Is Anyone Else Like Me?

[ilikeanswers]

5 hours ago, ontheweb said:

And I do realize a foodie would never eat at a restaurant with pictures outside, but our research is geared to things like museums, not restaurants.

 

There is nothing wrong with eating at a place that has pictures in their menu. The fact is designing menus has become easier and cheaper then ever with free templates offered on many websites and mobile phone cameras have become so good you can easily take professional photos yourself so including pictures has become quite normalised and not just for tourists. Plus you have countries like Japan that have turned it into an artform with realistic models of their dishes on display. If someone is going to ignore an eatry because of what their menu looks like they are fools😂. 

[Kristelle]

4 hours ago, Hlitner said:

My goodness, so much of our independent land trips are in countries where we do not speak the native language.  So what?  Even when you don't speak a language, intelligent folks can manage to communicate.  I cannot imagine dining out with a group tour in places like Paris (or just about anywhere in France), Rome, Japan, etc.

 

 

Oh well that's you.

 

Like  I said , to each their own.

 

I am quite happy dining with a group - that is sort of the point of group tours - they might not be for everyone (what style of holiday is?)  but  I enjoy them and was quite happy with the food quality on ones we went on

[DarrenM]

22 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Actually, the foods we eat on a cruise are not the same as at home. No kidney bean burgers, black bean burgers, lentil patties, or lima bean loaf that I remember on a ship.

 

Now lima bean loaf is interesting. Her youngest sister told me about it, lima beans, peanut butter, bread crumbs, and milk are the ingredients. When I was told about it, her sister was making fun of it, but then said, you'd probably like that. And we still eat it.

On Celebrity reflection 2 years ago we had their Beyond Burger numerous times in the MDR. Best vegetarian burger I have ever eaten.

 

Strangely, when on Celebrity BEYOND, last year, we couldnt get e BEYOND burger at all.

 

Very odd.

[DarrenM]

13 hours ago, clo said:

So YOU don't "cook and wash" at home?????

No of course not. We have staff that do that.

 

Please dont tell her I called her staff.

[DarrenM]

13 hours ago, clo said:

Operative words "to me" ? I can eat three meals a day and not overeat. Quality over quantity.  At home if we buy an 8oz steak that's two meals for the two of us. One a ship, it's the same. We share pretty much all the food. That way we can have more things, not more OF the things.

But but, I cant stop eating eggs benedicts in large quantities at breakfast.

 

I accept I am odd though. At home I dont follow rules about timings of breakfast lunch and evening meal.

 

I just eat when i am hungry usually.

 

and thats usually in the morning, about an hour after getting up, and when alcohol has been consumed. Sometimes on a cruise that can be the same time. 😁

[DarrenM]

12 hours ago, clo said:

I only remember having one dessert on probably any cruise and that was the creme brulee at Jacques one of the specialty restaurants on Oceania.

 

 

so good you had it twice?

[ontheweb]

13 hours ago, Kristelle said:

 

Ive been quite happy with the meals on group tours Ive been on -  I guess this isnt an issue for everyone.

Certainly hasn't been for me.

 

13 hours ago, clo said:

We've only been on Gate 1 and from what I'm reading here there are better choices from a food standpoint. Thanks.

We've also only been on Gate 1 escorted tours (and are leaving next week for one of their river cruises!), and have been happy with the meals that they provided.

 

But of course, it has been established that we are not foodies 

[ontheweb]

8 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

There is nothing wrong with eating at a place that has pictures in their menu. The fact is designing menus has become easier and cheaper then ever with free templates offered on many websites and mobile phone cameras have become so good you can easily take professional photos yourself so including pictures has become quite normalised and not just for tourists. Plus you have countries like Japan that have turned it into an artform with realistic models of their dishes on display. If someone is going to ignore an eatry because of what their menu looks like they are fools😂. 

To clarify, the pictures of the food we saw was not on the menus. They were posted on the window of the restaurant and caught our attention.

[clo]

21 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

 

Haha, I don't know.   Is "fine ribs" some kind of specific food or just good ribs?    I like ribs, especially BBQ'd ones.

Darn fine good ribs. And guess what? They're totally done in the oven!!!!

[clo]

9 hours ago, DarrenM said:

so good you had it twice?

Probably yes. We were able to share a table at Jacques for a second seating so I'm sure I must have had it again.

[clo]

8 hours ago, ontheweb said:

 

We've also only been on Gate 1 escorted tours (and are leaving next week for one of their river cruises!), and have been happy with the meals that they provided.

 

But of course, it has been established that we are not foodies 

Oh, I'm not really picking on G1. When you have 20 or more people that you're trying to feed all at one time and some of those people aren't adventuresome eaters, It's just safer to a one size fits all. So we break away from those almost all the time now.

[clo]

17 hours ago, Hlitner said:

My goodness, so much of our independent land trips are in countries where we do not speak the native language.  So what?  Even when you don't speak a language, intelligent folks can manage to communicate.  I cannot imagine dining out with a group tour in places like Paris (or just about anywhere in France), Rome, Japan, etc.  Food can be its own language.  When we rented an apartment in Paris (2 weeks) in St Germain des Pres, we would go out exploring various neighborhood restaurants.  We stumbled on a tiny place where only the owner spoke a teeny bit of English.  Our dinner was excellent, so we returned a few days later for another decent meal.  When we returned a third time. the owner greeted us with hugs and the food was even better. 

 

When we rented an apartment in St Remy de Provence (2 weeks) I would walk a few blocks to the boulangerie to buy fresh croissants and some pastries.  The lady owner would look at me with disdain, was not friendly, but her croissants were terrific.  The first day of our 2nd week I walked in the shop and she greeted me with a big smile, and some nice words.  I was shocked but also delighted.  As I left the shop another local, who spoke English, and I shared some words.  He then explained to me that "she ignored tourists for their first week."  But if you stay longer, you are considered family.  Go figure.  These are the kind of adventures that are the reward for independent travel.

 

When you dine on a cruise ship and order coq au vin you are ordering a French dish.  You can go into a restaurant in France and order coq au vin, sole manière,  bouillabaisse, soupe de Poisson, etc.  In Italy, while you may not speak the language, pizza is pizza!  Go to Rome and order cacio de pepe.  A simple dish (which is on the menu at many Italian restaurants at home) which is amazing when prepared by a Roman chef.  You do not need to speak Italian to order that kind of thing.

 

Some friends have asked us how we deal with the "language barrier" and we usually smile and tell them the worst language barrier was in London (true).  Folks that own/operate decent restaurants will often find joy in watching others enjoy their cuisine.  A smile breaks down most barriers.  About 2/3 of the world's countries do not have English as a major language.  

 

Hank

I think I agree with every word you wrote!  Re language in Western Europe anyway and lots of South American countries children are learning English. It's a very important language in business. So I'll often turn to a young(er) person and ask if they speak English, preferably in THEIR language (you can read up on that) or English. I find locals are happy to help people who make the effort to reach out, be friendly. It's a bigger joy to me to interact with people in other countries than probably any museum can bring me. But that's just me.

[wcook]

On 3/16/2024 at 9:35 PM, clo said:

Ooooohhhhh, that's one of my major joys when traveling is planning a great dinner OUT.

I have family members that when we go on vacation together, or just go to the other’s house for a visit, spend far too much time and animosity figuring out where to eat. Then worry about check splitting. Hopefully you never have those worries. But for me, I value less choice in dinning and greatly value having everything prepaid. 

[wcook]

On 3/15/2024 at 11:46 AM, cruisemom42 said:

I am just not interested in beaches, natural beauty, etc.

What about the natural beauties on the beach 🙂 

Edited March 20 by wcook

[Hlitner]

8 minutes ago, clo said:

I think I agree with every word you wrote!  Re language in Western Europe anyway and lots of South American countries children are learning English. It's a very important language in business. So I'll often turn to a young(er) person and ask if they speak English, preferably in THEIR language (you can read up on that) or English. I find locals are happy to help people who make the effort to reach out, be friendly. It's a bigger joy to me to interact with people in other countries than probably any museum can bring me. But that's just me.

Agree :).  Last Spring, we flew into Tokyo a couple of weeks before our HAL cruise (Tokyo to Seattle).  We split our time between Tokyo and Kyoto (took the bullet train) with a pre-cruise night in Yokohama.  We did this on our own in a country where the language barrier is not just with talking, but also with reading.   DW and I had so much fun, she convinced me to book another Japan trip/cruise for next year.

 

Much of the fun we had during those two pre cruise weeks in Japan was dealing with people.  The Japanese are wonderful folks and can be very friendly.  The interaction with locals was very good (not the kind of thing that happens on group tours) and one particular restaurant even took our pictures to post on their web site :).  Dealing with the public transit system was somewhat of a challenge and an awful lot of fun.  The food was amazing and ranged from Kyoto Beef (A5 Wagyu) made to order by a master hibachi chef to the best croissants I have ever eaten (which DW and I found while looking for a breakfast place in Kyoto).  Those couple of weeks in Japan were followed by a 42 day cruise.  However, nearly a year later what DW and remember most fondly are the time we had in Japan....not cruising around Japan.

 

And this gets us back to original theme (posted in a prior post) that we think the ideal trip is a combination of cruising and some land time.  Tis the best of both worlds (land and sea).

[MacMadame]

 

18 hours ago, DarrenM said:

On Celebrity reflection 2 years ago we had their Beyond Burger numerous times in the MDR. Best vegetarian burger I have ever eaten.

I prefer the Impossible Burger. Even if that kid who created the BB went to the same HS as me. 😄 

 

As for food? I'll eat anything. Once.

[cruisemom42]

16 hours ago, Hlitner said:

DW and I had so much fun, she convinced me to book another Japan trip/cruise for next year.

 

What are your plans for next year?

 

I also have the Japan bug and didn't feel the itch got scratched fully last April. 😉

[Hlitner]

6 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

What are your plans for next year?

 

I also have the Japan bug and didn't feel the itch got scratched fully last April. 😉

We booked an April Seabourn cruise from Tokyo to Vancouver.

[clo]

15 hours ago, MacMadame said:

As for food? I'll eat anything. Once.

I think I will too. Had rat in Thailand. Some pig intestine in a great Chinese place in CA. And so on.

[wcook]

1 hour ago, clo said:

I think I will too. Had rat in Thailand. Some pig intestine in a great Chinese place in CA. And so on.

And I’ve eaten a hot dog off the Carnival buffet. I think I win the scary food award 🙂

[clo]

27 minutes ago, wcook said:

And I’ve eaten a hot dog off the Carnival buffet. I think I win the scary food award 🙂

Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!!!!!

 

[K32682]

On 3/20/2024 at 5:58 AM, DarrenM said:

On Celebrity reflection 2 years ago we had their Beyond Burger numerous times in the MDR. Best vegetarian burger I have ever eaten.

 

Strangely, when on Celebrity BEYOND, last year, we couldnt get e BEYOND burger at all.

 

Very odd.

 

"Best vegetarian burger" falls into the category of damning with faint praise. 

 

The reason you probably couldn't get one last year is lack of demand. If you know anyone in the casual/QSR dining space they will candidly admit these offerings are there more for political reasons. Despite the media hype they aren't as big sellers as the vegetarian mafia would have you believe. 

[DarrenM]

5 minutes ago, K32682 said:

 

"Best vegetarian burger" falls into the category of damning with faint praise. 

 

The reason you probably couldn't get one last year is lack of demand. If you know anyone in the casual/QSR dining space they will candidly admit these offerings are there more for political reasons. Despite the media hype they aren't as big sellers as the vegetarian mafia would have you believe. 

Oh completely agree.

 

We were sat with4 americans nightly who asked us how we managed to get burgers, and only when we told them they were vegetarian burgers did they realise.

 

They looked at us like we were mad.

 

We arent vegetarians, but those beyond burgers were fantastic. Better than any real burger I have ever eaten.

 

But there wasnt many other folk eating them in the MDR.

 

Actually just remembered.........we werent in the MDR. We were in Blu on that trip.

 

Maybe thats why? Memory like a sieve.

[K32682]

21 minutes ago, DarrenM said:

Oh completely agree.

 

We were sat with4 americans nightly who asked us how we managed to get burgers, and only when we told them they were vegetarian burgers did they realise.

 

They looked at us like we were mad.

 

We arent vegetarians, but those beyond burgers were fantastic. Better than any real burger I have ever eaten.

 

But there wasnt many other folk eating them in the MDR.

 

Actually just remembered.........we werent in the MDR. We were in Blu on that trip.

 

Maybe thats why? Memory like a sieve.

 

I have no quarrel with vegetarian food and eat it often but one taste of a Beyond burger and I was off the program. It is perplexing that the vegetarian movement seems committed to promoting food stuffs and look like and sort of taste like meat if you are sufficiently intoxicated. 

[ilikeanswers]

10 minutes ago, K32682 said:

It is perplexing that the vegetarian movement seems committed to promoting food stuffs and look like and sort of taste like meat if you are sufficiently intoxicated. 

 

I think the idea behind it is to persuade non vegetarians that they can give up meat without giving up the culture around eating meat. I have been impressed with how meat like things like the Impossible Burger are but in terms of taste I have had lentil patties that don't "bleed" or look like meat that taste far better than any mock meat.