10.158
12 (Wed) June 2019
Whole Maine Lobster
3.0
at Sapphire Main Dining Room – Voyager of the Seas
-Somewhere off the coast of Thailand-
with the Family, Mom and Dad
Summer Vacation 2019, Day 5 of 7.
- Day 1 (10.154 Chilli Crab Sauce Noodles)
- Day 2 (10.155 Chilli King Crab)
- Day 3 (10.156 Slow Roasted Prime Rib)
- Day 4 (10.157 Grouper and Bokchoy with Noodles)
Aboard Royal Caribbean’s Voyager of the Seas. Our first cruise. Departed Monday from Singapore, stopping in Penang (Malaysia) yesterday and Phuket (Thailand) today, returning to Singapore on Friday.
In addition to the more formal Sapphire Main Dining Room (see Day 1), another meal venue is the buffet at Windjammer Café. Open for breakfast, lunch, dinner. Free seating. Like Sapphire, the options comprise a range of Continental/American to Chinese to Indian fare – actually, some of the à la carte items at Sapphire seemed suspiciously like leftovers from Windjammer.
Speaking of leftovers, I was amazed that the buffet trays – except maybe kimchi – were fully loaded at all times, even just prior to the close of service. When I asked what happened to the remaining food, for example, whether made available to the crew, a manager explained that company policy required any uneaten food to be discarded – among the many suggested environmental harms caused by the cruise industry, some reports claim that food waste is dumped en route into the ocean. I suspect that the trays are kept full so that any photos taken by passengers and posted on social media always portray unlimited hospitality.
Already, on Day 3, we were tired of the standard menu and shelled out a bit extra for lobster (pun unintended, but accepted).
The lobster was good. But as always seems to be the case with good lobster, it was too small and too expensive. Wanted to get more, but resisted the temptation.
Having quickly grown accustomed to eating whatever and however as much, the need to exercise restraint felt uncomfortable. Maybe that’s a good thing, a kind of midway reality check. The cruise is such a surreal experience that ordering lobster made me feel grounded.