ShellDil

I'm thinking of using them in November. This is all great to hear! Did you have a route that you planned to follow or did they give you suggestions? I'm not too sure how to plan the day if we do rent. I love the idea though!

Hi!

We're in port from 7 am - 4 pm, on a Sunday in November. I'm trying to decide if it's worth it to rent a jeep, which would be from about 8 am - 3 pm or of we should just find a tour that appeals to us. I've been to Aruba before and done one of the self drive in a Jeep, caravan style, tours which I loved. But I'm not seeing quite what I'm looking for through a tour. I'd prefer a Jeep to an UTV and most of the tours are UTV or ATV, or they aren't self drive type. I feel somewhat confident that I could get us to where we want to go on our own, but does anyone have any thoughts on having it for only about 6 - 6 1/2 hours is enough time?

Also I've gotten quotes from Jays which includes everything except CDW and also from Royal Car Rentals Aruba which doesn't include taxes or CDW. Pricing is about the same, but Royal isn't available until 8:30 and Jays will have a car at the port for us at 8:00. Does anyone have any feedback on either of those companies for Jeep Rentals? They are the only two I've seen who will be at the port, and I can book in advance. I'd prefer a rental with pick up and drop off at the port, especially for returning it, since we need to be back on board by 3 - 3:30 I'm thinking. 

Thank you so much!

Well, 2+ years later, I found out about this cruise review . Your Navigator/Epic review popped up in my subscription list, so here I am!

 

Really enjoyed this review, since Allure has been (all these many years passed) a favorite cruise. Maybe the fact that it was a B2B in a junior suite?

 

Now I'll be starting on your Breakaway review. We had to cancel our planned Bermuda cruise for a couple of years ago, and haven't made it back. I'd like to take the 7-day Breakaway cruise.

 

Could you post the link to your blog and river cruise report? I'd love to read that!

 

Thank you!

Hi! I'm so glad you enjoyed my review of the Allure! Even 2 years later! :) It definitely was one of our favorite cruises too. There is so much to do on board! I hope you enjoy the Breakaway report as well! And hopefully you get to make it to Bermuda at some point. I wasn't sure how much I'd like it, being docked for three days in one port, but turns out - I loved it!!

Thank you so much for the details and the captivating story. We've been to several of the ports and I thoroughly enjoyed your pictures. A fabulous trip and I hope you're planning another. Thanks, again

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Wow! It's great to see my review pop up again after so much time! :) I'm so glad you enjoyed it! While we have been on a few trips since our "Amazing European Adventure", that one was truly our trip of a lifetime! It holds so many wonderful memories!

Sorry for bumping an old thread, but I wanted to thank you for your review!

 

Thanks to reading your review, I booked Joe Banana for their Sorrento, Positano and Pompeii all inclusive trip for my group of 8. It was, by far, the highlight of our cruise!! What an awesome day we had!

Hi! I'm so glad you enjoyed your day with Joe Banana! We loved that day with them too. It was definitely a highlight for us as well! I love that my review has helped others plan their vacations! :D

ShellDil - thanks for your wonderful review of the Allure. I have followed all of your reviews!! Love your writing style and your reviews are so informative.

I will be on the Allure in July 2016 for the first time. Taking my niece for her high school graduation gift. This will be her first cruise.

Enjoy your trip to Paris with your mom. I have travelled a lot with my mom and it's a unique experience to share those special times with her.

Thank you!

Have a great time on the Allure in April! That is a wonderful graduation gift! I'm sure your niece will love it!

My mom and I are really looking forward to this trip with just the two of us! We've often traveled together, with the "whole" family - but never just her and I and I know we'll have a blast!

ShellDil, thank you so much for sharing your trip in this amazing report. You've described your trip so well and I love your writing style...it's like we're there along with you. Despite a few disappointments, it sounds amazing. Too bad about the teen club though...that's a shame. It seems like they have organized activities in the younger groups , but maybe for the older groups they feel the kids can fend for themselves?

 

Great that you were pleasantly surprised by the ports in the end. Labadee does look great with many options for the day. And you made each port an adventure.

 

The entertainment on Allure looks amazing. I'm especially looking forward to Mamma Mia (which is coming soon instead of Chicago) and the Aqua shows. But I can see that the nights being quieter if you don't have a show booked. It's a shame there are not 7 shows in total for 7 nights...and that are all family oriented.

 

That's great that you've been able to travel so much with your family and experience different cruise lines. Do you have a favorite ship?

 

You have a lot to look forward to. I'm not even sure how a River Cruise differs, but in Paris...wow. And what special time with your mom.

And then you have your Mexico trip to look forward to.

 

Have an amazing new few vacations...and thanks again for your report. Our cruise isn't until next April, but these trip reports keeps me patiently waiting and getting even more excited. :D

I'm so glad you enjoyed my review and hung in there until the end! :)

We did enjoy the entertainment, and thought the shows we did see were very good for the most part, but some nights they were done early and then there wasn't much to do and that was what I thought was lacking.

With the teen club, they did have scheduled activities listed, but they just didn't do them. That was the disappointment there.

But all things considered, neither was anything to complain about in the big picture!

The kids and I spent quite a few conversations comparing the Allure to the Breakaway since they are the most similar ships that we've sailed and in the end we all gave a slight edge to the Breakaway. Not saying that we didn't enjoy the Allure, because it's very clear that we had an amazing vacation right? But the Breakaway just gave us a bit more. It did have it's failings, for example the cabins are so small as compared to the Allure and the size of the balcony - super tiny! But overall, it got the edge for us.

I would sail on either again in a heartbeat though! :D

So here we are, finally at the end of this marathon trip report! I wanted to just sort of wrap it up with some final thoughts on our experience overall....

As you can tell by my signature, we don't really have any particular loyalty to one particular cruise line. We tend to sail based on itinerary or go when there's a promotion that works best for our family. We ended up on the Allure because way back when....it was "the" ship to want to be on! After we sailed on the Epic, we really wanted to try another big ship and see what we thought. And then suddenly this great deal came up and we were booked! I kept saying that we weren't sailing for the itinerary, it was all about the ship. I honestly had no interest in the ports - Jamaica, I felt we could take it or leave it. Labadee - in the past we haven't really been beach type of cruisers, so sure, maybe it would be fine, maybe...but Cozumel - I do love Cozumel! So the ship was our focus!

Then in the meantime, the kids and I sailed on the Breakaway (NCL) and wow, we LOVED it! We had such a great time! We loved that ship! And I started to wonder if the Allure would live up to that ship? The Breakaway had the ropes course and the slides and the entertainment was great! The dining options were fantastic! We sailed to Bermuda, which blew me away! How could the Allure compare?

So, the time was getting near and I was scrambling to come up with things to do in each port...finally I got to surprise the kids with the big trip announcement at Christmas and they could be in on the planning and it all started to be real!

And then it was time to sail! Walking on board we were totally wowed by the size alone! Sure, you do feel like you're inside a shopping mall - but it's one pretty amazing ship! We weren't thrilled with the buffet at all though. We went there for lunch that first day and were totally underwhelmed. Same with breakfast the next morning and I think we tried the buffet maybe one more time. Of all of the food venues, this was our least favorite. And probably of all of the ships we've sailed on, the buffet here was also our least favorite. But, not to worry because we never went hungry! There were so many other places we could eat! Places to eat at no charge for breakfast or lunch. We had no problem.

The pools - with 5000+ people on board, sure, there were not many open chairs, but I honestly don't think it ever felt over crowded. I think the whole pool area with the multiple pools and the pool decks was a great layout. The size of the pools even, for a cruise ship- great! We're not big fans of sea days but on this ship, we never felt like there was a lack of things to do. Be it time at the pool or our scavenger hunts or ice skating or who knows what!

Yet, that being said, on the flip side, the nightly entertainment felt lacking to me. Sure, there was always that "one" big show - but other than that, it often felt like there wasn't always something going on. I'm used to more Comedy shows that aren't always 18+, or for example, on NCL the jazz or dueling pianos, or there's almost always some type of entertainment in their atrium. Here, if you weren't at a show, or in a bar - then what? Well, we walked around aimlessly. Not always a bad thing - but we did feel something was missing a bit.

And that brings me to something else - the teen club. Alex has always loved the teen clubs since he's been old enough to be a part of them. So, at least 4, maybe 5 cruises. Megan has liked the older kid clubs at times, and even on our last cruise - on Celebrity with only 12 teens on board the cruise they enjoyed the teen club. Here on the Allure, they went to the meet & greet night, tried to fit in. Then the next day showed up for what they thought would be scheduled activities. Those activities never happened. Same thing next time they showed up. So, they eventually just stopped going. They didn't want to go to just sit around in a closed in room with a bunch of kids they didn't know "hanging" out - when they could be outside, even if it meant being with their parents ;) If there would have been the games, or scavenger hunts, or activities going on, they definitely would have participated. But there wasn't. That probably was the biggest disappointment for the kids. On a typical cruise, after dinner, the kids, especially Alex - would go to the teen club and come back to the cabin at curfew - he would make new friends and have a blast. Megan may or may not - she likes the shows so it depends on what would be going on on what she'd do. But this cruise - Alex often just went back to the cabin and watched tv because each time he went to the teen club at night - they were just sitting around talking.

The ports.....this was probably the most pleasant surprise for me. Labadee - we loved. I can't express just how much we enjoyed this day! I honestly would probably take a cruise just specifically to visit Labadee again! I'm not sure that I would get another cabana, but it was as close to a perfect beach day as one could have had. If only the wave runners wouldn't have been cancelled because of high winds!

Jamaica - Keith and I have been to Jamaica a few times in the past and it's never been one of my "must go back to with the kids" vacations. It's just ok to me. Not great, not bad, just ok. But our day at the Blue Hole and river tubing was so unique! Being in such a small group made it so nice and not doing something like Dunn's River Falls, which Keith and I have done before and really found not really all that enjoyable because of the crowds....made this trip so memorable!

Cozumel - well, one word - Manatees! What an experience! I just love Mexico, especially the Riviera Maya and Cozumel areas. No complaints about our day there. Loved Chankanaab and hope to return!

We had a really great cabin steward and had no complaints about either of our cabins. The service on the Allure was very good...no complaints there at all.

I think the Allure has such a unique feel, with the Boardwalk and Central Park - it's definitely a ship that I'm so glad to have sailed! I'm eyeing the Harmony of the Seas, taking the best of the Allure but adding slides and more!

Please feel free to ask any questions if there's anything I didn't cover!

And LuCruise asked what our next cruise is.... :D

Well, very exciting, my mom and I are going on a River Cruise! Totally different experience! We're leaving next week! Sailing on Avalon from Paris to Normandy! Spending 2 days in Paris before and 1 day in Paris afterwards! I wish there was a better River Cruise forum here to write a review because I love sharing! But the River Cruise forum isn't like the traditional forums! I'll be sure to blog about it though on my blog!

And then, not a cruise, but the 4 of us are going to Mexico in July for a land vacation - that's more of Keith's style! We'll all love it though!

Then....it's a long time away, but in November of 2016 :eek: Yes 2016!!! We're sailing on the Norwegian Escape! I can't wait for that one!

And I have a feeling that something is bound to come up between the Mexico trip and the Escape in 2016!

Thanks for hanging in there to anyone who still is hanging on!

So glad it worked out and you had a great day in Fort Lauderdale.

We almost booked the 9pm flight, but didn't as our kids are younger than yours so thought it would be too rough on them. It is a great way to end the cruise though since you still had something to look forward too when walking off the ship.

Yup- it was a long day, and a late night returning home! But if you can't tell by now, I like to push it to the end! :D So.....we keep going and going and going....but we also were coming home President's Day Weekend, so no one except me had to work the next day and that helped a lot!

Loved your trip report - read all of it today. I read it because I am also traveling with two teens - 14 and 18 so the fact that you had teens I was interested to see how they enjoyed the trip. Up until this point we have only done Disney cruises, but have decided to give Royal Caribbean a try. I am extremely concerned with the fact that everything cost extra - that is one of the stark benefits of Disney - other than specialty coffee, alcohol, and the two adult restaurants nothing else really costs extra money - not even soft drinks. We will see I have a lot of research to do as I know nothing about Royal Caribbean. I also just wanted to say something about your water camera - I have gone through two of those exact cameras and I hate to say that the appearance of the moisture on the lens is not a good sign - that happened to both of mine and on the next time in the water they stopped working. Gave up on those and bought a cheap underwater digital camera from Walmart ($50) for our cruise last week and decided if it stopped working after one trip I had only waisted $50 dollars.

Thanks for sharing your wonderful memories with us! Your daughter and my daughter would get along great - your daughter sounded just like mine - from the broken nail - to the starbucks - to the selfie game! My daughter is also 13 right now - she will be 14 before we cruise. We actually cruise the same week you did this year next year.

Thanks again

Tracy

I'd love to do a Disney Cruise! I think it all balances out though cost wise. At least from what I've priced - the Disney Cruise usually prices higher to start, but more is included. RCCL may price less, and have more options to add on. But that being said, you could go the entire time with no add ons. My kids don't drink soda, so I was the only one who got the soda package, and it's the first cruise I ever got one. Usually I'm fine with iced tea, water and lemonade. We love the specialty restaurants, but the Main Dining Room is really good quality and changes each night. There are plenty of options that are included. I hope you have a great time!

And the drama of a 13 year old girl.....oh boy! Keeps you on your toes doesn't it?

I wish I didn't know about your camera! I read a lot of reviews about them before buying this one and it never came up as an issue. Then when I saw the moisture, I found all kinds of reports like yours! I haven't had a chance to use it again in water since that problem, but I'll be hot if it totallys stops working!

Thanks for continuing on your report. Your Fort Lauderdale looked pretty neat and still worth the long wait to get off the ship.

 

Looking forward to hearing your overall comments on Allure...and what your next cruise is ;)

Yup, our Ft. Lauderdale day was really pretty cool! We were glad that we decided on the late flight, and even with the long wait to get off the ship, we still had enough time to see and do what we wanted. A little more time would have been better. We were rushed and couldn't really stop for lunch and missed out on some of the exhibits, but it was fine. We did the big things, like the airboat and the swamp buggy! And we felt no rush to get back to the airport in time, and that was most important!

This guy was pretty cute wandering around!

After our buggy tour, we got changed into our "at home winter long pants, YUCK" in the bathroom....

and took one last vacation selfie.....

it was time to head back to reality...

We left and back to the airport we went. We made it back in plenty of time. Ate dinner at the airport and felt the timing was just fine. Our flight home was uneventful, as we all hope it should be!

So that about sums up our last day! I will come back with another post on our thoughts about the Allure....I know I pretty much covered most of it during the actual trip report, but I do have some final thoughts....but right now, I have to help Megan - she's in Seussical - the Musical and it's about showtime! As I mentioned, it never ever seems to stop, running here and there and right now, I have to go do crazy hair! I'll have to post a picture because it's some crazy hair! :)

Our view as we drive through the swampy jungle! It was quite a bumpy ride!

Some orange trees!

They had a little display of a Seminole Village set up!

How cute is this?

They have a reptile show and bird show as well, but since we got there so late, we didn't do those things. We walked around a bit until our time for the buggy tour. They also have these cabins that I suppose people camp in. Some looked like they may have been in use, others looked like they haven't been used for years. It's hard to tell though with cabins! The ones by the swamp looked more recently used! They're listed on the website with pricing though!

We did see some alligators while on the airboat, but not close enough to see with the camera, so they do have some in an enclosure!

And then it was time for our Swamp Buggy Tour!

This would be a Swamp Buggy! So, instead of going through the water, we go over land! And yes, quite a few deep puddles!

It was really beautiful there

Another airboat coming up behind us!

There is also a Florida Panther, which they say has the largest enclosure in South Florida....

During part of the ride we'd go fast and the water would spray, and it was like being in a movie! And then we'd go slow and look for wildlife, including alligators....and then we went into the more jungley area (yes, I made that word up) and our guide told us about the park area and the wildlife there and we spent about 5 minutes just sitting there looking around, asking questions. It was very cool!

Little turtle here on a log!

Ok then....let's see if I can get to this day in Ft. Lauderdale afterall! It's been so busy with the last weeks of school for the kids, and all that goes with it! Sometimes I wonder how we ever manage to take vacations at all because when we're home, life keeps us so busy!

We left off with line after line after line....first waiting to get off the ship then waiting to get to our luggage, then waiting to go through customs, then waiting to get to the bus to get to our rental car!...But finally, we made it!

After looking through all of the different Everglade Airboat tours we could do, we decided to go to Billie Swamp Safari. It may have been one of the farthest ones, but we did have quite a bit of time...well, we should have anyway! But we figured they had a lot there and got good reviews. So, why not! Off we went out into the Seminole Indian Reservation.....I'd say it was probably after 2:30 by the time we got to the Indian Reservation

On the way there were some areas of the everglades that were on fire, and we saw a helicopter dropping water to try to put the fires out, and there were some firetrucks on the ground as well.

And we finally arrived! We scheduled both the air boat ride and the Swamp Buggy Ride.....

And are they finally starting to look tired? Or is it Megan's fear of pythons and Alex's total annoyance at her fear of pythons showing in this picture? You be the judge of this one? Here we're waiting for our ride on the airboat!

Not sure what that face is by Alex, but we're on board! And it was a really fun ride! Even Megan finally realized she probably wasn't going to die by the end!

Jumped here from the Allure report. Did the Allure in March and doing the TA in October with a week on Epic as well. Enjoy your pix and writing.

Thanks,

Tony and Debbie

Thanks! I love when I see this trip report resurface! It was such a fantastic trip, that when it comes back up it brings back a bit of the memories again! :)

Enjoy your upcoming cruises in October!

Yikes. What a shame you lost your day in Ft Lauderdale. So upsetting. Did you end up with any time at all?

 

Your post is scaring me. We thought of booking the 9:20pm flight as well, but ended up going with an 11:40am flight...hoping to get earlier luggage tag. But after reading your post, am thinking maybe we should self disembark (problem is I am not much help with carrying luggage due to back issues).

 

Hoping you got 'some' time to enjoy in Ft Lauderdale.

Well, there were definitely people who got off the ship earlier than we did, so hopefully if you put on your paperwork that you have an 11:40 am flight, you will be called earlier than we were. We certainly weren't in the first groups! I'm sure they determine your group number by the time of your flights, so you should be alright, and the airport is close, so I think you'd be ok. We knew we had time. If you see you're in a later group, just let them know you need to be off earlier and they'll adjust it.

We did lose the morning, but with the late flight we still had a pretty decent amount of time to do what we wanted. It did feel rushed getting the car, and we were all starving and trying to find lunch was a bit of a cranky experience! No Dog House or 15 places to eat on a whim??? :eek: But once we ate, we were all fine! Hopefully I'll have a few minutes this weekend to finish up our day in Ft. Lauderdale and then post some final thoughts on the Allure and the whole cruise in general!

I haven't totally disappeared! I am going to write about or day in Ft. Lauderdale before we went home! Because I know several people look for things to do if they spend a night or have a late flight. So, that's coming!

Before that though.....here we are....docked and ready to leave the Allure. Not my favorite picture, but we're on our balcony, and saying hello Ft. Lauderdale, bye bye Allure!

Now, when we booked the cruise, you may get the impression from me that I love to vacation right? So for whatever reason, I decided to book a flight home at 9:20 PM! Sure, extend that vacation as long as possible! We get an extra day in Ft. Lauderdale without having to pay for a hotel for another night! Fantastic! But what in the world were we going to do in Ft. Lauderdale??? No beach, we didn't want sandy clothes, wet bathing suits and all that mess if we had to get on a plane later that night!

We could do a Segway Tour! That sounds fun! But Megan had her doubts...would she run off the sidewalk, crashing into traffic and cause a major accident in Ft. Lauderdale? Seriously...this is her issue.

We couldn't use the luggage express because our flight was too late....no hotels in the area worked for a day pass....it was looking grim.

So, we decided we'd rent a car and go to the Everglades! Now, Megan was petrified! In 4th grade she had a teacher that showed them some movie about snakes - pythons in particular and how they could get loose and kill people. Well, apparently when people got tired of their pythons, they let them loose in the Everglades. I suppose? And so, she was picturing the Everglades OVERRUN with giant pythons suffocating and eating people left and right! Now, she's been to Florida many times. I'm pretty sure she's been through the Everglades before! But she insisted NO WAY would she go to the Everglades! Well....guess what...she was going!

Anyway....since we were renting the car, for some reason, I thought we'd just check the luggage off and let RCCL take care of it. So we had our assigned time to disembark. Of the entire trip, the was the only time I had a complaint. It was the most disorganized mess ever!

First our number was called....we go to the Main Dining Room area to wait.

I can't even tell you how long we waited, but given the fact that our number was called to go there, we should have had a pretty short wait. Well, we probably waited at least an hour there. Finally we asked if we could just leave. They told us we could, but our luggage may not be ready. Really?

So then we walk down to the customs area...the line to even get to the luggage, another 40 minutes or so. Then there was our luggage, right in our section. Then line to go through customs...oh, another 40 minutes! It probably took 3 hours to get off the ship and out the door. Never again....we will do self disembark and walk off before the masses! We've done that on our past cruises and never had to wait like that!

Now, you'd think we were home free right? No.....we're renting a car! So, I picked National I think. They have a bus that comes into the port to pick you up. No organization whatsoever in the line. Someone needed to be there to let people know that they could NOT just go up to the front of the line and think they could walk right onto the bus! What is a line? I don't get that. So, we waited probably another 40 minutes for the bus!

It was then that I thought my 9:20 flight might not have been all that late in the long run! We may barely make it! :)

We finally got our car and were on the road to our Everglades adventure! Whew.......

I have really enjoyed all your fantastic pictures and the fabulous review. We are going on our first cruise this summer with our kids who are 12, 17, and 19 so it was awesome to see the teen perspective. Thank you so much for sharing!

 

Did your waterproof camera recover from the moisture problem?

I'm glad my review helped out! I always enjoy reading other people's reviews when they have kids about the same age as mine, so I know what you mean about the teen perspective! Enjoy your first cruise! I find it's a great type of vacation for families! We get our together time, and yet still all get to do our own thing at times too!

I think the waterproof camera recovered, at least that day. But I haven't had the chance to use it underwater again to see if it happens again. We're going to Mexico in July, so I'll see if it happens again! I hope not!!

Thanks for sharing your experience. We sail her for the first time in September and will use what you have shared to assist in our planning.

You're welcome! I'm glad to have helped out! You're going to have a great time!!

I just love reading your reviews. I learn so much, especially if I an going on same itinerary.

Thank you! I love sharing our experiences, so it's great that I'm able to help others out with their trips!

Tell Alex I've watched some pretty experienced surfers wipe out on the Flowrider. I think he was brave to even try it.

I agree! I think he was brave too! Especially after standing in line watching so many people go before him!

And then when I got back to my cabin, I had this....see, Keith is sound asleep in half the bed, but he'd slide the towel art over and keep it nice and arranged so I could take a picture. :)

Sadly that pretty much wraps up the Allure part of the trip! I have a full day in Ft. Lauderdale though that I'll share. I just have to upload the pictures. And I have some final thoughts about the cruise, the ports, and the ship.

Plus if I can answer any questions, please feel free to ask!

Starting the Ft. Lauderdale upload tonight, so maybe I'll get to the posts this weekend! Thanks for hanging in there!:D