people cleaning around the ship every day. I have a feeling a lot of cleaning gets done at night when we're all in our cabin. We had no complaints about the cleanliness of the ship at all.

 

I will agree that the Windjammer was always packed and difficult to find a clean table. Being our first time on that ship, we didn't have a good feel for where are of the "included" dining places were. Most of them had a very limited variety of food choices as well. I think they could have done a better job of helping newbies locate all of those other dining options to reduce the crowds in the Windjammer.

 

Like using the Wayfinder in every elevator lobby and the menu of available restaurants?

[OSUZorba]

My wife is a white gloves kind of clean freak, and we have never seen a dirty RCL ship. This is like the people that complain about them painting while sailing, then complaining the paint is faded elsewhere.

 

I've been on Oasis twice, in my experience the CDs are much less "involved" on Oasis than the smaller ships, but I think that is because so much more is going on, and the whole ship doesn't go to the same entertainment everyday. I personally enjoy CDs, so this is one reason I haven't gone back to Oasis class recently.

[OSUZorba]

BTW, Johnny Rockets offers free breakfast on the Oasis class ships, which is very good and definitely hot and keeps you from dealing with the madhouse that is the WJ. I wish every ship had this option.

[TonyBuzz]

Like using the Wayfinder in every elevator lobby and the menu of available restaurants?

 

Can't you also check it from your room TV? They showed all restaurants, fee or free and how crowded green to red. If Windjammer is red, Johnny Rockets is Green, with fresh made to order eggs.

[papaflamingo]

Went on Allure june 26th sailing. Everything seemed age restricted. My adult son couldnt even play indoor volleyball closed for teens. Ship was not that clean. Gum on bottom of table stand on deck 5. Never saw anyone clean only saw cruise director before a show. Never saw him anywhere else. Breakfast food was cold no matter where we went. Had to ask 3 different staff members to please clear the table with other guests dishes at the windjammer. The only good thing was dinner we had two great waiters. Vandyl and Eric awesome people. Always had drinks at the table before my kids got there. Went on Norweigan yrs ago greatest cruise director still remember his name he got everyone going in the morning til the next day. I cant even remember The Allures cruise directors name. No more cruising for awhile and by the way awful beach at Labadee rocks all over people couldnt get in and out of water I busted my knee open trying to help my mom out. If u want a better area walk about a mile in the heat Rccl think of a better port to stop in

 

Tough crowd. Sorry you didn't enjoy the cruise. I've done Allure and Oasis twice each. Haven't lately. I will say, I love Labadee. And as others have said, there are sandy beaches available. I know the beach you went to, and you are right. Very rocky and hard to enter the water, unless you have water shoes. But if you had gone to Nellies Beach of Columbus Cove you would have found shade and sand. They are beautiful. There is also (at least there used to be) a ferry from the pier to Columbus Cove, so no real walk.

We never experienced cold food. But haven't sailed in a few years on Allure. Seems you are talking about the Windjammer. Well, it's a buffet. Things can sit for a while. In the MDR, you said you had great servers. Did you tell them the food was cold? They would have gotten you fresh dinners.

Cruise Director. Yeah, they aren't real visible around such a huge ship. He may or may not have been around and you just didn't see him. But the CD has a lot to do on such a big ship with so many activities. So you need to cut him a bit of slack.

The crew works hard. But there are a lot of people, and they are busy. If you couldn't get tables cleared, that is not correct. But if it was isolated, then it was isolated.

Anyway, truth is, sounds like you prefer a small ship experience like you had on NCL. I don't blame you. There is a huge difference between Allure and a ship like Vision. On Vision (or any other smaller ship of the Vision class) you'll see the CD walking around. You'll see the same passengers over and over and get to know them. You'll see the staff more often and get to know them. Your entertainment and night life will be much more limited, but it will be more like what you had on NCL. I'd stick with smaller ships if I were you.

[Melrosgirl]

I've noticed on the Oasis class ships, we rarely see the CD either (maybe bc there are so many diff areas he could be in...can't be everywhere at once). We've been to many areas of Labadee and this year we went to two beaches. I think it's Adrenaline beach , near the zip line, that is horribly rocky. I stayed there for about 15 minutes and went back across the street to the nicer beaches. We loved Allure. (Went on it last month.)

 

I made it a goal this year not to go to the Windjammer. Never went there once. So many other places to go to on the Oasis ships and it rarely felt crowded except near the pools on sea days.

Edited July 15, 2016 by Melrosgirl

[dt126]

I started another thread about the Allure with a few complaints as well. We were on 7/3 through 7/10. However, I had no issue with either cleanliness of the ship or the food temperature. I think they did a good job of cleaning the ship in general and our rooms. I think I commented that some of the finishes were a bit worn, but that is quite different than dirty. I did make the mistake of lifting up the mattress pad once and looking underneath, yeah that particular mattress looked like it needed to be replaced but that was the only thing that I noticed which could have been better.

 

Also, I thought the food in Windjammer was just OK, but I had no issue on the temperature and they seemed to be cycling newly prepared food in pretty quickly. They were sometimes slow in terms of cleaning tables, but only when it was crowded.