14/01

We rose a little earlier and enjoyed breakfast from the Neptune Lounge on our balcony. Then it was straight to the boards for a few laps before the 1000 cooking demo - Argentinian Veal Milanese, dinning guest can expect this very soon, it was lovely.

Then on to the main event of the day. Cooking class is an amusing affair where 12 people make lunch for themselves under the guidance of Mauricio (you will remember he is the gregarious chef who gives many of the demonstrations) and Liz the culinary host. So we made Caribbean food, Shrimp Jicama and Mango Salad, Coconut Crusted Caribbean Chicken stuffed with Prosciutto and Banana, Grilled Pinapple Pound Cake. Meeting other guests is great, the complications of the language barrier makes for some interesting moments (I was the only Brit, all the others were Americans) especially when it comes to naming things! Broiler, cilantro, arugula, heavy cream, green onions - these are all lost in translation, and don't get me started on cups!

So I made my own three course lunch whilst poor hubby had a cheese and ham sandwich, but we had a bottle of wine to make amends, before going back to the laps. Later there was a demo on Italian cooking which was good fun, although fairly trivial, but given by the resident videographer who's entertaining - today I had to convert grammes to ounces for the audience as he had no idea, and Americans don't do SI.

We finished with more laps - even took our shirts off it is so hot and humid. We keep looking for other ships as we have other friends in the area, and have promised to wave, but in fact we have not seen another cruise ship all day, and only one car carrier and one container ship. Other days one can see loads.

Sunset was on our side of the ship tonight as we sail North, so we opted for a champagne aperitif in private on our varandah, rather than going to a lounge, and it was just lovely to enjoy the breeze even though it is still 30 degrees.

Did I talk about portion sizes? Well lets look at the average steak tonight. If you're like me you might like a good filet of beef - they have 7 oz and 10 oz, the smaller is plenty (almost half a pound) and for me any more is just overkill. However comparatively these are the soft options - next up is a 12 oz New York Strip (that's Sirloin in English,) 18 oz rib-eye or 23 oz porterhouse. The latter of course contain a bone but even so these are massive joints of beef! And then if all else fails to satisfy, a recent addition is an astonishing 32 oz (yes, that two whole pounds) double rib-eye, the beef equivalent of a Barnsley Chop, for which you are required to pay an additional $59 on top of the $29 that is the standard fee for the Pinnacle Grill. Scary sized cuts of meat?

Tonight's entertainment is a chap who was an Olympic gymnast who has turned his discipline into a very unusual stage show. He talks about the moves he's making, does some incredible work on the silks, and meanwhile juggles, plays piano and sings too!

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