Returned today from Allure Western Caribbean. Have been cruising for 15+ years, and would not have picked this ship but for schedule and fact we were traveling with adult kids and three grandkids (3,7, 10). It was certainly not a bad cruise, but in my view, not the end all, be all as some reviews suggest. But a lot of this depends on perspective. My thoughts (and some perspective) below.

Getting to and onto the ship was a breeze. Landed at Ft. Lauderdale and took two cabs for our party of nine. It is a very quick ride, and about twenty dollars (that includes a pretty good tip). Beware that the folks who help the drivers load luggage at the airport (something that cab drivers do at about every other airport I have been to) will be pretty insistent about a tip.

The check in process was smooth. About 20 minutes including going through security and the paperwork. RCCL has a lot of folks to help the check in process. One things I did not like is that no one said "the rooms will not be ready until 1:00," which is what the sign told us when we went to the corridor entrance on our floor. So back to the Windjammer for lunch, and another bad first experience. Several others have commented on the size of the Windjammer. I agree it is too small -- probably not by more than 10 or 15 percent, but that is enough. Bottom line, at noon on sail day, Windjammer was jammed. Se we headed to the Solarium, which was empty (it picked up later, but still did not fill). Solarium has a much smaller selection, generally of a somewhat healthier bent. But we ate there several times for lunch and breakfast when the Windjammer was full. Out of sequence thought, but one other day we tried the Windjammer, they actually had stopped people from going in and had them lining up at the door to be let in as others left (went to Solarium that day as well). Not good, in my view. We ate there several times for breakfast, and found it no less than about 90+% full every time (based on my unscientific scan of tables near us). Read more