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Thursday, February 20, 2020

FOOD, YUMMY YUMMY FOOD


          When you reach a certain age, one of the few pleasures left is eating. Of course, you want to eat not only well, but tasty stuff pleasing to the palate. Let me tell you, cruising provides you with the ability to eat well and enjoy every single bite.

         
          On the two cruises I’ve been on, they had what is called the Lido Market. It has a wide variety of choices that are available beginning with breakfast and ending with snacks between 10:00 pm and 12:00 am. The Lido Market is included as part of your package. In addition, there is a taco bar adjacent the swimming pool with a very wide variety of choices to include in your taco or your taco salad…I went for the taco salad at least twice and it was very very good. There’s also the Dive In, which provides a variety of hamburgers and French fries until 5:00 pm. I don’t know what they put on their French fries, but they were excellent.

         

There were also three other restaurants. There was the dining room which was also included in your package, and you could make a reservation or take your chances when you decided to have dinner. I had lunch there once and the food was excellent…the company, maybe not so much. They seated me at the only empty chair at a table for 10. Eight of those 10 were couples. The gentleman seated next to me was a solo like me. He abruptly got up and left the table just after I was seated. We’d barely begun lunch when he excused himself again saying he’d taken a water pill that morning. On his return, I asked if he was taking Lasix and he responded affirmatively. Well, that was it for me…he may have been attractive and slim, but John took Lasix for years and there was no way I wanted to even contemplate getting to know a single male who was already on Lasix. We had a very nice lunch and I never saw him again.

          The Pinnacle Grill would have been an additional charge on my Visa; however, my decision not to try that restaurant was because it served Northwest food. Why would I fly thousands of miles and get on a ship to pay for food I could undoubtedly get right at home that would be cheaper and fresher?

          There was also the Canaletto restaurant which served Italian food. The Lido Market also had a variety of pasta and sauces, so why would I pay extra to eat in that restaurant. True, the restaurants provided wine service, but were I so inclined, I could have asked my Lido server for wine as well.

          Finally, there was in stateroom service. I used this for the mornings I had to be up early to go ashore. It was rather nice to have your breakfast delivered when you’re barely awake and to sit in your chair with your coffee and stare out at the water beyond the verandah. The delivered food wasn’t as good as what I had in the Lido Market for breakfast. That was understandable because the menu choices were not as broad. I mean you could get a bowl of oatmeal and then wander around to various locations and add fruit, nuts, cream and a wider variety of additions than were listed on the in-stateroom menu.

          Seriously, I expected to return home weighing many more pounds than when I left.  I was amazed to find myself about the same weight as when I left, especially because I ate and ate and ate and ate. In addition to the taco salads and hamburgers and French fries, I had perfectly cooked salmon, collard greens, a variety of vegetables cooked to perfection, steak, pasta, pizza, a couple different kinds of fish, crispy bacon, rolls and butter and a huge variety of desserts. I could even have ice cream cones almost any time of the day or night.

          I’ve heard stories about people who do nothing but go on cruises. After this one, I can certainly understand why that would be a great choice. You have a steward who comes in and cleans up your stateroom. You have access to wonderful and yummy food almost 24/7. There’s a medical facility on board if you should become in need of one. There are people to talk to almost 24/7. There are a wide variety of entertainments from piecing puzzles to an on board dance troupe, comedians to make you laugh, a casino in which you can lose your money (I didn’t play, but loved watching some of the folks who did.), books you can borrow and read, movies on your stateroom television, plus other TV stations if you are so inclined.  You can even get a massage, your hair and nails done, acupuncture, and a wide variety of health benefits from the on-board spa. Then, there’s the fitness room and two swimming pools so you can keep yourself in shape. You can also walk around the 10th deck innumerable times to get your steps in for the day. I didn’t utilize any of those facilities, but assume if I were to become a permanent cruiser, I’d definitely work all of them into my schedule.

          The only thing I didn’t really like so much was my inability to be on the internet. And, yes, I could have been, but I was not willing to pay the extra $120, or whatever it was, in order to go on line, text, email and play Words with Friends. I kind of missed that, but it was also very good to be off the grid (as they say) for a while.

         

The last time I cruised, it was with John to Alaska through the Inside Passage and including Glacier Bay. It was a wonderful trip, but John was already fading at that point in time. He would take the elevator up one floor to the Lido Market and I would take the steps. He would look at the various foods available and tell me his choices. Then, I would prepare his plate and drinks and serve him before I made my own choices. I didn’t resent him or having to wait on him, I simply thought it was sad he was unable to do all the things I was able to do. One day, I got him to walk from one end of the ship to the other to get a latte. He had to stop and rest once we reached the Crow’s Nest before heading back to our stateroom. He took a nap every afternoon. We didn’t attend any of the evening entertainments. But, we got to sit on our verandah and watch the glaciers calving and that was fun and exciting.


          This trip, I waited only on myself. I thought of John now and then when I was eating something especially yummy and that I know he would have enjoyed. With or without John, the pleasure of eating was immense…YUM, YUM, YUM.

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