The good the bad and the ugly.

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

Allure of the Seas Cruise Review

Caryface

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 6

Overall rating:

4 out of 5

7 Night Western Caribbean (Galveston Roundtrip)

Sail date: February 19, 2023

Ship: Allure of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 12676

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

I'm not going back to Royal. Even with over $1000 credit from the casino for being in the players club towards our next cabin, I would rather not ever go on Royal again.

Embarkation

1 out of 5

It appears that there is a stomach virus that was going around on the cruise prior to ours. So we were asked to arrive 30 minutes after our scheduled time to allow them time to clean the ship. When arriving, we were in line for at least an hour and a half in the hot sun pulling around our luggage. That was the worst embarkation I've ever seen.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

2 out of 5

I would say that all of the food that is included lacks flavor and is really disappointing. I thought that if we took a step above the basic, we would receive some quality food. That was not the case if you want to have decent food on this cruise ship you have to pay extra for it. When it comes to the main dining room, the service was amazing but even if you had reservations, you had to stand in a 20 minute line. By the time you got to the table, you were already kind of frustrated. However, we did have the best servers.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Solarium

3 out of 5

This was a beautiful little space. The only problem was that if you wanted to go to the solarium, you needed to make sure that you were OK with not having a place to sit we had to walk around probably for a good 15 minutes before we found somebody leaving and grab the chair.

Casino Royale

5 out of 5

I did really enjoy the casino. This is where we spent most of our time, but the non-smoking section was not as good as the smoking section which was disappointing.

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Aqua Theater

4 out of 5

This was a great show again standing in line even with reservations, but the show is well done. There is not really a storyline to the show. It's just a lot of diving and acrobatic type of moves.

Amber Theater

5 out of 5

We watched the show Mamma Mia. I would say that this is the best part of our cruise. I was really impressed with the quality of the show. I would call this as good as Broadway. If you haven't been to one of the royal Caribbean shows, make sure you check it out but if you want to go you better reserve it a month ahead of time.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

And the staff on this cruise were wonderful. Our room attendant was probably the best we've ever had. He was just absolutely amazing. And the main dining room staff are wonderful. It's not their fault that the food sucks.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

I would say that the chef was very well maintained, cleaned and sanitized. Because prior to us getting on, it was a issue of a stomach virus on the prior cruise, and when we got on, we had no problems you always saw somebody cleaning the rails and any of the areas that people touch.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

It was a very nice cabin balcony nicely decorated spacious wasn't that much storage though . I was bummed when you wanted to not be around a lot of people and just maybe watch some TV. What was offered was very minimal they only had two prime channels. They had one movie channel that flickered on and off so you couldn't really watch it but if you were interested in paying 12.99, you could rent a movie .

Ship tip

I really had a disappointing experience with Royal. Now I don't know if it was just my cruise, or if this is a normal situation, but I was surprised at how incredibly money hungry I found this cruise to be. The food wasn't good, unless it came from a specialty restaurant, the TV wasn't good unless you paid 12.99 for a movie, I got pulled from the spa to try to talk me into $280 worth of acupuncture just when I was walking by, and it just seemed everywhere I go. They were trying to sell me something, maybe it was just my interpretation but I have not experienced this on other cruise lines.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Coxen Hole, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras

3 out of 5

There was a lot of people trying to sell you some thing everywhere you looked at this port. I felt like I had to walk faster to get to work Spurgeon and ignore everybody who is trying to talk to me just so I could get to my point of contact I don't know if I'm gonna get off the ship next time we go on this cruise.

Thumbs Up 0

Galveston, Texas

5 out of 5

Cozumel, Mexico

5 out of 5

Disembarkation

3 out of 5

Disembarkation was a nightmare again lines for days. I would say we were in line for at least 50 minutes.

14 Comments

Cruisers4Lyfe 6 months ago

Thanks for sharing

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

deloria 1 year ago

Maybe cruising isn’t for you? As you say it’s a lot. The crews work 24 /7 to make it a great experience. Looks like once you were on board and in ports all was good.

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

Faithlyn28 1 year ago

I agree the food was very disappointing and bland. My boyfriend ended up with gastroenteritis similar symptoms as food poisoning. Missed a port due Tk the weather. Everything was overpriced. The service from the staff was great but I would not recommend.

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

Gardengenix 1 year ago

We just got off the Allure, I found the food very good. Didn't have to wait very long for anything. I will mention to the OP that the noro virus outbreak is the passengers before yous fault more than the cruise ship and I'm glad they sanitize the ship so efficiently when dealing with an outbreak. Might have been even more of a convenience to you if you got sick. They are always asking you to wash your hands or use sanitizer gel. Everywhere we went the staff were cleaning all the surfaces.

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

Paul1234 1 year ago

Couldn't agree more about the food allure of the seas couple months ago had to wait almost an hour to be seated for dinner and then when they did they rushed us through the bus boy took our order then brought out all the food appetizer main course and dessert all at once plopped it on a tray next to our table and we watched our food get ice cold kind of a service you'd expect from a Denny's but not from a $5,000 cruise I think real Caribbean's ideas if you don't pay for the extra up charge fancy restaurants you were just another despicable peasant bothering them with the fact you want to eat something vaguely worth the price you paid then try to get food in the evening unless you want to wait in line for a slice of pizza with 6,000 other people You're out of luck

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

TXgandy 1 year ago

Got to appreciate that the “chef” was well maintained, cleaned and sanitized.

Thumbs Up 1

Flag

Gladis50 1 year ago

I mainly cruise Carnival, but when I do cruise on Royal I always had a great time.

Thumbs Up 1

Flag

Ship2Shora 1 year ago

Thanks for the detes😎

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

javawoody 1 year ago

Appreciate your view

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

gamlife 1 year ago

We have been on over 20 Royal Caribbean cruises, pre an post Covid, and never had any complaints.

Thumbs Up 4

Flag

msxenia 1 year ago

We waited 5 hours in the sun to board the Carnival Panorama.

Thumbs Up 1

Flag

Shh813 1 year ago

I know things are not how they were before Covid but you made it sound just horrible. I can’t believe that of the Allure. Maybe cruising isn’t for you.

Thumbs Up 4

Flag

Gwbigdog 1 year ago

Oops sorry 😞 thanks

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

AuntPinkie 1 year ago

Appreciate your detailed feedback. Sorry you were disappointed.

Thumbs Up 1

Flag

Other reviews of this sailing

Debra and Marcie from Dream Vacations are the best!!

Mix of very good and very bad

Great Caribbean Cruise