Disembarking the Allure - Need Your Advice

My daughter and her family are disembarking the Allure on 7/1 and have an 8pm SW flight to BWI. They have a car rented from Alamo on Eller Drive right outside the port with the return to FLL. They want to be on the road to meet some friends no later than 11:00am.

What time do you suggest they start leaving the ship? Should they carry their own bags off? If not, what paperwork do they submit to RCCL to get off earlier? Does the Alamo shuttle run regularly or is a taxi a better idea? Is that Alamo p/u location a zoo and how long should they figure to get the car? Any other suggestions would be appreciated!

Karen

My daughter and her family are disembarking the Allure on 7/1 and have an 8pm SW flight to BWI. They have a car rented from Alamo on Eller Drive right outside the port with the return to FLL. They want to be on the road to meet some friends no later than 11:00am.

 

 

What time do you suggest they start leaving the ship? Should they carry their own bags off? If not, what paperwork do they submit to RCCL to get off earlier? Does the Alamo shuttle run regularly or is a taxi a better idea? Is that Alamo p/u location a zoo and how long should they figure to get the car? Any other suggestions would be appreciated!

 

 

Karen

No need to carry bags off if they want to be on the road by 11am. Just tell them to get luggage tags for no later than 10am (arrange with Guest Services) and they should have time to go through customs and get the car rented by 11am.

Thanks....I was more concerned that Alamo on Eller would take a really long time for p/u

No need to carry bags off if they want to be on the road by 11am. Just tell them to get luggage tags for no later than 10am (arrange with Guest Services) and they should have time to go through customs and get the car rented by 11am.

They want you off ASAP and probably everyone will be off the ship by then, unless it gets in late for emergency or whatever.

The ship will likely be clear of departing passengers by 10am, if not earlier. There is no need to do the "self-carry" of bags...that would mean getting off the ship around 7am....way to early!

They want you off ASAP and probably everyone will be off the ship by then, unless it gets in late for emergency or whatever.

I don't know if this will work, but this is a scan of a departure flyer from Allure last year:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/lenarw7kusyxw4y/AADkhKam8FzcTIyasKVTkOXLa?dl=0&preview=Allure+of+the+Seas_Departure+Info_Western_Day+6+last+night.pdf

At least back then, there were departure tags as late as 10:50am.

On the link provided above under step #4, customs and border protection, there is no longer a customs declaration form to fill out unless you are claiming $10,000 or more in any type of monitery funds.

Thanks....I was more concerned that Alamo on Eller would take a really long time for p/u

I think this is a valid concern. I haven't been to this Alamo location, every other rental car location I have used near a cruise port is a zoo. They are usually small locations that do not have the capacity to handle the rush of arriving and departing cruise passengers. I may be in the minority, but I don't see the advantage of hanging around the ship after arrival. They want you out of your cabin and off the ship. There really isn't much to do. I'm also not a fan of the shuttle bus pick-up at the ports. Just too many people trying to get on a small bus.

Carry your bags off the ship early and grab a taxi to the rental car location. Tip the taxi appropriately or perhaps pay the airport fare because it is such a short trip and the taxi needs to the back of the line. Or perhaps it's easier and quicker to pick-up the car at the airport. There won't be lines at the airport and the airport location may have a better selection of vehicles. Be sure to get a larger vehicle that allows you to store all of your luggage in the trunk so it won't be a target for thieves.

They may not be meeting their friends until 11, but they will have some time to explore the Fort Lauderdale beaches or something else of their choice. Whatever they choose to do it will be more fun than sitting on the ship.

I think this is a valid concern. I haven't been to this Alamo location, every other rental car location I have used near a cruise port is a zoo. They are usually small locations that do not have the capacity to handle the rush of arriving and departing cruise passengers. I may be in the minority, but I don't see the advantage of hanging around the ship after arrival. They want you out of your cabin and off the ship. There really isn't much to do. I'm also not a fan of the shuttle bus pick-up at the ports. Just too many people trying to get on a small bus.

 

 

 

Carry your bags off the ship early and grab a taxi to the rental car location. Tip the taxi appropriately or perhaps pay the airport fare because it is such a short trip and the taxi needs to the back of the line. Or perhaps it's easier and quicker to pick-up the car at the airport. There won't be lines at the airport and the airport location may have a better selection of vehicles. Be sure to get a larger vehicle that allows you to store all of your luggage in the trunk so it won't be a target for thieves.

 

 

 

They may not be meeting their friends until 11, but they will have some time to explore the Fort Lauderdale beaches or something else of their choice. Whatever they choose to do it will be more fun than sitting on the ship.

Thank you everyone.......am I correct that I can use luggage valet and then self disembark at any time I wish?

What makes sense is if we then help my daughter’s family carry their luggage off, share a taxi, drop them off at Alamo on Eller and we could continue on to FLL for our early flight.

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Thank you everyone.......am I correct that I can use luggage valet and then self disembark at any time I wish?

 

What makes sense is if we then help my daughter’s family carry their luggage off, share a taxi, drop them off at Alamo on Eller and we could continue on to FLL for our early flight.

 

 

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I'm not sure about your definition of an early flight. Luggage Valet has a time limit for flight times. I don't think you can use Luggage Valet at Fort Lauderdale if your flight is before 11:30 am. ('I'm sure that someone will chime in with the exact time).

I'm also a fan of the airport rental car pick-up. Just have everyone go to the airport and drop them off at the first terminal (I think that is Southwest) for access to the rental cars. No need to use the Eller location if you aren't using the Alamo shuttle

I think this is a valid concern. I haven't been to this Alamo location, every other rental car location I have used near a cruise port is a zoo. They are usually small locations that do not have the capacity to handle the rush of arriving and departing cruise passengers. I may be in the minority, but I don't see the advantage of hanging around the ship after arrival. They want you out of your cabin and off the ship. There really isn't much to do. I'm also not a fan of the shuttle bus pick-up at the ports. Just too many people trying to get on a small bus.

 

Carry your bags off the ship early and grab a taxi to the rental car location. Tip the taxi appropriately or perhaps pay the airport fare because it is such a short trip and the taxi needs to the back of the line. Or perhaps it's easier and quicker to pick-up the car at the airport. There won't be lines at the airport and the airport location may have a better selection of vehicles. Be sure to get a larger vehicle that allows you to store all of your luggage in the trunk so it won't be a target for thieves.

 

They may not be meeting their friends until 11, but they will have some time to explore the Fort Lauderdale beaches or something else of their choice. Whatever they choose to do it will be more fun than sitting on the ship.

I would try the airport also. I believe we used Avis this past April and had to wait about an hour for the cars to arrive.

Thanks

We have an 11:40 flight which meets the ok for LV

That’s early for us

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Thank you everyone.......am I correct that I can use luggage valet and then self disembark at any time I wish?

 

What makes sense is if we then help my daughter’s family carry their luggage off, share a taxi, drop them off at Alamo on Eller and we could continue on to FLL for our early flight.

 

 

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Would be easier and cheaper taxi if you all went to the airport and they picked up their car there. As others have pointed out the smaller local car rental agencies tend to get busy post-cruise and the airport can handle the load better. Of course airport does charge an extra fee for the rental. Cabs can be large enough that even if you get turned down for Luggage Valet all the luggage will fit.

If you rent from Alamo’s airport location, you can enter all your information in advance on their website. Then, once you arrive at the car rental building, you proceed directly to the cars. Have your driver’s license and credit card ready for the person at the gate. Alamo also has a complimentary shuttle from the port to the airport (same size as a large city bus). Southwest flights after 6 PM are not eligible for luggage valet.

Where can you find info on Luggage Valet?

Where can you find info on Luggage Valet?

You will get details in a letter they will send to your stateroom a few days into the cruise.

This thread has a scan of the Luggage Valet letter from Allure a year ago:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=52972312&posted=1#post52972312

We got off Allure on June 17th. We also rented a car from Alamo on Eller Drive. There is a pick up right outside the terminal with a man holding an Alamo sign. We quickly caught the shuttle and were at the car rental place in less than 10 minutes. We were the only ones at the car rental place so it went very quickly. We used the regular method of getting off the ship and were off by 9:30.

My daughter and her family are disembarking the Allure on 7/1 and have an 8pm SW flight to BWI. They have a car rented from Alamo on Eller Drive right outside the port with the return to FLL. They want to be on the road to meet some friends no later than 11:00am.

 

 

What time do you suggest they start leaving the ship? Should they carry their own bags off? If not, what paperwork do they submit to RCCL to get off earlier? Does the Alamo shuttle run regularly or is a taxi a better idea? Is that Alamo p/u location a zoo and how long should they figure to get the car? Any other suggestions would be appreciated!

 

 

Karen