I could not be more upset about our experience on this ship. Starting with the staff: Other than the gentleman that kept up our room and our main dining wait staff everyone was rude, and underwhelming. No one seemed to know where anything was on the ship and acted inconvenienced but our fairly simple requests or questions. I was referred to kiosks several times to try and figure it out myself. As for the amenities on the ship, the pools were drained and repainted for almost 2 whole days half way through the trip, they were jackhammering and repairing the floor in the promenade at close to 9am another day. Everything offered seemed to be at an additional cost and the few things that were actually included were cheaply done and minimal. Our bed in our balcony stateroom consisted of two poorly kept pieces of foam folded in half to form the grand canyon on top of a sad excuse for a mattress. The best part was the interior balcony we had was over the boardwalk which seemed to have a lot of activity until close to midnight and made it nearly impossible to sleep. Between Aqua Shows and dance lessons the activities were almost endless. We couldn’t enjoy almost any of them because every time we tried to reserve a show or participate, it was at max capacity. The food was repetitive and sad to say the least. Don’t let me forget how I was conned into buying a $250 drink package because my boyfriend wanted to add on the alcohol drink package to his seapass. Seriously? If you’re going to take advantage of people like that you could at least have the pop machine in more than a couple places completely away from where our stateroom was. I’d truly be curious to know whether I was able to drink my monies worth. Scratch that, I’m sure I did being that no drink seemed to cost less than $10. But I guess you can do that when we’re at your mercy. We were able to do some of the excursions affordably by getting them on the ports. Same ones listed on RCCL but for close to half the price. I felt taken advantage of and that someone had their hand in my pocket the entire time. Sad when you spend a couple THOUSAND dollars between us. Oh and somehow our onboard credit promised at booking was no longer there once we were on the ship, interesting? I could go on but I feel that this should get the point across. I am beyond disappointed and will consider princess or another cruise line for our trip in the spring. Read Less

The Allure of the Seas did not disappoint in any way! We booked this cruise primarily for the ship. We were celebrating (early) my 30th birthday and could not have asked for a better cruise. The entertainment was unbelievable, the dining was wonderful, and the service was outstanding. We were in a crown loft suite (again birthday present from the boyfriend) and we were spoiled royaly!! Embarkation - we arrived at the port at 1030 and were onboard by 1100. I will say the whole paper thing is not to my liking. It did speed up the boarding process but with no suite designation on the paper it seemed to confuse every person we came into contact with at the port. We were sent to regular lines every time until I showed the extra bag tag I had. If I hadn’t shown it we would’ve been waiting to board the ship. I know it seems frivolous but I wanted to experience everything the suite gave me access to including priority boarding. After showing the luggage tag they sent us straight to the gangway! And boy was it a longer one! Most of the bars were not able to scan the paper and just took notes until everyone got their room cards after 1. The ship- This was my 21st cruise and this was my first time on an oasis class ship. It’s humongous!!! It’s such a beautiful ship. I love the dresses hanging in the aft atrium. Central Park is truest peaceful and beautiful especially at night. Despite its huge size, it’s a relatively easy ship to get around. The app makes it very easy with everything in the palm of your hand. And yes it worked even if you didn’t purchase the internet packages. However we were not able to get the texting part to work. We both caved by day 4 and used the voom provided to suite guests. The ship is in great shape and very updated. I don’t look for things like chipping paint and worn chairs as they don’t have a real impact on my vacation. The service received is the most important. Dining- We did not dine at cafe Promenade, Giovanni’s, park Cafe, or Izumi Day 1- I really wanted to try the speciality margaritas at Sabor so around 1:30 we went there for lunch and were not disappointed. Everything was so yummy and I even got the boyfriend to eat guacamole!! We had a lovely first and only meal in the MDR the first day. Our server was Deandra and she was awesome! Day 2 (formal night) breakfast was at the wipe out cafe - take note you can check the capicity of the restaurants from the tv in your stateroom. This was the least busy at the time. Though small, they had all your breakfast needs! Small lunch at Solarium bistro which had lots of healthy options. For dinner we visited Samba Grill which was amazing! Don’t believe the bad reviews it was so good we went again! Day 3 - I discovered Coastal Kitchens delicious breakfast! I had eggs Benedict everyday here afterwards- my boyfriend preferred the windjammer as it was quicker. Again didn’t really eat lunch. Dinner was at Central Park 150 and it was divine! We had the tenderloin for 2 and it was cooked perfectly!! The cucumber martini is refreshing and the panna cotta for dessert was scrumptious! Day 4 - Coastal Kitchen for breakfast and dinner today! Day 5- Coastal Kitchen for breakfast, Sabor for lunch, and Chops for dinner. We thouroughlt enjoyed our dinner at Chops. We didn’t have any dessert as we were just too full! Day 6 (formal night) - coast Kitchen breakfast and dinner. Very good lobster and NY strip. Day 7 - You guesses it Coastal Kitchen for breakfast and Samba shrill for dinner. We enjoyed every meal we had aboard Allure. And I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by Coastal Kitchen. I heard it was good but didn’t expect the amazing service we experience. They knew our names after the second day even though it wasn’t always the same server. Sorrentos- I’m a lover of their pizza and had it probably about five times throughout the cruise Boardwalk Hot Dogs and Cups and Scoops- After a long day in Saint Marteen we had a hot dog and a cupcake both were great, just wish they had raw onions. Vintages - their tapas are amazing and the gazpacho was perfect!! Room Service - don’t order the tomato soup, it tasted like marinara sauce and my stomach was upset for half the next day after eating half the soup. However my boyfriend ordered a steak quesadilla every night so it must have been yummy! Entertainment- The best I’ve ever seen! The first day we went to the aqua show and I had that wow moment you see in the commercials! It’s simply brilliant. The ice skating show was okay, I preferred the first one I ever saw ten years ago on mariner, but it’s still crazy what they can do on that rink! The comedy shows were great we went to two and yes you really need reservations for this even if you’re in a suite. It’s a very tiny venue but on the last day they had a performance in the main theatre. Blue Planet was really good and I enjoyed it, it wasn’t my boyfriends cup of tea. He’s not into the singing. All Access Tour - We decided when we booked this class ship we’d do the tour. We’re kinda nerds and always watch the shows on smithsonian channel. It was well worth the time and money. It was very informative and we got a lot of great pictures. Spa- I had two treatments- hot stone massage (not planned), and the Thai herbal poultice (precooked)- I only booked the hot stone massage because I was given a $50 off coupon for the spa as a birthday gift from our cabin attendant (they knew I’d use it Read Less

Choosing to cruise during hurricane season with the possibility of a change in ports, I selected this ship based on the ship itself vs itinerary. The ship: We had a balcony stateroom overlooking the ocean. There was ample space for sitting and chatting after the kids went to bed. Room was clean. Only one outlet, which can be tricky with five people. Only two elevator areas for the entire ship. They were often too crowded to even bother using. If you got in an empty one, you would be smushed in the back by the end. Many times the doors would open for you to be picked up but the elevator was too full to get on. (On a plus side, I got my exercise in using the stairs!). The ship is starting to show signs of wear with many seats in the Amber theater having worn “leather.” Lots to discover walking around the ship. Getting your luggage was a cluster. Every cruise I’ve ever been on, they leave it outside your door. This one, they just ditched everybody’s luggage up and down the corridor and it was a free for all getting it. Very weird setup. We had a family member whose bag was held by security for no reason. When she got the notice that her bag was with security, she went down and they asked her if she had any “tools” in her suitcase,(she’s not in the trades and doesn’t sail with tools). They continued questioning her so she opened up her bag to prove she didn’t have any “unapproved” items. She was allowed to leave with her bag but not offered an apology for the hassle. Shows: we enjoyed the comedy shows. The headliner show was a bit boring but I might have liked it if I was a Beatles lover. Ocean Aria reservations were cancelled the first night due to rough seas. After rushing through dinner to make it to our makeup show, they cancelled again, 15 minutes into the show. Was a bit bummed they didn’t make the call sooner, as the seas were rough all day. Oh well! Can’t control the weather and I’d rather they cancel than have us watch someone splat to death. Blue planet was fantastic! Highly recommend. The ice show was a bit of a sorry state. It may have been the rough seas and very rocky ship, but the skaters kept falling. It was awkwardly painful to watch. Food: we ate all our dinners in the MDR. Most meals were tasty, though there was one fish meal that was mushy. Highly recommend the Ahi Tuna. Windjammer was average. Seating was difficult at times. Bacon was floppy and greasy. I would have preferred crisp waffles vs floppy ones, but with berries and fresh whipped cream, they were tasty. If you like coconut, get the ranger cookies. YUM!! They tried to upsell to the specialty restaurants during our dinner the first night, which was a bit of a turnoff. I had no interest in the hard sell while waiting for dessert. Service: Our waitstaff, Burtsan and Merick were phenomenal. My water stayed constantly full, they had the kids preferred drinks ready to go and they even did little magic tricks to entertain the kids. Fruit cups were at the kids seats by the time they sat down to eat. Above and beyond. Our cabin steward, Mesael, was also great. He had our room tidy despite working around the mess of three kids in a cramped space. He never complained about having to clean several kid accidents(apparently my kids forgot how to use the bathroom at night despite being wayyyyyy too old for that!) rock wall staff was rude. After my 6 year old was checked in at the desk and suited up, the person hooking him up to the wall questioned me about his age. I told them he was six. He proceeded to look at my child and yell over to the guy that checked him in and ask if he had checked his ID, essentially accusing me of lying about my kid’s age to him. If he had questions about my response, he could have quietly approached his coworker and verified. Tactless. Pools: plenty of pool chairs to be found, despite the number of people on the ship. Very impressed with the seating. Lifeguards were attentive. The pools did not feel overly crowded at all. I do wish that the shallow end of the pools was a bit shallower. The kiddie pool at around 2ft deep was too shallow for my kids to swim, but normal pools were 4ft, over my youngest child’s head. They did have life jackets available which was nice. Activities:endless options. If you go ice skating, know ahead of time that it will only be for a 20 minute time slot. Also realize that even though the schedule says 3pm ice skating, you will get there and have to wait in a line(ours was 30 minutes) to get a ticket to come back later for your time slot.(ours ended up being at 4:30 which made getting to dinner tricky!). Not sure why they didn’t have reservations for this activity like the shows. It would have been nice to know this ahead of time! Though there were some things left to be desired, I would recommend this ship to families. Read Less

The Allure of the Seas is a massive ship that feels much smaller than it is. Embarking in Fort Lauderdale we drove from Orlando and had an easy time of it, luggage drop off was smooth, but getting into the parking lot was a bit difficult. The signs are small and the taxis were blocking much of the way. Getting aboard itself was easy with Royal Caribbean's expedited arrival system. A host with an iPad scanned the Set Sail Pass on our phones and sent us on our way through the security checkpoint, again a quick scan and a wave to the next point. From getting out of the car to boarding the Allure it was about ten minutes. Disembarkation was just as smooth, we carried our own bags and got in line half an hour before the published disembarkation time of 6:30 a.m. We were in our car by 7 a.m. and on our way home. The Allure was clean and in good repair, crew members were always tidying up and asking if we needed anything. Due to the size of the Allure you never feel like you're on a ship with 5,400 other passengers. Even on sea days there was plenty of loungers available around the pool and in the Solarium. Mama Mia was delightful and had the song stuck in our heads all week. Oceanaria was delayed multiple times because of weather, but the dives and acrobatics were incredible and enjoyable. Sailing in September meant that there were few families with young kids, it was mostly 20-40 something DINKS and empty-nesters. The bars were often busy and it felt like everybody but us had drink packages, but a small cash tip to the bartenders at the beginning of the cruise ensured prompt (and heavy) service. The food in the main dining room was very good, the Windjammer was good for lunch, but be sure to get there early before it sits, same with breakfast. If you have a food allergy the main dining room will give you the best assistance, the head waiter will bring the next day's menu and place your order so it is prepared at an allergen free station. Windjammer and the Solarium Buffet require a chef/cook to come out and point out safe menu items and this process can take some time. 150 Central Park was delicious, and they were able to handle the allergy easily since everything is made to order. The gym is large and even at the busiest of times there were cardio and weight machines available. The track on the Oasis class ships is the best at sea, there are no deck chairs to get in the way and the length means even a 10K run isn't too repetitive. The ports of call for this sailing were Nassau, Cozumel, Roatan and Costa Maya. We didn't get off in Nassau or Cozumel, but booked third-party excursions in Roatan and Costa Maya. The Roatan cruise port is small and included a lot of vendors hawking their own tours; but once we were out of the port and with Roatan Ocean Adventures we had a nice trip across the island and snorkeling trip. Costa Maya's cruise port is a mini-resort on its own and probably the best I've seen; there is a free pool and water access inside of the port as well as a tequila tasting experience. We took a trip to the Chacchoben ruins with Native Choice tours, this required a brief walk outside of the port, but the area is largely undeveloped (but it's clear big plans are in place), so we didn't feel unsafe. The vendors were also not pushy and treated us well. 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

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

First time on an Oasis Class ship. things are fairly well spread out so it took sometime to get around and see everything. Somewhat disappointed at some parts of the ship maybe due to the hype of the areas. Enjoyed the Solarium Bistro limited menu than the windjammer but it served it's purpose for me. Cafe Promenade is geat for earley morrning coffe & contentil breakfast Not rushing around to see everything as this is the first part of a back to back Disappointed with Schooner Bar layout front portion was used for other functions & servce was spotty. seating areas overlooking the Promemade (deck 5 ) was often staked out for watching the DreamWorks Parade & the area was often littered with dishes & cups and the bar staff seem very slow to clean up. The entertainment venues wre very good with the exception of the Headliner show of the week but don't miss the Broadway Show. Read Less

We fly in the day before and stay in the very cozy Victoria Park Hotel in Fort Lauderdale. It was a great start. We woke up early and took an Uber for the cruise terminal. (TIP: Download the RCCL App and do the check-in with it as early as you can.) I traveled with my wife and daughters 8 and 7. After checking-in thru the RCCL app I was exited of been selected for the “Express check-in”. We arrived at 10:30 am and about 10 minutes later we were done with check-in and on our way to the ship. To good to be true... We ended up embarking at 12:30 pm. Two hours after our arrival. “ because of an issue with the previous disembarkation. Express check-in” is only for registration. Once you are done with check-in, everything else is by your status at the Loyalty Program. I’m a Gold member, meaning I’m pretty much at the bottom of the food chain and by the time we got on the ship, everything was chaotic. (Tip: At embarkation day Windjammers is super full. Always find a table first, then serve yourself. There are other less crowded very good places to eat at this time but with very limited menu options.) Windjammers was super crowded and without available seats. A real challenge. But once seated they had a good selection of foods to please almost everyone and it was surprisingly good. (Tip: In the cabin put the sofa side table in the closet and move the center table as the side table. Put the empty luggage under the bed with what ever you aren’t using during the rest of the trip.) At 1:00 pm all cabins are ready. After lunch we went to see it. An ocean view with large balcony (#12598). It was nice and very clean. Our room steward, Carl from Costa Rica, was excellent. The bathroom was spacious an the extended balcony was huge, with a 3 chairs eating table and lots of extra space. Our bags arrived pretty fast (at about 2:00 pm) and we were able to accommodate everything. Make sure to put all your clothes and toiletries away in the closet, drawers and bathroom. If not, even with the cabin been comfortable, it’s super difficult to live in even for a week. (Tip: Make all possible reservations through the internet as soon as you booked or when available. Shows, Spa and Dinner fill up quickly.) So while my wife was having a great time unpacking with my super exited daughters I was heading to the Grande Restaurant to fix our dinner seating. I requested early seating and unfortunately was given late seating instead. All my shows were already reserved and if I didn’t fixed that, rebooking everything was going to be a real challenge. Fortunately, they where able to fix it. I don’t like “My time Dining” because even with reservations there’s always a line and even if there’s not one, you have to wait to be seated. In the traditional seating you get the same table and you can enter and seat yourself, you also stay with the same servers all the week and they get to know you better so they usually make an extra effort to pamper you. At 4:00 pm we had the safety drill that everybody hates. DON’T MISS IT. First of all, is for your own safety. Second of all, if you miss it THEY WILL HUNT YOU DOWN!!! and make you do it any way. And comparing to other cruise lines, is only a short movie. You don’t have to wear a life vest or make a line outside. At the beginning we had a few issues with our cabin. 1. The safe in the room was close with somebody else’s pass code and finding someone to open it in embarkation day was imposible. They finally fix it the next day, only because I called again. 2. Our toilet had an issue. It was clogged when we arrived and it clogged again two more times during the week. There was an issue with the toilet system in our cabin and the one next to us that share the same equipment, but every time we called they were very diligent in fixing it. 3. The cabin didn’t had bunker beds as in most ships. When the sofa bed is open there’s only about 10” between the bed and the desk to access the balcony. It’s pretty annoying. So far you can imagine the levels of stress we were having on day one. BUT BE NO MISTAKEN... Allure of the Seas is a wonderful ship. Once you pass the chaotic first day, the rest is great. You won’t find any other cruise line or even any other cruise class in RCCL that can compare to the Oasis Class Ships. For the last 30 years I’ve been in about 20 cruises in more than 10 different cruise lines. Most of them very good, but non of them can compare. Don’t get sad when you realize that one week is not enough to see or do everything they have to offer. (Tip: Always take time to review the “Cruise Compass” (newsletter) that they put the night before in your cabin. Try to make plans for the next day. The amount of activities are overwhelming and without planning you will miss a lot. Don’t over plan either. We saw the Blue Planet show and Mama Mia!, both have live music and the same singers but Mama Mia! is by far the best show I’ve ever seen on a ship, the actors we’re superb!!! We also saw the OceanAria Aqua show, the Ice Game Show, How to Train Your Dragon Ice show and the Madagascar Aqua show. (Tip: Unless you have a Voom internet package or Cellphone provider cruise package, make sure to turn your phone off because in open sea it will connect automatically and the roaming charges will be a fortune.) I needed to keep in touch with my job. To do so I purchased a cruise package from my cellphone provider that included unlimited calls and text for $60.00 and a Voom one device unlimited fast internet package for about $130.00. The internet was almost as fast as at home. We have no complaints of the food. There are many places were you can get breakfast and lunch around the ship to avoid the crowds at the Windjammers, even though after embarkation day, we were able to find available seating quite easily at the buffet and something that we like to eat every time. I wasn’t expecting a five star food and service, but my overall experience was very good. At main dining, my servers: Alvadean from Jamaica and Chunyue from China were very attentive and the food was more than good. I didn’t try any of the specialty restaurants, but I’ve try them in other cruises and don’t think is worth the extra charge. I was more than happy with everything we had for dinner in the Grande Restaurante. We visited St. Maarten, San Juan and Labadee. In St. Maarten We took the water taxi ($7 each round trip) to the beach downtown and rented to chairs with umbrella ($25) and a jet sky for half an our ($50). I’m from San Juan and unfortunately they deliberately let you be there only until 1:30 pm so you spend most of your money onboard or at their private island. With this little time I would only recommend to spend it walking around Old San juan. The spanish architecture and the cobbled stones streets are breathtaking. Get off the ship as early as possible And don’t forget to visit “El Morro fortress. You can search in advance to try to make an itinerary. (Tip: Old San Juan was designed to have a shaded sidewalk all the time. Use it.) In Labadee we had breakfast late to avoid the super crowded island buffet and took the trolley to Nellie’s Beach. It was beautiful with white sand and super clear waters. It was crowded but the peaple was very calm and relaxed and a local server from RCCL was very nice to immediately find us a nice spot with two launge chairs. Make sure to have cash for tips. I’ve heard that the zip line, the roller coaster and most of the extra charge entrtaiment in the island is super fun, but with all the complementary entrtaiment onboard the ship I don’ thik is worth to pay the extra charge. I prefer to take advantage of the beach that is not available onboard. We also avoided the market place because we've been there before and the experience was horrible. In conclusion, Allure of the Seas is a gigantic piece of engineering entrtaiment with more than 8,000 people in it. It’s not going to be perfect. Nothing will ever be. If you can’t handle a crowd here or there, if you can’t manage the constant selling of specialty dining, beverage packages or spa products, only if you are looking for a relaxed and secluded 5 star get away, this might not be the ship for you. For everybody else, you’ll have the most amazing vacation and you’ll want to repeat it sooner than later. I’ve already booked the Symphony of the Seas for a 4 and a 7 nights back to back cruises in next September. Can’t wait!!! Read Less

Overall, our Cruise was acceptable, for my wife and I (not for our entire party though) however there were many things that could have been much better that should have never been an issue. We have been on other Cruises, Disney in particular and the service and attention to detail is far superior on the Disney Ships. I have listed the Pros and Cons below. This is the same review that is attached to the review you received from That was submitted by my wife. We were in Stateroom 11697. Our cousins were in Staterooms 11695 & 11693. Stateroom 11693 smelled of urine the entire cruise and no one could solve the problem! Pros: Embarkation and Disembarkation were both smooth and quick. Very well organized. Ship, for the most part was clean - Stateroom and Public areas. (However there were many exceptions - see below). A large percentage of the Staff Members were polite. The Room Steward did ask, since we were a party with 3 Staterooms next to each other, if we wanted the barrier between the balconies taken down. The waiter we had in Giovanni's was outstanding. We took the "All Access Tour" and it was great. Very well run and informative. However, we were supposed to go to see the incinerator and never did. No reason was given as to why. Also, the Mayan Ruin and Chocolate tour on Cozumel was excellent. We had some issues in the American Icon and Grande with some food items and the waiter and head waiter did react and take care of the issue. Cons: Spills by the pool, tables at the bars and other venues took too long to clean. My wife had to go to the pool bar and ask someone to please clean up the ice cream that had been spilt by the pool and was sitting there for over 15 minutes. Had to ask the Room Steward for shampoo. At the Schooner bar, several servers passed our group that were sitting waiting to order drinks. Not until we went to look for one and got him to come over, were we able to order drinks and then he was pretty rude to us & never returned to ask if we wanted more drinks. The food in Giovanni's was not very good. The dining room food was much better. (We were at Giovanni's on Monday 9/10). There was a server in the Solarium on Thursday 9/13 tried to deliver a drink to us that we did not order. We told her we would take it and she could charge us, but she rudely told us she had to waste it. She then came back a few seconds later and offered the drink to us. She then proceeded to try to sell us a drink package for the rest of the cruise (10 drinks for $100.00). We declined and later that day saw the sign by the bar for (10drinks for $79.00)!!! Was she trying to scam us??? At the bar in the Amber Theatre waiting on line for a drink & some popcorn, there was a woman that cut the line and proceeded to have her order taken by one of the bartenders. She was called out on it by the people in line) my wife was one of them & she lied and told us that the bartender called her over (not true). When my wife and I got our order and started to walk to our seats she called my wife a "bitch"! Unfortunately, I reacted to her as no one says that to my wife! But, NO bartender, or anyone in charge stepped in and took control of the situation. Therein lies the problem with most areas of the ship. At all of the venues, Theatre etc. there is no one in charge. No one that is managing anything to insure that things are running smoothly. Lines at most of the venues are not managed. They are all over and all of the rude passengers (and there were many) just cut lines etc. When getting off the ship for any of the excursions, it is utter madness. Again, no one is in charge, helping to direct passengers to the right spots for their excursions. There were people with signs, but they were difficult to find. Signs need to be displayed higher so passengers could see. The announcements that were made over the PA System were for the most part inaudible, no matter where you were on, on the ship. No matter who was making the announcement. Also, the announcements are not piped into the Staterooms! What if there was an emergency??? How could you hear it? In several of the bars, there were children (under the age of 10), that were wandering around. Some unattended. In the Champagne Bar there were 2 children that were running around as the parents sat and took photos of each other. No server or bartender said anything. No one paid attention until the smaller child (probably about 2 years old) fell and got hurt luckily just bumped his head. There were even children (under 18) in the Casino!!! On Wednesday I sent some Laundry in and the cost was about $33.00. I then found out that night that on Thursday that there was a special (for every cruise) to fill the laundry bag for $25.00!!! I ended up having my wife's laundry one for the $25.00 and went to Guest Services to ask why we never were told of the "special" and is I could get that discount for my laundry. Was told no! And was told that it was only for laundry for that day (Thursday). When asked why no one ever told us about that, they had no answer. We had to review our bill daily as there were several charges on there that were not supposed to be there. They were charging my wife for drinks that she did not and could not order as she did not have the Deluxe (alcohol) beverage package. There were also charges for tips on our bill at venues that we were never at. Also, one of the couples that were traveling with us were charged for towels that they never picked up. They had their own towels and did not use the ships. At one of the ice cream machines there were kids touching every cone in the dispenser. There has to be a way to prevent that. We purchased popcorn by the Comedy Club and it was $2.50. We then bought popcorn by the Aqua Theatre and it was $2.95! Why a difference in pricing? The pool bar closed early on a couple of occasions. On one occasion it was 15 minutes before closing and we heard someone ask for a drink that required the use of the blender. The customer was told that the blender was cleaned for the night and could not be used!!! Communication from the Cruise Director was seriously lacking. On other Cruise Lines (Disney) the Cruise Director comes on each morning and reviews some of the highlights for the day (from the Cruise Compass etc.). And they also come on throughout the day with updates on happenings around the ship (character meet & greets etc.) This was nonexistent. But even if there were updates it would have been inaudible. I did get a massage on Saturday 9/15, our last sea day. The woman masseuse did not shut up the entire massage. I just wanted to relax and have the massage, not hear her life story. It should have been a relaxing massage and she really did not do a good job. I have had several massages before and this was not a good one. It seems like all she wanted to do was sell me products at the end of the session and seemed upset when I did not buy anything In addition, all 6 of the individuals in our party came home sick (cough, fever, chills, stuffy nose & one has a Urinary Tract Infection. Read Less

We sailed on allure of the seas 9/9-9/17. Overall it was great cruise! We flew in the night before and stayed at the embassy suites. Uber was cheaper on all trips to/from airport and cruise port. Embarkment Wow. What a difference from a couple years ago. We arrived at 11:15 and was onboard by 11:20. No joke. Utilize all pre-trip options and paperwork. Stateroom We were is 8726. Oceanview balcony aft. It's away from any exits or cut-throughs so you get no noise or foot traffic. Accomadations were fine and our attendant Miguel was delightful. A few things we noticed other passengers bringing that would have been helpful....a door shoe organizer. This can hold everything and is easy to see and organize. Once on board, go to any open lunch spot except windjammer. The solarium has the same buffet at a much less chaotic pace. More on windjammer later. Dining. We only ate in the main dining room two nights. I actually found the food pretty good...better than our last cruise. Windjammer. Avoid at all costs. Seriously, they offer the same food at multiple locations for breakfast and lunch. Unless you like hunting for seats, being pushed around by people who act like they haven't eaten in a week, or simply like a crowded cluster, do not go! Gems: Park cafe. Nice made to order salads and sandwiches. Bagged chips. Solarium. Never super crowded. American icon for breakfast. Made to order eggs. Better french toast than other spots. Full buffet like other places. Speciality dining. We bought the 5 night package, which worked out to be the same price we paid years ago for single night but whatever. Overall it was a little disappointing. Not the best service and food based on previous experience and comparable shore-based restaurants. Giovannes table- the biggest disappointment. Understaffed. Water glass sat empty for 20 minutes. Mussel appetizer was overcooked. Branzino was boney. Desserts were delicious however. Izumi- Had the sushi package. Very good food and waiter. Chops- first night waiter rushed us for an order, which was a turnoff. Second night we had Don as a waiter...excellent and spot on with everything. Carpaccio was so thin we couldn't scrape it off the plate to eat. Filet was good. I would compare the dinner more towards the casual steakhouse versus morton's or Ruth's chris. Samba. Eh. Not bad for the ship but doesn't compare to a Brazilian steakhouse on land. Pools. One of the two complaints. Really not big enough for the 5500 guests on the boat. I'm pretty sure they were smaller than other ships we had been on. Activities. Lots of things to do. Comedians were great. Mama Mia was good. Aquashow was good. Blue planet was different. Excursions Nassau. We did our own thing and grabbed a taxi to cable beach. There's a public spot that had jet skis and stuff. We had the entire beach to ourselves. Vendors were not pushy...asked once and moved on. Grabbed the bus back for $1.25. Cozumel. Rained all day and stayed on the ship. Roatan. Booked a dive with west end divers. Highly recommended. Taxi was waiting when we arrived at port. 4 of us from the ship. We scuba and snorkeled with 6 others. My wife had her own dive master. I snorkled with 2 others plus a guide. Overall a friendly and professional operation owned by Sara, who takes care of you. We walked around the west end area a bit then headed back to the ship. Costa maya. Hung around the port. My wife did a Mayan excursion at the last minute and enjoyed it. Overall a fun cruise. I think our next one may be on a different cruise line, but I wouldn't hesitate to go back. Read Less