In the past, I've always been very pleased with Royal Caribbean. There have always been at least several "WOW" moments during every cruise; little moments that make you feel like you're something special. Over the course of a 7 day period on the Allure of the Seas, I NEVER once felt anything remotely close to that. What I did feel was cold, distant staff members.

Our disappointment started essentially when we stepped on board. We were confirmed on our documents to have Traditional Dining at 8:30 and we had linked our reservations to several others so that our party of 10 could sit together. When we checked in, we were given My Time Dining. Upon boarding, we went straight to the dining room and the head waiter at the door was extremely rude and curt to us. He refused to help up and just said to come back. We went to Guest Services to get this resolved. The Guest Services Associate and Asst. Manager who helped us were excellent. They summoned the Maitre'd who took care of things right away. The 2 that assisted us at Guest Services were excellent. It's not a good sign if the 2 best crew members you encounter on your cruise work for Guest Services.

Further issues came about that night at dinner. Someone at our table wanted wine they serve by the glass at Vintages, but not in the Dining Room. The Bar Waiter refused to help him. I don't ever recalled hearing the word "No" as much as I did on this ship. Our Head Waiter promised to "send us" (the table of 10) to Giovanni's Table one night. He booked the entire party of 10 and said "everything" was taken care of. The night we were supposed to go to Giovanni's, I called to confirm the dining time and they only had a party of 4 booked, instead of 10 and "everything" was not taken care of. We were lied to. The food in the Dining Room was also not good. It was bland and lacked variety. Service from our Waiter and Assistant Waiter were good. Read more