This year my husband and I went on our second cruise. We earned the trip as the LuLaRoe incentive trip. It was a fabulous experience! Here’s my review of the Royal Caribbean Allure of the Seas.

Review: Royal Caribbean Allure of the Seas

First Thoughts

After last year’s trip on the Carnival Splendor, we were totally shocked by the size of this ship. Boarding was a smooth process and we were excited to get on board and start exploring.

When we got on board we had to wait about an hour for our room. We got a drink and sat in the Schooner Bar. The Schooner became our favorite place to hang out. It was quieter there and has a perfect view of the main deck of the ship.

Once our room was ready, we went and took a look – this year we had the best room ever. We had a balcony which was awesome but what made it perfect was the location. Our room was right off the elevator so no long treks down narrow hallways for us.

Our next cruise, we will definitely be looking for a room right off of the elevator. The balcony was nice but I rarely used it so I would do without if cost is a factor. Sean enjoyed it way more than I did.

There was a king size bed, a sofa, a closet, a desk and a small bathroom.

Food

Food is my favorite part of cruising and if we’re being honest, I gained about 17 pounds on this cruise, so use some caution. We only ate at the free restaurants although I heard good things about the paid ones.

The Windjammer buffet was okay – there were lots of times throughout the day that the food was old looking though so we tended to not go there too often.

The dining room was good, I still think that had a better experience last year on the Carnival Splendor but there weren’t any big complaints I had.

The lobster night was particularly good – I mean who doesn’t love as many lobster tails as you can eat.

The Park Cafe was Sean’s favorite, and really a hidden treasure on the ship. They had amazing sandwiches, panini and salads. It was kind of hidden so it made for a quiet spot most of the time.

This year we had the all you can drink package. I will just say, you have to drink a lot to make this worth the cost. We drank a ton but by the end of the week, I definitely was having drink fatigue. Have a Woo-Woo, it was my favorite drink.

If you don’t drink a lot, take a pass on this and go for a soda package or just drink the free lemonade.

Entertainment

The entertainment on this ship was amazing! There were so many options and we had a terrific time.

We love trivia, so we participated in as many of those as we could. We came home with like 25 Royal Caribbean keychains and a few magnets as our winnings.

The best entertainment on the ship was the Mamma Mia show. The acting was fabulous, the singing was awesome, and the whole thing was terrific. You can hardly believe it’s a cruise ship and not a Broadway stage.

We also watched some of the other entertainment including the water shows. And I very unsuccessfully tried rock climbing – I made it like 6 inches and fell every time.

Excursions and Ports

For this cruise, we stopped in three ports – Labadee Haiti, Falmouth Jamaica and Cozumel Mexico.

This year we didn’t participate in any excursions. The ones available just didn’t seem as exciting as the ones we did last year on the Carnival Splendor so we just decided to hang out more on the ship.

Labadee, Haiti

This island is fabulous. It’s all owned by Royal Caribbean and if you’re looking for a beach day on your cruise this is it.

We partnered up with some friends and rented a beach cabana. It was the best money we spent on this cruise. We were steps from the ocean, with our own drink fetcher – totally not what he’s actually called.

The cabana can open for sun or close the curtains for privacy and a bit of shade.

On this island, you can use your drink package if you have one and if not, just charge everything to your ship card.

There was even a free buffet lunch included on this island. And everything comes off the ship so no need to worry about Montezuma’s revenge.

If you are going to do any shopping in the vendor’s village – use caution. They were really pushy, to the point of being obnoxious. Get good at ignoring people before you go.

Falmouth Jamaica

We didn’t leave the port in Jamaica. If you just want to do some shopping, there are tons of places right in the port.

We spent a couple of hours just wandering through the port, browsing the local wares. Nobody was pressuring us to buy so it was just a nice relaxing afternoon before we got back on board the ship.

Cozumel Mexico

We had gone to Cozumel Mexico so we originally planned for another beach day while we were there. We were going to Mr. Sancho’s which came highly recommended.

But by the time the day got there, we were tired and had already drunk too much from our drink package. So we decided to just stay in port and enjoy the quiet of the ship.

We got off the ship and did some browsing in the market there. We also watched some traditional dancing.

Wrapping Up

This ship was amazing. If you can afford the balcony, it was gorgeous to sit there in the morning and watch the ship come into port. There were so many activities on this ship that we couldn’t do them all.

The best part about this ship was the staff – Grant – I think he was activities director was totally amazing. There were so many great staff members that helped make our trip awesome.

Have questions about the Royal Caribbean Allure of the Seas? Want to send us on your cruise ship for a review? Drop me a message or head over to our group and discuss there.