ON BOARD ALLURE OF THE SEAS — Here you have the biggest cruise ship in existence. Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas. It carries 6,000-plus. On this cruise, 6,200 and change. That means in the space of about four hours, that many passengers must be processed in the cruise terminal and boarded onto the ship.
If you're reading this, you've probably cruised and you probably have an idea how long this normally takes. The window is usually from about noon to 4 p.m., give or take an hour.
But on the biggest ship in the world?
We had no idea, so we kept track, and this was our timeline…
1:16 p.m. — Hotel shuttle arrives at Fort Lauderdale terminal
1:19 p.m. — Four bags checked and gone
1:23 p.m. — Arrive at check-in line
1:31 p.m. — Check-in complete
1:33 p.m. — Obligatory photos in front of poster of ship
1:35 p.m. — Reach line to board the ship
1:37 p.m. — Seated to wait for call to board (done in groups)
1:59 p.m. — Called to board
2:03 p.m. — Waiting in line to enter gangway
2:04 p.m. — On gangway
2:07 p.m. — Step onto Allure of the Seas
2:12 p.m. — In stateroom after climbing five flights of stairs
Considering that 22 minutes was sitting in a waiting room, 56 minutes from start to finish is pretty good.
Getting off, of course, is a different story. The great unknown, always, is "clearing customs."
Today at Phil Reimer's portsandbows.com: New ship on river for Tauck
Crown Princess
7 nights
August 9, 2014
Anchorage, Hubbard Glacier, Glacier Bay, Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan
Inside: $449
Cost per day: $64
www.princess.com