Me and my partner are looking at booking Allure on 1st October for 2 weeks. Due to us having to book back to back we have been told we would need to leave the ship and re book in again after 7 days but would keep the same cabin.
Does this mean we leave all our belongings in the room and simply get off and re check in?
Seems silly when we are booking and paying for 2 weeks?
Yes...you will leave your belongings in the room if you have the same room.It's a very simple process. Those of you that are doing B2B will be directed to meet at a specified location upon your return from the first leg. After all the passengers have left the ship from the first week, you and the othres that are staying for week 2 will be taken as a group to customs and immigration to check in with them and then back to the ship....quick and easy. Now, depending on the ship, you will be re issued new cards the night before or the morning of the second leg. After all this...you have the ship to yourself for a couple of hours. We love B2Bs.....ENJOY!
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Upcoming Cruises:
Celebrity Eclipse March 5, 2011
Serenade of the Seas Oct 23, 2011
I am Going on the Allure March 20th and was wondering how the express departure works? Do you have to carry your own luggage out?
Do they have restrictions on how much you can carry?
We have a chance of getting a great airfare out of Ft. Lauderdale but the flight departs at 9AM.
Do you think we would make it?
Yes, with express departure, you have to carry your own luggage off. On some ships I have seen them ask that you have only one piece of luggage per person. However, on Allure, many had more than that. We had three but, two were piggybacked on another piece.
We were off the ship and through immigration and customs by 6:45 which would be plenty of time to get to FLL in time for a 9 AM flight. However, if Customs holds up the debarkation for some reason, and sometimes they do, it would sure mess up your plans. I'm not sure I would recommend that but............
__________________
Upcoming Cruises:
Celebrity Eclipse March 5, 2011
Serenade of the Seas Oct 23, 2011
Yes, with express departure, you have to carry your own luggage off. On some ships I have seen them ask that you have only one piece of luggage per person. However, on Allure, many had more than that. We had three but, two were piggybacked on another piece.
We were off the ship and through immigration and customs by 6:45 which would be plenty of time to get to FLL in time for a 9 AM flight. However, if Customs holds up the debarkation for some reason, and sometimes they do, it would sure mess up your plans. I'm not sure I would recommend that but............
Your cruise must have been an exception. The Allure's itinerary is scheduled to not even arrive until 7AM. I would caution anyone to not book a 9AM flight considering customs, travel to airport (albeit close), and TSA/airport check-in.
Your cruise must have been an exception. The Allure's itinerary is scheduled to not even arrive until 7AM. I would caution anyone to not book a 9AM flight considering customs, travel to airport (albeit close), and TSA/airport check-in.
That's true and I'm not going to disagree with you...but, according to our cruise compass on board the ship, express departure is/was as scheduled to start at 6-6:15....so, go figure.
I wouldn't schedule a flight that early either.
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Upcoming Cruises:
Celebrity Eclipse March 5, 2011
Serenade of the Seas Oct 23, 2011
Thanks for the review of Allure, TexCruise. We are taking our first cruise on the Allure in Mid. Aug. to Western Caribbean.
I read your comments about all the dining facilities, but not sure which ones cost extra $. Is there a place I can go to look everything up at an RCI website or something? Again, this is our first cruise, so excuse the ignorance.
Look at the attached for dining options. You may have to print it to see it well enough. Also, the prices have increased recently, mostly by $5 with a couple exceptions.
Wow....what a great cruise! I'm horrible at writing reviews so, here's my take.
Embarkation: a breeze! We arrived at 11 a.m and was onboard by 11:30. We quickly went to the Park cafe for a light lunch of salad and a roast beef sandwich. Great!
Stateroom: 6170 (D8). Very comfortable balcony cabin on Deck 6. They did move the electrical outlets to the top of the table for much easier use vs. on the Oasis. Also, added an i-pod docking station.
Shows: Chicago is great with a wonderful cast, a must see. Oceanaria is also a must see, spectacular diving. We also, saw Taylor Swift in concert at the aqua theater. Though I've never been a big fan, she puts on a great show. We were very impressed.
Dining Room: We had table 131, table for 6. Food was very good! The only downer on this cruise was our wait staff...very, very slow. Some of what I am fixing to say are very small items but certainly a change from what we are used to seeing in the DR. Three nights, we waited 45 minutes to receive our appetizers. Other tables were well into their main course before we received ours (appetizers). Unused wine glasses were never removed from our table which made it very crowded. Sometimes we went 10-15 minutes before we would see our waiter much less the asst. waiter. . Glasses set empty, no bread ....no, well....nothing. The alternative menu was not included some nights, the ever present "would you like some pepper" never happened, the next day briefing was non-existant. We saw the head waiter only twice. Really weird experience. In all fairness, one of the couples were on a B2B and said the previous weeks experience was fantastic but, they sat at a different table.
Breakfast: We ate breakfast three mornings in the concierge lounge. That was pretty good. Three mornings from room service on our balcony and once in the Jammer the morning we got off the ship. That was also the only time we set foot in the Jammer.
Samba Grill: The dining highlight of our cruise. Fabulous! This is in the Solarium. You start out with a salad, soup and appetizer buffet. That is followed by a NINE meat variety brought one at a time to your table on the skewer where they carve it off for you. Way to much food...bring an appetite. The dancer was fabulous there also.
Giovanni's Table: We ate there for lunch and also dinner. Great food and service both times.
Chops: all I'm going to say is MMMMMMMMMMMMM!
Rita's Cantina: Very enjoyable and we thought the food was very good. The service was very slow but, they were extremely busy.
The weather was perfect with smooth sailing all week.
On Labadee we rented a cabana and loved every minute of that. Lunch there was very good. In Costa Maya, we went to the fishing village, found a couple of nice open air bars and enjoyed a beer or two along with some chips, guacamole and shrimp. On Cozumel, we hit a couple of our favorite spots to eat and basically just loafed around...........
We did express departure and was through customs by 6:45.
I'll be more than happy to answer any questions that anyone may have.
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