My husband and I had just returned from a February cruise on Celebrity when an excellent deal showed up to go on the Allure of the Seas in April. We travelled with AirTransat on a direct flight so we did not have to stay overnight in a hotel as we normally do.

The flight was on time and everything went smoothly. We had arranged transport to the ship with Air Transat and arrived at around 1:30 PM.

Embarkation was very fast and they obviously have this down to a science. We were on board in about 15 minutes and sent up to the Windjammer buffet. This place was a zoo! Of course it is the same on most cruises since there are a lot more passengers than seating at any of the buffets. The ship was sailing FULL so there were at least 5,000 passengers. We eventually managed to get a table and some food. By then our cabin was ready so we headed down there to check it out. Read more