Having just ended our nineteen day back-to-back cruises on the Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Sea from Ft. Lauderdale to Barcelona, Spain I can say we are very pleased. Having never traveled on one of the big ships we didn't know if we would like being part of a town of 6000 plus guests and crew. The massive ship has a main street called the Promenade which transitions into an outside boulevard called the Boardwalk. Shops and restaurants line the grand space. Sitting, sipping and people watching are the orders of the day. Central Park three floors above is an inviting, outdoor garden atrium filled with tropical plants and with an outdoor bar and cafes plus specialty dining rooms. One of the major decisions that we had to make everyday was where to eat. No matter where you eat the food quality has definitely exceeded our expectations. The restaurant and main dining servers were gracious and very attentive. Water and wine glasses never became empty.

As a LGBT couple we were pleased that the ship announced a cocktail hour everyday at 7:00pm at the Champagne & Martini Bar. Sometimes up to 100 gays and lesbians met there to start the evening before dinner and dancing. We met many new international friends since the ship's passengers were from many nations.

Our balcony stateroom was made up twice daily by our fantastic stateroom attendant – Harold. He was attentive and flexible when it came to our schedule. Even though the ship is five years old there is little evidence that there is wear in public or private spaces. When left the Allure in Barcelona she set sail for Cadiz, Spain for two weeks in dry dock. The internal refurbishing was started on our journey but did disturb us. Major renovations are underway in some of the specialty restaurants and new larger suites are being added. A general cleaning of the entire ship will take place since the ship has not been without passengers since it went into service five years ago. Read more