13-08-2012 Monday sailing to St. Thomas

Monday 13-08-2012 At sea sailing to St Thomas Virgin Islands

To write something about the crew’s restaurant and the food on board is easy.
It is self service canteen food, massed produced for over 2000 crew. There definitely is an effort to make a nice display of the food on the food-isles. But after a few servings...

There are official opening hours, but in between there is always an ‘island’ open. People on shifts need to eat as well. I never been there in the middle of the night but in the kitchen they have night shifts as well. I expect there is 24/7; always some food.

Restaurant is big enough for 250 – 300 people, with simple solid chairs with a , kind of soft plastic seat and tables with laminated tops. Plastic plates and beakers, but nice big cotton serviettes
If you sit in the back you can watch 2 TV stations CNN and ESPN (no not ‘EPNS’ this confuses me as well) and listen to music at the same time. Music is always the same few tracks. Some parts of the wall are decorated with big fruits, flowers or just colours. Having your breakfast, lunch, diner, coffee or tea at your own kitchen table is more enjoyable and fun then here. People eat and disappear.



There is always a selection of rice, rice dressings, 2 soups, pastas, massed potatoes, sometimes ordinary potatoes, gravy, cold salads, fish, meat, boiled eggs, various sausages, various bread with, rolls and sweet breads, cheeses, meats, marmalade, etc. fruits, serials, coffee tea, milk, fruit juices, lettuces, steamed vegetables, cold vegetables, hamburger, hotdogs, twice a week beef or lamb stew, once a week chips and pancakes. Always desserts like trifle, chocolate pudding, mousses, different tastes of fruit cakes. And, Oh yes, there is an ice cream machine.

For the guests there are eating places, breakfast lunch and snacks, all over the ship. Like you see in an US shopping mall ‘Diners’ : Johnny Rockets , Seafood Shack, Wipe Out Café and Windjammer Marketplace is the biggest. For diner there is “The Dining Room”
You can eat ‘A la carte’ and for a set prices starting from $ 20,-- Italian, Japanese, Chops grille and 150 Central park with a award winning chef. These restaurants are situated in the Central park. I have not tried hem. But once i was playing here, a man offered me a good whisky when I was almost finished playing. I accepted and kept on playing for another 45 mins. (I wish my car could run 45 mins on a whisky) Then the waiter came with a little dish for me. Really beautiful tender different types of meats, vegetables and potato. I’m not a connoisseur, but you know it when you taste it. It was from the Chops Grille ($ 30,-- plus.)

This is the park where I like to sit in the evenings and play my small pipes. For me this is the most enjoyable and rewarding place to play. You see people, most times nicely dressed up, going to dine. You can see they are looking forward to this. Quite often the man carries a bottle of wine. You see these people coming, I look at them, they look at me playing and then the smile is coming, thumbs up, saying you’re very good. Often they stop for a request, or sit next to me for a little talk and photo.

Photos canteen and The Dining Room with three floors. Lamp costs $2.000.000,--