Food, glorious food

6/1/2009

Food, glorious food! They feed us like kings here. I’ll probably look like Henry VIII when I return. There is a contracted food service company called Chartwells who provides all of our meals. There are about 50 food service staff who work about 20 hours a day cooking, baking, serving and cleaning for the other 600 of us. One whole deck is taken up with food storage, kitchens and the Cadet mess. We officers take our meals 3 decks up in the Officer’s mess, a refuge of peace and quiet.

Breakfast begins at 6:15 until 8:00, a little early for me with my late hours. We have custom omelets, eggs, cereals, pancakes, waffles, French toast as well as selection of fresh fruits, cereals rolls and pastries. Lunch is at 11:30 until 13:00 and consists of a hot dish, soup, a salad bar and a selection of cold cuts and salads for sandwiches. Dinner is 17:00 to 19:00 is always some delicious hot dish, pasta, soup and salad bar. Portions are as big or small as you want. They usually bring up pizza and popcorn around 20:00 each night. A refrigerator is left fully stocked in the Officer’s mess galley for crew who are on overnight shifts or anyone else who wants to indulge any time of the day.

Then there are the desserts. Fresh baked pasties and cakes are left out for us 24 hours a day. The ice cream freezer is also available all of the time. I could get used to this life.