Meals on the Ship

I know that one of the things that you worry about once you sign up for Semester at Sea is how the food and meals work. This is why I am going to break it down for you.

There are three meals a day, whether you are in port or at sea. There are two dining halls, one on deck five and one on deck six. The deck six dining hall is more relaxed and allows you to eat outside. The deck five dining hall is larger and a bit fancier in decor. This is the dining hall that you are allowed to buy alcohol in during dinner hours. All of the meals are buffet style. The meals are set times every day:

Breakfast: 07:30-08:30
Lunch: 11:30-13:30
Dinner: 17:30-19:30
Snack: 22:00-22:30 (at sea days only)

Breakfast is usually similar foods everyday. It is the most revered meal of the day, if you're a breakfast person. For breakfast, they always have fruit, yogurt, and some kind of potato. There is always a toaster, two kinds of bread, peanut butter, jelly, cereal, milk, and orange juice. They will switch between pancakes, bacon, french toast, biscuits and gravy, hard-boiled eggs, and omelets. There are two or three of these every day.

Lunch and dinner both vary in their menus. No matter which meal it is, even snack time, there will always be a toaster on with peanut butter, jelly, and bread waiting for you. For lunch and dinner, there is always some kind of soup. There is a salad bar, and the two salad dressings change every meal (ceasar is not offered, unless you pay for it upstairs. Bring some if that's all you eat!). There is always some kind of potato and some kind of pasta, for both lunch and dinner. There is always some kind of fish as well, and it always changes based on where we are. There are always mixed vegetables and then some kind of other vegetable, as well as cheese cubes and slices. The meats change from chicken to pork to beef. There is no pattern to how they do it, and the preparation style always changes. There are usually some pre-made little sandwiches near the toaster as well. For dessert, there is usually some kind of fresh fruit and then some dessert good (lemon tart, jello cubes, fudge brownies, apple strudel, berry pound cake, chocolate cake, etc...).

Snack time always has peanut butter, jelly, and bread. The rest of the snack consists of the little sandwiches from lunch or dinner, and other assorted desserts.

Drinks: There is always water. There is also a water-refilling station in the deck six dining hall. There is always orange juice during breakfast, and then milk for your cereal (all different kinds). For lunch and dinner, they try to switch the drinks up between iced tea, lemonade, cranberry, guava, fruit punch, and grape. They sometimes mix the drinks together, and they are really good!

Big Meal Days: there are two famous days on the ship for food: taco day and a BBQ. For taco day, the crew will move the salad bar to the main buffet line. There will be hard taco shells, some kind of festive pasta, refried beans, vegetables, and then all your taco fixings (lettuce, tomato salsa, sour creme, guacamole, and cheddar cheese). If the weather is nice, the BBQ will be held outside with grills (which is was not for me. It rained on our BBQ). If it rains, the crew will cook the food in the kitchen. There will be huge ribs, chicken, mac and cheese, potato salad, and all of the other typical BBQ foods. These two days are really special on the ship, and do not happen very often. They are also the days where the most food is wasted, because everyone is so excited and takes more than they can eat.

Special Occasion Meals: These meals can be reserved at the fifth deck dining hall with the head waiter. The meals cost $30 and are charged to your shipboard account (you do not have to tip the waiters). For more information, look at my birthday entry.

Food to Buy Outside Meal Times: If you miss breakfast, or are just hungry, then no need to worry. There are two snack bars on the ship. One of the snack bars is in the piano lounge on the sixth deck, and is open 24/7. This has all different kinds of drinks, candies, and chips. They also have muffins, apples, hot chocolate, and coffee. Anything you buy here will be charged to your shipboard account and must be eaten in that area. The other snack bar is the poolside bar on the seventh deck, and is open until 22:45. This also has everything that the piano lounge snack bar has, but it also has cooked foods like cookies, burgers, hotdogs, grilled cheese, breakfast foods.... they also sell a ceasar salad. They have all the really good foods that you'll end up missing, including pizza. Just keep in mind that these snack bars are pricey. If you want to stay on a budget on the ship, bring tons of snacks from home. I brought 30 granola yogurt bars, peanuts, and crasins from home. I have not purchased anything from the snack bars yet on this voyage. If you're worried about luggae space, you can always buy snacks when you're in port, which many students do. You just have to try to find what you like, because it's obviously different than what you would find at home.

As far as bringing food and drinks on the ship go, be smart and know the rules. The only food you can bring on must be dried. It can't be like an apple or salsa. It must also be packaged. As far as drinks go, it cannot be in a bottle, and it cannot be opened. If you bring a water bottle, you have to empty it every time you come back to the ship. Canned soda is a safe thing to bring on the boat.