Bob_KY

Have not been on this ship, but recommend looking at what is above and below the staterooms you are considering.  It looks like you would be below the second level (deck 12) of the fitness center & spa.  Not sure of the noise.  

We just got off of Oasis of the Seas this past Sunday.   There were six of use including two children (3 & 5) and my wife's parents who are in their late sixties.  This was our first RC cruise.  We have done Disney a couple of years ago and my wife and I did a carnival cruise 13 years ago.
We arrived at MCO the day before and used Ace Luxury Transportation to transfer all of use to our hotel at Port Canaveral.  I cannot say enough about Ace.  They get great reviews and we had used them on our last Disney cruise.  Communication is great and they are always inside the airport near the baggage claim holding a sign with your name.  Uber is probably cheaper but i do all of the trip planning for the group so it just takes a level of stress away knowing that someone is waiting and can help me move all the luggage.  
This cruise had three port stops (St. Martin, San Juan, Labadee) and three full days at sea.  We have never been to Labadee but have been to the others.  I purposely booked this cruise because with the sea days it would be less moving around.  With the young kids and the grandparents having some mobility/endurance issues i figured it would be more relaxing using the ship as the destinations.  The first two days were sea days.  We loved it.  We could relax.  The kids enjoyed the pool and of course the ice cream cones.  The kids tried out the kid zone and my oldest loved it but my youngest became clingy and never went back.  More on that later.  The first morning we did a character breakfast with the kids.  THey loved it.  All the characters came around to the tables for pictures and dancing.  The only complaint was the food service was really off that morning.  I ordered an egg white omelette and took and hour to get it.  When it arrived it was completely wrong.  I am not picky so i was going to eat it because i did not want to wait for another.  I took one of the kids to the bathroom and when i got back my wife had returned it.  Never saw another one.  A couple of other families had left because their younger kids grew restless while all the adults were waiting for food.  Its a small complaint because i was not there to enjoy my breakfast.  We were there for the kids and their food was quick and they loved it.  So mission accomplished in my books.
St Martin - we did the Capt Bobs boat excursion not booked through RC.  JLMoran did a great review on them.  I can second his review.  Worth every cent.  Food was good.  Plenty of beer, water and soda.  My wife is mostly vegan so they made here a separate meal which she liked.  Capt was friendly and with 6 others on the boat besides us there was plenty of room.  Capt Bob said since we had the small kids he put us with the smaller group which was nice for EVERYONE!  Kids did great.  We rented a house 4 years ago on St. Martin at Bay Rouge near Donald Trumps investment property.  I had told our Capt about it and he made a stop there so we could see it.  The destruction to the area and the whole island is horrible to see.  Knowing what it looked like before and seeing it now made us sad.  We love St. Martin and hope they are able to bounce back.
San Juan - We went to the fort by Uber.  Super easy.  The kids enjoyed it.  My kids love pirates so they were in heaven.  AFter that Kids and grandparents went back to the ship.  ALl needed naps from our long day at St. Martin.  My wife and I went for a couple of drinks and some food.  I found a place online called Casa Melaza  casamelaza.com.  The owners were great.  We tried a flight of different rums and ended up buying a couple of bottles of Barralito 3 star.  There is no distribution off of Puerto Rico of this rum.  Owners said most of their business is from the hotels not the ships.  It is just a few steps off of the road from all the shopping.  I found that odd.  If anyone is interested it is worth your stop and their prices are good.  Owners were super friendly and had a great chat with them.
Labadee - We rented a over the water cabana at Nellie's beach.  Awesome!!!  Luckily i bought this on a black friday sale for $395.  I think i saw it for $525 at one point.  Having a little cover from the sun was great.  We got the first one since it was closest to the water and the least steep entrance.  The farther ones are more private but this worked for us the best.  Service was great.  Golf cart to anywhere we wanted to go.  I walked most places but the grandparents appreciated the rides.  I bought an all day roller coaster pass.  We can have a free passenger.  My son went a few times with me and my wife went once.  It was a lot of fun.  
Dining - We did the MDR for dinner all but one night.  We were tired after St. Martin so we just did Wind Jammers that night.  MDR service was excellent.  Loved our servers.  They were great with the kids.  Food was good.  Some things better than others but no real complaints.  It was nice to sit down as a family and TRY and teach the kids some manners.  We messed up the first formal night.  I had it stuck in my head it was the 2nd sea day not Day 2.  Did not really pay attention to the cruise compass that day.  MY FAULT.  We had dresses and slacks and nice shirts on but when we walked in a immediately realized my mistake.  We offered to go change but they said we looked great and there was no need.  We saw people dressed less.  In the end we had a great dinner and felt comfortable.  We had suits and nice dresses on the second formal night.  We had planned on following the rules for both nights but thats what i get for not paying attention.  
Deluxe Drink Package - I bought our for 40/day on a sale during black friday.  We basically only had to have 4 cocktails to win that fight.  With 3 seas days, labadee and a short san juan day it worked in our favor.  Countless bottles of water, a couple of specialty coffees a day, a few extra red bulls to keep me moving and a few fresh squeezed juices thrown in there.  A rough guess is that between the two of us we saved $400-500.  Never felt pushed to drink nor did i fell like i was over drinking.  My kids get up early so being hungover is painful.  I got up and ran 3 miles 4 different days at 6 am.  4 or 5 cocktails throughout the day at the pool, 1 or 2 at dinner, and the 1 or 2 after dinner never felt to much.  If a cruise was port heavy i could see not buying it.  It worked for us and was nice not worrying about the end result aka the BILL.
Kids Club - My oldest loved it.  He is 5 but turns six the summer and when they saw him they instantly said he would be happier probably with the older kids (6-8 yo).  Daughter did not but i think it was her being three more so than the activities.  Having the kids separated probably hurts us a little.  My daughter may have stayed if he was with her.  Once you check them in they can not change locations.   I liked Disneys a little better because they have less restricted hours and a little bit more free play, but my son loved it and getting back there after dinner was his first thought.  The kids are able to roam freely between areas.  The staff was great and my son was glowing and talking a mile a minute about what they did and the friends he met. 
Disembark-We walked off around 0650.  Was out of the terminal by 0715.  Super easy.  Ace Luxury Transportation called me 4 different times to direct me to him and where he was parked.  We were at the airport and through security by 0815.  Flight was not till 1225.  I had worried we would be pushing it.  Again Ace is awesome and highly recommend.  Communication was awesome and extremely helpful.
Observations -  
     -Room Attendant (Gena) was awesome.
     -We had room 12594 which was a superior balcony room (larger balcony on the "bump")  Room was nice.  Clean and relatively roomy for a cruise ship.  We enjoyed the balcony.
     -I had read some critics on other sites about how rude everyone was on this ship (staff and guest).  I did not find that at all.  People were more than kind and staff was very pleasant.  All staff everywhere stopped and talked to the kids.  I thought the service was great.  
     -The ship is aging but by and large looked great.  A few stains in the carpet here and there but very clean.
     -Weather was great despite rainy Florida and returning to TS Alberto.
 
We loved this cruise.  We booked under a kids sail free promotion.  It was more than half of a disney cruise of the same length.  My kids never missed Disney at all.  They loved the small wonders too.  Had a lot of fun trying to find them.  It gave mommy a few minutes to herself.  I could definitely see doing another RC cruise in the future.  We like to try a lot of different vacations/experiences so it will probably be a couple of years before we do it again.  Thank you for all the tips.  I have read this blog a ton and used so many tips from so many people.  It was a huge help.  So thank you to one and all for that help.  
Next trip is September.  We are taking the kids back to Iceland.  Thank you for listening to me babble.
 
 
 
 

Mobile Passport is a separate app authorized by US Customs and Border Protection.  It is not associated with Royal Caribbean (or any cruise line) and can be used when flying at some airports as well.  It's been used for air travel for some time and just recently (2017) Port Everglades was added as the first cruise port.

 

I've seen plenty of annoying non-Pinnacle suite guests in the lounge.
I swear if I ever make it to Pinnacle I'm not going to wear the badge but do things to annoy the entitled Pinnacles.  When they complain I'll whip out my SeaPass card like a trump card ?

Pool in Solarium...it will be August...super hot...is it important to you to have a place to cool off in the Solarium and how much time will you spend there??
Jamie's vs. Giovanni's - maybe look at menus (on the menu section of these boards) and see what appeals to you more?
Harmony is newer...decor, furniture etc.  Royal keeps their ships up to date but I've been reading reports here and there of Oasis starting to show it's age.  Is that important?  Maybe, maybe not.  Depends on the person.
Also, I know you said point of embarkation is not really an issue but it is a longer distance and more hassle to travel from airport to PC vs. airport to PE.
If it were me, I would spend $800 more for Harmony.  And I don't ride the slides either. lol  We have sailed Oasis, Allure, and Harmony now, and (personal opinion here), Harmony is the best one.  I preferred all the shows on Harmony vs. Oasis.  I love sailing out of PE and I would rather sail the newer ship.  But again, it's totally a personal preference.  Both of those ships are great ships.  You can't really go wrong with either one.

Lol...full disclosure...my opinion is 100% biased and I'm a huge Oasis class fan. I will shamelessly promote that class of ships to all who will listen ?
Glad we were able to help you decide.  Feel free to ask anything else. You have found a great resource here in these boards. Many awesome and knowledgeable people here.  We just sailed Harmony last August and going on her again this coming March. I can't wait!
One more thing...this is a wow band
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/questions/what-wow-band

Need to decide ASAP on either Oasis of the Seas or Harmony of the Seas for late August cruise. Same itinerary.
Harmony is considerably more expensive, which is not a problem if the difference in the two ships is worth it. 
Also, is the solarium better on Oasis? What about the shows?
We are active seniors going to celebrate 50th anniversary.

@Lindsay.  What a great question.  I too have always bought the case of water AND the coffee card.  Oh well.  A few months back, @DocLC informed me about tips and drink packages.  I always gave "base" tips because I thought it wasn't included  in the package fees (still give extra tip $ for exceptional service).   Again, this blog site is fantastic because of contributors.  

The first person you will be greeted by when arriving at the cruise terminal is someone trying to direct you to the proper security lane.  They will ask to see your SetSail Pass so they can point you to the correct line.
The second person you will meet is the security person.  They will ask to see your passport and SetSail Pass, similar to going through TSA security at the airport.
The next person will be someone trying to direct you to the proper check-in line.  They will ask to see your SetSail Pass in order to point you to the proper line based on your Crown & Anchor status, Suite guest, etc.
The next person will be the check-in person behind the counter.  If you don't have your SetSail Pass I suppose they can help you fill out the paperwork at that point.  However by that time you have already met at least two other people who need to see your SetSail Pass in order to help you, and a security person who needs to ensure you have the proper documentation (similar to TSA at the airport).
Do yourself a favor and check in online and print out your SetSail pass.  Your experience on embarkation day will be much less stressful.

AND MOSQUITOES....   I am jealous.   Love Alaska.

So I have an update with my experience with Resort for the Day in San Juan.  We took a short by expensive cab ride from the port to the Marriott (hint:use uber or lyft much cheaper, took uber to airport from hotel only 8 bucks vs 20 for cab).  Check in at the front desk was efficient and the staff was very friendly. We were Issued two wrist bands and two 20 vouchers for lunch.  Since the weather was crappy, we decided to stay by the pool, good thing, because during our 5 hours there, we had about 7 down pours, oh well, can't control mother nature.  We had access to lounge chairs and towels either at the pool or beach.  We had lunch pool side and food was great, only had to pay 5 additional dollars.  
Would I recommend, Yes.

The bottom line on booking a cruise is to use a travel agent as mentioned in the previous replies. They could get the answer and results the call center may not be able to.
Here's a thought...if you booked less than 60 days ago (your other thread was on May 5, so you may be in luck), you should be able to transfer your sailing to a travel agent. The one that sponsors this blog is fantastic and may be able to help you. You may need to pay a higher deposit, but in your case, it may be worth it if sailing on Allure is what you definitely want to do. I would also seriously consider changing to the refundable fare if it is still available (you may have to to get back on Allure). I have worked with Brock at MEI for almost two years, and he has pulled a couple miracles for me.
If you are past the 60 day window, you will have to keep your booking the way it is. In that case, I would ask for the situation to be escalated to a supervisor or manager and see what happens.

Love the video, thanks for bringing it back.    242 days until Allure for us and our first cruise as Diamond...  

Love the video, thanks for bringing it back.    242 days until Allure for us and our first cruise as Diamond...  

Love the video, thanks for bringing it back.    242 days until Allure for us and our first cruise as Diamond...  

Probably getting rid of Sorrento's Pizza and replacing it with this monstrosity. Sorry, Twangster, had to through this in....nobody has been picking on Sorrento's for awhile!?

A few people have asked to hear about my thoughts so here it is.. although this isn’t really a live blog but we just got off the other day
 
A little background on me...  I went on my first cruise in 2004 on Navigator of the Seas, and then in 2006 it was Mariner of the Seas.  I went on these in my early 20s.  Flash forward about 10 years, now in my early (almost mid) 30s and have an 8 year old son.  I was a single mother for some time and cruising wasn’t even something that crossed my mind.  I worked my a$$ off to provide a wonderful life for my son, and 4 years ago I met a great man who is also a great father to my son.  I was now finally in a much better financial situation and in early 2016 we were ready to book our first family vacation!!!  After doing some research I was debating between Norwegian and Royal Caribbean.  Considering I took a 10 year hiatus from cruising, I felt like everything was brand new again.  We ended up booking Harmony of the Seas for November 2016.  At the time, I didn’t even know Harmony was a brand new ship and that we were booked on her first 7 day Caribbean sailing!!  Talk about a steeler cruise to reintroduce myself to cruising!! I started googling and more googling until I stumbled upon Royal Caribbean Blog!
After I had booked our Harmony sailing, but prior to actually sailing, a friend mentioned wanting to book a cruise for 2017.  I was in!!  They were celebrating their 10 year anniversary and only request was they didn’t want to visit Jamaica (bad experience on honeymoon).  Since we were sailing an eastern itinerary in 2016, and all the western itineraries I could find for the time period we were looking at and leaving out of Florida, they all had a stop in Jamaica.  My friends found an interesting itinerary on the NCL Getaway.  It came with their “perks” of the unlimited beverage package and 3 nights specialty dinning.  In the meantime, more people joined the group and I was out numbered in the vote to go RCI.  I said, what the hell, let’s do it!  You don’t know if like something until you try it, right?  Well flash forward again to November 2017... and I tried it, and know if I like it or not!
I am going to do a comparison by category comparing my Harmony sailing to my Getaway sailing.  Now, I know this isn’t exactly comparing apples to apples since Harmony was brand new, and larger.  But Getaway is only a few years old, and still holds well over 4,000 passengers I feel they close enough to form my opinions.
Pre Boarding/Cruise Planner - Prior to sailing on Harmony, Royal’s cruise planner drove me nuts.  Several different glitches, and it that it never worked properly on my phone.  I hate having to get my laptop out!  But, I was able to browse and book Shore excursions right away, they ran several different sales and everything was easy to find. 
NCL - I couldn’t even view most excursions until about 120 days out.  I am a HUGE type A personality planner and this drove me nuts!  I don’t book most excursions through the ship so this wasn’t a huge deal except for the fact that I wanted to book a Beach Villa on their brand new private island in Belize called Harvest Caye (more on this later).  So, needless to say I was checking on a weekly basis and finally around the end of July (we were sailing in November) I was finally able to book the Villa.  
I found the website lacking and a little hard to navigate, and I was unable to link our dining between our different reservations.  Because of this, and the timing of them releasing their Shore excursions, Royal wins for pre cruise planning.  RCI 1 NCL 0
Embarkation - We were lucky to be one of the first sailings on Harmony, which you entered your credit card info, uploaded your picture etc all ahead of time.  It is my understanding not all RCI ships are this way, so I’m not going to take that into account, although I definitely liked that better.  Embarkation was fairly simple on both, fast and effecient.  On NCL we were traveling with my elderly grandmother who needed wheelchair assistance, we were one of the first people on the ship!  This also happened to me on my first two sailings with Royal (my grandfather was with us), moral of the story, if anyone in your party can justify a wheelchair, take advantage! Lol. Overall embarkation is a tie with very little issues on both  RCI 2 NCL 0
First impressions on board - Royal ships are just gorgeous!!  I have not sailed on one without a Promenade and I really missed it!  That giddy feeling when you first walk on board was missing.  We boarded NCL on deck 7, and got to see the stairwell.. talk about underwhelming.  Luckily my TA had given me a heads up so at least I was prepared  RCI 3 NCL 0
Staterooms - We had a standard balcony room on Harmony.  It was my first time on a balcony and I was officially hooked!  We are a family of 3, so 2 adults and a child.  We had more than enough storage and closet space, including room for my 15 pairs of shoes (don’t judge).  NCL, because my grandmother was traveling with us, we had connecting staterooms.  One a Family Mini Suite and the other an Angled Balcony Room.  The balcony room was their standard balcony room, but our balcony was where the ship “jutted” out, giving more room.  We had planned on opening the divider for one large balcony.  Well, “they don’t allow it for safety reasons” a quote from our room steward.  My question, why was the ship built with opening dividers if it’s a safety issue and they aren’t allowed to open them?  Major disappointment number 1.  We were warned the balconies were going to be tiny, but were not cocnerned as we thought we would have one long one.  I am an average height woman at about 5’6”.  When I sat in ththere chair that was all the way back, my knees touched the glass on the standard balcony of the mini suite.  Slightly more room on the angled balcony, but because of th angle we could only look forward not aft.. without hanging over the edge with someone hanging onto you so you don’t fall.  No thank you!  Bathrooms in both balcony rooms were fairly similar in size.  The Family Mini Suite is a glorified balcony with a larger bathroom.  It is NOT similar to a Junior Suite on RCI.  It did come with a full bathtub with a double sink which was nice.  The only closet in the room is very close to the couch and you had to shimmy in sideways to get in.  I definitely did not have room for 12 pairs of shoes (I tried to pack lighter this year).  Decor was only meh.. Royal wins for staterooms hands down RCI 4 NCL 0
Food (the best part!) - I was actually disappointed with the overall food on Harmony.  I was used to the old style cruising of one specialty restaurant and set dining time with the same waiter each night.  Traditional dining was booked so we had to go with My Time Dinning.  We ate in the dining room 3 times and 4 Specialty (Chops, 150 CP, Jamie’s and Wonderland). All our specialty dining was amazing, main dining room not so much, including service.  One night the food was just disgusting.  And another night our server left much to be desired.  NCL has 3 main dining rooms, they have named theirselves “Freestyle cruising”.  At first I thought I wouldn’t like this.  I like traditional cruise dining, I enjoyed getting to know your waiter and your table mates, I enjoyed formal nights.  When else as an adult do you have an excuse to get all fancy?? We decided well in advance we would be doing our own formal night.  To our surprise, many people did the same!  You would see eveverything from evening gowns to shirts and tanks and no one judged.  I even wore shorts and sandals one night and I loved it!  The food, I didn’t have one bad meal, including complimentary.  There is a pub type place called O’Sheehans that is complimentary, we are not big buffet people so this is where we ate most lunches.  Everything was at minimum average and at best, delicious!  There is also a Margaritaville onboard (for a charge) because of the fact they had so many choices for complimentary dining and literally didn’t have one bad meal, topped with the relaxed dress code, NCL wins this one.  I’m even going to give them 1.5 points since I am combining dinning and dress code.. it really was nice being able to go casual without any glaring eyes RCI 4 NCL 1.5
Kids Club - I should start with saying, my son has slight special needs being diagnosed ADHD with ODD (oppositional defiance disorder) basically, he does whatever he wants and doesn’t care about consequences.  He was borderline on the spectrum with Aspergers, but was just under the line.  I didn’t know at the time, but RCI is endorsed by the Austism Research Institute and even has sailings Autism of the Seas.  I was so nervous about dropping him off and having behavioral issues.  He had so much fun there!!  Everything was structured and organized, what he thrives from.  He wanted to be at the kids club any moment he could.  He was just as excited to try the NCL kids club.  NCL was much smaller, but I had expected that knowing Harmonys was the newest and best with a science, art and theater room.  2 out of the first 3 days we had behavioral issues.  Now, I know more than anyone that my son can be a handful, and he defiantly did wrong, I felt the staff on RCI was just better trained to accommodate “non mainstream” children like himself, and were able to see certain behavior be triggered and able to redirect prior to meltdowns.  We took 2 days off from the club then went back for short time periods and with a track phone.  He still had fun!  RCI 5 NCL 1.5
Ship Activities/Overall layout - Harmony was so easy to navigate, it didn’t matter it is the largest cruise ship in the world.  I never got lost once, things made sense.  The neighborhood concept is amazing and makes you feel comfortable and at home.  I enjoy having the promenade and almost a “central main location” the hub of the ship sort of speak.  I never had that feeling on NCL, it always felt like something was missing.  The Atrium was just not the same, I am not sure if I would feel the same on a RCI ship with an atrium instead of a promenade.  I may need to stick to Voyager Class or above!  The casino was in the middle of the main deck and we had to walk through with children to get to the main dining room and if it wasn’t for all the smoke I probably wouldn’t care.  There is no mid bank of elevators, only forward and aft.  You have to walk outside to get to ththe buffet... did I mention it was downporuing in Honduras??  I was warned ahead of time the pool was tiny, and it was.  There is only one main pool, and it’s adults only.  There is a glorified hot tub squeezed between the slides and the splash area that they called the “kids pool”.  Because it’s in th middle, there is no wherno for chairs.  Since I am one of the parents that watches their child, unless I wanted to go in I had to sit on the side.  They should have planned better and thought of parents.  The splash area looked good for small children, but did not interest my 8 year old.  We was luckily tall enough to do some sides this year which was a plus, although we only did them once.  Mini was gold was average for a ship, but the sports complex area was impressive overall.  The ropes course and plank over th edge was pretty sick, in addition to the bungee trampoline for anyone under 90lbs.  The sports complex is really the good thing I have to say about the ship RCI 6 NCL 1.5
Private Islands - I have only been to CocoCay, not Labadee but I need to make it happen.  I loved CocoCay, water was beautiful and it was so relaxing.  Loved everything was included like the ship.  Tendering is a downside although that is now changing!  I was so excited for Harvest Caye in Belize.  They just built it and it looked amazing.  As time went on I found out it wasn’t your typical private island and everything was run by locals not the ship, so nothing was included.  After some time I became ok with the idea that it wasn’t truly a private island, instead just another port stop.  There were some people on board who hadn’t done their research and were not pleased which is understandable.  It is also why you do a little research first.  The island landscaping and water was beyond beautiful.  I felt like we were on a pacific island.  We had the last villa on the beach so it was nice and private and service was amazing.  I defiantly enjoyed my day there more than CocaCay but I think the villa had something to do with that.. I will totally be looking into one for the 2019 GC.  Since to me it’s not truly a “Private Island” I’m giving NCL .5 points, making the total RCI 6 NCL 2
As you can see by the scores, it wasn’t all bad.  I found the ship not as family friendly as Royal Caribbean, and if you are traveling without children you may have a very different experience, and until the last day I was thinking I would maybe sail them again, just as an adults only cruise, until...
I was looking over my bill the last sea day and noticed a $300 charge from the Tempanyaki night.  My sons birthday was one night on board and 9 of us went to dinner there.  6 of us had the specialty dinning package and I was paying for the other 3.. I promise you it’s not $100 per person.  I went to guest services to correct and she insisted we used all the nights and that’s why we were charged.  After arguing for 20 mins and a few phone calls, she finally figured out that they not only charged me for all 9 but thwas dining was applied that night.  Now, to issue the refund she had to get the manager of that restaurant to do it, she couldn’t.  We waited abou 15 mins and he argued with us and didn’t even understand the receipt from HIS restaurant.  It clearly said “9 @ $29.95” then the service charge the and the total (around $310).  He was an asshat (can I say that on here?) and said I was “wrong” and he needed a calculator.  Needless to say I got my refund.  Did I mention I am an accountant?
The last night of the cruise we went to get our pictures.  My mother and I split a 30 print package for $250 prior to sailing.  There was a special onboard for that price plus a USB of all the images.  We asked a girl if ours had that and she said yes.  We went to order our prints and another asshat (I can say that, right?) said it was $20 extra.  He called the girl over and proceeded to argue with her, she was insisting it did and he did not.  She ended up apologizing saying she was mistaken and it doesn’t come with ours since we bought ahead of time.  So basically they penalize you for buying ahead even though the falsely advertised you were saving money booking ahead.  More importantly the horrible customer service from Jovan in the photo studio who not only argued with me but also very rudely with a coworker right in front of us.  Over a $20 USB after spending $250 on pictures!!!  I walked out of there with my free USB and someone who will only be sailing RCI from now on!!  Did I mention my son and grandmother who shared a room both left with rashes?  They decided to check for any infestation on disembarkation day
I feel like I may have rambled there at points and also probably forgot to touch on something so if you have any questions please feel free to ask! 

I found that we had many that were drinkable under the $12... and some that were definitely worth just the $1.  The vintages bartenders were amazing at figuring out what we liked and steering is in the right direction.   Jane

As others have noted, $13 for Oasis / Quantum ships, $12 everywhere else. Premium wines that go over the limit, you just pay the difference.
In the MDR I saw only a few wines that went over the limit. Among the reds, it was the Marchesi de'Frescobaldi Chianti that I had most nights ($17); the Ravenswood Old Vine Zinfandel ($13, would be fully covered on Quantum / Oasis as long as the price held there),;and one crazy high-priced red I just couldn't muster the courage to spend the money on. Whites I didn't pay as close attention to, but I think there also it was mostly within the covered limit and just 3 or 4 that went over.
Vintages is where it was almost impossible to find something appealing that would be fully covered; most of the wines I saw listed that were at or below $12 were ones I'd tried on land and really didn't like, or varietals that I just don't care for (Cabernet, Merlot, Pinot Noir). I'm a robust red drinker, and all of the good chianti, sangiovese, and syrah on offer were anywhere between $4 over and no-way-in-hell-am-I-spending-that-much-on-a-glass territory. But I'd expect a venue that focuses on really good wine to be pricier, and those wines that were in the $4 to $7 over range were all really good and worth the extra few bucks, IMO.

Hi everyone.  Here is my review of the Allure of the Seas April 22, 2018 sailing. 
We flew in and out of Orlando to visit friends and then drove back and forth to Fort Lauderdale.   Flights to Orlando were cheaper also.   We stayed north of Fort Lauderdale in Embassy Suites – Deerfield Beach the night before.   Staying in town might have been easier, but the resort was very nice.  We just weren’t there long enough to really enjoy it.  We traveled with another couple, old friends from our old home town.  We met at the port when arriving for Embarkation Day. 
·       Coconuts Restaurant in Ft. Lauderdale for lunch on the day before
o   Good – had the popular appetizer Scoobies (crab claws) which were good.  
o   Expensive lunch including the $10 valet.  We did order more than needed, the meals were larger than expected. 
o   It felt like a kick off to the trip because of the location.  I could have gone for a cheaper option and been happy.  Traffic in this area was a bit heavy when we were there. 
·       Rental Car
o   Budget Cruise Port Rental car location changed and I didn’t get informed of the change.  It was a confusing series of calls before I talked to a live person that could tell me the new location address.  The person that helped me was from Avis that shares the location.   Budget does not have much ability to link to a live customer service agent.  This would have worked fine if I had been informed of the change prior to arriving.   As it was I was delayed at least an hour circling the area and placing useless calls.  
·       Check in
o   Lines for Diamond and Emerald used for lesser categories which would have made me mad if I wasn’t a lowly Gold member.  They were also lined up about equal to our lines.
o   Smooth but later than I had planned to check in due to the rental car situation.  It would have been much easier if earlier.  My group waited for me to arrive so we were all delayed.  
o   The first-time cruiser line was faster than our Gold status line. 
·       First impressions – Embarkation Day
o   Royal Promenade
§  Wow this is a big space and it’s easy to forget you are on a ship.
o   Park Café – OK but crowded although we arrived later than I wanted.
§  I should have tried another buffet (Wipeout?) or a specialty restaurant.
§  Made the experience more stressful than needed
§  Chairs were very close together, worse when most people had some kind of luggage.
§  Kummelweck sandwiches were OK but not worth the hype.   I’ve had a real one somewhat recently in northern NY for the first time, so I’m not an expert but I knew what to expect.   I took two and combined them into one sandwich to increase the meat to bread ratio.  Some of the beef was not trimmed well and was very fatty.
§  We only picked up to go items after this experience.  But to be fair it was much calmer later.  Never did any breakfast food here. 
o   Bar in Central park- Slow, couldn’t scan paper seapass cards during the embarkation time.  
§  Appeared the scanners were not turned on in any location.  Park Café had the same problem.  This caused unnecessary line ups.  I walked away a couple of times because I was waiting so long.    I was concerned that the long wait at bars would continue, but after the scanners worked I had no trouble at bars.
·       Boardwalk        
o   Really a fun unique area.  But very dependent on what is open.  There are times it is really dead and doesn’t have non-stop carnival atmosphere like I expected.   Almost every space is an extra cost venue.  Donuts were dry and no one in our party liked them.  The candy shop was really more limited than I expected.  The hot dogs were good but this space wasn’t open much.  And it tends to impede traffic flow because it’s not clear where to line up and kind of in a choke point.  This location could really use some fries, I sure missed them.  The carousel was not open very often but frankly seemed underused anyway.  We rode it once without any music playing which I thought was odd.  Later I saw it operating and heard some music playing.  It was never lined up when I saw it operating.
·       Activiities - Sports deck
o   Zip line – I rode this 3 times on the first day.  Once suited up you might as well do it multiple times.   It was actually a little more thrilling than I expected.   Make sure you understand what the ride operator is doing.  My last ride I did not have the main attachment clipped before the ride operator asked me to ‘sit in the harness’.   So, he had to attach this out of the normal sequence after I said something is not right.  If I had been released I would have had to support my weight with the hand grips.  The secondary line was attached but it is very slack.  The hand grips are a little fat and frankly not that easy to grip, at least in my opinion. That was my last ride. 
o   Flow Rider – I didn’t do well and tried this once.  For me it was a constant spray of water in the face.  I didn’t flip immediately off the back, I spent most of my time forward at the bottom.  I will probably try this on a future cruise but didn’t feel the need to conqueror it on this trip.  I was looking for a chill out on this trip.
o   Putt-Putt Golf – This was fun but there weren’t enough adult golf clubs.    We had to share which wasn’t a big deal.  There was a big group ahead of us and so they had used a lot of the clubs.  Still a fun time and not crowded.
o   Arcade – I prepaid for this for the $20 amount and received a letter in my stateroom about setting my card at a specific arcade between 5-10pm.   I was busy and thought I would catch up later.   Apparently, this meeting time is to make sure the appropriate card is credited.  Like for a child that doesn’t have charging ability.   I later tried to go into the Boardwalk arcade to complete my registration.  I couldn’t do it on my own.  Tried to call from there and the phone was broken.  Went to Customer service.  They said it will work the following day.  Cut to the next day and my party of 4 go to the arcade to play some skee ball.  Card didn’t work, phone was missing this time.   I asked customer service to remove the charge, I was tired of messing with it and it wasn’t worth more running back and forth to me.  It took a couple more calls to get the credit reflected.   This was an unneeded aggravation so I probably won’t bother next time.  I thought it would just work right away.  Maybe that could be an option when purchasing it in advance.   That is what I was expecting. 
o   Captain’s talk - Really funny captain.  I enjoyed this more than expected.  Lots of concerns about the life boats but the original question of how people are seated on the boats was never answered.   Someone asking about employee wages (wages to tip ratio) was pretty sharply rebuked which was a little uncomfortable.   But the other discussion items were both interesting and funny at time. 
·       Dinner – Grande
o   We didn’t do any specialty restaurants, except Guacamole in Sabor.
o   Waiter was good but it took me a while to calibrate to his accent.
o   Asst Waiter was a nice fellow but seemed to get overwhelmed
o   Head Waiter was more attentive than any I have had before.
o   One night the staff was struggling
§  The next night I saw a Sabor staffer (black shirt and tan shorts) helping out during a busy night.  They could have used him the previous night when they were struggling.  I suspect they asked for reinforcements after that night when they were in the weeds.
o   I noticed one family coming in at least ½ hour after the assigned time almost every night when they were in the MDR.   No complaints or comments from the staff.   
o   We enjoyed the MDR and had early seating.  We never felt rushed at all.   I was a little concerned about that with early dining.  But I wouldn’t do it any other way.  I don’t think I would like MTD.  It just seems like more things to schedule and keep track of.   I like that at the start of the day we all knew what time we were getting together.  My wife and I missed one dinner when we returned too late from Falmouth.   So it was dinner in the Windjammer which was fine. 
o   Food was hit and miss, typical of other sailings I’ve had.   Sometimes it looked good and didn’t taste great.  Other times it was the reverse.  You had to taste some things because they sometimes actually better than the appearance.  Weird.  But generally, it was good.
o   We asked our waiter for curry dishes which he brought most nights.   I got that tip from Matt.  This was a nice bonus and I really enjoyed the variety. 
·       Food
o   All the food seemed luke-warm.   Rarely was anything hot unless it was cooked to order.
o   I was prepared for the worst so Sorrento’s wasn’t a huge disappointment.   But I don’t know how freshly made pizza can taste so much like mid-grade frozen pizza.  We did eat it in the evening when at the lounges but only for the lack of any other hot food availability.   The ‘pizza burger’ appeared to be a regular pizza with an additional crust put on top.   That just felt like a way to push the bread even more.     
o   There should be some kind of casual to go food offering that is more substantial in the evening.   Even if it was ala carte beyond the current offerings.   Near the other bars so isn’t a trek to find.  I went on Mariner of the Seas just before they added a service charge to Johnny Rockets and it was open later (I think it was until 11 or 12).  That was fun and I confess I was there most nights. 
o   Promenade Café was convenient for evening snacks but I have the same complaint about the bread to filling ratio.   Most sandwiches were not very good.   I did like the flavor of the Muffuletta but again very skimpy with the filling.
o   We sat in the Solarium much of the time during sea days.  Having the café (buffet) so close by was a huge plus.  We carried items out and back to our chairs which was really nice for a quick bite.  I had a chicken breast that was so much better than my expectation for a buffet item.   Limited menu but so convenient and quick. 
       Breakfast in MDR
o   We did Breakfast in MDR 4 times and of these only 1 was really relaxing.  The other 3 were way too slow with things arriving at the wrong times.   My wife was not pleased with this experience.   Normally I really like the relaxing pace but this didn’t have the same feel. 
·       Breakfast in Johnny Rockets
o   OK but not great.  As I recall the pancakes were premade and not what I expected. 
·       Room service – We did this once after the Cozumel port visit.   Very good quality for burgers and chicken strips.   Quick service. 
·       Entertainment
o   Mama Mia – Cute but kind of a silly story.  Music, dancing and singing ability were top notch.  I’ve seen the movie and enjoyed this much more.   I thought the music was recorded but at the end they showed the band.   I was really impressed at the level of musicians and singers. 
o   Jazz on 4 – specifically a show with the Mama Mia conductor and some of the actors singing individually.  Excellent.  I was sleepy this evening and considered turning in earlier but was glad I didn’t. 
o   Ocean Aria Aqua Show – Excellent show. Get there early and get a seat that’s not under an awning.   From way in back you won’t see the high divers. 
o   Blue Planet – Good.  A little weird but entertaining enough with a good mix of music dancing and acrobatics.
o   Headliner - Las Vegas Tenors – We all enjoyed this group.   I met a man from Australia that didn’t like it and we kidded each other a bit about our tastes.  He indicated he was not familiar with many of the songs, which was surprising. 
o   Game Ice show.  Great demonstration of talent but like some shows on cruise ships a little silly.  Overall very enjoyable. 
o   Dazzles – The band named Centerpiece performed here off and on in the evening.  Excellent band especially the lead guitarist.  I wanted to hear them more. 
o   Pub – Guitar player.  Friendly guy.  Not a great voice.   A customer sang with him one time and he was better.  The customer sang in English which was not his native language.  Kind of funny.  I love this space.   I would have liked to see some variety in the talent.   Staff was very attentive. 
o   Schooner Bar – Piano player.  Not my favorite.  Seemed a little at odds with the patrons at times.  ‘I’m not going to play that now’.    Talented but relied on his computer accompaniment too much I thought.  He had a list of songs and that was it.  I tired of him quickly.  I would rather hear a rougher piano only song than just a limited menu.  I like the live experience for interaction and improvisation.  I don’t want a jukebox.  He was good but in the three times I saw him I heard Piano Man each time.   Don’t blame that on the patrons, he said something to the effect that it’s expected so he’s going to do it now.  
o   Comic show – I saw two shows in the Comedy Live and the family friendly one in the theatre.  Kivi Rogers was better IMO.  I’m not a potty humor fan at all, not a prude, it just seems too easy.  A lot of both shows goes there.  Even the family show goes in this direction more than I would like.   Some families would not be pleased with the content in the family show.   
·       Royal App – This was down more than it was up.  
o   It would have been really nice if it worked.   I went to Customer service and they had IT reset my account after trying very hard to help me on the spot.  It was almost funny watching them struggle like I did.  After IT reset my app it updated.  It worked for awhile but they stopped again.   It doesn’t stop cold, it just doesn’t display any schedule detail, just venue locations.
·       Labadee, Haiti port – Stayed on the ship
o   First time I’ve ever stayed on the ship at a port stop.  It was so relaxing.   The only thing to mention is that there are less towel stations and bars open.  When you see something you need, grab what you want and then go to your favorite location. 
·       Falmouth, Jamaica port – Hilton Rose Hall resort (non Royal excursion)
o   The bus ride over was well organized and the bus driver talked on the way like a mini tour.  
o   We did have a fellow passenger that seemed a little self-entitled.  She asked for a stop to get a Red Stripe beer.  We had just walked through the port area with bars and we were driving about 20 minutes to an all-inclusive resort.  The bus driver accommodated her and stopped at a local bar.  I don’t really know but it seemed like we took a convoluted route out of town to get there.  The bar stop only took a couple of minutes, but there were some disgusted fellow passengers that couldn’t believe this one passenger was delaying everyone else’s arrival.  Lots of puzzled looks to each other around the bus behind this couple in the front seat.  People – remember you are not the only one that has value.  If you want special treatment, hire a cab to take you. 
o   Nice place.  Very well kept.  The lawn was perfect and looked like a putting green. 
o   Food was OK but not great.   The food on the ship was probably a little better.  The jerk shack was a nice touch and that definitely had some flavor.   Ordering was a little like the soup cook episode of the Seinfeld show.  I went with a week-long guest we met on site so I know I was doing it correctly but it wasn’t all smiles like the rest of the resort.   This visit kind of convinced me I wouldn’t like a week at an all inclusive as much as a cruise.   Very similar experiences, cheaper liquor in the drinks at the Hilton than the ship, I expect the entertainment is not nearly as good.   I think more than about 4 days would be boring. 
·       Cozumel, Mexico – Turquoise Beach Bar
o   I wanted to try little bar this after reading a review.   It was accurately described but I had a different idea about what it was.  It was a little more rustic than I expected. And I had the impression it was going to be off the beaten path away from the heavier traffic area.  It had a good view of the ships.   We were the only ones there for awhile so we had good service.  They do serve food but the food comes from the restaurant across the street.   I have a picture of the server coming back across the street with our food which was kind of funny to watch.  A little like Frogger video game.   No chicken dishes were available.   My wife only ate guacamole.  She has a little more confidence in chain locations and wasn’t too happy with my selection. 
o   This bar had two levels and its open air.  Downstairs we went to the restrooms and down there were a pot belled pig and a dog.   We originally thought the kitchen was downstairs, so it’s probably good this wasn’t the case. 
·       Casino
o   Smoky and a little crowded in some areas of the room.  I only played out a free $5 offered mid-way thought the cruise.  Cashed out at a whopping $7 but that was more than my cruise mates that finished with nothing. 
o   I didn’t sign up for a group slot pull.  I’ve done these before and enjoyed them but so many other things to do instead. 
·       Cabin – # 9607 Cabin was laid out well.  The view over the Central park area would have been perfectly positioned to hear the nightly entertainment if we had a balcony.  I would try to get a balcony above this location next time.  Our cabin steward was good and kept the room in good shape.  
·       Disembarkation
o   Tried to use Lyft for a ride to car rental area at the FLL airport.  My phone data service was terrible and it appeared others were having the same problem.  I set up a ride, hit enter and the signal crashed requiring me to try again.  The cars that were picking people up were not marked and that caused people to step out into the traffic lane and turn around. My brother in law does this on the side and he has stickers on his car so it can be identified easily.  Cost would have been somewhere between $8 -$10.    After some attempts my wife finally said let’s get a cab.   Good call.  The trip was $12 and we just jumped into a readily available cab.   Saving a few bucks wasn’t worth the aggravation we were having for such a short ride.     
·       Final thoughts
o   The ship doesn’t feel crowded except at certain times, like peak times in the Windjammer or leaving the ship in ports.  Elevators were sometimes a wait, like before or after shows but not a big problem.  But the photo setups in the Royal Promenade were overdone.  They seemed to be everywhere and blocked a lot of traffic and most were nearly begging people to participate.  These could be cut by half and still not be crowded.  The exception was the one on the actual staircase which then blocked that staircase for use which was really awkward when trying to get between these floors.  Special events in the Royal Promenade also made things crowded but pulling the photo set ups away could have helped this too.
o   I continued to have confusion about front and back of the ship which surprised me   I usually get oriented in a few days.  I wished there was some art work in the cabin halls to help get your bearings.  There are some ship diagrams but these don’t really serve as ‘mile markers’ because they all look the same.  We put a post-it note on the door to avoid cruising past our door by mistake which happened once. 
o   I loved the ship.  So much live entertainment in the evening.   Easy to get meals near where you are located.  But it is so big and doesn’t feel as connected to the water.  It’s easy to forget you’re on a ship.   I wasn’t even sure about how to access the mid-level outside deck at first.   We are going to go with a first time ever cruiser on the next trip, so I suggested a Voyager class to provide more of a ship feel.  
o   Almost all the staff was excellent and really friendly with rare exceptions.   Even those that weren’t excellent were very good.   Exceeded my expectations many times. 
o   I didn’t do the Meet and Mingle as I had planned.   Too many other things to do.  
o   Dry erase wipe boards are probably not a favorite item of the room stewards.  I noticed that black marker smudges transferred to the door from the erasing residue.  I suspect they clean up easily but would add an extra task to their work. 
o   We traveled with another couple and the gent wasn’t thrilled about the idea of a cruise.  They had cruised before so they had some idea of what to expect but on much smaller ships and other brands (Carnival and Big Red Boat – remember those).  First time on RCCL though. (I did get the $25 OBC for a referral).  He said it definitely exceeded his expectations.    
After we returned I needed to get another trip lined up.   I did talk to the next cruise office but I was surprised that I could probably do a more tailored search to meet my needs on my own.   They can find specific trips but I was expecting to sit down tell the person all my priorities and be presented several options.   But they are limited in the factors that can be entered.   There isn’t much advantage to using their service. As I recall for a refundable trip the bonus offered on board was $25 OBC.  When I returned I booked a Nov 2019 trip refundable fee trip on Adventure of the Seas with a special incentive from BJs Warehouse that got me a great price and flexibility. 

Those are the ones I have!! ?

Maybe Paint Shop Guy had too many Loving Cups.  
 

Maybe off topic - sidebar, but, we take magnets to post schedule, maps, compass info and notes on our walls.  Functional versus for decoration.  

This is why I never log in when I'm first scanning for cruises.  Only when one catches my eye will I log in and check with program discounts.

An approach I've done for multiple cruises was to rent a tux.  Saves some luggage space too...