WeBCruisin

Andrew! Thanks so much for the live review and all the scopes.

The scopes have been especially valuable for my 11-year-old son. We are sailing on the Allure in June on the western route. While we are seasoned cruisers we have not cruised since our Alaska cruise in 2009. He was just a wee lad of 5 then and doesn't remember much about it. He is not a fan of the unknown so your periscopes have been a great tool to give him a first hand glimpse of life onboard the allure. He eagerly awaits your scopes and is now very excited for our cruise.

If you get a chance I'd love a scope tour of the diamond lounge and Coastal Kitchen!

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Hi, we're sailing on the Allure of the Seas - 12th floor - cabin 12320. How can I tell if its on the port side? When I was looking at the ship it doesn't look like it is. I love to watch the people getting back on the boat on sail away. I usually go to the top deck, but now I have a balcony. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Thanks,

We have Cabin 10320 booked (directly 2 floors below you!) on Allure!

When do you cruise? We are on the 6/19/16 sailing!

If you sail before us I"ll be looking for feedback on how you enjoyed the cabin!!

For those not doing periscope here's a few pics live now.

 

 

 

 

 

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BUSHWACKER!!!!

No better place to have one than St. Thomas!!!!!

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Sounds Awesome!! I am thrilled to follow along! Will be on the Allure in June - Western Voyage! Signed up to follow you on periscope!!

What's in a Moscow mule?

 

 

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Moscow Mule: Ginger Beer; Vodka, lime juice - traditionally served in a copper mug. Very refreshing!

Matt! I am sooo enjoying this review - and as someone previously shared - I had no desire to cruise Quantam level until I read your review!

PLEASE post a review of your 5/29 trip on the Allure!! I am sailing her June 19 - so your review will be the perfect thing to get me prepared for the Allure!!

BBC - it's our sail away tradition!

Also recommend -

Coco Loco (aka Labadoozie - when you're at Labadee)

Dark and Stormy

Moscow Mule - my current go to drink - VERY refreshing!!

I've heard great things about he Sweet & Spicy Margarita at Sabor's - cant wait to try in on the Allure in June!!

They listed several contraindications to the dolphin experience, but not pregnancy. I figured, if it's safe enough for a 5-year-old, its safe enough for a pregnant person?

The reason that many places will not allow pregnant women to participate in the dolphin encounter/swim is because Dolphins can sense pregnancies very early on through their sonar or echolation. The dolphins get very excited when they sense a pregnancy and this excited behavior has the potential to cause problems. Possibly by the dolphin becoming overly excited and potentially scaring or even injuring the mother to be or those around her - or present a huge distraction by focusing exclusively on the pregnant participant to the exclusion of others.

I think it's fascinating and amazing that the dolphins can detect pregnancy so easily through their echolations and that it would be amazing to experience that. However because of the behaviors that it can evoke many places to not allow pregnant guests to participate. So I would definitely check before hand. The restrictions may be different for the dolphin "encounter" vs. the dolphin "swim"

It sounds like you have done your homework re: the Zikka virus. Do what you feel best with. I did read that it is only in Brazil that the spike in birth defects is occurring. This has been linked back to a certain chemical that they were using to reduce the mosquito population in preparation of the 2016 summer olympics........ sounds like it may have backfired on them.

Sabor is open on embarkation day on the Allure - but maybe it's different on the Freedom.

Congratulations on your "stowaway"!! However pregnant women are not allowed to participate in the dolphin swim. I'm pretty sure it is any stage of pregnancy - but contact the tour provider (I'm assuming your swim is at Chankanaab) to be certain and to arrange a refund of necessary.

I started cruising with my Husbands family in 1994. We have taken approximately 8 cruises as a group. When we started out we were a party of 12 (8 adults 4 kids). We are cruising again on the Allure in June and over the years have grown into a party of 21 - ranging in age from 14 months to 82 years.

We have almost always cruised with Royal. Most cruises have been Caribbean - but have an Alaska and Mediterranean cruise thrown in for good measure. (We missed the Mediterranean cruise as we had a 3 month old at the time.....)

We have had had a variety of accommodations - from all interior rooms (1st cruise) to predominantly suites (current cruise) Some cruises the cabins were spread throughout the ship. This year all the cabins are in the immediate vicinity of each other - mainly because we planned way in advance and our TA booked our cabins the day the itineraries were released.

We love cruising as a family as it gives everyone so much flexibility. There is literally something for everyone to enjoy. We typically all go our separate way during the day and meet up each night for a family dinner in the main dining room. It's so nice to catch up on how everyone spent their day and it's also fun to bump into family on the ship during the day.

Is Sabor (or any of the other specialty restaurants) open for lunch on embarkation day? Would like to have options other than the windjammer, park café, or Sorrentos.

Yes, have done it several times using both the Cruiseline shuttle and private taxi.

Just make sure you arrive to FLL by at least Noon.

I'm sure this is probably posted somewhere in another thread buried in this board, but I haven't been able to find it.

 

I'll be arriving at FLL early Saturday morning and need to get over to Port Everglades. There will be a total of 4 adults plus 2 toddlers. Anybody have an idea of what the taxi fare would be. None of the taxi fare calculator sites allow me to edit the number of people so all I can see is the regular ~$17 fare. I'm assuming that it would be more for my party.

 

When I've checked some of the shared shuttle sites, they're quoting me around $70-80 which just seems ridiculous for a 10-15 minute ride.

 

Any suggestions?

Don't sweat the same day arrival. With the exception of our Alaska Cruise (out of Vancouver) we have always flown in the day of with no problems. Granted this has always been during the summer months (no nasty winter storms to worry about - though summer storms can create havoc as well) and to either Port of Miami or Port Everglades with no problems. We have always typically flown direct from Ohio.

Especially if you have a direct morning flight you should be fine - especially as FLL is so close to Port Everglades

Just want to ask you for advise, when you taking your kids ( toddler ),

did you bring any car seats with you ? or rent from the taxi ? I was told child under 5 years of age, must require a car seat. unless you're on big vehicle ( like cruise line shuttle ). thanks.

We always brought a car seat. Main reason is because we used it on the plane - as we always purchased a seat for our toddlers. Once we got to the ship we stored it in the closet and never used it again on the journey until we were headed home.

You may not 'share' your drink packages.

Soooo....... if my husband purchases a beverage on his drink card, decides he doesn't care for this particular beverage then I'm not allowed to drink said drink while he returns to a bar to purchase a drink he may like better......?

BBC!! Always the first drink I purchase on every cruise for Sail away!!

Have been diamond for a few years now. Never did get a pin. Never asked for one - no biggie - I wouldn't have worn it anyway. Did get some perks such as invited to brunch with some of the upper level staff and got invited to a tour of the bridge (but it may have also been because we were in a grand suite) Were able to get priority boarding. And of course the Diamond Lounge is always my favorite perk :-)

OH!! I soooo hope Ginger Beer is widely available!! Moscow Mules are my FAVORITE drink!!

BBC - a Sail-Away Ritual!!

Bushwacker

We typically cruise with a large family group and next summer will have 21 family members ranging in age from toddlers to senior citizens on the Allure. We always do Traditional Dining and it works out wonderfully - in fact we were in a slight panic when we thought it might be eliminated on the Allure. It is so convenient for everyone - set time - set location - nothing to plan in advance. We will have 3 tables for our group in June. It will allow us to mix up the seating each night so that all family members can mix and mingle. We have done this in the past and none of our wait staff have skipped a beat. If some of your party want to go "rogue" one night and book a specialty restaurant on their own that is totally acceptable as well.

As in June 2016? If so, you'll likely have to coordinate DD for you all...

Well, Royal dd announce that they would maintain some form of Classic Dining on each ship (thanks to the major push back re: DD) so we are fairly confident that it will still be an option next June. We actually debated for a while whether we should book Allure or Freedom simply because of dining options. Fingers crossed - coordinating DD for 21 people ranging from toddlers to Senior citizens would be a total buzz kill......UGH

Is this actually the case? I know that JS can eat there for dinner on Q class but for some reason thought that it was restricted to full Suites and Pinnacle on Oasis class. Certainly the deck plans indicate that, although the wording may be because those in a JS can't eat there at breakfast and lunch.

 

Really hope that we can eat dinner there when in a JS - we joined friends for lunch in Coastal kitchen on Anthem a few days ago and it was a wonderful experience.

I would LOVE if the JS could access CK! We are traveling with extended family next June - total of 21 we have 6 JS, 2 GS, and 1 OS booked for the crew. Dining arrangements are for traditional dining in the dining room - to allow all of us to eat together as a family (thinking about coordinating dining for 21 via dynamic dining puts me in panic mode!!)

Though we are all at least Diamond Status it's inconvenient that we won't all have access to the same lounges, perks etc. However having access to the CK would be a HUGE advantage. We are celebrating my in-laws 60th wedding anniversary and it would be nice to make arrangements to have at least one dinner together in the CK to have a bit of a more special dinner celebration for them.

Just checking in and bumping up for updates.

We will be sailing Allure in June 2016 so am anxious to see what updates will be made at dry dock. Question about Coastal Kitchen - we have booked a Junior Suite - which I know does not receive ALL the suite perks - but wondering if it would include Coastal Kitchen Access.

Also excited that Mama Mia will be coming to Allure!!

I for one am thrilled that Royal is giving cruisers the option of Classic Dining.

While I am not opposed to DD - there are instances where it does not meet the cruisers needs.

We are planning an extended family cruise for June 2016. There will be 21 of us ranging in age from 14 months to 81 years. We have cruised together as a family off and on for the past 20 years (almost all on Royal).

Cruising allows the luxury for each family to do their individual activities during the day and then be able to meet up as one large family in the dining room to catch up at the end of the day.

Can you imagine the confusion of making reservations for 21 people at a convenient time (remember we are trying to accommodate toddlers and diabetics who both need consistent dining times) and then communicating to everyone exactly which restaurant we will be dining in each night and at what time?

We were originally planning on cruising an Oasis class ship - but were seriously contemplating switching to the Freedom class to ensure we could still use Traditional Dining.

Therefore this recent announcement was very exciting for us - as it ensures that we will be able to continue the Traditional Dining (aka Classic Dining) regardless of which ship we choose.

I am not against DD - and if we were cruising as a couple or even our immediate family of 4 we would definitely be willing to try it.

Thrilled that Royal is offering their customers the best of both worlds!!