Great trip, amazing ship, some minor improvements and adjustments would go a long way

Item: Allure of the Seas
Rating: 4
Author: mcovey

Allure of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

mcovey

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 58

Overall rating:

4 out of 5

Verified Review

6 Night Western Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: November 05, 2018

Ship: Allure of the Seas

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: 3606

Traveled as: Family (young children)

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

First time on a ship this size, very well engineered and does a nice job of spreading everyone out so it rarely felt crowded. Dining room food was good not great, some was way overcooked. Lots of restaurant choices for meals and snacks though, many at no additional charge. We did not use the premium food (upcharge) options this trip but have in the past, we heard from fellow cruisers that they loved them, especially Italian. Bar service was a challenge at times, seemed like they had minimal staff, often had to wait 10min or more to be served. Many activities have an upcharge, some seemed a bit much (like $30 a person for a cupcake decorating class) but many are included like the zip-line and Flowrider. Ship is starting to show some age here and there but overall well kept and clean.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Dining room food was good but not great, several items were very over cooked. Bar service was very slow at times. Staff was friendly but it seemed there were not enough of them to keep up.

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Great shows including Mama Mia!

Children's Programs

5 out of 5

Our 7 year old had a fantastic time and asked repeatedly to go back. At-sea days the program was open 9-12, 2-5 and 7-10pm there's an additional service available from 10pm to 2am for $7 an hour. In-port days the program is open the entire time in port if parents want to spend the day ashore. We would have liked an option for a little longer block of time for at-sea days, like maybe 1-7 or similar. We only used the program for at-sea days

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Some areas seemed lightly staffed resulting in longer than expected waits

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

Great design overall. No waterslides at all, we were kind of surprised for a ship of this size

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

Clean but was a little tight with 3 people, stateroom attendant was great. You're not in your room much anyway!

Ship tip

Skydeck on deck 14, forward port side through glass door is a great place to watch the ship depart or arrive. Breakfast is available for no additional charge at Johnny Rockets if other venues are busy

Thumbs up