A bit out of sequence, but important nevertheless as we are going back there again in February next year.
CMV is a cruise line that sails out of Tilbury with moderately small (<1000) passenger numbers at bargain prices. We did a trip called 'Autumn Gardens' for a week which was a bit of misnomer as we did not see any gardens except for the cabbage fields of Normandy. It is not difficult to get a deal that costs £60-70/day per person as a couple including the cruise, all food and the entertainment. Alcoholic drink is extra, but bars sell drink at below English pub prices, and if you want, there is a drink pass deal, where you can drink yourself silly for about £35/couple per day.
Food on cruise ships is a topic of hot debate amongst customers and you cannot please all the people all the time if you have the limited resources of a smallish ship. If you go on a big one, there may be so many restaurant options that you are bound to find one that suits. But my wife and I are very flexible (apart from me and the temperature of food). I have previously reviewed the sister ship, Marco Polo, which I said was 4* food in a 3* ship. I guess I was spoiled by a relatively recent superlative experiences on Holland America and Viking, but in retrospect, the food on Magellan was very similar, but the buffet might not have been so good. I have looked at what I wrote, and it is very similar, but we did not find any special nights for international food, but there was a spectacular late night buffet which showed that they could do it if they wanted to.
There are two main served restaurants with two sittings and surprisingly the earlier sitting at 6.15 was the fuller, but I prefer to eat my evening meal later. Food in the served restaurants was good, and there was always something to find. Portions tend to be small, but by the time you have worked your way through the card, it is more than enough for most people. Buffet food was almost never sufficiently hot and sometimes looked unappetising. The CMV line attracts a lot of older less mobile clients and they seem to prefer the buffet eating. Breakfasts in the served restaurant were a bit inflexible, and took too long to come if you have any plans for an outing.
So, what did it look like?
This is almost certainly an unrepresentative view of the buffet restaurant. Typically all the sections will be used, and there will be queues. The problem with this type of UK based cruising is that it attract the elderly less mobile passengers and it is understandable that they are going to be less adept at helping themselves from buffets. There was no evidence of help being offered to less able passengers.
This is what the savoury section might look like. A bit utilitarian and no attempt to make things look attractive. At least some things were labelled.
Deserts in the buffet focussed on cake like things and fruit and ice cream. Much better off in the served restaurants. The food in the buffet was a subset of what was served in the main restaurants
So the big advantage of the buffet is treating it like a taster session and focussing on what you might like most
What you might end up with serving yoursel from the buffet: sprouts on a buffet are NEVER a good idea.
The above is an example of dinner in the main restaurant and shows the fairly extensive menu. It is not very exciting or exotic food but this is straightforward cruise grub. Not everyone likes it, and for this reason we prefer to eat on a table for two so we don't have to listen to others whining. Nothing was fantastically hot, but nothing had to be sent back on that count. Service was good, but was largely eastern European style, where most of the staff come from.
Because we were in a port most days, there was no opportunity to try a served lunch, and on some days we returned to ship so late that lunch in the buffet was almost finished. I would not recommend there burger bar for many reasons.
We are going back on this ship for a trip to the Northern Lights in the Winter, and if there is anything of note, it will be reported.
This is a picture of the 'buffet magnifique' which shows that they can do it if needed. Rather than put on this excessive show of show food, all of which was not needed as it was at 10pm shortly after dinner, I would like a bit more attention to everyday, but there you are.
No comments:
Post a Comment