On Sunday, December 30, 2012 12:11:08 AM UTC-5, Bill wrote:
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?

Bill,
It is impolite to be obnoxious. The review is our experience and perception of the cruise. It was not posted for you to accuse us of lying. We have been on 45 plus cruises over 30 years. We have nothing to gain from posting a review. It is hard work and we do so for others to have a heads up.