This was a family trip to celebrate a 50th wedding anniversary. We are Florida residents and leaving out of Fort Lauderdale was very smooth and simple. We had a blast and will do it again.
We were on a huge ship, 6400 passengers and 2400 crew, the Allure of the Seas. The first interaction we had was with our room steward. I would say we ran into him more often than not working, it was amazing. We would go to breakfast, come back and he would have been in our room to make up the bed. Somehow he knew when we would go run versus going to breakfast. We were on a plan that we had dinner at 5:30. There were 2 dining times, 5:30 & 8. I am not positive on how this aspect of the cruise worked since we were a party of 8 and my mother in law did all of that part. There were places you could go to eat that were free and there were restaurants that you could pay for. So each night we sat at the same table and had the same waitstaff. They were really good. They got to know you so they know what you like. The service they provided was incredible. We really liked having dinner at the same time every night. Breakfast and lunch had a variety of options. There were 6 or so places to eat that were included with the cruise.
You spent about a day in each of the ports. We spent about 4 hours off the boat in Nassau, Bahamas. We found the only craft brewery in the Bahamas and that was the best part. Very good beer. My niece got her hair braided, the woman said $4 a braid, my brother in law said ok. How long will it take? "15 minutes". So about an hour later the woman is done, I think she has 27 braids.
As first time cruisers, we expected the cabin to be small with minimal storage. We were pleasantly surprised that the stateroom was larger than we anticipated with a nice amount of closet space and a mini fridge! The balcony really made the experience. We ate room service breakfast on the balcony. We would also sit out and read and relax, looking at the water.