Overnight we had to pop out into open sea, we awake to force 8 and an "across the bows" crosswind which caused some extreme corkscrewing. By 08:00 things had calmed somewhat and as the morning wore on tranquility returned.
The swell was fine but the wind was still high, so we opted for circuits on deck five for a while before I had to go to chef’s cooking demo. In fact two chefs, both the executive chef and the exec of pastry.
French exec chef, Gerard Germain was doing Lobster and Saffron Risotto, not much of a challenge but it was interesting to see the little nuances he added, such as using truffle oil, a good splash of brandy before the wine, and lobster bisque foam in the presentation - Hubby’s next Friday Fish now!
Indian exec pastry chef Romualdo Rebello started with a simple Baileys Chocolate Mousse but then switched into total wow mode by creating an amazing sugar confection centrepiece which only photos can do justice - stunning.
Apparently there will be a Market Galley tomorrow which will be quite colourful based on past examples, and of course there’s still another chef’s dinner to look forward to on the penultimate night of the cruise. Hopefully we will get a Epicurean Extravaganza where the entire pool area is decked out with different stalls of provender.
We resumed our laps until lunch called, because we wanted to eat at the Collonade for a change it had to come first, they only open until 14:00 and hour sooner than Patio Grill. Notably we never go to MDR for lunch, even though there’s a whole world of feasts available the opportunity to eat Al fresco always wins the day.
Final three miles continued after lunch, and can you believe that we had company? Day 17 and finally someone else has found our little secret, how dare they? Fortunately it was only three others, all relatively short-lived but really, the cheek of it! Hubby was four miles in advance of me- no way he’s coming cooking - so he gets the coconut today, first time there’s been a difference.
Late on, after jacuzzi / blog writing, we take a turn off the Sarmiento Channel to pay a visit to El Brujo Glacier. The weather isn’t exactly nice, indeed we need four layers a la Antarctica, and add rain to the list of issues, but it’s worth it to get extremely close to this glacier, the expedition team were very excited because the three previous attempts have been unable to get in close due to ice density.
By 18:30 it’s dressing for dinner, preceded by a longer than normal shower to thaw out, and a stiff vodka or G&T to make sure!
Dinner was a variable feast tainted with troubles. The first two courses were acceptable - twice baked soufflé factored at five in the Millstream scale of said creation, surely the best ever we’ve tasted (Millstream Bosham if you’re in the area) then the onion consommé was dull and could have been beef or chicken too, it was impossible to tell. Next came TK lamb, hideously wrapped in fat, cooked sous vide yet again - the texture not suiting the meat at all. To cap it all I got glass in my ratatouille, chef hastily explained it was a piece of plastic from the preparation container but I’m certain it was a price if broken wine glass, however it had been taken away by then. Saving grace was a stunning hazelnut chocolate dessert, worth the wait.
I’m not worried about the glass, these things happen, I’m more concerned with how it’s remedied, and the immediatly summoned chef was sweet, but of course there’s nothing they can do to offer recompense when it’s all included! It's not as bad as when I got Brillo Pad at Petrus last year, but on that occasion they could offer an extra course worth a lot of money!
Most insulting was Hubby’s main, which was a lovely cut of beef a la Sunday Lunch but served with the most horrendous Yorkshire Pudding In The World - this should never have been allowed to see the light of day! He was more sanguine and considered the dinner mostly OK, apart from the Yorkshire of course.
Sadly it wasn’t the best dining experience ever in my opinion.
Things then took another mediocre turn when the bigged-up Whitney Houston actress / singer from Vegas was not that big. We’ve seen Alexandra Burke in Bodyguard and she was so much better than this.
Sometimes things don’t go right even on Seabourn!
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