Cheapo dad’s trip report on Allure of the Seas sailing December 14, 2014

[Coralc]

I loved your elephants photo! And we very much enjoyed your review. Thank you Harry.

 

Short, funny story about Voyager OTS. I had read about the men's room outside of the Windjammer on the ship. After we had dined we were talking to friends, and DH said he was going to use the restroom.

 

I said, "Oh here, take the camera"

 

And he looked at me like I was crazy, and said, "What for? I'm not taking photos in the bathroom!"

 

After a few minutes, he returned and said, "Okay, give me the camera"

 

And he came back with this photo of the urinal:

 

It is probably even more interesting during the day with the windows looking out over the ocean. :D

Edited February 7, 2015 by Coralc

[marion10]

I don't think I ever read the sign! I had tennis shoes with a zipper and they wouldn't allow them- so I had to go back and get socks and then they put me in soft rock climbing shoes. Understandably- they are very scared about things dropping of the zip line- that could do real damage if it hit a passenger.

[ShellDil]

Thank you so much for the fantastic review. You have a wonderful family and it's been a pleasure reading along. We leave today for the Allure, sailing tomorrow, so reading your review has been a great help in my planning! I have your spreadsheet adapted to our schedule packed away!

 

I'm going to finish up with you review at the airport, and any of your final posts with the internet plan on the ship!

 

Thank you again!:)

[Tankminder]

Glad to help.

 

For example, if Oasis passengers gets off on Saturday and then stay 1 night to leave on Sunday. In theory, the Sunday flights will be full of Allure passengers when they get off the ship and therefore not cheap. But if you can find a 6 or 7 AM flight out of FLL, those should be cheaper and empty as no cruise ship passengers (Allure or any other ships docking that day) would dare book those that early morning as they are still on the ship. So anything before 9 AM on Sunday might be worth looking into…

 

You're exactly right. See below that exact case. We're returning Saturday March 28th on Liberty, staying overnight in FLL and flying to Philly Sunday AM the 29th. $500 more to fly at 11:50 am than to fly at 6am - ONE WAY. In fact, look at this insanity. First class - FLEXIBLE- cheaper than COACH non-refundable. First class - flexible - cheaper than first class non-refundable? $745 to fly (one-way) COACH from Fort Lauderdale to Philadelphia unless you want to hang until 7:30 that night.

 

My flights are booked, and when we did we got first class cheaper than coach, and cheaper than the rates shown here too. :)

 

 

[harryfat1]

Loving your review!! I'm only about halfway through but wanted to say it's fantastic. We sail Allure in just a few weeks and your review has been great!! Very much looking forward to trying out the big ship. We'll be on the Eastern itinerary but all your ship info is super helpful. :) Thanks so much for sharing!!

 

Hi,

 

Thanks for the kind words. Glad the info is helpful.

 

Take your time reading. Unlike a real super bowl party, you can join this virtual reading party anytime.

 

Have a great cruise.

[harryfat1]

I loved your elephants photo! And we very much enjoyed your review. Thank you Harry.

 

Short, funny story about Voyager OTS. I had read about the men's room outside of the Windjammer on the ship. After we had dined we were talking to friends, and DH said he was going to use the restroom.

 

I said, "Oh here, take the camera"

 

And he looked at me like I was crazy, and said, "What for? I'm not taking photos in the bathroom!"

 

After a few minutes, he returned and said, "Okay, give me the camera"

 

And he came back with this photo of the urinal:

 

It is probably even more interesting during the day with the windows looking out over the ocean. :D

 

 

Wonder if the windows/mirror can be 2 way such that people from outside can see in? If so, that will be a highly photographed part of the ship from the outside.

 

You know where all this potty talk is going, right? The various readers that have said ”decent review, so far” will now say “decent review, until the report went down the toilet/urinal – literally, then everything is crap thereafter…”

 

Oh, what the heck, since we are there, let’s talk more urinals. Since we are both from CA, you ever been to Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo? They have many famous room set ups. Their urinal is famous:

 

http://www.urinal.net/madonna/

 

And I didn’t even realize there is such site as urinal.net until now - where they get people from all over the world to submit photographs of various urinals. So for you urinal fans, enjoy…

 

It would be funny that after all the pictures I uploaded and the gibberish I wrote, the only thing people remember from this trip report couple months later is the urinal link…

[harryfat1]

Thank you so much for the fantastic review. You have a wonderful family and it's been a pleasure reading along. We leave today for the Allure, sailing tomorrow, so reading your review has been a great help in my planning! I have your spreadsheet adapted to our schedule packed away!

 

I'm going to finish up with you review at the airport, and any of your final posts with the internet plan on the ship!

 

Thank you again!:)

 

Hi,

 

Thanks for the compliment. Glad the info is helpful.

 

I think you have all the info you need. Put down the phone/tablet. Enjoy the cruise ahead of you and not some dude talking about his old vacation.

 

Don’t read this while on the ship, I have nothing new to share. All we talking about now are urinals…

 

You are on vacation now. No more planning. Action time. Have a great cruise and post a picture of two after you get back.

[harryfat1]

You're exactly right. See below that exact case. We're returning Saturday March 28th on Liberty, staying overnight in FLL and flying to Philly Sunday AM the 29th. $500 more to fly at 11:50 am than to fly at 6am - ONE WAY. In fact, look at this insanity. First class - FLEXIBLE- cheaper than COACH non-refundable. First class - flexible - cheaper than first class non-refundable? $745 to fly (one-way) COACH from Fort Lauderdale to Philadelphia unless you want to hang until 7:30 that night.

 

My flights are booked, and when we did we got first class cheaper than coach, and cheaper than the rates shown here too. :)

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the info.

 

First thought as I drink my morning coffee – nice professional red arrows that are straight. Not the crappy free hand ones I use.

 

Yeah, there are fewer takers for the 6 AM flight as all cruisers are still on the ship. Only people that would be interested are the ones that stayed 1 night post cruise or the land vacationers. Once you get 15,000 people off of the ships, then it’s a different story.

 

Interesting how first class is cheaper. Maybe your urinal isn’t as good as the ones in the back? Take a picture for us and post it as there seems to be some urinal fans reading this report (you know who you ladies are).

 

I know, I know, this report is going down the toilet, literally…

[harryfat1]

OK, let’s get back to the trip report before I have more potty talk…

 

So they finally called our number. Last picture taken from the ship as we are walking on RP to the gangway. Time stamp is 11:09. About 30 minutes behind the original estimation as they start to speed up the process to kick us off the ship because they need to bring in a new group of cruisers within the next 30 to 45 minutes.

 

 

So we probably clocked off the ship sometime around 11:15 and then walked onto the second story of the cruise terminal and following the cattle call until we get to the end of the second floor. Everyone stopped. No movement. Waited. Nothing. Then some worker said, “The entire area below on the escalator level is full to the max with people waiting to get through customs. We cannot allow any more people to go down. Everyone sit down and wait”.

 

 

Alrighty. More hurry up and wait. Time stamp 11:26 AM. Should have taken more pics of the wait area but didn’t. So here is the second floor. The line zig zags so we have to go to the far left end of the building and then turn right and come all the way back this side to be where the people behind us are on the other aisle and the zig zag back the other way again until we get to where the red arrow is to go down to the escalator to get our luggage to then stand in another even longer line to zig zag out.

 

Obviously they won’t allow any pics at security area below, but I would easily estimate there were at least 800+ people down on the bottom floor ahead of us. Behind us, less than 300 people. Assuming these were the last groups off the ship, we are probably like 5,900 people out of 6,200 to be off the ship. Close to be among the last ones. I don’t know when the next cruise came on board, but I have to imagine them being slightly later than us boarding after 11:30 as we the last group probably didn’t get off until close to 11:25. That’s assuming there is no one or two groups of stragglers behind being late somewhere on the ship for them to track down.

 

When we boarded on day 1 as gold members, we physically walked onto Promenade deck at 11:26. That’s with all the higher echelon cruisers ahead of us and we weren’t even the front of the gold level people so I can safely assume the 12/21 cruisers got on the ship at a later time than we did on 12/14 due to the delays.

[Miryam1234]

 

Harry, talking about view from a toilet: this is from ladies room at Adventure of the Seas. I thin all Voyager class ships have toilets with a view!

[cruisemeister8]

 

Hey, look, how about that? Chairs. Bet you folks never seen chairs back where you are. Take a picture…

 

 

 

Heck, yeah! Take a picture! To the untrained eye, this photo is merely a confirmation that a cruise ship does indeed have chairs. A nod to the color scheme to which you will be subjected once you are onboard. A forewarning to bring a towel so you will not chafe on the vinyl mesh. A pre-planner's dream to know the ergonomics in which you will sit. But for some of us, this picture is a memory! A reminder of lazy days idled away by the beach pool. Smell the sea air! Hear the deck noise! Taste the soft serve! Know that "our chairs" are exactly where we left them. We may allow other cruisers to use them and photograph them in the interim. But we will return again, to that exact spot on Deck 15, starboard side by the pole, just down from the cantilevered whirlpool. I'm getting teary.

 

That's right, Harry. Your pictures of dirt bring us cruisers closer together. For it is only we who know the joys of those orange chairs. It is only we who have walked on the same decks and stood in each others footprints who can appreciate the spacial placement within the greater plane of existence that these mere chairs represent as they await others to enjoy as have we. Yes, your penchant to "take a picture" serves the greater good of mankind in ways you may not realize.

 

Too dramatic?

 

Not for this crazy trip report. LOL! Just when I'm again appreciating your analysis of budgeting airline schedules and the cost point of more customs agents, you have to throw in the adorable picture of your family in matching t-shirts and more decorator pottys. This trip report should win some sort of CC prize!

Edited February 7, 2015 by cruisemeister8

[cruisemeister8]

 

So we probably clocked off the ship sometime around 11:15 and then walked onto the second story of the cruise terminal and following the cattle call until we get to the end of the second floor.

 

When we boarded on day 1 as gold members, we physically walked onto Promenade deck at 11:26.

 

Hey! They jipped you 11 minutes out of your full 7 days onboard. How much did it cost, again, per minute on board? Times 6. Someone owes Harry a prorated credit toward his next trip!

[harryfat1]

 

Harry, talking about view from a toilet: this is from ladies room at Adventure of the Seas. I thin all Voyager class ships have toilets with a view!

Haha, everyone is looking into their photo archives for bathroom pictures. Yes, I remember the mariners men room had a nice view also so that is another thing oasis class ship lacks.

 

Don't think this made it on too many people's list, though...but you be sure to point that out in your trip report afterwards.

[ILuvCruisin']

For what’s it worth, this is my 1,000th post here on CC. Milestone.

 

Anyway, here are few pics on views from cabin. I will show more later on throughout the cruise.

 

Viewing through the balcony glass across on the other side. Note the holiday decorations on the glass.

 

 

 

 

 

These 2 were taken on day 5, second formal night as we were done for the night and everyone went outside to the balcony for me to take a picture across the way. Note the 3 lid cabins are ours. Again, in perfect world, I wish I could have connected the 3. Also note the basketball court above us but we never had any noise issues.

 

 

 

Congrads on your 1,000th CC post.

 

Love the Christmas decorations. I usually bring some for the inside door and inside the cabin but wlil have to steal your idea of the sticky ones for the Balcony. Luv it!!

 

Beautiful Family and I like that they seem very accommodating to your various picture pose requests.

 

You are an excellent reviewer IMHO. Thank you for all of the detail. I have been on Allure and Oasis many,many times but still enjoyed your perspective very much. Thank you for taking the time. It is greatly appreciated.

 

BTW I am an accountant also and will be using your wonderful Spreadsheet and passing it on to others.

Edited February 7, 2015 by ILuvCruisin'

[harryfat1]

Heck, yeah! Take a picture! To the untrained eye, this photo is merely a confirmation that a cruise ship does indeed have chairs. A nod to the color scheme to which you will be subjected once you are onboard. A forewarning to bring a towel so you will not chafe on the vinyl mesh. A pre-planner's dream to know the ergonomics in which you will sit. But for some of us, this picture is a memory! A reminder of lazy days idled away by the beach pool. Smell the sea air! Hear the deck noise! Taste the soft serve! Know that "our chairs" are exactly where we left them. We may allow other cruisers to use them and photograph them in the interim. But we will return again, to that exact spot on Deck 15, starboard side by the pole, just down from the cantilevered whirlpool. I'm getting teary.

 

That's right, Harry. Your pictures of dirt bring us cruisers closer together. For it is only we who know the joys of those orange chairs. It is only we who have walked on the same decks and stood in each others footprints who can appreciate the spacial placement within the greater plane of existence that these mere chairs represent as they await others to enjoy as have we. Yes, your penchant to "take a picture" serves the greater good of mankind in ways you may not realize.

 

Too dramatic?

 

Not for this crazy trip report. LOL! Just when I'm again appreciating your analysis of budgeting airline schedules and the cost point of more customs agents, you have to throw in the adorable picture of your family in matching t-shirts and more decorator pottys. This trip report should win some sort of CC prize!

 

Here at my kids piano lessons and checking cc for posts.

 

Haha, I think you should finish the rest of this trip report for me since you are obviously a better writer than me and much more observant of details.

 

You can be my ghost writer. I will just upload the pictures and leave plenty of space in between and you can come in with your expert experience and knowledge. Bet people have no idea on the nuisance of the basic chairs until you brought it up.

 

As I said in introduction posts, there are better photographers and writers than I will ever be, so in order to keep people from falling asleep in reading, I throw in as much of other stuff to keep things lively as I tell the mundane details of days of our lives.

 

Similar to a baseball pitcher that does not have the best fast ball or curve ball or best of any pitches, but can still survive in the league because he has a variety of many pitches. Just like a buffet, this report is not good at any one thing, but has a little of everything, including urinals and spreadsheet, so people can pick and choose what they like from it.

[dmarie1623]

We were not the only people up there as many groups decided to be up on top for fresh air than being inside

 

 

This is my family, this became our embarkation and disembarking meeting place You also had a couple of pictures of my son and niece, both were participants in the sexy man contest (she was a judge). My son is normally a quiet kid, his brother goaded him into the competition. For the rest of the trip we never let him forgot about it. So it was a complete horror to him when I showed him your pictures. :D

 

I have really enjoyed your review, its been fun re-living the events of our trip. Thank you!

[rainsrabble]

 

 

 

I noticed on your info that you have been with cc for almost 3 years but this is only your second post.

Ha ha Harry. Thus is the great power of your review. You pulled me out of my 3 year lurk fest to comment. It must have been the urinal talk.

[harryfat1]

Congrads on your 1' date='000th CC post.

 

Love the Christmas decorations. I usually bring some for the inside door and inside the cabin but wlil have to steal your idea of the sticky ones for the Balcony. Luv it!!

 

Beautiful Family and I like that they seem very accommodating to your various picture pose requests.

 

You are an excellent reviewer IMHO. Thank you for all of the detail. I have been on Allure and Oasis many,many times but still enjoyed your perspective very much. Thank you for taking the time. It is greatly appreciated.

 

BTW I am an accountant also and will be using your wonderful Spreadsheet and passing it on to others.[/quote']

 

Hi,

 

Thanks for the compliment. I read your review as well in helping me prepare for my cruise last year so I thank you as well.

 

I have now gone way past 1,000 posts now. Posted more the past 30 days than the past 5+ years.

 

The boys are ok with maybe up to 2 poses before they get flustered and walk away. This is why you see there were only the ladies left at the end of the photo shoot. The men were more than ready to get out of their formal clothes and into the AC cabin.

 

Every family has different perspective from their cruise vacation. That’s what is so great about cruise vacations – seldom will you find two that are exactly alike. Happy to share my experience with others.

[harryfat1]

We were not the only people up there as many groups decided to be up on top for fresh air than being inside

 

 

This is my family, this became our embarkation and disembarking meeting place You also had a couple of pictures of my son and niece, both were participants in the sexy man contest (she was a judge). My son is normally a quiet kid, his brother goaded him into the competition. For the rest of the trip we never let him forgot about it. So it was a complete horror to him when I showed him your pictures. :D

 

I have really enjoyed your review, its been fun re-living the events of our trip. Thank you!

 

You’re welcome.

 

Glad my info here is able to let you re-live your cruise just as I am re-living ours. Cheapo dad scores with 2 vacations for price of 1 and the second one I don’t even have to take off my shoes for TSA…

 

Tell your son that unlike a Las Vegas vacation that stays in Vegas – cruise vacation stays on the ship and on cruise critics forever for the whole world to see. Wait until his buddies see my posts and refer to it on facebook…

Edited February 8, 2015 by harryfat1

[harryfat1]

Hey! They jipped you 11 minutes out of your full 7 days onboard. How much did it cost, again, per minute on board? Times 6. Someone owes Harry a prorated credit toward his next trip!

 

Forget the 11 minutes. I will ignore that as rounding error.

 

What I want from RCI is back on post #223 where I demanded to be compensated for $200 OBC for the pain and suffering at Labadee for them not having refreshment at the end of the pier. Give me that $200 and I will pass on the 11 minutes...

[harryfat1]

So we sat and waited for a while before the cattle call once again told us to stand up and follow the group downstairs. Once there, grabbed our luggage in area 66 (no, not area 51) and then did the long zig zagging of many up and down lines toward customs podiums. Many people say going on Allure is like going to Disneyland – this is one prime example. This is just like Disneyland lines with all the up and down zig zags. Not that it’s RCI’s fault, I blame it more on the customs people in not having enough processors early on. By time we got to the front, I counted 14 agents working (yes, I am anal but I didn’t need to count actually, they each have a number in front of them). Worker smarter, not harder.

 

One tip, if you are thinking of upgrading your old luggage into the “spinner’ types, those will come very handy in these zig zag lines as you can just push the luggage if you have spinners. 2 of the 4 luggage we have are that way, the other 2 are not and I made a mental note to upgrade those 2 old ones in future cruises because it’s heavier to drag the luggage with the wrist/arm than to push it.

 

Or if you are rich, you can just hire a porter to have him load up your luggage for you and have him push it to the end for you. Nice to have money. Being cheapo dad, I opted to drag the crap ourselves.

 

So finally made it out of the customs and onto the sidewalks of the terminal area. As one would imagine, it was an organized chaos area with thousands of people leaving and thousand more arriving

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

Here is me trying to talk on the cell phone with the driver of the shuttle company telling him we made it out of the building and standing in front of the shuttle pick up/drop off area. With all the noise happening in the background, I can barely hear what he had to say. Time stamp is 12:13. About 50 minutes later than I thought we would get out as I was thinking if we get off the ship at 10:40 or so and then go through maybe 40 minutes of customs wait, which would set me back to 11:20 as when we would get out. Not exactly.

 

 

The first time around, the driver couldn’t spot us from the crowd and he had to circle back again as the cops told him to “move it move it”. The same driver, Brian, which dropped us off 7 days ago is there to pick us up.

 

 

So finally got on the van and head out toward the Double Tree GalleryOne hotel. Here are some of the pics from the car to the hotel as we drove along the beach front taken from the cell phones

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

More pics of the beach area on the way to the hotel

 

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

So here is the hotel – the Double Tree GalleryOne. Very nice modern hotel. Has pretty good reviews on Tripadvisor as well as the Florida boards. If you remember from day 0, we stayed overnight at the Holiday Inn Express by the airport because we came in late and therefore didn’t need anything fancy. But for the post cruise, we have all afternoon to sight see so I wanted a better option than an airport hotel.

 

At this point, some people are probably wondering, this guy isn’t much of a CPA. He hasn’t saved me a dang dime in this long winded report. I’ve been reading this boring reprot stuff for days/weeks and all he has shown me are bunch of dumb jokes and urinals. To steal the Tom Cruise famous phrase – SHOW ME THE MONEY.

 

OK. Fine. The one company that many people on the Florida board uses is Last Minute Travel. You can use their web site or they have free apps in both Android and Apple format. Personally I prefer the app version more as you don’t have to log into the account like you have to on the web based info for them to show you the name of the hotel. I checked the app prices daily in getting this hotel. For our stay, the bargain price was $97/night + taxes/fees for out the door price of $114. On the Double Tree’s own web site, it’s $230+ night plus tax so you can get substantial savings.

 

The key to getting saving for hotel is same as airfare, if you are staying on a Sunday night like us, where most of the cruisers are gone, the price drops big time. If we had stayed on a Saturday night instead, the price would have easily double that and then some. So if you are staying in FLL on a week night, say Monday to Thursday, you can get a pretty decent hotel at a bargain price.

 

Key is to check cruisett.com and see how many ships will be in port the day your ship sails and then you will see the approx. passenger load. If you have more than 15,000 passengers sailing the same day as you, then it’s safe bet that these many of these people of need a place to stay the night before and there you will be hard pressed to find a room bargain. Conversely, if you only have 2 ships in port with you that day, then the demand for hotels will be lower the night before and you can get better rates. So it helps to know how many people you are fighting to get a room rate.

 

I will show you the room pictures later when we have access to the rooms. When we got there. We were too early for check in as the previous night’s cruisers were just leaving. Actually when we got to the hotel and checking in our luggage for storage, one cruiser saw our t-shirts and asked if we just came off of the Allure as she will be boarding her that day. She was concerned about the rocking motion of the ship as she has a medical patch behind her ear but we told her o our cruise, it was very smooth sailing.

 

 

Waiting in line for early check-in process

 

 

 

[Grandma Petania]

I wear glasses and I wore them on the zipline. I think that's just something they put in the rules but don't enforce. I could see everything just fine the two times in a row that I zipped.

When I was on the Oasis in 2012, they insisted on a band to hold my glasses in place. I concocted one from two hair bands, and they approved it. My daughter was behind me, and they made her wait until I got back to the take-off area, so she could use it for her glasses. I wouldn't trust that they will overlook glasses without something securing them around your head. Too dangerous for those below if your glasses should fly off - (and I wouldn't want to risk losing or damaging my glasses. That would make the rest of the cruise pretty sucky).