Allure of the Seas Review
Rating by category
Additional details
"What a mix" is the truth. From the start, this cruise was about change, some of it under the control of RCCL, others a force of nature. The original intent was to visit St. Thomas as our second port, but reportedly some mechanical difficulty with the ship's engines changed the port to San Juan, a place were had visited before and frankly weren't interested in seeing again. No option to cancel was provided, so we hung in there and kept a positive mind set. I was accompanied by my fiance and my elderly father.
Unfortunately, a severe line of hurricanes (Irma, Jose, Maria) wreaked havoc on the Caribbean. Irma was the worse, I think, and hundreds if not thousands of people impacted severely by this and the following storms. How horrible. The itinerary changed again, replacing San Juan with Labadee, Haiti, and St Maartens with Falmouth, Jamaica. While we understand *completely* why the need to change occur, we unfortunately were visiting THREE ports we had visited before and had absolutely NO interest in visiting, and again, no option to cancel or reschedule. This was a major disappointment.
We got off the boat briefly at these ports, and since we had been there before, knew what to expect and just got back on the ship to take advantage of a mostly deserted floating city. So, the good, the bad and the ugly:
Cabin Review
Superior Ocean View Stateroom with Balcony
Not much to say. It was kept clean, functioned properly, I liked the bed, my fiance did ok on it (bad back). Shower tiny but it always is and we're both slender so what the heck. Balcony was fine with a great view on the starboard/aft side of the ship. Sheets and towels kept clean, staff ("James") was exceptional.
Port Reviews
Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades)
Arrival and departing from here was quick, so there is nothing to review.
Nassau
The original Nassau stop had an excursion planned, but the first itinerary change shortened the stop to 4 hours, and it was cancelled. The second set of itinerary changes last minute created a full day stop again, but our excursion wasn't available at this point. We ended up walking around the city, which we've visited before, and don't have much to say about it.
Labadee
This was our second stop at Labadee, the first being many years ago, and much has improved. In general, there is much to do on the beach if you don't go on an excursion, and we just laid in the sun and did water sports (my father, who uses a cane, chose not to leave the ship). A great day, and the bbq is always good. The only downside is the onsite staff that want a tip for blinking at you, so bring a lot of $1 bills to cover setting up a beach chair or other amenity...
Falmouth
I have also been here before, and do not care for the experience in the port section nor the excursions. I'll just hold my tongue, sorry. I heard other passengers expressing a more positive light on the port so it may just be my bias.