Food, Food…

And did we mention food? Of course, we have been showing off some of the spectacular food as we’ve been going along, and this being a Wine and Food Festival sailing, there’s even more than usual.  Along with the two guest chefs and Tony Abu-Gamin, there has been a wine expert on board who has been hosting wine tastings on some of the sea days. Some of our tablemates have gone to a couple of them, but Monica hasn’t. There’s only so much you can do during a day, and adding another glass or two of wine mid-afternoon doesn’t always appeal - especially if you're trying to keep some control over your diet.

Some people we met whom we have seen on previous cruises went to a special Vintage Room dinner, where Azmin Ghahreman developed the menu and did the cooking and the guest wine expert provided the accompanying beverages. They say it may just have been the best meal they ever had! Too bad the wine is such a huge part of the total experience, or it would be worth considering in the future.

As promised, here are some photos of yesterday’s Grand Gala Buffet. The menu items don’t change all that much from cruise to cruise - the chefs know by now what the big sellers are - but the presentation can be a little different every time. I don’t remember seeing the dolphin ice carving last time…

The march of the Penguins!

One of the spectacular ice carvings.  Wonder what they do with them when they melt!

Everyone's favourite Chocolate Fountain

Just a little bit of the dessert buffet:  Cream swans and cannoli - and look at that chocolate centrepiece!

Seafood & Sushi presentation

We also have pictures of pictures from events we talked about in our last posting:

Our table - the lady beside Larry is Yvonne.  Must have been a run on black formal wear that day!!

The Rum Punch (or Fruit Punch) sailaway

At the Captain's Quarters get-together

Today we’ll be in Grand Cayman for the afternoon. After we do our laps on the Promenade Deck, Monica has booked herself into the spa for a couple of hours - detoxing (and we don’t mean that in the way that first comes to mind). Larry, on the other hand, is going to spend part of that time in the gym.

This evening, Tony is going to be serving at the Starlite Bar before dinner again, and even if you don’t drink, it’s fun to watch him work and get some tidbits of information from him for making up your own combinations - with or without alcohol. We’ll update again later.