2018 Cruise Post #2 — Dining and Drinking

Average cruisers gain about one pound per day. I’m an average cruiser. Kim isn’t. She takes the stairs whenever possible and chases me around in my wheelchair all week such that she hardly gains any weight. Not fair.

The food is so good on a cruise. Meals at the main dining room are included in the cruise fare. It’s like a 4-star restaurant. For a modest upcharge, however, you can dine in any of several 5-star restaurants. We split it down the middle — four meals in the main dining room and four meals at upscale restaurants.

We began at the main dining room, where we were randomly seated with two other couples. Lovely people. I brought my OBI dining assistant with me and asked the waiter to cut up my food into sizes between a pea and grape, as is required by OBI. This caused some confusion, and the need to bring in the boss for clarification, but in the end, it worked out well.

On the second night, we ate in a most unusual restaurant. It is called Wonderland, based on the Alice in Wonderland theme. “You must have an open mind,” I was told, “because you will see food that you have never seen before.” There was no menu, per se. They just kept bringing the food, and we ate what we wanted, which was almost everything. I’m not adventurous when it comes to exotic foods, but I took a chance, and I was so glad that I did. This is the most unusual and perhaps the finest dining experience I’ve ever had. Here are a few pictures.

And here are a couple of short videos, where photos just won't suffice (if you're reading this in an email, to see these videos you must go to the original post here).

We tried out a Chops Steakhouse and twice dined at a nice Italian restaurant. My goodness, I ate a lot. We also gobbled down breakfast and lunch, but sometimes because we slept late we merged the two. I think what got me, what put me over the top, were the desserts. I enjoyed one nearly every meal and sometimes in between. Bad Mitch. Very bad Mitch.

I enjoyed a few cocktails throughout the week, but I’m not much of a drinker anymore. Check out the bionic bartenders, who did make me some kind of fruity concoction (if you are reading this on email click here.)

Kim ended up feeding me much of my food. Some folks might feel conspicuous receiving their food that way, but I don’t. It seems obvious what’s going on when I sit there in such an elaborate wheelchair. And, if anyone makes feeding a 54-year-old man look casual and natural, it’s Kim.