Allure of the Sea's Question's

[trojansooner714]

My soon to be hubby and I are cruising on the Allure of the Seas June 18th, 2017.

Our first cruise EVER was on the Liberty of the Seas May 1st, 2016. We fell in love with cruising!

 

This next cruise will be a "honneymoonish" cruise along with celebrating my mother's birthday. We will be traveling with some friends and family.

We both thoroughly enjoyed the food in the MDR where we had the traditional dinging at 8pm.

We also ate one night at Chop's Grill where I was thoroughly impressed and he was not so much.

 

This upcoming cruise we chose the My Time Dining for everyone.

 

Now here come the questions...

 

1. I understand how MTD works but can I still make reservations ahead of time online for the times we would want to avoid the wait for a larger party?

 

2. Which specialty restaurant's would you suggest? We are thinking about the Brazilian Steakhouse or Giovanni's Table but open to other options. Since we are celebrating some special occasion's we would like something "kid free" and nice.

 

3. Now, we are over a year out from our cruise but I am a planner, how far out do you think or recommend I start making reservation's for dinner's and entertainment?

 

4. The MDR food on the Liberty of the Seas was wonderful but the reviews for the bigger ships have not been great. Now we consider ourselves "foodies" but do understand the logistics of the bigger ship's so tend not to be too picky...Should we pick a specialty dining package or is the food in the MDR good considering the circumstance?

 

Tank you in advance for any advice you can offer some still somewhat novice cruisers.

 

Also, any suggestions about the ship in general or excursions would be awesome!

 

We are going to St. Maarten, San Juan, and Labadee, Haiti.

 

Thanks,

Kim and Jeff

[WAAAYTOOO]

Welcome to our family, Kim and Jeff !  Addicted after just 1 cruise.  That's my kinda' cruzer !

 

1.  MTD is just that - ANY time you want to dine (during hours that the MDR is operating, of course).  That is precisely why MTD was created.  Feel free to make reservations for whatever time you want or don't !  You can just walk up to the "no reservations" MTD line and be seated without any reservations at all.  It's very easy and very flexible.

 

2.  Specialty dining is definitely a matter of personal preference.  I will caution you about the Samba Grill.  If you are a BIG meat eater, then that is the place for you !  Unless you like sampling a lot of different cuts of meat and different meat options (chicken, sausage, lamb etc.) then I would caution you not to allow them to fill you up on the cheap cuts early in the meal.   They save the good stuff 'til last !  I had never had meat that actually melted in my mouth (I always thought that was just a fantasy) but that picanha cut actually WILL melt in your mouth.  I'm NOT saying that the other meat isn't good....I'm just saying that if you don't feel you can eat it all, and you want to really enjoy the picanha, then I recommend that you pass up on some of the early cuts.  I'm not a huge meat eater so that's easy for me to say...and it's just my opinion.  Giovanni's Table is really excellent.  They serve "family style" so while they normally allow you to order only 1 entrée, they will bring LOTS of side dishes for everyone to try and there is soooo much food.  Again....go hungry !  I'm not a huge fan of Chops...but that's the whole "non-meat eater" thing.  Many people swear by their steaks.  For me, not so much.  The red velvet cake is not as good as it looks.  The Sabor restaurant on Allure isn't nearly as nice as the one on Liberty.  The food is still good...but the ambiance isn't the same.  I will say that Sabor is a damn sight better than Rita's Cantina was (which is where Sabor is now)...so that change was definitely a step in the right direction.

 

3.  I am also an over-planner....so I start making reservations as soon as they open them up !  That can be anywhere from 1 year to 60 days ahead of sailing.  You just have to keep checking to see if the reservations have opened up.  They will, eventually.  Food will usually open up before entertainment...but again, there's no rule about that.  Just the way it USUALLY works.  If you want to have MTD reservations during the busy hours (6 - 7:30 ??) then I would make those reservations as soon as possible.  Those times fill up first, followed by early seating times.  Late dining is usually easy to get.

 

4.  Opinions about MDR food range from wonderful to awful.  I am in the "wonderful" category.  I love the MDR food and never feel the need to pay for specialty restaurants.  Some menus are better than others but I have never failed to get something that I liked on any given night.  Do NOT pass up the Grand Marnier Souffle.  It is the best thing on the entire ship (along with the cream of mushroom soup).

 

You will not go hungry.  That's for sure !

[bcarney]

3. Now, we are over a year out from our cruise but I am a planner, how far out do you think or recommend I start making reservation's for dinner's and entertainment?

 

4. The MDR food on the Liberty of the Seas was wonderful but the reviews for the bigger ships have not been great. Now we consider ourselves "foodies" but do understand the logistics of the bigger ship's so tend not to be too picky...Should we pick a specialty dining package or is the food in the MDR good considering the circumstance?

 

If you enjoy planning, go for it, as soon as you can!  On our first cruise, our honeymoon, we didn't plan ANYTHING. But there wasn't a lot to plan food wise in those days, mostly excursions.  We waited till we got on the ship, and (foolishly) planned two excursions at each port, morning and afternoon.  After day 3 we were exhausted and we cancelled the rest.

 

Now a days we plan an excursion for most days, and then just "wing" the rest.  

 

Meal wise, we've done Chops twice, and Izumi.  For us, they weren't worth the upcharge, so we won't likely be doing that anymore. (We did Portofino's and loved it, it is no longer an option however). We'll do Sabor though, due to Matt's recommendation.  I hope they put one on Adventure during Oct/Nov refurb.

 

Our last two cruises the MDR food was noticeably better than some of the prior ones.  I really think RCL is putting some effort in that.  On our last cruise our tablemates we're long time Celebrity cruisers, and they thought the MDR food was fantastic in comparison to Celebrity.  So much so they booked another RC cruise onboard.

[Matt]

1. I understand how MTD works but can I still make reservations ahead of time online for the times we would want to avoid the wait for a larger party?

Yes you can (and should).  With larger parties in MTD, you absolutely should make reservations in advance. More helpful info on MTD: http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2015/06/04/what-you-need-know-about-royal-caribbeans-my-time-dining

 

 

2. Which specialty restaurant's would you suggest? We are thinking about the Brazilian Steakhouse or Giovanni's Table but open to other options. Since we are celebrating some special occasion's we would like something "kid free" and nice.

There are so many great specialty restaurants.  If you are gunning for kid-free, 150 Central Park is the place for you.

 

I also absolutely love Izumi (try the Hibachi), Sabor and Chops Grille.  Giovanni's Table is also really good.

 

 

3. Now, we are over a year out from our cruise but I am a planner, how far out do you think or recommend I start making reservation's for dinner's and entertainment?

In terms of dining, it is important to make reservations as soon as you know when you want to eat on special days like formal nights or holidays.  

 

For entertainment, book it as soon as you can as this tends to go much quicker.

 

 

4. The MDR food on the Liberty of the Seas was wonderful but the reviews for the bigger ships have not been great. Now we consider ourselves "foodies" but do understand the logistics of the bigger ship's so tend not to be too picky...Should we pick a specialty dining package or is the food in the MDR good considering the circumstance?

 

I love the food in the MDR.  When it comes to food, it is such a subjective issue.  What one person loves, someone else hates.  Doesn't really mean anything other than we all have different tastes.

 

Don't sweat the reviews.  Personally, I eat in MDR for a majority of my dinners and never regret it.  Specialty dining is fantastic on Oasis-class ships, so you can't go wrong but please don't skip the MDR based on what some other people have said (including me).