Having never cruised before my husband and I figured if we don't like it and only go once we want to mark something of the bucket list in the process and chose the biggest and newest ship, Allure of the Seas, and sailed the Eastern Caribbean Sept. 4-11. A sold out cruise with 6,300 guests and 2,100 crew members.

Our expectations of embarkation were high as everyone on the boards touts the smooth process and we were not disappointed. We headed over to the Port around 10:30 am from the Renaissance Ft. Lauderdale Cruise Port Hotel after a terrible night sleep on the most uncomfortable beds ever and were anxious to get on the ship. The process was amazingly smooth as promised.

We were amazed by the ship! The Allure is truly spectacular, so clean, so beautiful and so HUGE! We loved exploring while waiting for our cabin and while it was a bit overwhelming, I kept struggling with my huge paper map, we finally just let it go and wandered around with a surprise around every corner. Our cabin was ready just after 1:00 pm and our luggage arrived shortly after we arrived in our mid-ship, deck ten, oceanfront balcony stateroom. Read more