We departed CocoCay yesterday in the rain. In fact the weather was so bad, wind, rain, thunder and lighting, that departure was actually delayed an hour or two. We awoke today to more bad weather although the storms were no longer a problem.

This was originally posted as HEADING NORTH. I took it down to edit it and I am now reposting it. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Around 9:30 today I visited the Park Cafe for two lattes and a breakfast sandwich. It’s a juggling act to get those back to the cabin as there are no trays on board, but I managed.

By the time we got going it was around 11:30 so we headed up to the Solarium Bistro for a couple of glasses of wine and lunch. The Bistro is very pleasant and very clean. As in all the buffet areas, everything is served to you. You point and they serve. This is one way to maintain cleanliness. It also provides some portion control. Not everyone likes this way of doing things. I heard a lady grousing about not being able to serve herself. That’s life. Personally I like it. No need for a sneeze guard and no one handling food and putting it back.

Here are a couple of shots of the Solarium and the Solarium Bar.

JoAnn and I stayed at our Solarium table quite a while as we each worked on our posts. She is writing a journal about this trip and I am working on my blog. So each of us was knee deep in verbiage for our respective works.

Finally, the weather improved and we found a couple of lounges by the pool on deck 15 where we sat for a hour or two. It was very pleasant.

After about an hour or so we decided to make a stop at the Trellis Bar for some refreshment.

Then JoAnn was off to the room to get ready for a show and dinner. I stayed another 20 minutes and kibitzed with Jude the bartender. He’s married and when I told him how long JoAnn and I had been married he asked me a probing question that was difficult to answer. The question: “What’s the secret to a long marriage?” Well, that’s a conundrum if ever there was one with as many answers as there are marriages.

We intended to go to the Royal Theater at 7:00 pm to take in the show, Mo5aic (that’s not misspelled, they substitute 5 for S), an a cappella group of five guys. Just as we were leaving our cabin an announcement came over the loud speaker that the show was rescheduled to 10:15. So, instead of the theater, we were off to the Rising Tide to visit with Iris and Michael and a Glenfiddich or two. And then, it was time for dinner.

Our dinner on Thursday, the 26th was at 150 Central Park. We were looking forward to it as something special. On a previous sailing on the Allure of the Seas, about 5 or 6 years ago, we dined a couple of times in 150 Central Park and found the food and service to be exceptional. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same about last night. The menu while interesting was not special. I had a pork belly appetizer which was plain and not up to the standards we expected. Maybe that was because it was not accompanied with the parsnip puree, watermelon radish slaw and port wine reduction. I only realized it was missing when I looked at the menu from last night as I was writing this post. Shame on me. JoAnn had three, small seared honey glazed scallops which she liked.

Here is a photo of the interior of 150. It is an attractive room.

For our main course, we each had Lobster Thermidor. The preparation, with a Cognac cream sauce, was very flavorful but the actual lobster pieces were too small, they are best described as tiny. Here is a photo of the dish.

Putting aside the Chef’s Table, which was outstanding, our favorite restaurant so far is Chops.

We were able to catch Mo5aic at 10:15. They were very talented and well worth the visit. Then we were off to our cabin in hopes of better weather on Friday, our last day on board.

Talk about mosaics, here is a photo of JoAnn taken at our table in 150. It looks to me as if a person is looking over her shoulder.