CCudmore

If we have reservations for the ice show or OceansAria for 7:30, and a main dining room seating at 8:30, will we be able to arrive late for the dining room seating (I'm assuming the shows are more than an hour in length?) and still be seated, or should we plan on dining somewhere else that night?

Thanks so much for everyone who has answered my questions for our first cruise this weekend... We are trying to arrange a meet-up with someone at the port when we arrive on one of our our port days. If the itinerary says that we'll arrive in port at, say, 9am - does that mean the ship docks at 9 or does it mean the first people will be off the ship at 9? I imagine it takes a while to get a ship docked and ready for passengers to disembark.

Thanks for the advice. As for the bottled water, this is our first cruise so I've never tried it before. Our travel agent suggested it so we figured we'd give it a try. Maybe they'll handle it like our bags and carry it to our room for us.

March 9 2014 - Allue

We're taking our first cruise in 10 days leaving out of Port Everglades on the Allure of the Seas. Can't wait. On our taxi ride from FLL to the port, we'd like to stop to pick up a few items. We usually travel with only carry-on bags so we need to buy anything we can't put in carry-on. We need to pick up a a case of water, a couple bottles of wine, sun screen and a other odds and ends. Any suggestions where we should stop to pick these up? -Craig

Thanks very much. Those options sound perfect.

Going on a cruise shortly after Christmas and I'm looking for suggestions from seasoned cruisers for Christmas gift ideas for my wife that would be great for the cruise. What have you given or received that was special for your cruise?

Planning our very first cruise and have so many questions. Is there any policy or usual practice about the kids going to dinner alone? Is there a minimum age that parents must accompany their kids? Just wondering if we might be able to head off to dinner as a couple at a different restaurant and have the kids go by themselves to the main dining room. We've done this before at resorts but have no idea if this is an option or not on a cruise ship. Kids range from 15 to 10 and are fine with this. Just want to make sure it isn't a problem for the dining room staff.

Going on our first ever cruise on Allure in March and can't find much info about the shows. How family friendly is the onboard version of Chicago? Depending on the director, Chicago can have swearing, nudity and revealing costumes. Just wondering what the cruise version is like.