We had a great time on our cruise, it was our first cruise with Royal Caribbean, only having sailed with Carnival in the past I wasn't thrilled about cruising but I was willing to give it a shot and it was an awesome trip! Definitely a redemption for cruising vacations for me personally and I will probably cruise RC again.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
The terminal here was very nice and it was a smooth embarkation experience. The worst part was how confusing security was because one of the workers had an attitude and the signage was lacking.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
The 5th deck MDR was nice, our head waiter was mostly absent and our assistant waiter was too talkative for my taste but they meant well. The food was pretty good but I knew if I didn't want to eat something I could just grab Sorrento's pizza after which was always yummy day or night! We did one specialty restaurant, Samba, which is the Brazilian steakhouse and while it was all we could eat and very good it was truly a TON of meat and it felt like I could never eat everything they wanted to bring out for us.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
The H2O Zone on this ship for young kids is extremely underrated for young children. I know they're removing these big areas from the ships during the "amped up" renovations but it's just sad because our kids had an absolute blast in the huge splash pad area where if it was slides they would be too short to ride or if it was just a pool they can't reach the bottom or have any independence there. We also did the wave rider and that was a lot of fun, we did see a guy break his nose and they had to shut one down while it was cleaned but that's just a risk you have.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
The shows we saw were absolutely amazing talent. The Aquatheater dive show was a must see and the comedy was hilarious as usual. My family said that the cover band shows and Mama Mia production were Broadway quality.
Children's Programs
5 out of 5
The children's program (Adventure Ocean) was absolutely outstanding! Our 3 year old twins absolutely adored going to play with their friends and were practically begging us to take them by the end of the cruise!
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Everyone was incredibly nice on this cruise ship which was a first for me and I really appreciated it.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
The ship was quite remarkably clean! I would say the worst area was probably the bathrooms by the pool area but everything else was addressed before we even could notice it being dirty!
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Room felt spacious, we had a fold out couch that opened into a double bed. We left it as a bed for the duration of the cruise and our 3 year old twins slept on it sideways so they had tons of room to roll left to right and it was plenty large for them to sleep that way. Our bed was alright but it was pretty stiff compared to what I prefer.
Ship tip
I would look at the decks you plan to spend the most time on and select a room near that end of the ship if it favors one end. We were very lucky in that I selected rooms near the front of the ship and that's where Adventure Ocean, Solarium, and the spa are all located which were our primary stops.
The new terminal was excellent but I had to take off one star because Houston felt like the armpit of America. Flying into and out of IAH was an awful experience and if I were to fly to the area again I would choose to fly into Hobby in the hopes it would be better. Also, the tolls in the Houston area are part of some EZ Tag network which isn't linked to any other kind of toll network? And finally we stopped at the Houston Space Center after our cruise, while parts of it were cool to see (like touching one of only 8 publicly accessible pieces of moon rock) many features were not functioning properly or completely broken and the kids area was incredibly disappointing for our 3 year old twins. I wouldn't recommend bringing younger children there personally.
We did a semi-sub excursion here and it was a cool experience for us and our 3 year olds. It was a good way to see the reef without trying to take the kids into the water.
The port has been renovated but it is entirely way too small for the number of ships that were docked here during our cruise. I wouldn't go out of my way to stop here again and if we did I'd probably opt for some kind of excursion if I was going to get off the ship at all again. The water here was beautiful though.
Stunning clear water here! Again, we didn't do an excursion here but we did eat at a small restaurant in port Mandy's Snack bar and it was very good. I would come back to this port for sure.
No wait, self carry, no customs. If we had skipped the stop at the bathrooms and not had to take the elevators (why only 2 elevators?!) we would have been off the ship and out to our car within 10 minutes.
The Allure in 2019 was our last cruise before Covid . One of our favorite cruises ever. The ship is beautiful and huge and lots to do. Food was absolutely delicious everywhere on the ship and the shows were all excellent. We had a cabin on the 11th deck Boardwalk balcony . It was great. Could see the Aqua show from our balcony but not hear it. Still went down to see it. Loved the ship so much. Would love to go again. Cruising is the best vacation ever!!
Glad you enjoyed your cruise. Welcome to Royal we started out with Carnival as well and when we became Platinum the deals stop coming so we looked into royal and booked a Jr Suite on Oasis of the seas and we fell absolutely in love,we are now Diamond on Royal almost diamond plus. After covid deals starting coming again for Carnival so we do both now.
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