Live from Allure of the Seas - March 5, 2017

[LuCruise]

Following along

 

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[pcorwin]

We are sailing March 19th looking forward to following your live review.

 

 

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[woodz]

Following

[riclop]

Enjoy your cruise.

[cruiseseeker]

Following

 

 

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[dst]

Looking forward to your review, we sail 9/3

 

 

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[mringenoldus]

I am sailing next week with a little boy with autism who loves the carousel. Can you tell me what hours it is open? I would like to be able to prompt him in advance to avoid stressing him.

 

 

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[BrittanyandBrodysMom]

Following!

[Carter Finnigan]

Following also, have a great time!

[Ourusualbeach]

I am sailing next week with a little boy with autism who loves the carousel. Can you tell me what hours it is open? I would like to be able to prompt him in advance to avoid stressing him.

 

 

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The hours vary by day.

 

On sea days the hours are 10am to 10pm.

 

On port days it opens around all aboard time and closes at 10pm.

[mringenoldus]

Thank you! I didn't think it was open that often and didn't want him to be disappointed or meltdown.

 

 

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[JamesEM]

Following along, sailing on the Allure in May.

[Dibbadiane]

Following along as well. Cursing 4/16

[CruiseZog]

Cruising Allure on April 2nd... looking forward to your posts. Have a great time!

[Goes211]

Following along too. I have a couple friends on board this week too...they said the ride has been pretty bumpy so far?

I will be sailing Allure again on Sept 10 with a large group =) Very excited!!

[mringenoldus]

I read that Freedom had to skip Labadee due to rough seas. Hope it improves before next week!

 

 

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[ZimmCouple]

Is there a photo package on Allure that gets you all of the prints and digital? There doesn't seem to be an option to buy one pre cruise but I was curious to see if they offered one on the ship.

 

You can buy that in advance. https://www.mycruisephotos.com/. They currently have cruises available to reserve through July 2

[rukkian]

I will be interested, we are going on Allure (not until 3/11/18), and looking forward to learning everything I can before then.

[BillOh]

Saturday, March 4th

 

Everyone that has a cruise booked knows the anticipation is incredible. I find the reviews and trip reports here on CC a great way to pass the time. But alas, our turn is finally here! Hope this thread helps all of you with upcoming cruises daydream a little about your future cruise.

 

I've written about our previous cruises but this is my first "live-ish" thread. I say live-ish because I committed to my better half that I would not be glued to my iPhone while on vacation.

 

I will do my best to update this thread as the week progresses but may not reply to questions as rapidly.

 

That being said... let's kick this vacation off.

 

 

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Nicely put, I'll enjoy what ever you post. Enjoy your cruise.

[M&JfromSDL]

Time for an update.

 

 

Pre-Cruise Hotel:

 

We stayed at the Riverside Hotel in Fort Lauderdale. Overall a decent stay. The hotels in FLL were incredible expensive this weekend and I was happy to find a AAA rate for $250. About 3 days before checkin I found what I believed to be the same hotel in Hotwire for about $50 less.

 

What I enjoyed about the hotel was its location. The public areas are a bit dated and our room was incredibly small.

 

It was a $19 Uber from the airport and a $10 Uber ride to the port. There are also a bunch restaurants within walking distance. CVS is roughly a 10 minute walk as well.

 

Here's a 360 spin of teenie tiny hotel room.

 

https://theta360.com/s/eclNS2ZdJmEcCNqt7VJTdfdSK

 

 

 

 

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[M&JfromSDL]

We checked out around 1115 and found an UberX within 2 minutes. Our driver was an incredibly nice guy and got us to the port within 30 minutes.

 

Tip: have your SetSail Pass and Passports available for presentation while entering the port. Ours were checked in order to proceed to terminal 18.

 

There she is. The excitement was incredible at this point.

 

 

We dropped our 2 suitcases to a porter who let us know he would handle our bags and appreciate a tip.

 

No suite for us. Maybe next time.

 

 

We proceeded inside through security and then over to the Platinum Check-in desk. There was no line at this time of the morning.

 

 

Quick time line

 

11:13am - left hotel in Uber

11:43 - arrived at port

12:08 - Took a selfie on the gangway.

 

I have to say, this was single handedly the most stress free check in process I've ever experienced. I kept saying to my wife how relaxed I felt and we had just gotten on board. Nothing like last year having to get up at the crack of dawn to get to the port early enough to secure Vibe passes on NCL.

 

At the top of the gangway as you cross the running track and enter the Promenade, it finally hits you. You're on vacation. And the sheer size of the Allure hits you.

 

 

 

I'm glad we ate a big breakfast because we were able to skip the craziness of the Windjammer and enjoy exploring the ship.

 

 

 

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[clochette]

Great review so far, really enjoying it. I am just curious never been on NCL what are VIBE passes

[crzndeb]

Thanks for the great review. I'm soaking up all the reviews, since my daughter, grandson and I will be going in Dec. This will be my first time on an Oasis class ship.

[M&JfromSDL]

We spent quite a bit of time exploring the ship. First the promenade, then Central Park and up to the 15th deck. Due to the wind we spent just enough time up there to grab our first drink.

 

 

We checked out the gym. They have the 3 things is use (treadmill, rower and TRX suspension system).

 

 

 

 

Took a quick walk through of the spa. We had thermal spa access on the Getaway last year and their setup is much better. I can't see myself paying for access to the thermal suite on the Allure.

 

The couples treatment room did look nice albeit a bit anemic.

 

 

 

 

 

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[M&JfromSDL]

Great review so far, really enjoying it. I am just curious never been on NCL what are VIBE passes

 

 

VIBE is a fee-for-entry adults only area on NCL Getaway ships. You can purchase a cabana for the week or passes to the area. It is space limited, has its own bat and hot tubs. I'm glad we purchased the access because the general pool areas were packed and IMHO not very relaxing.

 

 

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