My partner and I recently returned from a 7 night Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Allure of the Seas (10/30-11/6). We have never been on a cruise before, but since we moved to Miami, we thought we would give it a try since it is so convenient to drive to the ports and not have to fly.

Being that this was our first cruise, we were so excited that we arrived at the port early, around 10:00 AM. Security opened around 10:30 and we were onboard a little after 11:00. Since our rooms were not going to be ready until after 1:00 PM, we explored the ship and were amazed by it's different "neighborhoods." We also used the time to finalize our dinner reservations at Chops, Giovanni's Table, Izumi and 150 Central Park. We ate lunch at the Windjammer, which was okay, but we decided not eat there for the duration of the cruise because there were better options. Our rooms were ready around 1:00 PM and our luggage had arrived by 1:30 PM.

Unfortunately it was a rainy, windy day so there wasn't much of a sail away party, but that was okay because we had appointments for some spa treatments as we were leaving port. The first night was a bit rocky because of the weather. Read more