Won’t sail a large ship again

Item: Allure of the Seas
Rating: 3.3
Author: renzy55

Allure of the Seas Cruise Review

renzy55

Contributor Level: Second Mate

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 2

Helpful Votes: 39

Overall rating:

3.3 out of 5

7 Night Western Caribbean (Galveston Roundtrip)

Sail date: December 23, 2022

Ship: Allure of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 9684

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

As I’ve said before this size ship is not for me, it’s too big and does not give a true cruising experience, I’ll stick to the smaller ships

Embarkation

4 out of 5

The new terminal is nice and a very comfortable place to wait to board

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Food was as expected, nothing new there. We ate at Chops for Christmas lunch, and at Sabors for lunch one day, good but expensive. Dining room was nothing special, menu hasn’t changed over the years. It’s interesting that the complimentary hot dog place and wipe out cafe close early but the places with a cost stay open later. Windjammer was its usual insanity, but it was good to see all the extra seating, no wandering looking for a seat.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Onboard activities are plentiful, lots to do if you want to be a little more active

Entertainment

4 out of 5

Water/diving show was very good, ice skating was good. The shows in the theater were at deafening levels as usual, I’ve started bringing earplugs and that brings it to a normal noise level. Some people didn’t realize you had to make reservations to see the acts in the smaller lounges, there were a lot of people in the wait list line. it seems to me that if you have that many people wanting to see an act maybe the venue should be in the theater. Very disappointing for many passengers.

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

Our room steward was excellent, the waiters in the dining did a very good job, only complaint I have was in the morning, we ate in the dining room every day and it seemed they might have been a little short staffed, we had to wait quite a bit for water/coffee refills, but otherwise was fine

Ship Quality

2 out of 5

Absolutely hate the design of the ship, I guess I prefer the Freedom class and smaller, this felt like a hotel or resort, (which of course it is in a sense) was almost impossible to find a place to sit inside to relax and still have a view of the water. Central Park could be any mall in any city anywhere, no view to the outside at all, nothing to make you feel you are on a ship, the bars and lounges on the promenade on smaller ships all have windows looking outside, no windows here. Unless you want to be on the top decks there is nowhere to walk outside except the jogging track which is a joke, its blocked by the life boats except at the back of the ship, and very narrow. The Oasis class and bigger is not for me, I prefer ships that feel like ships

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

Standard room with balcony, it would be nice if the chairs outside reclined a little bit, but they don’t move. The nightstands are open, no drawers to keep meds or things you would prefer to have put away

Ship tip

If you have sailed on the smaller ships be aware that the larger ships don’t have the same views or places to go and enjoy a true shipboard experience

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