New Crêperie to be on Allura

[Harters]

On 10/10/2024 at 9:11 PM, maxamize said:

I have exactly the same with Ember but apparently there are people who like the concept.

I like both the Bakery and Ember. Both do a really good job, IMO. 

[SEC Man]

We are going on the Allura next Oct and I will definitely try this venue as waffles with ice cream melted across the top sounds great. 

[MEFIowa]

18 minutes ago, SEC Man said:

...as waffles with ice cream melted across the top sounds great. 

Though when? What time of day? Since this is supposedly going to be open AFTER breakfast and BEFORE dinner. I can hardly imagine eating a good breakfast at say 0800 or 0830 and then suddenly jonesing for this at 1030. And the lunch at the TC usually so good, that I'd be hard pressed to want this at noon or 1300. And if I ate it at say 1500, it would wreck my dinner appetite. The only time I'd want it would be breakfast and it appears it won't be open then.

[pinotlover]

59 minutes ago, MEFIowa said:

Though when? What time of day? Since this is supposedly going to be open AFTER breakfast and BEFORE dinner. I can hardly imagine eating a good breakfast at say 0800 or 0830 and then suddenly jonesing for this at 1030. And the lunch at the TC usually so good, that I'd be hard pressed to want this at noon or 1300. And if I ate it at say 1500, it would wreck my dinner appetite. The only time I'd want it would be breakfast and it appears it won't be open then.

Not all of us opt for three meals per day, especially on sea days. Instead of breakfast in the GDR, on that sea day, a later brunch in the new venue to replace both breakfast and lunch. After a large lunch ashore, just a nice crepe or waffle with ice cream will be all that’s needed for dinner. If it’s only open until 6:30 or 7:00 (after Happy Hour); then that’s fine.

 

We often need to miss a few meals on cruises anyway. This will make it convenient to do so.

[MEFIowa]

3 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

... a later brunch in the new venue to replace both breakfast and lunch....

Though if the GDR, Waves & TC are closed after serving breakfast, what specific "brunch" will you have there from say 1000-noon? A rather attenuated menu full of carbs. Oh joy. Sadly, there really isn't a full "brunch" menu available from 0900-noon on any of the ships on any given day.

[pinotlover]

4 minutes ago, MEFIowa said:

Though if the GDR, Waves & TC are closed after serving breakfast, what specific "brunch" will you have there from say 1000-noon? A rather attenuated menu full of carbs. Oh joy. Sadly, there really isn't a full "brunch" menu available from 0900-noon on any of the ships on any given day.

😂. Just back from two weeks in Italy. A cappuccino and croissant for breakfast was all that was needed. Not being from Iowa, I neither want nor need those bacon and eggs every day for breakfast. I’ll also guess the Creperie will have fresh fruit.
 

Carbs are good. I can already eat my pancakes for breakfast without bacon or sausage. 

[SEC Man]

1 hour ago, pinotlover said:

Not all of us opt for three meals per day, especially on sea days. Instead of breakfast in the GDR, on that sea day, a later brunch in the new venue to replace both breakfast and lunch. After a large lunch ashore, just a nice crepe or waffle with ice cream will be all that’s needed for dinner. If it’s only open until 6:30 or 7:00 (after Happy Hour); then that’s fine.

 

We often need to miss a few meals on cruises anyway. This will make it convenient to do so.

Don’t have every day’s meals  planned out for a cruise a year from now but hot waffles with melting ice cream or fresh fruit is something that I would enjoy so it will happen at some point on the cruise.  I think it is great to have more options and certainly appreciate “different strokes for different folks”. We were on the Vista last year and enjoyed the food options. 

[MEFIowa]

56 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

... Just back from two weeks in Italy. A cappuccino and croissant for breakfast was all that was needed....

When we did our 20-nights on Riviera in the Med in Oct-Nov 2023, that tiny breakfast wouldn't give us the energy to do the things we did. Like climb thousands of steps to the top of the St. John's Fortress, Kotor or take the #38 bus out 4 miles to the old walls of Constantinople and then walk back thru working neighborhoods with so many amazing sights and sounds and smells.

 

And on our recent 22-nights on Sirena in the Baltic, that food wouldn't have taken us up the 400+ steps to the top of the St. Mary church in Gdansk, either.

 

We're interested in seeing and doing things. Unique things.

[Yesimapirate]

I'm not sure how more choices is ever a bad thing.   If it's not your cup of tea, there's plenty of other options.  And if it's someone else's cup of tea, it may lead to fewer crowds and faster service where you choose to go. 

[MEFIowa]

10 hours ago, Yesimapirate said:

I'm not sure how more choices is ever a bad thing....

As I've tried to make clear the issue is the TIMING, when it supposedly is going to be open. Reportedly, NOT at breakfast, the one time it makes the most sense. IF it is open from say 1000-1500, hardly does much good dining wise. Adds costs, uses space. But then I'm not the type who wants to eat breakfast, brunch, lunch, pool snack, afternoon tea, and dinner daily.

 

I'd start with the basics. How about going back to better coffee? That'd nice. Remember the Illy coffee on Riviera 12/2021. Gone. The coffee they poured was undrinkable on Sirena 11/2024.

[Harters]

20 hours ago, pinotlover said:

I can already eat my pancakes for breakfast without bacon or sausage. 

When we did our first cruise with O, back in 2017, I was intrigued to see "Swedish pancakes" on the breakfast menu in the GDR. I'd never previously heard of them, so gave them a try. Disappointed to discover that they are just, erm, pancakes. 

[pinotlover]

7 minutes ago, Harters said:

When we did our first cruise with O, back in 2017, I was intrigued to see "Swedish pancakes" on the breakfast menu in the GDR. I'd never previously heard of them, so gave them a try. Disappointed to discover that they are just, erm, pancakes. 

You will soon learn that Oceania appropriates the name of many dishes while making zero attempt to replicate the actual dish.

[GlitterFemme]

26 minutes ago, Harters said:

When we did our first cruise with O, back in 2017, I was intrigued to see "Swedish pancakes" on the breakfast menu in the GDR. I'd never previously heard of them, so gave them a try. Disappointed to discover that they are just, erm, pancakes. 

 

I had a little "oh no" about this (I've been looking forward to trying the Swedish pancakes) but I think it might be another regional thing? As I understand it Swedish pancakes are thinner and flatter than American pancakes, more like crêpes...and, it seems, more like English pancakes.

[Harters]

44 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

while making zero attempt to replicate the actual dish.

Something we've found with Red Ginger, to our disappointment. Mrs Harters could do a full 10 minute rant about the dish she had on Vista earlier in the year - and the restaurant manager's insistence that it was cooked traditionally, right down to the underflavoured, but incredibly tough meat 

 

25 minutes ago, GlitterFemme said:

more like crêpes...and, it seems, more like English pancakes.

Yep. European pancakes are pretty much the same thing everywhere - the Francophones call them crepes but most northern countries call them something like "pancake" (pannkaka in Swedish,  Back in 2017, I'd sort of hoped there would be something Swedish about them - even if only served with lingonberry jam. But no. 

Edited Sunday at 02:05 PM by Harters

[GlitterFemme]

1 hour ago, Harters said:

Back in 2017, I'd sort of hoped there would be something Swedish about them - even if only served with lingonberry jam. But no. 

 

That's a shame! Lingonberry jam seems like an easy win for distinguishing them as Swedish.

[Harters]

I've made a note to buy some ligonberry jam next time we got to IKEA. We do occasionally have pancakes for breakfast, although more usually it's dessert, and the jam sounds a good change from our usual sugar and lemon Always maple syrup though with American pancakes. 

[bradpole]

3 hours ago, MEFIowa said:

I'd start with the basics. How about going back to better coffee? That'd nice. Remember the Illy coffee on Riviera 12/2021. Gone. The coffee they poured was undrinkable on Sirena 11/2024.

I’m the exact opposite of you.  I’m actually glad they stopped wasting money in Illy.  Since the removal of Illy I’ve begun to enjoy the coffee so much more!

[bradpole]

14 hours ago, Yesimapirate said:

I'm not sure how more choices is ever a bad thing.   If it's not your cup of tea, there's plenty of other options.  And if it's someone else's cup of tea, it may lead to fewer crowds and faster service where you choose to go. 

You think just like me!  On. Previous cruise I was having a discussion with someone who thought the pizza oven at waves at night was an abomination!  It finally clicked to her that a few tables there at 6:30p may translate to a few less in the GDR at that same time!

 

I’ve never once gone to the GDR at breakfast or lunch and have zero intention to do so.  I’m glad there is another option besides the terrace, fewer people in the place where I am!

[MEFIowa]

16 minutes ago, bradpole said:

... Since the removal of Illy I’ve begun to enjoy the coffee so much more!

What brand of coffee are they using, since you enjoy it so much? Wondering if I can find this brand's shops and coffee all over Europe, for example, as I can with Illy. Seems like a lot of people enjoy Illy coffee. Wife and I do. But the recent mystery coffee on Sirena? Not so much.

[bradpole]

10 minutes ago, MEFIowa said:

What brand of coffee are they using, since you enjoy it so much? Wondering if I can find this brand's shops and coffee all over Europe, for example, as I can with Illy. Seems like a lot of people enjoy Illy coffee. Wife and I do. But the recent mystery coffee on Sirena? Not so much.

Honestly not a clue which brand it is, at one time right after the removal of Illy it was another named brand.  Honestly the name doesn’t matter to me, as long as it tastes good.  

[MEFIowa]

2 minutes ago, bradpole said:

... the name doesn’t matter to me, as long as it tastes good.  

The coffee they recently were pouring on Sirena most certainly did NOT. Of course, we'd just spent 3 nights at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge Hotel London (just across the bridge from Big Ben). Nearly 1100 rooms. And in the lobby, an Illy coffee shop! From their web site: "You can also start your morning or re-energise in the afternoon with expertly crafted Italian coffee from illy Caffè."

[Harters]

34 minutes ago, bradpole said:

GDR at breakfast or lunch

Have to say, a "proper" lunch in the GDR on a relaxed sea day is one of the highlights of the cruise. Either the classic French bistro classics or the day's "Taste of the World". Such a change from day to day normal life. 

 

I find the food offerings in the GDR to be fine at breakfast but service always seems to be slow. 

[EJL2023]

24 minutes ago, MEFIowa said:

What brand of coffee are they using, since you enjoy it so much? Wondering if I can find this brand's shops and coffee all over Europe, for example, as I can with Illy. Seems like a lot of people enjoy Illy coffee. Wife and I do. But the recent mystery coffee on Sirena? Not so much.

I am fine with Illy, but let’s not act like it is some European select bistro coffee….I mean you can buy it at virtually any grocery store here and even Walmart.

[MEFIowa]

1 minute ago, EJL2023 said:

I am fine with Illy, but let’s not act like it is some European select bistro coffee…..

And the main point is...the coffee they poured on Sirena recently was extremely mediocre. Who even knows the brand? They used to serve Illy and now it has been removed. A cost-cutting measure. If you can't get good coffee in the AM right, you're missing a key ingredient to breakfast. I'd take that over a creperie.

[EJL2023]

9 minutes ago, MEFIowa said:

And the main point is...the coffee they poured on Sirena recently was extremely mediocre. Who even knows the brand? They used to serve Illy and now it has been removed. A cost-cutting measure. If you can't get good coffee in the AM right, you're missing a key ingredient to breakfast. I'd take that over a creperie.

Or the point is that in your opinion the coffee was extremely mediocre…..which would at least seem drinkable…but in earlier post was undrinkable.  To be fair….you were comparing it to the lovely hotel you had stayed in prior to the cruise….

Edited Sunday at 05:36 PM by EJL2023