Cruisin' Food

This post is going to be all about some of the food I had while on vacation. I would go on another cruise just for the food! It was fantastic! Anything you could want to eat was likely to be found somewhere on the ship.

The main buffet area was on the Lido Deck or deck 10 which happened to be the deck our rooms were on. It was also the deck with the swimming pools. The buffet had pretty much everything on it. Salad and fixings, all types of meats, pasta, breads, veggies and of course deserts. There was also a burrito bar. At the back of deck was a deli station that would make pretty much any sandwich you could want. Just above the buffet was an Italian restaurant. Out beside one of the pools was a 24 hour pizza bar and a 24 hour burger bar. So no matter what time of day you got hungry there was food you could get. And if you wanted desert instead there were soft serve ice cream machines also open 24 hours.

On the 5th deck was a pub that served pub food, a salad bar where they lady would custom make any salad for you, and outside on that deck was a grill where they would make sliders and hot dogs all day. On this deck they also had what they called the "Taste and See" bar where you could get samples of the food that is in the Steak House on the ship. They do this because the Steak House costs extra to eat at and is not included like the rest of the food. Next to the Taste and See was a coffee and ice cream bar that also cost extra. I tried their Rum Raisin ice cream and it was very yummy!

For breakfast each day you could choose to either eat at the buffet or to eat in the dinning hall. The hubby and I chose to eat in the dinning hall each morning because it meant we didn't have to wait in line for our food.

Along with the food, there were probably 10 different bars that could make just about any drink you could want. I think mine ended up being what they called a Hurricane Wave. It's a frozen Hurricane layered with banana daiquiri. It was very good!

But, enough of all that, on to the real food!

As part of package on the cruise we had a set dinner time in the dinning hall of 6pm at an assigned table. We didn't have to eat there each night, but we decided as a family we would. And it was nice that we did so as we all kind of split up and did our own things during the day, so this brought us all back together to chat.

We were in the Southern Lights lower dinning hall which was located on the 3rd deck near the back of the ship. While our table was in the middle of the hall we could see out the back windows to the ocean. All 11 of us sat together at a very large round table to enjoy what I would call a 3-4 course meal each night.



After sitting down, the wait staff would come and fill our glasses and offer some bread to start out while we looked over the menu. There was real butter on the table every night along with more glasses and silverware than a normal person should use for one meal. The menu each night consisted of two parts. The left side of the menu was the same every night and had some basic restaurant foods on it that most people enjoy, fried chicken, steak, lobster, shrimp, etc. The other side changed every day and would have more exciting food on it. Each side had an appetizer and an entree section to choose from. The best part was that if you wanted more than one of the items you could order more than one. I did that a few times with the appetizers as there were new things I wanted to try.

I also went really bold on this trip. On the side of the menu that changed, each day they had an appetizer that they called a Didja, as in Did you ever try that? It was usually something odd that most Americans wouldn't be eating on a regular basis. I ordered it every single night no matter what it was. And I liked all of it!

Once the main bit of dinner was done, they would bring out a desert menu. Like the regular menu they would have a few new things each night along with a few things that stayed the same. I made sure to have a different desert each night.

Then, near the end of the dinner service we would suddenly hear someone over the speakers say "Show Time!" The first night we asked our head server what that meant, he replied "Time for me to hide". We found out a few minutes later that Show Time means that the wait staff comes out and sings and dances for us! One night they danced to Pharrell Williams' song Happy. Another night it was Gangam Style. Our last dinner service was on July 4th. Since most of the guests on board are American the last night they sang America the Beautiful for us. It was just so much fun.

Now because just talking about food isn't always that interesting, I did try to take pictures of each dish each night. I didn't get the first night or some of the last night along with a couple in between, so hard to remember to take a picture of your food when it looks so good that you just dig right in!

Picture time! I don't remember exactly what each dish is, but I'll do my best.

This first one is the Didja from the last evening, Frog Legs. I'm not sure what the sauce was, but it was very good. They do taste just like chicken.


This first one is the Didja from the last evening, Frog Legs. I'm not sure what the sauce was, but it was very good. They do taste just like chicken.

This is an appetizer my husband had, portobello mushrooms. I am not a mushroom person, but the dish looked pretty so I got a picture.

Escargot cooked in garlic butter. I'd had these before so it wasn't a shock to eat, but it was a Didja, so I hadta!

This was a small seafood appetizer, another one my husband ordered.

This is the appetizer that worried me the most. Braised Ox Tongue. For this one I ordered a back up appetizer as I was afraid I wouldn't like it at all. I was pleasantly surprised though. It just tasted like beef but with a much smoother texture. Very tender also.

Sushi appetizer.

This was a lovely seafood pasta. I had it as an appetizer but it was available as an entree also. I believe the fish in it was Salmon but I don't remember for sure.

Alligator balls. This was a new way for me to eat this. Normally when you buy alligator around here it is just cut into chunks and fried like chicken. These were ground and formed into meatballs with some very nice seasoning. First time I've had alligator that didn't taste like chicken.

Red fish with a pumpkin puree as a main entree.

This was a mixed seafood dish with muscles, scallops and shrimp.

Jerked Pork loin. Nice and spicy!

What would a cruise be if you didn't have Lobster and shrimp one night?

Strawberry cheesecake for desert one night.

Chocolate cake anyone?

Baked Alaska.

Bread Pudding with a vanilla sauce.

My husband had Tiramisu that night. I don't really like coffee in my desert.

Cherries Jubilee. I was disappointed that this didn't come out on fire, but I realize that would be a huge safety hazard.
There were so many other dishes that I just didn't get pictures of. The ones I remember are Mahi Mahi, raw tuna, a souffle and a chocolate melting cake.

There was just so much food! I tried to try as much as I could, but a person's stomach can only hold so much!