Allure 8/18/13 - Eastbound & Down: A Composition of Photos and Other Trip Details

[KGSB11]

Okay, so it has been about two weeks since we sadly disembarked the Allure from the August 18th, 2013 sailing. The suitcases are back in storage, that feeling you swear that you are still on the ship is gone, and the tan is beginning to fade; which only means that I am back at work and the pictures are in editing and notes are being reviewed.

 

I had been flip-flopping on whether or not to write a review for a while and decided that there is no better way to pass the time as I organize pictures and get information together for planning the next cruise than to write a review/trip report of the last cruise. So far I have the pictures through Day 1 completed and the text written up through Day 0. Though I will not post everything I have at once, I will try to stay at least one day ahead so there is a regular influx of postings (hopefully one to two days per day). My goal is to get through the review in about 5 days and I will do my best to make-up for unexpected schedule changes. I’ll start off here in this first post and provide some background as well as a general summary of what you can expect in the ensuing report.

 

NEWBIE ALERT: This is my first attempt at a review/trip report, so bear with me here and be patient. Your kindness, patronage, and above all, your pity are appreciated.

 

THE BACKGROUND & Day -504: My wife and I are in our late-20’s, her being the older one by a small margin; a point that I never miss an opportunity to remind her of as this is the last year she can say she is “in her twenties” ;). We both are professionals that work in the western suburbs of Chicago and live even further west in a rural oasis about 60 miles west of Chicago (the next town over from us is DeKalb which is not only the birthplace of barbed-wire, but home to NIU as well which many of you college sports fans may recall from last year’s BCS Orange Bowl appearance). DW and I have been married for 5 years and have one daughter who spent the week vacationing with the grandparents.

 

The idea for this cruise started when planning for a special vacation to celebrate our 5 year anniversary which we also celebrated this past August; and since our first cruise in 2010 (in which we first saw the Oasis of the Seas in Fort Lauderdale), we have been itching to go back ever since and knew we wanted to try “The Grand Daddy of Them All”. Planning started in March 2012 (2 months before our daughter would make her entrance into this world – I think I may have caught my wife in a weak moment) and we were booked with deposit paid on April 1, 2012 – a whopping 504 days before sailing :eek: (begin Day 1 of the Roll-Call here on CC).

 

WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOUR EXPECTING (a cruise review): My main goal for this review/trip-report is to provide an assortment of photos, trip-report, tips, decision logic, and some updated travel details for those who want it (I tried my best to record transit times at various locations such as embarkation, customs, etc..). Please feel free to ask questions and jump in to answer questions as well. Majority of the pictures posted were taken with my P&S camera, a Canon Powershot SX200IS – pretty much a fully loaded camera without the need for lenses nor the size of a DSLR (12.1 MP, 12x zoom, wide-lens, and full manual modes). Photos are processed (when needed) using the best free shareware available :D! All other pictures are taken via cell-phone camera (Droid Razr-DW / Galaxy Nexus -me) or borrowed for representative purposes (such as the one below).

Since having kids is such a budget-friendly experience :rolleyes: (note the Sarcasm!), we knew that we would be cruising on a budget. This meant no excursions – which was perfectly fine as we had been to the Eastern Caribbean before and knew what we wanted to do and how to get there. The budget also meant that we wouldn’t be eating at any specialty restaurants either (Spoiler Alert: We did!). This was okay since we were just psyched to be able to eat a hot meal for the first time in 15mos! :p

FOODIE ALERT: I tend not to take pictures of food as I am too busy eating, but there are two which I know of that I will post.

 

We (by that I mean DW the accountant), allocated our spending money so that it would be going toward ‘umbrella drinks and wine bottles’ and a few on-shore purchases; this, we did a good job of adhering too. I did my part by researching various TA’s to get the best deal possible, so shortly after booking, we transferred our reservation to the TA services of the ‘wholesale membership warehouse-club’ where we are members; this gave us $240 OBC – Cha-Ching!

 

Up Next: Planning, Room Selection, and Wine Reviews!

[bpphoto]

Subscribed....MORE PLEASE!!! ;)

(5 days comes quick!)

Edited September 5, 2013 by bpphoto

[alaska_planner]

getting on board for your trip report Bob!!! great start!!!!!

since we barely took any pictures at all, i'm looking forward to seeing yours as well as hearing your point of view of the cruise!!

 

we had a SUPER FANTASTIC time on the cruise (our only disappointment being rita's fiesta)....the most wonderful cruise we've been on!!!!!

wish we could have stayed on board!!! :)

Edited September 5, 2013 by alaska_planner

[Lloyd555]

Looking forward to the photos and review! Thanks for doing this!

[KGSB11]

PLANNING: I’ll touch briefly on planning here for a moment. I am the vacation planner in the household; DW and I discuss an idea, then she sits back and relaxes while I gather the details. One of my favorite things to create first is the vacation countdown spreadsheet – essentially an Excel sheet which has general travel information, dates, confirmation numbers, a generic timetable of planned activities, and of course…the Countdown.

 

For the day-to-day calendar, I really took a liking to Gambee’s spreadsheet he posted in his Allure Review review. You can find it here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=36033994&postcount=15.

This is what ours looked like on the day of departure (see how some specialty restaurants found their way in...sneaky little suckers :rolleyes:):

 

 

Now, this worked out nicely although some of the wine tastings had changed days from previous cruises I was researching - which is a nice segway to the all important Cruise Compass...

 

I saved and printed all of the Cruise Compasses (or is it Compassi..hmm) from the most recent review (at the time) from Familygoboston’s “Good Karma Cruise”. So a quick thank you to you both for those excellent resources; another special kudos/thanks to Familygoboston since it was her Oasis review which sealed the deal for booking an Oasis Class ship!

 

THE ROOM: We ended up booking Ocean View Balcony Stateroom 8266; we were balcony snobs at first sight in 2010 when we got an unexpected upgrade a few days before sailing. DW likes to sleep in and I find no better way to end the night that a glass of wine on the balcony while reviewing tomorrow’s Cruise Compass

[actual photo...not a dramatization]

Speaking of wine, that had a lot to do with my selecting that particular cabin (because when you book 504 days out, you have options like that). In looking at countless reviews from fellow CrusieCritic members, DW and I could tell that Central Park would be our favorite place – it also happens to be home to Vintages and you see, I like wine which is good because that would mean very short, uncomplicated walks to/from the stateroom. It also proved to be good that Park Cafe was also adjacent to Vintages since while DW slept in the morning, I could quickly grab a cup of coffee and bring it back to enjoy on the balcony.

 

8266 is a category D8 balcony which turned out to be a great value. You are immediately next to the aft elevators (or stairs in our case, because we prefer to burn off extra calories for dessert :D). It was also very quiet despite being next to the elevators - never heard a peep. Other 'pros' is that it has the Bed by Balcony configuration which we enjoyed, and there was an un-obstructed view of the water below.

 

Look for the red-circled balcony on the borrowed photo below:

TRAVEL ALERT: If you have an opportunity to upgrade to a better cabin for little or no cost…Call IMMEDIATLEY! Do NOT pass go…Do NOT collect $200 (okay maybe collect the $200, but ONLY if it doesn’t slow you down). Two weeks prior to sailing, I noticed that a Junior Suite opened up for the same price as our original booking; I happened to notice this as I was heading out for a quick 5 mile run on a Tuesday evening. By the time I got back, called my TA, waited on hold with RCI…it was GONE!!! All they had at that point was a “better” D class Ocean-View Balcony…I did not take it as I liked the location of our current stateroom.

WINE & DINE: Being the wine enthusiast that I am, in the months leading up to the cruise, I began to prepare my palate by researching the wines in the wine package; we ended up purchasing the 5 bottle package for $189 (gratuity included) which proved to be a good deal considering the bottles we ended up drinking. Here is a link to the wine-analysis I put together for the “Wine & Dine” package a few months back: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1807140 (SPOILER ALERT: Our favorite bottle of the week was the Charles Krug Merlot – more on that later)

Up Next: Day 0 – Trip to ORD and the Miami Airport Walk-A-Thon

[KGSB11]

getting on board for your trip report Bob!!! great start!!!!!

since we barely took any pictures at all, i'm looking forward to seeing yours as well as hearing your point of view of the cruise!!

 

we had a SUPER FANTASTIC time on the cruise (our only disappointment being rita's fiesta)....the most wonderful cruise we've been on!!!!!

wish we could have stayed on board!!! :)

 

Thanks!

 

Yeah, Rita's was slightly disappointing for us too -- we found the food overall quite good...though I'll reveal later why the chips (at least ours) were partially rubberized :rolleyes: Stay Tuned!

 

The cruise itself was amazing!

[mirage2u]

LOL from one planner to another, I LOVE the spreadsheets! I think I enjoy planning just as much (maybe even a little more) then the actual cruise!

[jcc1025]

Great review, we were on Oasis D8 and also thought it was the best location. Going back on Allure in November and both agreed that we had to be on D8 because of the proximity to Central Park and ease of getting up or down. Loved Vintages, 150 and Park Café.

Looking forward to the rest of your post.

[KGSB11]

LOL from one planner to another, I LOVE the spreadsheets! I think I enjoy planning just as much (maybe even a little more) then the actual cruise!

 

Thank you.

 

Planning is very fun. Plus it pays off in spades when you already know where things are located -- I don't plan vacations so that I am busy, I plan them so I am informed. Many things we skipped in lieu of something else, but at least we knew what we were skipping and not looking back the next day saying "Dang - we missed THAT!"

[cruzegurl104]

Thanks for taking the time to write a review- looking forward to more! Small world, as our good friends live in DeKalb...:)

[alaska_planner]

Thank you.

 

Planning is very fun. Plus it pays off in spades when you already know where things are located -- I don't plan vacations so that I am busy, I plan them so I am informed. Many things we skipped in lieu of something else, but at least we knew what we were skipping and not looking back the next day saying "Dang - we missed THAT!"

 

 

exactly!!! we also skipped a lot of things we'd originally planned on doing - but we knew we were skipping them...

 

i hope we're able to do them on day on another allure cruise!!

 

by the way, now that i see exactly where your cabin is, i agree - that is a wonderful location....near central park, near the elevator and with a clear view to the water below!! perfect!!

[anandaindonesia]

I will be on Allure with Western itinerary (not Eastern) but will gladly follow your BRILLIANT review.

 

Thanks for sharing!

[KGSB11]

Great review, we were on Oasis D8 and also thought it was the best location. Going back on Allure in November and both agreed that we had to be on D8 because of the proximity to Central Park and ease of getting up or down. Loved Vintages, 150 and Park Café.

Looking forward to the rest of your post.

 

Thank you. We never made it to 150, but it looked excellent every time we passed it!

 

Glad to have your support!

[KGSB11]

Thanks for taking the time to write a review- looking forward to more! Small world, as our good friends live in DeKalb...:)

 

Small world indeed...especially considering the remote location!! :cool:

[KGSB11]

I will be on Allure with Western itinerary (not Eastern) but will gladly follow your BRILLIANT review.

 

Thanks for sharing!

 

You will have a great time!!! I'm sure one of these days we'll do the western route as well - Mexico and Labadee seem very fun.

 

Thanks for following along!

[KGSB11]

Packing started 1.5 weeks prior and the bags were ready for the last minute toiletry items to be added; in addition many items which we packed for our daughter’s vacation had been transported to the grandparents’ house during the week. This made for a generally relaxing Saturday morning; DW even had time to go get fresh bagels for breakfast from a local bakery while I gave our daughter a bath. :D

 

The All-Aboard was given for the mini-van promptly at 10:35am with all two-legged and four-legged members of the family loaded (our dog would also be vacationing with the grandparents this week).

 

We arrived at the in-laws with about an hour to kill before we had to make our short trip to O’Hare; it was at this point that DW notified me that my next 30-40min would be spent re-arranging car-seats. A side note for anyone that has not recently installed a modern car seat –They practically require an engineering degree to install (which I thankfully possess) and the strength of 10 horses to secure properly. So needless to say, I was thrilled when I learned my fate :rolleyes:.

This might also be a good time to note that beginning in the morning, and lasting all day, I had Will Smith's "Miami" stuck in my head!

 

A short time later we were at O’Hare. The ride was an uneventful 20 minutes, I really couldn’t tell you as I was in and out of consciousness resulting from the sweaty task of anchoring down car seats in the hot sun just immediately prior; we were dropped off at the American Airlines Terminal where our bags (x2) were checked-in by the Sky-Cap; we flew American because of the rewards miles we had as well as a credit card which allows us free checked bags.

 

TRAVEL ALERT: I am a big fan of the sky-cap; I really don’t know why more people don’t use them. Our bags were checked and we had our boarding passes in less than 5 minutes while the ticket counter inside was a zig-zagged mess; and all it cost was a quick $2-$3 tip.

 

We entered the terminal and took a look at the security line, which was about 4 zig-zag lanes deep at this point on the Saturday afternoon; I immediately motioned to DW (inconspicuously of course as to not draw attention of my fellow travelers :cool:) to follow me to the far right side of the terminal way off the beaten path where American has a second security line – only 2 people deep now - I remembered this trick from a last minute Detroit trip in December when I was running late…an American Airlines person told me to go here to get through quicker – SCORE! Through security in what seemed like 5 minutes.

 

As standing tradition of any vacation, we quickly found a seat at the Chili’s Margarita Bar & Grill (pretty much the same as your local Chili’s, but with a limited menu and slightly different options). The time was now 1:50pm and we had 2.5hrs before boarding – we both enjoy arriving insanely early for flights. Allows time for relaxing, sitting back to watch the planes while DW people watches, and grab a quick bite to prepare our stomachs for the awesome in-flight food you get nowadays! DW downloaded a certain E.L. James book to her Kindle before the flight (SPOILER ALERT: She became addicted to it over the course of the week and downloaded two more books) and we were on our way.

 

The Boeing 737-800 was full (and tight for my 6'2" height) and the flight pretty normal. I discovered at a later point that my running watch that I had packed was accidentally left on and was able to record a small portion of the flight (I obliterated my 10mile PR by the way, and set a new long run record!!).

I’m a stats junkie, so this was cool to see. I was also able to snap a quick picture of Cape Canaveral as we passed over during our descent; big fan of NASA and the technical/science nerd in me was happy.

 

 

Up Next: Miami International and our drive to Fort Lauderdale

[KGSB11]

We landed in Miami around 8:30pm local time and after getting our bags we started to make our way to the rental car center.

TRAVEL ALERT: I am a runner and have logged many miles on my feet and have completed several half-marathons, so please heed my advice – the trip to the rental car center at Miami International requires a minimum of a 10 minute warm-up followed by at least 5 minutes of dynamic stretching.

 

You have to ride an elevator up one floor, walk over the airport’s drop-off road, take no less than 3 moving walkways, hop on a tram, then cross an alligator infested pond using only strategically placed rocks peeking up from the water’s surface - okay maybe I exaggerated a little on the last one - but it was at least a 20-30 minute ordeal from baggage-claim to the Budget rental car counter. Had I known this, I would have gladly paid a cab $10 to drive me there.

TRAVEL ALERT: I researched methods of transportation from MIA to Fort Lauderdale - we flew into MIA since American allowed me to fly into MIA on fewer miles than FLL - a shared shuttle would have cost about $65 dollars and a private taxi/limo would have been $80. I found a full-size sedan rental for $40 which I could drop-off across the street from Port Everglades the following morning and get a free ride to the ship on their shuttle –SOLD!

 

We also were able to get an upgrade to a Luxury Sedan at no extra since:

a) I am a very smooth talker know how to negotiate and

b) …they were, um… all out of standard sedans :p

 

The drive up to Fort Lauderdale was very very nice. We didn’t see much since it was about 10pm, but it was relaxing with the windows down and letting the warm humid Florida air fill our lungs! – for those taking this drive, you will need $1.25 for one toll booth you will encounter on FL-112 about 10 minutes after you get on the hwy in Miami.

 

We arrived and checked into our hotel just under 30 minutes.

TRAVEL ALERT: We initially were going to stay at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina because we got a good rate of $89/night and they had on-site restaurants which we would have needed due to our late arrival, but getting the rental car changed all that because a) We no longer needed on-site restaurants as we could now drive around and b) The Hilton charged $25/nt for self-parking. I changed our reservation two weeks before to the Hyatt Place North, Ft. Lauderdale 17th Street Convention Center. We stayed here back in 2010 and loved it; it is in a great location next to the Harbor Shops and the Cruise Port, the free hot breakfast in the morning is better than most, they have a small wet bar in the lobby for those late night caps (though I think it is limited to beer), free wifi and very clean spacious rooms. Plus it was a few Washingtons cheaper and parking was $5/nt.

 

 

 

 

DW stayed in the car during check-in because we were starving

at this point (the in-flight food just isn’t enough to hold you over), so we went over to the Harbor Shops and ate at the Lauderdale Grill – We were here in 2010 and liked it very much

They have great food, great location, live music and an awesome atmosphere here - They tag themselves as a "Seafood, Steaks, and Cocktails" establishment, but the atmosphere is more in line with a live-entertainment bar & grill; DW had a Sangria with Caesar salad and bowl of baked potato soup while I also had the baked potato soup, but I paired it with their Turkey Burger, delectable fries and an icy cold YeungLing from the tap – My taste-buds had been craving a YeungLing since I woke up that morning knowing it was only a few hours away! Perhaps I should see if Burt Reynolds is still bootlegging beer across state lines to bring me some here in Illinois.

After dinner, we drove the 30 seconds back to the hotel and got tucked in for the night and readied ourselves for the big day ahead tomorrow.

 

Up Next: Day 1 – Burning eyes, flashbacks of the movie Outbreak, and finally the ALLURE!

[alaska_planner]

i see we're birds of a feather, Bob - i also like arriving insanely early for flights.... :D

 

and i also was thrilled to see KSC just before landing in Orlando!! (but i've already confessed to being a science nerd/geek :rolleyes: )

[Coolcruise02]

Great start, can't wait for more!

[stephaniekleinn]

Which rental car agency did you use? We're going to have to pick up a car to drive back to Tampa when we get off the Allure in March. We were planning on taking a taxi to the airport to pick up a car but if theres one at the port that would help! thanks!

[relaxatsea]

Thanks for your great review!

 

I am following it avidly since we will be going on the Allure in November for the second time.

 

Since I am the designated (and obsessive!) planner in our family, I particularly enjoyed your spread sheets!

 

Looking forward to more!

[cruzegurl104]

Such a great review, and I love your writing style!!! Please continue!:D

Edited September 6, 2013 by cruzegurl104

[KGSB11]

Which rental car agency did you use? We're going to have to pick up a car to drive back to Tampa when we get off the Allure in March. We were planning on taking a taxi to the airport to pick up a car but if theres one at the port that would help! thanks!

 

We rented from Budget. Their Port Everglades office is just across the street from the 17th entrance into the cruise port.

 

I believe the free shuttle also picks up as well.

[KGSB11]

Thanks for your great review!

 

I am following it avidly since we will be going on the Allure in November for the second time.

 

Since I am the designated (and obsessive!) planner in our family, I particularly enjoyed your spread sheets!

 

Looking forward to more!

 

Thank you for following along; I'm glad you enjoyed my spreadsheets - I don't think there is a limit to the amount of research that can be done ahead of time!!

 

Such a great review, and I love your writing style!!! Please continue!:D

 

Thank you for the compliment.

[alaska_planner]

Which rental car agency did you use? We're going to have to pick up a car to drive back to Tampa when we get off the Allure in March. We were planning on taking a taxi to the airport to pick up a car but if theres one at the port that would help! thanks!

 

fort lauderdale airport (FLL) is basically at the port, so i wouldn't base my car choice only on proximity to the port, all the car rental companies are close by.

I would check to see which company doesn't have a one way drop off fee to tampa (in addition to proximity to the port).

Perhaps none of them have a one way drop off fee, but that's what i would be sure to check.

Edited September 7, 2013 by alaska_planner