A Travel and vacations forum. TravelBanter

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » TravelBanter forum » Travelling Style » Cruises
Site Map Home Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

Dec 2012 Allure of the Seas Eastern Caribbean Review



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old December 28th, 2012, 01:31 PM posted to rec.travel.cruises
rec.travel.cruises[_3_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 8
Default Dec 2012 Allure of the Seas Eastern Caribbean Review

Allure of the Seas
9 December 2012
Ft. Lauderdale – Nassau -- St. Thomas -- St. Marten -- Ft. Lauderdale


The following review of our cruise is an opinion only. It may be inaccurate in parts as to fact and is only presented here as a report of our experience and our perceptions of our cruise. It in no way suggests that the reader should cruise or not cruise on the Allure of the Seas. The reader is urged to do their own investigation before deciding on choosing the Allure of the Seas. Their experiences may differ completely from ours.

Embarkation: We arrived by car at 10:00 A.M. on Sunday. It was the perfect time to arrive. Only a few stragglers from the previous cruise were still leaving and we were checked in and up to the 2nd floor holding area in 15 minutes. By 11:30 a.m. we started boarding. The RCCL Terminal at Port Everglades is the fastest and easiest boarding process of any cruise we have been on in the past.

Stateroom: Our cabin with balcony on deck 14 was fine, with plenty of room, including the bathroom. Our stateroom class was “D5.” We were smack dab in the middle of the ship and had a long walk each time we needed an elevator which were forward and aft. We knew the stateroom location was not ideal but forward and rear staterooms were booked. Not a deal breaker but we did much walking in the passageways many times a day since the ship is 1,187 feet long. Our stateroom attendant was so over worked with so many staterooms to service, we barely saw her. There was no card in the room telling us the name of the attendant. We did not see her until the 2nd day, and then only for a minute or two. For the entire cruise we barely saw her and when we did she was always hard at work in a stateroom. Because of no attendant on the first day we went without complimentary robes the first night and had no ice for our bottle of wine. Small inconveniences but never the less an inconvenience.

The ship: The ship is new and clean, and had many bells and whistles. Wi-Fi Internet throughout the entire ship ($fee), interactive TV in the stateroom to access a host of services including your account, room service, activities, venues, etc. More can be learned from searching online for Allure of the Seas U-Tube Videos. We had sailed the Oasis of the Seas a year previous. On that sailing the Oasis was booked solid (6,200), yet we did not feel the ship was crowded in any way. We were surprised how well activities were organized and passenger flow was smooth. Not so, on the Allure. We sailed with 250 less than capacity. They ship felt crowded all day every day. There are 24 elevators – 12 forward and 12 aft – there was usually a wait to get one to arrive and to get one to arrive that was not filled to capacity. One comforting incident was when our elevator closed the doors and dropped about a foot and stopped dead. There were about 10 of us in the elevator. We pushed the call button and within 30 seconds a voice came on telling us someone would be right there to help us. He was not kidding. In about 2 minutes a maintenance person arrived, opened the elevator door, and help all of us out – very nice indeed.

Windjammer Grill: Windjammer is a good name for it, because it was jammed all week. It was extremely difficult to navigate for food and find a table. Since we boarded the ship early the on the first day, the grill was nearly empty. After we finished eating and exited, there were long lines of passenger being held from entering because the grill had filled up. Throughout the 7 day cruise the grill was jam packed with passengers -- staff would hold additional passengers at the entrance, on occasions, until the grill emptied. To avoid the crowds we had to get up early and be at the Windjammer when it opened. The food was a disappointment. There was a good variety but much of the food seemed to be prepared earlier and stored before putting it out on the hot tables. We noticed trays of waffles and pancakes precooked being held back until the hot table tray was emptied. Waffles and pancakes were hard and cold and did not taste fresh, as did some of the other selections. Even though the Windjammer food was a disappointment, it was still better than the main dining room food.

Dining: There are 3 dining room levels on the ship – decks 3, 4 and 5. Deck 5 dining was designated “anytime” dining. We made cruise reservations 8 months in advance, asking for a table for two, traditional dining 6:00 p.m. We were happy to have a very nice table for 2 next to the glass railing on deck 4 allowing us to view the other two levels. However, the dining room was noisy with noise reaching us from all 3 levels. There were no theme nights, no singing waiters, and no interaction with the waiters at all. Our waiter and busboy service was impeccable but they were so overworked with so many tables to service that they had mere seconds to take our order, deliver our food, and service the table. They were rushing from table to table -- all with little personal interaction since there was not time. We were disappointed since getting to know the dining room staff has always been a fun experience in the past. The waiters are extremely over worked. We had the feeling RCCL would prefer passengers to frequent the Windjammer self-serve buffet which may require less staff. The dining room menu had a good selection of items but when delivered to the table the portions were small, with poor cuts of meat and prepared poorly. 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.” When we asked for a substitution, for example, mashed potatoes instead of boiled potatoes, we were successful only 1 out of 5 requests. We did not make an issue of it to the waiter since the order was put in correctly and the kitchen staff decided to ignore it. On the first night we ordered prime rib which arrived as a bad cut of meat, dried out, and tasteless. This can happen in any restaurant so we didn’t send it back, just passed on it and went on to desert. On another night we went off the menu and selected a standby – New York Strip Steak. What we received was not a strip steak but a glob of round meat shaped like a thick hamburger. It was undercook, rare, dried out, and tasteless. After a bite or two we passed on it. How can a steak be rare and dried out we don’t know, but it was. Perhaps it was in the freezer too long. On several nights after we left the dining room we went up to the Windjammer to supplement our disappointing main dining room meal.

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.

Entertainment: Where RCCL’s food is abysmal their entertainment is superb. There are so many shows and activities on the ship that we were kept busy for the entire cruise. Having reservation for each venue made getting a seat easy. But to get a reservation in the time slot you want, you must do so well in advance of your cruise online on RCCL’S website. One show, the Comedy Show was booked solid months in advance for the earlier shows and we had to settle for the 11:30 p.m. show. Passengers new to cruising who are not aware entertainment can be booked months in advance may find themselves shut out of prime time slots.

Tipping: During previous cruises we had changed from cash tipping to automatic tipping. On one of the last nights we would find tipping envelopes in our stateroom along with tipping vouchers showing our name and saying that our tips were being automatically credited to the particular crew member account. We would place the voucher in each of the envelopes and hand them to the crew on the last night. Another cut back of RCCL – no more vouchers to present to the crew. This has caused much consternation among both crew and passengers. With this new cutback of cutting out vouchers, the crew has no way of knowing if a passenger has indeed automatically tipped or not. The passenger has no way of knowing if the tips charged to their account actually reaches the crew members. Crew member have no way or reconciling tip money received or not received on their account with vouchers received, since the vouchers are now eliminated. In the future we will return to cash tipping. We do not have confidence our tips are finding their way to our dining and stateroom staff. Our dining and stateroom staff have no way of knowing is we just said we automatically tipped or we indeed automatically tipped.

Ports of Call: Nassau, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten. There were only 3 ports of call but because the ship is so large with so many venues, days at sea were a destination in themselves.

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.

Past Guest Coupon Book: Here again we found more cutbacks. The coupon book for Diamond Passengers has been cut back and several items that were free are gone. For example, there were coupons for a free meal in Jonny Rockets. No more, that has been replaced with a two for one milkshake coupon. There are still some coupons that give something for free – 30 minutes internet for example. However, several of the free coupons have been replaced with buy one and get something off on the second purchase, etc.

De-embarkation: Smooth, quick, and uneventful. RCCL does a fine job.

Overall: We have cruised on many ships and many cruise lines. We know that not everything works 100 percent all the time and we understand that. However, we got the distinct feeling the ship was terribly overcrowded and RCCL was cutting back, streamlining, and downsizing. Every new gimmick forced us to do something extra to get the things which happened automatically in the past. We realize now why RCCL may be fostering automatic tipping. There is very little personal interaction with crew and along with that comes less tips. Interaction with the dining and stateroom staff has always been a fun part of cruising and a lost art on the Allure of the Seas. All this being said we still somewhat loyal to the RCCL brand and think the mega ships have much to offer. If RCCL would change from 2 star fast food to 4 star fine dining, the cruise experience would again be worthy of wearing a tuxedo on formal nights as we always do. We are starting to question that practice since we are in and out of the dining room in 40 minutes. We are also starting to look again to Princess and other cruise lines, though we have not booked them as of yet.

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.
  #2  
Old December 30th, 2012, 06:11 AM posted to rec.travel.cruises
Bill[_1_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 823
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?
  #4  
Old December 31st, 2012, 03:21 PM posted to rec.travel.cruises
rec.travel.cruises[_3_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 8
Default Dec 2012 Allure of the Seas Eastern Caribbean Review

On Sunday, December 30, 2012 3:34:27 PM UTC-5, peter wrote:
On 12/30/12 6:11 AM, in article , "Bill"

wrote:



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.



On the Adventure I think they know, as the cabin steward thanked us on

departure (actually in the middle of a btb). Of course he could also have

figured it out by looking at the onboard account statement.



How is the Diamond lounge on Allure and Oasis? All day cappuccino? Not too

crowded?



Tipping: We inquired with the stateroom and dining room staff about knowing if we tipped. The both told us that the printout they used to get telling them who automatically tipped has been eliminated. It is not a big deal but it is a deal. There are passengers who skip out on the last night dining to avoid tipping. Now they don't have to skip. They can tell the crew they auto tipped. We tipped automatically and in some cash. We have no way of knowing if our auto tips made it to our staff.

Diamond Lounge: Not much happened there all cruise, but yes the cappuccino machine was used by us several times a day.
  #5  
Old January 1st, 2013, 03:42 AM posted to rec.travel.cruises
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 375
Default Dec 2012 Allure of the Seas Eastern Caribbean Review

On Fri, 28 Dec 2012 04:31:50 -0800 (PST), "rec.travel.cruises"
wrote:

Allure of the Seas
9 December 2012
Ft. Lauderdale – Nassau -- St. Thomas -- St. Marten -- Ft. Lauderdale


The following review of our cruise is an opinion only. It may be inaccurate in parts as to fact and is only presented here as a report of our experience and our perceptions of our cruise. It in no way suggests that the reader should cruise or not cruise on the Allure of the Seas. The reader is urged to do their own investigation before deciding on choosing the Allure of the Seas. Their experiences may differ completely from ours.

Embarkation: We arrived by car at 10:00 A.M. on Sunday. It was the perfect time to arrive. Only a few stragglers from the previous cruise were still leaving and we were checked in and up to the 2nd floor holding area in 15 minutes. By 11:30 a.m. we started boarding. The RCCL Terminal at Port Everglades is the fastest and easiest boarding process of any cruise we have been on in the past.


Personally Ft. L is my second favorite to Baltimore.

Windjammer Grill: Windjammer is a good name for it, because it was jammed all week. It was extremely difficult to navigate for food and find a table. Since we boarded the ship early the on the first day, the grill was nearly empty. After we finished eating and exited, there were long lines of passenger being held from entering because the grill had filled up. Throughout the 7 day cruise the grill was jam packed with passengers -- staff would hold additional passengers at the entrance, on occasions, until the grill emptied. To avoid the crowds we had to get up early and be at the Windjammer when it opened. The food was a disappointment. There was a good variety but much of the food seemed to be prepared earlier and stored before putting it out on the hot tables. We noticed trays of waffles and pancakes precooked being held back until the hot table tray was emptied. Waffles and pancakes were hard and cold and did not taste fresh, as did some of the other selections. Even
though the Windjammer food was a disappointment, it was still better than the main dining room food.

I normally only eat in the cafeteria if the dining room is not open.
It seems the norm now for there not to be enough seats there.
It is also coming to be the norm that there are less crew to do more
work -
Entertainment: Where RCCL’s food is abysmal their entertainment is superb. There are so many shows and activities on the ship that we were kept busy for the entire cruise. Having reservation for each venue made getting a seat easy. But to get a reservation in the time slot you want, you must do so well in advance of your cruise online on RCCL’S website. One show, the Comedy Show was booked solid months in advance for the earlier shows and we had to settle for the 11:30 p.m. show. Passengers new to cruising who are not aware entertainment can be booked months in advance may find themselves shut out of prime time slots.


I'm not so much in favor of the pre-booking or standing in line to get
in to shows.

Tipping: During previous cruises we had changed from cash tipping to automatic tipping. On one of the last nights we would find tipping envelopes in our stateroom along with tipping vouchers showing our name and saying that our tips were being automatically credited to the particular crew member account. We would place the voucher in each of the envelopes and hand them to the crew on the last night. Another cut back of RCCL – no more vouchers to present to the crew. This has caused much consternation among both crew and passengers. With this new cutback of cutting out vouchers, the crew has no way of knowing if a passenger has indeed automatically tipped or not. The passenger has no way of knowing if the tips charged to their account actually reaches the crew members. Crew member have no way or reconciling tip money received or not received on their account with vouchers received, since the vouchers are now eliminated. In the future we will return to cash tipping. We do

not ave confidence our tips are finding their way to our dining and stateroom staff. Our dining and stateroom staff have no way of knowing is we just said we automatically tipped or we indeed automatically tipped.

I think this is that big a deal. I dislike the tip envelopes and
would prefer to do the automatic tipping and give an extra cash tip to
those crew who have done extra well. I have been told that if you do
not do automatic tipping that the crew has to turn any tips they get
from you in to the 'pot' - that they can't keep them. I do not know
if that is true or not, or how anyone would know if they got money
that they didn't report. On my last cruise one of the couples at our
table tipped everyone at the start of the cruise, and I must say they
got super service.

Ports of Call: Nassau, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten. There were only 3 ports of call but because the ship is so large with so many venues, days at sea were a destination in themselves.

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.


Most of the time if I've been there before, I don't book a tour
anyway. And places where I have been a LOT (which do include Nassau,
and St. Thomas), mostly I have an idea of what I want to do as I've
done all the excursions. I might even stay on the ship and not go
ashore at all.
Past Guest Coupon Book: Here again we found more cutbacks. The coupon book for Diamond Passengers has been cut back and several items that were free are gone. For example, there were coupons for a free meal in Jonny Rockets. No more, that has been replaced with a two for one milkshake coupon. There are still some coupons that give something for free – 30 minutes internet for example. However, several of the free coupons have been replaced with buy one and get something off on the second purchase, etc.


Never found anything worthwhile in those coupon books.

Very interesting review.

  #6  
Old January 2nd, 2013, 01:33 AM posted to rec.travel.cruises
Charles[_1_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 3,112
Default Dec 2012 Allure of the Seas Eastern Caribbean Review

In article ,
rec.travel.cruises wrote:

Tipping: We inquired with the stateroom and dining room staff about knowing
if we tipped. The both told us that the printout they used to get telling
them who automatically tipped has been eliminated. It is not a big deal but
it is a deal. There are passengers who skip out on the last night dining to
avoid tipping. Now they don't have to skip. They can tell the crew they
auto tipped. We tipped automatically and in some cash. We have no way of
knowing if our auto tips made it to our staff.


The crew does get a list. Watch this video on YouTube by a crew member.

"Royal Caribbean 's "Screw the Crew" Scheme"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mtaakkly_qU

--
Charles
  #7  
Old January 2nd, 2013, 07:58 PM posted to rec.travel.cruises
rec.travel.cruises[_3_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 8
Default Dec 2012 Allure of the Seas Eastern Caribbean Review

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.
  #8  
Old January 3rd, 2013, 04:15 AM posted to rec.travel.cruises
Bill[_1_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 823
Default Dec 2012 Allure of the Seas Eastern Caribbean Review

On 1/2/2013 1:58 PM, rec.travel.cruises wrote:

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.


Sorry you did not approve of my post. You made some claims that seem
false, and two other posters have said that the crew DOES know who has
automatic tipping. You also never explained your concern about people
buying the extra-charge entrees in the MDR. You made a claim that the
excursion was overpriced and used to be $45 but when I pointed out that
the provider charges $64 you didn't respond. You've been on so many
cruises, you should know better than to expect the excursions to be as
cheap as the provider. If you want to give people a heads up and present
your opinions as fact, then what's wrong with someone else questioning
those facts?

Bill

  #9  
Old January 3rd, 2013, 02:46 PM posted to rec.travel.cruises
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 375
Default Dec 2012 Allure of the Seas Eastern Caribbean Review

On Wed, 02 Jan 2013 22:15:08 -0500, Bill
wrote:

On 1/2/2013 1:58 PM, rec.travel.cruises wrote:

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.


Sorry you did not approve of my post. You made some claims that seem
false, and two other posters have said that the crew DOES know who has
automatic tipping. You also never explained your concern about people
buying the extra-charge entrees in the MDR. You made a claim that the
excursion was overpriced and used to be $45 but when I pointed out that
the provider charges $64 you didn't respond. You've been on so many
cruises, you should know better than to expect the excursions to be as
cheap as the provider. If you want to give people a heads up and present
your opinions as fact, then what's wrong with someone else questioning
those facts?

I took the remark about the excursion to have been based on a cruise
taken a long time ago. Prices have gone up. I didn't find it
necessary to complain about the time frame of the price.

There was a lot in this review which was extremely helpful to someone
who is going to cruise on RCCL. This is one of our least favorite
cruise lines and we only cruise on it when there is no other ship
going out of Baltimore. I was interested in the extra price food in
the main dining room which I would find to be not appropriate and
would not like.

As for the tipping - I think possibly either the crew member
questioned didn't speak good enough English to know what the passenger
was actually asking, or else they wanted an extra tip above the
minimum and were feigning ignorance of how it worked. As I said, I
did not like the envelope system and so I asked a lot of questions.
And it took a LOT of questions for me to find out approximately what
was going on.

In the old days, you put actual money in the envelopes. Back in 2007
when we first cruised on RCCL, and first encountered this system. I
said what if I got the slips in the wrong envelope? They said it
didn't matter, that the person would still get the right amount. I
asked if I could tip one person more than the amount and not tip
someone (like the head waiter) at all? They said the amount could not
be adjusted. So my conclusion was that the tip envelopes were just
window dressing, and did not mean anything at all.
  #10  
Old January 3rd, 2013, 03:37 PM posted to rec.travel.cruises
rec.travel.cruises[_3_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 8
Default Dec 2012 Allure of the Seas Eastern Caribbean Review

On Wednesday, January 2, 2013 10:15:08 PM UTC-5, Bill wrote:
On 1/2/2013 1:58 PM, rec.travel.cruises wrote:



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.




Sorry you did not approve of my post. You made some claims that seem

false, and two other posters have said that the crew DOES know who has

automatic tipping. You also never explained your concern about people

buying the extra-charge entrees in the MDR. You made a claim that the

excursion was overpriced and used to be $45 but when I pointed out that

the provider charges $64 you didn't respond. You've been on so many

cruises, you should know better than to expect the excursions to be as

cheap as the provider. If you want to give people a heads up and present

your opinions as fact, then what's wrong with someone else questioning

those facts?



Bill


Bill you are missing the point. You are being obnoxious.
 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Allure of the Seas Profile and Photo Tour battlecruiser Cruises 0 February 10th, 2011 01:25 PM
Allure of the Seas arrives in Fort Lauderdale Gadget World Cruises 0 November 28th, 2010 08:47 PM
Navigator of the Seas Eastern Caribbean review [email protected] Cruises 1 December 10th, 2004 01:08 AM
Review Millenium/Eastern Caribbean slazz Cruises 9 January 30th, 2004 02:01 AM
Zaandam Eastern Caribbean Review (long) Mason Cruises 4 December 29th, 2003 07:19 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 04:30 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 TravelBanter.
The comments are property of their posters.