Allure June 2019, TR updated with Compasses

[tltay2005]

We just got of the Allure. We did the Western Caribbean 6/9-6/16/19. We went to Falmouth, Cozumel and Labadee. This was our second RCL cruise, both on the Allure. First I will start with the room as there are always questions about storage and outlets. Sorry for the quality of the photos and messy room. I totally forgot to take pictures until we were getting ready to leave the ship on the last day. We were in an ocean view room, deck 8, 8616. Great location. It was nice to be able to just go down the hall (not having to use the elevators) to Central Park for a snack, coffee, ice etc. Ship movement and noise was very minimal. We did have some clanking in the hall around 4am, which I assumed was the cabin attendants getting carts ready for the day. A/C worked great, in fact room got quite cold. I think some people who complain about A/C not working are turning off the Master switch, which we did on our first cruise, or not making sure balcony door is shut and the handle in the "down"position. Plenty of storage and hooks for hanging things. Bed was very comfortable. Here are some basic layout photos.

 

[tltay2005]

Room storage. There was plenty for just the two of us. Under the bed storage for empty suitcases, one which we used for dirty clothes. The closet was a little awkward to get into the back side, but plenty of clothes hangers and shelves. There was a small safe in the closet which worked fine for the items we had (passport, wallet, phones, etc), There were three drawers and two tall and narrow cabinets with shelves for smaller items. There are two hooks on the wall as you come in with a small shelf and pocket type storage under them. There is a small fridge next to the drawers which cooled down room temp water just fine.

 

[tltay2005]

Bathroom was small as expected but functional, again with plenty of storage and counter space. The shower has a wire shelf that wasn't the best for small travel bottles as they fell through the slats. A washcloth placed as a liner solved that problem. The water got very hot and there was plenty of pressure. There are two hooks in the shower, two on the wall and three on the door, along with the two towel racks. They supply a combo shampoo and body wash. We did not use it, we brought our own.

 

[tltay2005]

The room has plenty of plugs. There are three on the desk, one under the desk and one behind the bed (perfect if you have a CPAP machine).

 

[starvenger]

Good photo essay.

This would be my preferred room layout as it's harder to get to the closet with the bed there.

Bathroom was small as expected but functional, again with plenty of storage and counter space. The shower has a wire shelf that wasn't the best for small travel bottles as they fell through the slats. A washcloth placed as a liner solved that problem. The water got very hot and there was plenty of pressure. There are two hooks in the shower, two on the wall and three on the door, along with the two towel racks. They supply a combo shampoo and body wash. We did not use it, we brought our own.

Agreed about the bathroom. There is something to be said for having a split bathroom. At the same time I like not having to climb in and out of the shower. Conclusion: I'm very hard to please with regards to a cruise ship shower. I learned to do that washcloth hack about two cruises ago - wish I had known about it sooner.

Count me in as not being a fan of whatever is in those dispensers. Cool that they're trying to be a little more environmentally conscious, but it's not my thing, and I'll just use what I bring from home.

There are two hooks on the wall as you come in with a small shelf and pocket type storage under them.

This was where we put our seapass cards/lanyards (for those of you that use them). Made for an easy time as it's one of the last things you see as you leave the room.

 

[tltay2005]

Food review:
We ate in the main dining room (American Icon) every night except one. We did not do any specialty dining. I requested a window seat via email prior to the cruise and we got one. Loved the view each night as we ate. Of the 6 nights we ate in the MD, I only had one night where I didn't consider the meal very good, but our amazing wait staff compensated by noticing that I was not eating much and brought me another entree which was much better than what I had ordered. There were two desserts that were outstanding, the warm chocolate cookie (which was more like a brownie) with ice cream and the grand marnier souffle with vanilla sauce. The lobster tails were actually very good this trip, which may be because we had early dining. Last year we had a later time and they were dry and tough. The wait staff was more than willing to bring us as many as we wanted. Our wait staff was, Boney, head waiter and his assistant, Clestain, both from India. Can not say enough good things about them. And of course who doesn't love the "Washy Washy" greeter at the American Icon.
We ate lunch mostly at the Windjammer or the Solarium as I like to be able to see the ocean, but also ate at the Park Cafe and Sorrentos. Food was good at all the places.
We had coffee delivered every morning by room service. It is so nice to have coffee on the balcony before heading out to have breakfast. We ate breakfast at the Windjammer, Solarium, Wipe Out and Park Cafe. Park Cafe is limited to two premade breakfast sandwiches and then mostly cereals and pastries. The other three were buffets. We are not big breakfast eaters, so we found everything to be good.

 

[Frozen2014]

Very good report so far. Love the Allure. Looks like you had a great cruise.

 

[Nina Y.]

Looks like a lovely room. I hope to go on a Disney cruise some day. Thank you for sharing!

 

[tltay2005]

Looks like a lovely room. I hope to go on a Disney cruise some day. Thank you for sharing!

We have been on both Disney and RCL. I did a comparison of the two in my report from our Allure cruise last year. I love DCL, but the price is what drove us to RCL.

 

[kjhgarden13]

Food review:
We ate in the main dining room (American Icon) every night except one. We did not do any specialty dining. I requested a window seat via email prior to the cruise and we got one.
View attachment 410211

Thank you so much for all the pictures and review. We go on Allure July 7th. We are a family of 8 and also have My Time Dining assigned to American Icon. We would love a table by a window. Where there any tables for 8 by windows in American Icon? If so who did you email to request a water table?

 

[tltay2005]

Thank you so much for all the pictures and review. We go on Allure July 7th. We are a family of 8 and also have My Time Dining assigned to American Icon. We would love a table by a window. Where there any tables for 8 by windows in American Icon? If so who did you email to request a water table?

There were tables behind us, either for 6 or 8 (see picture, maybe you can tell). Since you have the my time dining, you may not be able to request a table, since they will be seating you where ever an empty table is available. We had the set early dining where you have the same table every night. You can definitely try. The email is rcldining@rccl.com. I sent the request in a week before our sailing and did not find we got it until the first night of the cruise. It was a nice surprise. If you don't get it the first night, you can always request one when you check in each night. Good luck.

 

[tltay2005]

Ship & staff:
The Allure may look big and clunky from the outside, but inside she is a true beauty. She was very well maintained. Yes, there were a few things that need to be updated, repaired or replaced (dining room curtains, Dazzles' chairs, etc), which I'm sure will be done in the next dry dock, but nothing major that effected our cruise. We never encountered a dirty public space, including the public restrooms. Most all the staff was great, especially the entertainment/activity crew. Every session of trivia, bingo, promenade party, etc. the staff was full of energy and very friendly. The only staff that seemed not so "happy" was the bar staff, not sure why . We did not have the drink package, but did order an occasional beer or virgin drink. Every time we walked down a hallway, all the cabin staff always said hello and asked how our day was.
When you on the ship, don't forget to look up, some of the most amazing view are above your head. We also enjoyed looking at all the neat art work and sculptures around the ship. Also, try to visit each neighborhood in the daytime and then at night, the views are so different.
I took so many pictures on board the ship, so I may have to continue in the next post.

 

[tltay2005]

More from around the ship.

 

[kjhgarden13]

There were tables behind us, either for 6 or 8 (see picture, maybe you can tell). Since you have the my time dining, you may not be able to request a table, since they will be seating you where ever an empty table is available. We had the set early dining where you have the same table every night. You can definitely try. The email is rcldining@rccl.com. I sent the request in a week before our sailing and did not find we got it until the first night of the cruise. It was a nice surprise. If you don't get it the first night, you can always request one when you check in each night. Good luck.
View attachment 410337

Thank you so much for the information! I hope we can get a window seat at least one of the nights.

 

[tltay2005]

Ship activities:
Too many to list. There is always something going on every minute of the day for everyone of every age. We enjoyed trivia, bingo, karaoke, the promenade parties and the evening shows and an occasional trip to the casino to play slots. Every morning there is trivia in the Schooner bar at 10am and then other trivia games throughout the day. Karaoke is also every night in the On Air Club. They have family and adult. One night they also had adult Karaoke in Dazzle with the live band, we really enjoyed that one. Bingo is an extra cost and they have it several times during the week. We went to the Caribbean and 70's parties on the promenade, they were lots of fun. It amazed me how much energy the entertainment and activity staff have. Since this was our 2nd time on the Allure, we did not book the three main shows (Aquanaria, Blue Planet and Mama Mia) but did book the adult comedy show and the headliner show and went to the Quest adult game show(this one is a must, it is hilarious) They were both very good. Even if you don't book the aqua show, you can still stand and watch from the back, or go up to deck 7 and grab a chair up there. We did that one night and just watched a few minutes. There was also a diving competition that we watched from deck 7. There is also the rock climbing wall, zip line, mini golf, wave rider, ping pong and the basket ball courts. An one of my favorite things to do on a sea day is walk the track on deck 5 and gaze at the sea and look for other ships. We saw lots of flying fish, which was really neat. We always take binoculars, which we used to check out the passing ships or when passing by land.
Here are some photos from the promenade parties:

 

[tltay2005]

Here are a couple from the Quest show:

 

[tltay2005]

Here are some of the clubs/bars:

 

[tltay2005]

There are three main pools (main, beach and sports), 6 hot tubs, a kids area with a splash pad, pool and whirlpool and a pool and two hot tubs in the adult solarium. So there are plenty of places to get wet. Early morning and late afternoons (all day port days) the pools were not very crowded at all.

 

[tltay2005]

Walking track on deck 5, rock climbing wall and golf.

 

[pezgirlroy]

We are debating doing a cruise on her at the end of July. You may have just sold me.