This trip on the Allure of the Seas has been about three years in the making. Due to Covid, it kept getting pushed back and we finally are now able to go on the cruise. Luckily the cases have dropped down significantly by the time we’re getting ready to board, but there’s still stressful precautions that we have to take before going.
Leading up to this trip we’re all super cautious to make sure 1. we don’t catch Covid and 2. we don’t get sick from anything else that could keep us from going. The ship requires everyone to be vaccinated which wasn’t an issue for us since that was taken care of a while back. However, the fact that you have to test negative no more than two days before your trip was definitely something hanging over our heads. Knowing there is a chance that we could test positive and not realize we have it was pretty stressful. We opted for the at home proctored test even though it cost money. After hearing lots of people having their Walgreens or CVS testing appointments canceled on them, I’m glad we went with the more guaranteedoption of testing at home. The test went smoothly and we all tested negative.
We ended up flying out of Kansas City for the first time because of the timing and cost of the flight was best compared to St. Louis. And I have to say, I am not impressed with Kansas City airport. The size of the Southwest terminal compared to other places was really tiny. We also had to deal with the fact that the airport’s Internet went out and they had to board everybody old school by writing down their names as they get onto the plane. Luckily they didn’t have to cancel the flight.
We arrived in Fort Lauderdale at about 8:45 PM. And after getting our luggage I called to make sure that our hotel shuttle was going to pick us up. I had heard that the Best Western we were staying at did not have the most reliable shuttle. We definitely experienced that when we waited for an hour to get the shuttle despite them claiming it had been there multiple times and we had missed it. That just complicated everything since we had not eaten dinner and most places were closing. There was a McDonald’s right next to our hotel but the dining room was closed at the point we got there so drive-through was the only option and we didn’t have a car so they wouldn’t serve us. We ended up finding a place I can make us a pizza and we eat that around midnight before finally getting to bed.
The next day it was time to prepare to get on the ship. We opted to go with Uber for about $17 which was much cheaper than paying for the hotel shuttle or a taxi. Ethan was really excited to order and use Uber. Our boarding time was 11:30 but we ended up getting to the port around 11 and didn’t have any issues making it through the process to get on the ship. There was still a bit of a line but they moved fairly quickly. I know they were supposed to have everything really quick that you can arrive at the port and get on the ship within about 10 minutes. But with their facial recognition not working due to masks, things still are a little slow. We had everything and put it into the app like vaccination and passports but when we went to check in mine was the only passport that actually showed uploaded. Not a big deal because they just scanned everyone else’s passport but it was kind of odd that even though it said in the app we had done everything, it didn’t show up in their system when we went to check in. We probably boarded the ship within 45 minutes of getting to the port so that’s still better than it used to be.
After we got on the ship we did something that we haven’t done in a long time. We took off our masks and wandered around inside with lots of people. Since the ship is vaccinated and cases are down and everybody tests negative before getting on the ship, we felt safe being mask free. Hannah went to Starbucks to claim her birthday drink since that can only be claimed on your birthday and luckily they have one on the ship. Ethan and I went to go find our seating in the main dining room. We then logged on to the Wi-Fi and using the app booked our shows for the trip to make sure we get to see them before they get all reservations filled up. Then it was finally time to enjoy some ship food at the Windjammer buffet. I like that they added hand washing station on the Allure outside the buffet and actually at almost every dining place on the ship. One thing I was surprised at is that they do have the option for you to load your own plate at many of the stations at the buffet even though they had advertised that it is supposed to be manned completely by staff giving you the food.
Hannah went to go meet up with some of the teens that she had met on social media from the Facebook group of our cruise. While she did that the rest of us explored other areas including the zip line. This is the first cruise that we ever had any type of drink package on. We got the refreshments package which means you can pretty much get anything for free other than alcohol. Don’t get me wrong I like alcohol but I’m not willing to pay that much for the alcohol package. Plus we were able to bring four bottles of wine along onto the ship so we can get our alcohol through that. But our package does allow us to get things such as specialty coffees, smoothies, milkshakes, or any kind of virgin cocktails.
It was time to go get ready for our first dinner on the ship. We really enjoy the main dining room so we look forward to eating there every night of the cruise. Of course Hannah had her outfit picked out for a while of what she was going to wear at dinner on her birthday. Our family always takes advantage of the all you can eat factor in the main dining room. Picking out a couple of appetizers, entrées, and desserts for each person to make sure that there is something that we can try we may not like but always something that we for sure will enjoy. Let’s just say we were stuffed at the end of the meal.
After we were done eating, we rushed off to Studio B to see the ice show. Like pretty much every ice show we’ve seen on a Royal Caribbean cruise, this one did not disappoint. It was very good. Ethan claims it’s the best one he’s seen.
The show ended just in time for us to sneak up and get the last bit of sunset pictures on the pool deck. We had some time to kill before our show at 10 PM so we played a little more table tennis and then hung out in the room for a little bit. The girls went to the big theater to watch the Oscars from there. They had a little red carpet area set up where you came in.
The last thing on our schedule for the night was the aqua theater show of ocean aria. We were slightly worried if it was gonna happen because they tend to have to cancel or shorten the shows for the aqua theater if there’s rough seas or too much wind for safety reasons. Luckily the sea was pretty calm and not breezy so they were able to perform all their stuff including the tallest high dive. The show was really good. Afterwards the girls went back to finish watching the Oscars. It was probably going on midnight by the time everybody really started to go to bed after a long busy first day on the ship. I sat out on the Central Park balcony and worked on this blog while others went to bed. It’s very peaceful sitting out there listening to the crickets being chirped into the Park.
