Allure OTS Review (May 14 Sailing) - First Timer for RCL and for a megaship

[Tippyton]

10 minutes ago, BecciBoo said:

There are little nooks all over the ship, it would take forever to share all of them, behind the Aqua Theater for instance or the jogging track, several there along with great teak steamers to sit in....

TBH there are a few, just harder to find - I missed behind the Aqua Theater!  I did use the track for exercise in the AM and to watch the ocean in the afternoons.  One can always find a spot that works...

[topnole]

41 minutes ago, gluecksbaer said:

From everything else I've read, 12 year olds on Allure are in the teen club, but we'll see with that.  One of my 12 year olds is very interested in the zipline and the climbing wall (the smaller one, of course, but she just hit 75lbs so she's good to go).  My less daring child was the one hoping for laser tag.  I'm sure he'll find plenty of fun things to do though.

A lot of 12 year olds would spend all day at the flow rider if you let them.  To be honest, I would too if my wife would let me.  😂

[notscb]

47 minutes ago, BecciBoo said:

it would take forever to share all of them,

I was just curious as to which areas you, personally, found enjoyable and quiet to share for the benefit of others.

[trippen texan]

what is the name of the cover band  that plays in dazzels ? thanks

[gluecksbaer]

1 hour ago, topnole said:

A lot of 12 year olds would spend all day at the flow rider if you let them.  To be honest, I would too if my wife would let me.  😂

 

So far my kids have not been interested in flow rider in the slightest.  I was surprised.  I think that may change when they see it in person.

[JupiterTwo]

5 hours ago, gluecksbaer said:

 

So far my kids have not been interested in flow rider in the slightest.  I was surprised.  I think that may change when they see it in person.

Allure also has mini-golf.

[BecciBoo]

10 hours ago, notscb said:

I was just curious as to which areas you, personally, found enjoyable and quiet to share for the benefit of others.

My favorite are the steamer loungers on running track...mmmmmmm

Also on the lowest deck in Solarium, out the doors onto the wings over the  bridge.  Good for sailaway also.  Last time we did sailaway behind Aqua Theater so we could see Port Canaveral fade away, everyone at Fishlips was out there waving goodbye...lovely day.

Edited May 25, 2023 by BecciBoo

[BecciBoo]

10 hours ago, trippen texan said:

what is the name of the cover band  that plays in dazzels ? thanks

That changes from time to time.  You can find out who is playing Allure somewhere on their website...maybe someone here can give you that link.

 

Sorry for completely highjacking your review Tippyton.  But also for the benefit of other Allure cruisers.  Someone here once posted a list/location of the Little Wonders around the ship:

 

 

Little Wonders Allure.pdf

Edited May 25, 2023 by BecciBoo

[Tippyton]

12 minutes ago, BecciBoo said:

My favorite are the steamer loungers on running track...mmmmmmm

Also on the lowest deck in Solarium, out the doors onto the wings over the  bridge.  Good for sailaway also.  Last time we did sailaway behind Aqua Theater so we could see Port Canaveral fade away, everyone at Fishlips was out there waving goodbye...lovely day.

There were not many chars there on the #5 aft deck, but it was a chill place.  There are a couple of spots on the #5 track that project out a bit.  Leaving Galveston we hung out and watched the porpoises from there.  All-Aboard at the ports these spots were popular for those of us watching pier runners.  At Costa Maya it became a gauntlet of hecklers in a peanut gallery at those who were late.  Most of the insults were in good fun.   Most. 😆  {At CM there was one lady who was waiting on a companion who never showed.  We left after their luggage was taken off the boat.  All jesting aside, that would suck horribly to miss the boat.  We all felt bad}

[BecciBoo]

Edited May 25, 2023 by BecciBoo

[BecciBoo]

10 minutes ago, Tippyton said:

spots on the #5 track that project out a bit.

Like these also but no chairs.

[Tippyton]

6 minutes ago, BecciBoo said:

Like these also but no chairs.

😒Same

[topnole]

10 hours ago, gluecksbaer said:

 

So far my kids have not been interested in flow rider in the slightest.  I was surprised.  I think that may change when they see it in person.

Just have them do it once.  It is addicting if that type of thing interests them.  It really is a blast and I can’t wait until my daughter is tall enough.  She is so close.  

[Engineroom Snipe]

12 hours ago, Tippyton said:

You are welcome!  (Somebody missed a "not" 😆😁)

 

"I'm sure I forgot a few things.  Any questions I will try to help.  Bottom line - no reason not to cruise RCL in the future, and no good reason not to sail on a mega ship either."

 

Yes, you are correct.

[Engineroom Snipe]

12 hours ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

Thank you for your time to share you opinion with us.

 

You were descriptive about your experiences. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

 

Your last words were no reason to cruise RCL in the future..

 

Thank you for posting. This is really what Cruise Critic is really about,

 

 

Please read the third line to be:

 

Your last words stated there was no reason NOT to cruise RCL in the future.

 

I could not edit my original post.

 

The OP correctly pointed out my confusing statement which did not read the way I intended.

 

😉😁

[SheSailsFL]

On 5/21/2023 at 10:33 PM, Deep68 said:

Thank you for your review!

I have been contemplating taking this cruise in September for my wedding anniversary. 
There are not many options for the data of our anniversary and I am struggling to determine if an interior facing balcony on such a large ship is for us. There are no ocean view balconies available.

The price is right and I like the idea of all the things to do but am used to smaller (up to 3K) ships.

I too am looking at a room on 14th floor and was worried about any noise.

 

I have taken around 20 cruises primarily on HAL, Celebrity and Norwegian but did take 2 RCL cruises on smaller ships many years ago.

 

 

I recently found a video on YouTube while randomly exploring and it was the best one I have seen to provide pros & cons for each cabin category, and where the best & worst cabins are in each category.  I was researching to decide if I wanted to take the plunge & book an Oasis class ship purely because I wanted to see the Mamma Mia show. 😗🤷‍♀️😅  I usually prefer the Freedom & Voyager class ships so I thought it was time to branch out.

Doing a b2b and had decided on a Boardwalk balcony aft with a great view of the aqua theater.  After hearing her advice, I went back to my standard OV balcony after all.

Here’s the link to her video on the Allure in case you haven’t seen her before.

Happy sailing!

 

[gluecksbaer]

13 hours ago, topnole said:

Just have them do it once.  It is addicting if that type of thing interests them.  It really is a blast and I can’t wait until my daughter is tall enough.  She is so close.  

I'm definitely not spending my vacation arguing with preteens about things that don't matter.  I figure we'll spend the first day exploring the ship so I'll make sure they see it.  I think they may be interested when they see it in person but if they're not, I'm not going to push it.

[topnole]

9 hours ago, gluecksbaer said:

I'm definitely not spending my vacation arguing with preteens about things that don't matter.  I figure we'll spend the first day exploring the ship so I'll make sure they see it.  I think they may be interested when they see it in person but if they're not, I'm not going to push it.

Of course.  Didn’t mean to imply making them.  Just to make sure they see it.  
 

You know your kids and their interests.  Mine are itching to be big enough to do it and I’ve been on oasis class many times and can’t tell you how many teen/preteen age I’ve seen day after day on the flowrider.  I just mention it because besides kids club, it is the one thing on that ship that Ive experienced with kids wanting to do all cruise long if possible.  Stuff like mini golf is fun, but not something they want to do all week every day.  Again, depends on their interests obviously.  
 

Have a great cruise.  

[BecciBoo]

We bought our Grandson  private lessons for an evening on Flow Rider.  He had it all to himself and absolutely loved it!  Well worth the $69 I think for 30 minutes.  Still talks about it and he's now 26.  He was 15 then.

[karena1]

On 5/21/2023 at 9:54 PM, Tippyton said:

Background - 1x HAL (Mexican Riviera), 1X Princess (Alaska), 2x NCL (Alaska and Western Caribbean), 8?x CCL.  Self, DW, 2X adult DD (21/24), MIL/FIL.  At this point we look at itineraries first and price, not necessarily line or ship. In no particular order...

 

Itinerary - only Costa Maya was new for us.  They cut the port time short before the cruise, so all board was 12:30 PM.  Our excursion had been cancelled due to this, so we walked (squeezed?) around the base port for an hour or so.  Like our short stop last year in Ketchikan on NCL - a completely worthless stop,  We did not venture out of the "trap".  On Cozumel we rented a jeep and drove around the island, stopping at a few bars and the Punta Sur preserve.    In Roatan (our 4th visit) we did the Jolly Roger tour through the ship.  We ended up in the water for about 45 minutes.  The catamaran was not near as well appointed as one we took in Barbados in 2019 (CCL trip), and the overall excursion was....boring.  Considering the price, I would go private tour again all day long.  A huge disappointment.

 

Ship - the ship was nice.  We did not feel it was difficult to get around or navigate as some ships seem to be.  The decor was more modern and lacked the kitchy (sp?) look many other ships.  It seemed more like a destination resort a la Gaylord Texan than a cruise ship, and there was plenty to do.  The downside was that with >6000 PAX, it is crowded.  In some cases (e.g. karaoke) a large crowd is more fun. Otherwise it was difficult to find a quiet spot outside of your room.  At the end of the day, I don't really know how I feel about that size of a ship.  I did love the 5th deck walking track going all around the ship - I love that feature on some of the older boats. 

 

Entertainment - We did Mama Mia and the Aqua show - both were probably the best shows we've seen on a cruise ship.  The music groups on the ship were all very good.  There was a group (5-piece band with a female singer) that played in Razzles and on the promenade and they were really good..  We also sat in on (also Razzles) a 9-piece jazz/swing band that played some old tunes from the early 20th century and on.  Very entertaining to listen to - I could have sat there if they played all night.  We went to the booking desk as soon as we got on the ship and reserved the two shows that were "no availability" pre cruise.  As mentioned above, if there is an activity you want to attend (karaoke, trivia, game shows, etc.) - best get there plenty early.

 

Room - we were on Deck 14 aft in a inside balcony.  Never really felt the ocean because we basically had flat seas the whole trip.  Again - the experience was more like a destination resort than a cruise ship  The rooms were decently sized and appointed well.  Beds were very comfortable if you like firm beds,  Our A/C worked fine - nice and cool if you kept the room shut up.  One of these days it would be nice to have the lines put light switches and plugs by the beds.  Oh well.  One minor complaint is that the towels were the thin, small white prison-grade towels.  Really?  The room was fairly well insulated from noise from the hallways or from the plaza - surprisingly so.

 

Dining/Food - Windjammer was average at best.  Aside from the 1st day, they did not have a lunch carving station.  The main entrees seemed bland and uninspired, and the variety lacked IMO.  We did my time dining for dinner.  Pre-cruise we could only get 8:30 PM (not knowing the new drill) but we went to the dining room right after we booked the shows and they had a 6:45 opening for 6.  Perfect!.  I don't like RCLs version of MTD.  Either you have a set time to eat or you don't.  On other lines you queue up for dinner on a FCFS basis or you have a set time to eat - but we were fortunate to get a good time and never had to wait on our table.  The managers do a phenomenal job juggling those who have reservation vs those showing up.  I think everybody gets seated fairly quickly from what I could tell.  We did find out if you have a set time and don't show up twice in a row they open your table up.  As it should be.  We did do breakfasts either in the MDR or Windjammer.  Both were fine options.  Did one day at Johnny Rockets for breakfast - food was cold and meh at best.  Did eat one day at the Mexican restaurant by the sports courts.  I did not like it- really and I eat anything - flavors were either off or bland.  The salsa was a pre-packaged poor-mans imitation of Pace.  I thought the dinners overall in the MDR were very good.  All of our meals came out hot, well-seasoned, and the vegetables were always cooked perfectly.  The desserts were pretty good too.  The only off day was Italian night.  Some in our party had lasagna and it had a weird flavor profile, and the noodles were more like pasty dumpling dough than a cooked noodle.  Very off-putting TBH.  The sole was over cooked per one on our party, and my Chicken Parmesan lacked in the parmesan department.  It was not what I expected but I did eat it and it tasted good.  My one real complaint in the food department...the salad dressings were horrible with one exception.  The dressing on the Greek tapas on Med night was good.  All of the other "home-made" dressings did not taste very good, and the others were the worst versions of what they pretended to be.  Think YMCA camp as a kid.  The vinaigrette was sweet and fake, the bleu cheese was bad, the ranch tasted cheap, and the Caesar was equally bad.  Good dressings, made fresh, are very easy and inexpensive and also can be readily done in bulk.  Come on RCL.

 

People/Clientele - OK, let the controversy start.  We really don't pay attention much, so there's that.  There were ~ 6200 PAX @ 98% capacity, and roughly 1000 children (per staff).  Did not see really untoward or out-of-bounds behavior, not did we really see any obnoxious, loud drunks.  By and large, a pretty normal crowd (remember - destination resort feel vs. booze cruise).  Discussed this with DW on the way home - I think the size plays into this positively. [Volume drowns out the anomolies?].  Retirees, families, mixed single/married groups, families.  all good.  As for the kids, really did not see any obnoxious kids standing out or running amok - they were all pretty well behaved. [Same getting lost in the masses phenomenon?]

 

Misc. - the app was ok, except the chat feature worked only part of the time.  I had the internet package and that worked ok for web surfing, emails, and even some streaming like YT.  Getting on the boat was quick, and getting off the boat was quick too (we self-disembarked).  Although thee were a lot of people (have to have the "when in Rome" attitude towards this), did you rarely feel completely packed.  In fact, I've never seen it easier to get on or off at any port than this.  No backlogs, lines, or people pushed up against one another.  Just another piece of the overall layout that was I think intentional to manage 6000 PAX.

 

I'm sure I forgot a few things.  Any questions I will try to help.  Bottom line - no reason not to cruise RCL in the future, and no good reason not to sail on a mega ship either.

 

EDIT - the Solarium is a nice space too.

Love Allure, has always been my favorite ship.  Agree with you on the shows, they are all so good, staff is amazing, service outstanding.  We also do MTD and we go eat when we feel like it and never have issues.  I make reservations once in a while if we have a show we need to make, but otherwise we just go.  Love the vibe of Allure.  Have 2 booked on her for next year, but lots of other cruises on Royal booked right now - 21 in total.  Glad you had a great time!

 

If you go back to Roatan, do the Maya Key private island tour off Royal.  Boat picks you up right at the pier - you get off the ship and immediately get on the boat.  5 minute ride to the island which is gorgeous.  It is also an animal sanctuary, so we felt like we were at the zoo.  Beach was super nice, includes a lunch.  They have a pool and a bar and a gift shop.  Island is small enough and has a walking path, so I walked the island 4 times.  Best part - ZERO vendors!  We love West Bay, but just cannot deal with the vendors, they are insane there.  So going back to Maya Key again this October on Wonder and cannot wait.

[SheSailsFL]

On 5/22/2023 at 8:15 AM, Tippyton said:

Didn't see any.  

I saw on a recent YouTube review that there is no laser tag on the Allure, but I am pretty sure he said they have the Quest game which I think is usually in Studio B.  Random guy on YT so can’t verify.

 

Edited May 28, 2023 by SheSailsFL

[bradpitch92]

On 5/25/2023 at 11:58 AM, SheSailsFL said:

I recently found a video on YouTube while randomly exploring and it was the best one I have seen to provide pros & cons for each cabin category, and where the best & worst cabins are in each category.  I was researching to decide if I wanted to take the plunge & book an Oasis class ship purely because I wanted to see the Mamma Mia show. 😗🤷‍♀️😅  I usually prefer the Freedom & Voyager class ships so I thought it was time to branch out.

Doing a b2b and had decided on a Boardwalk balcony aft with a great view of the aqua theater.  After hearing her advice, I went back to my standard OV balcony after all.

Here’s the link to her video on the Allure in case you haven’t seen her before.

Happy sailing!

 

I don't think the link made it, could you post the link again? Or direct message me. 

[Biker19]

5 hours ago, bradpitch92 said:

Or direct message me. 

That function is disabled on CC.

[SheSailsFL]

On 7/11/2023 at 2:09 AM, bradpitch92 said:

I don't think the link made it, could you post the link again? Or direct message me. 

Sorry..you can search for it using “Allure of the Seas Best & Worst Cabins -  Shannon Ford”.

Hope you can find it!