Allure - Med - Boarding Cruise "In Progress"

We will be starting our Allure Mediterranean cruise in Rome. There will already be passengers on board who started their cruise several days earlier in Barcelona.

When we board technically their cruise will be "in progress" and ours will be just beginning.

How does this work with opening the cabins? Obviously they can't block the cabins until 1:00 pm like they would for typical cruises as those who are already onboard will have access to their cabins. But I also understand the need for the room attendants to turn over the rooms for the newly arriving guests.

Has anyone expirienced this? If so, what was your personal experience? What has been your earliest time that you got to the port? Earliest you were let into your cabin?

Thanks!

Also how does the muster drill work? Do they make all of the passengers go through it? Or just the newly arriving passengers?

Good questions - hopefully someone will be able to help!

I can´t really help with your question, but blocking off the cabins wouldn´t be a Problem.

They do this all the time and still give B2B People Access to their cabins. It would be kinda the same procedure.

Of course this is just speculation and they might not do it the same way.

We were on Liberty 2 years ago and did not notice any of the stateroom access blocked during our stop in Rome.

I do vaguely recall hearing announcements for passengers who embarked in Rome to go to their muster stations later in the day.

I guess if you just boarded you will have all the usual 1st day details in your Cruise Compass in the same way that passengers embarking at Barcelona do.

If you are boarding in Rome I'm sure you will be more acutely aware of these announcements than those guests already part way through their cruise.

There was another thread that said the rooms opened at 12:45 in Rome last week on Allure (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=46666303&postcount=361). You may want to search for "interporting" on the forums for what has occurred on other RCL ships in the past.

I too am interested in more detail. In particular, I assume that there will be more breakfast options available on our last day, and they will be open later since not everyone is disembarking. Can anyone confirm?

When you are boarding and having your muster drill most people will be wandering around the Coloseum or tossing coins into the Trevi Fountain or even having an audience with the Pope so I would be surprised if any passengers that boarded in Barcelona will have even noticed your arrival.

It is also possible that cruise lines put all passengers joining the cruise at Barcelona in one area and the ones joining in Rome in another area, possibly even different floors so blocking off certain areas would be a relatively simple affair and again probably go unnoticed

I learnt that in general cabins in the front to mid change in Barcelona and mid to aft in Rome. There might be exceptions depending on the category and especially regarding Suites but this is the aproach for the majority of cabins that allows them to close down parts of the main decks until cabins are ready for new guests.

Master drill for new guests will be done indoor and within specific public rooms that are closed for other guests during that time.

Some cruise lines like Costa do this guest changes in up to four or five ports on a seven day cruise. I don`t like it as it always creates some disturbance. Arrival and departure days are absolutely less relaxing on board. Especially departure days with crowded breakfest rooms and people with luggage all over the place. Of course you can leave the ship early and come back as late as possible.

These type of cruises have happened for some time in the Med. We have been on a few interporting cruises and you don't really notice much of a difference.

I don't recall cabins being blocked off but, as pointed out earlier, people on the current cruise who boarded in Rome were told their cabins were ready at 12.45 so you will still have to wait until around that time for access to your cabin. Realistically many many passengers will be off the ship in Rome

Typically those onboard will leave (and reboard) from one exit and those boarding join via another part of the ship. This means those already onboard and those boarding are not crossing with each other.

Those boarding in Rome will have a separate muster drill which those who boarded in Barcelona do not have to attend. Announcements will make this clear.

On the final day you will not have the usual scramble to get breakfast as they're clearing the plates from under you, but will have usual final day announcements for those who are disembarking.

Interporting means that the typical Day 2 and Day 5 formal nights and Cruise Critic meet and greets don't fit a regular pattern. One meet and greet for a cruise we were on was on Day 5!!

It has been reported elsewhere that the vast majority of people will embark in Barcelona so those who embark in Rome will find a lot of activity onboard on the Barcelona day if they remain on the ship.

I'm currently onboard the Allure, the corridors to cabins were blocked when we boarded in Barcelona but so far they haven't closed the doors today. I understand that the majority of passengers get on at Barcelona so there isn't as many getting on today.

The muster drill will happen this afternoon but only for people who are getting onboard here as we done a muster drill on Sunday.

It seems like the majority of cabins near us (deck 8 forward) are filled with people who embarked at Barcelona but there are a few who are getting off today scattered around.

Thank for all this great information. We are on Allure from Rome Oct 15 and I was wondering how it all worked.

For those on board are formal nights day 2 and 5 of Barcelona itinerary? Or if not what days are they?

Thanks

We had a formal night on Monday (day 2) and I think the other one will be day 5.

I can help you with your questions as I just left the Allure today. I can first tell you that we were able to board at noon last Thursday we grabbed lunch and after lunch at 12:40pm we walked straight to our room as the hallways are NOT blocked. The muster drill is only for new arrivals the ones that boarded in Barcelona will not need to attend as they have already gone thru their drill. You will most likely meet in one of the large show rooms they will scan your sea pass card and basically watch a video for 10 minutes then hear the blasting of the ships horn.

I hope you have a good cruise because we were very disappointed on this sailing. I will write a very detailed review later but in a nut shell because this is an interporting Sailing the crew are totally confused the service was poor as they are running around like chickens having no clue what is happening.

Examples we NEVER got our excursion tickets In Our room we were always missing documents and when you go to customer service be prepared as there is always 30 plus people in line all the time. The excursion desk is a mad house their computers are always down and when they reprinted my tickets half the info was wrong. The excursions were cut short as the ship is not arriving at the ports on the times designated. Poor housekeeping as we ran out of tissue day one and shampoo on day three and nothing is getting refilled or replaced without asking. Be prepared to pay a 22 percent VAT tax on purchases and an extra 10 VAT tax on all services like restaurants. If you eat at 150 Central Park its 40.00 pp plus an extra 10 percent VAT tax on everything which is insane. So you if you buy a drink for 10.00 you will pay 18 percent gratuity plus another 10 percent VAT tax it's crazy.

The AC in the large show room is broken and it's a hot box in there I actually did not attend the shows because it was just stifling in there and after 7 days it was never fixed.

The interporting is very confusing for the staff as they are spinning around clueless. I will never do an interporting cruise again.

Best wishes on your cruise I hope they get better with time

We had a formal night on Monday (day 2) and I think the other one will be day 5.

I asked a friend who was on the first sailing to find this out and she was told it would be day 2 and day 6. I think it would be very unlikely to do it on day 5 as that is the day people board in Civitavecchia.

When you are boarding and having your muster drill most people will be wandering around the Coloseum or tossing coins into the Trevi Fountain or even having an audience with the Pope so I would be surprised if any passengers that boarded in Barcelona will have even noticed your arrival.

 

It is also possible that cruise lines put all passengers joining the cruise at Barcelona in one area and the ones joining in Rome in another area, possibly even different floors so blocking off certain areas would be a relatively simple affair and again probably go unnoticed

I think they do separate the passengers by ports, because we considered the Harmoney next year and the agent onboard told us that we couldn't get the room we wanted because those were for the people that boarded in Barsalona

We decided to skip that cruise and booked Brilliance again.

We will be starting our Allure Mediterranean cruise in Rome. There will already be passengers on board who started their cruise several days earlier in Barcelona.

 

When we board technically their cruise will be "in progress" and ours will be just beginning.

 

How does this work with opening the cabins? Obviously they can't block the cabins until 1:00 pm like they would for typical cruises as those who are already onboard will have access to their cabins. But I also understand the need for the room attendants to turn over the rooms for the newly arriving guests.

 

Has anyone expirienced this? If so, what was your personal experience? What has been your earliest time that you got to the port? Earliest you were let into your cabin?

 

Thanks!

Well I can't answer about boarding from Rome, but as a passenger that was already on, since we boarded in Barcelona, we weren't even aware of anything different! We were on the 5/19 sailing from Barcelona. I would assume most of the passengers were off the ship early (we were) for the stop in Rome. But seriously, we didn't notice that there were less passengers before Rome or that there were more after Rome! I also didn't hear any complaints around the ship. They did make an announcement for the Muster Drill for passengers that would be boarding, but of course it took place while we were exploring Rome!

I asked a friend who was on the first sailing to find this out and she was told it would be day 2 and day 6. I think it would be very unlikely to do it on day 5 as that is the day people board in Civitavecchia.

Yeah it is day 6 for the second one! I've lost track of time on here [emoji23] (what day is it? [emoji16])

Well I can't answer about boarding from Rome, but as a passenger that was already on, since we boarded in Barcelona, we weren't even aware of anything different! We were on the 5/19 sailing from Barcelona. I would assume most of the passengers were off the ship early (we were) for the stop in Rome. But seriously, we didn't notice that there were less passengers before Rome or that there were more after Rome! I also didn't hear any complaints around the ship. They did make an announcement for the Muster Drill for passengers that would be boarding, but of course it took place while we were exploring Rome!

I stayed onboard in Rome and it was quite funny as the crew were all out in stairwells and kept wanting to guide me to my station. I had to keep saying no I boarded in Barcelona lol!!

I can help you with your questions as I just left the Allure today. I can first tell you that we were able to board at noon last Thursday we grabbed lunch and after lunch at 12:40pm we walked straight to our room as the hallways are NOT blocked. The muster drill is only for new arrivals the ones that boarded in Barcelona will not need to attend as they have already gone thru their drill. You will most likely meet in one of the large show rooms they will scan your sea pass card and basically watch a video for 10 minutes then hear the blasting of the ships horn.

 

I hope you have a good cruise because we were very disappointed on this sailing. I will write a very detailed review later but in a nut shell because this is an interporting Sailing the crew are totally confused the service was poor as they are running around like chickens having no clue what is happening.

 

Examples we NEVER got our excursion tickets In Our room we were always missing documents and when you go to customer service be prepared as there is always 30 plus people in line all the time. The excursion desk is a mad house their computers are always down and when they reprinted my tickets half the info was wrong. The excursions were cut short as the ship is not arriving at the ports on the times designated. Poor housekeeping as we ran out of tissue day one and shampoo on day three and nothing is getting refilled or replaced without asking. Be prepared to pay a 22 percent VAT tax on purchases and an extra 10 VAT tax on all services like restaurants. If you eat at 150 Central Park its 40.00 pp plus an extra 10 percent VAT tax on everything which is insane. So you if you buy a drink for 10.00 you will pay 18 percent gratuity plus another 10 percent VAT tax it's crazy.

The AC in the large show room is broken and it's a hot box in there I actually did not attend the shows because it was just stifling in there and after 7 days it was never fixed.

The interporting is very confusing for the staff as they are spinning around clueless. I will never do an interporting cruise again.

 

Best wishes on your cruise I hope they get better with time

Wow there must be two Allure of the Seas then!!

The one I got off on Sunday had no air con problems in the theatre. The crew were great and housekeeping were great keeping things topped up if required.

As for VAT well that's standard on all closed EU loop cruises. The ship has to visit a non-EU port to avoid paying VAT. Has been a debate on multiple cruise lines for years but paying tax on purchases seems to be strange for some non-Europeans just like adding 18% gratuities is shocking for a lot of Europeans.

We have to pay these grats, you have to pay our taxes, thats how the world works :D

I can help you with your questions as I just left the Allure today. I can first tell you that we were able to board at noon last Thursday we grabbed lunch and after lunch at 12:40pm we walked straight to our room as the hallways are NOT blocked. The muster drill is only for new arrivals the ones that boarded in Barcelona will not need to attend as they have already gone thru their drill. You will most likely meet in one of the large show rooms they will scan your sea pass card and basically watch a video for 10 minutes then hear the blasting of the ships horn.

 

I hope you have a good cruise because we were very disappointed on this sailing. I will write a very detailed review later but in a nut shell because this is an interporting Sailing the crew are totally confused the service was poor as they are running around like chickens having no clue what is happening.

 

Examples we NEVER got our excursion tickets In Our room we were always missing documents and when you go to customer service be prepared as there is always 30 plus people in line all the time. The excursion desk is a mad house their computers are always down and when they reprinted my tickets half the info was wrong. The excursions were cut short as the ship is not arriving at the ports on the times designated. Poor housekeeping as we ran out of tissue day one and shampoo on day three and nothing is getting refilled or replaced without asking. Be prepared to pay a 22 percent VAT tax on purchases and an extra 10 VAT tax on all services like restaurants. If you eat at 150 Central Park its 40.00 pp plus an extra 10 percent VAT tax on everything which is insane. So you if you buy a drink for 10.00 you will pay 18 percent gratuity plus another 10 percent VAT tax it's crazy.

The AC in the large show room is broken and it's a hot box in there I actually did not attend the shows because it was just stifling in there and after 7 days it was never fixed.

The interporting is very confusing for the staff as they are spinning around clueless. I will never do an interporting cruise again.

 

Best wishes on your cruise I hope they get better with time

That is really too bad things went so disappointingly for you. I guess we were fortunate in that we didn't book excursions with RCI, but independently, so we didn't have to deal with all that. Ours went off without a hitch and we had a wonderful time. I will say that every time we walked by Guest Services there were ALOT of people in line. Luckily we didn't have to go for any reason, so didn't have the experience you describe. I did notice the ship was warmer than usual, but then I'm always so cold, so didn't mind it at all .... plus it was sort of chilly weather for cruising, at least for me. The AC being down would explain it. The only thing I can say regarding the crew is we didn't experience the confusion and cluelessness you describe. We thought they did very well all things considered. If you talked to some of the staff they would acknowledge that this cruise is very different for them having come from the Caribbean, in many ways. They did say the two embarkations they had to get used to as to who was coming and going and they all said there were ALOT of different languages to get used to. There was a line at MTD whether you had reservations or not, but personally we watched them literally bend over backwards to make every guest happy. One of the staff mentioned the fact that Europeans tend to eat later, and on top of the excursions ending later than normal, it seemed everyone wanted to eat at the same time. We never waited more than 5-10 minutes. We thought they did great. We thought all services were exceptional. Our Stateroom Attendant Renaldo was awesome and he was leaving for vacation when we returned to Barcelona and I've found in the past sometimes that's not always the case ... they are too anxious to leave to concentrate on their job. But, not him ... he was excellent. Guess it depends on where you are and what your activities are, since we had not one complaint on anything. Very satisfied with everything. Sorry it wasn't all you anticipated. Hope you have Happy Sailing on your next Voyage! :)