Food On Board

I've made some passing references to the high quality of food on board so I thought it might be helpful to provide some more details to give a more complete picture.

There are three dining areas on the A-Deck; the Officers' Mess, the Crew Mess and the Duty Mess. The Crew Mess is the largest and consists of some long tables with chairs for the crew. The men serve themselves buffet style from large serving dishes. The Duty Mess is next to the Crew Mess and this is just a smaller dining area for the crew where coveralls and work boots are allowed.

The Officers' Mess is where we passengers take our meals. It's a nice sized dining room with two round tables. In the middle of each table is a rotating circular plate on which are placed the condiments and all the smaller plates of cold cuts, cheeses, bread, etc that accompany most meals. Five or six people can eat comfortably at each table.

The kitchen itself is the responsibility of the Chief Cook, Joel. He joined the ship in Xingang when our previous cook signed off. Joel is responsible for preparing all of the meals for everyone on board, twenty six crew and three passengers. His day starts around 06:00 with preparations for breakfast and continues until the final cleaning of the kitchen after dinner.

He is also responsible for ordering the provisions for the voyage and preparing the menus. He has to take into account the length of time at sea and the number of meals he needs to prepare. Using some guidelines he prepares a list for the Captain's approval after which the groceries and supplies are purchased and brought on board.

His kitchen is well appointed with cooking and prep surfaces, ovens, sinks and refrigerators. The grill and stovetops are mounted on gimbals to keep everything horizontal despite the rolling of the ship and all of the countertops have raised barriers to keep pots and pans from sliding off.

Meal times on the ship are fixed; the only exception so far has been for parties. Breakfast is served from 07:30 to 08:30 and consists of numerous options: eggs to order, sausage or bacon, an assortment of cereals, breads, jams, jellies, usually fresh fruit or yoghurt. Lunch is usually the most substantial meal consisting of a soup followed by a main course of a meat and vegetable, usually with an accompaniment of potatoes in some form or another and is served from 12:00 to 13:00. Dinner is served from 17:30 to 18:30. Coffee and tea are available at each meal along with water and fruit juices. The crew also has twenty-minute coffee breaks at 10:00 and 15:00.

Overall the variety and quality has been excellent. We benefit from the fact that the ship has ample storage space for provisions; there are several walk-in freezers, refrigerators and chillers on the Upper Deck.

The risk to the passengers is that it's very easy to eat too much as the portions are reckoned for the crew who spend their days actually working. I've noticed that some of my clothes seem a bit snugger after a little more than a month at sea; perhaps it's just the salt air causing them to shrink.