Allure B2B **Double** Trip Review 5/4/14 - 5/18/14 (lots o' pics)!!!

[AZAficionado]

 

 

[AZAficionado]

 

 

[AZAficionado]

 

After that we went and saw Ice Games, the ice show. As you know, I’m not much of a show person, but I thought this was a very good show. I don’t think it was as good as the ice show on Freedom, but it was still very good and certainly worth seeing. Freedom’s ice show was more “showy” in terms of impressive skating moves. Can you tell I “get” to watch lots of ice skating during the winter Olympics? Thanks SolsticeAZ. I think Ice Games had a better overall story and was more cohesive.

 

 

The Monopoly “pieces”.

 

 

A very nice spin in the “Giovanni’s Table” scene.

 

 

Great costumes and plenty of humor – the two on the right are tourists and provided many good laughs.

 

 

There was some excellent pairs skating.

 

 

Some great pairs lifts and spins. This was from the On Air scene which featured popular rock songs. Look Mom, no hands!!

[AZAficionado]

 

Cirque de Soleil on ice – a nice very element.

 

 

More outstanding pairs work.

 

 

From the Casino Royale scene.

 

It was formal night, so after getting dressed, we headed to the Champagne & Martini Bar for a drink. As with the staff at all the Champagne Bars I’ve been to, these guys regularly go above and beyond in providing excellent service.

 

 

[AZAficionado]

 

Grey Goose martinis, and assorted seafood snacks.

 

Since people often ask for it, the Champagne & Martini Bar menu:

 

 

[AZAficionado]

 

 

Dinner was a 150 Central Park. As a foodie, I was really looking forward to the experience – and I wasn’t disappointed. 150 Central Park has a six course set menu that changes mid-cruise, but both are very similar. Your only choice is with wine pairings or without.

 

 

 

They started with bread, unsalted butter and a collection of six very different salts. Salt is salt, right? Wrong! This is a fantastic presentation of how varied salt really is – everything from typical salt, to smokey, to hard-boiled egg flavor (I’m being serious). If you go, try them all.

[AZAficionado]

 

The first course was a collection of beets – somewhat common but exceptionally well done. There were lots of bright fresh flavors that included lots of compliments and contrasts.

 

 

Next up was butternut squash soup. It was slightly sweet and a little smokey. It had some chorizo in it which took it in a very different direction than your typical holiday butternut squash soup.

 

 

Course three was fresh crab-stuffed ravioli in a simple crème sauce topped with bell peppers. The bold fresh vegetables flavors accented the delicate crab. Interestingly, the lemon flavors came exclusively from the paired wine. It was a nice example of using wine and food together to enhance both.

 

 

Next was my favorite, the fish. This is the chef’s favorite fish, and now it’s mine as well. It was firm, flakey, and mild which complimented the bed of artichoke puree. The mushroom medley complimented the wine. Simply delicious.

 

 

Course five was the short rib. Unlike a typical short rib, this was lean, light, yet cut-with-your-fork tender. It was nicely contrasted by the bold sauce and baby watercress which added a nice freshness.

 

 

Batting clean-up was dessert: Goat cheese pana cotta and baklava that was to die for. Unlike your typical baklava which is like 80% fillo dough and 20% filling, this was more like a granola bar wrapped in one layer of fillo. The sweetness of the baklava was an excellent contrast to the slightly sour pana cotta.

[AZAficionado]

The 150 Menu:

 

 

 

 

From there we went to see Chicago. It wasn’t my thing. The live orchestra was excellent. Although this was the cast’s last week in a nine-month contract, so it should've been their best work.

 

 

[AZAficionado]

 

 

 

A rare sighting – the towel bunny was waiting for us after the show.

 

After that, we headed to bed to try and get ready for Labadee, which I’ll tell you about tomorrow…

[SolsticeAZ]

This is a terrific review. Love the fact that you are both taking turns posting. We have less than 40 days before we have a 2nd visit on the Allure. Thanks for the photos and great details accompanying them.

Thanks! After sitting on the sidelines watching last year's review, it's nice to get my say!!

After two trips on Allure, I enjoy reading the reviews and looking at the pictures from others, I enjoy learning about or seeing something I didn't see in my two trips,. I haven't found that yet, but I felt compelled to comment on your frequent use of very wide angle lenses. In many cases it adds quite a different perpectives. Its almost like seeing something that I didn't see although I did, I just didn't look at it like that. Quite enjoyable in many cases. I did two meet and mingles in this room, but didn't look at it like this.

It is always interesting to see a ship from someone else's point of view...and AZAficionado is the king of the pan.

This is an awesome review. Thank you for the taking the time to do it! I really love how you have structured it and given plenty of the different area photos first.

Carla

Thanks -- we wanted to give folks the best possible idea of the ship, which is quite a challenge given how enormous it is!!

 

Great review and very valuable info thanks!

oh and I like Aficionado 's geeky sense of humor

Finally! Someone else calling him a geek so I don't have to! Success!!

I had asked this question on another thread and I was told that if you put the iPad in at an angle it will then lay flat. Do you think that would have worked? We are leaving tomorrow and I did want to bring mine.

That may work. To be completely honest, since we had a bunch of other stuff that needed to go in the safe, we didn't try very hard to make the iPad fit.

 

The staff on the ships "appear" to be

Honest. Bring the iPad and just keep in your drawer when not using if concerned. We keep it out when charging and may not be in the cabin. I put wallets, passports and jewelry in the small safe. If room also iPhones

I agree. The crew isn't going to want to steal your stuff. Just keep it out of sight and you should be fine.

[SolsticeAZ]

Day 2: In Which Too Much May Actually Be Enough

 

First, too much wine. I had the rose wine flight at Vintages, which was an excellent group of rose wines:

 

Torres Sangre de Toro, De Casta Rose: sweet, caramelly aroma, but tart on the palate with a dry finish.

 

Prieure de Montezargues Rose: very little aroma, but my favorite. Dry and crisp strawberry flavor.

 

Los Vascos Rose: berry aroma, cherries on the palate.

 

 

AZAficionado was hoping for a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, but they did not have one. We chose the closest thing: the Los Vascos Sauvignon Blanc, which had a grapefruit aroma and a lemon/grapefruit/mineral flavor. Good, but not as good as New Zealand if that’s what you’re in the mood for.

 

 

Ice Show

 

The Ice Games Ice Show was outstanding. The show has a game theme: Monopoly, with each scene using a particular venue of the ship (Giovanni’s Table, the arcade, etc.) as the spaces you “land” on – kind of an entertaining way to make us all feel like we’re part of the show. There was a continuing theme of one skater acting out the part of a very drunk cruise passenger. One act involved some amazing aerial work with a hoop. There was even crowd participation – our own AZAficionado got to throw the giant dice that were part of one act. The dice were loaded to come up boxcars, so the next scene was “go to jail,” with skaters in striped jail uniforms and “cells” as part of the set.

 

The skaters were all very good, clearly very talented, doing some surprisingly high degree-of-difficulty moves: spins, jumps, a couple of forward flips, and a lot of complicated lifts. This is not Olympic-quality by any stretch (think double jumps, not triple), but then again, Olympic ice rinks are not this small, and they don’t move.

 

If you decide to go, take the time to make show reservations in advance. The venue is small and there aren’t any bad seats. However, guests with reservations are allowed to enter 45 minutes before the show. We had reservations, got there 45 minutes early, and got front row center.

 

A note on show reservations. The word “reservation” probably isn’t totally accurate. What you get when you “reserve” seats for any of the shows is something more like priority seating. They will open the doors at a certain time before the show (in the case of the ice show, 45 minutes before), and allow only people with reservations to enter. Everyone else can line up (if you have reservations, you get to bypass the line). At 15 minutes before show time, they will open seating to the people in line. If you have reservations (and even if you have that all-important gold SeaPass) and you risk showing up less than 15 minutes before show time, all seats may be filled.

[SolsticeAZ]

150 Central Park – Wine

 

Now that AZAficionado has covered the food at 150 Central Park, I’ll talk wine. The wine list is well balanced, with many very good wines at good price points. It is not the ridiculous “bucket list” of wines that it was when we dined at 150 on Oasis three years ago. But we went with the wine pairings anyway – a glass per course, paired to the flavors of the food.

 

Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs: balanced and bready sparkling wine with a hint of sweetness. Excellent offset to the sweetness of the beet salad.

 

 

Thierry et Pascale Matrot Chardonnay: orange and vanilla flavors, a tart, clean contrast to the creamy butternut squash soup.

 

 

Brundlmayer Riesling: Austrian, off-dry with a hint of petrol aroma, lemon flavor to create that lemon & seafood combo with the crab pasta.

 

 

Vieti Barbera: my favorite of the night, cherries and earth on the aroma, vanilla and dark cherry flavor.

 

 

Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon: over the top. Aroma is blackberry, leather and slate. Flavor is dark fruit, cocoa and vanilla.

 

 

Massolino Moscato di Asti: peach orange heaven with a hint of sparkle.

 

 

Overall, I thought the pairings were well done. All complemented and accented the food nicely. If I had one complaint, it would be that some of the wine choices were pretty “vanilla” – the Schramsberg sparkling, the cabernet with the beef, and the Moscato di Asti are very safe, basic choices, and I like my wine pairings to be a little more adventurous, so I get to try things I probably haven’t had before. But if that’s a complaint, it’s a minor one.

 

Chicago

 

I wanted to love Chicago – I really did. I freely admit to enjoying musicals, and I thought the Roaring Twenties theme would be very cool. And there were some excellent aspects to the show. The performers are very talented – some of them surprisingly so. But the fact is I just did not enjoy it, and it appeared that a number of others in the audience felt the same. I found that the costuming and some of the choreography seemed contrary to the theme and story. However, some people clearly loved it, so your mileage may vary.

[SolsticeAZ]

SolsticeAZ's Art Corner

 

Since I liked the art on the ship so much, I'm going to post photos of a few pieces each day. Consider yourselves enriched.

 

 

 

[Valiamo]

Who doesn't love pictures?!? You are most welcome and I hope you enjoy!

 

 

Loving the review, especially from both points of view. Most importantly, there are actully pictures of people on the ship.. seen too many photos taken recently devoid of the fellow passengers.

 

Great review's from both!

[Cushing985]

Sorry, I'm believing your wife is a lawyer...she sounds entirely too normal and has a sense of humor!

[Cushing985]

Meant to say "I'm NOT believing your wife is a lawyer." It's all about proof reading before hitting submit!

[purplethorn]

Finally! Someone else calling him a geek so I don't have to! Success!!

 

 

 

Well he did mention he was a software engineer and I do have one at home so I recognize that sense of humor lol ;)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[lovesthebeach2]

Did you buy the unlimited Wifi package on the ship and if not do you know the prices?

[SolsticeAZ]

Loving the review, especially from both points of view. Most importantly, there are actully pictures of people on the ship.. seen too many photos taken recently devoid of the fellow passengers.

 

Great review's from both!

Thanks very much! And I found it nearly impossible to not have people in my pictures -- Allure is definitely the home of the photobomb :eek:

Sorry, I'm believing your wife is a lawyer...she sounds entirely too normal and has a sense of humor!

So...my trickery has succeeded!! I can't claim to be normal, but I will say that a sense of humor is the only way I survive my job...:rolleyes:

Well he did mention he was a software engineer and I do have one at home so I recognize that sense of humor lol

Ahhh, software engineers. That lovely combo of geekiness and obsessive-compulsiveness. So much fun!

Did you buy the unlimited Wifi package on the ship and if not do you know the prices?

We didn't do the Wifi package (I go on cruises to avoid my email :D), and I don't know the prices. Sorry.

[AZAficionado]

Loving the review, especially from both points of view. Most importantly, there are actully pictures of people on the ship.. seen too many photos taken recently devoid of the fellow passengers.

 

Great review's from both!

I'm really glad you are enjoying it. Pictures with and without fellow passengers is a tough thing. Having them in the pics makes everything look more alive. However, fellow passengers (aka photo bombers) tend to block out all the good stuff. On a ship with this many passengers, it is very difficult to get a clean shot unless you stay on board for a B2B or something.

Meant to say "I'm NOT believing your wife is a lawyer." It's all about proof reading before hitting submit!

Trust me, she is. And during business hours, it shows (sorry sweetie). She just works really hard to not act like a lawyer outside of the office. Obviously, it has paid off.

Did you buy the unlimited Wifi package on the ship and if not do you know the prices?

I didn't buy the wi-fi package or even look into it, sorry. I wish I could give you some solid numbers on the prices, but I can't. However, it seemed like every day there was a new offer in our messages on the TV for a wi-fi package for the rest of the trip. I didn't see a comprehensive price list for it anywhere. It seemed like to get prices, you had to talk to someone (aka endure a hard face-to-face sell). I probably should have looked into it harder. Something for my next review...

[readytolose]

Did they serve appetizers every night in the Champagne Bar or just on formal night?

[JamesEM]

Enjoying your joint reviews and photos, DW and I have a Jr. Suite booked this Oct. on the Allure doing the E Car., last year we did the W Car. on the Oasis.

[AZAficionado]

Did they serve appetizers every night in the Champagne Bar or just on formal night?

I think it was every night. It was certainly more than just formal nights. Later in the evening they served up cookies, chocolates and chocolate covered strawberries. Because they don't have enough food on board.:rolleyes:

Enjoying your joint reviews and photos, DW and I have a Jr. Suite booked this Oct. on the Allure doing the E Car., last year we did the W Car. on the Oasis.

Glad you're liking it. Enjoy your cruise in October.

[AZAficionado]

Day 3 - Labadee, Haiti

 

 

The morning paper...

 

 

[AZAficionado]

 

Our first port of call is Labadee. It’s a private area on the north side of Haiti. It is not a private island. It is not even part of a private island. It is on the island that contains the countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

 

 

One of the cool things to see (correction: hear) is the Dragon’s Breath. You have to head out to Dragon’s Lookout Point, near the spot where the giant zip-line ends. If you go all the way out to the end and listen, you can hear what sounds like a dragon breathing caused by the sound of the waves through the volcanic rock. It’s very cool and worth the hike.

 

 

This is where the path to Dragon's Lookout Point starts.