First of all we had great weather throughout which is always a plus. We had two sea days from Miami to St Maarten. Mama Mia is the broadway play on board and it was my first time seeing it. Although it is long like Cats (on Oasis), it was much more enjoyable to watch. I will look forward to seeing it again.
We had a Central Park balcony cabin on deck 11. There are pluses and minuses to these cabins. Pluses are that its cheeper and you get a free lunch at Giovanni's. The cabin location was very suitable as we like being near the elevators and in this case very near the diamond lounge. The minuses are day time noise from the pool deck; having no water view and having to keep the curtains closed so much that at times I felt I was staying in an inside cabin. The next time I opt for a neighborhood cabin I think I'll try Boardwalk. But mostly I'll probably stick with an Ocean View balcony.
St. Maarten is one of our favorite ports. We like beaches and they have some good ones. The half day stay in San Juan is too short in my opinion. I'd like to see the rain forest but I feel the limited time in port prevents this.
The sooner RCL converts from Sabor to Playmakers the better. Sabor costs (for what you get) are way too high to be a viable option. Symphony's Playmakers was so much better.
I was disappointed with the lack of use of Dazzles for music which we had really made use of on Oasis. If there was any it was always way too late at night. We look for something going on as an option instead of always going to a show.
We'll be back on Allure later this year and I am definitely looking forward to it.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Miami Terminal A is so easy to be processed through. Almost no delay from arrival to boarding. We arrived at ~11am.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
We ate at Giovanni's Table which was excellent and then Samba's Grill which was pretty good. We had pre-purchased the First Night Done Right dining option which gives two for one dining on the first two nights at the cruise lines choice of restaurants. They did not allow Chops as an option however. 150 Central Park was only available the first night at 9pm which was too late for us. Giovanni's was acceptable but Samba's was just an OK choice which we took.
We did not use the main dining room. The Windjammer food variety and preparation was good.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Oasis class offers a lot of activities. This was a spring break week which had many families aboard. I've never seen the sports court used as much as it was this week. This class of ship is perfect for the young to middle aged crowd.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Mama Mia is a very good show and the performers were quite good. The Aqua show and Ice shows were very good as always. The headliner was a singer and he put on a good show too. Blue planet is ok once. Next cruise we will give it a pass. Same singers performed as was in Mama Mia but the songs in the show did not always suit their voices.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
We seem to always have great service on all Royal ships and it was again here.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
No problems seen or experienced on this trip.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Cabin 11655 is a central park balcony room. The cabin was ok. I expected the location (first one from the end) would be less than desirable but it turned out to be an advantage for us because we like being close to the elevators and it was close to the diamond lounge which made it super convenient for morning coffee. The day time noise is quite apparent from the pool deck but not an issue at night for sleeping.
Ship tip
Don't expect to be able to select Chops on the First Night Done Right dinner package.
We walked to the beach and rented chairs and an umbrella for $20. You have an option to buy five sodas for an extra $5 or 5 beers for an extra $10. The amount of beach vendors was noticably less than other times we've been there. Don't know why but I'll take it.
We were in port for half a day which makes it hard to do excursions. We walked around old town and shopped a bit. Then we ate lunch at Punto de Vista roof top restaurant. We wanted to try the Puerto Rican food so we chose empanadas and mofongo which were very good choices.
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