Dinner at The Wake

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The Wake is Virgin Voyage's answer to the Steak & Seafood dining venue.  Like all their dining selections, there is no extra charge for what would be a specialty restaurant on most other cruise ships.  As with the other dining options, select some starters to share and / or some for yourself.  Be adventurous if you like and try something different.  The steaks were excellent as were the starters and of course, the desserts.

This was one of the best meals of our cruise.  We considered going  back another night, but there weren't any reservations available at a time that worked for us.

Tip:  You can book your dinner selections on their app before you sail.

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See our  The Wake Photo Album for more pictures.

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The Point Steakhouse Embarkation Day

Hope You Are Hungry

Continuing our exploration of Carnival Conquest shortly after embarkation, we discovered that we could make our dinner reservations for the specialty restaurant, "The Point" Steakhouse without leaving Lido Deck.   Initially we checked availability for Thursday, the second formal night of the cruise.   

Embarkation Day Special

We made the reservation and then were told that if we wanted to dine Sunday evening, we would be given a complimentary bottle of wine.   Didn't have to twist our arm too hard to decide we'd skip the main dining room that evening - especially when they told us the dress code that evening was casual and we were fine as dressed.

More images: The Point Steakhouse 

Specialty Dining

In the early 2000's specialty dining was introduced to the cruise community.   Norwegian Cruise Line introduced it in the form of "Freestyle dining" while others went with the term "specialty dining".   In both cases, the passenger selects the venue, usually an upscale restaurant, and pays an additional gratuity for special attention and better quality food.   Presentation is a large part of the experience with food often prepared table side or made to order at the very least.   Also, plan on spending several hours enjoying your meal.

"The Point" Experience

As with meals in the main dining room, you are presented with a menu to select your starters, entree, and dessert.   Since we were taking advantage of the free bottle of wine, we needed to select from white or red.   Instead of simply reading the menu to determine our entree selection, we were shown a selection of meats and other choices by our waiter.

Starters for us included bread, salad, and soups shown above which were all excellent.  The chef prepares a special treat for you following your starters.  We were presented with a small hamburger and a tomato based appetizer.

The Main Feast

There were so many choices to select from ranging from prime cuts of beef, lobster, lamb, and even chicken if red meat wasn't your preference.   Filet Mignon is a typical high-end steak option so that was one of our choices and an 18 oz. Grilled Prime Cowboy Steak was the other.   Back home if we ordered such a large steak, we'd be bringing part of it home.   Here, there aren't carry out boxes, so we just had to finish the entire meal at the steakhouse.   That is why we suggest going there hungry and planning on spending about four hours savoring every bite of your meal.

Think about what just this portion of the meal would cost you at home and we haven't even gotten to the side items or dessert yet.   Do you think it's worth the $35 surcharge?   We certainly do, although we hear from many of our clients that they don't want to pay anything extra for their meals and that is certainly their right.  We do however think they are missing out on a fabulous dining experience that they would most certainly repeat cruise after cruise.

Here are some of the menu options you can pick:



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Do take advantage of the Embarkation Day special if you like wine.  For a house bottle of wine we found the white (Chardonnay) selection to be very good.   Red wine was a Merlot, but only one of us likes reds.   Make reservations when you get onboard to be sure you get the day / time desired.   It wasn't crowded the first evening, which would be another reason to select embarkation day even without the special offer.

Next we'll look at the Embarkation Day entertainment.  It was Super Bowl the day we boarded for our cruise.

Norwegian Epic Teppanyaki

Dinner With Flare

Teppanyaki is an old favorite among passengers on Norwegian Cruise Line's ships.  This Asian dining venue on Norwegian Epic is the largest one in the fleet.     Reservations are required since only 8-10 guests can sit at a table at one time.

Fried Rice

Love Some Fried Rice?

The multi-course meal starts with a cup of traditional Japanese soup and some freshly made fried rice.   Our chef formed it into a heart before slicing some vegetables.

While the main course is cooking, the chef serves a cup of fried rice to everyone and also a helping of vegetables.   

Chicken & Steak

Main Dish - Chicken, Steak, Shrimp?

What do you have a taste for?   Perhaps some Chicken, Steak, or Shrimp?    If you can't decide, have one of the combos that are on the menu.   Regardless of what you select, it will be cooked to order right at your table.

As you can see, there is plenty of food to go around.   There were extra vegetables and fried rice for anyone that wanted a second helping.

Additional Photos:  Teppanyaki Album

Complete your meal with some ice cream or fresh fruit.   We had a newly wed couple at our table and the servers brought them a cake and sang to them.    

There is an extra charge for this dinner experience.  We had an enjoyable time at Teppanyaki and would do it again.   We suggest you put it on your short list for your Norwegian Epic cruise.

Moderno Churrascaria

Norwegian Epic Moderno Churrascaria

Tableside Carving on Norwegian Epic

Norwegian Epic dining has a wide array of tastes to satisfy the most serious foodies' palate.  There are 20 dining options, each offering a unique atmosphere so you can have upscale and elegant one night, laid-back and casual the next.

Green Means Go ... Your Plate will Fill up Fast

Norwegian Epic's Churrascaria

A churrascaria is a Brazilian steakhouse.
Churrasco is the cooking style, which translates roughly from the Portuguese for 'barbecue'.

Save Room for Picanha

Passadores (meat waiters) come to your table with knives and a skewer, on which are speared various kinds of meat, be it beef, pork, filet mignon, lamb, chicken, sausage, fish, or any other sort of local cut of meat. A common cut of beef top sirloin cap is known as Picanha.   This prized cut of   sirloin is know for it's rich flavor.

Moderno's Meat Selections

Advice: Pace Yourself

If you've never been to a Churrascaria before, you could quickly find too much food on your plate.    In Moderno, just like in other traditional Churrascarias, there is a sumptuous salad bar which is typically where you start.    

Your table setting will include knife, fork, spoon, and two important items unique to a Brazilian steakhouse:   tongs to grab the meat selections and a card with red on one side and green on the other.    Turn your card to green and you'll be swarmed by servers displaying various cuts of meat.   Chose as many as you like to fill your plate.

Red = Stop

Tip #1:   Don't fill up on the salad, there's too much other food to savor coming up next.  You will be tempted because there are many of the great selections.
 
Tip #2:  Take a break and savor your meal.   The waiters aren't going to chase you out of the restaurant.   You want to enjoy your meal, and experience all the different meat selections.  

Tip #3: Communicate your likes and dislikes to your servers.   When the passadores bring a meat selection, they will usually have more than one meat doneness.  If you like your meats a particular way, let them know and they'll be happy to bring your choice to you. 

Tip #4: Leave room for dessert.   We couldn't decide what to have, so we chose them all.

Moderno Churrascaria is the best kept secret on Norwegian Epic.   It is well worth the extra service charge.   A restaurant like this on land would cost you around $50 or more per person not including beverages or dessert.

More Pictures on our FB Fan Page: Moderno Churrascaria Album

Allure of the Seas Keeps Eye on Tomas

Hurricane Tomas Is Between Allure and Fort Lauderdale

Allure of the Seas

Watches Tomas

You might recall that Oasis of the Seas met with high winds and waves during its crossing of the North Atlantic a year ago. (Oasis of the Seas vs North Atlantic)  The Oasis handled herself very well during that storm, but Captain Zini isn't going to take any changes in tangling directly with Hurricane Tomas.

NHC issuing advisories on Hurricane TOMAS

(Update Saturday, November 6th)

Hurricane Tomas weakened briefly on Saturday, but once again regained strength to a Category One Hurricane.  Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 25 miles from the center and tropical-storm-winds extend even further to about 200 miles on the west side of the hurricane.

Captain Zini and officers are constantly monitoring the storm and other weather conditions to keep the Allure and crew safe, just as they would with passengers onboard.  In this Day 8 video, he'll discuss the current weather conditions and how they are planning to avoid Tomas.

Samba Grill Opens

He'll then introduce us to Samba Grill, the Brazilian Steakhouse introduced on the Allure of the Seas.   I can't wait to taste and experience this new dining venue.   Allure is the second new vessel to introduce a Brazilian Steakhouse.   In another post, I'll write about the first one at sea, Moderno, which is on Norwegian Epic.  

Video: Savoring Samba: Brazilian Flavors Come to Allure

Enjoy South American dining at its best at Allure's new Samba Grill! Mouthwatering meats and a host of exotic flavors are all available for guests to savor.