Saturday, January 31, 2009

#19 The Buffets of Carnival

#19 The Buffets of Carnival, Entertaining Secrets from Carnival Chefs

Several years ago we decided to plan a trip to Disney World. To make it even more fun we decided to book a 3 day Disney cruise with the package. Wouldn't you think Disney would have beautiful ships and be first class all the way, well it wasn't then. We got assigned a ship that was soon to be replaced and it was a rusty tub. Not deluxe and not clean either. Still I held out hope for the food, after all cruise food is legendary.

Since we were a couple traveling with a teenager they decided it would be nice to assign us a table with other teens. There was a Mom traveling with her 2 teen daughters, who could both think of many things they'd rather be doing. So every meal time we had three surly girls acting like they were being punished by their mean parents for forcing them on a Bahamas cruise. We also had a waiter assigned to us who didn't really want to be there either. All he did each meal time was to tell us if we didn't tip enough at the end of the cruise, he would never see his family again and we better had give him a glowing report, or else.

There was tons of food offered around the clock but none of it was very good. It was all styled and carved within a inch of it's life, see photo. No one ate any of this stuff so I assume it was all thrown over board when it started to wilt and turn brown. What a waste, we should be ashamed! When a culture starts decorating with food instead of eating it, I think you're well on the way to ruin. I'm not even a little tempted to turn a yellow squash into a flock of birds as shown on page 13, okay maybe a little but I'm not going to! After all didn't everyone's Mom say, "Don't play with your food!"?

I wish I could say the trip improved when we hit land but the islanders were pushy and they wouldn't leave you alone until you had your hair braided. Not even Bo Derek looks good in that style, and I looked like pasty white Canadian. It was a relief to get back to Florida and we did have a wonderful first day at Disney World. We couldn't believe how empty it was, there were no lines or crowds, it was great. Since we had another full day scheduled, we decided to pace ourselves and save some of the best rides for our last day. My weren't we clever for planning our trip when no one else was there!

So we arrived at the park bright and early the next day and I noticed something right away. There were a lot of very, very good looking men getting out of their cars in the parking lot. Also a lot of them had on red shirts, and then it became a sea of red shirts! When we got closer we started to read them. Many said, "I can't even think straight" or "I'm not gay but my boyfriend is". It turns out it was Gay Day at Disney World! It did give the place a fun, party atmosphere but we couldn't even get near a ride so there went the rest of the trip. Now when someone mentions going on a cruise, I smile and wish them well but inside I'm thinking better you than me. Maybe we'll try again when we're old and gray or maybe next time I'll just leave the family at home and pack a red shirt. The cookbook today is #19 The Buffets of Carnival, Entertaining Secrets from Carnival Chefs.

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