M&JfromSDL

I need to straighten up the cabin so we can start packing. Here are some more Compass. Looks like I lost Day 2 along the way.

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M: re: your smoking neighbor. Have you formally complained about it to the front office?

Yes I went to the Cabin attendant earlier in the week and guest services/security last night. The smell was terrible during sailaway yesterday and last night I could smell it in the hallway on the walk back from dinner. The ladies at guest services were very nice and by the time I walked back upstairs security was in the hallway speaking with my wife.

I am posting this from the comfort of my balcony hammock so all is well.

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Here's a 360 from Labadee.

https://theta360.com/s/hQ3cl0ogDfCemxVPPuWBOSbcu

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We headed back to Vintages to explore a little more of their tapas menu.

Shrimp and Krab cake as well as a rice croquette. Not as good as the ones we had a few nights back.

But the wine and conversation with the bar staff were excellent.

We walked around the ship being indecisive about what we wanted to do. First the Promenade.

Feeling tired, I caved and ordered an espresso from Starbucks.

The ship seemed dead around dinner time. My guess is people took naps after coming back from the beach. We probably should have done the same.

At some point went up to the Solarium to check out the Absolut party but there wasn't much going on. We went down to Trellis Bar and sat there and had a few drinks.

Nothing seemed to pique our interest so we ended up back in our cabin, ordered a little room service and called it a night.

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We had been wanting to try the Doghouse but never found the time or the appetite for a hot dog. Since we were looking for something small it fit the bill.

I went with a smokehouse on a classic bun.

We were treated to a beautiful sunset while we watched the OceanAria performers rehearse.

We took in sailaway from our balcony which is a change. Normally we like to be up on the sun deck for sailaway.

Here we go!

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Then back to our chairs for a while.

I wanted to savor one last labadoozie by 4pm the bar was out-labadoozie'd so Corona it was.

We returned to the ship around 4-4:30 since we were starting to get a little hungry.

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Later on in the day we took a walk to explore some of the other areas.

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Typical Labadee BBQ buffet lunch.

Taking a break from the sun and enjoying a Labadoozie.

We chose to spend the day on Adrenaline beach. The water here is pretty rocky. Wish I packed water shoes.

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Day 6 - March 10, 2017 - Labadee.

Good morning from Labadee, Haiti.

I woke up at 645am so I could visit the sun deck and watch us dock. Unfortunately when I got to the door the wind sounded like a freight train outside. I made my way to deck 15 and found the upper deck roped off due to the wind.

Since I couldn't get a great view I decided to head back to my cabin, catch few zzz's and watch from my balcony. Unfortunately my local chain smoker forced me back into the room so I ended up going back to sleep.

We both fell in and out of sleep but slowly awoke around 930am.

I guess the ship was really moving overnight because I had a somewhat restless sleep and Mrs M&JfromSDL awoke with motion sickness symptoms.

Labadee is one of our favorite ports of call so we were eager to get off the ship and head to the beach.

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Do you think the port area is safe and walkable for a 4 year old? We will be there on the Allure shortly and aren't sure what to do in Falmouth.

 

Great review and photos so far! Looking forward to your thoughts on Izumi if you make it there.

 

 

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Oh yeah. Totally safe for a 4 year old.

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Was that ordinary pasta on the menu? I wanted to take my kids to Giovanni's by I didn't see anything for them to eat.

 

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Yes it was. The exact name of it escapes me.

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Chocolate Chip cookies: What's the difference between those at Promenade Cafe and Windjammer vs. those from room service? DH eats them; I don't. And he says they're the same. :confused:

They were soft and tasted fresh. The ones in the Promenade are overcooked and rock hard. It could have been a fluke but I will conduct additional research this afternoon.

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We nibbled at the sides and decided to take our dessert to go since we were so full. When I mentioned our plan to the waiter he came back with a bottle of whipped cream and said the chocolate sauce was on it's way out! LOL

We were also feeling a little tired at this point. The heavy dinner and champagne were probably the culprits. We changed into casual gear and checked out Dazzles for the Battle of the Sexes fame show.

Afterwards it was down to the casino so I could give back my earnings from earlier in the week.

We enjoyed our dessert from Chops before heading to bed for the night. Huckleberry cheesecake btw

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Showered, dressed and no where to go until Cjops at 9pm we walked down the Promenade with our bottle of champagne and did a little people watching. The crowd has been much more well dressed than our NCL cruise last year. Lots of guys in tuxedos so I didn't stick out as much.

We stopped by the Rising Tide to say hi to Bosco and ride up to Central Park.

Let me just say, we had a really great dinner at Chops. Food was excellent and the service was great.

Mrs started with the mushroom soup.

I went for the Caesar salad.

Shrimp and Crab cake. Great flavor, about the only thing wrong with it was our point of reference. It was underwhelming to us because we get incredible crab cakes at home. But nonetheless a good choice.

By now we were starting to get full. I went ahead and ordered both upcharge items, dry aged NY Strip and the Maine Lobster. I'm not entirely sure why I splurged. They sounded good and we really haven't spent anything onboard.

But I can tell you, I'm glad I did. The steak was very good. The Maine lobster was also very good. I've typically found the MDR lobster to lack flavor and at times be stringy like it hasn't been stored at the right temperature. This was anything but. Unfortunately for the lobster, the steak was so good it sort of overwhelmed the lobster. I know, I know, stop typing and show us the pictures.

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Because of the late departure we finished up our sailaway party on our balcony.

My lovely Mrs. Ordered a cheese plate and chocolate chip cookies to enjoy while we were getting ready for dinner. Our cabin attendant dropped of ice for our bottle of champagne.

I must report for my fellow chocolate chip cookie lovers, room service is the only place to get good cookies from.

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Here's a 360 view of us getting ready to sail away.

https://theta360.com/s/d0k2GYI3rkwJdDGhNmJRrSkmO

It was super windy so we ended up in the Solarium bar for sailaway.

I was overdue for a Goombay Smash!

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Here are some photos of the Casino and Izumi which are both located on the same level (4).

The restaurant space impressed me. We eat sushi at home all the time so really haven't had the desire to eat here. But maybe later in the week we will give it a chance.

Sushi bar area

Hibachi area

Sail away was supposed to be early today. All aboard was at 3:30pm so a short day in Jamaica.

There must have been a late excursion because both Indy and Allure hung around at port for a bit then we watched the crew run around like mad bringing in the gangways.

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Our plan was to grab a red stripe from one of the beer carts ($5/bottle btw) but chose to sit at the bar at Spice Bar. There was a local Jamaican band playing and a whole gaggle of school children dancing. It was fun to watch.

We took a walk through some of the duty free and jewelry shops to kill some time.

But before long we were ready to get back on the ship.

By now we were pretty hungry. After a quick cruise through the Windjammer we ended up at Park Cafe for lunch. Then we walked around checking out nooks and crannies we hadn't explored yet.

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Day 5 - March 9, 2017 - Falmouth, Jamaica

We skipped the Solarium and decided to get smoothies from the Vitality Cafe for breakfast.

Today we were docked alongside Indy.

We stopped in Falmouth on our last Allure cruise a little over 5 years ago. I find the port pretty disappointing. It's essentially an outdoor shopping mall.

They even have an Auntie Annie's.

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After dinner we navigated through the 70s Party crowds on the Promenade and went and sat at Boleros while we waited for the band to start playing.

The 70s party seemed a little weak compared to the one on Indy a few years ago.

But the great bartenders in Boleros, their drinks and good conversation kept us going.

My wife ordered me a caipirinha which was pretty strong and at that point in the night was way too much for me.

I swung past Sorrentos on the way to the room. The selection of pizzas is pretty boring this trip.

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We walked over to Giovannis to see if they could seat us a little earlier and luckily they were able to accommodate.

It quickly became apparent our experience tonight would be much different than the night before. They were clearly understaffed.

As far as the food goes, it was good as usual. Mrs had the beef carpaccio again and I went with a boring but tasty arugula salad.

The waiter brought out an antipasto dish that was nice. I added a piece of the salami to my salad to liven it up. I wish they would stop with the wasteful portion sizes and extra courses and adjust the price of the restaurant but I digress.

I ordered the filet which was nicely cooked. Not sure it's anything beyond what you could get in the MDR.

Wife went with the risotto which was good.

Another extra course we didn't ask for and frankly didn't go with that we ordered. It was a rather ordinary pasta dish.

We spent sometime talking with a nice family but once they left it was pretty clear to us and the rest of the patio we had been abandoned by our waiter. I actually had a dirty napkin from the table next to us blow onto our table. And no one had been at the table the entire time we were there.

We were clearly not going to be offered dessert so I went inside to fetch my check and speak to the manager.

As we were walking over to the Rising Tide bar I noticed the people from a few dinner tables over unloading on the bartender at Trellis Bar about how terrible their Giovanni's experience was.

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Sorry for the lack of an update. We've been enjoying our vacation!

Where did I leave off?

Day 4 - at Sea.

I ran down to the Champagne Bar for a little pre-dinner.

Then over to Vintages for a snack since our reservation at Giovanni's was not until 9pm.

We really enjoy Vintages on the Freedom-class ships. Good wine and people watching from the location on the Promenade. We've always found it to be empty here on Allure.

The tapas menu here is better though it is an a la carte affair.

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