scubarn1

We enjoyed our day at Nachi and would go back in a heartbeat. We were looking for an atmosphere that was quieter and not a spring break drunk fest. The drinks were unlimited, and you order food from a menu. They did have a vendor taking people out for snorkeling trips, but we were happy just hanging out on the beach. My daughter and I had massage that were very reasonable, and she still talks about the great massage she received.  

Go!!!!!

When we were in a cabana last spring, we did not get snorkel gear, just towels, cooler with water and a couple of floating mats. The snorkeling is not that great in Labadee. With the amount of people in the water, the bottom is stirred up and visibility is almost zero. There was no coral and only a small amount of tropical fish at Nellie's Beach.

I also agree with Icpagejr. We are on an April Seaside cruise and live in West Palm Beach. The cheapest option is to do a one way rental to Miami. Average cost for a one day rental is approximately $35/day. There are couple of rental agencies in downtown Miami to return the car. Budget is the one I am looking at renting my car from. I am not sure if they provide shuttle service to the port, as I was planning on just grabbing a taxi or Uber.

A second option is to take Tri-Rail from West Palm Beach to either the Metro Rail exchange or the Miami Airport and then grab the Metro Rail to the Government Center in downtown Miami, from there, a cab to the port. I really would not suggest this route as the time frame would be 2-2.5 hours total for travel.

A third option is to drive to the port and leave your car there for a week.

A fourth option is possibly the Bright-line Rail from West Palm Beach, this option may not be available in April. Bright-line is just starting their service this week and only the WPB-Fort Lauderdale option is open. Once the Miami Station construction is complete, the train will run from WPB to Miami Government center in 1 hour. The word is the Miami station will be completed "sometime this spring". I was in Miami 2 weeks ago and it seemed like there was still a lot of construction going on. Once the Miami station is complete, you would still need a cab to the port.

Hoped this helped!

I thought the same thing about the piano player too, He was in schooner last night and I thought he was just a guest who jumped on the piano to sing to his family.

Following along, leaving in 5 days on the same itinerary.

My family enjoyed the combo Magic Mountain Jamaican Bobsled/Dunns River Falls excursion. One issue is the excursion is a little over an hours bus ride from the cruise terminal. It was a long wet ride in an air condition bus back to the ship after climbing the falls.

Thanks! I just saved $60, not a lot,but every little bit helps!

Following, I'm on the same itinary in March. Thanks for posting the daily planners.

I'm going to tag along with OP's question, has anyone had any issues in transit with their own mugs? (i.e. TSA/Airlines)

I love having cold water all day and take a cup with me just about everywhere and I'm undecided about taking mine on our next trip.

 

Thanks OP for a good question I didn't realize I wanted to ask.....;):)

I recently took my empty Yeti in my carry on bag through TSA in Miami and St Thomas, no issues.

I was in St. John over Christmas. Lots of boats in port on St Thomas one day. Trunk Bay was packed with cruise ship passengers. I was astonished to see the amount of blue striped towels left on the beach. Not sure which cruise lines uses blue striped towels, but they lost a few towels that day. I have never left a towel on an excursion, even when it was wet and sandy. This will curb people not being responsible for their towels.

Yes, the Solarium has a lower deck where the pool and Solarium bistro is located. There is also an upper deck where the lounge chairs are under cover, you will be in shade and have a view of the ocean. There is a bar on the upper deck, but i found a lot of people did not hang out there and it was mainly used by the pool waiters. There is also relaxing piped in music playing in the Solarium.

I found I had to make each night's reservation individually and then check out each time. Then go back and make the second night's reservation ect. When I tried to make all my MTD reservations for the week, it kept canceling the previous nights time. Hope that helps.

We were on the Allure in August. My daughter was 1 month shy of turning 15. I allowed her to come and go to the teen club and do activities sponsored by the counselors in the club. I did purchase the wireless plan and we kept in touch via text. She seemed to make friends on the first day at their meet and greet and they all traveled in a pack ("her squad") around the ship. I gave her a curfew of 11pm to be back in the room, unless there was some organized event happening and she was able to stay out longer. Other rules included eating dinner with us every night and while in port, we did activities as a family.

She met a great group of friends on the ship that she still keeps in touch with via social media.

Canadian Disney Mom,

How is the Vroom Internet? I was recently on the Allure and we had no issues with connection. I have been reading there are issue with the internet on Freedom,just was wondering what your thoughts are as we are on the Freedom in March. We would only use it for checking email and texting.

Thanks, enjoying reading about your trip

I used the What's APP recently on my Allure cruise. I used it primarily to communicate with family members who were on the ship with me. You will need the internet to use it, we purchased a Voom package.

Some of my family members have androids, so they could not use normal texting on wireless, so that is why What's APP worked for us. We had no issues.

This was the funniest vacation video I have ever seen. You all looked liked you enjoyed your cruise and had a blast.

Thanks!!!:)

We did self disembark on the Allure in August as my sister had a flight at 11:30am from West Palm. We walked out of our cabin at 7 am and there was no line to disembark. There was no lines at customs and we were standing in the parking lot at 7:10 am. There were plenty of cabs lined up waiting for passengers as soon as you walk off the ship.

We actually had plenty of time stop for breakfast prior to dropping my sister off at the airport.

I believe you can depart as early as 6:30. You would need to do self disembark, keep your luggage in your room and be responsible for your carting your own luggage in the morning.

I was recently on the Allure and enjoyed tapas and sangria at Vintages. Does anyone know if sangria is available on Freedom class ships at Vintages? I know they do not serve tapas.

Thanks!

I too was on the Allure this past Sunday. The ship pulled into FLL about 5am.

We did self disembarkation as my sister had a flight from West Palm at 11:30am. We walked out of our cabin at 7am and were standing in the parking lot at 7:10am. There were no lines to get off the ship or through customs.

A 30% discount was offered for any specialty restaurant when we boarded the Allure last week, the catch was it was only for the first night. We enjoyed Chops, the restaurant was half empty and we received exceptional service.

I would suggest taking the ferry to St. John instead of Tortola, or an organized tour of the Baths (Virgin Gorda)in BVI's.

1. The ferry runs more frequently to St John the Tortola. (The beaches are better in St. John)

2. The BVI ferry that stops at West End will be an expensive cab ride to wherever you want to go.

3. The BVI ferry that stops at Road Town is a bit longer, and in my opinion, there is less to do in Road Town then Charlotte Amaile.

Just my opinion, I have visited Tortola on many occasions, but never a day trip from St. Thomas while cruising.

We have the same issue Mama Mia switched to 5 pm on Tuesday and runs into our dinner reservation time. Called RCCL and there is no other day for Mama Mia and we can't change our dinner reservation to another time. It's MTD, so either stand in line and go later or maybe that will be the night for the buffet.

Hi Jacksmom09, we are on the same cruise!

I called RCCL to ask the same question, I was told day #2(sea day) and Day#6(Labadee).

We made specialty Dinner reservations for day 2 and 5, so I wanted to make sure I didn't need to change anything around.

Now to see if I received the right information from RCCL when we board.

It's possible only if..

1. There are no delays on your flight

2. You're flying into Fort Lauderdale (not Miami)

3. Have transportation ready to take you to the terminal

There are a lot of "if's" involved. Personally, I would fly down the night before to be on the safe side and start my vacation stress free.

I would rather make a reservation then stand in line for 1+ hours for dinner or a show where there is a limited amount of seats. I know it's a pain to pre-plan, but my time is too valuable to waste standing in a line.