Great cruise for first timers. First 3 days were completely sea days, so you can get used to being on there, take care of watching some shows, get used to the layout of ship, get used to all the dining areas and timings, figure out the event areas, and do some ship activities. Three days of ports, so we thought it was great first experience on a cruise to enjoy both ports and the ship itself equally.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
It was great! Timely boarding. Was able to get on the ship by noon and room was ready by 1:30pm.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
MDR service was great by our waiters. They really try to remember your preferences. Nice to do traditional dining, so you don’t have to reserve times at my time dining or have a wait time. Also, it was nice to receive the same set of servers daily. Nice to form a bond with them. They made our experience better.
Specialty restaurant we tried was Chops Grille. Everything was excellent. Steak was cooked perfectly and really good with the peppercorn sauce. Shrimp cocktail was really yummy and the shrimp were huge as they were tiger shrimp. Wild mushroom soup was comforting and delicious. The sides were tummy, but didn’t really care for the mac & cheese.
Windjammer buffet was great! So many options. Definitely make sure to go around as they have several different stations. It was nice to have a carving station daily with anything from sirloin to roasted turkey. Loved the nachos station. Used that to make chili cheese fries one day. There are so many yummy desserts to choose from!
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
We did the zipline, fitness center, mini golf, played table tennis. Make sure to look at the daily cruise compasses for specific timings of availability because there are breaks in between, which the daily compass mentions more specifically.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
Never cared for Mamma Mia the movie, but the stage show was really great. Performers did a wonderful job, had “Dancing Queen” stuck in my head haha. Hush silent disco at Boleros was fun! Several opportunities to have a dancing environment. Unfortunately, we were unable to watch the Oceanaria Aqua Show due to it being cancelled due to movement of the ship.
Children's Programs
No children.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Service was topnotch. You really feel pampered. Room was cleaned 2/3 times daily. Waiters were amazing too, really made it a great experience and very personable. Shoutout to Adelaine (stateroom attendant), Hurry (waiter), and Kamal (assistant waiter)!
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Loved this oasis class ship. Our first cruise, but nothing felt overwhelming. We were able to figure out the ship’s location of things. Really maintained nicely and clean.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Thought the room was perfect size. We were two people though, so never felt crowded. Plenty of hangers and shelves to keep clothing/shoes. The furniture and bathroom perhaps can use some updating, which Allure will be getting in April 2020, so it will probably feel like a new ship after that again. Loved having the balcony. Just seeing the sunrise/sunsets, sky, ocean, and hearing the ocean was incredibly uplifting and wonderful.
Ship tip
Download the app for ease of planning daily activities by adding events to calendar. Look at cruise campus. Make sure to know where the events are (which deck level at aft/back, forward/front, or midship). Try everything and visit every neighborhood. We completely missed trying out Park Cafe in Central Park, because we got comfortable going to Royal Promenade Cafe.
The port was perfect, had no issues at all. We did our own excursion by renting a car and heading down to do Coopertown Air Boat Tour. Completely worth it to see the Everglades National Park.
Did our own excursion by getting a taxi down to Red Hook and taking a ferry down to Cruz Bay in St. John to visit Trunk Bay Beach, which was truly gorgeous. Some of the most clearest and turquoise waters out there.
Beautiful city! Very old world. We did our own excursion by visiting the two forts. Great photo ops at both places and beautiful views of the entire town from up there.
Well designed island by Royal. Beach chairs get taken really quickly, so disembark early if you want one. Oasis Lagoon pool is amazing. Just huge. Didn’t feel overcrowded at all compared to Chill Island beach area. Had two excursions scheduled, helium balloon and parasailing, but both were cancelled due to wind. Tried to schedule jet skis, but no timings were left. Great food from Chill Grill and Snack Shack.
We did self assisted disembarkation, so just rolled our own luggage off. It was easy and we were out of the area awaiting our rental car shuttle in no time.
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