Overview
About
Passengers: 5,484 | Crew: 2,200
Passengers to crew: 2.49:1
Passengers to space: 41:1
Launched: 2010
Decks
- Deck 3
- Deck 4
- Deck 5
- Deck 6
- Deck 7
- Deck 8
Additional decks
Deck 3 layout
Cabins
Interior (1V)
Ocean View (2N)
Ocean View Accessible (1N)
Interior (2V)
Amenities
American Icon Grill
Amber Theater
Studio B
Conference Center
Cabins
Balcony
Cabin size: 182 - 374 sq. ft.
Connected rooms: 390
Accessible rooms: 24
Maximum passengers: 6
Number of cabins: 1796
Reviews
Traveller rating
- 83
- 46
- 12
- 14
- 17
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We cruised with the Allure of the Seas during the holiday Dec 23 to Dec 30th to the Bahamas, St Thomas, and St Kitts. We had 5 balcony rooms. I have had some families coming from abroad to celebrate xmas and we were super excited to get to the cruise. 2 stops out of the 3 stops {to St Thomas and St. Kitts} were cancelled and we ended up spending 4 days straight at sea. We were bored, my parents and niece who came all the way from Israel were bored. There was nothing to do. The shows were limited, the activities were limited. Instead the ship docked on Coco Cay the day before last, where all amenities were ridiculously overpriced. We wanted Cabanas, the price was .$1,200 for few hours. The kids wanted to use water park, it was $120 per kid for few hours, while we booked same activities on St Thomas and St Kitts in the fraction of this price. We felt duped.This is not what we've signed up for, this is unacceptable bait and switch. On top of that: None of the pools were heated so maybe 2-3 people went inside, we could not even enjoyed that I pre-purchased Wifi and chat and it was so slow and almost never worked, we did not have any way to communicate with each other. We were family of 10, and they could not accommodate a table for 10 people, so we needed to split to 6 and 4, not fun at all Also, our all party were all fully vaccinated, so we were excited to know that there were some areas for fully vaccinated cruisers, but they RCI changed their policy few days before our cruise so we needed to be with masks the whole cruise. I have had many cruises before, but never had so many problems on one cruise. Very disappointed.…
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1 Helpful vote
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Here are some things to consider when sailing during Covid. OUR GROUP: -Family of 4 people -Vaccinated and boosted SHIP: -Royal Caribbean Allure of the seas -Holiday Cruise (December 23rd - 30th). PRE-SAILING: -You will need to take a PCR test 2 days prior to sailing -Note: this 2 day window does not give you enough time to cancel your trip within their cancelation policy if you test positive. -You will need to submit your vaccination proof ARRIVALS: -No testing done when boarding the ship except for children under 11 ONBOARD: -Social distancing and mask wearing is the protocol, but was not consistent throughout the ship and not enforced -Guidelines ignored in enclosed areas such as shows, restaurants, elevators, spa's, etc. SAILING: -Itinerary: 7 days with 1 day each in the Bahamas, St. Thomas, and St. Kitts -Day 1 Depart Fort Lauderdale: Sailed -Day 2 Bahamas: Enjoyed a day on our own excursion to Atlantis -Day 3 Cruising: Christmas day. Kids were given a gift. Enjoyed the Aqua show and Ice Skating onboard -Day 4 St. Thomas: Cancelled. Before arriving an announcement was made that the St. Thomas authorities were not allowing entry into the port. Day 4 ended up being a day of sailing. Guests were given a prorated refund for this missed stop. Went to the comedy show and exhausted all the activities the ship had to offer. -Day 5 St. Kitts: Cancelled. Before arriving an announcement was made that the St. Kitts authorities were not allowing entry into the port. Day 5 ended up being a day of sailing. Guests were given a prorated refund for this missed stop. Exhausted all the activities the ship had to offer and rented a movie. -Day 6 Cruising: Unscheduled returned back to Florida to switch crew members due to Covid. -Day 7 Cruising: Rerouted back to the Bahamas to port at their private island, Cococay. -Day 8: Sailed / Return to Fort Lauderdale EXCURSIONS: -Bahamas: Enjoyed a day on our own excursion to Atlantis (Royal Caribbean does not offer an excursion to Atlantis) -St. Thomas: We made our own plans to take a ferry to St. Johns to explore the island -St. Kitts: We made plans to do the 4x4 excursion through Royal Caribbean and we were refunded the cost due to the stop being cancelled -Cococay: Because we were rerouted to Cococay, travelers were not able to pre-plan for excursions and activities. The app crashed when 4,000+ guests tried booking at the same time. There were a lot of frustrated guests, including my family. Fortunately we were able to book what we wanted prior to the app crashing. ONBOARD COVID EXPOSURE: A member of our family was exposed to someone who tested positive for Covid. Here is what happens in this case. Note: this information is based on hours of waiting in line during 3 trips to Guest Services and 2 trips to the lab seeking the information on what the protocols were. -You cannot leave the ship. We found out on our way to leaving the ship at Cococay and my family members seapass card was flagged. This where we were informed that that family member could not leave the ship. -A letter should be sent to your room notifying you of the exposure. This never happened. We found out on our way to leaving the ship at Cococay and the seapass card was flagged. -Only the person exposed to Covid has to quarantine in their room. We stayed on the ship with our family member. -Medical staff will go to your room to give a rapid test to clear you. We waited 8 hours for someone to arrive to give the swab. -Test results take 1 1/2 hours and someone from Guest Services will call with the results. This never happened. I went to the lab after 2 hours and got the information myself. The test was negative and we were cleared to leave the ship, but by then, the day at Cococay was over and we were sailing back to Return. -Room service should be provided. This never happened. No one picked up the line. The non exposed members of the group went to the dining room to get food to bring back to the room. -Free wifi would be provided. We already paid for this service. -Free movies. We did not take advantage of this. -If the test had been positive, Royal Caribbean would cover the cost up to $100 put towards a nearby hotel or rental car to return home to quarantine after leaving the ship. Note: The guest services member I asked regarding this scenario had to find the manager to give us this information. CREW: The room service and dining crew was phenomenal and were diligent in keeping the ship clean and sanitized. ONBOARD ACTIVITIES: During Covid, you may be on the ship longer than anticipated. If you love pools and sports, this ship (Allure of the Seas) is for you. We are land lovers and sailed Anthem of the Seas in the past, which would have offered more onboard activities considering we were on the ship 90% of the time. SUMMARY: If you plan to cruise during Covid on Royal Carribean's Allure of the Seas, be prepared to never leave the ship, travel at your own risk, and be prepared to be your own advocate. The guest services staff is not well informed, not forthcoming, and there is no plan b. We assumed that the logistics of the itinerary were taken care of prior to sailing, but each day of sailing was a "wait and see" process.…
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1 Helpful vote
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We traveled over the recent holiday on the Allure of the Seas to the islands of Nassau and CocoCay (not on scheduled trip). Overall the ship has plenty of room for passengers in three different areas, Central park, Boardwalk and the main Promenade. The shows were high quality except the magician who's opening video intro was actually longer than his simple card act? Food was excellent as was the service and crew. The ship was very clean and masks were required indoors at all times. Disappointed that we were denied entry to St. Thomas and St, Kitts due to onboard Covid outbreak, but we loved the ship and amenities and will be taking a cruise on this ship again when Covid pandemic is over. Overall, wait to Covid is over or expect to be denied entry to most ports of call except Nassau (ship is flagged there) and CocoCay (RC owns the island),…
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Finally back to cruising. This is our second trip on Allure of the Seas. She is showing her age but is still a great ship. This trip (Covid restrictions) the ship was only 45% full. This made it nice to get around, not that it was bad when she was full. The staff was awesome. They were gracious and ready to be back to work. The service was really great. Our waiter even recognized my wife and I on Coco Cay before we saw him. Our trip itinerary was changed due to issues in Haiti. So instead of going the Jamaica and Haiti then to the Bahamas, we went to Cozumel and Costa Maya. No worries, I was on a cruise. The shows were great. Mamma Mia was spectacular. We also did the skating show, the AquaAria, the ventriloquist and the Las Vegas Tenors. All great. Coming back was interesting. With the ship only at 45% full we were off the ship by 8:30 and had to wait for our shuttle which we scheduled at 10:30. We were the last people waiting!…
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2 Helpful votes
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I am so sad to be here writing this review and not on the ship. Sure there were things that could have been improved but this is the first time I have been on a 7 day cruise and unhappy about getting off the ship. Normally by day 7 I am dying to get off the ship but not this one and not this time. We enjoy cruising even though we don't do it as often as we like. We are lucky to go every few years but I plan on changing that. Our cruise was September 19-26, 2021. There were many people on board doing B2B (back to back) cruises and I was always amazed how they could continue to be entertained, I wonder no more. We stayed in a Jr Suite and really loved it. The closet was enormous in comparison to other closets I have seen at sea. Our cabin was 6242 and was perfect. I have to say that our cabin steward was amazing and deserved more money than what we gave him, even in addition to the additional tip. We had a small table and chairs and 2 loungers on our balcony. That is where I took my afternoon nap. I think we had an extended balcony as well. I loved that the bar was just around the corner from 6242 so we could stop on our way back to our room for one last drink or sit and listen to the piano man entertain us before heading back to the cabin for bed. I always bring a portable fan on board and noise was not a bother trying to sleep but I have to say that the ship was pretty empty anyway. I think the majority of the rooms around us were empty. The bed was just OK. Our cabin steward supposedly put some extra padding on our bed (supposedly) but it really didn't make much difference. I have to say that NCL and Princess have it all over RCL for the bed comfort and it is making it really difficult planning our next cruise. I am not sure if I can come aboard with my own mattress topper (brand new) or if it is even allowed, LOL. There were so many places to eat and so many bars that we didn't get to visit them all during our 7 days, it just wasn't enough. The ship seriously felt like a floating city instead of a cruise ship and maybe that is why I didn't feel the urge to get off. Not to mention supposedly there were over 2000 people on a ship that can accommodate 6000. I seriously doubt if there were 2000 people on board. Going on NCL several years back we fell in love with their spa and paid for the additional access while on board and it was so worth it, Allure of the Seas, not so much. The spa portion we paid for was such a waste of money. I would've loved to drop that money in the casino instead as I would have gotten more enjoyment out of it. With the C19 issue, they were trying to keep limited access and it wasn't working well. They have 4 or 5 of the heated tile loungers and then the usual steam and sauna rooms but for such a large ship it really seemed very tiny. You also cannot have a locker due to C19 and have to put your things in a bag and take them with you and set them next to you. I was so turned off by the waste of money in the spa access that I didn't return or get any services on this cruise and still felt that I had more than enough entertainment. I am sure it hasn't been easy for the spa staff but someone must be spending money there, it just wasn't me. We got the 3 night dining package and it really wasn't necessary. We did the Japanese, Brazilian Steakhouse and Chops. All were good but not outstanding. I would do it again and try different restaurants next time. As a Jr. Suite guest you can eat in Coastal Kitchen for dinner but we didn't do so until Friday. Coastal Kitchen is so worth it, however, we did not have bad service in our normal dining venue. Remember, just make reservations, even if you do so while you are getting ready for dinner then you might not have to wait at all. I will say the steak at Chops had absolutely no seasoning so they give you this additional sauce to use and I just can't see doing that to a steak. Seriously, a little salt and pepper or something would've taken it to the next level and I don't see why I have to do that at Chops. The cheap piece of steak I had on the buffet at lunch beat the hell out of the piece of unflavored meat I had at Chops, go figure! There was one episode of unprofessional behavior from one staff member while I was leaving the buffet one morning but I am looking past that and not allowing it to cloud my entire view of the cruise where the majority of the people were doing their job well and were pleasant. You know what they say, there is always one. He had an audience amongst his colleagues and I am sure someone told him he was a jerk and risking their tip. Honestly, you know cruise staff work very hard and I couldn't let one person ruin a tip for everyone. See the shows! They were fantastic! Sit towards the back under the awning for OceanAria, that way if it sprinkles you are covered. I did not expect an ice skating show on board but there it was! They have a really special group of athletes, actors and entertainers on the Allure. Because of the space restrictions, we did not get to karaoke. That is usually one of my favs but seating was really limited and I didn't want to stand for it. We saw the ventriloquist and he was good but missed the comedians as they book up fast apparently. I cannot imagine this ship at or near 100% capacity. I am not sure if it would feel too crowded or not. I can tell you it felt almost deserted and I had absolutely no fear of the C19 issue. There must be hand sanitizers every 10 feet and wash stations before the buffet but you don't touch your food anyway, they usually serve it to you unless it is a single-serving cup. Get the soda beverage package at least and one upgraded Wifi option. My husband who said he wasn't going to be needing access utilized my upgraded Wifi access almost the entire time. He agreed next time he would get his own. The fitness center (dear Lord in heaven) I read a review somewhere that it smelled like smoke. Nope, it smelled like it was packed wall to wall with cigarette smokers minus the actual visible smoke. I grew up with smokers as parents so some smoke smell is tolerable to me, this wasn't even remotely close to tolerable. My husband spent some time on the treadmill but I am not sure how with that smell. I had to leave and go to the front of the spa where it went away. If you like to spend a load of time in the fitness center working out and you can't stand the smell of cigarette smoke AVOID the ALLURE. I personally feel sorry for the trainers who have to work in that odor. Our next cruise may be Alaska but I am having a hard time with the bed issue. If the bed was more comfortable it would be a no-brainer. Who to book?!…
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