Allure Day 4 - Rita's Mexican Madness Fiesta

We headed to Deck 6 to the Boardwalk and Rita's Cantina.  When we got there at about 8:25, there was quite a line.  We still weren't sure if we had reservations, as they didn't show up on our Personal Calendar on the TV, and nobody had confirmed with us, but we waited in line anyway.

While we waited in line, we were given some fun items to wear.  Chris got a little straw sombrero, and I got a round-ish meteor-shaped rubber ball necklace thing that blinked in different colors.  When we got to the host stand, they asked our names, swiped one of our cards, and gave us each 3 tickets for drinks.  We noticed that those under 21, or those who paid $10 less for the non-alcohol package got wrist bands with 3 tabs.

We were escorted to seats at a table with another couple and a mom/daughter from Brazil.  Very quickly, two other couples were seated with us and we had a nice, full table.  We waited awhile and no server came by, so Chris and a couple of the other guys went to the bar in the restaurant and got our first round.

They brought around chips and salsa for each table, and quickly got people up and partying with some line dancing out on the Boardwalk.

Then they started a conga line through the restaurant, and other fun stuff.  Here's some of the fun at the beginning.

You can tell the libations had not quite been absorbed yet at this point.

We were served a few other Mexican items, like some veggie flautas and shrimp flautas, veggie/cheese quesadillas and shrimp ones. 

Here's the announcer getting people going.

The main course was beef and chicken fajitas.  They were ok, but there was never any cheese, which I found strange.  No queso, no shredded cheddar or jack.

By now, people were probably finishing up beverage #2.

About halfway into Beverage #3, they had a dancing contest, starting with selecting 5 ladies to compete, judged by audience applause.  This was followed by 5 men competing, and of course Chris was selected. 

The men were also judged by applause, and the grand prize was a shot of tequila for all the volunteers. 

Dessert was churros and chocolate dip, and flan.  There were probably more items served than I remember, but I didn't take photos or write them down, and to be honest, they were not memorable.

All in all, it was a fun event, and we're glad we went, but we probably wouldn't go again.  This is one of those love-it-or-hate-it things.  In Texas, we are so used to Tex-Mex food, I don't know what I expected on the ship, but it didn't compare.  The service was slow.  I think we expected the environment to be like Senor Frogs or Carlos N Charlies, but it was quite scaled down from that.  But I can understand that, due to the family environment and open air restaurant on the ship.

We had reservations for the Headliner show (which was The Platters for our cruise) at 10:30, but we didn't end up going.  I can't remember (could it have been those three adult beverages?) what we did for the rest of the evening, but I'm sure we enjoyed ourselves.

Tomorrow is St. Martin, which was a big, fun day for us.