We wanted to give a shout-out to all of the crew who work in the various restaurant galleys of the ship. This includes a wide range of people including chefs, and others from those who clean dishes to those who cut and prepare items.
Throughout the cruise we have been posting menus, photographs, and posting about many of the food items we have enjoyed throughout the cruise. We are always amazed when we think of all of the time and effort that goes into preparing each and every meal and the added complexities of doing this on a cruise ship rather than on land.
The Crystal DIning Room offers three meals a day; Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. Each item is cooked to order. While past history help in prepping the food because Crystal allows each guest to change up the meals there is added complexity to this. For example, if the menu calls for the fish to be fried but we want it broiled the Crystal galley can easily accommodate this change. Or we might ask for a salad that is on the menu to be changed such as eliminating some items in the salad and replacing it with other items and that is easily done. There are other times that we may be able to order an item that is not on the menu on the spot and that can be done as well. Of course, the latter item is more easily accomplished by providing 24 hours or more notice. What truly amazes us is take dinner. The galley might be preparing meals for as many as 900 or more people between the two seatings, yet each plate is truly prepared for each person for the reasons we mention. The challenge is not only in its preparation but also in all items coming together so that if you sit at a large table the waiter and senior waiters are able to serve all entree or other course all at once. Yes, the waiter is instrumental in this which we discussed the other day but the challenge begins with the cooks in the kitchen.
On top of all that the chefs do, there are other staff that are key and those are the people who prep various items including peeling, and the cutting of fruits and vegetables along with those who are responsible for the cleaning of all dishes and glassware.
At the same time the kitchen is preparing other items that are served in other venus such as many of the items on the Lido Deck such as food served in the Lido Cafe and Tastes. There are others who cook food say at the grill and who also prepare some of the other foods.
The main dining room also prepares the food that is served in The VIntage Room which is a dining venue serving very few guests that pairs wines and each course.
We have mentioned Silk Road and Prego and these are very special restaurants. They serve a range of guests each evening. Sometimes they serve 125 or so guests which can put additional stresses on the kitchen and the waitstaff but often they are serving less guests. Each item is cooked to cooked to order.
In Prego, in addition to the items on the menu they offer two additional entrees; usually a fish and a pasta but sometimes if fish is not available they will offer a beef dish or sometimes something entirely different as such as the calzone that we had a few weeks ago. In many of the ports, the head chef of Prego, goes out with one or two others or sometimes by himself to look for fish. Sometimes he might go out with the Executive Chef to also look for fish for the Crystal Dining Room. The Challenge for the Crystal Dining Room is to find a large fish or fish in a lot of quantity since they must have more than enough fish for anyone who orders it from the menu. They can't say, "sorry we are out of this item." For Prego the requirements are not so large but they must find a fish that will not only meet the standards of Crystal but one that will work well with an Italian meal in mind. We have found that the items that are created as part of the additional items have truly been outstanding. We usually order them because we do prefer the fish. At the same time, there are many delicious items to choose from on the menu. The food is not only tasty but the presentations are great with some being very unique.
Likewise, the chefs at Silk Road work their magic. There are around four sushi chefs who prepare all of the Sushi and Sashimi. Earlier in the day, they are prepping the fish but all of the sushi and sashimi is made only after the order is taken by the waiter. It is prepared to order. They not only are making these items for those sitting at the sushi but for everyone who orders these items at the table.
At the same time in the Galley they are preparing a wide range of foods as each order comes to the Galley. The recipes come from Chef Nobu who also has several restaurants around the world and some of the ingredients that are used provided some very tasty and unique flavors.
The various dining rooms mainly the Crystal Dining Room kitchen but sometimes even Silk Road also are involved in the Grand Galla Buffet. Often preparation of foods must begin the day before and what amazes us is not only the variety of items on the buffet but all of the care and preparation that goes into them including their presentation. Just take the cakes for example and all of the detail that goes into them or those eggs that look say like Penguins. Often we say it is a work of art and for us it is.
At the same time, there is the afternoon tea each day. We used to go to some of the teas in the days we dined in the late seating but now that we dine early we no longer go there but we can say that the attention to detail and the items that are offered to eat are just amazing as we will walk by there from time to time.
On each World Cruise there is two special dinner events held up at the pool and that is another example of all of the work and the talent that goes into the creation of these meals. At these events they are serving each person each course at once. With 300 World Cruisers and hosts for each table they are serving around 175 people at once as there are two seatings. This requires a lot of personnel to make this happen and that includes not only the chefs but also many people from the galleys of other areas and also the waitstaff. It is truly amazing.
On top of all of this, Crystal offers many foods items that certain guests may require such as Kosher Meals or Low Sodium items or an array of other items including those with food allergies. At dinner, they also offer items on the menu including Vegetarian Selections and LIghter Side Items.
We also want to mention that we also applaud the sizes of the portions. For us they are the right size; not too large and not too small. Certainly, if you want more you can order more of any item or more than one type of course. However, we think the portion size is very appropriate.
While on this years cruise we have been a little more adventurous, in general we try to order mainly items that we consider to be healthy. On a long voyage, we view the majority of items we eat as if we went to a spa for a weekend. As they say you can eat as healthy as you want on the cruise or whatever else you want. If one is going on a longer cruise that is likely more important than if you go on a shorter cruise where you can easily eat whatever you want.
We also don't want to forget the people who clean the galleys. We have taken tours of the Crystal Dining Room Galley and you could eat off the floor.
On top of this there is also a crew galley that is preparing meals for a crew that is larger than 600 people.
There are so many people working in the respective galleys that we do not have the opportunity to meet and we want to thank them for all that they do which adds tremendously to our cruising experience. Bravo, Bravo, Bravo.
Before dinner last evening, we attend the Matinee Production Show called Curtain Call. This show features many memorable songs from blockbuster musicals. It ends on a very high note with Mama Mia. We find this to be a very uplifting show. The show was shown as a Matinee, because laster in the evening there were two performances given by entertainer Jimmy Travis.
Afterwards, we dined in the Crystal Dining Room. These were the dinner menus.
We had already per-ordered an entree that was not on the menu a couple of nights ago. Headwaiter, Augusto, noticed that one of our favorites which was a Broiled Fresh Ketchikan Halibut Fillet was on the menu. He suggested that we order it as an appetizer which was a brilliant suggestion. We did just that. It was also accompanied with Saffron Risotto and we only had a small portion of that. We really enjoyed the Halibut.
As those of you know who read our Blog daily, we rarely have beef and almost always have fish as an entree. We decided to order beef for and we went with a sirloin steak. The steak was on the larger side in order for it to be cooked properly and we each had about half of what we were served. It was very tasty. This photo does not do justice to the color of the beef. We also shared a side order of steamed vegetables beyond what is pictured in this photo.
For those of you who know wine, we had saved a bottle of a Caymus Vineyards, Special Selection Cabernet wine for this entree and it was brilliant. We are not wine snobby's and have enjoyed a wide range of wines on this trip and have found some wines that we really enjoyed at very moderate prices.
For dessert Keith had blueberries and strawberries, and Anne Marie had the sugar free Vanilla Raspberry Budino which was delicious. Keith tried a little of it.
During our meal from our table we had a very nice view of the shoreline as we cruised the Inside Passage. It was very beautiful.
We also found the dining room to be very quiet last night. This was likely due to a combination of reasons. Some guests were likely dining at Tastes which is the casual dining alternative (this was an informal night so some guests may not have wanted to get dressed up for the evening) and several guests were also dining in Silk Road and Prego.
We enjoyed a very nice sleep last evening. We needed it after going to sleep at around 12:30 AM. It was very easy to fall asleep and we really appreciated the extra hours of sleep and the fact that there are no more time changes on this cruise prior to our arrival in Los Angeles.
Keith woke up early in the morning and was back in the Fitness Center for his daily workout. The center was very quiet and afterwards Keith had coffee in the Lido Cafe. He spoke with some of the Lido Deck Stewards including Martin and Nat and also to the member of the Night Crew, Anthony.
Anne Marie also worked out in the morning and then we enjoyed breakfast in our room as we got ready for our visit to Vancouver. The ship arrived to Vancouver at around 8:00 PM. We last visited Vancouver last August on board the Crystal Symphony as part of our Alaskan Cruise.
Some fellow guests departed the ship today as they live in Canada while some guests we know will be leaving in San Francisco. At the same time, others like us will depart in Los Angeles but some are staying for the next voyage which goes to New York City as they live on the East Coast while still others will take the crossing over to London.
We had to carry a Government Official ID while going ashore so we used our drivers licenses. Canada has very strict regulations as we have learned on past visits.
While it rained earlier, it did not rain while we walked for a few hours. It was cloudy and overcast but that did not dampen our spirits. Since this is not the height of the tourist season it was fun to walk around. One of the places we did visit was Gastown.
Steam comes out every 15 minutes.
You can see Stanley Park and this is a sea plane that was getting ready to land.
While we walked around we continually ran into fellow passengers and crew members.
We went back to the ship to have some lunch and we had a nice salad entree. We enjoyed a nice seafood salad which included salmon, shrimp and scallops.
We went back out and and walked over to Stanley Park which is about a 45 minute walk. Spring was in the air and the sun even came out. It was delightful and it was nice that there were not many tourists out and about. We had a wonderful time.
A short while after we got back, Keith met up with friend Bob and Anne Marie read and wrote.
This evening we will dine in Prego.
TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY......
“You will not do incredible things without an incredible dream.” – John Eliot
Keith and Anne Marie
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