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Old December 30th, 2012, 06:11 AM posted to rec.travel.cruises
Bill[_1_]
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Default Dec 2012 Allure of the Seas Eastern Caribbean Review

On 12/28/2012 7:31 AM, rec.travel.cruises wrote:
Allure of the Seas 9 December 2012 Ft. Lauderdale – Nassau -- St.
Thomas -- St. Marten -- Ft. Lauderdale


There were 3 courses, one small appetizer, one small main course, and
one small desert. With only 3 courses, small portions, and lightning
fast waiters, we were in and out of the dining room in 40 minutes –
not the 2 hours RCCL recommends for the dining room “experience.”


If you noticed that the portions were small, you should have ordered a
second (or third) of each course. They would have brought it to you.

Dining Room Menu: A practice by RCCL is to place additional food
selections ($fee) on the menu. At a table with many guests this
creates a tiered system of those who pay extra for better cuts of
meat and those who choose the regular cuts. This is a “tacky”
practice by RCCL and several passengers expressed dissatisfaction
and embarrassment of the practice.


So you're saying that you were embarrassed because others at your table
upgraded to the better steak or lobster and they thought you couldn't
afford to do so? Or based on you later comment, do you want them to keep
the surcharges but drop the cost on the menu? How about the specialty
dining? Would you be embarrassed if people at your table ate there
several nights and thought that you couldn't afford to because you ate
in the MDR? It's really no different. Did the people who paid extra for
the surcharged items on the menu get better service? I just don't
understand why this is a big deal.

Tipping: During previous cruises we had changed from cash tipping
to automatic tipping. Our dining and stateroom staff have no way of
knowing is we just said we automatically tipped or we indeed
automatically tipped.


Do you know for a fact that the staff does not know who is on automatic
tipping, even at the end? I don't know one way or the other, just
asking. Is it that big a deal? You can tell them you're on automatic
tipping and they should believe you.

Shore Excursions: The cost of shore excursions has continued to
climb to a point where they are no longer a value. For example, we
have taken the Golden Eagle Catamaran on St. Maarten for many years.
The price used to be somewhere around $45 and the boat were always
filled to capacity with 80 or so passengers. We again booked the
Golden Eagle while on the Allure at a cost of $84 each. There were
only 27 passengers out of 6,000 who chose this venue. For some it
is a case of not having the additional funds and for others, it is a
case of having the funds but finding the shore excursion priced
above a value for the money. Because of the steep increases in
shore excursions, we choose only one and made our own arrangements
for others while in port at considerably less cost.


You did not say what tour you took. I checked Golden Eagle's website and
only their sunset cruise is as little as $45. Their Snorkel, Sail and
Sand tour is $65. Given the cruise line markup, $84 sounds about right.
No way it could have been $45 for that tour, and I'm sure you know
better than to think that RCI would not mark it up. Maybe your memory is
faulty about the old price, or maybe the provider raised their price.
You're certainly free to book tours on your own, you know.

Recommendations: We recommend to RCCL the following: 1. Reinstate
automatic tipping vouchers and envelopes delivered to the stateroom.
2. Return to the fine dining of many courses and quality of food of
days past. 3. Reduce the time between when food is prepared and
finally served in the Windjammer to avoid over cooked, cold, hard,
and tasteless selections. 4. Remove prices for alternative food
selections on the main dining room menu. 5. Resolve the issue of
overcrowding of the Windjammer buffet grill. 6. Give value for the
money spent on shore excursions.


Finally, I find it hard to believe that you sailed on Oasis, which is
essentially the same ship as Allure and you had no problem with the
crowds and finally noticed them on Allure. What were they doing
differently that caused things to seem different this time?