An Alluring Tale of Love … A Blessed 25 Years; A Joyful Return to the Starry Seas - Allure of the Seas 12/19/2021 – 12/23/2021

[Lovetocruise2002]

                                                       

      I am not sure where to begin with this one.  It has been 867 long days since I stepped off Symphony’s gangway.  I don’t even know if I remember how to blog anymore lol.  The lead up to this sailing was precarious at best.  Being a Type A planner like myself, the last few weeks have been quite stressful in terms of having whiplash from the ever-changing travel restrictions (we are Canadians, but we fly out of the US), testing requirements, right down to the, “Will we unknowingly test positive two days prior to cruise day and need to cancel the cruise?”  I’ve had a hard time allowing myself to get excited for this sailing, in fear of devastation should anything go wrong.

     Words cannot describe how much I have missed sailing, what this sailing means to me, and the utter gratitude I will feel stepping onto that gangway in two days time, God willing.  This pandemic has taken so much, caused so much upheaval and uncertainty, but there are several things that remain certain, my love for cruising has not faded, and I will never take another cruise for granted again.

     Allure … captivating, charming, grabs hold of you and doesn’t let go … I could go on and on.  You think I’m talking about sailing right?  I am, but more importantly, I am thinking of Hubby.  This sailing is not only a joyful return to the seas, but a very special celebration for us.  As silly as it may sound, on a cold December day, 25 years ago, a story of love began over a $50 bill, a 1^st year university Calculus textbook, Jerry Maguire, and two cups of Tim Horton’s coffee at midnight (Note:  Hubby doesn’t even drink coffee, but he had one that night, already a winner then lol). 

     Tomorrow, we celebrate our 25^th “Dating Anniversary" and what better way to celebrate than with our beloved La Bamba, margaritas, queso, fajitas, fried ice cream, and of course…CRUISING!

Who’s Going?

It’s just Hubby and I on this sailing.

Flight

It feels so good to say that we will by flying out of DTW.  Praise God for the land border opening and staying open! We double-booked flights for this one out of Detroit and Toronto, but we’ve cancelled the Air Canada flights for obvious reasons.

Pre-Cruise Stay

Allure sails out of Port Everglades so we will be staying in Fort Lauderdale on 17^th Street.  When we have the girls with us, we usually choose a more family friendly property like Holiday Inn Express or Hyatt Place.  Since it’s just Hubby and I, we picked Renaissance Fort Lauderdale Marina Hotel.  We’ve stayed here before when we sailed Allure in 2016 and it’s modern, clean, very close to Port Everglades, and most importantly, a short walk to La Bamba!

Itinerary

This 4-night sailing was supposed to take us to Cozumel, but Royal changed the ports a few months ago.  We are now headed to Nassau and Perfect Day Coco Cay.  Personally, I could care less where it goes, I might not even leave the ship! lol

Cabin

#teamDeck17 of course! This is the way.

Pre-Cruise thoughts

-        There might be major tears when I step back onboard on Sunday.  I already warned Hubby.  He has promised to record it to show the girls so they can see how ridiculous their mother is.  People who are not cruise junkies just won’t understand lol

-        Once again, in the spirit of a live blog, please do not hesitate to ask any questions.  I will do my best to find out whatever I can for you.

-        When responding to a post with a series of pictures, please do not include the pictures in your reply.  It just makes for easier scrolling.

-        Lastly, I will try to post videos and stories on Instagram.  You can follow me @lovetocruise2002

 

[GregD]

[GregD]

36 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

 

-        There might be major tears when I step back onboard on Sunday. 

 

Full disclosure...this will probably be me too.....

[twangster]

Wait, did you mean 12/23/2023?  Or 12/23/2022?  

Can't be 5 days from now.  

WAIT. 12/23/2021?  For real?

What have you done with @Lovetocruise2002?

[Lovetocruise2002]

35 minutes ago, twangster said:

Wait, did you mean 12/23/2023?  Or 12/23/2022?  

Can't be 5 days from now.  

WAIT. 12/23/2021?  For real?

What have you done with @Lovetocruise2002?

This is the new @Lovetocruise2002 coming out of an almost two and half year dry dock.  No longer going for the early start to blog award. 

All jokes aside, I was sharing with @Jax that I wanted to wait for our negative antigen test results to come in first.  No point in starting and then say, "Whoops, cannot go, we tested positive."  That, and I was seriously worried about some last minute travel restrictions from Canada.

[bellemiche]

So excited for you (and jealous ). Have fun and I can't wait to follow along!

[Lovetocruise2002]

All checked in for our Delta flight tomorrow. After not being able to drive across the land border for so long, this is such a good sight on my Delta app. 

[IslandCruiser]

Have an Amazing time! What did you book? CL?

[Lovetocruise2002]

We booked through Air2Sea for this sailing. It was very easy to price down a few times and Air2Sea pricing for refundable first class was only $30 more than through Delta direct. A small price to pay for peace of mind and being able to adjust pricing over the last few months. 
 

Getting this email just now makes it even more worthwhile

 

[Lovetocruise2002]

3 minutes ago, IslandCruiser said:

Have an Amazing time! What did you book? CL?

Follow along and you will see on Sunday!  

[CravingaCruise]

Happy Dating Anniversary!  I loved your title pic!  I may have to borrow that idea for future blogs.  Hope you have an amazing time!

We're on Allure in May on deck 17!  I can't wait to hear all about it!

[Lovetocruise2002]

14 minutes ago, CravingaCruise said:

We're on Allure in May on deck 17!  I can't wait to hear all about it!

#teamDeck17!

Let me know if you want me to scope out anything for you!

[WannaCruise]

2 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

     

Pre-Cruise thoughts

-        There might be major tears when I step back onboard on Sunday.  I already warned Hubby.  He has promised to record it to show the girls so they can see how ridiculous their mother is.  People who are not cruise junkies just won’t understand lol

 

So excited to see your blog.  I am 200% with you on the above comment!

Have an amazing incredible supercalifragilisticexpialidocious cruise!  And happy 25th Dating Anniversary.  

 

[Jax]

Cruise cancellation PTSD is over!

[Lovetocruise2002]

16 minutes ago, Jax said:

Cruise cancellation PTSD is over!

Let me follow up by saying that there is a backstory to this comment. A few weeks ago, I told @Jax I was paranoid that something was going to force us to cancel and that I would lose yet another sailing. Then I also told her no way am I going to start a blog only to have it “to be continued” again. @Jax said I must have “cruise cancellation PTSD” (not trying to make light of PTSD ) which in retrospect, I think I do after losing track of how many I have lost since March 2020.

 

 

 

 

[SpeedNoodles]

I was wondering when you were going to start this, lol.

[Lovetocruise2002]

21 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

I was wondering when you were going to start this, lol.

Well you know, I cannot let @Mattpin earliest start on me again 

[Ampurp85]

Happy dating Anniversary. I had a good time in Sky class on Allure, I know you love your deck 17 and Star class. I am so glad that Canadians are able to cruise.

[AlmondFarmer]

Is the flight from Detroit to Florida long enough for Canadians to thaw out? Did you finish building winter igloo before you left?

Enjoy your vacation. The “I’m back on a ship” feeling is special. 

[RazorbackIslandGirl]

YEA!!!! I'm here for it! I LOVE your blogs! We're 4 weeks out today for our RLS on Symphony. This will help ease the crazy longing for the suite life! Thank you for taking the time to include us in your adventure!! Safe travels! Hoping your flight is uneventful!

[wannabecruiseexpert]

Very excited to follow along! Your blogs played a MAJOR part in me booking our first star class sailing. 

So happy to see you are soooo close to being back on deck 17!

[Lovetocruise2002]

Home to DTW - 40 mins. Uneventful border crossing. Free toll as a welcome back to Canadians.

DTW is a bit of a zoo. Long lines to check bags and to go through security. This is even with Sky Priority. Took us about 40 mins to check bags and get through. At our gate now and all appears to be on time. No weather delays yet.  
 

Random observation: lots of runners through the terminal this morning lol

[Lovetocruise2002]

33 minutes ago, RazorbackIslandGirl said:

RLS on Symphony

That’s my next goal! Not necessarily SY, any RLS will do.

[Lovetocruise2002]

6 minutes ago, wannabecruiseexpert said:

Very excited to follow along! Your blogs played a MAJOR part in me booking our first star class sailing.

I don’t want to get blamed for anything!

[GregD]

Safe travels today!! I'm stuck at work on the second 1/2 of my 48hr shift, so I'm having some major FOMO here!!

[Lovetocruise2002]

Current situation:

Our ride is already here. That is always a good sign. Rain, no snow. @AlmondFarmer Unfavourable conditions for igloo building. 
 

[Lovetocruise2002]

In case anyone cares, this is the leg room on the 757-200 in First Class. It’s ok. I know, I am a suite snob.

In all seriousness, Hubby and I were just saying that the seats right now are spacious but first class on Air Canada’s Max 8 this past summer was a bit better. We’ll see how the rest of the flight goes. 
 

Also no service until the plane takes off.  Guess that mimosa will have to wait. 

[Jax]

47 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

In case anyone cares,

You know I do!  Haha 

This made me laugh because I did the same thing yesterday. Front row Premium WestJet if anyone cares.  

[MamaShark]

@Lovetocruise2002 you should be boarded and FLL bound by now!  Delta 1738 departing from DTW around 10:00ish is one of our favorite flights also.  Good times in the forecast.  I’m excited to follow your return to cruising

[Matt]

A rare @Lovetocruise2002 live blog that doesn't begin six weeks before the cruise begins!

Looks like she is airborne

No doubt, spending the 3h 13m planning her Mexican lunch order in Fort Lauderdale

[Lovetocruise2002]

It feels so good to be back in Florida!!! That’s all for now.

[tonyfsu21]

1 hour ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

It feels so good to be back in Florida!!! That’s all for now.

Enjoy your dinner at La Bamba! My kids are requesting pollo a la plancha from La Bamba so take out it is! I don’t know what’s going on with the harbor shoppes today but the parking lot is packed. 

[Lovetocruise2002]

37 minutes ago, tonyfsu21 said:

Enjoy your dinner at La Bamba! My kids are requesting pollo a la plancha from La Bamba so take out it is! I don’t know what’s going on with the harbor shoppes today but the parking lot is packed. 

We’ll likely walk there if it’s not raining. Just settling in and we are heading over. I am so excited!! 

[Lovetocruise2002]

Backtracking to Delta domestic first class. Since the pandemic, I have been hearing that Delta FC has gone downhill quite a bit.
 

Over the summer, we went out west (Alberta and BC) and flew Air Canada domestic first class and were pleasantly surprised. Great service, hot meals, wine, Bottega, soda, juice all plentiful.

Today was a bit of a let down comparing it to our trip this past summer. The seats were spacious, the service was moderate. They came through 3 times with bottled water and once with other drinks. I was prepared to not have a hot meal because I know Delta is not doing that yet for domestic first class (only for the longer flights like LAX-JFK etc.). What we got was a meal box. Edible but AC takes the win in this one. Still not enough to make me feel want to deal with flying out of Toronto though. 

[Lovetocruise2002]

Renaissance Fort Lauderdale Marina Hotel (on 17th street)

[twangster]

7 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

In case anyone cares, this is the leg room on the 757-200 in First Class. It’s ok. I know, I am a suite snob.

In all seriousness, Hubby and I were just saying that the seats right now are spacious but first class on Air Canada’s Max 8 this past summer was a bit better. We’ll see how the rest of the flight goes. 
 

Also no service until the plane takes off.  Guess that mimosa will have to wait. 

Ummm.  have you ever rode in the back?  The legroom back there makes FC look like..  never mind.  Dumb question.  

[twangster]

47 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Renaissance Fort Lauderdale Marina Hotel (on 17th street)

Welcome to Florida!  La Bamba yet?

[Lovetocruise2002]

2 hours ago, twangster said:

Ummm.  have you ever rode in the back? 

Many times. I am a girl from humble beginnings

2 hours ago, twangster said:

La Bamba yet?

La Bamba!! Wonderful as always!

 

[WAAAYTOOO]

My, that food looks awesome and I’m not even hungry !

[Lovetocruise2002]

1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

My, that food looks awesome and I’m not even hungry !

We haven’t been to La Bamba since March 2019. It hasn’t changed. Delicious as always. We can barely move, bad news for the upcoming food coma.