Canary island cruise - Day 12

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Day 12 - Still at sea en route to Portsmouth.



Another day at sea, it is 1324.7 NM from Madeira to Portsmouth & although today the skies are blue some of the deck areas are closed due to the strength of the wind.



We will also be entering the Bay of Biscay later this afternoon so it could get a bit wobbly!



There are many different areas on the ship to sit and relax and I reckon they must have a ‘cushion fluffer’ in each area as the cushions always seem to have been given a fluff up or a Karate chop. (When you have hours to kill on a sea day it’s the little things that amuse you).



A lot more interesting than the cushions are the works of art around the ship, hand blown glass pebbles, origami with bird inserts, even on the walls of the ladies loo there is art.

The entrance to the Grill restaurant have murals the same design as on menu card & decor.

One side of the restaurant has pink & yellow decor, the other side orange & yellow.



I went along to listen to Executive Chef Francis Almon who was giving a presentation with Q&A on the Galley Operation.

Francis first started his interest for cooking from an early age watching his mum cook, mum would have preferred if he had become an engineer or doctor but he knew his passion so continued with his training, he started to work on cruise ships many years ago and his mum is now very proud of his achievements.



It was interesting to learn about the training that is required before a galley crew member even sets foot on a ship, how menus are created & the dishes taste tested.

All foods are sourced through approved suppliers, in the main sourced from the U.K.



Menus are planned two weeks ahead but can be changed if necessary.



All food on board is made from scratch, resulting in 12,000 eggs being used a day, for all cakes, pastry, pasta, sauces etc & of course eggs for breakfast served fresh in so many ways.



Left over vegetables & meats are used to make soups & stocks etc. to avoid unnecessary waste.

Vegetable peelings are grounded down and fed to the fish at the appropriate distance from any shore line according the law.



All the bread & rolls are made from scratch too, even the petit fours with the exception of the Turkish Delight, they don’t have a Turkish chef Francis chuckled.

94 galley staff are on the ship from executive Chef down to pan washer.



All crew on board have their own restaurant/chefs where local dishes, depending on their nationality, are produced on a 21 day cycle so they do not eat the same food each day, but to everyone’s amusement it seems Fish ‘n’ Chips is the most favourite of all nationalities and they are able to enjoy this typical English dish often.



We enjoyed listening to the passenger choir practicing again, this time they sang Mama Mia & an Elvis Presley song, plus of course the usual sea shanty we have been hearing.

Tomorrow they will give a live performance in the theatre so that hopefully will be on my ‘To Do’ list.



Time for another craft class - A little tissue box.

Joined David afterwards for a cuppa and a scone, the sea outside looking quite fearce but although some movement, the stabilisers were certainly doing a grand job.



We are off the coast of Spain and hopefully weather will improve as we get closer to the U.K.

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