image from flickr by djonemore

image from flickr by suavehouse113

The availability of food is not, nor has it ever been, an issue when cruising. The variety and virtually continual, early morning to late night, availability covers most imaginable palatal desires, save being on a diet! 

Where we ate

 She said:

The food on the cruise was pretty good.  I had to send back a steak.  It was grisly and not very good.  My sister, Connie, kept talking about “Lobster Night”.  We could get all the lobster we wanted. That’s a thing of the past.  They brought us our dinners and there was half of a lobster tail and then shrimp.  We asked for more lobster, and were told that they would have to speak to someone to make sure we could have more.  We eventually got it, but not without a hassle. 

We also tried to eat in some of the restaurants where they served the special themed dinners for $25 extra.  I didn’t enjoy them more than the regular dining room dinners.

Open vs. assigned seating.  We started out with assigned seating and changed to open seating the next night.  We could eat when we wanted and ended up meeting more people.

He Said:

To begin with, all passengers must choose between assigned and open seating for dinner. If you are part of a group that wants to dine together or, more simply, want to eat at the same time with the same people, assigned seating is the way to go. Even though we planned on eating with Jon and Connie every evening, we opted for open seating, allowing us to vary our meal time and providing the opportunity to meet other passengers. This worked well for us as we formed some friendships that clearly enhanced our vacation.

For us, we always look forward to the meal featuring lobster. It used to be one could have multiple servings without any issue. Now, apparently, in cost cutting efforts, approval must be sought before a second lobster can be served. We were able to get a second course and didn’t hear of anyone being refused, but the impression one gets is that, in the future, such generosity may not be extended. 

 All of the larger cruise ships have one or two themed, reservations required, additional cost restaurants. We booked a meal at one featuring French cuisine. The meal was very good, but I didn’t feel the $25 per person premium charge was a good value. To be fair, this may have been more due to me not being such big French cuisine fan than due to the meal itself. At any rate, in the future I’ll most likely stick with the regular dining rooms.

image from flickr by Danila Medvedev

What a great site!   I have used them many times in the past and they have good customer care. 

If you are flexible, you can save much on cruises.  If you are extremely flexible, you can save 50%-75%.  The CEO, R. Alan Fox, even has a blog about his cruising experiences, and what you can expect if you go on one of them.  And he has been on some VERY nice trips! 

A couple of years ago they also added a vacation to go escorted tours.  I’ve never taken one of these, but I imagine they are well planned.  Check out this site www.vacationstogo.com.  It may make you want to take a cruise.