Wailea
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Oct 5, 2009
And it was fantastic!
It was me, my husband, and my 9 year-old daughter celebrating her birthday on embarkation day.
We have 3 DCL cruises under our belts, but got priced out so we looked for a fun alternative. It seemed risky but in the end we ended up having a fabulous time.
EMBARKATION:
It went very smoothly.
We drove from Orlando, and dropped the car off at Parkn'Go valet style, which was great by the way. A shuttle was waiting for us, and at 11am we arrived at the port. There was a very short line at security, and no line at check-in. The terminal was well organized, and we got seated and boarded in a first come first served manner (except for the VIPs/higher status).
SHIP
The ship is beautiful, and there was so much to do! Flowriders, rock climbing wall, ice skating rink, kid zone, the countless hot tubs...
The Royal Promenade was very pretty. I found Central Park very relaxing and quite romantic in the evening with the crickets chirping. Boardwalk was fun with the carousel and mirrors. Each neighborhood had such a different atmosphere, we had a fun time exploring this huge ship. Surprisingly, it did not feel that big compared to the Fantasy, although it took me FOREVER to know my way around. The lack of windows made it hard to know where AFT/FWD were.
We went to the rising bar, which rises from the Royal Promenade to Central Park. That was pretty neat, especially for my daughter.
The pool deck was full, especially on sea days. Also, it was VERY slippery. We saw at least 8 people fall (kids and adults alike), particularly by the kids pool area. They had a full time guy remove the puddles, it still wasn't enough. They need to rethink the floor. It's truly a hazard.
ROOM
We had an oceanview stateroom on deck 3. The room was fine. My daughter used the bunk bed that pulls down from the ceiling, which she loved! Our king sized bed had a mattress pad and was quite comfortable. I enjoyed having the large bed in the room. However, there aren't enough outlets in the room, and they are all located on the desk, far from the bed. Not convenient at all, as I use my phone as an alarm clock and after a full day of taking pictures it usually needed to be charged at night.
I would have liked more drawers and a bit more space for the clothes. I feel I had more room for clothes in the DCL staterooms.
I really liked the bathroom on the Allure. We found out that we prefer a larger bathroom as opposed to 2 tiny split ones on DCL. The shower was roomy, and we had enough space for all our toiletries. I appreciated the 8 wall hooks placed around the bathroom. Very convenient.
Our room attendant was very attentive, although she gave us the wrong Cruise Compass (their Navigator) one day. Our room was spotless. She was very sweet, always had a smile on her face and a kind word for our daughter.
ENTERTAINMENT
We saw:
Oceanaria - very impressive
Blue Planet - a bit odd but visually interesting. We all enjoyed it.
Ice Games - great soundtrack and lots of fun, even for my 9 year-old.
How to Train your Dragon ice show - meh. They did not tell the story as well as they could. That's where I felt it missed the Disney touch, as Disney is great at story telling. During our performance we saw quite a few falls, which I guess should be expected?
Adult comedy show - the 2 comedians were raunchy but we REALLY had a good time and laughed so much!
We also hung out at the Jazz club, and the singer was very talented.
We attended 2 game shows: Battle of the Sexes and Majority Rules. The entertainment staff for those shows was not good, so it wasn't as enjoyable as it could have been. Their English was poor, so they were hard to understand at times.
We went to the casino and gambled for the first time. We didn't play much, but came out $50 ahead at the slot machine.
It was nice to be on a ship with an actual night life.
We went ice skating, first time for my husband and DD. It was quite hilarious. They did the boogie board flowrider and the staff was very helpful.
FOOD
We ate breakfast mostly at the Windjammer. The buffets themselves were not crowded, but we had to walk around a bit to find a table. They offered a nice variety of food. No lox though, and the eggs benedict were a bit bland.
I did not like their free coffee, but we had the Royal Replenish package which includes unlimited soda, virgin cocktails, freshly squeezed OJ and premium coffees, so I was fine.
My 9 year-old favorite place to eat was Sorrento's, the pizzeria. She loved their pizza. I thought they were pretty decent.
We did not have a premium dining package and ate in the main dining room 6 times and at the Windjammer once. Overall the food was meh. My husband and I found it very bland. Their included steak was very thin and just gross. The menu was a tad repetitive. Disney wins on that one.
We had My Time Dining (MTD), and I did make reservations prior to the trip for each night. The line for guests with reservation was never long, and we never waited more than 5-10 minutes. The dining room for MTD, American Icon, was the least attractive of all the dining rooms, but still stylish. We found a team of servers that we liked, and Royal was more than happy to set us up with them every night.
We ate lunch at Park Cafe, and the line was incredibly long and not organized at all. I tried their roast beef sandwich, which was ok.
Solarium Bistro had some nice, interesting options for lunch (salmon crepes for example, yum). Wipeout cafe had the usual fast food items. The fries were good!
PRIVATE ISLAND
Well, not exactly, since we went to Labadee, Haiti. The scenery was absolutely gorgeous. One of our favorite ports. We thought it was much prettier than Castaway Cay (with warmer waters). We went to Columbus Cove at around 10:30am, and a guy set up chairs for us under a couple of palm trees. The food was fine, and we enjoyed quite a few Labadoozees. It was so lovely.
KIDS
Definitely A LOT less kids on this cruise than on our DCL cruises. The kids pool area was a lot of fun for my daughter, with their splash park, mini lazy river pool, hot tub and regular pool. The ice cream machines were nearby as well. My daughter loved spending hours there with her new friends.
Being 9, my daughter was in the Explorer room (9-11 years old) in Adventure Ocean, their kids club. She said it was ok and went there happily, but prefers the DCL one. The Explorer room was just, well, a small room. The staff seemed fine, but not necessarily doing the scheduled activities. They seemed to resort to a lot of ball games in that small room.
There were plenty of opportunity to take pictures with characters with minimal lines.
In a nutshell, we absolutely loved our Royal Caribbean cruise on the Allure. Was it perfect? No. There are a few things that Disney does better in my opinion, such as the kids club, food, and staff. We encountered quite a few employees who simply did not understand what we were saying. However, the differences are minimal. Overall, we had a lot more fun and a better experience on the Allure. There was more to do for every member of the family. My husband and daughter said it was the best cruise we've taken so far, and definitely prefer Royal Caribbean.
My heart belongs to Disney, but my wallet and my brain favors Royal.
Royal it is from now on!
It was me, my husband, and my 9 year-old daughter celebrating her birthday on embarkation day.
We have 3 DCL cruises under our belts, but got priced out so we looked for a fun alternative. It seemed risky but in the end we ended up having a fabulous time.
EMBARKATION:
It went very smoothly.
We drove from Orlando, and dropped the car off at Parkn'Go valet style, which was great by the way. A shuttle was waiting for us, and at 11am we arrived at the port. There was a very short line at security, and no line at check-in. The terminal was well organized, and we got seated and boarded in a first come first served manner (except for the VIPs/higher status).
SHIP
The ship is beautiful, and there was so much to do! Flowriders, rock climbing wall, ice skating rink, kid zone, the countless hot tubs...
The Royal Promenade was very pretty. I found Central Park very relaxing and quite romantic in the evening with the crickets chirping. Boardwalk was fun with the carousel and mirrors. Each neighborhood had such a different atmosphere, we had a fun time exploring this huge ship. Surprisingly, it did not feel that big compared to the Fantasy, although it took me FOREVER to know my way around. The lack of windows made it hard to know where AFT/FWD were.
We went to the rising bar, which rises from the Royal Promenade to Central Park. That was pretty neat, especially for my daughter.
The pool deck was full, especially on sea days. Also, it was VERY slippery. We saw at least 8 people fall (kids and adults alike), particularly by the kids pool area. They had a full time guy remove the puddles, it still wasn't enough. They need to rethink the floor. It's truly a hazard.
ROOM
We had an oceanview stateroom on deck 3. The room was fine. My daughter used the bunk bed that pulls down from the ceiling, which she loved! Our king sized bed had a mattress pad and was quite comfortable. I enjoyed having the large bed in the room. However, there aren't enough outlets in the room, and they are all located on the desk, far from the bed. Not convenient at all, as I use my phone as an alarm clock and after a full day of taking pictures it usually needed to be charged at night.
I would have liked more drawers and a bit more space for the clothes. I feel I had more room for clothes in the DCL staterooms.
I really liked the bathroom on the Allure. We found out that we prefer a larger bathroom as opposed to 2 tiny split ones on DCL. The shower was roomy, and we had enough space for all our toiletries. I appreciated the 8 wall hooks placed around the bathroom. Very convenient.
Our room attendant was very attentive, although she gave us the wrong Cruise Compass (their Navigator) one day. Our room was spotless. She was very sweet, always had a smile on her face and a kind word for our daughter.
ENTERTAINMENT
We saw:
Oceanaria - very impressive
Blue Planet - a bit odd but visually interesting. We all enjoyed it.
Ice Games - great soundtrack and lots of fun, even for my 9 year-old.
How to Train your Dragon ice show - meh. They did not tell the story as well as they could. That's where I felt it missed the Disney touch, as Disney is great at story telling. During our performance we saw quite a few falls, which I guess should be expected?
Adult comedy show - the 2 comedians were raunchy but we REALLY had a good time and laughed so much!
We also hung out at the Jazz club, and the singer was very talented.
We attended 2 game shows: Battle of the Sexes and Majority Rules. The entertainment staff for those shows was not good, so it wasn't as enjoyable as it could have been. Their English was poor, so they were hard to understand at times.
We went to the casino and gambled for the first time. We didn't play much, but came out $50 ahead at the slot machine.
It was nice to be on a ship with an actual night life.
We went ice skating, first time for my husband and DD. It was quite hilarious. They did the boogie board flowrider and the staff was very helpful.
FOOD
We ate breakfast mostly at the Windjammer. The buffets themselves were not crowded, but we had to walk around a bit to find a table. They offered a nice variety of food. No lox though, and the eggs benedict were a bit bland.
I did not like their free coffee, but we had the Royal Replenish package which includes unlimited soda, virgin cocktails, freshly squeezed OJ and premium coffees, so I was fine.
My 9 year-old favorite place to eat was Sorrento's, the pizzeria. She loved their pizza. I thought they were pretty decent.
We did not have a premium dining package and ate in the main dining room 6 times and at the Windjammer once. Overall the food was meh. My husband and I found it very bland. Their included steak was very thin and just gross. The menu was a tad repetitive. Disney wins on that one.
We had My Time Dining (MTD), and I did make reservations prior to the trip for each night. The line for guests with reservation was never long, and we never waited more than 5-10 minutes. The dining room for MTD, American Icon, was the least attractive of all the dining rooms, but still stylish. We found a team of servers that we liked, and Royal was more than happy to set us up with them every night.
We ate lunch at Park Cafe, and the line was incredibly long and not organized at all. I tried their roast beef sandwich, which was ok.
Solarium Bistro had some nice, interesting options for lunch (salmon crepes for example, yum). Wipeout cafe had the usual fast food items. The fries were good!
PRIVATE ISLAND
Well, not exactly, since we went to Labadee, Haiti. The scenery was absolutely gorgeous. One of our favorite ports. We thought it was much prettier than Castaway Cay (with warmer waters). We went to Columbus Cove at around 10:30am, and a guy set up chairs for us under a couple of palm trees. The food was fine, and we enjoyed quite a few Labadoozees. It was so lovely.
KIDS
Definitely A LOT less kids on this cruise than on our DCL cruises. The kids pool area was a lot of fun for my daughter, with their splash park, mini lazy river pool, hot tub and regular pool. The ice cream machines were nearby as well. My daughter loved spending hours there with her new friends.
Being 9, my daughter was in the Explorer room (9-11 years old) in Adventure Ocean, their kids club. She said it was ok and went there happily, but prefers the DCL one. The Explorer room was just, well, a small room. The staff seemed fine, but not necessarily doing the scheduled activities. They seemed to resort to a lot of ball games in that small room.
There were plenty of opportunity to take pictures with characters with minimal lines.
In a nutshell, we absolutely loved our Royal Caribbean cruise on the Allure. Was it perfect? No. There are a few things that Disney does better in my opinion, such as the kids club, food, and staff. We encountered quite a few employees who simply did not understand what we were saying. However, the differences are minimal. Overall, we had a lot more fun and a better experience on the Allure. There was more to do for every member of the family. My husband and daughter said it was the best cruise we've taken so far, and definitely prefer Royal Caribbean.
My heart belongs to Disney, but my wallet and my brain favors Royal.
Royal it is from now on!
We've been on Oasis and Fantasy and feel the same way about many things that you mentioned- our DD was 9 when we went on the Oasis and 11 on the Fantasy. The only area we are a bit different is that we had awesome experiences with the main dining room- we were a group of 13 though, so had the same server/table (also booked our times with MTD) and hubby and I thought the dining room food on Oasis was more interesting and flavourful than the Fantasy- we found the food on the Fantasy kinda blah, but did enjoy the changing rooms etc. 
), but my kids so want to skate on our Freedom cruise. Ah well. It'll be an adventure!
