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Hi Ben and David, This is from Don and Marie in Orlando Fl. My husband and I just want you both to know how much we enjoy your company. He is 88 and I am 81. We stopped cruising because it has been too difficult at our age.We live an hour from Port Canaveral and 10 minutes from Disney World. We watch your videos every morning while we are having our coffee and just wanted to let you that you both are the best part of our day. Nobody does it better then you two. Thank you for sharing your cruises with us and know that you are bringing us much joy . God Bless you both ,Marie❤ Minutes

"I'm not eating anything the rest of the day.......Look a doughnut shop!!!!"........lol. great video fellas!!!

Only just discovered you two guys , i’m not interested in going on a cruise but you two are so entertaining , i could binge watch all night 😂

Hi Ben and David, as always your brutally honest reviews are what set you apart and its really appreciated how detailed your reviews are and the honesty you both put into them

You two live life to its fullest. Well done.

Hello, Gentlemen! We just got off cruises on two of Royal's "premium" cruise line, Celebrity -- and we can tell you that the food on both of those cruises was "perfectly adequate" at best. Quality of the food, it's preparation and presentation have all grossly suffered in recent months since cruising re-started. Boring menus, lots of pre-made crap (watery guacamole) and low-cost offerings (astounding cheeses on display, but only routine grocery-store types actually served. So it's not just the Allure, or Royal ... it's happening across all of their lines. I've always said when it comes to cruising, "If you can't get the FOOD right, nothing else really matters!"

My husband and I LOVE Royal Caribbean and are avid cruisers. We most recently returned from a cruise on Odyssey of the Seas, which was incredible. I am taking my 3 adult daughters and my mom on a cruise in November this year on Allure. After seeing this review, I am a bit apprehensive and second guessing the choice. However, I think I will just go ahead and give it a go and see what happens! We have cruised on some of the old RC ships such as Grandeur and LOVED it so I am keeping an open mind.

Thanks for another great and honest video! This particular episode touched me personally because I was involved on the setup process of Allure OTS in 2010 onboard (hard hat and all :)). She looks outdated and tired and in need of a dry dock. Royal has always amazed with their new ships, and they will do it again with ICON OTS, but, they should not forget the older sisters. Great video guys!!!

I stayed at the Hotel Xcaret Mexico. It’s their official and original resort and it was an amazing week. A perk of staying at their resort is you have access to all their adventure parks and other tours. They do have two other resorts. You guys should definitely consider it going and having a very fun adventure. They call it All Fun Inclusive so their shows, meals and drink are included. I went for a week and I didn’t even scratch the surface of everything there is to do. We did a tour to Chichén Itza which included a meal and it was $25 PP. Um….where else can you get that!

Hi Ben and David! We had the same issue all week on Wonder of the Seas back in October. Complete chaos in Windjammer and food/selection was not that great. We are loyal to royal and are disappointed to see you experienced the same. Hoping our next one is better. Love your videos!

I absolutely love Ben's food descriptions. I am LMAO. He's so descriptive in the funniest way ever.

Hubby and I sailed on the Oasis of the Seas at the end of October and we agree with your food review. Like you, we didn't eat at any specialty restaurants and found the quality of the food in the MDR wanting. The staff were wonderful, no complaints whatsoever about the service! The exception to the rule was our dinner at the Solarium Bistro - it was terrific (and quiet)! The menu is limited so you wouldn't want to book it every night, but I recommend a night or two for a tasty meal served as if 'fine dining'.

Hey guys, thanks for your videos on Allure of the Seas. I've been on quite a few cruises over the years and have learned to adjust(dumb down) my expectations these days. But as expensive as cruising is now, I do expect the food to be at least consistently good. I think this will be a hard pass, and I will keep looking. So enjoy watching you guys!

Wonderful review of Excaret Park! I've wondered about it and now I'm sold on it!! And the mlti-level room was wonderful as well!

My hubby and I are going on our first cruise in over 10 years in June. Watching your videos gives me cruise fever. June can't come soon enough!! I love your videos. Great content and lots of laughs. Keep up the good work!!! I'm a huge fan!!

I really agree with your review gents. My first ever cruise was on the Independence and everything was brilliant. Earlier this year I was on the Allure. Everything was superb...... except the food. It was good but nowhere near as good as the Independence. Really love your reviews.

I went on my first cruise with RC and it wasn’t what i expecting and i felt meh about it. I gave them another chance on symphony and i have ruled them out permanently. I went a celebrity cruise and it was a great cruise and i would use them again.

My daughter and I just got back from this exact cruise. It was our first cruise ever and we loved it. The group we were traveling with had gone on Carnival and some other cruise lines and said they would NEVER go back to them because of how great their experience was. The staff was amazing and our waiter at main dining knew our names the very first night and any time we say him outside of the dining he always greeted us by our names. Some guests were super rude, especially in the Windjammer dining area and our main dining waiter suggested other places like the solarium that offered a much quieter atmosphere. My daughter is 17 so we spent a lot of time in the adults only areas. We did so encounter some rude people when it came to the elevators, especially on the first day when it was a mad dash to get to the rooms once they were open. But the staff, the ship, and our excursion were absolutely amazing!

We loved the Allure, service was impeccable, food was great. Our ac worked great in fact my wife complained because I kept it too cold. We ate breakfast & lunch at the solarium which was never crowded and adults only. Dean serviced our cabin and was perfect, Adime and Jorge were our dining room servers, very friendly, service was impeccable.

We just got off of the radiance of the seas . A small ship and the food was very blah. By the last day I didn’t even want to eat break fast again.

Your tour of Xcaret park really brought back wonderful memories with me and my teenage children. We are from Canada so the 22° pool was nothing for us. Lol.

We went to Xcaret a few years ago when we went on holiday in Mexico. It's a shame you couldn't stay longer because in the evening they have an amazing show. We loved Mexico and would love to go again.

Great video review! Wow, I'm stunned that Allure hasn't been revamped yet! We were on her last eastbound Transatlantic in March of 2020. Covid had just ramped up, and Allure was SUPPOSED to go to Cadiz for re - fitting after we disembarked in Barcelona. That was almost 3 years ago! I swear, nothing has been the same since Covid. So disappointing to hear that Allure is showing her age, as she had become our favorite after 4 cruises aboard her. I hope Covid hasn't dealt a fatal blow to the cruise industry....

Thank you again guys for your honest opinions about each cruise!! These really help me in considering what my plan of action will be in the future! Great job!!

We’ve sailed on Allure a few years back! Overall, we really did have a very nice experience! Would definitely sail on it again but there are other RC ships we liked better! As always, never disappointed with your vlogs! Always honest, informative,interesting, and fun!! Thank you Ben and David!! You are the best!! 11-23-23

I appreciate your honesty when doing reviews. You always try to look at all the positives, but things have changed since Covid. 😢

Laughed hard when you pronounced “la cocina” as “La cochina” … which is loosely translated to “gross/dirty pig” 😂😂 that was great. Y’all are my favorite. I just cruised to Cozumel/playa del Carmen and we explored ruins and cenotes which were so amazing 🤩 i grew up in Tijuana and it was great seeing the opposite (tropical) side of Mexico 🇲🇽

You two definitely need to be salesmen! Even I’m now considering a cruise and I suffer from horrendous seasickness😂😂😂

Hi Ben and David. I totally agree with you about the decline of Windjammer. We have raved about how good it has been in the past. Sadly, we have literally just disembarked off Quantum of the Seas today and we were bitterly disappointed in Windjammer. Not a patch on past RCL Windjammer experiences. RCL bring back the old Windjammer guys!!!

We just got back from a 12 day on Ovation of the Seas. The lack of staff is very noticable. The staff are super lovely and amazing still but lack of events, lack of staff, lack of open venues, lack of space.....wasn't impressed. I also got Covid on board and once I was sent back to my room for seven days of isolation, I didn't hear from anyone apart from my room service waiter, felt very abandoned :(

We said the SAME thing coming off the Symphony in December 22. Cold food, not a fan of the new menu. Only half of the WJ was open and the food was terrible. Tasted like Golden Corral at 3:00 in the afternoon.

In the last month we had two cruises with Royal and were dissatisfied with both. The staff were brilliant and the entertainment was good but that was where it ended. Wonderland was spectacular, Jamie’s very ordinary and New Years Eve in Chops was zero out of ten, except for the brilliant service. The main dining room food was well below par and all the food in the buffet was cold. Teenagers ran riot, there were screaming toddlers disturbing meals with no attempts by parents to settle them down, unconcerned at the disruption they were causing. In July we sailed the East Coast of Australia and in September we had three weeks sailing the Med.( with a different cruise line), these had issues but we still had great trips, and we understand the staffing problems due to covid. Comparing the earlier cruises to Royal …..chalk and cheese.

I just love you both! Just honesty and humor!. Keep up with your reporting for us who are not going with you.

We were on 4 RC cruises in 2022. I agree with your scores entirely. The MDR and Windjammer have slipped. We attributed it to smaller crew. Problems were related to fewer people working. But through it all, crew is wonderful, ships great fun, shows fun, and smaller places to eat coming into their own. We really enjoyed Central Park Cafe. Food was better of Jewell than on Oasis class.

Great review as always fellows. You are spot on about the food. We were on Symphony back in September and food was hit or miss. We had to go to a few specialty restaurants for a decent meal.When we went to Chops the sides were delivered cold!

My wife and I both appreciate your honesty.

Just got off the Allure this morning. The food was not very good and it felt like they were pushing you to do specialty. We had My Time dining and within an hour of boarding all the dining times were booked for the entire week. We managed to get in at 9pm each night for dinner which is crazy. The head waiter kept saying “sorry but the cruise is fully booked.” Everyone should be able to be accommodated in the main dining room. I was ready to get off by day 3. The only thing that saved the cruise was the entertainment, but just like they said you have to book everything in advance.

I was very disappointed with the evening food in MDR on my recent transatlantic cruise on Anthem of the Seas. The specialty restaurants were very good though. It’s almost as if RC is downgrading the MDR dinners to push more sales at the specialty restaurants. That definitely left me with a less than positive consumer experience (and has caused me to consider a different cruise line for my next cruise).

Unfortunately, even at the specialty dining restaurants the menus have become boring and old. If you are an avid cruiser like I am, 8-10 a year on Royal Caribbean, the menus could use revamping fleet wide. Love you both, hope to run into you you both on a ship one day :)

Omg!! 😂 i love the donut part!! ❤❤❤

OMG the two of you crack me up every time I enjoy your videos so much. I don’t know how many times I’ve said exactly what you said that I’m not eating anything else today and before you know what I’m snacking.

Super excited, super quick, super easy, super expensive super super super!!! Your enthusiasm is infectious

Looks like you had such a good time - lovely! Sailed the Symphony in May and do agree that the MDR and buffet food was mostly okay to poor and they layout in the Windjammer always feels awkward and crowded. Have a wonderful holiday.

Thanks for your honesty. I think most cruising right now is hit or miss. So maybe cruises with a great value are the ones to try instead of the more expensive ones. Love you lads!

Always wonderful adventures as you never know where you land. Recovering from broken ribs.😊Enjoy hearing your puns Ben. Have a Merry Christmas. Cheers.!

Great job guys!!! Sorry your cruise on the Allure wasn't as perfect as the one we took. I like that Allure wasn't been revamped. I like each ship to be a somewhat different. We will try Johnny Rocket's for breakfast in January on the Wonder. 😀🚢

I remember that ferry to Playa Del Carmen. When the crew started passing out seasick bags, I knew it was going to be fun. I don't get sea sick but you could see some folks weren't doing so well.

Just got off the Oasis today. Probably the worst dinning experience on a cruise. Sailed 6 Royal this year including Oasis last December, and today I will say somthing is up. They are seriously short staffed and the food quality is lower( switching to a new menu soon) And since the crew constantly work without breaks in between guests, you can see its taking a toll on them.

We’ve always taken just the stairs on all our cruises, but the Allure almost did us in !

Ben cracks me up! He always says how full he is and then stops midsentence and sees something else to eat 😂😂

The aviary looks fantastic. I love parrots. The butterfly pavilion looked great as well. I agree the food on Royal has been hit or miss. Thanks for sharing, you covered alot.

Allure was my first Royal cruise. Really liked it but agree needs to be updated. We liked the food but did the unlimited speciality dinning package. I’m sure that helped

Thank Ben and David for all you do and showing us glimpses into your excursions on both your videos. It is absolutely beautiful and providing us with your honest reviews

There is actually a resort thats attached to Xcaret park called Occidental Grand at Destination, if your interested in actually staying in Mexico. You can walk right from the lobby into the park and you can buy weekly park passes so you can explore at your lesiure.

We just got off our second RCC, Anthem of the Seas. Our first was in July on Adventure of the Seas. We had the upgraded dining package both times. Overall we were very displeased with the inconsistency of the speciality dining. Example, quality of Chops on Adventure of Seas was significantly better then Anthem. The MDR was much better on Anthem vs Adventure. Truthfully my husband and I both seem to agree MDR, Buffett, and included food is probably just as good a speciality. With maybe one or two trips to a speciality dining I think just going with MDR is perfectly acceptable. I would also like to add that we were dismayed that cleaning was poor and almost non existent outside of our cabin. Many dirty common areas and littered tables, etc. people were skipping hand washing in buffet and it was allowed. Even though we were religious in hand washing and masking in any crowded areas. We both ended up ill and contracted Covid. Very upsetting. To put it into perspective I am a nurse who worked in Covid units at height of pandemic and continues to work with patients and I had never contracted Covid until now. Which says something about cleanliness and lax protocols. Cruising is enjoyable but everyone please be careful. 😘

I watch and support your channel because of your honest reviews, that is what I am looking for so I can make the best choices when I cruise

Love your reviews, gents. Had a great cruise on Independence this year, and sailing on allure in November. I hope the food has been improved. Keep up the great work. Very informative vids!

I’ve got my first Royal cruises next year - booked on both Symphony and Rhapsody of the Seas. I’ve actually been really unsure what to expect until recently - this video was so useful!

Very nice video. Great info. I really liked David's t-shirt at the beginning of the video. Thanks and take care.

Thanks for the honest review as always guys. My friends and I took a cruise on Allure a few years ago, pre COVID, and it was great. The food was even pretty decent. Too bad it’s gone down hill. Maybe we’ll have to look at Carnival…

Thanks for this terrific video. It's so very good. I am determined to go on that excursion in Cozumel!! I appreciate the totally honest reviews so much. I can't afford to travel very often so when I do I'm super careful about making a mistake. I can make better informed decisions by using good, honest videos.

Thank you for your honest review!

The problem lies with us the cruiser. We are enabling the drop in service and increased costs in that we continue to book cruises. By continuing to book we are telling RC “we are fine with the changes and accept them.” STOP booking and go elsewhere or do what we have started to and this to look at land travel options to coastal areas. If they see a drop in customer demand perhaps they will improve.

We would always do MDR especially on last evening, it’s usually the best night for food, thanks for another great video, happy cruising! 3 days to our Christmas/New Year cruise on Celebrity Equinox, excitement building 😁

Hey Ben and David. Was traveling so I’m late but here. We sailed the Allure 2018. Liked Johnny Rockets for breakfast but the burgers 🤢. Would like to see the Allure next to the Wonder and soon Icon. We were in Puerto Morales last week. I thought I would have to climb to jump into the Cenotes so didn’t go. I should have asked sooner. Found out on the last day so no time. Now seeing you guys, know I can do that. You guys walking by yourself with no guide. A butterfly 🦋 the size of your hand? Nice 2-story suite. Amazing shower. Agreed. Their shows are awesome. Aqua. Ice. Broadway etc. The food not consistent? A 5? Wow. Food and drinks make a difference. Appreciate your transparency. Thanks so much and see you next video.

We're doing our second ever cruise the first week of May, a 7-day on the Allure out of Galveston (we live 15 miles from Galveston so it's a local thing). Johnny Rockets for breakfast is now on our list. I'm hoping the rest of it gets fixed before then. I'm also going to look into the Xcaret tour. We have a problem because I'm in an electric wheelchair and so many of the excursions won't work for me. Our first cruise had nothing that we could go on because of the chair. Great review and thank you for the honesty.

I just started watching your channel and LOVE your reviews and especially your honesty. It is very refreshing so thank you!!

It seems like the pandemic did make a lot of people more rude and selfish. I noticed on my last cruise that a lot of people would push past a waiting group to get on an elevator or to the buffet line. It's very odd.

We had the same experience in Allure- overall disappointment- food was terrible but entertainment was great. It has made us question our loyalty to ROYAL. A big part of cruising (IMO) is the food and Royal is slipping quickly. Super unfortunate but glad to see others see it to. Thanks for the honest reviews!

If you've seen the new test daily MDR menu's Royal is considering changing to, that they're testing out on one of the Royal ships right now, I think your MDR experience is just the tip of the iceberg! Amazing the amount of things they've removed or pared down. No longer fruit or cheese plates, no combo seafood main courses like scallops, shrimp, and clam pasta dishes or combo seafood platters. Now it's a single fish, or just shrimp. Big downsizing of appetizers to mostly cheapo options. You can't get a shrimp cocktail every night anymore. Just offered once or twice per cruise. The charcuterie has been eliminated, etc. Desserts have also been dumbed down to cheapest options i.e. lots of cake. No cheesecake except maybe one night, no fruit or cheese plates, no creme brulee. Really pretty sad!

I have to agree on the food. I remember Royal being so good. I was on Odyssey in August and it was bad. Maybe 3 or 4 out of 10. I hope they improve

Ben your hair looked blue when you were in the blue River, it was a good look! I agree Allure needs a refresh and update. It was supposed to happen right about the time the pandemic hit. It never got its refresh and update. Royal is no different from the other cruise lines they all have raised prices and cut services, we may not like it but let’s face it everything has raised. We pay more for groceries and everything so of course the lines are also paying more for their items. Hopefully before too long Allure will get its refresh and prices will not increase anymore and no more services will be cut. For the price though (especially the price you paid) it is well worth it. If anyone takes the time to price a cruise like this on an Oasis class ship compared to what you pay for a resort vacation adding in food and entertainment and it’s loads cheaper. Still love RC to cruise.

I watch your videos over and over, just killing time until the next new one comes out. I somehow find you guys very calming and comforting. Other Vloggers tend to sensationalize everything. I like your style much better. They should take a lesson from you. You guys got so many followers by just being lovely.

Xcaret Park is lovely. I stayed at one of the Xcaret hotels (Xcaret Hotel Mexico) last May and had a blast visiting the different parks. We skipped Xel-ha because of reports of heavy seaweed at the time. If you ever stay in all-inclusive resorts, I easily recommend one of theirs so that you can enjoy the parks and the cultural experiences offered.

They absolutely are. Our cruise this last October on Harmony of the seas was not good. We were horribly disappointed.

I agree about the crew on Royal Caribbean ships. That can’t be said about Norwegian. Multiple times crew were disrespectful and one supervisor on the Bliss actually thought I placed dirty dusty socks under the bed????? Must have thought I was going to ask for a free cruise lol. Carnival next but I think Royal is where I will be loyal!

I've been on 2 RC cruises since September, one of which was on the Allure, as they have always been my favorite line for their price to quality ratio. Yes, they are definitely going downhill. Pay to play everything, limited times for food with any options, and the main dining room food is just bad now. The service of the staff has maintained its quality though, some of the friendliest people ever. I will be trying out Carnival, MSC, and NCL to see how they are fairing now.

We have found the buffet on the Oasis Class Ships to be poorly laid out. The food stations are too close together and they get crowded. I can't believe that they only had half of what is already a small space closed. Conversely, we just came off Anthem of the Seas--Quantum Class. We find their buffet well laid out and quite spacious with a good selection. And their food was good last week.

Just got home from Allure cruise. We enjoyed the food and the entertainment. We especially liked the no smoking casino addition.

I'm doing the RC Allure this next year and now I'm worried. My husband and I do mostly meat and no dessert. Thank you for all you do. Love your reviews! Much appreciated!

So happy that you guys went to Xcaret! I never see any vloggers visit this amazing resort. We went on an excursion there a few years back and we were blown away! Would love to see you two stay at their hotel and get your thoughts. It's a pricey vacation, so it would be great to hear your always honest review. Great video guys!

I will now be opting out of Royal Carribean. The food is important to me and I do not want to support all the up charge restaurants. Went on carnival earlier this year and the food was great.

Darlings! This video was full of adventure AND got a food hit, too! Have fun in Hollywood!

We’ve not long got off Navigator over Christmas from LA. Definitely a noticeable drop in standards on the Windjammer (buffet) and similar to this experience, half of it was closed in the evening. The main dining room was nothing special either. I suspect they want people to go to the speciality restaurants. We’re D+ and so have noticed the changes over the years and this is the worst the food has been. Crew, however, and entertainment are top notch.

We were on the Allure of the Sea the same time you was on it. I said hi to you out side Jonny Rockets. I had a wonderful cruise, no complaints. The staff was amazing. Are things a little different from Covid. Yes, but let’s keep in mind the cruise industry made NO money for two years. Then they come back at half the guests. Higher fuel cost, higher food cost, higher docking cost. So just put yourself in their place and quit bitching.

Hi guy's. Your HONEST review is why I watch. You tell it like it is! The good and not so good. The resort looked beautiful with so much to see. It's a shame for the price that lunch was not included. Thank you. 💖💖

We were on Ovation a few months ago and loved the food, even at the buffet and MDR. Lots of variety and the staff was very flexible, despite their working so much overtime. Sorry that wasn’t your experience! We’ll be very curious about the menu changes going forward…

I am so sad when I see the bags packed and sitting outside the doors. But, I try to chin up and plan for the next cruise. Meanwhile, laundry awaits and there's nothing like fresh smelling clothing, so there's that

Hi Ben and David! Thank you for all the content you give us!! My husband and I are loyal Carnival cruises, however, we have cruised with RC twice. The first time was wonderful! The second time, no so great. We had to find our room attendant, asked for our room to be cleaned in the evening (which didn’t happen - he cleaned our cabin in the morning) and the rest of the crew (except the wait staff in the Main dining room - WONDERFUL) seemed like they were NOT happy to be there. So disappointing!!!!! This disappointing cruise was taken on the Independence of the Seas. The great one was Oasis of the Seas.

The Solarium Bistro on deck 15 is really nice - basically it is a less-crowded version of the Windjammer.

I sailed my first RCI cruise in the spring on Independence of the Seas. The free food options were REALLY disappointing. The premium dining options were really good but I didn’t like how I had to pay $45/person to enjoy any decent food onboard. Decided to give RCI another chance and just got off their flagship Wonder of the Seas. Sad to say that the free option foods were just as disappointing. It was barely edible. The pay options again were much better but I still don’t like the idea of having to pay extra to have any decent food. The mushroom soup in the MDR was gross. The cream of broccoli soup has absolutely no texture. It’s like they took regular cream of broccoli soup and put it through a blender. All of the desserts were OK, nothing to write home about. We loved the ships, loved Coco Cay. But I’m going back to Carnival. Their Guy Fieri’s burgers is excellent and free! Their taco bar and free pizza is also better with more variety.

I lost it at "I'm like Rachel from Friends!" 😂😂

Thank you guys for fantastic information! You are my new favorites!

I LOVED Mamma Mia and I even recognize the performers from our stay as well. It was a Highlight of our sail

Thank you for your honest reviews..that’s why I subscribe..it seems that cut backs span across all hospitality areas ..however for value for money seemed good

I actually really love the Allure. I went on this ship a few months ago, and it’s probably my favorite ship. I saw all showings of Mamma Mia as well! I agree that the food can be improved, but I think the food is way better than some Norwegian ships I’ve been on. Thanks for sharing!

Some shrinkage issues in that cold pool? 😂. You guys are the best keep up the great work!

Not only does Ben match the decor of Johnny Rockets with his red shirt, David’s purple & white flowered shirt matches the background behind him as well.

Hi from British Columbia Ben and David ! Love your videos ❤