This was our 5th cruise for my wife and I and the 3rd for our and 6 year old son. The Allure is a wonderful ship - The amenities and entertainment options for a family are difficult to match on any ship. However, this cruise discouraged rather than encouraged us to choose Royal Caribbean for future cruises.

Embarkation in Civitavecchia was fast and fun. Three weeks into its inaugural Med season after its first dry dock the ship is looking great. Our large interior cabin felt a lot larger than we expected due to an awesome layout. Great stuff!

Our major issue was that I spent hours on board trying to obtain a satisfactory outcome for our dining reservations. When we booked the cruise more than 12 months in advance we chose first sitting dining at 6:00pm. This was shown on all our reservation information including the online system until we boarded. However, we happened to notice that our set sail pass showed a 6:30pm dining time. This was a problem for us because we were committed to using the My Family Time dining option, which necessitates a 6:00pm dining time. It felt very difficult seeking a resolution to this, especially when a different table that we eventually secured suddenly disappeared when we went to go to our table for dinner in Barcelona. What?? Our best option that night was to go to the Windjammer, which is never our personal preference. Read more