Eating and drinking our way through an Allure 7-night Cruise (A review)

[jays2rc]

We recently returned from the Allure of the Seas trip out of Galveston.  I might make a review just on the ship/cruise experience itself (short version: it's nice but really needs to be Amped Up), but I wanted to share some impressions from a dining and beverage experience, having bought both the Unlimited Dining and Deluxe Beverage packages.

Background: We've sailed as a couple and as a family on RC and MSC 7 times since 2017, with most cruises on Liberty and one on Independence.

Deluxe Beverage package thoughts: It's amusing that every time we book a cruise, we tell ourselves that the drink package is ridiculously expensive (even on sale) and that we don't need to commit that much money up front, and we won't drink that much anyway.  Then at the end of the cruise when I review our account to see we routinely drink coffee and two mimosas before 10 AM, it very quickly feels like a good deal.

While we prefer beer over hard liquor during the day, we enjoy wine in the evening, and it's difficult to find an array of premium selections $14 or under by the glass in most bars.  There is always a passable merlot, cab, and a malbec around the $12-$14 price point.  RCL charges $14 per mimosa, which feels almost criminally expensive when paying by the glass.  Vintages has many more options but quickly run into $20+ per glass.  I believe Oberon pinot noir is $16 though, which might be worth it to some to pay the $2 premium.

I also like being able to get two bottles of water whenever we needed.  My wife prefers ice water onboard (which is saying something since she's sensitive to smell and taste in water) due to the ship's filtration systems being excellent.  But asking for ice water usually results in receiving a bottle of water and maybe a glass of ice.  It seems a little wasteful.

Ultimate Dining Package: This package is a great deal as long as you know for sure you'll be eschewing MDR and Windjammer for your dinners and most lunches.  Breakeven for the package on sale is just 3 dinners; we ate at a Specialty restaurant 6 nights for dinner and 3 times for lunch.  We were familiar with the food so we knew what to expect (except for 51 Central Park), and overall it was a fantastic value.

Some random dining thoughts:

• Booking: I tried to be proactive and book through the Royal app as soon as we boarded the ship.  I noticed each booking on my calendar indicated a charge but assumed this would be zeroed out once the server closed the ticket.  Fortunately, my wife pointed out that those reservations would end up charging us and that we needed to find an RCL dining services desk.  This resulted in a 30-minute wait in line and 15 minutes of working with the RCL rep to get everything booked.  This should really be bookable in the app to save everyone involved a lot of headaches.
• Izumi Hibachi - As others have pointed out, the hibachi tables are in short supply and high demand.  We couldn't get a reservation before 9 PM for dinner nor any times for lunch.  Around Day 3 we ventured down there early for dinner to ask for just 30 minutes at the sushi bar (I was jonesing for the champagne lobster roll!).  The host said he couldn't seat us but to try back later.  We returned a couple of times (8 PM and later), finally just asking for a To Go order... and, nope!  They couldn't do that, either. 
• Izumi Sushi dinner - We managed to get a Sushi dinner reservation on Day 6, which at that moment I hadn't considered it was the second formal "Lobster" night in MDR.  More than any other meal, my son was looking forward to the lobster tails on Lobster night, so I called the Izumi host to ask if he could order lobster as a part of his dinner.  His response: "We don't allow food from other restaurants," like I had just asked Olive Garden if I could bring food in from Maggiano's.  It's all RCL!
  
  One other observation is the prix fixe menu now indicates each Large Plate selection from the rolls includes just 4 pieces.  When my wife and I took a cruise on Independence over New Year's, we received a full 8-piece roll for each Large Plate selection.  I admit 2 full rolls is quite a bit of food, but getting just 4 pieces seems like a cost cut move.
   
• MDR Lobster night: My son ate lightly at Izumi and we ventured over to MDR so he could "eat his weight in lobster."  My son's enthusiasm deflated, though, when he saw the menu: MAINE LOBSTER TAIL - Additional lobster tail available for $16.99.  As he said: "Oh no!  They patched the infinite lobster glitch!"  My wife and I ended up each ordering the lobster and giving him our tails.  I admit I don't read every post in this forum, but this was the first I heard that RCL started charging for additional lobster tails, so it's something to keep in mind.
• Overall - Outside of Chops at 6 PM or the hibachi tables, we never saw completely full seating in the specialty restaurants.  It's clear there is still a staffing/capacity issue that is artificially limiting not just reservations but food orders in general.  We were also disappointed at the lack of accommodation.  (First world problems, I know.)

Our favorite meal generally is Giovanni's.  They have the best filet and the pasta is incredible.

We're now working off the "cruise weight" but overall enjoyed our vacation.

 

 

[Ampurp85]

So just so you are aware, yes when you book through the app, they will mention a charge for the specialty dining. However, this has always been the case and they won't charge you if you have the UDP. I booked dining myself on the app before with the package and wasn't charged when I dined in. I will admit that in retrospect it is easier just to have someone do it when you first board. 

[Pooch]

Did you HAVE to order the Prix Fixe menu at Izumi?  I’ve made reservations for 4 of our party & was hoping they could order $35 worth off the menu.  Reservations are not part of a package.  

[Ampurp85]

4 hours ago, Pooch said:

Did you HAVE to order the Prix Fixe menu at Izumi?  I’ve made reservations for 4 of our party & was hoping they could order $35 worth off the menu.  Reservations are not part of a package.  

You don't have to do prefix; you can specify that you want to do a la carte. 

[Pooch]

Great cuz my son will eat his weight in sushi so I was hoping for 8 piece rolls!

[RoseofTX]

I am very curious about booking both the specialty dining beforehand and the UDP.  Not being able to book in advance is one of the things I didn't like with the packages (UDP or 3 day).  For our recent sailing on the Allure, we ended up booking the ones we wanted on sale and actually saved a little over buying them as a 3 day package and had a confirmed reservation right away.  For our upcoming trip on Harmony (when it replaces the Allure), we were considering the UDP but if we wait to book them when we get on board means having to possibly swap plans around if they are already booked up.  This seems like it will become morelikely if all of the package buyers learn this is an option and book them up in advance rather than waiting to get on the ship.  

[Ampurp85]

Also I want to advise to be careful of the prebook hack. What I mean is booking the UDP and then paying for a la carte reservations for specific times in hopes of getting them refunded. A coworker of mine recently did this and had to pay for one dinner as they require 24hrs notice for cancellations now. 

[jays2rc]

11 hours ago, Pooch said:

Great cuz my son will eat his weight in sushi so I was hoping for 8 piece rolls!

There are a few options here.  I ordered the Chef's Selection of Sashimi along with the Champagne Lobster roll.  It ended up being a good amount of food.  Either the Sushi (nigiri) or sashimi combos are hearty options.  He could also use both of his large orders to get the 8-piece roll he wants, and if someone at the table is fine with one "large plate" order (such as a hot bowl or some other larger option) they could order a 4-piece sushi roll on his behalf.  Or, I suppose, you could just ask the waiter to bring out a full roll and have them charge whatever extra it costs.

Also, I might be misremembering, but I thought the UDP allowed for $35 in a-la-carte ordering as well.  I might be wrong here, but it's worth looking into. 

 

[jays2rc]

I neglected to mention that we also booked the Sushi Making class on Day 3.  It's covered pretty well on this blog post except the food and experience differed slightly.

• Our class started at 10 AM, so we skipped breakfast before heading to Izumi.  The time feels really early for lunch; I think this is so they can finish the class and clean up before the lunch crowd rolls (ha!) in.
• It entails making two rolls (spicy tuna and shrimp tempura), 2 shrimp (ebi) nigiri, and what I think of as futomaki (hand roll).  It's a ton of food, especially at 11 AM when it's time to eat your creation.
• Unlike what the blog post mentioned, there was no galley tour.  (boo!)

The class was one of the highlights of the cruise.  Well worth the price despite the somewhat awkward scheduling.

ETA: The description of the class indicates that sake is also served.  Either because of the early time, or just general customer preference, they served champagne/mimosas to the adults instead.  I don't care for sake anyway, but thought this might be a good heads up to those looking forward to having sake at 10:30 AM. 

ETA2: I'm realizing now that this picture looks about 10% as appetizing as the meal actually was.  This was prior to cleaning up and adding eel sauce and spicy mayo to the rolls.

[MaryCS62]

8 hours ago, jays2rc said:

I neglected to mention that we also booked the Sushi Making class on Day 3.  It's covered pretty well on this blog post except the food and experience differed slightly.

• Our class started at 10 AM, so we skipped breakfast before heading to Izumi.  The time feels really early for lunch; I think this is so they can finish the class and clean up before the lunch crowd rolls (ha!) in.
• It entails making two rolls (spicy tuna and shrimp tempura), 2 shrimp (ebi) nigiri, and what I think of as futomaki (hand roll).  It's a ton of food, especially at 11 AM when it's time to eat your creation.
• Unlike what the blog post mentioned, there was no galley tour.  (boo!)

The class was one of the highlights of the cruise.  Well worth the price despite the somewhat awkward scheduling.

ETA: The description of the class indicates that sake is also served.  Either because of the early time, or just general customer preference, they served champagne/mimosas to the adults instead.  I don't care for sake anyway, but thought this might be a good heads up to those looking forward to having sake at 10:30 AM. 

ETA2: I'm realizing now that this picture looks about 10% as appetizing as the meal actually was.  This was prior to cleaning up and adding eel sauce and spicy mayo to the rolls.

Took the sushi class on Anthem a few years back - DH won't touch it - even when I had tempura shrimp to offer -- but older DD was with us, and while she couldn't do the class, she was more than happy to help me eat some of it.  Have it scheduled for my upcoming Oasis cruise with younger DD, and will have to remind her to just have coffee in the morning, and maybe a hard boiled egg or yogurt, to make sure we will finish it.  Really had a lot of fun with it 

[Pooch]

9 hours ago, jays2rc said:

There are a few options here.  I ordered the Chef's Selection of Sashimi along with the Champagne Lobster roll.  It ended up being a good amount of food.  Either the Sushi (nigiri) or sashimi combos are hearty options.  He could also use both of his large orders to get the 8-piece roll he wants, and if someone at the table is fine with one "large plate" order (such as a hot bowl or some other larger option) they could order a 4-piece sushi roll on his behalf.  Or, I suppose, you could just ask the waiter to bring out a full roll and have them charge whatever extra it costs.

Also, I might be misremembering, but I thought the UDP allowed for $35 in a-la-carte ordering as well.  I might be wrong here, but it's worth looking into. 

 

We do not have Izumi booked through a package.  It’s just a stand alone reservation.    

[Ampurp85]

Either as part of package or just booked you can choose prefix or a la carte for Izumi.

[Pooch]

And ala carte is a $35 credit?

[Ampurp85]

7 hours ago, Pooch said:

And ala carte is a $35 credit?

Yes.