Embarkation time & questions for Sky Class

[Leahcar]

Hi! I’m new here. Trying to prepare for our first cruise on Royal Caribbean (Allure of the Seas). Our whole family is getting excited for the trip! We splurged on a suite that gives us sky class perks.

I’ve checked in online and our set sail passes have an arrival time of 1 pm. We received an email from Royal instructing us to arrive after 12 noon since terminal seating is limited.

A few questions:

- How early do you recommend arriving at Port Everglades to board if you want to get on the ship as soon as you can? Is it ok to get there before the assigned time?

- For Sky Class, what time does the suite lounge open if we want to talk to the concierge? 

-Do we have to wait until rooms open to get our key and access deck 17 for the suite lounge and coastal kitchen?

-Is Coastal Kitchen the best place to go for lunch or should we head somewhere else if planning to eat there for dinner on embarkation day?

Any advice for smooth embarkation would and sailaway would be appreciated. I’m feeling a little overwhelmed trying to figure it all out.

Thanks!! 

[GregD]

Here are my thoughts. My last cruise was on Anthem out of Cape Liberty in a sky class room.

Question 1. The arrival time given by Royal Caribbean is just a suggestion. You can get there earlier and start your vacation earlier. Arriving around 10:30-1100 would probably work. When we got to Cape Liberty, there was zero wait to get on the ship. There was a dedicated suite line and we bypassed everyone and was on the ship within 10 minutes of arriving at the port.

Question 2 I will have to punt to others because I’m not sure.

Question 3. When on Anthem, our cards were on our door, we we were able to get them immediately. You shouldn’t need them to access Coastal Kitchen, we didn’t, but you can always verify your stateroom with the host at coastal kitchen. Your boarding pass will also have you stateroom and class listed and will act as your seapass card if it isn’t on your door.

Question 4. Coastal Kitchen is absolutely the best place to go for lunch. We had a great experience on embarkation day. Pretty sure we pissed off a few hundred passengers, who were waiting to get into the windjammer first lunch when we walked passed all of them to go into Coastal Kitchen. @Lovetocruise2002 will also tell you to eat there night 1 of your sailing for dinner for their filet!

Have a great cruise. For embarkation day, get there early, get on the ship, grab a frosty beverage and go explore the ship while it is still in port and have a great cruise!

[twangster]

Welcome to the message boards!

You can arrive anytime after 10am if you don't mind waiting, the ship will usually board between 11am and noon depending on how fast the ship is cleared of departing guests by local authorities.  Suites have a waiting area dedicated to them, the email you received is generic to all guests so you can ignore the warnings about limited seating in the terminal.  Since ships are moving around in the future so I don't want to assume where you are sailing from, both Port Everglades and Port of Miami have waiting areas for Suites.

The suite lounge will be open upon boarding, the trick is getting in.  On Allure Coastal Kitchen and the Suite Lounge are behind doors that use card readers for access.  Without having your SeaPass card until 1pm (when cabins are ready) you can't get into CK or SL without banging on the door or having lucky timing with someone leaving as you stand there.

CK is a lunch option but in my opinion lunch isn't my most favorite CK meal.  Food is subjective so check it out and see if its good for you.   Suites board very early in the boarding process so that is a good time check out the ship before the bulk of passengers have started boarding.  

Typically a week or so before sailing the suite concierge will email you and their email will explain the Sky Class benefits.

[Lovetocruise2002]

We always aim to arrive at PE by 10am so that we can board as soon as they are ready.

Getting into the suite lounge/CK does require a knock on the door without your card on embarkation day. However, for allure, we got our cards at check in. That was a few years ago so not sure if that has changed.

The concierge usually has hours between 8am - 12pm and 4:30pm - 8pm.

For lunch, CK does not have anything special but what is nice about having lunch there is that you can avoid the madness and enjoy a peaceful lunch while having space for your belongings. I would avoid the Windjammer for sure. Park Cafe is open but there is way more space in CK and you can always eat at PC throughout the week.

And yes, dinners there are the best! Especially the filet. I think Allure does it Night 4 though. Ask your concierge to check for you so you don’t miss it.

Port Everglades has embarkation down to a science. Don’t stress. It is a fast and smooth process. 

[spiralqueen]

I was recently on Allure (this May) in a Sea class room. I can’t address lunch in CK, but I do want to ease your mind about the locked doors before you have your proper cards that will open the lock. You may have some issues getting into the suite lounge without a key, but the Coastal Kitchen door is a glass door that the host can see you through and we never had to bang on the door or wait to ride someone’s coattails in. The host always saw us coming and buzzed us in without issue. I think that as long as it’s during lunch service (which I believe normally starts at 11:30 but was delayed on our sailing to noon due to a health inspection) then you should be fine to go up before rooms open. Also, you absolutely don’t need to insert a key in the elevator or anything to reach deck 17. It’s just like any other elevator button in there. 

If I were you, I would get to Port Everglades early if only because you can spend every moment possible on the ship and the suite waiting area is actually rather comfortable. 

[Leahcar]

Thanks so much for this info— very helpful!