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Hope you brought your stretchy pants, because you can start eating the moment you step foot on a cruise ship. Long buffets, featuring neat rows of sushi, stacks of sandwiches and steaming trays of mac & cheese, formal dining and round-the-clock room service make it impossible to go hungry. (Maybe grab an orange or two, you don’t want scurvy!)
But how do you feed thousands of people (2,200 guests and 800 staff!), 24 hours a day on a floating restaurant in the middle of the ocean? I wanted to find out! So The Nosh crew hopped aboard an Alaska-bound Holland America cruise ship and dropped below deck to tour the galley with Marisa Christenson, Associate Vice President of Food and Beverage Operations and Development. Marisa is a culinary school grad, certified sommelier, and was a guest judge on the Top Chef 21 semi-finals, who gets to help develop on-board menus, creating dishes that will appeal to folks traveling from around the world.
A behind-the-scenes nugget you won’t see on screen: how we almost became stowaways; the gangplank lifted literally seconds after we scurried off the ship, leaving us huffing and panting on shore, as the ship calmly sailed towards Alaska.
Riding a Washington State Ferry is a quintessential western Washington experience, one that thrills me every single time. Even the quickest 20-minute crossing offers gorgeous views, an opportunity to piece together a puzzle, the promise of adventure and access to snacks in the galley! My friend Bryan joins me for lunch on the Seattle to Bainbridge Island route.
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