Review of Allure of Seas

[villagenut]

Booking

Overall the process was easy.  Found the web site to be a little difficult when trying to set or change details such as dining times, bed arrangements, etc. otherwise no complaints.

 

Embarkation at Galveston.

The only real issue we had was signage.  Our arrival time was 11:30.  We arrived exactly on time and headed to the Baggage Drop Off.  That was pretty easy to find given the huge sign out front.  However, when we got to the line there was a small sign that read Baggage Drop Off for 12:00-12:30.  Well, OK??  Its 11:30 so where do I go?  We finally asked someone(said he was the porter supervisor) who took us around to the main line and called over a baggage porter.  As they were assisting with our bags some security came over and started ordering us and the porter to move.  Well, we hurried along to load the bags onto the cart and went on our way.  It would have been good to have a line for On Time and a line for Early and Late arrivals similar to the other port.  If there is such at the new port, there were no signs to tell us.  The remainder of the process was pretty simple but they made our entire party retake pictures.  We all had already uploaded pictures in the app as instructed.  We looked around and saw that no other lines were doing this. Only the gentleman that was doing our line.  He had also made the people in front of us retake their pics.  I think he just liked being in charge. After that, security was simple.  As we were making our way thru security i heard them calling groups to board.  By the time we were done, we had no wait, we walked right on.  From parking lot to ship was maybe 25-30 minutes.  

 

We went immediately and did the muster which was a snap.  We watched the video on the app prior to arrival.

 

Then proceeded to Giovanna's to set our specialty dining reservations.  We pre-purchased the 3 night package.  Had no issue getting the times we wanted.  We prefer early so we got each night for 5:15.   Later in the week we ended up changing our last night to 8:00 and had no issues with that either.  Party of 7.

 

Ate lunch at the Solarium which was ok.  nothing special in my opinion.

 

By now it was 1:00 and we went to our rooms and luggage was there.  Interior room on 8th floor forward.  We liked the room layout but bed was too hard for our liking. No issue with room or steward.  

 

The remainder of the review will be some quick hits about various things we did throughout the week.  Will answer any questions you may have.

 

Specialty coffee in Promenade Cafe was good.  We had unlimited drink package so they were included.

 

We tried breakfast at the Solarium, Johnny Rockets, and Park Cafe.  Solarium breakfast was better than the lunch.  Park Cafe was good.  Johnny Rockets was horrible.  5 people.  took 20 minutes to be seated.  All 5 meals were cold and almost inedible.  big disappointment for us.

 

Hung out each day by the pool.  no issues. bar service was good.  seemed to be plenty of chairs if you weren't too picky.

 

Pizza was good

 

Main Dining food and staff were above par.  Early Dining.  5:00.  Were done each night by 6:20. Party of 7

 

Chops was good or great depending on dish. The filet's were excellent.  Strip and Ribeye just ok.

Giovanni's was 10 out of 10

150 Central Park was 11 out of 10

 

Mamma Mia was the hit of the entire cruise

Aqua Show was outstanding as well.

 

We enjoyed the group at Dazzles.  Its somewhat hidden.

 

Casino was smoky as usual.

 

We never ate at Windjammer

 

Wipe out Cafe was really good for lunch.  Nachos, tacos, etc

 

Tried to go to Johnny Rockets for a Milk Shake one afternoon.  seated immediately.  numerous open tables.   After menu after 10 minutes of waiting.  over the next 15 minutes 3 different waiters said that would return to take our order.  After another 5, we left.

 

Ship was at capacity. 6400 guest, 700 crew.  There were only a few times that it "felt" crowded. Otherwise it was enjoyable.  If you want to attend any event at any venue, you better arrive early or there will be no seats.  We were never able to get into Schooners, On Air, or Bow and Stern.  All seemed popular and people seemed to be having fun, but we were never early enough to get seats.

 

Many cruises on Carnival but this was my first RC cruise.  I will be returning.  Oasis Class are a hit in my book.

 

Questions?

 

Edited March 27, 2023 by villagenut

[silentbob007]

That’s a shame about JR. We are looking forward to breakfast there next week. Usually the food is hot since it is cooked to order right there. 

[Cherful59]

I agree that is too bad.  We had breakfast at JR and lunch had good food and very reasonable service times.  We just wanted milkshakes a couple of times and instead of sitting down, just ordered at the entrance and had them in a reasonable time as well.  Good luck with that next time.  Love Oasis class but have not been on one lately.  It’s to bad but I guess i’ll have to book another cruise.

[villagenut]

51 minutes ago, silentbob007 said:

That’s a shame about JR. We are looking forward to breakfast there next week. Usually the food is hot since it is cooked to order right there. 

I agree,  My guess it that my experience was not the norm.  Just wrong place wrong time.  

[STEVE-O]

1 hour ago, silentbob007 said:

That’s a shame about JR. We are looking forward to breakfast there next week. Usually the food is hot since it is cooked to order right there. 

We ate breakfast at JR's 10 times in 2 weeks. Every meal was excellent.   Popular place so there's usually a wait.

 

Enjoy

[silentbob007]

16 hours ago, villagenut said:

I agree,  My guess it that my experience was not the norm.  Just wrong place wrong time.  

I tend to specialize in that timing. 😬

[KEG21552]

Thanks for the review.  We are sailing in September.

Did you make reservations for Mama Mia and the Aqua show prior to boarding?  If so, when did reservations open?

Any excursions?

Thanks!!

[DavidMutchler]

18 minutes ago, KEG21552 said:

Thanks for the review.  We are sailing in September.

Did you make reservations for Mama Mia and the Aqua show prior to boarding?  If so, when did reservations open?

Any excursions?

Thanks!!

Thanks to OP for the excellent review; I am sure that they will respond to your question above.  But perhaps the information that I have is helpful to you:

For the Allure, for April sailings, reservations for shows opened at various times between about March 1 (as reported here on Cruise Critic) and March 9.  For my April 30 sailing, reservations opened on March 9 about 6 p.m.  (I was watching several times each day.)  It seems clear from various posts that the exact day/time that reservations for shows open varies from ship to ship and from sailing to sailing, but a rule-of-thumb is that sailing for month X start around the 1st of month X-1.  (So sailings for April started seeing reservations opening about March 1, but not all at once.)

Reservations stayed open for a surprisingly (to me) long time -- they are still open for all but the Comedy Club (it is now 19 days since reservations opened), and even the Comedy Club remained open for about 10 days.  Others have reported much shorter availability on other cruises, however, so best to check daily starting about August 1 (for your sailing in September).

Thanks again to OP for the great review!

[KEG21552]

Thanks for the info!!

[DavidMutchler]

20 hours ago, villagenut said:

Booking

Overall the process was easy.  Found the web site to be a little difficult when trying to set or change details such as dining times, bed arrangements, etc. otherwise no complaints.

 

Embarkation at Galveston.

The only real issue we had was signage.  Our arrival time was 11:30.  We arrived exactly on time and headed to the Baggage Drop Off.  That was pretty easy to find given the huge sign out front.  However, when we got to the line there was a small sign that read Baggage Drop Off for 12:00-12:30.  Well, OK??  Its 11:30 so where do I go?  We finally asked someone(said he was the porter supervisor) who took us around to the main line and called over a baggage porter.  As they were assisting with our bags some security came over and started ordering us and the porter to move.  Well, we hurried along to load the bags onto the cart and went on our way.  It would have been good to have a line for On Time and a line for Early and Late arrivals similar to the other port.  If there is such at the new port, there were no signs to tell us.  The remainder of the process was pretty simple but they made our entire party retake pictures.  We all had already uploaded pictures in the app as instructed.  We looked around and saw that no other lines were doing this. Only the gentleman that was doing our line.  He had also made the people in front of us retake their pics.  I think he just liked being in charge. After that, security was simple.  As we were making our way thru security i heard them calling groups to board.  By the time we were done, we had no wait, we walked right on.  From parking lot to ship was maybe 25-30 minutes.  

 

We went immediately and did the muster which was a snap.  We watched the video on the app prior to arrival.

 

Then proceeded to Giovanna's to set our specialty dining reservations.  We pre-purchased the 3 night package.  Had no issue getting the times we wanted.  We prefer early so we got each night for 5:15.   Later in the week we ended up changing our last night to 8:00 and had no issues with that either.  Party of 7.

 

Ate lunch at the Solarium which was ok.  nothing special in my opinion.

 

By now it was 1:00 and we went to our rooms and luggage was there.  Interior room on 8th floor forward.  We liked the room layout but bed was too hard for our liking. No issue with room or steward.  

 

The remainder of the review will be some quick hits about various things we did throughout the week.  Will answer any questions you may have.

 

Specialty coffee in Promenade Cafe was good.  We had unlimited drink package so they were included.

 

We tried breakfast at the Solarium, Johnny Rockets, and Park Cafe.  Solarium breakfast was better than the lunch.  Park Cafe was good.  Johnny Rockets was horrible.  5 people.  took 20 minutes to be seated.  All 5 meals were cold and almost inedible.  big disappointment for us.

 

Hung out each day by the pool.  no issues. bar service was good.  seemed to be plenty of chairs if you weren't too picky.

 

Pizza was good

 

Main Dining food and staff were above par.  Early Dining.  5:00.  Were done each night by 6:20. Party of 7

 

Chops was good or great depending on dish. The filet's were excellent.  Strip and Ribeye just ok.

Giovanni's was 10 out of 10

150 Central Park was 11 out of 10

 

Mamma Mia was the hit of the entire cruise

Aqua Show was outstanding as well.

 

We enjoyed the group at Dazzles.  Its somewhat hidden.

 

Casino was smoky as usual.

 

We never ate at Windjammer

 

Wipe out Cafe was really good for lunch.  Nachos, tacos, etc

 

Tried to go to Johnny Rockets for a Milk Shake one afternoon.  seated immediately.  numerous open tables.   After menu after 10 minutes of waiting.  over the next 15 minutes 3 different waiters said that would return to take our order.  After another 5, we left.

 

Ship was at capacity. 6400 guest, 700 crew.  There were only a few times that it "felt" crowded. Otherwise it was enjoyable.  If you want to attend any event at any venue, you better arrive early or there will be no seats.  We were never able to get into Schooners, On Air, or Bow and Stern.  All seemed popular and people seemed to be having fun, but we were never early enough to get seats.

 

Many cruises on Carnival but this was my first RC cruise.  I will be returning.  Oasis Class are a hit in my book.

 

Questions?

 

Glad that you had an overall great cruise!

Did you drive to the port yourself, or fly to Houston and use transport from there?  If the latter, how did you return to the airport upon disembarkation.  (Getting from the airport to the Port is easy, via Lyft among other approaches, but getting Lyft on the way back seems nigh impossible, so I am interested in what shuttle services folks are using...)

[villagenut]

2 hours ago, KEG21552 said:

Thanks for the review.  We are sailing in September.

Did you make reservations for Mama Mia and the Aqua show prior to boarding?  If so, when did reservations open?

Any excursions?

Thanks!!

Yes, we did make reservations for Mama Mia, Aqua, and Comedy.  DM's timing is about right.  Seems like we checked about 30-45 days out,  i don't recall exactly, but when they came open on the app we were lucky as most filled up in a hurry. By the time we checked 2 out of the 3 mama mia shows were full and 1 of the Aqua shows were full.  We were a party of 7.  There were limited spots for the comedy.  I did not attend but my son and his friends went.  For every venue there is a standby line.  I did not see anyone turned away but the venue's appeared at capacity.

 

As for excursions, we did Snorkeling and Beach time at Turquoise Bay.  It was really nice.  On the same level as Little French Key in my opinion (except TB has better food).  We only shopped at Costa Maya and Cozumel.  Been to those ports several times so we get off for a couple hours to shop and then go back to an almost empty pool area on the ship.

[villagenut]

1 hour ago, DavidMutchler said:

Glad that you had an overall great cruise!

Did you drive to the port yourself, or fly to Houston and use transport from there?  If the latter, how did you return to the airport upon disembarkation.  (Getting from the airport to the Port is easy, via Lyft among other approaches, but getting Lyft on the way back seems nigh impossible, so I am interested in what shuttle services folks are using...)

We are only about 6.5 hours from Houston so we drove down on Saturday and spent the night in League City.  Parked in the North Lot at the new terminal.  Can't help you on the Airport Transfers.

[shannonkinninger]

Thanks for the review, planning Allure when it comes to my neck of the woods next year (Cape Canaveral).  I'm not so much looking forward to the excursions (as I have done Bahamas before), I'm looking forward to Mama Mia (my favorite Broadway show) and the Aqua theater show.  This will be my 2nd cruise with RCCL.  1st one was with a group and was not as fun as it should have been, this time it's a girls only trip with my sister (this will be her first cruise).  Super excited!

[3yorkies]

On 3/28/2023 at 10:21 AM, DavidMutchler said:

a rule-of-thumb is that sailing for month X start around the 1st of month X-1.  (So sailings for April started seeing reservations opening about March 1, but not all at once.)

I am booked on May 21.   I was able to book 5 shows on March 27, so almost 2 months out.   I started checking on March 25 when I got home from Jewel cruise.    So excited that Blue Planet is back.   MM was on days 1, 2, and 3, but it was the one show I did not book.   Have seen that too many times and not an Abba fan.

[Rudyard]

Thanks for the review. I'm glad to read you didn't have any issues with getting the times you wanted for specialty dining. We also have the 3 night package and I've been worried that we'd end up with times that were much later than we're used to. I'm a bit disappointed to find out (in another thread) that Royals MTD doesn't work like Carnival's YTD. I wanted to try a couple of nights in the MDR as I like the menus, but might just end up paying for a 4th night in a specialty restaurant and the rest in the Windjammer. 

[chukli]

On 3/27/2023 at 2:20 PM, villagenut said:

Booking

Overall the process was easy.  Found the web site to be a little difficult when trying to set or change details such as dining times, bed arrangements, etc. otherwise no complaints.

 

Embarkation at Galveston.

The only real issue we had was signage.  Our arrival time was 11:30.  We arrived exactly on time and headed to the Baggage Drop Off.  That was pretty easy to find given the huge sign out front.  However, when we got to the line there was a small sign that read Baggage Drop Off for 12:00-12:30.  Well, OK??  Its 11:30 so where do I go?  We finally asked someone(said he was the porter supervisor) who took us around to the main line and called over a baggage porter.  As they were assisting with our bags some security came over and started ordering us and the porter to move.  Well, we hurried along to load the bags onto the cart and went on our way.  It would have been good to have a line for On Time and a line for Early and Late arrivals similar to the other port.  If there is such at the new port, there were no signs to tell us.  The remainder of the process was pretty simple but they made our entire party retake pictures.  We all had already uploaded pictures in the app as instructed.  We looked around and saw that no other lines were doing this. Only the gentleman that was doing our line.  He had also made the people in front of us retake their pics.  I think he just liked being in charge. After that, security was simple.  As we were making our way thru security i heard them calling groups to board.  By the time we were done, we had no wait, we walked right on.  From parking lot to ship was maybe 25-30 minutes.  

 

We went immediately and did the muster which was a snap.  We watched the video on the app prior to arrival.

 

Then proceeded to Giovanna's to set our specialty dining reservations.  We pre-purchased the 3 night package.  Had no issue getting the times we wanted.  We prefer early so we got each night for 5:15.   Later in the week we ended up changing our last night to 8:00 and had no issues with that either.  Party of 7.

 

Ate lunch at the Solarium which was ok.  nothing special in my opinion.

 

By now it was 1:00 and we went to our rooms and luggage was there.  Interior room on 8th floor forward.  We liked the room layout but bed was too hard for our liking. No issue with room or steward.  

 

The remainder of the review will be some quick hits about various things we did throughout the week.  Will answer any questions you may have.

 

Specialty coffee in Promenade Cafe was good.  We had unlimited drink package so they were included.

 

We tried breakfast at the Solarium, Johnny Rockets, and Park Cafe.  Solarium breakfast was better than the lunch.  Park Cafe was good.  Johnny Rockets was horrible.  5 people.  took 20 minutes to be seated.  All 5 meals were cold and almost inedible.  big disappointment for us.

 

Hung out each day by the pool.  no issues. bar service was good.  seemed to be plenty of chairs if you weren't too picky.

 

Pizza was good

 

Main Dining food and staff were above par.  Early Dining.  5:00.  Were done each night by 6:20. Party of 7

 

Chops was good or great depending on dish. The filet's were excellent.  Strip and Ribeye just ok.

Giovanni's was 10 out of 10

150 Central Park was 11 out of 10

 

Mamma Mia was the hit of the entire cruise

Aqua Show was outstanding as well.

 

We enjoyed the group at Dazzles.  Its somewhat hidden.

 

Casino was smoky as usual.

 

We never ate at Windjammer

 

Wipe out Cafe was really good for lunch.  Nachos, tacos, etc

 

Tried to go to Johnny Rockets for a Milk Shake one afternoon.  seated immediately.  numerous open tables.   After menu after 10 minutes of waiting.  over the next 15 minutes 3 different waiters said that would return to take our order.  After another 5, we left.

 

Ship was at capacity. 6400 guest, 700 crew.  There were only a few times that it "felt" crowded. Otherwise it was enjoyable.  If you want to attend any event at any venue, you better arrive early or there will be no seats.  We were never able to get into Schooners, On Air, or Bow and Stern.  All seemed popular and people seemed to be having fun, but we were never early enough to get seats.

 

Many cruises on Carnival but this was my first RC cruise.  I will be returning.  Oasis Class are a hit in my book.

 

Questions?

 

Do you know if there were any headliner or shows other than Mama Mia ,Blue Planet,  comedy shows(these shows could be be reserved in advance) during the week in the Amber theatre ? I don’t see any shows on day 3/4 for my May 7/23 sailing. Was their quest show? If you have a daily compass to post, would appreciate it.

Edited April 1, 2023 by chukli

[villagenut]

8 hours ago, chukli said:

Do you know if there were any headliner or shows other than Mama Mia ,Blue Planet,  comedy shows(these shows could be be reserved in advance) during the week in the Amber theatre ? I don’t see any shows on day 3/4 for my May 7/23 sailing. Was their quest show? If you have a daily compass to post, would appreciate it.

There was a magic show and an excellent Tenor but I don’t remember his name.  We saw him but did not make the magic show. 

[sailor05]

On 3/28/2023 at 1:27 PM, DavidMutchler said:

(Getting from the airport to the Port is easy, via Lyft among other approaches, but getting Lyft on the way back seems nigh impossible, so I am interested in what shuttle services folks are using...)

Saltwater Moms came highly recommended and quoted me $90 each way for Houston/Lobby. Find them on FB and send them a message. Galveston Express was another that was recommended.

Edited April 2, 2023 by sailor05

[atakkat]

Thank you for your review. We sail 4/23. How was the motion on the 8th floor? We are in that location as well. Did you ask for a mattress topper? I’ve heard that can help on the mattress. Was the AC able to keep up,or was the room stuffy?Regarding your excursion was that through RCCL?Thank you!

Edited April 2, 2023 by atakkat
Typo

[villagenut]

20 hours ago, atakkat said:

Thank you for your review. We sail 4/23. How was the motion on the 8th floor? We are in that location as well. Did you ask for a mattress topper? I’ve heard that can help on the mattress. Was the AC able to keep up,or was the room stuffy?Regarding your excursion was that through RCCL?Thank you!

We felt very little motion on 8th floor.  We only had one or two days that were real windy but even then it was not bad at all. We loved the location,  Front elevators would take us directly to Solarium and pool area.  A walk thru the park to the back elevators and you were right at Dazzles, two floors down to Boardwalk.  A short ride down to Promanade, MDR, or Casino. 

 

We did not ask for a topper, we didn't know it was available.  Noted for next time.  AC was fine, we did not have any issues.  Yes, our excursion to Turquoise Bay was thru RCCL.

[keishashadow]

booked on allure out of PC post Thanksgiving on a 4 day sailing.  

 

Curious as to what entertainment will be offered on the shorter 4 & 3 day itineraries.