Pre-review of 4/15 Allure sailing

[fly2cruises]

As I read back “cleared to the Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport via the SOONE Departure, J89, OTK, Direct” to the Ground Controller, I remark to my wife that the cruise trip is starting out great! Five minutes later we are airborne on the way down for our cruise on Allure of the Seas. With a little help from a tail wind, one hour and 47 minutes later I taxi to a stop at the Banyan FBO, and ten minutes after that they have us on our way to the Hyatt Pier 66 for our one night stay before boarding. The trip down couldn’t have gone smoother.

 

We arrive at the hotel just before noon; check in time is 3 o’clock, but I decide to try anyway. The young lady at the desk says “welcome back, and I have good news! I can get you into a room now, and we have upgraded you to a Deluxe Tower room with a view of the basin.” Another good sign of a great cruise.

 

For dinner we go to the 66 Grille…great steaks. My steak is a little rare for my liking, but they fix it in a jiff. When the bill arrives, they have not charged me for my dinner because of the “problem”. I offer to pay; it was not that big of a deal…but they just say “come see us again.” Can things go any better?

 

We like to get to the cruise terminal early, so we checked out and went down stairs to call for a cab. We met another couple on the same cruise…we could see each other’s luggage tags…and they asked if we would like to share they cab they just called for. We say “sure”, and five minutes later we are on the way to Terminal 18. Upon arrival I try to pay for our half and Tom says “we were coming here anyway, my treat.” I promise to buy him and adult beverage or two on the cruise and we head for check in.

 

As usual, there is are no lines anywhere, so we breeze through the security checks and up to the check in position for our balcony cabin on Deck 12. We present the required documents, and lo and behold…the Upgrade Fairy lands on us! We are upgraded to a Loft Suite! Never seen the Upgrade Fairy before. Amazing!

 

The cruise goes by without a hitch! In fact, everything goes better than expected.

 

Luggage arrived early at the cabin, undamaged. No trips to the “naughty room”. Everyone seemed to pay attention at the emergency drill.

 

Never waited more than a minute for an elevator…no kids riding them up and down pushing all of the buttons. Everyone was courteous about letting those getting off go first before they crammed in.

 

Never saw a chair hog by the pools! Nobody was saving seats in the shows for large groups. Always able to find a spot in the hot tub. Learned how to “surf” at the flowrider…ok…at least in the prone position!

 

Won a little money in the casino playing blackjack. My wife won a collared RCL shirt with one of our free spins on the slot machine…a major accomplishment, I believe! To top it off, she also won the “Free Cruise” bingo on the last day! Wow!

 

We had no issues with pool towel charges showing up on our bill. Never saw anyone wearing shorts in the main dining room for dinner. Cabin Steward was great as has always been our experience; ditto for the wait staff at meals. Weather was as near to perfect as one could expect. Entertainment was, well, entertaining…which I guess it is supposed to be!

 

Dining was a pleasure in the MDR, Chops, and Giovanni’s Table. Food was very good everywhere. Never saw a line at the Park Café.

 

Disembarking was as easy as getting on and we were back home just after noon!

 

Then my wife woke me up and reminded me that we have another month before we leave! Oh, well…maybe this dream was a good omen!

[CruiseSlacker]

Are you sure that was your wife with you on your "dream" cruise?

[BBML1]

Love this!!! We are sailing the Allure in May!!

May all your dreams come true!!

[fly2cruises]

Slacker...funny! I am very sure...I want her to take me on the cruise she won!

[jakesmom04]

This just made my day......now if I was aboard the Allure this April instead of April 2013 I would be so excited!!!

[vickiw0318]

Pay it forward two weeks to our 4/29 cruise. Of course, I need to change a couple of details since we are spending the night before up in DH's home town of Jupiter. Like an upgrade at the car rental counter, no traffic on I-95 coming and going, port shuttle arrives instantly when we get to the curb after returning the rental car. And the most improbable of all with respect to our American Airline's flight, there are no mechanical problems, there is adequate staffing for our flights and the AA computer at the Lauderdale airport is working. (All three happened in December when we flew to Fort Lauderdale for our Liberty cruise.)

 

OP, hope you have a great cruise and all of your dreams come true.

[NeuroQueen]

Very, very, funny. Hope it all comes true!!!!

[luvtocruise08]

My family and I will be on this cruise with you....would be great if it's as fantastic as your dream was!!! 33 days!!!!!!!!