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We were on Allure of the Seas out of FLL last January.  MIL also has limited mobility and we had a scooter rented from Special Needs at Sea.  We used a shuttle transfer from our hotel to the port.  Upon arrival to the port we asked for wheelchair assistance and one of the guys who was assisting near the luggage drop off ran into the building and returned moments later with a wheelchair.  We of course tipped him for his efforts.  It was quite simple for which we were greatly appreciated.  We used the wheelchair until we entered the terminal and then she was able to transfer into the scooter we had rented.  I believe we had to wait until we had completed check-in before we could advance to the area where Special Needs at Sea had the scooters waiting.  

We did have a bit of trouble when it came to check-in/ boarding as they tried to say we couldn't go through the check-in process together and instead tried to separate us putting MIL and FIL into a separate line for wheelchair assistance only passengers.  Once we all made it through the que the RCCL agents had MIL and FIL wait for us to catch up to them as we all had to go through check-in together since their credit card for onboard purchases was tied to our cabin.  Was a little confusing but it all worked out and we all boarded together.  This January I will remain firm that we all remain together for boarding purposes.  

I see where I can go in and "link" reservations using lead name; reservation number; and date of birth.  Maybe it really is that simple ... Thanks

We are a family of 11 cruising in 5 cabins in January on Harmony of the Seas.  I know the other family members who are traveling will not want to go into the RCCL website to make their show / dining reservations and will instead delegate me to accomplish it. No problem as I have cruised on RCCL many times and know how to navigate the website to make what we need for the one cabin that I will be in.  How do I get the remaining 4 cabins linked to us for purposes of making show / dining reservations?

Thought I had selected reasonable return flight time for our party only to be notified by Delta that return flight has been changed to 9:45 a.m. I might be willing to chance it BUT we will have elderly parents and MIL requires wheelchair so self disembark is NOT an option. We were in the airport super early off Allure this past January but can't deal will stress of such an early flight.

SO ... wondering if we take the next offering of 2:52 flight .. how long can we "linger" over bkfst before disembarking. I believe we have to be out of stateroom by 8 am? Just trying to figure how best to stretch our time as we cant really just kill time in Ft Lauderdale due to mobility issues

10:45 is not a gamble. If you want to reduce your stress even more, just do self-disembarkation around 6:45AM. You will carry your own bags off the ship with you and walk right off. There will be no crowd, no line, nothing. You walk right off easily. Hop in a cab, at the airport and probably sitting at your gate by 7:45.

 

I have done self-disembarkation on Harmony and we were home (20 minutes further than the airport) by about 7:30 on our last trip. Oasis before that we were home around 7:15! It's consistent and easy to get jump off early on these ships.

Thanks for your reply! We went with 10:45 return flight. You wouldnt have extra rooms for party of 11 to crash out the night before we leave would you ... LOL ... finding affordable accommodations is proving to be tricky

Having a hard time finding reasonable airfare for our January cruise. We were on Allure last January, had low number to be called off ship to get luggage & go thru customs and were in the FLL airport by 9:00 a.m. Didn't know if we were lucky or if that's standard.

My question is … disembarking from Harmony vs. Allure … are we going to experience anything vastly different.

Considering taking a gamble and booking 10:45 a.m. return flight …. (I realize that's a huge gamble)

Thank you everyone for your responses. I am going to hold out until Southwest releases their dates for January (should be in August). I will encourage everyone to make their own travel plans with final plans to meet at a designated place on the boat. Then I'm not responsible for anyone missing the boat. :)

DH, DD and I along with my in-laws will arrive a day prior ... I'm sure before it's all said and done the rest will follow with that plan. We are too much fun to not be with for the duration.

So our small group of 5 has grown to possibly 13 family members (all adults). We always try to get early dining but have a question of how best to try to reserve traditional dining at the early hour (can't remember but I think it's 5:30).

I realize we can't get ONE table to accommodate that many but is it possibly to get an 8 top and a 6 top that would be in close proximity to where if we wanted to talk (quietly) between the tables that is possible .. or if we even wanted to change up our seat mates every few nights we could do so ...

We will be on Harmony of the Seas .. our last cruise was on Allure with just 5 of us and we had a 6 top table against the wall ....

Roz ---

Definitely not a negative Nelly at all. Sorry for the confusion .. we are cruising out of FLL. I think what I will suggest is that everyone handle their own travel. I prefer to fly in a day early so DH, DD and my in-laws will fly in a day early. The others can either go early with us or roll the dice and arrive the day of the cruise.

Thanks for your input.

Sarah

Having only cruised out of FLL once I have no experience with the Miami airport. Our family cruise is growing and now we have potentially 12-15 people looking at going. Southwest doesn't have their schedule out yet for January so looking at other options. I see that we can get a non-stop on American Airlines into Miami arriving at 9:45 a.m. the day the ship leaves on Sunday, January 13. Personally I always want to fly in a day early but I might be outvoted on this one.

Is a 9:45 a.m. arrival time practical considering we would need to gather bags .. catch a pre-arranged shuttle and be on the RCCL Harmony of the Seas in plenty of time. I would think realistically (as long as no flight delays) we would be on the ship by noon. I checked and the next arrival from St Louis wouldn't be until 2:45 pm so if something happened to early flight we would be out of luck.

Loving your review ... makes me wish we were cruising again before January

Loving your daily posts. We sailed Allure in January and are booked on Harmony next January.

Don’t know how prices of the Michael Kors purses compare to the outlet but I purchased the red purse that I think you show in the bottom right corner of the shop pic. I LOVE it and remembering I splurged and bought it while On the Allure makes it even more special.

Glad the bartender helped you out. We actually still had two drinks left from our recent cruise ... think they will let us use it when we sail on Harmony of the Seas in January ... we bought it on Allure?

This review couldn’t be more timely. We are looking into splurging for a 2 bedroom Aqua Theatre Suite to celebrate our daughter’s HS graduation in 2020. We were on the fence about spending the extra $ until my husband saw your review ... now I think he’s all in ...

Highly recommend Special Needs at Sea if cruising out of Ft Lauderdale. We used one of their scooters on Allure last week (Jan 13 cruise). Picked up scooter just inside the terminal after finishing up with check-in and returned it outside the terminal after debarkation! Great experience

So ... if we go ahead and book two specific staterooms now and find that the rate drops (before final payment) ... we can call in to RCCL and they will adjust our rate accordingly? We have a ship and staterooms selected for January of 2019 but don’t want to pull the trigger if a sale might be on the horizon.

Tried to get my husband to book while on the Allure last week but he said “we don’t want to cruise again for a few years” ... now that we are home he’s ready to book ... AAUGH!!!

The only reason we are probably going to delay and go at noon instead of 10:30 is because MIL has limited mobility and can’t stand around so I’m hoping that the scooter we rented is there by noon in the new kiosk pickup which is outside the terminal. Otherwise I’m anxious to get there early and don’t mind standing around

We sail on the Allure tomorrow (1/14) and had selected 11-11:30 as our arrival time only to receive an email that said wait until after noon. When speaking to an agent on the phone to ask about the handicap accessible cabin we needed, the very helpful agent said not to bother showing up to the port until after noon to avoid long lines as they now don’t open the “gates” until noon ... first time for us sailing out of Ft Lauderdale so I’m curious to see how it compares to Port Canaveral where we have always been on eating lunch before noon ....

We are paid in full and ready to go for our January Allure of the Seas cruise. We are taking my in-laws as a cruise is on MIL's bucket list for her 80th bday in January. She is not in the best of health and has a lot of mobility issues so we already have a handicap accessible cabin reserved as well as a scooter on reserve.

Found out today that she has been to Urgent Care and has some serious issues with fluid on her lungs. Naturally DH didn't want to purchase insurance (ugh .. silly for us to decline it). Our travel agent did some preliminary checking and found that we can make "one name change at no cost" for one of the members in the cabin but one member's name must remain the same. If MIL isn't well enough to travel FIL will not go without her. So does that mean we loose everything we paid? They won't allow us to pay a fee to change both names?

I realize this could have all been avoided had we bought insurance but we didn't .... I'm fine with paying a fee to change names but to loose everything just because neither person originally booked in that cabin can travel ....

Would love to receive Fritz's contact info ... my email is crz4mickey@gmail.com

Wow ... Thank you so much for all of your assistance. I'm beginning to wonder if we shouldn't look into taking another form of assistance for her like those walker / seat devices. Don't even have a clue if we can even check something like that for the airplane as a "checked bag". This is on her bucket list to do .. she turns 80 the week before the cruise but due to her poor health she simply can't walk very far at all so I'm trying to get as much lined out pre-cruise as possible.

** If we had our own "wheelchair .. walker/seat" could we do self-disembarkation? DH and I have always done that on our other cruises .. when my vacation is over I want OFF the ship .. don't like standing around in long long lines **

Thanks so much for the responses. Not sure what I was thinking when I thought 1:30 arrival was OK on day of departure. Back to the drawing board.

We are booked on RCCL Allure of the Seas for January 14, 2018. We will be taking my in-laws with us. The only way that MIL will be able to go is if we rent her a scooter .. which I have references for.

I'm curious how available "courtesy wheelchairs" are at the curb for when we arrive at the port. There is NO way she would be able to walk all the way thru check-in and onto the ship. I realize the scooter will be waiting in the cabin and our plan is to grab it and bring it down to her once we are all on board.

Other hurdle is airfare. I'm finding decent rates from STL to FLL to arrive at 1:25 pm (the day we sail). I believe we recently received notification that the new ship sail time is 4:30 so arriving at 1:25 into the FLL airport is enough time right? We will be going straight from baggage claim to the port. I don't like flying in the day we sail but that's our only option. I'm finding return airfare as early as 10:10 am (which I think is cutting it too close) ... would prefer the 10:10 but 12:45 is probably a safer bet .. right? We will take our luggage off the ship ourselves .. but then again .. there goes the same question for MIL ... will we have access to a wheelchair to get her off the ship as the scooter will have to be left in her cabin?

So many questions ... thanks for the assistance?

(I will repost on the board for mobility issues ... mainly curious about airfare and times)

We are booked on RCCL Allure of the Seas for January 14, 2018. We will be taking my in-laws with us. The only way that MIL will be able to go is if we rent her a scooter .. which I have references for.

I'm curious how available "courtesy wheelchairs" are at the curb for when we arrive at the port. There is NO way she would be able to walk all the way thru check-in and onto the ship. I realize the scooter will be waiting in the cabin and our plan is to grab it and bring it down to her once we are all on board.

Other hurdle is airfare. I'm finding decent rates from STL to FLL to arrive at 1:25 pm (the day we sail). I believe we recently received notification that the new ship sail time is 4:30 so arriving at 1:25 into the FLL airport is enough time right? We will be going straight from baggage claim to the port. I don't like flying in the day we sail but that's our only option. I'm finding return airfare as early as 10:10 am (which I think is cutting it too close) ... would prefer the 10:10 but 12:45 is probably a safer bet .. right? We will take our luggage off the ship ourselves .. but then again .. there goes the same question for MIL ... will we have access to a wheelchair to get her off the ship as the scooter will have to be left in her cabin?

So many questions ... thanks for the assistance?

(I will repost on the board for mobility issues ... mainly curious about airfare and times)

[quote name=Snit13;51741339

When we board next Sunday' date=' we will hope to snag a sandwich at Park Cafe and then find location to book restaurant times for Specialty restaurants I have paid for. [/quote]

Don't mean to get off topic here but your response caught my eye as we too board next Sunday. We have selected and paid for two Specialty dinners. Do we still need to go to the restaurants on embarkation day? I thought I had preselected the times we wanted?