Wednesday May 31
We’ve read that the average cruiser gains between 1-2 pounds (1/2 to 1kg) per day on a cruise. We’re not surprised as it looks like you could eat practically all day from 6am until 9.30 pm, with an hour’s break before lunch and half an hour before dinner! If you have midnight cravings, room service has a late night menu from 11pm until 7am.
There are a variety of restaurants, waiter-serviced, buffet, the pub, alternative dining (for an extra supplement). We haven’t checked them all out, as well as the bars and cafés. After 6pm, there is a dress code of smart attire, which is less enforced for some venues, eg. the pub, but still means no shorts or sleeveless t-shirts in the evening.
We have established a routine, involving breakfast (buffet-style), eschewing lunch, a cuppa (tea – for the non-British reader) at teatime, with maybe a finger sandwich. A four-course dinner in the Britannia Restaurant in the evening, where we have an assigned table for two. That way Lynne is able to select her dinner menu for the following day and they prepare it without garlic. Despite our sommelier’s attentiveness, we have persuaded him to allow us to decide how much wine to pour from the bottle, and how much to save for a subsequent dinner.
Best laid plans and all that… there are four gala evenings when formal attire is encouraged for participation in events and dinner venues. The first such ‘Gala Evening’ was on our second night at sea. Lynne flounced into the Britannia restaurant in something long and flowing, but Peter was stopped at the entrance. He wasn’t wearing a jacket. Most men were wearing black tie or a dark suit and tie. Peter was wearing his smartest long-sleeved shirt, the new slacks we had bought in Yokohama and a white bow tie. Not good enough. Peter was at his most charming and managed to get them to allow him to join Lynne (with her special meal):- Just this once…!
It should be added that it would have been possible to rent the requisite dinner suit at a price. The following day, as we left Starbucks in the shopping mall in Aomori, Lynne spotted a cheap black linen jacket (costing less than one evening’s hire of a jacket on board). We have yet to establish whether this will be sufficient to pass muster. Our second gala night was spent in the ‘casually dressed’ buffet restaurant, where the sous-chef advised Lynne to eat in the Britannia restaurant as it could cater for food allergies!
Actually the food is excellent, when you consider how much must be frozen to accommodate such long voyages at sea. The portions in the Britannia are perfect at dinner, but can be a bit overwhelming at breakfast. Everything is presented really well.
There are plenty of areas where to enjoy a drink, which are not as expensive as we feared.
