One thing that stresses me out, on land vacations, is having to find a good restaurant – three times a day! It’s always an expensive risk. And what if we’re not hungry at the same time? Not fun. The simple act of eating involves too much time, money and stress. Enough to ruin my appetite.
If you have special dietary needs, such as gluten-free, diabetic, vegetarian, dairy free… good luck finding ONE restaurant for each meal, and forget about variety. On a cruise ship, you just talk with the dining room manager about it on the first day. They create special meals! No extra charge. It doesn’t get any better than that.
On a cruise ship, mealtime is one of the easiest, most enjoyable parts of vacation, because multiple restaurants and buffets are included. It’s usually delicious, but if you don’t like your appetizer, entree, or dessert, you can just get another one. Try that in Italy! I did, and wound up in an argument with the waiter.
I’d rather recall the time we indulged in a premium French Bistro on a Cruise. It was an extra $15/person, but soooo worth it. Check this out…
Coquille’s St. Jacques (pictured above) is a very upscale scallop appetizer. When the gorgeous tux’d waiter came to see how I liked them, I exclaimed, “They’re amazing! I could eat a dozen more.”
Three minutes later, he brought a dozen more! I explained that I was just kidding (not wanting to pay for more). He said in a lovely French accent… “No charge, Madame!” OMG… I was in heaven! Everyone at our table got to taste this delicacy… “on me”!
I also recall the lobster tail with crabmeat-stuffed shrimp I had on another cruise. So succulent and seasoned perfectly… I ordered another one! No problem. The only comparable lobster dish I’ve ever had was $50 at a high-end restaurant in Perkins Cove, Maine: Lobster in a vanilla bourbon sauce… Wow!
Cruising is a great way to upgrade your “tolerance” for abundant living. On the Royal Caribbean cruise, I remember the sushi restaurant was out of this world, as was the Italian. But every meal in the main dining room was wonderful too. And the service was beyond delicious. They treat you like royalty.
Worried about gaining weight? Don’t. You’ll be walking a lot more than you do at home. And you won’t have such easy access to such decadent food when you get home. Any extra weight you might put on will probably drop off when you get back to your normal diet.
I hope to share a meal with YOU onboard the Social Wow Factor Cruise Conference!
~ Lois Grasso, Co-host