Shipboard Food

I really wasn't kidding about 24x7 food service around here. The buffet is open 24 hours a day, and room service is available within 15 minutes of a phone call. We've been doing buffet for breakfast (my daughter's been doing room service), buffet or the burger grill for lunch, and the formal dining room for dinner. A typical breakfast menu at the buffet goes like this:

• orange and cranberry juice
• milk
• cold cereal
• granola
• oatmeal
• canned pears
• prunes in juice
• fresh fruit salad
• whole fresh fruit
• link sausage
• "specialty" sausage
• ham or canadian bacon
• regular bacon
• broiled tomatoes
• sauteed mushrooms
• cold sliced turkey breast
• cold smoked salmon
• bagels
• toast
• english muffins
• dinner rolls
• croissants
• sweet rolls
• cream cheese
• sour cream
• cottage cheese
• cubed assorted cheese
• fried eggs
• grits
• scrambled eggs
• omelets
• "specialty" eggs
• fried rice
• yogurt
• tea/coffee/water

I think that's everything - I may have missed a few things. Lunch provides a similar range of items, and adds a variety of desserts. They also have a special lunch buffet each day - they've had sushi, fajitas, and a sandwich bar that I've noticed. Today's special buffet is all desserts - if you don't feel like you've got your calorie intake to the right level for the trip yet.

And then there's dinner. We've stuck with our dining room assignment for dinner throughout the cruise, partly because it starts 1/2 hour earlier than the buffet does, and partly because our table mates have turned out to be really nice, interesting people. The dinner menu covers 5 courses each night: appetizer, soup, salad, entree, dessert - I don't think I've done them all at a single meal yet. Last night was the really formal dinner menu (formal night 2) - the entrees included lobster, roast pheasant, and beef wellington, and baked alaska was one of the dessert choices. Our headwaiter, Dana, is almost too helpful - when I asked her which she would recommend between the pheasant and the beef wellington, she suggested that I'd enjoy the beef more, but offered to bring me a sample of the pheasant along with it, so I could try that as well. It was good, but as a result, I didn't finish the beef, and only wanted some sorbet for dessert.

For about the last three days, we've been trying to taper off - more salads at lunch, things like that. And it works - for a while. About 4 pm yesterday I was ravenous, and ended up having a burger and fries. When the nutrition experts recommend 5-6 small meals a day, I don't think that's quite what they have in mind, somehow.