At Sea … RTW2023 Brunch

Today is the first of three days we will be “at sea” en route to Chile. Note “at sea” is in quotes. Because? Well, the middle day will find us docked in Callao, Peru … for a technical stop only. Essentially, an enforced sea day for us. But only today’s story has unfolded, so let’s stick to that.

It was a comfortably cool day cruising south along the coast of South America. Cool enough that I didn’t mind having the sun on the veranda as I could step out to warm myself when the corner into which had I tucked myself to read in the shade got a tad bit chilly. By mid-afternoon, the humidity had increased to the point where condensation was dripping down the walls … and occasionally plopping down on my head from the ceiling. The decking looked like it had just been washed down. The afternoon progressed into evening and then into nighttime, and we found ourselves in a thick fog … Insignia sounding its horn to alert any other ships in the vicinity to our presence.

The main event of the day was the “come-and-go brunch” put on in the GDR as a special function for the RTWers. With 380 of us world cruisers onboard, it was the only possible way to host us since Insignia does not have a venue that can accommodate us all in one sitting.

We arrived before the appointed time of 9:30a to take photos of the set up. Thus, we were nearby when the waitstaff lined up at the entrance to the GDR to welcome us to the brunch … with trays filled with glasses of mimosas, bloody Marys, champagne, and some non-alcoholic offerings. We were amongst the first to then find ourselves a table … which we shared with the Gelmans and new-friends, Younga and David.

Executive Chef Farid and his team went all out in their preparations. Not just of the food, which was delicious as expected and sated our appetites. But also top notch were the decor and presentation of the different stations from which we were served everything from Salmon Wellington … to a variety of cheeses, cold cuts, and breads … to a chilled, creamy blueberry soup … to sweet treats at the dessert table, which included baklava (thank you, Chef Sheila) … to who knows what else. There was so much to sample. The pièce de résistance, however, was all the exotic fruits … 270 kilos of it per Mariusz, the F&B Manager. I imagine it was all purchased from the market in Manta as I know Chef Farid made a trip there when we were in port. In the face of such bounty, it was hard not to pig-out … but we managed to behave ourselves.

The rest of the day was a quiet one. Mui went to the Artist’s loft and was there practically the entire day. I worked on photos and footprints in the cabin … did some reading. Essentially, I followed my typical sea day routine.

Dinner tonight was to have been with our now-canceled Lima tour group. I had sent out a message to the group, changing the date from 30 January to 1 February … figuring that people might want to eat ashore in Guayaquil. Surprise! The Gelmans were the only ones who showed up. I don’t know if the others didn’t get the message … or if it was an oversight … or if the invite to dine in the GDR was trumped by something Chef Farid had organized at the Terrace Café.

We wrapped up the evening with “Legends of Rock” … a show headlining Connor Bogart. Another great show.Baca selengkapnya