Day 2 … continued.

More Allure stats: the ship has 150 miles of piping, 3,300 miles of electrical cables, 968,751 square feet of carpet, 86,111 square feet of windows and 7,000 works of specially commissioned art.

The ship gleams with newness and cleanness during the day and sparkles and glitters by night. Captain Zini explained how the ship’s design makes it so manouevrable that he could turn it at full speed (22 knots) and it would incline only 2 degrees. Stability is controlled from the bridge and water and fuel storage is constantly monitored and adjusted by computer for maximum trim. Likewise, fire detection and mustering are monitored on massive screens in the safety centre of the bridge – there are 1,300 cameras throughout the vessel. There’s much excitement on board when helicopters swoop overhead and around the ship, filming us enjoying the extraordinary range of activities on offer – they must be the most photographed choppers ever. Meanwhile the live calypso band gives way to bagpipes on the pool deck and I’ve just remembered seeing RCC president, Adam Goldstein, playing a highly competitive game of table tennis with a passenger down on the Royal Promenade. The mind is well and truly boggled – and watching the sun setting over the sea from the upper deck of Dazzles while Filippino band Musik Express plays fabulous Elvis and Beatles covers makes us wonder if there’s a hallucinogenic ingredient in our strawberry daquiris. We then board the Rising Tide Bar to take part in yet another out-of-this-world experience before dinner No.2 in Adagio.