I just returned from a ten day cruise to Alaska. I will not say on which cruise line because I was a bit disappointed in them. But going on a cruise after weight loss surgery (WLS) can be a bit scary. Cruising is really just about wasting time between meals. They feed you often and a lot on cruise ships and you can get carried away. I set out to be sure that I did not over eat and yet enjoy the culinary offerings of the various dining areas.
Breakfast can be eaten either in the dining room (Deck 6) or
at the buffet on Deck 14. Sitting up on the higher deck gave you a great view
of wherever you were and was almost always very busy for breakfast. On the trip
we ate breakfast at the buffet every morning but one. The buffet always
included lots of fruits, hot and cold cereals, toast, croissants, muffins, bagels,
and a wide variety of sweet rolls and Danish. The main menu items ranged from
breakfast staples like pancakes, French toast, sausages, bacon, and eggs in various
forms. They also had fish, including smoked fish and a variety of ethnic
dishes, which included fried rice, oriental eggs (deep fried hard boiled eggs
in a crust), and vegetables.
After my WLS and the subsequent removal of my gall bladder
last year, the volume that I am able to eat has been reduced substantially. At
home breakfast is my major meal due to the fact that my stomach (or what is
left of it) is empty. I often eat eggs, a piece of toast, or oatmeal or
granola. So at breakfast at the buffet with its wide selection I was able to
take small amounts of a variety of food items and then eat what I wanted. I
would take a single egg (fried, oriental or poached), a small croissant, some
butter and jam, a sausage link or a small spoonful of corned beef hash. I
always skipped the pastries, and took only small amounts of fruit. I ate slowly
and instead of focusing on cleaning my plate, I concentrated on enjoying the
flavors and talking with strangers sitting next to us. The conversations were
almost always lively and interesting. And the side benefit was to slow down the
eating.
I bought a ticket for specialty coffee drinks so I had my
morning capuchinno (and maybe and afternoon one as well).
Lunch was normally at the buffet as well. Lots of meats,
cheeses, breads, pre-made sandwiches, fruits and a lot of hot dishes as well. I
was singularly unimpressed with the majority of the hot dishes at the buffet.
For some reason they didn’t keep them hot and often they were lukewarm and
often cool. I realize that cooking 10,000 meals per day is a logistical problem;
I do believe that hot food should be served hot. I normally took a few pieces
of cold meat and cheese or the individually made sandwiches (a vitello tonnato
sandwich was quite good), and a diet soda. The cookies were my downfall. They
made a molten chocolate chocolate chip cookie and an excellent oatmeal raisin
cookie and we offer took 4-6 cookies back to the cabin for later.
Dinner was always in the main dining room and was ordered
off the menu. There were dishes that were always available (fettuccini alfredo,
medallions of beef, and shrimp cocktail) as well as daily dishes that included
three appetizers, a couple of soups, and
salad, three main courses, and three to five desserts. The appetizers were
normally small and in general were good. A smoked duck breast and a small
filled puff pastry shell with chicken, sweetbreads and wild mushrooms in a
cream sauce were nice. I decided to limit my main dishes to those I have not
had before or have not had in a long time. Some were successful (a shrimp
curry) and others were not (roast pheasant with a cranberry sauce).
Actually it was pretty easy to maintain my Eight Bites
eating. The buffets allowed me to take a bit of different things and try them.
If I didn’t like them, I just left them on the plate. It made it easy to eat
limited amounts and yet try a lot of different things. Lunch was lunch. I just
focused on eating sufficient protein and not eating too much. Dinner was by definition
an exercise in limited consumption. The appetizers were generally small bites. I
normally didn’t eat the soup or a salad, and while the main courses were OK
they were nothing to write home about.
In discussions with other passengers, some were enthusiastic
about the food and others had the same problems I did. Working as a chef did
not give me any great insight onto why things weren’t that great. Foods were
often not served at the correct temperature, and flavors were bland and under-seasoned.
So while I enjoyed the trip, I did not particularly enjoy the food. This
allowed me to eat the things I wanted to eat in the amounts that made sense. I
did not eat the overly sweet desserts at lunch and dinner, and never left the
table overly full and uncomfortable.
