B2B Allure Of The Seas Pictorial Review - 31st March 2013 & 7th April 2013

[milpston]

Congrats on the wedding. Can't wait for the rest of the review.

 

Thank you very much :)

 

Looks like a lovely honeymoon trip already! Ill follow along as I start my Allure review tomorrow (4/14 Eastern) Great start and it's so sweet that you kept your schedule " secret " from the " girls" so you could surprise them!

 

I will definitely look up your review. We managed to keep it secret from Chloe but unfortunately I could never keep it quiet from Sally when I found something new to add. Sally just had to pretend she didnt know any of the plans as Chloe would have got it out of her eventually!

[cruzinlady1947]

Great review so far. Looking forward to following along. What a beautiful family and congratulations.

 

I don't know if I will ever cruise the Allure or Oasis, but if I do, at least I will have a pretty good idea of what to expect.

 

Thanks for taking the time to do this review. Greatly appreciated.

 

Gwen :)

[milpston]

Great review so far. Looking forward to following along. What a beautiful family and congratulations.

 

I don't know if I will ever cruise the Allure or Oasis, but if I do, at least I will have a pretty good idea of what to expect.

 

Thanks for taking the time to do this review. Greatly appreciated.

 

Gwen :)

 

Thank you very much. It's much appreciated.

With the amount of cruising you do please don't rule out the Oasis class completely. They really do offer something different for everybody.

[milpston]

Renaissance Ft Lauderdale Cruise Port Hotel

 

I had booked this hotel online mainly due to getting a reasonable rate and secondly due to it's proximity to the cruise port. I had monitored reviews online and there was nothing too negative to be said.

 

 

On checking in at the reception I found it to be spacious and clean and not too busy considering the Allure along with plenty of other ships were due to be in town.

 

 

 

 

On checking in at the desk they congratulated us on our marriage and wished Sally a happy Birthday for tomorrow. Yes, it was Sally's birthday on the day we would board the Allure.

 

I had contacted the hotel and requested a room which overlooked the cruise port and told them of our celebrations. I had difficulty in contacting the hotel by email due to them being a large chain and I actually mentioned this on our roll call. A very nice lady who goes by the name of Internetwhiz on here actually telephoned them for me and provided me an email address for a senior member of staff from the hotel lobby. This was a really nice gesture for which I was greatful and a couple of emails later it was all sorted. I was very pleased to be told that we had just such a room with 2 queen beds allocated for us.

[tarajean1962]

That's where we stay!:D Love the Bimini Boatyard! Great pics and Happy Birthday to Sally!:)

 

Tara

[milpston]

The first dinner of our honeymoon

A little tired but freshened up in the hotel room it was time to go and get some dinner. You will be surprised to here that during a little online research I had found a restaurant to eat at tonight. It is the Bimini Boatyard which is a seafood and grill restaurant. I knew it was fairly close by.

As we headed out I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was about a 60 second walk across the car park..... perfect :)

 

On arrival at about 18:45 it was fairly busy but there were lots of tables both inside and out overlooking the marina. We sat at the bar, ordered a drink and put ourselves on the wait list for a table outside.

Chloe ordered a virgin Pina Colada whilst Sally and I ordered 20oz Bahamian relaxers. They were $14.95 each and included the glass as a souvenir. I have no idea what happened to them as 23KG luggage allowance for over three weeks is not much to play with :rolleyes:

 

We were definitely on holiday now :D

[milpston]

That's where we stay!:D Love the Bimini Boatyard! Great pics and Happy Birthday to Sally!:)

 

Tara

 

You read my mind ;)

[milpston]

So there we were, finally emjoying on this long awaited holiday, holding the yawns back and basking in the early evening sunshine.

 

We got chatting to an older guy at the bar. He had a holiday home in the area. He was saying that the boats moored here were not nearly as impressive as some others that were in Fort Lauderdale at the time. He told us that Steven Spielberg and Johnny Depp both had boats around Fort Lauderdale at the moment. He was also very open that his family had successfully sued a tobacco company following the death of one of their parents. He was really interesting but at this point I felt the need to take a wander round part of the marina to have a smoke rather than sit there and do it.

 

Sally was in full on chatting mode so Chloe and I took a stroll.

 

 

Whilst pondering I decided that just about any one of these boats here would do me nicely. I came to the conclusion that a rubber dinghy was probably a more likely purchase for me than any of these or indeed Spielberg's $300m yacht!

 

Anyway, after being there for half hour of so we were called to a table. The time was now 19:30 and the eyes were getting a little heavy....

[milpston]

I really liked this restaurant and would recommend it to anyone staying locally pre or post cruise. It was moderately expensive but the food was really good.

 

For starters (appetizers) we just ordered 2 servings of jerk chicken wings. There was plenty for the three of us as the portions at this restaurant are pretty big. It's also probably a good time to mention that Sally very rarely has a huge appetite and Chloe even less so. In fact I would say that two average mice would probably eat nearly as much as these two on a daily basis. Luckily, I make up for it and there is very rarely any waste :p I forgot to take a picture of the wings (a fairly regular occurance) but they really were very nice and not spicy at all which surprised me for jerk chicken wings :confused: I'm not one for spicy food. In fact I really am a meat and potatoes man and about as unadventurous as you can get!!

 

Hence for main course I had the baby back ribs as did Chloe. You choose any two sides to go with your meal so I had the fries and mash just to stick to my normal diet :)

 

 

The ribs were really good and very moist. The only trouble with ribs is that whenever I eat them I get in a complete mess. I usually feel and look like I need a shower afterwards and this occasion was no different.

 

Sally had a burger with cheese and mushroom. When eating the wings for starter Sally had asked for BBQ sauce and was also brought ranch sauce. She loved it so asked for some more with her main course (or entree).

 

 

Those were sweet potato fries.

 

At 21:00 we skipped dessert and headed for bed. We had now been awake for 23 hours due to the time difference and were beat. Our plan was to stay up as late as possible to beat the jet lag and not be awake at 03:00 every morning. After a long day's travelling we had done as well as could be expected and were beat.

[milpston]

05:00 Boarding day :)

 

At last the day had arrived when we would be boarding the Allure. To make things better it was Sally's brithday. Sally woke me and I am embarrassed to admit it took a while for Chloe and I to wish her a happy birthday. I put it partly down to the jet lag and partly down to the fact that today was the day we were to board the Allure. Sally had also already opened her cards and presents prior to leaving the UK. That is except for me as I had said I would like to buy her a present whilst we were away. As usual Sally said she didn't want anything for her birthday and she meant it but I wasn't going to let that happen.

 

Almost immediately after waking we were stood at the hotel window and saw this

 

 

 

 

This was our first ever glimpse of the Allure in person. It was nice to see it arrive as it towered over the surrounding buildings. By this time we were wide awake and ready for the day ahead. The only trouble was it was still pitch black outside and really early so we didn't really know what to do with ourselves :confused:

[milpston]

We decided it was time to get the day started. So at 06:30 we set off down towards the beach for breakfast. It was still dark and a bit early so we thought we would take a walk down towards the beach rather than get a taxi. Within a few minutes we found ourself on the bridge over looking the cruise port.

 

 

I decided to take a couple of pictures as this was probably the only chance I would get to take a picture of the Allure from the outside after dark. From right to left above are: Ruby Princess, Allure of the seas, Carnival Freedom, Nieuw Amsterdam and Celebrity Silhouette.

 

 

Ahhhh.... there she was zoomed in a bit :)

 

Below is a picture of a roadsign that made us smile.... It's just not something we would see anywhere at home!

 

[tarajean1962]

I love your pictures! :D The ones in the dark of the ship are beautiful. I don't think any of mine have come that good! I am very much enjoying your report!!

 

Tara

[milpston]

I love your pictures! :D The ones in the dark of the ship are beautiful. I don't think any of mine have come that good! I am very much enjoying your report!!

 

Tara

 

Trust me... it's more by luck than judgement :)

 

Think it's just you and I here at the moment. Never mind I'll just plod along haha:D

[milpston]

I love your pictures! :D The ones in the dark of the ship are beautiful. I don't think any of mine have come that good! I am very much enjoying your report!!

 

Tara

 

By the time we made it down to the beach it was the start of what looked like a lovely day. Actually, if it was tipping it down with rain it still would have been a lovely day!

The beach in Ft Lauderdale is lovely

 

 

 

[milpston]

We were all hungry so we stopped at just about the first place we saw for breakfast.

 

I was clearly hungry as mine was gone quicker than my camera could flash...

 

 

The walk had obviously given Sally and Chloe an appetite too..

 

 

[milpston]

After breakfast we got a taxi back to the hotel... mainly to save the blistered feet!

 

Once back we strolled to the top of the bridge again to have another look at the cruise port in daylight.

 

 

 

The excitement was building as we stood on the bridge taking it all in. We made a final stop at Walgreens for essentials.... like highlighter pens for the cruise compass and sun burn cream for me.... I always need it!!

 

 

This one was right opposite the street from the hotel

[FloGaleRNTX]

Wonderful review!!! I'm here too! Just waiting for more!!

 

Barb

[milpston]

Wonderful review!!! I'm here too! Just waiting for more!!

 

Barb

 

Thank you. I'm glad to hear it and welcome :)

[milpston]

We decided as we arrived at the hotel to book the shuttle to the port. It was $6 per person. We could actually see the gates to the port just across the road from the hotel but I was aware that the Allure docks right at the other end. If there is more than two of you then a regular taxi works out cheaper but we decide to use the shuttle just for ease and convenience. It was booked for 11:15

 

We went up to the room to get all our stuff together. I also had to attach the luggage tags to the cases (laminated at home before we left). Royal Caribbean must have been hit hard by the recession to stop supplying luggage tags to everyone eh? ;)

 

 

We actually got down to the lobby earlier than planned and were able to get on the 11:00 shuttle.

 

I thought I was really clever on the shuttle to the port as I remembered from our time on the Allure that security at the port entrance wanted to see passports and set sail passes. For this reason I had all of ours in my hand ready to hand over. Typically, the shuttle driver showed his ID and none of us had to. My smugness faded away.....

 

On arrival at the entrance to the pier for the Allure it was carnage. It appeared that cars were everywhere and pointing in every possible direction. A few minutes of waiting and we were duly dropped outside the cruise terminal.

 

 

The only thing I would mention here is to make sure you give your baggage to the porters outside the terminal. If you don't then you could be stuck with it through boarding right up until your cabin is available!

 

I hate letting my luggage out of my sight. A decent tip was in order otherwise I always think your case might just not make it onto the ship :rolleyes:

[tarajean1962]

I can't wait to be at that cruise terminal again!!:D

 

Tara

[birdylady]

Congratulations on your marriage.

 

As we are scheduled to sail the Allure in just over a week (can't wait!), I am anxiously following for more postings. Keep them coming.

 

Thanx

Erika

[Nolsie]

Congratulations on your wedding, and for putting together this great review - you are doing a great job with it, and I am folllowing along.

 

The wife and I are heading over to the US in December for a B2B on Allure, so am looking out for any hints or tips that you may be able to share along the way.

 

Thanks for taking the time to do this.

 

 

Paul - fellow Brit :)

[petesweet]

Trust me... it's more by luck than judgement :)

 

Think it's just you and I here at the moment. Never mind I'll just plod along haha:D

Don't be modest. Hope you don't mind, but I now have a new background picture on my computer. Love it!:D

Kathy

[milpston]

I can't wait to be at that cruise terminal again!!:D

 

Tara

 

Me either..... I have no idea when I will be back there though :confused: You will have a great time!

 

Congratulations on your marriage.

 

As we are scheduled to sail the Allure in just over a week (can't wait!), I am anxiously following for more postings. Keep them coming.

 

Thanx

Erika

 

I'm sure you will have a fantastic time on the Allure. I'm not sure how far I will get by then though..... today was my first day back at work after a month off :eek:

[milpston]

Congratulations on your wedding, and for putting together this great review - you are doing a great job with it, and I am folllowing along.

 

The wife and I are heading over to the US in December for a B2B on Allure, so am looking out for any hints or tips that you may be able to share along the way.

 

Thanks for taking the time to do this.

 

 

Paul - fellow Brit :)

 

Thank you very much I will do my best. If only we could hop on the Allure without having to fly across the Atlantic first eh??

 

Don't be modest. Hope you don't mind, but I now have a new background picture on my computer. Love it!:D

 

Kathy

 

You are more than welcome to use it. I was just getting the feeling I was the only one here. I'm happier now :D haha