wordell1

I was just on Allure a few weeks ago. Mask wearing is 100% optional.

They have a lot of items that are very difficult to find in the US. They had 4 different kinds of Blanton's bourbon as an example.

Good choice. It will be way less crowded vs Playa Mia. Taxis are easy.

My wife and I will be on this cruise celebrating our 25th anniversary. This is our first Alaska cruise and our first Quantum class ship so we are excited to try some new things!

Allure also has Sabor open for lunch on embarkation day.

I think of the food at the MDR as a really well done catered event. Kind of like an expensive wedding where there are several choices for entree's. The food is great, but it is cooked for a very large group which limits the quality. Specialty Dining offers a cooked-to-order menu which allows for higher quality. In my opinion, both are very good. Although there is an Italian theme night, there will not be anywhere near the choices offered at Goivanni's.

I definitely think it's worth a try and will make sense for a lot of people.

I realized that I never recapped my thoughts on the UDP. As you remember, this was an experiment for us to see what level of specialty dining is right for us on future cruises. I am glad we tried it, but it will probably be our last time with the full package for a few reasons. On the plus side, we enjoyed all of the specialty restaurants that we tried. There was enough variety of food was enough to keep it interesting on an Oasis class ship with all the different restaurants. The food quality and service was really good. The price is also good when you figure in the cost of UDP for the week divided by the 7 dinners and 4 lunches we had. It added up to less than $20 per meal. On the negative side, there was just too much food. I would probably never eat a full meal at lunch and then follow it up with a full dinner, especially if I had breakfast. I think it may have worked better if the ship had portside BBQ or Playmakers where we could have had a lighter lunch. We also missed having the same waiters for each meal in the main dining room. I definitely can see why some would rather pay extra for the improved food quality vs the MDR, but we like the MDR food. We will definitely still use specialty dining going forward, just not the UDP.

Yes, unfortunately, I did not figure it out while on Allure but I will know to check there in the future if it ever happens again.

For RCI official excursions, you typically have to follow the schedule that is given. You will normally meet onboard the ship and then board a bus as a group and head to your destination. A return time will be given and that is when you would reboard the bus to return to the ship. If you wanted to make your own schedule, I would encourage you to just make your own excursion by making your own excursion. Paradise Beach, Mr Sancho's, and Nachi Cocom are all recommended all inclusive beaches that take reservations.

There is a big age difference between 6 and 10. I'm not sure that would be realistic.

The chocolate factory is an OK stop on an otherwise larger tour. They explain the process for making it and there were a few samples and of course, the opportunity to buy more. We did it once and have not repeated it.

Great review! Thank you for posting. As to your question, the biggest difference between Royal and other lines is that Royals ships are bigger and there is more to do. If you are mostly just relaxing, then you may enjoy something like Celebrity more. It may be worth trying something else to compare.

No. I have been to Paradise Beach and Mr Sancho's that are in the same area. It would be easy to just get a cab to Playa Mia from the port. There will be plenty of cabs to bring you back when you are ready.

I rarely book excursions through RCL. I can usually get a much better excursion at a cheaper price by booking privately.

Diamond members will get 4 free drinks per day and can be used at any time. They will be loaded on to your sea pass.

We were just at Paradise beach a few weeks ago and they did not have PATG available. We ended up doing the all inclusive.

I have never done this but from what I have seen aboard, they appear to me to more of a studio photo session. I'm not sure if you can arrange something outside of that or not.

There is plenty to eat if there is a course he doesn't like. I highly recommend doing it at least once. Great experience.

I've sailed out of Galveston where different venues were reserved for group activities because of "group cruises" booked by fans of country music groups. On one Liberty sailing the Star Lounge was closed for the entire week. I've never made it to one (yet) but I think the RC Blog group cruise has reserved areas before. I get that people are sometimes disappointed, but it is not different than booking Disney and finding out that your favorite ride is down for maintenance. The fact is that this happens and people can make their own choices.

Sad to hear, hopefully they are OK. It is a reminder to the rest of us as to why we need cruise insurance and a passport instead of just a birth certificate.

Either will be happily accepted

This sounds like the people you ran into on Oasis last week. I was on Allure last week and it was a 7 day cruise and very peaceful.

Here's the answer from Royal Caribbean's website. Are There Age/Height Restrictions at Perfect Day at CocoCay? | Royal Caribbean Cruises

I had a thick hardcover book get my carryon pulled once.