6th June

This morning we went for a tour of the Kitchens, the tour was for our Cruise Critic friends organised by Anne who does a great job. The tour was led by Jacques Ghennai the Maitre D’Hotel. He explained everything to us including telling us that they talk not in Kgs but in tons when it comes to food. The kitchens are spotless as you would expect, stainless steel everywhere. We also met the Executive Chef Amedeo Scarin who explained for how the meals are prepared and how they are plated up. Each day there photographs of each dish put up on a board so that the staff know what each must look like. There is a kitchen for each dining room. The waiters bring in the orders and the meals are then prepared. For instance steaks are not precook but are cooked to order. Below on deck 4 there is a butcher’s shop where all meat is cut up. They do not buy packaged food it is all assembled from raw ingredients. The fresh fruit and vegetables have to be treated carefully it because they must source them locally and they are not always sure of the quality.

Today we have maintained a North Westerly course across the Indian Ocean towards Mumbai. The ship has been moving around a bit mainly due to the wind, there has been a 2.5 metre swell. We missed the Port Talk on Kusadasi because of the Kitchen tour but we can see it on our cabin TV later.

Betty’s throat is not much better and she says if it does not improve todat she is going to the Doctors tomorrow. We spent most of the day just relaxing with our books. The entertainment for us tonight was a vocalist named Davidia who we had seen before on another cruise but had forgotten. She has an amazing vocal range and was very good. After a hot chocolate in the Atrium and a listen to the entertainer there we called it a night.