Friday, July 24, 2009

2009 Boston to Bermuda Cruise

My husband and I came back from a 7-day Boston to Bermuda cruise with Norwegian Spirit not too long ago. This was our second trip to Bermuda. It was like visiting an old friend: warm, friendly and eager to tell you what's new (or the same) with her while you were away. Staying on a luxurious cruise ship is in itself a pampered and well-rounded vacation with everything you need -- lodging, entertainment, and food. It's a fun one-stop, (mostly)all -inclusive one heck of a boat ride. This cruise ship is no different from any other. There is food. Good food and tons of it. It's an added bonus when the ship takes you to a fantastic destination like Bermuda.

Two years ago, we sailed with Norwegian Majesty. The food was pretty good but the food on Norwegian Spirit far exceeds the food on the Majesty. Celebrity Cruises still has the best food overall but the "freestyle cruising" on NCL can't be beat!

My Top 10 food related experiences and observations (this is a food blog after all). The Norwegian Spirit itself is a culinary destination...

1. Escrargots a la bourguignon! If you didn't like snails before, you will after eating these!
2. The specialty restaurants: They have 11 restaurants on this ship and more than half of them are "specialty" restaurants including a steakhouse, a Pan-Asian restaurant, a French restaurant and a sushi bar.
3. The cold fruit soups were superb: peach and pistachio, cherry soup, and the blueberry soup to name a few.
4. Garlic Fried Rice. A lot of chefs are from the Philippines so there is "Sinangag" or garlic fried rice on this ship. I had it twice at the Raffles Lunch Buffet and they have it everyday at ship's amazing Teppanyaki grill. The Teppanyaki chef made garlic fried rice with our Fillet Mignon and jumbo shrimp.
5. The mostly Filipino waitstaff! We also met very friendly and attentive staff from Peru, Poland and St. Lucia. If you are going on a cruise, give an extra tip or write a "comment card" to those who provide you with exceptional service. The crew don't make a lot of money and are always working. I wrote 20 comment cards prior to disembarkation. I was told that comment cards actually help promote them.
6. The tuna and salmon tartare. I'm usually a little weary about eating raw fish on a cruise but these were exceptionally fresh and light.
7. The breakfasts at Windows Restaurant were phenomenal. I woke my husband up a few times in the morning because I didn't want to miss it. They "brunoise"(cut them into very tiny geometric cubes) the corned beef hash everyday! The lox, scotch kipper and some of our favorite European breakfast items were available at the restaurant everyday.
8. The ice cream was so luscious and creamy. I asked and they said the brand was San Bernardo. It's no Ben and Jerry's but it was pretty darn good. I had ice cream every day!l
9. Blue Lagoon Cafe. I nicknamed this restaurant and mini galley, "bottleneck cafe" because it's narrow as it is long and it's a very high traffic area. It's perfect for people watching and eating "comfort food" like freshly made fish and chips, big burgers and wonton soup. My favorite menu item here is the hot and perfectly deep fried crispy chicken wings. They did not say what kind of hot sauce they use but it tasted pretty similar to sambal oelek, a delicious chili sauce from Indonesia and Malaysia.
10. The food at the Windows Main Dining Room. It's pretty self explanatory:

Oh and yes, The Chocoholic Buffet...what NCL is known for.
We didn't miss the chocoholic buffet even though they didn't announce it! Take care!

1 comment:

And Then Kate said...

I'm so jealous--it looks amazing. And good for you for filling out all those comment cards!