kelsey.smiles

We arrived at this port for Allure around 11:15/11:30am - had a little bit of car traffic right where you drop off bags, but almost zero waiting in line inside the terminal itself. From when we entered the terminal to when we walked on the ship was a total of 15 minutes. Just remember to keep anything you need for the afternoon in your carry-on (swim suit/sunscreen if you plan to hit the pool) as you can't enter your cabin until 1pm and it could be later until you get your checked bags.

Also if you go at this time, I recommend grabbing lunch first thing to beat the crowds, places open for lunch that day include: Windjammer, Sorrento's, Boardwalk Dog House, Park Cafe, Solarium Bistro, and Cafe Promenade

We are looking into a RCI cruise for next year. We have been on 4 cruises but all with Carnival and all on their older, smaller ships. I'm just curious about the big ships on Royal Caribbean. Are they very crowded? Is there a lot of standing in line to ride the flow rider or climb the rock walls? They look like so much fun but I don't want to be in line for my whole cruise. Any answers or feedback is appreciated! Thanks in advance!

 

 

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My first cruise was on an older, smaller Carnival ship - Fascination - and my second was on a RC mega ship - Allure. Even though the Carnival cruise had something like 3000 less people, it felt much more crowded! On sea days I could not find a single lounger if I didn't get out before 9am, often waited 30 minutes for dinner and some things, such as the single tiny pool, were so crowded that I didn't even try. On Allure, we always found plenty of loungers available in the solarium no matter the time of day, never waited more than 15 minutes for dinner (and we were given complimentary champagne that night for our "long wait"), and overall felt a lot less crowded throughout the ship. It also took us over an hour to get through Carnival security while with Allure we were on the ship within 15 minutes of handing our bags to the porters.

I chickened out on flow rider, so I can't comment on that line, but I waited approximately 5 minutes for the rock wall and 0 minutes for the zip line. There are a couple places you will notice the crowd - in the Windjammer buffet at peak meal times (but there are many other free less crowded options), and at the shows if you don't have a reservation (make reservations in advance and this is no problem!).

My experience on Allure left me never wanting to cruise Carnival again. Go for the mega ship! You will have tons of fun!

I'm finding that when I get the "Sorry" error message that simply refreshing the page takes me where I want to go. Doesn't always work, but it's better than starting over every time.