My wife and I are experienced cruisers with 14 prior cruises under our belts. We booked this cruise to experience the many unique attributes of The Allure of the Seas and Royal Caribbean did not disappoint. From the moment we arrived at the port in Fort Lauderdale it was clear we made the right decision in booking this cruise.

Embarkation: We live in Orlando Florida and chose to drive to Fort Lauderdale and park inside the port. We arrived about 11:15 a.m. and drove right up to the luggage drop-off. The baggage handlers were very courteous and quickly and efficiently gathered our bags. Parking was literally across the street and although more expensive than outside the port parking the few extra dollars was worth the convenience. We had booked a guaranteed Jr. Suite and was escorted into the entrance for guests in suites and walked right up to the embarkation counter. Looking around I noticed that there were virtually no lines anywhere and all guests were obtaining their boarding cards quickly and efficiently. A short 5 minutes later we were walking up the gangway to the ship. It was now about 11:30 and the staterooms were not ready for occupancy until 1:00 so we went up to the Solarium Bistro for lunch. The Bistro provided an excellent selection of healthy fare that was just the right way to start our cruise. It was strangely apparent that with 5000 passengers boarding that there were no lines and we found the seat of our choice, an experience which we would repeat numerous times when dining. We experienced our first outstanding meal aboard the Allure.

Our Stateroom: It was a last minute decision to book this cruise but a deep discount for a guaranteed deluxe cabin along with an added discount from our travel agency Explore Travel sealed the deal. We were initially assigned a cabin on deck six but a few days later I noticed a Jr. Suite on deck 8 became available. I called the Crown and Anchor desk to inquire if they could change our assigned cabin, as it was in the same category no problem and we were reassigned to cabin 8640. We had never had a cabin category higher than an outside veranda on any of our previous cruises so were we in for a surprise. When entering our Jr. Suite I was awestruck by its size, we actually had elbow room in a cruise ship stateroom. And we had a real walk in closet to boot. Walking out onto the balcony we found it also to be oversized with two chase lounges and a table with two chairs, if we could only have had this room on our last cruise when vacationing with friends. Oh, I failed to note that our baggage was waiting for us at 1:00 when we proceeded to our stateroom. The stateroom was clean and neat, with lots of information left for us to digest. By the end of the cruise we were quite pleased with this stateroom, location just steps away from the Central Park neighborhood, and just a short walk to any and all venues either by stairs or the elevator. We had an outstanding room steward who always greeted us by name and made sure that we were well taken care of meeting our every need. Read more