Review: Allure's Thanksgiving At Sea: Suite Class, Smiles, & Steerage

[RCCL Fan]

5 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

@RCCL Fan Sorry I'm late to the party, I've been nursing a bad cold. Great review as I always love hearing your stories. Your ability to stay calm and level headed when all hell is breaking down around you should be a lesson to us all. I almost have to laugh as it seems every cruise you have something weird happen. We will be on that itinerary in September. I do worry about the murky water, sand fleas and seaweed that seem to be in abundance in those areas. Again thank you for taking the time to write up your experience. I still hope one day we can meet up.

 

 

I was wondering where you were!   Writing my review just wasn't the same without you cheering me on.

 

I'm glad you're getting over the hump of the cold.

 

It's funny you say that about every cruise something weird happens.  I was starting to wonder, am I being too picky.  Am I turning into those really grumpy seasoned cruisers, who complain about everything???

 

But then I thought about my last cruises...

 

Adventure --  PERFECT  like it was perfect.  the only issues we had, we're ones we caused (our friends leaving their luggage)

 

Enchantment --   we don't even talk about it --- I deleted the review, it was just too bad.

 

Vision --- PERFECT  a great cruise on a little ship. (we did have that reservations issue, though i forgot about that, cancelled my whole cruise the day before we left, but they fixed it.  brief heart attack before we even left)

 

Allure (2018) --- some hiccups.  but not anything super serious. Like give it a 80%.

 

Serenade -- PERFECT . loved it. 

 

So I'm confident Royal is still awesome --- but yes this one was definitely a low scorer.  I think it's the first time I've come home from a cruise and people asked how was it and I was like... meh....

 

Message me on FB and I'll give you our recommendations for Roatan, we had an amazing time there on vision, like it was amazing.  I think you just have to go to the right place. 

Edited December 8, 2021 by RCCL Fan

[RCCL Fan]

8 minutes ago, CruisinMama2003 said:

He was the CD for the first 2 days of our Indy cruise at the beginning of Oct, then he went to Allure. Our cruise was Oct 6-15. 

 

He left mid week?  wow that's weird.   

 

The thing is I never met anyone else.   

 

Like gun to my head I could not name or even pick a face out of a line up of a single other member of the cruise directors staff.

 

My friends watched the morning show so they knew the activity manager from there.  but we never went to any events or anything where we would run into them.  I don't know why.  I don't know if it was a vax/unvax issue or what.

 

I also think this happens on the Oasis class ship.  There so much STUFF to see.  I like to call it the hard product.... rising tide, aquatheater, zip lining, central park....    that you often lose the soft product....    pool games,  schooner bar  trivia,  funny game shows  that exist on the smaller ships.   

 

My wife is a small ship lover,  I've always been a big ship lover.   But we've lately concluded that Voyager class may be perfect for us.   small enough that it's manageable and has a small ship feel, but still has the promenade and enough hard product where I don't get bored.

[CruisinMama2003]

8 hours ago, RCCL Fan said:

 

He left mid week?  wow that's weird.   

 

The thing is I never met anyone else.   

 

Like gun to my head I could not name or even pick a face out of a line up of a single other member of the cruise directors staff.

 

My friends watched the morning show so they knew the activity manager from there.  but we never went to any events or anything where we would run into them.  I don't know why.  I don't know if it was a vax/unvax issue or what.

 

I also think this happens on the Oasis class ship.  There so much STUFF to see.  I like to call it the hard product.... rising tide, aquatheater, zip lining, central park....    that you often lose the soft product....    pool games,  schooner bar  trivia,  funny game shows  that exist on the smaller ships.   

 

My wife is a small ship lover,  I've always been a big ship lover.   But we've lately concluded that Voyager class may be perfect for us.   small enough that it's manageable and has a small ship feel, but still has the promenade and enough hard product where I don't get bored.

 

Yes, it was very strange that there was a switch in CDs 2 days into the cruise. Never had that happen before, usually they just leave after the cruise is over, but nope, he got off in either PC or Miami. 

 

 I agree about the hard product/soft product analogy. Love the big girls, but felt like it was the little things (pool games, game shows, etc) that we missed. Also felt like we were on the go, go, go alot on Oasis. So much to see! I think Voyager & Freedom class is our "happy medium" as well.

 

Love your reviews btw! When is the next adventure for you and the fam?

[TravelGirlinDallas]

14 hours ago, RCCL Fan said:

Enchantment --   we don't even talk about it --- I deleted the review, it was just too bad.

Oh my gosh, was that the cruise where you were talking about a terrible chemical smell at the beginning? I was reading along and so interested to hear what happened with that, and then the post  disappeared. 

[abpplh]

@RCCL Fan - Do you know what passenger capacity was?  I thought Nov was to be 60% and Dec 65% but read Liberty was at or above 80% over Thanksgiving week?

[RCCL Fan]

18 hours ago, RCCL Fan said:

 

He left mid week?  wow that's weird.   

 

The thing is I never met anyone else.   

 

Like gun to my head I could not name or even pick a face out of a line up of a single other member of the cruise directors staff.

 

My friends watched the morning show so they knew the activity manager from there.  but we never went to any events or anything where we would run into them.  I don't know why.  I don't know if it was a vax/unvax issue or what.

 

I also think this happens on the Oasis class ship.  There so much STUFF to see.  I like to call it the hard product.... rising tide, aquatheater, zip lining, central park....    that you often lose the soft product....    pool games,  schooner bar  trivia,  funny game shows  that exist on the smaller ships.   

 

My wife is a small ship lover,  I've always been a big ship lover.   But we've lately concluded that Voyager class may be perfect for us.   small enough that it's manageable and has a small ship feel, but still has the promenade and enough hard product where I don't get bored.

yes I really am convinced that voyager class is that happy medium and will be where we concentrate some time.

 

I think navigator is likely in our future as those west coast ports offer something new and navigator is a great happy medium ship of hard product vs soft product.

 

in the meantime we have the new ladies booked right now…..  wonder of the seas this spring and odyssey of the seas this summer. 
 

odyssey is a new class for me so that’s definitely exciting!  

[RCCL Fan]

1 hour ago, abpplh said:

@RCCL Fan - Do you know what passenger capacity was?  I thought Nov was to be 60% and Dec 65% but read Liberty was at or above 80% over Thanksgiving week?

we were told we were at 50 - 60% capacity for the week 

 

said it was their largest percentage so far. 
 

also said the percentage of families on board was significantly higher than the usual amount. 
 

 

[RCCL Fan]

4 hours ago, TravelGirlinDallas said:

Oh my gosh, was that the cruise where you were talking about a terrible chemical smell at the beginning? I was reading along and so interested to hear what happened with that, and then the post  disappeared. 

basically they were painting the ship mid cruise.

 

they painted a portion of the ship where an air intake vent for the hvac for our room and the room next to us.

 

promised us they would stop.  
 

kept doing it for two days 

 

mind boggling to us and to the crew trying to help us 

 

in the end they made it right for us as royal usually does 

 

but yes that one was tough.

 

 

[Ocean Boy]

19 hours ago, RCCL Fan said:

 

My wife is a small ship lover,  I've always been a big ship lover.   But we've lately concluded that Voyager class may be perfect for us.   small enough that it's manageable and has a small ship feel, but still has the promenade and enough hard product where I don't get bored.

Though I really like the O class ships, it is V/F class that are my favorite. There is still plenty to do and I find them more relaxing than when I'm on an O class ship.

[JessyCruises]

I was onboard this sailing in a suite as well.  I was also not impressed with coastal.  We ended up doing room service every day for lunch starting day 2.  We did eat every evening at Coastal, but there was really nothing on the menu that I enjoyed and I ended up basically filling up on bread and appetizers.

 

I kept my eye out for you so I could say Hi, but I never saw you unfortunately!

[RCCL Fan]

4 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Though I really like the O class ships, it is V/F class that are my favorite. There is still plenty to do and I find them more relaxing than when I'm on an O class ship.

 

I've always not been a fan on freedom class because I've said it's the same ship as voyager class with more people.... what's the point of that?  hahaha

 

My wife wants to do one again though, as our last was indy and it was our wedding. She says I was so busy dealing with stuff I don't remember the ship. 

 

I love the Big O class but more and more I'm thinking of down sizing in the future.   We'll see what we think of Wonder and Odyssey coming up.

[RCCL Fan]

23 minutes ago, JessyCruises said:

I was onboard this sailing in a suite as well.  I was also not impressed with coastal.  We ended up doing room service every day for lunch starting day 2.  We did eat every evening at Coastal, but there was really nothing on the menu that I enjoyed and I ended up basically filling up on bread and appetizers.

 

I kept my eye out for you so I could say Hi, but I never saw you unfortunately!

 

I mean honestly we only had two nights planned there

 

sun - CK

Mon - MDR

Tue - Samba

Weds - Chops

Thurs - MDR for t-day

Fri- CK

 

but we wound up doing

 

Sun - CK

Mon - MDR

Tue - Chops

Weds -  fend for yourself night

Thurs - MDR

Fri - MDR

 

For us the MDR was the most attentive and consistent with service for us.   Sure they screwed up our table day one but after that, they were on point and with everything else being so jacked it was nice to have that bright spot each evening.

 

I hate we didn't see you either!   Please weigh in and let everyone know if your impressions were different!

[BeagleAgility]

Who did you use for the limo ride?  We’re you happy with it?  I need to find transportation but want a reliable one. 

[RCCL Fan]

Day 6 

The Last Day

 

 

I know I'm the rare one with this but usually by Day 6 of a 7 night cruise, I'm ready to go home.   I start to worry about stuff I need to take care of, and crave normalcy....       So I thought this 6 nighter would be perfect.

 

This Day 6 though I was NOT ready to go home.

 

I wanted to stay and kept feeling like I was soooo close to actually liking it, giving them one more try....  but that wasn't a luxury this week.

 

Anyway. lets jump into it.

 

 

Nothing like starting your day in the Medical Center.  haha 

 

Our littlest was itching like crazy after the sand fleas the night before.   Royal graciously offered us free visits to the medical center after the incident in Roatan and this morning we decided to take them up on it.

 

My daughter was having an allergic reaction to the sand fleas, and so the doc gave her some meds to help and off she went to soak up the last day.

 

 

Everyone kinda split up today.   The Moms and Littles had lots of pool time.  The pre-teens were on the suite sun deck an back on the zip line.  They fell in love with the day beds up there and would sit up there with their drinks and talk shop.

 

 

I should also mention they were on a mission to try as many flavor combinations as they could in the freestyle coke machine, and so they were trying to get caught up.  Hahaha.

 

 

 

Also again wanted to point out the packed families sections and the empty vax sections on the pool deck.... 

 

Oh well --- it is what it is.

 

 

 

 

I booked a nice long massage, I always like to do this toward the end, kinda to get the kinks out before returning to work.

 

I didn't showed up in the relaxation room  and worked on my questionnaire before my therapist came and took me back.

 

Some plusses  ---   no upsale, at all.  It was great, we talked about what I do at home to manage stress, told her I was happy with my routine and that was it.

 

Room was quiet and relaxing, sometimes on Oasis class ships the rooms feel like they have thin walls and because they're in the front of the ship there's a lot of creaking and cracking but it wasn't as bad this time.

 

 

Some hiccups -- my table was in an awkward position. I've had a many many massages, especially on royal  for some reason this table kinda hurt. I could never really get comfy. I asked for help, but she was kinda dumbfounded to my claim. 

 

I didn't get as much kneading and fingers in my muscles, it was a lot more oiled forearm up and down my back.   I could tell she was working nonstop from one person to the other, so I'm sure it was self preservation. 

 

After my massage I caught up with my wife for the first time today.  Our youngest had taken up a fascination with hot dogs this trip.  There was an agreement they were prepared very well, and there were many repeat trips out here for sure.

 

 

Every cruise she picks one food and eats way too much of it.

 

Last cruise was hamburgers 

 

The one before that it was chocolate cake 

 

This time, it was  hot dogs from the boardwalk, I was super impressed as she doesn't really eat hot dogs at home.

 

Anyway --- there was snacking and packing today.   Everyone was just winding down for goodbye...  

 

 

 

One munchkin couldn't handle dinner.... without a snooze.

 

Since Thanksgiving changed the menu up a bit, lobster night was the last night of the cruise.   Two came out on my plate without asking,  and they were marvelous!   T

 

 

he head waiter even had some grand marnier souffle waiting for us at the end... making up for the ones we missed on Adventure.  I really can't say enough about the main dining room staff on Allure.  They were fantastic.   They were the definition of service I expect from Royal.   Yes a hiccup day one, but man did they recover and recover well.  I was very happy with our service here and kept coming back.  Our staff wasn't extra talkative or funny but they had a big table and they worked hard to make sure everyone was taken care of all week and I really appreciated that.

 

 

I did the obligatory last night photo buying, we do this every cruise and most of them just wind up in a drawer, but we still do it! lol

 

My oldest wanted to ride the rising tide, so she had a drink date with her mom and i caught a few photos.  Oddly they said the bartender said we didn't have to pay for my daughter's mocktail because she's Diamond Plus and gets "x" amount of free drinks a day.  

 

 

We've always been told the kids don't get the perks of diamond plus....  like they don't get free photos or free internet time, or anything like that.   Was this guy just being nice or are drinks different? Who knows?   

 

 

We got our envelopes ready --- Concierge said I could request cash in the casino from my sea pass.  But the casino refused to give me cash for any reason.  Asked for it to play, was told no.   Asked to make change  no.

 

I was told if i wanted to play use my sea pass and if I wanted cash for any other reason go to the ATM. 

 

ok.........

 

So paid the high ATM fee, got out cash and went to guest services for smaller bills.  I walked around and thanked our favorite bartenders, the head waiter,  even the concierge team got a little something....  while it didn't work out, they did put in the effort.

 

   We get joy out of thanking each one personally before we go.

 

so always get a little extra for everyone. 

 

 

I also was trying to iron out the snafu's.   I put my credit card down for all of us in the app from home before I left.  Had everyone on my card with charging rights. 

 

When we checked in and the senior was having issues checking us in he told us there was only a credit card for some of us not my oldest daughter and my niece.   So he asked for a credit card for the rest of us.   I couldn't put my hands on the same one quickly so I just gave him another one for the two teens.

 

The supervisor came over to help him and she strongly cautioned me not to give my youngest daughter charging rights.   I wasn't worried about this,  she's never alone and she would never even try but I said fine. 

 

Well my youngest daughter did have charging rights a ton in the arcade....   and we got a letter in the room that said my wife had a cash account which we never asked for.      Went to guest services and they said no she didn't, we we're all on the same card.

 

But we weren't. lol

 

in the end I was on one card,  no charges for the kids,  one for the pre teens on my card, and my wife's bill was on the other credit card that i handed over for the preteens.   Good Grief. 

 

This one didn't bother me at all, I paid them all over online in two seconds, but it was just funny how the hiccups kept hiccupping.

 

 

Our show tonight was the ice show....   another moment of feeling like steerage.

 

As you walk into the ice show, unvax guests were directed to the right.   The seating on the right was for unvax only.

 

The left was for vax passengers.   Look in the photos.... all sections for the vax guests had huge areas of empty seats, it was like that the whole show.    The unvax area was totally full and people were standing in the back of the room against the wall.  It was sad.  People were frustrated and kept saying the app said it was an everyone show why don't we have more seats??

 

 

One mom got up to take her kids to the bathroom and left the husband there to guard the seats.  As soon as they got up another family sat down.  The father told the family the situation, that his wife and kids were just in the bathroom and this was the response he got, "Look buddy we paid a lot of money to go on this cruise and haven't been in a show yet.  If you can find us some seats for families we'll move, but if you can't we're sitting here,  they shouldn't have gotten up."

 

What?

 

 

Someone told a staff member, but nothing was done, the father got up and left.     It was just sad that it had come down to this. 

 

All that being said, it's the usual ice show I've seen 4 or 5 times on Allure now so it's lost its zing but the first timers LOVED it and that made me happy.   I am always impressed by their ability to land perfectly on a moving ship.

 

 

Headed up to the pool deck for some mini golf and table tennis.  While the kids played I was sent in search for drinks for everyone.   Another example of app failure.   App kept telling me bars were open but I'd show up and they were closed.  

 

 

As we were getting ready for bed and I took off my shoe I was like wow.... my foot had been hurting all day but i kinda ignored it, when I took it off I realized why. My foot was seriously swollen  and it was the one that had the most bites.

 

I went down to the medical center.... and doc said I was have a worse reaction than my daughter.  I got shots to bring the swelling down and steroids to take on the way home.... oh Roatan.  

 

 

Tomorrow --- we exit the ship, head home, and give my final thoughts. 

 

 

 

 

[RCCL Fan]

37 minutes ago, BeagleAgility said:

Who did you use for the limo ride?  We’re you happy with it?  I need to find transportation but want a reliable one. 

 

We always use Larry's Limo.  Great rates, great service, never had an issue.  I even rented a 50 passenger charter bus from them when we got married on board and brought all our friends and family.

 

They handled everything perfectly.

[Ashland]

Did you use Adventure Ocean at all...?? 

[ONECRUISER]

Great Pictures, you have a Beautiful Family, Reminds me 20-25yrs ago when I'd take my young Kids on Cruises. Though was a Single Father Raising 3 on my own, back then they provided me with a Pager while kids were in Adventure Ocean. Thanks for sharing! I now have 4 Grand Daughters, first Cruise with them this April!

Edited December 10, 2021 by ONECRUISER

[RCCL Fan]

44 minutes ago, Ashland said:

Did you use Adventure Ocean at all...?? 

yes wrote about it in detail on Day 3

[RCCL Fan]

43 minutes ago, ONECRUISER said:

Great Pictures, you have a Beautiful Family, Reminds me 20-25yrs ago when I'd take my young Kids on Cruises. Though was a Single Father Raising 3 on my own, back then they provided me with a Pager while kids were in Adventure Ocean. Thanks for sharing! I now have 4 Grand Daughters, first Cruise with them this April!

oh how exciting!!!  Please do a review!

[ampurp85]

I am sorry that you and your family feel like steerage. I will be honest after reading your blog, I can really feel the difference. I realized that while I saw children on my sailing, other than the WJ, I never had anything activities with families.

 

I was on Allure for Halloween and had lots of show problems. We were also in a 2br GS, so we were allowed to get early seating. This meant getting to the shows 45min early and as the planner I was designated to do this. Granted we only did the late vaxx seating but at every showing we encountered rude people. I was there early so I got seats for my family of 5 and people kept trying to sit in the spaces. They kept saying I couldn't hold seats; it was vax only so no reason to social distance and calling me all sorts of derogatory names. The ice show was the worst, a D+ lady cursed out the crew for not getting to go in early and choose her seats, I was first in line, and she hit me with her purse. I sat on the right side and the left was almost empty, yet people were trying hard to steal my seats. They had to move people who sat in star class seating. During our matinee of Mama Mia, several people just came and stood in front our row, instead of sitting in the ample seats available in the balcony.

[topnole]

You certainly have a beautiful family and a great attitude.  Sorry to hear of all the issues.  I guess they still have a lot to figure out with Covid.  
 

We are on Allure in several months so I’m really hoping they improve by then.  But I’ve learned a lot from your review and I’m still excited to get back on Allure.  We will have our 3 you kids and two of them will almost most certainly be unvaccinated.  We are also bringing friends who have never cruised.  So reading this is giving me a level of expectation so I know to hope for the best and plan for the worst.  
 

I think I’ll just plan for doing little to nothing off the ship besides coco cay.  The ship is our destination when on Oasis class anyhow, so I can deal with less port stuff knowing what you went through.  I’m certainly not interested in what you had to deal with just because I have a 4 year old who is eligible for vaccination.  

 

Lucky for us we are bringing my MIL so we have someone to watch the kids quite a bit.  Sound like kids club will be a total no go for us.  I have no desire after

reading what your poor daughters went through.  That is horrible and nearly unbelievable (and I have read your experience mirrors others recently posted).  Just crazy.  Glad your kids had friends along to make the experience better.   Ours will too which will be great.  
 

Best to you and thanks for the great review.  Very helpful.  

[Ashland]

4 hours ago, RCCL Fan said:

yes wrote about it in detail on Day 3

Yes...Thanks found it....and very disappointed how AO was handled. Hoping by the time we go end of April 2022 with extended family that RCI will have managed to offer a better experience not only for the kids but for the parents as well.

[BeagleAgility]

7 hours ago, RCCL Fan said:

 

We always use Larry's Limo.  Great rates, great service, never had an issue.  I even rented a 50 passenger charter bus from them when we got married on board and brought all our friends and family.

 

They handled everything perfectly.

Thank you so much. I will look into them later today. 

[Ocean Boy]

8 hours ago, ampurp85 said:

I am sorry that you and your family feel like steerage. I will be honest after reading your blog, I can really feel the difference. I realized that while I saw children on my sailing, other than the WJ, I never had anything activities with families.

 

I was on Allure for Halloween and had lots of show problems. We were also in a 2br GS, so we were allowed to get early seating. This meant getting to the shows 45min early and as the planner I was designated to do this. Granted we only did the late vaxx seating but at every showing we encountered rude people. I was there early so I got seats for my family of 5 and people kept trying to sit in the spaces. They kept saying I couldn't hold seats; it was vax only so no reason to social distance and calling me all sorts of derogatory names. The ice show was the worst, a D+ lady cursed out the crew for not getting to go in early and choose her seats, I was first in line, and she hit me with her purse. I sat on the right side and the left was almost empty, yet people were trying hard to steal my seats. They had to move people who sat in star class seating. During our matinee of Mama Mia, several people just came and stood in front our row, instead of sitting in the ample seats available in the balcony.

Changing reserved seating to early admission is not very appealing to me. It is like going back to the "old days" of going early and spending all that time sitting around in the theater. Such a waste of time. And though I appreciate your problem with the rude people, remembet that for years now RCI policy has been no saving of seats in shows. That is the policy people are used to now. So, to some extent, RCI is creating this problem.

[RFerrington]

3 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Changing reserved seating to early admission is not very appealing to me.

+1