Just off the Allure

[dagunny]

This is the new Set Sail Pass? I assume you only use it on boarding day and then you use you room card to get back on board on port days? If the cards on on door is your picture no longer on them?

 

We filled in whatever they wanted online and printed these. Took it to the terminal counter and they stamped it and checked us in. You use it to gain access to the ship the first time. Go to your room and get the sea pass card from the tree mail spot on the door. Open the door and get the remainder of the sea pass cards inside your stateroom. To me, it's a security risk. The cards on the door are the real issue. Anybody can grab it and access your room if they get there before you.

[Ocean Boy]

And though I agree that someone could access your cabin, you would know that the card had been tampered with. It isn't as if it is in a plain white envelope that someone could replace. I would hate to be that person when security reviews the passageway cameras and identifies the culprit.

[sublarry]

Did they offer speciality dining package deals on board? If so, do you recall the cost?

 

 

 

I know they were offering them every day. I do not remember the cost.

 

 

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[sublarry]

This is the new Set Sail Pass? I assume you only use it on boarding day and then you use you room card to get back on board on port days? If the cards on on door is your picture no longer on them?

 

 

 

No picture on the card. The paper is just to get on the ship with the first day.

 

 

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[Ocean Boy]

No picture on the card. The paper is just to get on the ship with the first day.

 

 

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The picture has never been on the card but it does access your picture when it is scanned.

[sublarry]

Debark Method In FLL?

 

 

 

We willboard on 2/18/18 so thank you for the current info.

 

 

 

How did youdebark once back in FLL? We need to get to the airport pretty quickly so tornbetween self-debark and dragging all of our luggage ourselves, or trusting ourluck to the normal process with the group numbers hoping we get or can attain alow number.

 

 

 

Youmentioned being paranoid, me too, so would like to nail it down.

 

 

 

FYI – old saying,“just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean someone is not out to get you”.

 

 

 

Thanksagain,

 

 

 

We did the regular checked luggage route and were #7. They called that number at 7:45 and everyone was supposed to be off ship by 9:00. We had a 1:00 flight and started off the ship at 8:15. We were at the airport at 9:15.

 

If you take your own bags there is a special Mobile Passport app that will help you move along.

 

 

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[Rockiesfan]

We sailed on Allure Jan14-21 and went to Samba the first night. My favorite restaurant is Texas de Brazil and although the idea is the same, it is not as good. There is a salad bar with regular salad things, and a new addition, at least to us, compared to a year ago January, there is another area that has side dishes.

 

They had corn, mashed potatoes, au gratin potatoes, asparagus, rolls and possibly a few other things. The dessert area is better than last year's also.

 

The meats were quite good as was the service. The manager of Samba came around several times to see how things were. I do believe that many complained about how poor everything was last year and they are making a real effort to improve things.

 

I don't think all the meat was that great in that the sirloin steak was tough. Unlike Texas de Brazil, when it comes to serving filet mignon, there were only 2 pieces of meat on the skewer and there were 2 of us, so I felt they didn't want anyone to take more than 1 piece at a time.

 

I do have to say it was like night and day compared to a year ago in January. We are going again in July and I am sure we will go to Samba again as it was a good experience and we have a 5 night dining package.

 

Thank you for this update on the menu at Samba. We sail in a month and are debating whether to go there one night, or stick to the other specialty restaurants. We have a vegetarian in our group and, based on older reviews, we were going to skip it, but now are reconsidering....

[CruzOMA]

Debark,

Thanks dagunny, we have discussed doing early walk-off. Is the parade off the ship more like a forced march? We will be 3 “mature” couples making our way off. Are there opportunities to pull-up if needed?

I believe I read there are two gangways. Our cabins are midships, is there more/less walking by using fore/aft gangway?

 

Congrats on Pinnacle, not enough sand left in the egg timer to entertain anything like that :cool:

[dagunny]

Debark,

Thanks dagunny, we have discussed doing early walk-off. Is the parade off the ship more like a forced march? We will be 3 “mature” couples making our way off. Are there opportunities to pull-up if needed?

I believe I read there are two gangways. Our cabins are midships, is there more/less walking by using fore/aft gangway?

 

Congrats on Pinnacle, not enough sand left in the egg timer to entertain anything like that :cool:

 

The ship pulls in front first at Terminal 18 so the forward gangway will be shorter walk. It's not a force march. They don't check mobile passport - we don't even bother with it. No more gray custom cards either. They ask if you have alcohol or tobacco. Pretty straight forward.

[CulverCityCruisers]

Yes, $60 per day... Ouch!

 

Thank you ! That would be before our D+ disc so $42 +18% isn't bad

[Castle3896]

Yes, $60 per day... Ouch!

 

Is it better to get the drink cards on board or pre-pay the deluxe drinking package?

[Clarea]

Is it better to get the drink cards on board or pre-pay the deluxe drinking package?

How much will you average drinking every day, and do you want to have your drinks covered the first 3 days?

[Ocean Boy]

Is it better to get the drink cards on board or pre-pay the deluxe drinking package?

The drink card was $79 + 18%. It became available on either day 3 or 4. It all depends on the pre-cruise pricing that you find for the package, how much you think you will drink, and how much of that drinking will occur before the card becomes availabe. Also, the price of the card can vary from sailing to sailing as well as ship to ship.

 

RCI can sometimes make it hard to plan for your financial benefit.

[mafig]

How do you find out when the card becomes available for sale? Is it in the daily program, signage at the bars?

[Ocean Boy]

How do you find out when the card becomes available for sale? Is it in the daily program, signage at the bars?

A notice was put in the Compass. I think I may have also seen signs at some of the bars. I didn't pay a lot of attention to it.

[Sun Lover]

We had a super cruise. Concierges were top notch as were the bartenders. never an empty glass.

You can't beat the Coastal Kitchen for restaurants.

Couple negatives.

They implemented a paper boarding pass and your room card is on the outside of the cabin door where they put the tree mail. This sucks because anyone could open your room and take your amenities as well as use your card. This is a major security breach. Probably the person who did away with the reduced deposits back in August thought this one up. Our paper boarding pass did not work and we had to wait at the portal while someone went back to the pier check-in and printed us another paper boarding pass.

The elevators configuration is setup wrong. Many times an elevator with none or only one or two inside passed us by on floor 12. Not just one but three's and four's. Sometimes took 5-7 minutes to get an elevator.

We tried 150 for a restaurant - ordered the roast for two. We know they under cook the meat so we ordered it medium. We got one side raw and the other side rare. Won't go there again. Staff was OK as was ambience.

Mamma Mia - the old cast was much better. This cast just didn't have the warm feel and passion of the old one.

The pros:

Coastal Kitchen - best restaurant aboard any RCCL ship. Only Murano's on Celebrity exceeds that. Food was fantastic. Chef did schnitzel for lunch and had an outstanding seafood buffet for lunch on last sea day. Portions are exactly what we want - not huge like in MDR.

Suites Lounge - cannot say enough. We like the continental breakfast - parfaits, muesli, fancy pastries, berries, et al.

Trivias - nice to have new questions - Robo and Mike kept us entertained.

Crew - wonderful.

Pinnacle lunch in Giovanni's was superb. Captain and all senior officer's were there. Food was marvelous.

We liked the Allure and have 7 more booked on her.

Deck 17 forward was a nice haven away from the pool deck chaos.

After the fiasco on Freedom of the Seas a week prior we were glad to get on Allure. It's like coming home. In fact, my wife stated after we got into the Suites Lounge - "We're home". Enough said.

Anyway, just our $.02.

 

 

Can you tell me about the fiasco on Freedom? We were thinking of possibly booking that ship and have never been on a Freedom class ship so I would like to hear your input. Thanks.

[dagunny]

Can you tell me about the fiasco on Freedom? We were thinking of possibly booking that ship and have never been on a Freedom class ship so I would like to hear your input. Thanks.

 

OK, you asked for it.

 

 

This is my own $.02 from what I experienced and a letter I sent to Executive HQ.

Letter to Michael Bayley and I have received a response that they will take action.

 

 

 

"We were recently on Freedom of the Seas from 6 Jan – 20 Jan 2018.

Very disappointed in Freedom’s management team as depicted below.

 

 

Disembarkation was a fiasco for consecutive cruisers. We were escorted off by Concierge to a holding tank in Terminal. CBP came through and cleared us for immigration. We then sat for over an hour while the next sailing’s guests were filling up the terminal all around us. We finally flagged down a ship’s officer who let us back on. We were forgotten. No information was passed from ship to terminal staff. (Normally, a representative from Guest Services stays with you and escorts you back on)

 

 

 

The consecutive cruisers “special lunch” fell way short. We sat for 45 minutes in the dining room while tables around us received lunch and we notified waiter supervisor (Monica Cabrera) twice that we had not yet been served. She did not know what to do and took NO ACTION – she should not be a supervisor. We finally left, disgusted, without being served and notified both Hotel Director Xavier Matthias (I personally met with him at the Promenade Cafe) and Guest Services (a hand written note for the Guest Services Manager). We tried to go to the Windjammer but the lines were out to the elevators and no one could get into the restaurant as all lines were long and only one side was opened. We went back to our rooms and made cup-of-soups. We received no feedback the entire cruise from management. Very sad.

 

 

In our cabin, (Junior Suite), we received no upgraded toiletries (we are Pinnacle). We received no hors d’oeuvres plates, cheese plates, and only one bottle of wine. We had no lunch with an officer as the request cards had that omitted with only backstage tours listed.

 

 

We have sailed on many other ships for 4-6 day cruises (this was a 6 day and the previous B2B was 8 days) and always received lunch with an officer, multiple bottles of wine, hors d’oeuvres, toiletries, etc. Even Empress with 5 night cruises has a fantastic lunch with the officers.

 

 

Continental breakfast in the lounges were extremely limited. While on Navigator a day prior to Freedom, the lounges had fancy pastries, smoothies, parfaits, large selection of cold cuts and just an overall better ambience than Freedom.

 

 

Someone in management is dropping the ball. But, then again, the better Hotel Directors do better things for their guests.

 

 

All in all – this was a very disappointing cruise specifically due to lack of management.

We even received questionnaires in the room the last night to write down if anyone in the rooms had experienced gastrointestinal problems, with their cabin number. They stated they wanted it for a count. How stupid do they think the passengers are?

 

 

The only saving grace was the bartenders in the Concierge Lounge (especially Monica) were fantastic and we had breakfast in Chops daily.

 

 

I would not want to travel on Freedom of the Seas again because management is substandard and needs a refresher course in how to manage crew, passengers, and venues.

 

 

Ironically, these were our first two cruises as Pinnacles."

 

 

I stand by what I experienced. The last time we were on Freedom was the inaugural in 2006. Things have changed.

 

 

 

The crew was great but management was substandard. I was a manager in my former life before retirement and there was an extreme lack of attention to detail. When I met with Xavier he had a "give a s%$t attitude" and took no action. Even Adrian, the Guest Services Manager, didn't respond to my note I passed to him. If someone came to me, as a manager, with the same issues I would have dropped everything and taken appropriate action. Lots of high rollers on the consecutive cruises.

 

 

 

I'm not whining - just putting to paper the facts that happened. For my money, and I spend a lot with Royal - over $75k last year alone, I wouldn't go on Freedom again until they change Hotel Directors and/or Guest Services managers. Perhaps even renaming it "Substandard of the Seas".:D

 

 

 

Many others we talked to on the Allure that just came off the Freedom had the same experience, so it wasn't just us.

 

 

 

Allure, on the other hand, is superb. The crew, Officer's, Concierges, and especially the Coastal Kitchen staff just go that extra mile to ensure you have a wonderful experience for the short time you are with them. Chef Stellbrink (Der Schnitzel Meister) made some really good schnitzel and also a wonderful seafood buffet lunch on the sea days.

 

 

We had similar great experiences like the Allure on Brilliance, Jewel, Navigator, Empress, and Adventure to name a few. Great Hotel Directors and Officer's.

 

 

 

Again, these are mine and my wife's personal experiences and yours may vary.

 

 

Ahhhhhh, less than two weeks to our 3rd annual 60's cruise, which is the MOST FUN of any cruise we've ever taken. http://www.flowerpowercruise.com - check out the lineup.

 

 

 

Awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[cruisegus]

just off the Alure past Sunday 11 Feb 2018, had junior suite JS, Diamond Lounge was superb, but think i could get a reservation in Coastal Kitchen earlier than 8pm (BTW way to late for us to eat dinner), Not a chance, on top of that the lady at the host station in Coastal Kitchen all but directly told me I was just in a Junior Suite and she could care less to help me ( worst attitude i have ever experienced on RCI cruises.

[CruzOMA]

RE: Freedom rant, I rest my case,,,

[gailforce2000]

just off the Alure past Sunday 11 Feb 2018, had junior suite JS, Diamond Lounge was superb, but think i could get a reservation in Coastal Kitchen earlier than 8pm (BTW way to late for us to eat dinner), Not a chance, on top of that the lady at the host station in Coastal Kitchen all but directly told me I was just in a Junior Suite and she could care less to help me ( worst attitude i have ever experienced on RCI cruises.

 

 

I hope you reported her

[sublarry]

I hope you reported her

 

 

 

I will remember to avoid the Freedom for future cruises. The further from our cruise the more we liked it.

 

I did realize something this weekend. I believe the ship “excursion” at Labadee was for a sun bed for 2 with a cover on it. I was expecting to have one of the beds with a pad on it we could both lay on.

 

It ended up being 2 lounge chairs without pads. It ended up. It being bad as we could pull the chairs out into the sun when we wanted. I was going to take the cover down, but my wife said it might get sand in everything when we put it back up.

 

Columbus cove would have been the place to be. We will do something there if we ever go back to Labadee.

 

Larry

 

 

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[fletch1027]

Keith,

 

It was great. Very windy sailing away from Ft.Lauderdale and most of the sea day on Monday. It was cloudy and rained on the sea day heading back.

 

We loved the cruise from the minute we stepped on the ship. The entertainment was great. Food was cruise food. We did the main dining room three nights and the Brazilian steakhouse one night. The Brazilian was $30 per person.

 

We were on the Labadee, Falmouth, Cozumel itinerary.

 

 

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Apologies if this has already beed asked and answered, but how was the Brazilian steakhouse? We have that booked on our Allure cruise next week... :)

[rmurray847]

Debark Method In FLL?

How did youdebark once back in FLL? We need to get to the airport pretty quickly so tornbetween self-debark and dragging all of our luggage ourselves, or trusting ourluck to the normal process with the group numbers hoping we get or can attain alow number.,

 

We self debarked on the ALLURE last year (our first time trying that) and it went great. We got through customs very quickly and were in a cab about 2 minutes later. There is LOTS of activity, but things were nicely organized, we felt. The only pain was dealing with our luggage on the elevators. LOTS of people doing the same thing, so it took awhile to get an elevator we could fit on with our bags. But we still wouldn't hesitate to do the same again.

 

I had never been to FLL before. We flew in and out of there (not Miami), and the airport really is quite near to the port. If our cab ride from the port to the airport took more than 10 minutes, I'd be surprised.

[fletch1027]

Any compass scans? I was curious about the different trivias!

[sublarry]

Apologies if this has already beed asked and answered, but how was the Brazilian steakhouse? We have that booked on our Allure cruise next week... :)

 

 

Fletch,

It was my first trip to one so I have nothing to compare it to. Most of the meats were good. I didn’t like the lamb but I have tried it a couple times and it is just not for me. The chicken and all the beef except the filet were really good. They had a small salad bar and some side dishes on a buffet you could get.

 

Try the sugar free Key Lime Mousse. It was very good.

 

Larry

 

 

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