My son's wanted to try this really big ship. This was our first Royal Caribbean cruise. We just got off yesterday 11/24. Previously have done many on Princess, Celebrity, Carnival, and Holland. So I can compare. First, the good,Allure is a really cool ship. They have activities other ships don't have like the flow rider, zip line, and rock wall out side. The water theater is amazing and so was the show. They had to end it 10 minutes early because of the rain. But it was still awesome. Studio B has the ice skating show as well, very good. The Amber theater is large and had good shows as well. Our room was overlooking Central Park. Which I really enjoyed. It is a real garden. Generally, it is pretty quiet area which I like. The room was plenty big enough for 2 of us. We really enjoyed the Captain and officers questions and answers hour. Captain John was really cool. They are very efficient at managing a lot of people getting on and off the boat. Now for the not so good. There are just too many people over 6200+. Crowds are especially apparent in the buffet, all the time, and on the promenade. There are 2 central elevator areas forward and aft. Each with 12. They are mostly full all day except very early or late in the day.The buffet food is just not that good. It is the same every single day! Windjammer buffet is also way to small for the number of people on board. Plus they have limited hours that other cruise lines do not have. The whole thing closes at 3 pm or sometimes at 330 and they don't open again until 6 pm. That's ridiculous. We ate at 3 of the specialty restaurant. The best was 150 Central Park. Everything was delicious. Chops was very good. Steak was perfect. the mac and cheese was bland, tasteless. Side order of asparagus which they said was for 2 had only 6 spears. Izumi was only fair. for sushi. They do not know how to do the rice. It was mushy, looking more like cream of wheat, just not done right. The sashimi was not sliced properly. My son watched as he sawed it back and forth. Maybe we are snobs when it comes to sushi, but hey they are charging a sizable amount, it should be good. The dining room dinners were mostly good. Only liked 1 dessert there all week. If I am planning a cruise RC would not be my choice. Mostly because of the food and the crowd. If someone else is planning and chooses RC, sure I'll go. It wasn't horrible just not that great of food. Read Less

Well due to the hurricane it was shortened to 4 nights,this was our second time on the ship and the first night I treated myself to the fire and ice pedicure which I never use spas on board due to the price but this time I did and wont again,its expensive and the atmosphere wasnt anything different then a plaza nail salon but no magazines to read,the tech was very nice but it's a sales pitch,they are constantly trying to sell their products,they give you small amounts ts to try and then tell you its 55.00 and 25.00 for gel polish if added.now the room,this was the first time we upgraded to a suite since the ship was empty we got the junior suite well after 3 hours back and forth with customer service and after 12am we actually got the room.It was on 7642 and the hallway smelled like mildew and unfortunately the room did to,now it's a much bigger room and a full size tub,big balcony and a curtain t separate the bed from the couch.the furniture definitely is worn out and we never got to experience the costal dinning because they never answered and we were told it's just dinner,the last night we were told they have a 830 opening,but we had reservations somewhere else,now theres no special anything with the suit which I was disappointed with.This cruise because of the mess from the hurricane I felt like everything was just rushed and wasnt ready for our cruise.The food for vegetarian options wasnt alot this time around,the first day I went to 3 places before I could eat something decent.The only best thing about this 4 night cruise was Giovanni's! This place is amazing and a perfect 10.the only meal that I left so happy afterwards..also a small but annoying thing was I went to the spa and had asked for a small sample of bubble bath for my daughter since we had a tub and wanted to make it nice for her well they said no but I can buy it lol..come on spa stop pushing that experience stuff on people.the family festival was lame and they were doing work on the boardwalk during it..last year we loved our 7 night cruise on allure unfortunately this one was not our favorite and being 4 nights from 7 with one stop wasn't what we hope for but it was nice having a empty ship.now also side note the pineapple was white and hard and yet they kept serving it and even in room service and for 8.00 a fee I'd expect better quality Read Less

We'd been on a Royal Caribbean cruise before and had a great time, but this trip we walked away with a few disappointments. If you want to lounge in the pool on sea days, then maybe the Allure isn't for you. Because of the open Central Park in the center of the ship, all the pools on board are quite small. During sea days when everyone is on board, the pools feel more like sardine cans with everyone crammed in and they were not at all enticing. We are foodies, so we were excited about all the dining opportunities on the Allure. But my husband needs to eat gluten free, and that ended up being a pretty big problem. We filled out the special needs form ahead of our trip, and we were advised that we could just inform our servers and we'd be fine. However, we walked away with the impression that most of the staff on the ship had no clue what was and wasn't gluten free. There were a few meals my husband ate that should've been gluten free, and his body told him they were not. There was even an instance at Coastal Kitchen where an appetizer was marked gluten free on the menu, and our server came back to use and said the chef told her that item was not gluten free. It's marked as such on THEIR MENU! Those issues aside, if you have any sort of dietary restriction, I'd think twice about this ship. Even though there are multiple restaurants on board, the gluten free offerings were suspiciously the same for the most part (aka, shrimp cocktail as an appetizer and chicken with a thyme sauce for an entree). That brings me to the beverages. If you order the same drink from three different bartenders, you'll walk away with three different beverages. The drink-making quality was very hit and miss. There were even times when I ordered a basic drink (ex, a mojito) and I couldn't even drink it it was so bad. Had I not had the all-inclusive drink package, I would've been upset and demanded they make me another one. My best advice — find a bartender you like early in the week and make him or her your bud. Our best bud was Charlie in the Schooner Bar. That bar had a wide variety of liquor and mixer options, plus bitters and other traditional bar ingredients. My husband works in the restaurant industry, so we know how to make good, classic drinks. With Charlie, we were able to explain what we wanted, and would make it exactly that way. One thing the Royal staff has going for them is their customer service. Across the board, everyone on the ship was friendly and courteous. The ship is also very clean and has a lot to explore. Our 12-year-old had a great time with all the teen activities and enjoyed being able to run around the ship with her new friends. The one caveat I'll give to other parents is make sure your children understand what's included on the ship and what costs money. For example, our daughter went to the arcade one evening with friends and racked up a $50 arcade bill by swiping her SeaPass. She knew she was spending some money, but as a kid she didn't exactly keep track of how much. Royal Caribbean has an app that's very helpful to keep track of your spending on board. It also allows you to message with other guests *without* having to pay for VOOM (their on-board internet). One note for parents with their app, children 12 years old and younger are *not* allowed to use the messaging portion of their app. Our daughter could see the events schedule and add things to the calendar, but she couldn't use the messaging feature. I understand the security concerns Royal has with young kids being able to chat anyone on board. But I feel like they should adjust their app permissions to allow kids under 12 to at least message with the other people in their stateroom. I ended up signing into my account on our daughter's phone so she could message us while on board (since my husband and I were together most of the time). One other piece of advice, be sure you *always* get a receipt. Whether it's an onboard charge, or when you check liquor purchases you make at port. One the last night, our liquor purchases were delivered to our room, but three bottles we purchase in Cozumel were missing. Luckily our stateroom attendant was right down the hall, so we flagged her and let her know. Within 30 min, she had found our bottles and had them in our room. The staff at the port had marked them with the wrong room number. Without our attendant, Lovelace, I'm not sure we would've have ever gotten those bottles! (and the staff at the port didn't give us a receipt for them when we checked back in to get on the ship... so we might have been S.O.L.) The onboard entertainment was pretty good. The Mama Mia cast was wonderful, and we even hung out with some of them a bit while they enjoyed some time off at one of the bars on the ship. However, I will say the ice skating show was the least exciting, and I love ice skating typically. We just felt the quality of the performance didn't match the other shows on the ship. And finally, we're not super experienced cruisers, so maybe this is typical for the industry — but I did feel like we were nickel-and-dimed on board. This is especially true for their private ports, like ours in Labadee, Haiti. Just about everything at the port costs money. An hour at their blow-up beach park? $20 each. One ride on the roller coaster? $27 each. But it also happened plenty of places on the ship. For example, they have a popcorn station on the deck with the two main theaters, but the small carton of popcorn costs $2.50. Seriously? After all the money everyone has paid to get on the ship, you can't include some simple popcorn in the cost?!? Come on, now. And as I mentioned earlier, people with kids who have their own SeaPass cards need to be sure their kids know what is and is not included! Read Less

Everything on this ship is over crowded. Lines and long waits for almost all the dining venues. Everywhere we went aboard this ship was crowded except for the Diamond Lounge. This was a Caribbean cruise and the design of the ship, open on the inside, means the ship was very warm throughout. We had our room thermostat turned all the way down and the room never really cooled off. Lots to do but again crowded. Reservations necessary for shows due to large numbers of cruisers. Service was again slow because of the numbers. The food aboard was average. We had a balcony cabin which was nice and our room steward was great. The embarkation and disembarkation processes did go fairly smooth given the crowds. Also Royal Caribbean has a nice app that you can use to track daily activities and make reservations for dining and shows. We’ve been on nearly 50 cruises and this cruise aboard the Allure was among the worst that we’ve ever experienced. Read Less

The Allure of the Seas provides a never-ending supply of things to do with the many entertainment venues, restaurants, and pools to occupy your time. The cabins are of excellent quality and are larger than one would expect. Entertainment aboard the Allure is also worthy of a letter home. The main production of Mama Mia! is a true spectacle and is the best at sea! The staff onboard was incredibly friendly and helpful and left nearly nothing to complain about. Dining onboard is of the highest quality with the offerings of venues like the famous 150 Central Park, Chops Grille, Giovanni's Table, Sabor, and more. The Allure being one of the Oasis sisters is on the larger side for a cruise ship. However, a common misconception is that the ship is overcrowded. This is not in any way true. The Allure at no other time than embarkation can feel this way. The Allure truly is a ship for everyone and deserves to be renowned for being the best in the Royal Caribbean fleet! Read Less

We booked this ship because we loved her sister, the Oasis of the Seas. I was not very impressed with the activities onboard, I was very bored. The shows were amazing though. The dining was good. We ate in the American Icon most but we did eat in the other two. The food is the same in all three. I was not impressed with the service at Silk. It was slow and he was not friendly. We had an Ocean View that was actually a board walk view and the cabin was very good. The ports were awesome. I would not go on this ship again well maybe far in the future. I do reccomend sailing on Allure of the Seas. She is a beautiful ship. There is not a flaw about her. The only thing I would change is have more activities going on during the day. Every time we would go to an interesting event it would be so packed you could not even get anywhere, because there was nothing else to do. Read Less

We have taken our granddaughters on a cruise every summer for the past 10 years. This was our second time with them on the Allure and they loved every minute onboard! These large ships offer a lot of activities for teens ( they are 15 and 17) and as grandparents, we can keep busy doing our thing knowing they are having a wonderful time. We loved the RC app that allowed us to keep in touch, since we never purchase Wi-Fi on the ship. It's annoying to see so many people who "stay connected" on their phones all day instead of enjoying all the ship has to offer.The Allure is beautiful, just big enough without being overwhelming and the crew is exceptional. I needed medical attention for the first time ever in all my 50+ cruises. Nothing major, just a cut that needed a few stitches. I couldn't get over the facility--fully equiped and efficient. We had a balcony overlooking the Boardwalk. Fun watching the Aqua Show from our room. The food in Americon was perfectly fine. We have a vegetarian granddaughter who is fussy and she ate every V meal offered on the nightly menu and loved them. Even though we have seen all the shows (this was our 3rd Allure sailing), we love Mama Mia, Blue Planet and the Ice Show. They never disappoint! We are Casino Royal Prime, so drinks are free. We are a little disappointed that Video Poker machines in a bank to the left of the bar have been replaced by slot machines (that were always empty) since that's our game of choice but we managed to win and lose and have fun, just the same! Read Less

I loved this ship two years ago two celebrate my wedding anniversary. We wanted to return with friends. Tut he ship is a beautiful ship, very expensive and they have not taken care of it. The rugs are dirty and spots in front of the stairs case and in the rooms they do not put water or soda to purchase or an ice bucket to have ice. They do have a small refrigerator, that is empty. The drinks are very expensive and not enough alcohol, some are watery. The service is very good in the cabin and dining room. The same food every day in the dining room and buffet. The buffet you needed to arrive very early to find a table, there is no help from the servers to get a table. The buffet food is always the same, also the dining room food always the same soup, appetizers and dessert. The ship has not been maintain, it is a shame such a beautiful ship. They only offer water or lemonade one time when returning from the islands. Some of the ships have a tent when you are arriving from the islands with cold water, lemonade, tea and a hot towel to clean your hands. It is a shame that I was so disappointed with my cruise this year. Too many wheel chairs every where taking room in the halls and elevators. The Allure needs to go to dry land and have a major renovation, especially the rugs and furniture. Also, new shows and more activities. I also think it is a great idea to have a section for adults only and family and children in another section just like the wheel chairs. Very disappointed!!! Read Less

Allure of the Seas Review Western Caribbean 10/07/18-10/14/18 Suite 11330 Who: Me, my husband and our 10 year old son This was our first Royal Caribbean cruise, though we’ve been on 3 Disney cruises, a Carnival cruise and a Princess cruise. Originally we had booked a balcony room for $4,300 including free gratuities (for first two guests) and $300 onboard credit. About 6 weeks before the cruise we got a call offering the aqua-theater suite for a flat $900 more so we jumped on that. Suite 11330, which was amazing by the way. I spent so much time on the balcony watching the ocean. Our first cruise was an inside stateroom, then upgraded to balconies, then mini suites, and now that we’ve experienced a suite it’d be hard to downgrade from that! While it’s impossible to have a bad cruise, I will say that this was our least favorite ship. Food: Pretty good, I especially loved Park Cafe, Boardwalk Dog and Costal Kitchen. Not the best cruise food (that actually goes to Carnival and Disney!) but it was pretty good. You’ll never go hungry on a cruise, that’s for sure. The windjammer is the worst cruise buffet! The set up was horrible and seating impossible to find. They usually only had one side open. It was completely chaotic. We only tried it a few times and then gave up on it. Never had that issue with any other cruise buffet, site they get crowded but not like windjammer! It really is designed poorly with different stations and no rhyme or reason to the flow. People just pushing through each other trying to get what they want. Then heaven forbid you need ketchup or mustard cause that area is right by some stations which are always backed up so you have to fight through people there to get what you need. It’s just very poorly designed. Activities: There’s definitely a lot to do, unfortunately the hours for rock climbing and the flow rider were so incredibly limited, even some of the posted times they’d close down even thought the weather was fine. It was frustrating, boasting all these activities yet making them almost impossible to do by only offering extremely limited hours which meant huge long lines and waits each time they actually did open. Kids club: Major letdown! The only kids club our son hasn’t just loved (surprisingly his favorite so far has been on our Princess cruise, not the Disney ones!) This one he went to once and didn’t want to go back. Ever other cruise the counselors were amazing, this one was just a dud all around. Which made for no kid free time for us. The kids club area for each age group is TINY! It was off season when we went and not a lot of kids on board yet the tiny rooms were stuffed full of kids. I can’t imagine during summer vacation when there’s tons more kids on board. A ship that size could really have done more with the kids area! It was smaller than the kids area on the small tiny Carnival ship we went on (sorry can’t remember the name of that ship right now as it was 8 years ago). It was one of Carnivals smaller ones, yet the kids club was much larger than the one on Allure. Plus, this was the only cruise where there’s no way of contacting parents when kids want picked up. Every other one they’d call when the kids wanted to leave, on Allure they told us that there’s no way of doing that and that they don’t provide the cruise phones for communication with parents that every other line has. Total letdown!! Suite Lounge: Very nice! Water is hard to come by on the ship so that was a nice place to go to refill and hang out. Lots of drink options and snacks after 4:30. If we ever go on another RC cruise it will definitely be suite level for the lounge, priority boarding and free internet. Entertainment: Another let down. Every other cruise had tons of activities going on at any given time, this one there was literally nothing to do a majority of the time. We spent a lot of the time just hanging in the suite lounge. My husband was really disappointed in the lack of night life compared to other cruises. This part didn’t bother me so much as I’m more the relax and watch the ocean type, but the lack of entertainment really disappointed him. He loves live music and said that was limited on Allure as well compared to other shops. Boarding: We were one of the first ones onboard which was nice as we had flight issues (bad weather caused a flight delay to Chicago so we missed our flight to Ft. Lauderdale and ended up getting rerouted to Newark where we had to wait overnight for a morning flight. We always fly in a day ahead and planned on getting to Florida the night before but we ended up landing around 9:30 am and headed straight to the port. It was a long night so early boarding to get on and relax a bit was awesome. Ship size and layout: It is a really big ship. Which has its good points and bad. It’s gorgeous! Especially Central Park. But it’s big! I’ve found that I prefer a smaller ship. The Disney Fantasy is about perfect both size wise and layout. The Allure needs front, aft and mid elevators. There’s really not enough elevators for the amount of people. Once again, and issue we’ve never had on any other cruise yet this one was a 3-10 min wait each time you needed to use an elevator whereas other cruise lines we just walked right on. It takes a lot more to get around which isn’t so bad while we’re young and healthy, but I can’t imagine getting around a ship like that with health issues. It’d be a complete challenge. So while the size can be a good thing, it can also be overwhelming. Service: Outstanding! Every crew member we came in contact with was friendly and helpful. Probably the best crew I’ve come in contact with on any cruise ship. Excursions: We did the Underground Mayan River Cenote which was amazing! We had the best tour guide ever, Ruben. Our son absolutely loved the excursion! We also did the glass bottom boat tour to see mesoamerican barrier reef. That was pretty amazing to see as well! Summary: Don’t get me wrong, we had a wonderful cruise. We are not negative people who looks for reasons to complain. We roll with the punches and still enjoyed ourselves. But this is a review so it’s only fair to write our truthful opinion. It would take a LOT for me to not enjoy a vacation, so the negatives didn’t ruin our trip or anything. It’s just that I’d likely not sail Royal Caribbean again unless there was a killer deal. Nothing against RCL, just that our experiences on Carnival, Disney and Princess were far superior so we’d sail them again before RCL (unless there’s a really good deal, in which cause we’d gladly sail again and give it a second chance). I wouldn’t go out my way for RCL though. Our next cruise is a Baltic cruise on NCL in June 2020. I would have searched RCL for Baltic cruises, but didn’t have to as I found us a really good deal on one from NCL in a spa mini-suite. Long point is, I wouldn’t completely rule out RCL but it’d be the last option I’d look at in the future. Read Less

We have sailed numerous times on Royal and this was out third on Allure of the Seas and we are booked again in April. What keeps us coming back? We absolutely love Central Park, it is beautiful in the morning and the evening. We love the freshly repaired salads and sandwiches at the Park Cafe. The diving show Oceanaria in the Aqua theater never ceases to be amazing! We read all the negative reviews about the crowds at the Windjammer but we have never waited more than a few minutes to get in and usually are able to walk right in and find a table. People complain about lack of variety from day to day but there is so many choices, you certainly could choose something different every day. My only complaint is the coffee is not great there and way too strong. Breakfast is great at the other free options... Johnny Rockets, Solarium Cafe, Park Cafe and Wipeout Grill. Chops Steak House is nice but not as nice as one on Oasis of the Seas. We had drink package which includes Evian water but many bars said they did not have any, they did if they looked in the cooler on the swim deck but some were not interested in looking. The hot dog stand is pretty plain unless you want a sausage other than a regular beef, hotdog (which you can find up in the Wipe Out Grill) They should offer some chili, onions cheese. I personally eat my hotdog plain but most do not. This was out 17 th Cruise, 10th on Royal but we are going to focus more on Celebrity because I am sick of the nickel and dining on Royal. Charging for the popcorn at the shows seems silly. Read Less

Cruised Sept 23-30 Chose this cruise because it was my first time on Allure and the dates really worked for my schedule. The service model on this ship is broken and they could really use a week off to retrain everyone (not going to happen). I tried to write my experience in 3 categories. NEGATIVES 1. Upselling is out of control. Once you step foot on the ship you're being up-sold if you take a spa treatment, sit in the main dining room (while you're eating) or just going to get a drink. I understand being hustled in the various ports of calls because in most cases we are dealing with people who see us as well off compared to their circumstances, but the hustling aboard the ship to enrich an already wealthy corporation that I have already paid thousands to have a relaxing time, is offensive. 2. Took me a few days to realize that the bar folks did not need to present a white ticket for each drink and that this was a cheap ploy to get an "additional tip". This practice was pervasive. We had full drink packages and based on our sea pass cards the waiters knew that. Every drink includes a tip but the ticket has a space for "Additional Tip"????? I guess this is RCCL way of trying to make the tipping process transactional instead of tipping at the end of the cruise. I made a point of tipping at the end of the cruise the three people who did not present these tickets. 3. Some of the folks in the food and beverage service could really use some training on how to relate to guest and just good table manners. This was so pervasive I have to conclude that it is a lack of training issue POSITIVES 1. Pool life guards were very attentive and watchful during EVERY shift. This did not vary from person to person. It was consistent. 2. Room Steward was friendly and cleaned my room like magic. He cleaned twice per day without ever knocking on the door. It just happened. 3. Getting on and off the ship was relatively painless Read Less

I wanted to try the big ship, and it is really big, although being this big brings less focus. There is a list of things to do every day but most of it is self led or not of interest to me. We had a balcony room with ocean view, on deck 12. The room was adequate, and had enough room for a couch. I have been on 17 cruises and my first cruise was on the enchantment of the seas, a much smaller ship but I did like it very much, I went on the enchantment twice. I have cruised on Princess, Carnival, Holland, Celebrity, and Royal Caribbean. I found the ship to be very big, but it only had two elevator areas, the other ships I have been on were smaller but seemed to have 3 elevator areas. Less elevators leads to more walking, and more waiting, remember it is a really big ship. It seems that they decided to forgo elevators to build a park in the center of the ship called Central Park. There were some really good shows, I saw Mama Mia, went to the Ice show, and the High diving. Would have liked to see more comedy or magic shows. the comedy was in a tiny room most nights. The food on Royal Caribbean is good but not always great, our Waiters, Leonardo and Ajay, were excellent, and we enjoyed our dinners, did not see any reason to pay for specialty dining, when we were already getting 4 star meals. I could have been home eating hamburger helper. The buffet was just okay, sadly they did not make you omelets for breakfast, and they did not cook fresh hamburgers for lunch. I have seen all the ports before, so we mostly just wandered around. We did the under water sub in Cozumel, it went down 100 feet and we saw coral, fish, and a sunken ship. It was worth it. Embarkation and disembarkation were excellent on this ship hard to believe that with over 5000 people, it was the best I have had. The casino was good size and seemed to be very active. I can't say that I would want to go on this ship or another like it any time soon. I think I like the smaller ships that make things a little more organised for a smaller crowd. It is worth mentioning that the TV situation was terrible with very few channels, and the main movies of the week were documentaries, doesn't that sound fun. Read Less

This was our fourth family cruise and first on RCL. Our previous 3 cruises were all on Carnival: Liberty and Carnival Dream (2). We had not cruised as a family in over 5 years, opting instead for some wonderful all inclusive resort vacations. We figured it was time to give cruising another try. Our twin boys are now 11 years old and the cruise experience would be MUCH different than it was when they were 5. Although all three of our Carnival cruises were superb, we wanted to see how RCL compared and also experience a MEGA ship. Obviously, the ship itself is remarkable. I am not sure I would insist on the same class/size ship next time, but it certainly is something that every cruiser should experience at least once. The ship itself was easy to navigate, and although we covered every corner of the ship multiple times, it was still exciting to explore even on the last night. Lots of options for activities for 11-12 year olds but one thing we really missed was the waterslide (should have chosen the Harmony). Our kids were too light for the zip line and only tried flow rider twice. A water slide would have occupied them each day for an hour or two. My kids didn't go back to the Adventurer Camp once after the first night, but were happy with the pools, lazy river pool thingy, the shows, and the ports we visited. I think they also liked learning the ship and having the freedom to explore on their own which they did a lot. It was also nice to be able to send the kids back to the room to pick up the sunscreen, or get their own slice of pizza! Overall we were happy with the RCL experience, but constantly compared it to our experience 5 years ago on Carnival. I know that the industry has changed in 5 years, so maybe it is not a fair comparison, but I can honestly say that besides the ship itself, we weren't impressed by the dining and service and staff compared to previous Carnival cruises. Like others, we grew tired of the nickel and diming, constant sales pitch for specialty restaurants and spa services - felt like walking down the beach in Roatan! Embarkation: Amazing! We arrived at the curb at port at 10:40 AM and quickly made it up to our waiting area where we sat and waited. Boarding started at 11 AM and it is fun to watch the boarding process move along and can see your "time" getting closer. We were on the ship shortly after 11:30. Dining: The Windjammer (WJ) was good for breakfast and lunch (what we expected for a ship buffet). The MDR was just ok for the 4 dinners we ate there. For specialty dining, we ate at Chops, 150 Central and Sabor. Not sure I would bother with any of these again. Last time I checked, $50 can get you a decent steak at a land-based steakhouse and Chops was no better in my opinion. Sabor was very tasty, but $60 for 2 adults and 2 kids seemed VERY excessive for tacos!!! I always thought that at the specialty restaurants you were paying just the incremental cost of a better meal but it felt like it was no "deal" at all. Next time we will save our money and not bother with specilaty restaurants, instead, we'll have a pre cruise meal at Ruth Chris and just stick to the MDR/WJ on board! Ports: Except for Nassau, we had been to all the ports before and knew what we wanted to do in each port (NO planned excursions). In Nassau we walked to Junkaroo beach. We just plopped our towels on the sand and didn't bother renting an umbrella and chairs. A few bars had some great deals for chairs + beers but we did it on the cheap! Nice, calm, clear water, not the prettiest spot but the price was right! It was a solid 20 minute walk and pretty hot even at 9 AM with no breeze. The walk back was much easier with a little ocean breeze, but we did cool off in the AC of a shop or two on the way back. We were back on the ship for lunch and enjoyed a not-so-crowded pool deck for a few hours! We didn't spend a dime in Nassau and would recommend this for people who want a cheap/free port! In Cozumel, we got off the ship right away and took a taxi ($17) to Paradise Beach ($3 per person for entrance fee). We had the place to ourselves for the first hour. Did some snorkeling around the pier, not a whole lot to see. Then the kids spent some time on the inflatables and kayaking ($18 per person for use of beach toys, kayaks, etc). We had a light lunch and a bucket of beers on the beach and spent an hour at the pool before returning to port. The waters at the Cozumel port are mesmerizing, beautiful! In Roatan we took a $60 (round trip for 4 ppl) cab to West Bay Beach and paid $10x4 for a spot at Bananrama. Love this beach! The place is alive and beautiful. Lots of vendors, but we knew about it and were never bothered by it. We walked 5 minutes down the beach and found some great off the beach snorkelling over live coral heads. Just walk south (left if facing water) down the beach until you see the guided tours of snorkellers swimming out. No charge to do a self guided trip! They were offering $20-25 per person boat tours to a few "better" reef spots which I was considering, but the off beach snorkeling was good enough for us! Costa Maya was our last stop and we walked out of the port to take an $8 taxi to Mahahual. We didn't make reservations but ended up at Tropicante. Service was friendly and amazing, food was ok, prices were fair! Tropicante and their neighboring competitors seemed to have done the best job of clearing their beachfront, some stretches of beach hadn't been cleaned up that day. The town had heavy equipment assisting with the seaweed clean up (dumptrucks to haul it away) we were among the first cruise passengers off the ship, so we saw the operation in progress. They have installed a netting about 75-100 feet from shore to hold back the seaweed which does initially take away from the view a little, but keeps the beach clean during the day. Cabin: We had a 14th deck aft Balcony cabin. The location was fine - we liked being on the 14th deck because we could easily take the stairs 1-2 flights to the WJ or Pool deck. Staff: Hard working as always, but we didn't find the staff particularly engaging or overly friendly. On previous cruises we were taken aback at how friendly the crew were. On Carnival I remember the guy cleaning your plates at the buffet would stop and ask you how your trip was going and interact with the children. The guy polishing the handrail at 7 AM would stop what he was doing and smile when you passed by - it was one thing we remembered about our previous Carnival cruises. On Oasis, I could count 3 times when our server was more than just "transactional", on each of these three occasions, they always followed up requesting that we mention THEIR name on our surveys explaning their compensaton/bonus structure. That felt very contrived. Debarkation: This left a black mark on our trip because of almost 2.5 hours waiting for non US customs clearance caused us to miss our flight home out of MIA. We were under the impression that our debarkation group was assigned based on our flight time that we provided to RCL when booking. We were assigned an 8:30 AM debarkation group for a 12:20 flight out of MIA (which seemed reasonable so I didn't question it). We debarked at 8:30 but only finally cleared customs at 11:00 AM! When we realized we were going to miss our flight we asked one of the attendants managing the priority lines and she said she couldn't help us. We asked another attendent after waiting another 30 minutes, who helped us move to the front of the line, but we still missed our flight. In all of my research, I never fathomed that it could take 2.5 hours to clear customs, but BIG lesson learned for me! Overall this cruise renewed our interest in cruising. Although I am not entirely sold on the merits of RCL vs Carnival, I certainly would consider an Oasis class ship when planning our next cruise. Read Less

A big thank you to your team for looking after us..The friendly Jamaican hostess that greeted us so merrily in Wind Jammer every morning, our waiters Chitte, Joel and head waitet Gerald..We sat at table #10668 and our waiters did a fantastic job.I did the Gallee tour and it was amazing..Feeding so many people fir 7 nights.We did tours in the Bahamasand Mexico.I was a bit timid in Honduras.The Mexican tour was very educational.We visited the ruins, abd the chocolate factory..Ourtour guide in the Bahamas ws on the ball. We visited the rum refinery, Atlantis and Baha Mar hotels.We toured different villages and Government areas.The water park was a sight to see, timid at first but we took part in some of the rides.Tour guides interaction was great.Thanks again for looking after us, we missed you guys .....Chitte ,Joel and Gerald our dinner waiters and our room attendants.....We love you Sovette.. Read Less

The pros- Royal App- do your registration via the app, so easy and it got us priority boarding, spent less than 5-10 minutes at the port and we were on the boat. -Multiple swimming pools and we always seemed to be able to find a chair or two even on sea days. Cruising days best time is late afternoon and early evening to avoid crowds. - Bar service was generally quick, lots of drinks to choose from -Dining room food was good and plenty of choices - Lunch at American Icon on sea days (skip the buffet)-can order off menu or nice salad/stir fry buffet -The aqua show and ice show were great- lots of shows to choose from. - Large casino- one side is smoking but it all smells like smoke. - Spa was nice, look for daily deals - Overall the ship was clean and seemed updated but the rooms are starting to show some wear. -Rock climbing, Flow Rider, and zip line, ping pong, mini golf- wait could get a little lengthy at times -Movies in the Aqua Theater are fun, RC charges extra for popcorn :( The cons -There are A LOT of people on the boat, expect mass confusion and plenty of traffic jams during embarkation and going to dinner- the lines for photos make it difficult to get to dining rooms -Windjammer Buffet- just don't do it. It was awful with lines to enter extending out the door while you waited to be seated. Once inside there was plenty of seating, RC really needs to change the way this is handled. We tried going early, late, and off times- after three attempts we gave up. There was no organization to the food stations, there are just cubes plopped in the middle of the floor so it is complete chaos with people coming and going. The staff seems equally annoyed with the chaos at times. The food was just meh. Was disappointed that hand washing/sanitizing didn't seem important upon entering. The Wipe Out is the best kept breakfast secret- limited selection but rarely crowded so great on port days. -Basketball court- my pre-teens were really excited about this but never actually got to use it. It was full of grown men constantly and I witnessed at least 3 fights/ shoving matches. They need to have a time when kids could actually use it also, other than things scheduled on the court it went largely unsupervised. -We booked two cabins and were told that both would sleep 4 which was incorrect- one slept two and the other 2 and a pull out. If you have a snafu there isn't anything they can or will do to help. They also can't switch keys so we were stuck sending our kids to sleep in Grandma's room every night. I really think RC should have stepped up to remedy this or do something since it was their fault. Ports- All ports have excursions that you can book yourself for far less than the cruise, most places are relatively easy to get around. -Costa Maya- you may only enjoy this port if you are a first time cruiser or enjoy doing shots poolside in man made Mexico. There is an awful seaweed problem currently so any beach activities are out. The snorkel bay and dolphin swimming at the port were not open the day we were there. Most of the shopping is extremely overpriced. There was an interesting dance in the middle they every hour or so. Roatan- Amazing day. Booked a driver for $25 pp (shout out to Vic Bodden) and he took us anywhere we wanted to go- ziplining, snorkeling, held slothes and monkeys, a great seafood lunch, and shopping. Honduras was everyone's favorite day. Cozumel- always enjoy a day at Mr. Sanchos- all inclusive food and drink, beach pool and some shopping. There are cabs waiting both ways. Bahamas- beach day at British Colonial- includes food/beverage credit with entry, kayak, SUP, snorkeling, pool and towels. About a five minute walk from port, Drinks and food can be pricey but they have amazing vodka margaritas! Even though gratuity is included it is an expectation that you tip the dining staff, head and assistant waiter and room attendant. I don't mind tipping extra for good service but it does seem expected. Read Less

The ship was extremely beautiful and large. Entertainment was great. However, shore excursion to the beach bomb out badly. Most of the staff was very accommodating; however, during the days when we were at sea, the food lines was a bit unorganized eventhough staff was trying to maintain order. Guest were becoming frustrated because it felt like you had no space of your own and you had to wait too long to be seated. The wait stretch from eating to sunbathing and especially the pools. In addition, we had a couple of guess who had became ill on the ship from the food. All was offered was a 15% discount on the next cruise..... What shocked and overwhelmed me the most was upon entering the ship the vendors immediately sought you out to purchase goods.... OMG, let us settle in first..... What should have been offered is a beverage just to relax. Most of us needs to take the EDGE OFF because traveling can be stressful. This was my first time on Royal Caribbean and I really believe its my last time. NOT IMPRESS WITH THE BIG SHIPS.... In addition, I traveled on Carnival Cruise lines several times and I have to say I had a lot more fun each time, I traveled with them. So much so I can now compare and state honestly I'm not going back RC. I'll try other cruise lines. Read Less

If you want to spend your time and money at a fancy mall instead of experiencing a cruise, this ship is for you. There are a lot of people everywhere. Random DreamWorks characters would show up in places. The Aqua show and Ice show were very good. Blue Planet is great. Mama Mia is Mama Mia, if you have seen it elsewhere, no need to see it again. We dined at Giovanni's Table and the food was fantastic as was the wait staff. While the ship is very nice, you don't really feel like you are on a cruise ship. There are very few places outside of your cabin that you can see the ocean. The Royal Promenade is very nice with shops, restaurants and bars; the Boardwalk is like an Atlantic City boardwalk, and Central Park is beautiful, but it is all interior and could be anywhere. You don't get to see out to the ocean, and all of the wonderful things that go by. All of that said the staff was wonderful, from our room steward, the waitstaff, to even the staff that cleans the tables are all wonderful; with fantastic stories and will bend over backwards to make your time on board a great one. Personally though, I would not recommend this ship. Read Less

We choose Royal Caribbean, because they claim to be autism-friendly, which was not our experience. There were large crowds during sea days all over the boat, especially immensely crowded pools, but the kids club was the biggest letdown. There were long lines to drop off our son, there were very large numbers of youth in each session with few staff, the activities offered during the evening sessions were most definitely NOT autism friendly (group sports each night). Further, the staff didn't appear to understand autism (e.g., that you may need to give more directions or set them up with a structured activity when the kids were running around wild). We were beyond disappointed that our son was unable to participate successfully, which he was able to on Princess last summer because they have structured activities in the kids club and more staff. I will say that we loved our suite, the suite lounge, the shows, and the eastern Caribbean itinerary. Read Less

Allure of the seas is an amazing ship! Was a little bit unsure how having so many people on the ship was going to be but we were surprised how it never seem crowded. The crew and the service was over the top. A few areas that could use a little improvement was the quality and selection of the food in the main dinning room. It seems to have lost a step. Also after 10pm there is only two places to eat if you need something to hold you over, and you can only eat so much pizza! Mama Miao was Great. The Aqua theater dive show was fantastic and makes you forget your on a cruise ship. Blue planet show has flying, bouncing and dancing that was wonderful unfortunately the music and song choices need work. Then there was the headliner shows. We saw the same comedians did the same material as wall week. Good the first time but once was enough! They also had a ventriloquist that was pretty good. The Quest game show is always a fun time, and this time I didn't lose my pants!! My son did :) I hope I didn't come off sounding negative because but these are the changes I noticed. Overall we had a amazing time as always and would sail again in a heart beat and definitely will again. Oh and we made a bunch of new friends! Happy Sailing Read Less

Cabin: We were in 7149, interior basic room. Very nice. DINNER (main dining): I really enjoyed it. Some people have more sophisticated palates than I do but for a regular Joe like me (my wife and I are school teachers), it was very nice. Excellent and unique desserts, varied menu. Even for picky eaters you had options....there was a steak, spaghetti and salmon on the menu for every evening meal OR you could venture out to something else.....lot of options. LUNCH (main dining): Recommend. Basically like eating dinner and food is better than other included options on ship. Same service. BREAKFAST (main dining); Two good options here. Could do a la carte OR buffet. Both here nice but I liked the buffet here and it was better than Windjammer (which was also good). OTHER FOOD OPTIONS: Dinner - we ate in main dining every night Lunch - Roast Beef at Park Cafe is outstanding. Windjammer buffet was really good - had many options and many types of food (Mexican, Indian, etc) included which was nice. Pizza at Sorrentino's is ok -- nothing special but a nice treat at night. Breakfast - Johnny Rockets (only included for breakfast) was a nice change of pace and good fun. Fun to eat there. Entertainment Mamma Mia - excellent show. Good singers, interesting story (that many people already know) - well done. OceanAria - incredible performance. Balancing act was incredible and diving from the heights they do suggests madness.....but fun to watch! Blue Planet - Very impressive. Definitely a must see. Ice Games - a bit odd and theme didn't seem to fit, but excellent skating and a lot of fun How to Train your Dragon ice show - a lot of fun, definitely one for the kids but I enjoyed it too Move it, Move it parade - last night on ship in the Promenade - CAN'T MISS for kids but just a fun vibe all around Movie Premiere - had a premiere of the movie "Like Father" on the ship in the Aqua theater. Cool watching a movie with only the sky and sea behind the screens. Had free popcorn....fun night with the family. Comics - both guys were very funny.....definitely a good night of entertainment Headliner - Ronn Lucas --- excellent, veteran comedian -- if you have not heard of him, think Jeff Dunham but with one puppet. Really good. Service: First class all the way around. From cabin stewards to servers, as good as I've ever encountered at sea (8th cruise) Ports/Excursions: Nassau - went to Cabbage Beach. Take water taxi (more fun). Nice beach, simple day Cozumel - went to Chankanaab Park. Economical excursion ($21/person). Has a pool, free Sea Lion show, exhibits (alligators and others) included. Solid snorkeling with rocky area (be prepared) but also included chairs and umbrellas for nice relaxing day. Caution: all-inclusive with food was NOT worth the expense (extra $14) as food was not good, but if you are a drinker (we are not) it might be good value. Roatan- Did tour with Bodden Tours. Private driver, went to Monkey/Sloth location (which was AMAZING!) and to the beach. Driver Kenton was a superstar - highly recommend. Fun trip. Costa Maya - stayed in port but port is really nice. Good pool, free dolphin watching, mini snorkel area, nice shops. Excellent drinks. Sons went to Mayan ruins.....said, in their words, it was "AWESOME" (except food was weak). OVERALL: Allure is an incredible vessel, bottom line. We had a wonderful time and would do this ship again in a heartbeat. Read Less

The cruise was booked one year in advance. We had a group of approximately 25 people. Thus far it was the best cruise my friends and family had experienced. We were on the 8th floor, very convenient to the Windjammer, to the Boardwalk just cross the Central Park and you have access to both side of the ship. There is food everywhere, we spent alot of time at the pizza (Sorrento) almost every night after 1am, they close at 3AM. The food was great, the enternatainment was so much fun. We had 2 specialty dining, Steak and Italian, the portion was a great size. The shows were very entertaining, loved, loved the Aqua show, very impressive. We rock climbed, the kids tried the boarding. There is so much to do but if you want to relax there are places to take a break too. The pools area was large, there are so many pool chairs, there is no need to wake up early to grab a seat, there are so many around. There was pool volleyball which the kids played for hours. There was pool excercise which gave you a time to dance and workout in the pool, that was fun. The room attendant was very detailed, and he made sure our room was organized and clean. We had a balcony stateroom, we loved it, my adult daughter ended up staying with us, so there were three people and it was comfortable for all of us. We booked our own shore excursions, it was great and the kids enjoyed themselves. If you decide to check out the gym, very clean, many machines to work out, I went once, would had gone back, but I was having too much fun. So far the best cruise so far, we'd definetely do it again. Seven days was not enough to tour the whole ship, we'll be back. Thank you Royal. Read Less

This was our first cruise, so we were a little unsure of what to expect. We traveled to Fort Lauderdale, arriving the day before departure. This was very helpful and relieved any stress of the missing the boat. We stayed at the Four Points Sheraton cruise port. The staff was extremely friendly and although the pull-out couch in our room was not comfortable, they made efforts and gave us a complimentary upgrade for our return stay after the cruise. The cruise itself was fantastic. We found the onboarding a bit confusing. The lines were divided by color, but no mention of any color on our boarding passes? Also many of the cruise review websites had recommended bringing a powerbar. We only learned after that this was restricted and ours was confiscated. It was a hassle to retrieve it, so we just left it behind to be discarded. We were blown away by the food in the main dining room. Fantastic service except for one night. Our waiter seemed very interested in his other regular tables and since we did my time dining we didn’t develop a relationship with one specific individual. Our room attendant was very friendly. Only complaint was one morning a fre days in I did not have any small bills to leave him extra. He called me aside and pointedly asked if he had missed anything or if I was unsatisfied. This did make me feel a little uncomfortable and obligated to continue leaving extra cash every day. Maybe it would have been better to leave it all at the end? Teenagers (16 & 17) loved the sports activities and enjoyed the teen club on most nights. Drinks were even more expensive than I had heard, mixed drinks were $15 USD. Wine also very expensive and only a few choices by the glass. I didn’t get the drink package. I had only 2-3 drinks per day including wine with dinner, so still saved money. Kids chose internet ($265 for two devices for week) over a drink package, it was a good choice. They drank ice water instead of pop all day. We took the web advice and arranged our own shore excursions. Best was Roatan Eco Tours for snorkeling. Best service and experience ever for snorkeling from Alex (owner) and Javi (shipmate)! Highly recommend!! Nassau and Cozumel were great. Booked Atlantis and beach excursions myself instead of through RC and saved hundreds of dollars each day. Costa Maya was disappointing. Just a man-made Caribbean village. Spent an hour and went back to ship. Did the express disembarkation process and we were off the ship, through customs and in a taxi in 10 minutes. Overall a fantastic experience and we will cruise again. Read Less

The entertainment was amazing and diverse enough to suit every member of our group. I saw everything from broadway worthy performances to side splitting comedy shows. There was ice skating, zip lining, flow rider and fitness center for the more aactive and adventurous. There was also load of live music and late night clubs to entertain. We even had a chance to participate in a flash mob. There was no young children in our group but I saw plenty activities they were involved in. The teens in our group were so engaged that we hardly ever saw them except for breakfast and dinner. There was even time for a spa treatment. We could have spent the entire time without ever having to leave the ship. The staff went above and beyond to make out experience positive. Our basic inside state room was surprising spacious and well maintained. The food in the dining room and restaurants was sublime. The wait staff learned our names and preferences from the first night and had favorite drinks ready the next night as soon as we sat down. The Ports were okay for a few hours if you are into shopping or signed up for a ship shore excursion. Personally I thought was more activity to do on the ship. The only sour note was take there were a few nights where there was plumbing issues between 2am and 5am and that guest service had long lines dues to reduced staff after 12am, even though hundreds of guests were still active at that time. Read Less

I really would have liked to see more variety on the boat, lots of luxury, lots of people, few pools and slow service in the restaurants. The shows more of the same. It's not a "fun ship". The service charges you consume that are not included are very high. There is no variety of activities in the pool or when the boat is on the sea. Only the 70 's party was super fun for everyone. Captain's night was waiting for more activity. For the price of the boat they offer very little. It is a boat with capacity for many people but they do not have the right facilities to meet in the pool area, not chairs available while on the high seas. Few elevators for so many people. NO variety of food in the outside restaurants is always the same. Programs in the salon Boleros and other boring. Karaoke boring, In the casino cigarette smoke is so strong that you can't even play. For those who smoke you will like it but, the smell is intolerable. The room services charge was abusive. Really in not my first option for the next cruise. Read Less

I've been told for years that I need to try a cruise. Everything is included, you visit multiple exotic locations, the people are so nice...Ok, well, not everything is included and when you're a 1st timer (they have ways of determining this when you're booking), they do the best they can to nickel and dime you. The included restaurant fare is typical of a standard all-you-can-eat buffet in the US, with unspectacular but good food. The extra cost "specialty" dining is NOT WORTH the upcharge (we paid an extra $85 per person for 2 special meals (Chops and Izumi) that were better than the standard fare but NOT WORTH the extra cost). The house phones at the elevators were mostly not working. The casino is smokey, even on the non-smoking side. The excursion costs are marked up ridiculously. My fishing excursion could be purchased direct for 70% less than what RCI charged. Book excursion direct with reputable providers! They know how to get you back to the boat on time. Ports: Roatan was cool and Cozumel is at least mostly clean and you're protected from the constant harassment of beach vendors on the excursions at both places. Costa Maya should not be a port of call in my opinion. The immediate port area is small and you must go into town to find a beach, but you cannot relax as you're constantly bombarded by vendors. Also, since it's a Western Caribbean cruise, I think Key West, Cayman Islands or even Belize should be included rather than Nassau and most certainly rather than Costa Maya (but they will cost RCI more to visit). It wasn't all negative...My stateroom attendant Sandy did a great job and one of the waitresses, Kaping at the Solarium pool area was beyond attentive and helpful. My son (17) had a great time (although he was banished to his room the last night for having a pushing match with another teen, which I thought was excessive). Overall, this cruise cost my family of 5 over $12,000 (we had two rooms, the budget balcony for the 3 girls and an inside 2-twin closet for my son and I) and I have to say, an all-inclusive resort that we looked at would have cost about $8,000 and in my opinion, would most likely be a better value. Read Less