So I have had the past 5 days to really think about the cruise we just took. This is our 3rd cruise, but our first with Royal Caribbean. The first 2 were with MSC, which we really enjoyed but the kids (13 & 15) really wanted to do one of the big ships, so we decided to spend the extra money and go for the Allure. After reading many reviews we were so excited for great food and great service and a great trip. What we got was very mediocre. Everything started out great. Check in was super, we arrived at 230 to no line. Walked right on. Our room 12729 was in a great location and had a good amount of space for 4 of us and we had a great view of the Aqua theater right from our balcony, also the beds were very comfortable. We also had a bonus area 5 ft from our door was the back of the boat with 10 lounge chairs, which is open to everyone, but no one was ever around. Our steward Brendan was awesome. Anything we needed he was always there with a smile. Dinner the first night was My time dining. Service was pretty good and food was good, nothing special, but enjoyable. Our weather the entire time was beautiful. On day 2 we stopped by the teen club just to check it out for the kids, there were a few activities on the daily compass that the kids thought sounded fun. The guy there was nice, the area was a good space so the kids were optimistic and so were we .On our last cruises there were so many activities around the pool and in the evenings, even group exercising. That is not the case on Allure of the Sea. The daily activity sheet shows lots of events, but really there is not much. The cruise directors entertainment staff was AWFUL. They really are not interested in having a good time with the guests. They are not cheerful or even pleasant. On day 2 we decided to do the scavenger hunt at 2:30, no announcement that it was happening. So we left the pool and headed down to Dazzles which was the meeting spot, no lights were on and there were about 14 people there and it was 225pm. 230 no activities person, 235 no activities person at 238 a woman walked in with no smile, no hello she put her bag down and said sorry I'm late i was at another activity as if we were bothering her that we were there. Really awful attitude and VERY not friendly. She handed out papers with questions said get in groups of 6 and go. We added another little boy to our group and off we went. We came back (in first) and she still seemed annoyed. This was very typical, if you passed any of the staff on the boat they didn't say hello or smile they just talked among themselves. Dinner the 2nd night was Izumi. Very good. The hot rock was great for our son to cook his own steak on. The show Chicago was very good. Day 3 the pool is very congested, since there is a giant space in the middle for the Boardwalk and Central park. 4 small pools 1 kiddie, 1 sport( although only 2 events were there the whole cruise) and 2 general pools. Lots of chairs for sitting not lounging and then lounge chairs on lots of different ledges with no leg room or space to walk to get to your seat. There is a small stage which had a calypso band every so often. We were really ready for fun at the pool but there really was very little, on our other cruises there was stuff going on all the time, on this cruise you really had to search it out. There was one activity at the pool and we did take part in it. The Flowrider was good and so were the bartenders and music on the back deck. We went to Bingo and there are only 2 choices $34. or $67 which to me was a bit steep for 4 games. Again the staff was an issue, besides Gill calling crazy slow he was on stage with the microphone and took a 3 minute phone call while we all just sat there and waited for him to finish.

Our first stop was Ladabee. We went to the beach for about an hour, the kids and husband went on the coaster and said it was fun. We went back to the boat to take advantage of the extra space by the pool. Turns out that was what most of the other cruisers did too. Our other dinners were giovanni's, food was very good and 150 Central also good the 6 salts were delicious. The my time dining remained ok and lunch at Park central was very good. Windjammer for most breakfasts just because it was easy, had an omelet one morning from wipeout and bagels at park central another morning. Our excursions from jamaica were great. I booked them on my own. We used Courtney Taylor tours ( I definitely would recommend them) and went river tubing and then lunch and then river rafting on the Martha Brae. If we go back we will definitely hit the Blue Hole. Cozumel we went to Mr. Sanchos beach club and it was very fun. Great pool, great staff and fun water activities. The comedians on the boat were really funny, and the ice skating show was entertaining. You know when you go on a cruise that you are going to pay for extras but it was very very noticeable on Allure of the Sea that you were going to pay for EVERYTHING. When you look at the daily schedule almost every other event was one that cost money even a cappuccino at the end of dinner. Every night RC had at least 10 photo areas to take pictures. Each picture cost $26. They really pushed purchasing those and announcing every shopping event, but yet they never announced any other event. Disembarkation was a nightmare!!! It took close to 2 hours to get off the boat. I understand it was a large boat, but by that time we were so ready to be off the boat that 2 hours was just not acceptable. After going on Allure we probably won't go a cruise for a long time it really was not a great cruise or worth the money spent.