Overall a Great Cruise

Allure of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

clickers72

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 25

Overall rating:

4.8 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Western Caribbean (Galveston Roundtrip)

Sail date: February 05, 2023

Ship: Allure of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 6726

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

Great cruise! Excellent entertainment & shows! excellent service (only ran across 2 or 3 grumpy staff members) everyone was very friendly and eager to please. Clean room, clean ship, great music onboard. We are sorta foodies and appreciate good food (don't like fast food), but we didn't do the specialty dining pkg. MDR was good for bfst, lunch, And dinner. Had Solarium bfst once, barely found a table outside in the wind and had to eat cold food. Not set up near as well as on Symphony. Windjammer was good for breakfast and was busy, but didn't seem as bad as Solarium bistro. But maybe we just went to SB at a bad time. Pizza was pretty good as long as it was fresh. Lunch and snack options on the ship weren't great. (except salads and soups) The desserts were mostly bleh. Free ice cream in wipeout Cafe was ok. Coffee card was great and well worth it. We didn't do any other drink pkgs except order 24 bottles of water to our room. That was also well worth it. Water onboard was fine, but about halfway thru the sailing, it tasted a bit salty. As if the desalinator was struggling a bit. But then it got better. Sinks, showers, toilets all functioned well in cabin. Cruise director was great. There was a tribute to veterans And first responders which was wonderful. All the kids onboard were well behaved, except one that we saw. Our sailing was sold out, but not an overwhelming amount of children. And when they are all So well behaved, it's wonderful to have them onboard. There was a lot of movement on the ship, which surprised us. We barely felt anything on symphony, but I guess the seas were rougher this time. The last sea day was so windy, they had to close the upper decks because the wind would knock you over. So the ship was very crowded with everyone having to be indoors. But even so, you could still find corners to sit and meet people. We had a great time overall and would definitely recommend this ship!

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Fast and efficient embarkation

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Main dining room was very good, breakfasts in the Windjammer were good, but complimentary lunch and snack options were less appealing. Salads and soups were always good, but the roast beef sandwiches are inedible, the other sandwich options at Cafe promenade And Park Cafe are very slim, And mostly consist of egg salad or vegetarian options. Food quality has gone down for sure. I skipped lunch several days, and used my coffee card to supply an afternoon snack, before dinner. The only complimentary desserts (outside of the dining room) that were very good were the cookies. But that's good, as it didn't tempt me to eat them. The dining room desserts were almost always good. MDR mains were good.... Our favorites were the beef tenderloin, prime rib, lobster, and steaks. The steaks were thin, but tender and flavorful. Wipeout cafe which is now El Loco Fresh was pretty good. But try to go when they first open at 11:30. Because this venue doesn't have washing stations to encourage hand washing, and gets slammed by kids and adults alike. The serving spoons get very grimy and sticky quickly. So use a napkin to pick them up, if needed. There is a hand sanitizer dispenser there. My Inlaws liked the hot dogs on the Boardwalk. We only ate Johnny Rockets for complimentary breakfast once on the last day, and would have gone there more had we realized how good it was.

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Was too crowded to ever enjoy a pool or hot tub, but that's ok. Hubs enjoyed the flowrider. Fitness center was very nice. We always found an open chair in the solarium, although sometimes had to go on the upper deck. Found the shuffleboard behind the Aqua theater screen and played that. Played ping pong, pickleball, basketball, and mini golf.

Entertainment

5 out of 5

The Ocean Aria show was fantastic, we went twice (once with reservations, once in stand by line), the ice show was fantastic - we went twice, and Mama Mia was incredible-so so good! Hubby doesn't even like Broadway shows and agreed it was very very good.

Children's Programs

Didn't bring children

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Our waiters were outstanding, and our room steward, Merlina, excellent. We were on the last sailing that included twice a day room cleaning. We mostly only needed fresh towels, but it was a great opportunity to see her more often.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

I know the Allure has been due for a refreshment, but we think it has been very well maintained and taken care of. Workers were constantly cleaning, and painting/Sealing rust spots on outer decks. The new furniture in the solarium was really nice. The carpets on the stairs are somewhat worn, but still look impressively good, considering the traffic they get. The ship was always in pristine condition.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

The room seemed a bit smaller than our balcony on Symphony, but the balcony was definitely bigger! There was plenty of storage in the room, plenty of hangers. Annoying that there was no outlet in the bathroom or next to the bed, but we expected that. The shower was great. The room was plenty comfortable for 2 people. 3 or 4 would be tight. Merlina kept the Cabin spotless at all times.

Ship tip

See if you can make reservations online for the shows about 30 days out from your sailing. Check every day. Watch for the email that royal sends, saying that entertainment for your sailing can now be viewed. The 18+ comedy shows book out the first day. And the rest of the shows book out within the first couple days, from what I could tell. If you want your pick of days and times, book immediately. Also get early traditional dining if you plan to see the shows. It's the only dining time that will work with show schedules, unless you do the Windjammer, or go eat in MDR very late like 8:30 or 9. My time dining doesn't start until 6:45 and there are crazy lines, even with reservations. I can't speak to how long the wait is if you have reservations though.

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