Allure of the Seas

[punkybubbles]

:):) I am just a little bit excited. We (myself and daughter(7)) along with my parents have decided to do a B2B on Allure of the Seas next September.

 

Has anyone done this cruise? Is it best to fly into Miami or Orlando and what sort of price (approx) am I looking at for airfares.

 

We will be stopping off at Disneyland for 5 days on the way home - Dad has never been but the rest of us have.

 

I am hoping to book the majority of the trip myself. Any recommendations for accommodation at Fort Lauderdale pre cruise.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Keith1010]

Congratulations on this cruise.

 

Keith

[Aus Traveller]

On accommodation in Fort Lauderdale, we stayed at the Rodeway Inn and Suites because several people on CC had used it. I would NOT recommend it. :)

[KirkNC]

Congrats on your cruise, hope you have a great time!

[fishtaco]

Sister in law just did a B2B on Allure and loved it! Eastern Caribbean and Western Caribbean.

 

Disneyland is in California,you are best to do Disney World in Florida as its better:)

[punkybubbles]

Re WDW - I would love to do it this time but have it planned for 2016 and will spend 10-14 days there and do a Disney cruise at the same time.

 

I wish I had unlimited annual leave - then it wouldn't be a problem lol.

[fishtaco]

The new California World attached to Disneyland in Anaheim is pretty cool! it makes the Disneyland experience twice the adventure, I was there again last June and loved it even though we have no kids:):):)

[Kiwi_mum]

:):) I am just a little bit excited. We (myself and daughter(7)) along with my parents have decided to do a B2B on Allure of the Seas next September.

 

Has anyone done this cruise? Is it best to fly into Miami or Orlando and what sort of price (approx) am I looking at for airfares.

 

We will be stopping off at Disneyland for 5 days on the way home - Dad has never been but the rest of us have.

 

I am hoping to book the majority of the trip myself. Any recommendations for accommodation at Fort Lauderdale pre cruise.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

Hi

My husband and I are doing back to back cruises on the Allure this September. The first cruises on the 22nd of Sept and the second on the 29th of Sept. We have five weeks away in total - starting off with a week in Canada before the cruises, Orlando, Las Vegas and Los Angeles following the cruises.

 

Pre cruise we are staying at the Hilton Ft Lauderdale Marina for two nights, the night before the cruise we are doing the Jungle Queen River Cruise - a bbq dinner and show, there are a few from our cruise critic group joining us - should be a fantastic night.

 

I know how excited you must be looking forward to your cruises - ours are in another 89 days and I am super excited.

 

With best wishes,

:D

[Davenell]

We did the Western Caribbean on the allure last year. I recommend that if you are not going to Disneyworld that it is pointless going to Orlando. It is approx. a 4 hour drive from Orlando to Fort Lauderdale.

 

 

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[Davenell]

Also, Fort Lauderdale airport is much closer to the AOTS dock than Miami. Miami Airport is approx a $80 cab ride to FL Airport, but there is a train that connects the two.

 

 

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[punkybubbles]

Bumping this up.

 

We have finally booked :) It will be a girls trip as my father has decided it will be too long away from his business.

 

We have booked accommodation at Hyatt Pier 66 and will fly into Fort Lauderdale.

 

Kiwi Mum - how did your cruise go? Any tips?

[Miamia65]

punkybubbles

 

We cruised on the sister ship to Allure, Oasis B2B in December last year. The ships are the the same and the ports are the same. Awesome time - you will love it.

 

There is so much to do on these ships so make sure that you book the first week's entertainment in advance and then do it all again, or at least your favourites the second week.

 

What specific questions do you have?

 

We also stayed at Hilton FL Marina Hotel, great spot for watching the ships come into port and Hyatt66 is in a great location as well.

 

Didn't think much of Fort Lauderdale so don't expect to do a lot there. We hired a car and drove to Miami to check out South Beach, it was OK. Felt like the Gold Coast. 30 minute drive for FLL.

 

You should go to Disney World in Orlando it is so much bigger and better than Disneyland in California - 4 parks and 2 Universal parks, one with a Harry Potter World. If you a HP lover it's a must do.

 

I preferred the eastern ports but that's a personal preference. Mexico and Jamaica were way too hot for me and no moisture in the air.

 

Happy to answer any questions you have...

[SeaDays4Us]

My husband and I did the Eastern Caribbean on the Allure last September. We also stayed at the Hyatt Pier 66. We loved Fort Lauderdale. We really enjoyed this hotel - lovely pool area. We did the water taxi - all day hop on hop off. We did not have a car, so did the shuttle bus to Sawgrass Outlet shops. Picks you up at the hotel. There is a sun trolley $2 all day which we used to go to the beach and shopping centre. Catch it out front of the hotel. We took a shared taxi van to the dock on the Sunday. We also watched the Oasis sail out on Saturday and the Allure come in from our balcony. Awesome sight.

Enjoy your cruise.:)

[nenasmum]

Isn't the Allure in the Med next Sept?

[suncityga]

Isn't the Allure in the Med next Sept?

 

In September 2015.

 

Allure will start a 12 night eastbound transatlantic crossing on 19 April 2015 and return to Fort Lauderdale on 06 Nov 2015.

 

Oasis is in Europe in September 2014.

[punkybubbles]

Thanks SeaDays4Us - we plan to do the water taxi and the shopping outlet. We have the day when we get off the cruise as our flight doesn't fly back to LAX until early evening and will probably do a RCCL shore excursion or even use the luggage valet so we don't have luggage to haul around all day.

 

Just looking at shore excursions currently and seeing what is available and will book shows in the next week or two as they are available for booking now.

[SeaDays4Us]

Thanks SeaDays4Us - we plan to do the water taxi and the shopping outlet. We have the day when we get off the cruise as our flight doesn't fly back to LAX until early evening and will probably do a RCCL shore excursion or even use the luggage valet so we don't have luggage to haul around all day.

 

Just looking at shore excursions currently and seeing what is available and will book shows in the next week or two as they are available for booking now.

 

 

From memory they do have shore excursions which finish at the airport, I think they have an airboat ride on the everglades one. We have done this in the past and it's great. Get to see alligators in the wild and the one we went to had a alligator show. Will fill in a few hours.

 

 

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[punkybubbles]

The everglades tour is one I have bookmarked. It does look good.

[Miamia65]

punkybubbles

 

You should definitely use the luggage valet …. prior to going to the US I read on cc that if you use this service the airlines don't weigh your bags as you aren't there to pay the extra weight costs (as in you are not at the check-in counter because the ship delivers the luggage to the airline and they get taken out to the baggage handlers for X-ray screening and loading).

 

After we disembarked from the back to back cruises on Oasis and we had already been in Orlando (Disney and shopping) before the cruises, our bags definitely weighed more than the limit. We flew from Fort lauderdale to Washington at 9.30 pm at night on JetBlue and used the luggage valet - it was worth it at $20 per person. Everything arrived and no problems at all, although the TSA did open a couple of our bags for security purposes and they placed a slip inside them (just 2 out of 6 bags).

 

When we disembarked from Oasis, we caught a taxi to the airport and I hired a car from one of the car rental companies for around $50 for the day, it was a mid size car. We drove to Miami / South Beach which was only 30 minutes drive - make sure you get a GPS and a SUN Pass (toll pass). Also, don't let them charge you $58 for re-fuelling, there are plenty of service stations near the airport. They will try and tell you that you have to refuel within a 10km radius of the airport but nobody even wanted or checked the fuel docket - just a sales strategy to try to sell me the refuelling by them. It only cost me about $10 for all the driving we did anyway as fuel is cheaper in the USA.

 

We also visited Sawgrass Mills Outlet shops in Fort Lauderdale, which we massive, not as good as Premium Outlet shops but OK, similar to DFO here.

 

To be honest Fort Lauderdale and Miami / South BEach are very similar to the Gold Coast … but we live at the Gold Coast so it may interest you.!!!

 

Hope this helps….

[punkybubbles]

Thanks miamia65 - I am on the Gold Coast as well. Not too keen on hiring a car as my co-driver will be my mother with no sense of direction or navigating skills.

 

Will definitely look into the valet luggage as soon as we get on the ship.

[Miamia65]

punkybubbles, you will get a flyer about the luggage valet half way through the cruise. Are you still doing a B2B? If so, book the shows for both weeks .... so you can either see them twice or keep your options open for other things that pop up in the daily ship newsletter "Cruise Compass". The oasis class ships have a lot of things to do.

 

Also, try out the speciality restaurants, Chops Grille is our favourite but we also liked Johnny Rockets which costs $5 (cover charge) plus drinks. Johnny Rockets makes a peanut butter milkshake - try it, it tastes like Reese's peanut butter in a thick shake. I think it cost about $4.50 ... when you go to Johnny Rockets, as soon as you sit down they will deliver fries and deep fried onion rings to the table, then you order your burgers from the menu .... you can also get breakfast for free at JR's.

 

Make sure you go to the Captains cake making demonstration in the promenade, go 1/2 an hour early to get a good seat, it's really funny. We went both weeks and they made different cakes.

 

Also, your daughter might like the cake decorating in the Cupcake Cupboard, loved those cupcakes....

 

Have you started to think about shore excursions at each of the ports?