Fri. Nov. 12th At Sea
By Jain
Lately I have been pondering the question, "If I eat 5 pieces of bacon and one english muffin smothered with butter and jam for breakfast how many miles do I have do on the treadmill?" The answer I came up with is 25 miles; not that I could do 25 miles, and it wouldn't be realistic since then I would miss lunchtime.
People go on cruises to eat, drink and have their bed made for them. Sure there are some that want to go on excursions to see King Tut, and the Western Wall, but most are in it for the food and ok maybe the shopping. We're now on our 10th cruise and I can honestly say the cruise food isn't that good. It was better when we first cruised in the 1990's. Then you always were offered lobster, steak or crab. And that was when the waiters at the end of your meal would parade out proudly displaying the Baked Alaska. That's when cruise ships had the midnight buffets and took special care in presenting their 100 foot chocolate buffet!. Most ships don't offer those anymore, as a cost cutting measure and it saves the sanity of the crew because they don't have to answer the question, "What time is the Midnight Buffet?".
Having been on several Norwegian cruises now I can say the food is okay but far from excellent. On the higher priced cruises like Crystal, Seabourn the food probably is still very good. We went on a Crystal cruise in 2001 (right after 9/11 when half the passengers cancelled), the food was excellent. Norwegian, like Princess, are kind of middle of the road cruise lines. Their food is okay but nothing to write home about (like I am doing now) LOL. In any event I'm certain our ship is certainly a step above Carnival that from all reports cater to the beer drinking crowd with their distinguishing palette.
The cruise lines higher food costs and the fact people are eating more have probably forced them to buy cheaper products and "trim the fat", as they say. Portions are noticeably modest but then again you can order as many dishes as you like. The menus choices are considerably less and have what is usually considered budget friendly meals like lasagne, spaghetti, and beef stew, I mean who goes on a cruise to eat beef stew?
Desserts on the cruise look delicious but lack sugar, butter, and cream needed to make them rich and tasty. In almost all desserts you detect the blandness due to thickeners like cornstarch, or gelatin. Jay and I agree however the ice cream is still yummy, they can't ruin the ice cream. And the best dessert has got to be chocolate volcano cake that oozes chocolate and comes with a scoop of chocolate chip ice cream.
The longer you're on the ship you know what is good, what you can doctor up and what to stay away from. Like I told you before the shrimp cocktail is a winner, spring rolls with sweet chili sauce, french fries, and of course the bacon are almost always good.
The best food of course is at the premium restaurants on board, like Cagney's Steakhouse, Moderna Brazilian restaurant, French Bistro, and La Cucina Italian restaurant. These all are excellent and come with surcharge up to $25.00 a person. Our cruise price only came with 4 dinners at these restaurants.
Anyway with my low rating of the food aboard, it leads you to the conclusion that I am eating less. Not true. I, like most people, want my moneys worth. I paid for it so by God I am gonna get it…..on that note I won't even talk about our free drink package.
See you tomorrow.
Lately I have been pondering the question, "If I eat 5 pieces of bacon and one english muffin smothered with butter and jam for breakfast how many miles do I have do on the treadmill?" The answer I came up with is 25 miles; not that I could do 25 miles, and it wouldn't be realistic since then I would miss lunchtime.
People go on cruises to eat, drink and have their bed made for them. Sure there are some that want to go on excursions to see King Tut, and the Western Wall, but most are in it for the food and ok maybe the shopping. We're now on our 10th cruise and I can honestly say the cruise food isn't that good. It was better when we first cruised in the 1990's. Then you always were offered lobster, steak or crab. And that was when the waiters at the end of your meal would parade out proudly displaying the Baked Alaska. That's when cruise ships had the midnight buffets and took special care in presenting their 100 foot chocolate buffet!. Most ships don't offer those anymore, as a cost cutting measure and it saves the sanity of the crew because they don't have to answer the question, "What time is the Midnight Buffet?".
Having been on several Norwegian cruises now I can say the food is okay but far from excellent. On the higher priced cruises like Crystal, Seabourn the food probably is still very good. We went on a Crystal cruise in 2001 (right after 9/11 when half the passengers cancelled), the food was excellent. Norwegian, like Princess, are kind of middle of the road cruise lines. Their food is okay but nothing to write home about (like I am doing now) LOL. In any event I'm certain our ship is certainly a step above Carnival that from all reports cater to the beer drinking crowd with their distinguishing palette.
The cruise lines higher food costs and the fact people are eating more have probably forced them to buy cheaper products and "trim the fat", as they say. Portions are noticeably modest but then again you can order as many dishes as you like. The menus choices are considerably less and have what is usually considered budget friendly meals like lasagne, spaghetti, and beef stew, I mean who goes on a cruise to eat beef stew?
Desserts on the cruise look delicious but lack sugar, butter, and cream needed to make them rich and tasty. In almost all desserts you detect the blandness due to thickeners like cornstarch, or gelatin. Jay and I agree however the ice cream is still yummy, they can't ruin the ice cream. And the best dessert has got to be chocolate volcano cake that oozes chocolate and comes with a scoop of chocolate chip ice cream.
The longer you're on the ship you know what is good, what you can doctor up and what to stay away from. Like I told you before the shrimp cocktail is a winner, spring rolls with sweet chili sauce, french fries, and of course the bacon are almost always good.
The best food of course is at the premium restaurants on board, like Cagney's Steakhouse, Moderna Brazilian restaurant, French Bistro, and La Cucina Italian restaurant. These all are excellent and come with surcharge up to $25.00 a person. Our cruise price only came with 4 dinners at these restaurants.
Anyway with my low rating of the food aboard, it leads you to the conclusion that I am eating less. Not true. I, like most people, want my moneys worth. I paid for it so by God I am gonna get it…..on that note I won't even talk about our free drink package.
See you tomorrow.
Sent from my Galaxy Tab® S2
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