We are Diamond Plus Crown and Anchor Members. We have sailed with RCCL 26 times and Celebrity 2 times. We had sailed on the Oasis of the Seas in November on a holiday cruise and were greatly disappointed. Our main issue was the quality of the food on the Oasis and we had booked the Oasis because it WAS our favorite ship and had great food in the past. OK! That all being said we decided to take another Holiday Cruise and chose the Allure of the Seas. It was the right choice as everything was almost perfect! We had the opportunity to leave from Terminal A at Miami. Miami is not our favorite port but the new terminal A was impressive. There is a parking lot associated with Terminal A but I caution you, it cost us $154.00 to park for a week! Not sure if it was RCCL's parking lot or the Port of Miami's but it was more expensive than other parking lots in the Port. Going from our car we took an elevator to the Terminal. As we got off the elevator there was someone waiting near the door to take our luggage. The luggage showed up at our room BEFORE we did!! Really impressive. The check in procedure needs some streamlining but it seemed to work ok. We soon had our paperwork done and going on board. I might point out that we did not receive our sea pass/room key until we got to our room where they were in an envelope waiting for us. The room was the standard balcony sea view room.

We are not big on the Main Dining Room but decided to try it once. It was OK but the menu seemed to be old and one that we had seen over and over. The food was pretty good as was the service. Here is what blew us away...the food in the Windjammer had to be one of the best were have experienced on a cruise ship!!! I mean every meal we ate there it was just great. The selection was better than the MDR, the presentation was excellent. The crew was fantastic! Everyone had a smile on their face and asked us how we were doing, was everything ok or can I get something for you. This at every meal! There were meats at lunch and dinner. On a recent Oasis trip it was Ham at almost every meal! The desserts were super on the Allure. I just cannot say enough good about the food on this ship in the Windjammer. If you choose this trip please look for a crew member that dresses up like Michael Jackson, a Pirate or an Egyptian. He is fabulous and a great dancer! Great double for Michael Jackson, the kids (and we) loved him. Speaking of kids, yes there were plenty of them but they seemed very well behaved over the kids we saw on the Oasis!

Being a Christmas cruise, the ship was decorated for the holidays very nicely with Christmas music throughout. Crew members wore Christmas decorations and added to the festivities. Read more