Aboard the MS Ryndam

In the Pacific Ocean, about 90 nm off Nicaragua

April 28th, 3:00 pm Central Time

A lazy day at sea: we slept late (after a late night), took a tour of the ship’s kitchens, had a leisurely late lunch, and then split up--Karen to the pool, Ed to the Explorations Cafe (an Internet cafe and library) to finish off his latest book in the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, which he just did.

Last night we stayed late (after midnight) in the Showroom Theater to see the Filipino Crew Show, a special event put on by the Filipino staff. A very talented group of singers and dancers, all normally our bar staff. There’s an interesting division of labor aboard Holland America ships. The fleet is all Dutch-flagged, although HAL is now owned by the same British-American holding company that owns Carnival, Cunard, and several other cruise lines. Being Dutch-flagged, the captain and first officers are Dutch, while several other officers (the Security Officer, for one) are British. The Hotel Manager is Costa Rican, the Executive Chef is German, the Cruise (entertainment) Director is American, and the Events and Party Organizers are a Canadian couple. The Medical Officer and his nurse are also Canadian. Further down the pecking order, however, the staff is mostly Asian, predominantly Indonesian and Filipino. The Indonesians are usually the waiters, room stewards, and able-bodied seamen, who do the routine sailor things, like handling the tenders, the mooring lines, routine maintenance (swabbing the decks, greasing the davits), etc. And this is not all peon labor; some of these are quite responsible positions, such as petty officers in charge of lifeboats and tenders, as well as dining room managers and the technical crew (sound and lights) for the evening shows. And most importantly, the Pastry Chef is Indonesian! The Filipinos generally seem to be in charge of the liquor supplies--they are the bartenders, sommeliers, and drinks waiters and waitresses. A thought: do the Filipinos handle the alcohol because they are usually Catholics and the Indonesians are mostly Muslim?

The food of course has been outstanding and the portions are thankfully European-sized, not American, so you can eat four or five courses and still move at the end. We have a standing reservation in the upper main dining room (the Rotterdam) at 8 pm, but we can always just show up at the lower part of the Rotterdam anytime between 5 and 10 pm, which we did one night. Just showing up guarantees you a seat, but not the seating arrangment, so we were seated at a table for eight, the other six being Canadians from B.C. and Alberta. One night last week, we ate at Caneletto, a small, informal Italian-themed restaurant (calamari to start, veal entree--very nice!). Two nights ago we ate in the casual Lido Restaurant, cafeteria style, and had wonderful beef tenderloin tips and french fries--casual yes, but not one notch lower in quality. Tonight we dine in the Pinnacle Grill, a reservations only restaurant available for a slight additional charge. The attraction is that it is small, intimate, and quiet, with a bit fancier decor and table setting. We thought we’d try it out just once. Besides, it’s our 45th anniversary!

So we are eating ourselves from Tampa to San Diego, and as Karen said the other night, using up all our going-out-to-dinner passes for the next year!