The Allure of the seas is a beautiful and amazing ship that offers so many entertainment options, we just had to experience it. The first part of the cruise was amazing, as the port staff and the Royal Caribbean people at Port Everglades were all so organized we were on the ship in an amazingly short time. First walking into the Royal Promenade was incredible, with shops, bars, restaurants, and a Mercedes convertible in that area. That was our first crew experience was, and it was not good. The unhappy, unfriendly, and not caring crew was hard to understand. With little or no help, we wandered to our tiny cabin, the smallest we have ever experienced, and dropped off our carry on luggage, then head out for food. We ate at the Dog House, which was OK, but the servers were, obviously, miserable, short tempered, and, once again, not helpful. We wandered the ship, looking at all the offerings, and found our first really happy ad helpful crew member at the poolside bar. We decided to attend the sail away party on the Boardwalk. They had some technical glitch, keeping them from starting the party until we were almost out of the channel, and well after we left the dock. The party was for little kids, and was not entertaining for anyone over 12. We also noticed that there was never the sound of the ship's horn, one of our favorite sounds on a cruise. It may be that we were too far away to hear it, but we missed it.

Our first night, we had our time dining reservations at 5:30. We had a great waiter, Hugo, a great Bar server, Andrew, and a great assistant (can't spell or pronounce his name). The food was ok, but there was lobster on the menu for an additional $26.95. We have never seen additional food items on the ship for extra money in the main dining room before, and it struck us as cheap on the part of the cruise line.

To shorten this review, I want to hit the high and low points. The ship is massively overcrowded. It is impossible to get in to any of the shows, clubs, etc., without waiting in long lines or making reservations well in advance. We were excited to visit the jazz club - never got in because there was never any room - the comedy club - same - Bolero (Latin dance club) - never any seating, and the ice shows (couldn't get in with reservations). In some clubs, there were anywhere from 6 to 10 tables, but no chairs, as though the chairs broke and they didn't bother to replace them. We did participate in the trivia games, and found out that the activities staff is given their assignments the night before they start, so they never really know what they are going to do, and they really don't get a good personal connection with most passengers. We were surprised, sitting with a couple who were on the ship for the 3 previous weeks, and 2 more after our cruise, that the activities staff didn't know them by name, even though they were part of all the trivia contests for every cruise. Worst of all, the cabin was so small, we barely fit, and we were tripping over luggage and clothing all week. There is almost no storage, there is less than 2 feet from the foot of the bed to the wall, less than a foot from the side of the bed to the closet, no dresser, just shelves in the closet. Our bathroom was incredibly small, with a shower that was so small we could barely turn around, and kept banging the walls when we used our arms. Our balcony was OK, and we could see the water below, but not the sides of the ship. Read more