It's about time I talked about food a little, as that's one of the first questions people ask about working on a ship. What's the food like?

The Mariner is the only ship I've lived on, so I have limited experience, but I'm told the food on this ship is pretty good compared with other ships. It seems pretty good to me.

There are two messes; the crew mess and the staff mess. I'm staff, so I can eat in either mess. I can also eat in the ship's restaurants if I arrange it beforehand and pay a small service fee (between two and ten bucks, depending on the restaurant). I almost always eat in the staff mess, although I have tried the Windjammer Buffet restaurant.

The dining room in the staff mess is quite comfortable, and best of all, quiet. It is divided into three sections, one where you can join others at tables set for six people, another where you can dine alone if you want, and the buffet area, where you help yourself to the daily selections.

The buffet has a salad bar, a section for cold-cuts, cheese, and fruit, a dessert section, and the main course buffet. There's always fish and a vegetarian offering in addition to everything else. At dinner each day a roast of some sort is also offered – turkey, roast beef, lamb or pork.

I'm particularly enjoying the Indian food that seems to be showing up at almost every lunch and dinner. Sometimes, like yesterday, there were two Indian dishes, one vegetarian (eggplant/potato curry) and the other a seafood curry. The Indian food is always good. When there's no Indian food, there will often be a Chinese stir-fry or something, also very good.

There's usually a stew or some kind of simmered dish, some fried or jerk chicken, or maybe pork, a pasta dish, a selection of potato and vegetable dishes, and a daily soup.

The salad bar is pretty typical, although lately it also offers a couple of prepared salads at each meal – Greek, pasta, lentil or chickpea, Waldorf, or other salads. This is a nice trend. The Waldorf salad here is quite good – the chef includes some blue cheese in addition to the apples and walnuts and stuff.

The cold-cut/cheese/fruit table is also typical - a couple cold-cuts, usually sliced ham or salami and turkey breast, two or three sliced cheeses, and the ever-present smoked salmon with lemon and/or capers. The cut fruits don't change much from day to day – canteloupe, watermelon, honeydew melon, and pineapple. I especially enjoy the juicy, sweet, fresh pineapple, something I rarely eat at home.

Ooops! I almost forgot desserts. Well, they're good. We can usually select from three main desserts, like cheesecake, fruit flans, or cakes. Some of the cakes are quite rich and heavy, but others, like carrot cake, are also offered. Cookies and ice cream are always available. Sometimes there's a special ice cream, but not often.
Wine and beer are available at meals at very reasonable ship's prices, although I don't avail myself of them these days. Maybe the best things about the meals on the ship are that I don't have to make them, or shop, or wash the dishes afterwards. It's great to be able to just show up and help yourself and then leave.

It's easy to get spoiled here. But as good as the meals are, people still complain. They're always going to complain, aren't they? Oh well...

That's about it for all you who have been asking about the food. I haven't mentioned anything about breakfast (typical hotel-style breakfast buffet) as it is the least interesting meal. I also haven't covered the guest restaurants, because I haven't eaten in most of them. I'm that cheap these days! I'll dine in those when I have guests onboard (like Meta or Paul).

OK. That's it for food. I won't write about it again (barring unforseen circumstances...)