“Ship to
Shore, Come Feed Me Some More!”
Day two on
our first cruise and it’s seriously relaxing so far. But we’ve noticed
something seriously bizarre. It was after lunch today, when we both came to the
same conclusion and initially laughed about it. But it’s not really funny –
more worrying to be honest.
We’re on a
large ship that houses some 4,000 guests and 1,300 crew. There’s plenty of
space aboard to get lost on its eighteen levels and numerous cafes, bars and
restaurants. And that’s probably not including the crew quarters.
We’ve
attended two breakfasts and lunches at the same buffet venue and witnessed the phenomenon.
This buffet is huge. So big it nearly encompasses the entire fourteenth floor.
There are numerous food and drink stations, yet you find yourself avoiding
people like obstacles on an assault course.
It’s not
that the ship is being buffeted by high winds and rocky seas. Completely the
opposite, in fact. The ship is steadier than any aircraft I’ve been on. So the
outside elements cannot be blamed.
Is there a
cultural difference between all the various nationalities I hear you ask? That
isn’t it either.
It’s food. Plain
and simple. Like horses with blinkers on, these people have tunnel vision when
it comes to getting directly to the abundant never-ending lines of food. It’s
blatantly obvious there is plenty of food for absolutely everyone. But that
doesn’t seem to stop the guests, young and old from ploughing through each
other to get at what they think might be the last morsel.
It’s
hilarious watching it happen. People are willing to jump over an elderly man or
woman to get their hand on the spatula or large spoon. Then they take these
implements and shovel huge dollops of hot and cold food onto ridiculously
oversized plastic plates.
And then
they throw you a look when you wait graciously for them to put it down! As if
you are depriving them of filling that last spot near the edge of their plate.
And do you hear any simple manners toward the crew working seriously hard at
their jobs? No you don’t, in general but there are some nice people aboard and
not all are rude and ignorant.
But the gas
thing is the amount of waste there is. The single biggest cost to the cruise
company (apart from fuel), is probably the amount of food that goes in the bin.
It is staggering. If we need to eat, there is always food around.
Some people
on this boat however, don’t think about anyone apart from themselves.
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