Day three was much better than day two. There were two big highlights of the day. The first was the backstage tour of the boat we were given. What was original supposed to be a three hour tour of the ship ended up being a five and a half hour tour. We visited backstage of the theater, the galley and food storage areas, the environmental and engine control rooms, the laundry (which was surprisingly large), the smoke stacks and finally the bridge where we got to meet the captain and sit in his chair.
I’ve always been fascinated more by the behind the scenes stuff than I have the public face of things. I took the backstage tour at EPCOT center and thought it was equally as fascinating. The level of organization necessary for a ship with over 3,000 passengers and crew, with all the food, laundry, machinery, and people pooping, is really impressive. It all seems to run like clockwork.
I have a ton of photos I took on the tour, but there is no way I’m going to be able to upload them from the ship. While we are given complimentary internet access (which other wise very expensive), all the data has to go to a satellite so it is very slow. Text is OK, but big images are a different story.
The other big event was dinner. We had dinner in the on board steakhouse, the Crown Grill. I know I’ve been harping on this point the last several days, but this meal was exceptional even by land standards. I had fois gras with scallops for a first course, tomato soup with prawns, lobster tail for the seafood course and then a porterhouse steak for the main course. All with a great bottle of wine. It was really exceptional. So far, the highlight of the cruise has been the food, which I never would have guessed would be the case.
Today we are in Grand Cayman were I will go SCUBA diving and swimming with sting rays. I will also get to eat dinner at the Chef’s Table, which should be fun. I am now looking forward to dinners on the boat. The bar has been set pretty high now.