Food, glorious food!

Thursday 21^st November

It is impossible to go hungry on this ship. The buffet restaurant is open 24 hours a day, as is rom service. Other bars and the Main Dining Room are only open at specific times. There are three different areas in the Lido Buffet, and in less busy times they close off one or two of them and just keep one open. Each section has to be closed off at times for cleaning and to restock with a different type of food, as breakfast segues into lunch, then afternoon snack, then dinner, then late snack (11pm to 4am). Each area of the buffet has its own drinks station with hot and cold drinks, for serve-your-own drinks.

The dining rooms are more formal. Breakfast ends at 9:30, so you can guess that I rarely make it, even though I think the restaurant here has the best scrambled eggs at sea. This involves full waiter service. The midday meal is a formal affair also, with a three-course menu if you wish. The evening meal is the most formal. When I booked, I had to choose early sitting (6pm) or late sitting (8:30 pm). I chose to be at early sitting at a table for 8. (I could have asked for 2, 4, 6, 8 or10 at a table.) I am at that table, with the same people, for the whole cruise unless I have a problem with them and ask to be moved. We have the same two waiters for the whole cruise. Again, it is a 3-course meal with an optional salad to make a fourth course. If I am extra hungry I could select two entrees. If I can’t choose between all the desserts, I can have two of those. Sometimes I’ll ask for my dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, even though that is not on the menu. The staff go out of their way to help. When beef empanadas are down as a starter, I generally ask to have three of them as a main course instead!

I do get tired of sitting through all the formality night after night, and generally go to the Lido Buffet (‘the trough’) a few times each cruise. This time, I will probably eat at the Lido most of the time, as Vi does not like eating at 6pm and prefers a light meal at 7pm instead. Also, I was not impressed two days ago when the lady next to me coughed in the direction of my dinner, without adequately covering her mouth. Later, when my arm was on the table, I noticed it got a bit damp as this woman spoke. It did make me wonder what else had gone into my dinner earlier that night, especially as her partner was coming down with a cold!

 If the weather is suitable, it is also possible to take food out into the Winter Garden. This area is a lovely sun trap on cooler sunny days, while the roof opens up on hot days. It is best avoided in Winter!