livingis2me

No one can answer this for you. You're so close to sail date the available rooms are probably scattered and picked through.

You are probably right.:) However, when i did a mock reservation today I was surprised to see dozens and dozens available (and many close to one another) balcony rooms for a cruise only a week away.

Thanks,

Ron

I assume you are talking about your upcoming GA cruise? If so, your pretty much stuck the way it is because you would essentially have to cancel your cabin and rebook with the appropriate number of people and the additional cabin, which would cost you more than it's worth. Even if they were allow you to do it at just the additional cost, with the sailing a week away, most guarantee cabins may have been assigned with just a few scattered cabins left in different locations.

 

On our upcoming Epic cruise, my Mother booked 2 inside GTY and both cabins were assigned on the same day (somewhere 100 days out). Both cabins are on the same deck, literally around the corner, one is portside and the other starboard, back to back. In our case it worked out. But my brothers are teens so it wouldn't of been a real issue had they been in different sections. My BX cabin was assigned the same day as hers and I ended up on the 2 decks down (but that maybe because I had a balcony).

Thank you.

guarantee is just that a guarantee to be in that category you book and maybe higher. If booking this you first of all must be happy with any location on the ship.

 

If you want to be close together book specific cabins, you could realistically one canon could be deck one at the bow and one could be deck 12 to the stern.

I understand that. I've been cruising for a while now, just not on NCL... Disney and RCL for the most most will try to get you together. I'm just questioning those who've booked multiple GTY rooms for there travel party if they were placed close to one another. It wouldn't be the end of the world to us if we ended up separated. But if I had people's input who have done it and a majority of them got close together, it may sway my decision.

Thanks for your reply.

Ron

Any experience from those of you who have booked multiple room with a guarantee category? Do they try to put the rooms next to each other or close to one another?

I have my family of 5 booked in one of the 5 person OV rooms on the Getaway and I'm having 2nd thoughts about having us all in one room. We booked it with KSF, otherwise I'd have never considered only having one room. There are now guarantee categories that I can split my family up into 2 rooms for very little extra $... But I'd prefer to be close together.

Thanks,

Ron

What about people who are allergic to dogs? Or just plain don't like dog hair floating around and landing in their food.

This is beginning to become a real problem. I know a lady who has an "anxiety" service dog.:rolleyes: I know people are disabled, but c'mon...

Thanks for the replies. They are very helpful.

Ron

You can check out my review. I have week and a glance and dailies posted

Thanks for the link to your review. I'll check it out for sure.

What is UDP?

Ron

I'm booking the Getaway and I have a few questions that my searches did not bring up great info. Please help...:o

I see that formal attire is not needed. This is great news to me.:D Is it ok to wear shorts to dinner? Are any of the specialty dining venues more formal?

My kids love to eat pizza on cruises... Is there an actual free pizza stand or do you have to order it for $5 and have it delivered to you?

They also love to eat soft serve ice cream... Are there "free" soft serve ice cream machines on board?

Do you reserve and pay for specialty dining on-line before the cruise?

Pools... Saltwater or Freshwater?

Can you reserve shows on-line before the cruise?

Thanks in advance for your help. And I hope these questions aren't subjects that have been beaten to death...

Ron

What I can not understand is why some people are so passionate about others having passports...:confused: If you want one get one. If you want someone else to have one so badly, buy it for them...

Ron

Indeed! I did this in one of my Costa Maya visit. I left my DS who was 5 at the time. We hired a cab to visit the pyramid at Chachoben (sp). I realized it was really gutsy for us to take that trip because it was FAR from the pier. I was worried that we can get stuck in the middle of nowhere if our car broke down. We were very lucky that all went well, and we were able to get back on the ship with plenty of time to do a beach massage....DS had a ball while in camp so I didnt feel so guilty anymore :) I think lots of people take risks, unfortunately, we cant predict everything. I guess it is worth paying the excursiin through carnival if you plan on taking an excursion that is far away.

 

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Yep. I felt the same way when I went out and left my kids on board. We only went to shop for an hour at the straw market in Nassau with the ship in sight the entire time and I still felt nervous... But I'm just wondering what they do when the parents don't make it back onboard. Do they bring them to their rooms and have a sitter stay with them? That seems most logical. But what about when they get back to the home port. Do they hand the kids over to customs???:confused:

Ron

I've heard about a lot of these stories... But, I've always wondered, what happens when those who get left behind have their young kids in the kid's club???

Ron

Just wanted to give this trip report a little bump for those of you who may be interested.

Ron

Truly the most detailed, best written and personally relevant review I have ever read (I will be on Allure in just over 2 weeks with my 9 and 11 year old).

I see you went to Rita's festival. I looked at booking it on line and it said you had to be over 21 years old only only noted the price with alcohol. I also saw that kids are not allowed in specialty restaurants after 7 PM.

How were you able to dine at the restaurant with the kids?

Did you book before the cruise?

Thanks

Dan

Hmm... Yes we did book the fiesta prior to the cruise. When we booked on-line they had a no alcohol option for $10 per person. Maybe they've sold out of those for your date:confused:. You may want to call RCL and see if they can book it over the phone. The no kids after 7 did not apply at Rita's. At least not for the fiesta. I also noticed a family with what appeared to be under 12 kids waiting to be seated at Samba after 9 pm. So maybe the rule doesn't apply there either.

Enjoy your cruise!

Ron

Great review! Did I blink and miss the promised chair hog story?

The chair hog was the purse in Windjammer.:cool:

Ron

 

My SIL wants to join us on our upcoming cruise on the Allure. Her daughter is 11, just 2 months shy of her 12th birthday. My SIL wants to move her up to the next level (the 12-14 club) so that she can join my daughter, who's turning 13 in March. You mention that there is an "option to move up" in the kids/teen clubs. Does that apply to kids who are close to the next level? Are there any rules on this? Thanks in advance!

I'm not sure how close you have to be to go up to the next level. Brendan was less than one month away and he had the option. But again, they told him he'd have to try at least one session in his normal age group before they'd let him change. I don't know if this is always the case. I'd be willing to bet that she won't have a problem especially considering that your daughter is already in the teen club. I would expect them to have her try out a session in the kids club before they let her move on.:)

Ron

PS- Congrats on your first post and welcome to CC!

Just when I thought you'd never get around to finishing this thing...;)

It was the best cruise that we'd been on. We can't wait to do it again!!! Looks like our next time on the Allure will be 9-22-13. We just have to wait until tax return time to book it. At least we get to go on the Disney Fantasy next year. Hopefully that will hold us over until we can get back on the Allure.

Ron

ahem... Lets wrap it up Jen...;)

Ron

Ron,

 

Thanks for the detailed parking info. We'll definitely have to give it some thought now. That is a nice savings.

 

It is just dh and myself and we have sailed out of Port Everglades (but not at the new Oasis/Allure garage) and Port Canaveral many times. I guess we are in the minority but we never drop off luggage. We get there early, park in the garage and roll the luggage to the terminal where we hand it over and tip. Coming back we don't deal with porters, we roll the luggage directly to the car. Maybe this will be different cause the ship is so big?

 

Can't wait for the rest of the report - here and at the DIS! :D

Ron

Hi Ron,

 

This will be our 1st cruise on the Oasis/Allure. We are planning to park at the port garage. (I always save up for it - it's my splurge. When it is all over, I like to go directly to the car.) Why was parking at the port garage a hassle? :confused:

1. You don't have to deal with security at the entrance to the port. It's not the biggest deal, you just have to show your docs and identification. When your on the shuttle we were pretty much just waved through.

2. At the garage it can be a decent walk to and from the terminal especially if you have kids and luggage (even carry-ons) in tow. At park n' go you park your car and the shuttle drives right up to your car helps you unload the luggage from your car and loads it onto his shuttle for you. A few short minutes later you are at the terminal entrance. Much faster and easier than the walk from the garage to the terminal.

3. The time when we used the garage we drove up to the luggage drop off area. It was extremely hectic and not organized. We had a traffic cop rushing us and not being very nice. He was yelling at us to hurry and there wasn't a porter very willing to help. We wound up putting most if not all of the luggage into the rack ourselves and then the porter showed up when we were pretty much done to collect a tip.

4. Upon debarkation the porter will usually drop you and your luggage off at the curb while someone in your party goes to fetch the car from the garage. The one who goes to get the car will usually have to wait in line to get to their party waiting at the curb as everyone else is doing the same thing. With park n' go the porter will take you over to a less busy area and again the driver will load your luggage right on to the shuttle and within a matter of a few minutes drop you off at your car.

From our experience at Port Everglades it was so much easier to deal with park n' go than navigate the heavy traffic in the port and deal with the port parking garage on our own. We had quite a surprise our first time at Port Everglades. Started our embarkation day on a sour note for sure. Park n' go made for a much better experience. All in all it was much cheaper (*as long as you use the internet coupon) and we were back on the road much quicker with Park n' Go than doing it on our own. Plus no headaches!;)

Ron

Thanks Nenner and Ron for what is easily the most informative review I have ever read as it relates to me, my family and our upcoming trip on Allure in December.

I shared portions of the review with my wife who felt after hearing about your family, the way you do things and your expereinces that if you had just 2 kids that you would be our twin family.

I have just a few questions that you may be able to answer given your experiences.

1) What sort of activities were offered for the 9 to 11 year olds in AO. Do you know off hand if there were video game systems for this age to play with? My son has been reluctant in the past to play with new kids and video games for an hour a day might be my only way for a small break each day. The think the video arcade might break me financially.

2) I think you said your son was 11 close to 12. Did you consider allowing him to join the older age group? Was this even an option with RCCL?

3) What can you tell me about the kids menu and did you see if it was offered in the speciality restaurants?

4) You noted you parked off site for I think about $7 a day. How tough was it getting back to the lot at the end of the cruise and would you consider the lot somewhat secure.

Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed review and taking the time to answer people’s questions. I learned a lot from what you have to say and look forward to seeing everything first hand.

Dan

I'll try to handle some, if not all of these questions since Jen is on her way to work.

1. Activities- they both enjoyed a game called gaga ball. My son explains it as kind of like bowling where you roll a bouncy ball towards the other kids and their legs are the pins.(I didn't really get why they liked this so much, but they couldn't get enough of it.) Another game called crazy tag which was a hybrid tag/dodge ball type of game. Another dodge ball type of game called King of the Court.

They had several Wii game systems for those who didn't want to participate. Normally this would be my son, however the staff did such a good job engaging them making the activities exceptionally fun.

2. Brendan turned 12 just a few weeks after our cruise. They told him that he had to first try a session in the club and then they would give him the option to move up to the teen club. They were very clear with him that once he moved they couldn't move him back. We fully expected him to do it since he loved the young teens club on our last Disney cruise. But he really enjoyed the club so he didn't switch. I can tell you that he never regretted it.

3. Kids menus- Always the same. And no they didn't have them in the Specialty restaurants. It was grilled chicken breast, grilled minute steak, beef burger, turkey burger, grilled catch of the day (Ha!), chicken fingers, Spaghetti with tomato or meat sauce, mac and cheese and cheese or pep pizza. My girls mostly had spaghetti with meat sauce and enjoyed it. One night my youngest had chicken fingers and didn't seem to like them much. They both would either have fresh fruit or raw veggies each night for appetizers. They enjoyed them. The 3 y/o would eat ice cream pretty much every night and the older ones would eat desert off the main menu. Brendan ate dinner off the main menu every night, mostly steak. He had lobster on lobster night. He was happy with his choices.

4. Park n' Go seemed very secure. I noticed security cameras throughout the lot. The place was well staffed. Drivers were pleasant and very helpful with our luggage. They had a few shuttles so when one leaves another is there within a couple of minutes. Upon debarkation and once we got through customs we were on the shuttle is less than five minutes. Just tell your porter that you want the Park n' Go shuttle and they'll take you right to it. The driver that brings you to the port will tell you where they will be in case you do not use a porter. We were back to our van in less than 5 minutes. We did tip the drivers both ways. I don't recall seeing any sign asking for tips and the guys never requested one which I really appreciated.

We handed the guy at the exit booth our printed coupon and paid. We had a $5.99 a day rate, so it was less than $50 total. He gave us each a free bottle of water and we were on our way. I highly recommend Park n' Go. For us it was much less of a hassle and cheaper than parking in the port garage as we'd done in the past. Make sure you do a google search for park n' go discounted parking. I believe their coupon rate is $6.99 per day after 11-1-11. Still an awesome deal!

Hope this helps.:cool:

Ron

Thanks for the update. It was worth the wait! I can't wait to get to the Cupcake cupboard. Also, everyone looked very nice in their formal clothes.

 

Question; did you happen to notice the largest size of men's skate that had at the ice rink. DH would love to skate, but he wears a size 14! :eek:

I wear men's size 12 and they definitely had bigger sizes. I did not notice exactly how high they went, sorry.

Ron

I just wanted to drop in and say I actually found Ken Rush entertaining as a CD. Prior to the cruise I'd heard mostly bad things about him on CC. I was pleasantly surprised. I didn't like him as much as I liked Joff Eaton on the Indy, but compared to Brent on DCL (whom everyone on the Dis seems to love:confused:) he was a lot of fun!:)

Ron