Embarkation: Embarkation in Port Everglades was smooth and efficient. We arrived at the port security gate via our car around 10:30 am and was parked, checked-in and on the ship around 11:30 am. While a little more expensive, we elect to park at the port for the convenience.

Ship: The Allure of the Seas - The ship is truly an engineering marvel. On our cruise, there were just under 6000 passengers on board and the ship did not seem to be over crowded. The ship was very clean and well maintained. The ship provides so many things to see and do that you will never see it all in a week. We enjoyed the gym, and a lap around the running track on deck 5 will truly give you a sense of the size of the ship.

Dinning: Our experience in the Silk Dinning Room is why our rating is so low. On the first night, my wife and I arrived at our table (a table for six) for the 6:00 pm seating. One other couple joined us and a waiter welcomed us and began service and took our order. The salads arrived, and we began to enjoy what we thought was a good dinning experience. However, after waiting almost an hour and noticing the tables around us were finishing their main course, we began asking the waiters at other tables what happened to our waiter and our food. No one could give us an answer. After finally locating an Assistant Head Waiter, he called the Head Waiter and he came over to our table. He indicated that our waiter and asst. waiter had been reassigned to another part of the dinning room and that the normal waiter assigned to our table was ill and was not able to work. They had to take our dinner order again, and after additional delays dinner was finally served. The next few nights we had a different waiter every night which resulted in very poor service. No one seemed to have responsibility for our table. After several visits to Guest Services and discussions with the Head Waiter, on night five of the cruise, they finally assigned a waiter to our table who valued good customer service. We found that Guest Services was of no assistance in resolving this matter as they just provided excuses. The Head Waiter seemed to be working on the issue and visited our table almost every night. The bottom line is that RCL has cut the amount of staff in the main dinning room and the service is inadequate. Also, we notice the quality of the main course in the dinning room continues to decline. Read more