Allure of the Seas-Sept. 30, 2012 My Experience

come on...MORE PLEASE!!!!....where are you on FD?...i am retired FD up here in New England...thanks for the review...

Here is how early departure day started for me:

Allure of the Seas arriving!!!

5:15am comes very early.......:eek:

So as you can see I dragged myself out of bed early to watch the Allure arrive. Breakfast is still 2 hours away, why oh why am I up?:rolleyes: so I watch the ship arrive and then it's off to find some coffee and wait for breakfast. With today being a big day I wanted to have plenty of energy. A good breakfast was enjoyed and then it was off to the room to finish packing and prepare to check out of the hotel.

Great review so far :)

I spent many an hour reading reviews to be prepared for what to expect during checkout as this hotel is very popular with cruiser's. Checkout turned out to be easy as the hotel was mostly booked with people attending a martial arts tournament. There of course were some cruiser's but not so many this day.

Shuttles ae available from the hotel to take you to the cruise terminal, arrangements can be made at the front desk. I did not use the hotel shuttle as they wait until full to depart. I like being on my own schedule so I was going to take a taxi. As I walked out the door with my friend a taxi pulled right up, dropped off a load of passengers and loaded us right up and off we went to the terminal. Taxi fare $9 and it was a 10 minute ride. As we ride through the port here is the first view of the ship:

Getting closer....

come on...MORE PLEASE!!!!....where are you on FD?...i am retired FD up here in New England...thanks for the review...

I'm a Federal Firefighter. I work for the Navy Regional Fire Dept. in the Norfolk, Va. area. I hope you continue to enjoy the review. :)

Great review so far :)

Thanks!! :D

I'm sure many of you have read many reviews about or seen on TV the terminal that the Allure uses and I can tell you it is very fast and efficient.

The taxi dropped us off in front of the terminal at around 10:45am. The area in front of the terminal is a very controlled chaos. Passengers departing the previous cruise and porters handling the new passengers for that days sailing. Things happen so quick outside I had no time to take pictures. Bags were tagged and taken by the porters. As I was upgraded to a JS less than 4 days before departure I could not print out new luggage tags. No worries though, the porter was very quick to hand tag my bag and take it off my hands.

There are multiple entrances to the terminal. There are entrances for guests staying in suites, those with VIP C&A status, and an entrance for all others. As I said things move wuick outside and once inside ther are warnings that photography is prohibited in the terminal around the security areas and you are not allowed to photograph any port workers are security personell. I think they mean it too as I saw a few scowls from security towards people attempting to take pictures.

So, from getting dropped off to being checked in took all of 15 minutes. Once check in was complete I headed upstairs to the waiting lounge area.

This is a very large area that is separated into areas for suite guests, VIP C&A status folks, folks with kids as there is a play area for them, and an area for all other passengers. I was in my assigned waiting area and while there spotted the first of quite a few of my CC Roll Call mates. The first 2 were Susan (Swakke) and Chris whom probably thought I was a crazy maniac :eek: calling their names and stumbling across the Suite guest waiting area. While standing and chatting with Susan and Chris another gentleman sitting nearby and witnessed my stumbling act asked if we were from the roll call to which the answer was yes. The gentleman was another of our roll call mates his name was Tony (AFSouth). We chatted some more and then proceeded to wait it out to board. I think things were just a little behind schedule as 11:30am came and went and we were still waiting to board. Next thing you know here come the folks that were doing back to back cruises. They were escorted from customs back to the boarding area to reboard. This is when I saw 2 more of my roll call mates, Al & Jan whom I had met previously on the Freedom of the Seas. I frantically wave at them and say hello......

Saturday Sept. 29, 2012: One day to go!

Saturday dawned a little cloudy with a scattered rain shower, it did not last long. As I ventured out to get my Starbucks fix (there is one 3 blocks from the hotel) the rain shower had passed so I did not get wet and I said hello to the passing joggers. A quick walk back to the hotel and the sun was starting to shine. As I headed to my rom I stopped to take a look towards the port and here is what I saw:

 

The Oasis was in port preparing for her turn around. :)

Next I headed down for some breakfast:

The breakfast dining area.

Here's a couple more of the Oasis:

 

After breakfast I passed time in my room preparing for the day's slate of college football games. One of the restaurants that is located right behind the hotel is Duffy's Sports Bar&Grill. this is the place to go to get your sports fix before going on your cruise. Duffy's is an excellent sports bar with good food and a wide selection of beverages. Most of the day was spent at Duffy's. After football it was back to the hotel for some pool time and then get ready to head out for the evening at Southport Raw Bar.

We have always stayed at the Embassy in Ft. Lauderdale. DH and I really enjoy it. However, I have never noticed a view of the port. How do I find it? What direction do I go? We will be on the Allure in July, arriving a day early. I have been on the Oasis, and would love to see her. Thanks.

We have always stayed at the Embassy in Ft. Lauderdale. DH and I really enjoy it. However, I have never noticed a view of the port. How do I find it? What direction do I go? We will be on the Allure in July, arriving a day early. I have been on the Oasis, and would love to see her. Thanks.

If you go to a high floor on the side of the hotel facing east you can see the port. If you also go to the 12th (top floor) of the hotel and go to the southeast corner of the building you will see a glass door that goes out onto a landing near the fire emergency exit stairwell. Go throught that door and you will be on an outside balcony area. Here is what you can see from there:

If you see this you are in the right place.

View of the Oasis from that area.

Once the B2B cruiser's had been reboarded it was time for the rest of us. At around 11:50am boarding started. The order was suite guests, VIP's, and then through the other C&A staus levels. I originally planned on going to the Park Cafe for the coveted roast beef sandwhiches but since I had a big breakfast I was not feeling that and did some freelancing.....

First off, the WOW fator really hit me as I entered the Promenade! I'm officially on the ship! Don't ask me why but the first place I went was:

Boardwalk and the Aqua Theater. Here I enjoyed my first of many Lava Flows :D. Next I spent awhile scouting the ship.

Random shots on the first day:

Boardwalk Balcony cabins.

Boardwalk.....

Central Park.

Flowrider sans rider's! :D

I continued to wander the ship until we could get to our cabins.

Stay tuned....:)

The Embassy Suites is probably the most popular place that Oasis class cruisers chose to do a pre cruise stay in. Those are some of the nicest pictures of the Embassy that I have ever seen posted.

Thanks Al. If I have learned anything from you it is to make sure I post good pictures...:D

Love your review and gorgeous pictures!!

 

 

Thanks for taking the time to share your experience. Can't wait to read more!!

 

Liz:)

Thanks for reading! I hope you continue to enjoy! :)

While walking the ship all I can think about is, Wow this is a big ship! So much to see, so much to do, and so many bars! Just don't try and see everything in one day because you will fail in doing so. This ship is IMHO laid out nicely. It never seemed crowded except right after the muster drill. The ship was extremely clean and the crew was very friendly. There is alot of technology on this ship if you are a techie type of person. Next up, it's time to find the cabin....:)

So, the cabins are ready at 1:00pm as advertised. Off I go to find my cabin. My cabin was a JS Deck 11 starboard (right side for you land lubbers :D) cabin 11632 on the aft hump. Upon locating and entering my cabin I found the bottle of champagne that I had pre-ordered, my Meet&Mingle invitation, and the days Cruise Compass. My cabin:

The view from my balcony.

My hallway. Long isn't it??:D

I can't wait to see the rest of your review. We will be on Allure this Sunday. We were also just upgraded to a JS from oceanview cabin. It will be our first JS I hope you will be posting pictures of your cabin. I am so excited.

Well, it's late. I have to work early in the AM and I think I have gotten off to a good start. Tune in tomorrow afternoon when I hope to be able to continue my report. G'night! :)

Awesome, great start.

What a nice way to start the day.

Now gotta get ready for work.

Sea ya!!!

Safe travels.

Sue and crew

Hi Harold

Enjoying your review for our bedtime reading.

Awesome pictures. You are doing a great job.:D

Sherie & George

What a fabulous review! Thanks so much for taking the time to share your cruise with us! :)

Good morning folks. I'm getting ready to start my shift at the firehouse. I'll be back with more of my review later today. Have a nice day! :)

This is a great review. We leave on the Allure November 4th and I can't wait. We are also from Southeast VA (Yorktown). Looking forward to seeing more!:):)

FANTASTIC!!! Thank you so much for sharing your cruise with us!!!

:D

Awesome review!

(We love that Embassy Suites, too!)