Allure of the Seas vs. Jewel of the Seas

[jslev9]

Hi all,

My fiancée and I are booked on the 7 Night Italy, Spain, and France cruise on Royal Caribbean's Jewel of the Seas with a fully refundable fare for our honeymoon and we just realized that the Allure of the Seas is doing a very similar sailing a month later and it would only be $230 extra (total, not per person or per night) to upgrade. 

 

Jewel of the Seas itinerary: Depart Barcelona, Nice, Portofino, Florence/Pisa, Rome, Naples, Day at Sea, Return to Barcelona

Allure of the Seas itinerary: Depart Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Provence, Florence/Pisa, Rome, Naples, Day at Sea, Return to Barcelona

 

Considerations:

While we're intrigued by the allure of sailing on the Allure of the Seas (pun intended), we know it's a very port heavy sailing so don't know how much of the ship we'd actually be able to experience. At the same time, however, everyone says the Allure is an amazing ship and I feel like we'd be crazy to pass up the opportunity to sail on her for just a little more money. Also, for what it's worth, this would be the Allure's first sailing out of her dry dock (we know there are sometimes issues with the first sailing after a dry dock but we would be quite happy enjoying Barcelona if the sailing is delayed/cancelled plus I'd assume there'd be some sort of compensation from RCL).

 

Penny for your thoughts?

[Clarea]

If you are intrigued by Allure, then by all means go for it.  Just remember that you will be disembarking/embarking at all those ports with 6500 others, and you will be reserving showtimes pre-cruise. 

[Hoopster95]

Just now, jslev9 said:

honeymoon.... we know it's a very port heavy sailing so don't know how much of the ship we'd actually be able to experience.

 

What is your goal for your honeymoon? Have you been to Europe before? Are you honeymooning to relax or to be busy everyday and see new cities you've never seen before? Are you normally a tourist (sit by the pool with a drink in hand all day long) or a traveler (you want to get out and see/do new things), or a combination of both?

 

100% guarantee you miss a ton of things on Allure in only seven days unless you focus on the ship by skipping a port or two and definitely getting back from the incredible cities you are visiting early... a major shame imo. If your goal is the ports, the ship doesn't matter. My guess is if you've never been to Europe, your jaw will be dropping at the cities you'll be visiting. 10 years from now, you'll remember standing at the Coliseum in Rome rather than what show you saw on Allure for example.

 

Jewel you can see the ocean and all the places you are visiting from most places on the ship, including the open eating area at the back of the Windjammer. Allure is focused inside, you do not see much of the ocean or anywhere you are going from anywhere on the ship. Jewel is my pick in Europe over any Oasis class ship for me personally.

[Hoopster95]

2 hours ago, singinalot said:

The Jewel is a beautiful ship for honeymooners and a european cruise. We loved the greek isles trip so much last year that we're going again on her this year.

 

Aha!!! The absolute best Cruise critic member to be able to give you 1st hand advice on this thread with fully experienced answer. Singalot was too modest not mentioning.... proposal last year on Jewel Greek cruise, return honeymoon this year on Jewel... I hope I got that right 💍

 

See her "signature" before at bottom of her post? You can see she has a link there to her "Jewel of the Seas WE GOT ENGAGED" trip. If you have a bit of time to kill, you'll enjoy going through that. She also has an Allure review (3rd from top) as well.

[jholzhauser]

We went on that itinterary for our honeymoon two years ago on Jewel and it was fantastic! It was super low key because there wasn’t a ton of people and it was calm and quiet. If you’re in it for the big ship factor, go for Allure. However, loved loved loved Jewel!

[bonsai3s]

8 hours ago, Hoopster95 said:

 

What is your goal for your honeymoon? Have you been to Europe before? Are you honeymooning to relax or to be busy everyday and see new cities you've never seen before? Are you normally a tourist (sit by the pool with a drink in hand all day long) or a traveler (you want to get out and see/do new things), or a combination of both?

 

100% guarantee you miss a ton of things on Allure in only seven days unless you focus on the ship by skipping a port or two and definitely getting back from the incredible cities you are visiting early... a major shame imo. If your goal is the ports, the ship doesn't matter. My guess is if you've never been to Europe, your jaw will be dropping at the cities you'll be visiting. 10 years from now, you'll remember standing at the Coliseum in Rome rather than what show you saw on Allure for example.

 

Jewel you can see the ocean and all the places you are visiting from most places on the ship, including the open eating area at the back of the Windjammer. Allure is focused inside, you do not see much of the ocean or anywhere you are going from anywhere on the ship. Jewel is my pick in Europe over any Oasis class ship for me personally.

 

Well said...agree.  We have sailed on both the Allure and the Jewel...and yes, the Jewel is also our pick.  To the OP: "Happy Honeymoon! and happy sailing.

[Ocean Boy]

In this situation I might be persuaded to go with Jewel even though I much prefer Oasis class ships. The itinerary is way too port intensive to take advantage of all Allure has to offer.

[Rewind]

I'm another vote for Jewel.  We did a transatlantic on Allure for 12 nights, 10 of those were straight sea days, and we still felt like we didn't get to do everything on the ship (granted we did a lot of relaxing).  And then there is the benefit of not having twice as many passengers getting off at the ports with you.

 

I'd save the $230 on the cruise and use it for something special in the port stops.

 

But yes, on a less port intensive itinerary, Allure is an amazing ship.

[Desert Cruizers]

Daughter & I added the TA on November 1st, 2020 following the October 25th 2020 7 day Western Med. jslev9 why not join our Roll Calls. This way we get to visit some Italy Ports and enjoy the Allure for another 15 days which will be a first for us. 

[Luvmypups]

In this situation I might be persuaded to go with Jewel even though I much prefer Oasis class ships. The itinerary is way too port intensive to take advantage of all Allure has to offer.

I agree with Ocean Boy, we’ve been on both ships as well and on the same route in Europe. I would do the Jewel with fewer people in a Europe and do Allure on a less port intensive cruise so you can enjoy what she has to offer.


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[Merion_Mom]

Definitely, the way to go is JEWEL.  It is a MUCH more "romantic ship".  

 

No charge for my thoughts.  😄

[jslev9]

Thank you, all, for the quick, thorough, and amazing advice! We'll be sticking with the Jewel and are sitting next to each other grinning from ear to ear with excitement about our trip 🙂

 

13 hours ago, Hoopster95 said:

What is your goal for your honeymoon? Have you been to Europe before? Are you honeymooning to relax or to be busy everyday and see new cities you've never seen before? Are you normally a tourist (sit by the pool with a drink in hand all day long) or a traveler (you want to get out and see/do new things), or a combination of both?

 

100% guarantee you miss a ton of things on Allure in only seven days unless you focus on the ship by skipping a port or two and definitely getting back from the incredible cities you are visiting early... a major shame imo. If your goal is the ports, the ship doesn't matter. My guess is if you've never been to Europe, your jaw will be dropping at the cities you'll be visiting. 10 years from now, you'll remember standing at the Coliseum in Rome rather than what show you saw on Allure for example.

 

Jewel you can see the ocean and all the places you are visiting from most places on the ship, including the open eating area at the back of the Windjammer. Allure is focused inside, you do not see much of the ocean or anywhere you are going from anywhere on the ship. Jewel is my pick in Europe over any Oasis class ship for me personally.

 

As soon as I read this, I knew sticking with the Jewel was the right choice -- and everyone else confirmed it even more.

 

12 hours ago, singinalot said:

We have been on both Allure and Jewel. We sailed the greek isles on Jewel and caribbean on Allure...I agree with the comments above...I LOVE Allure...hands down my favorite ship...but you won't get to see much of it with a port intensive european cruise.  The Jewel is a beautiful ship for honeymooners and a european cruise. We loved the greek isles trip so much last year that we're going again on her this year.

 

Congrats on your engagement! After Hoopster95 posted, I went back and read your TR (along with the other people you said you learned from) and got even more excited, which I didn't know was possible. My fiancée and I also got engaged on a RCL vacation (onboard Mariner of the Seas) so we knew we wanted to involve a cruise with either a dual bachelor/bachelorette party or on our honeymoon. One of her bridesmaids gets incredibly sea sick so we get to save the cruise for the honeymoon and cross this great itinerary off our bucket list! 

 

10 hours ago, Hoopster95 said:

 

Aha!!! The absolute best Cruise critic member to be able to give you 1st hand advice on this thread with fully experienced answer. Singalot was too modest not mentioning.... proposal last year on Jewel Greek cruise, return honeymoon this year on Jewel... I hope I got that right 💍

 

See her "signature" before at bottom of her post? You can see she has a link there to her "Jewel of the Seas WE GOT ENGAGED" trip. If you have a bit of time to kill, you'll enjoy going through that. She also has an Allure review (3rd from top) as well.

 

Thanks for pointing out her signature -- you knew just how to make my fiancée and I even more excited!

 

4 hours ago, bonsai3s said:

 

Well said...agree.  We have sailed on both the Allure and the Jewel...and yes, the Jewel is also our pick.  To the OP: "Happy Honeymoon! and happy sailing.

 

Thank you!

 

[Illbcruzn4life]

I can't see any signatures. Is there a setting some where for that? I've looked but don't see any.

[jslev9]

1 hour ago, singinalot said:

Jslev9 you will have to come back and do a report for us!

 

Will do!

[Orange jeep]

We’ve been on the Jewel  twice and a Allure of the seas twice as well absolutely love the Jewel and really like the Allure   If it was my honeymoon and I was going to Europe I will go on the jewel itis a beautiful ship and you will love it...my two cents.

 

Plus you will get hooked on cruising and will go another time on Allure,

 

[trivia addict]

Glad you chose the Jewel. I agree with all of the comments above. I have been on both ships and three timeson a European cruise. This itinerary is much too good to spend much time on the ship. You will have opportunities in the future to experience the wonders of the Allure.