Portugal, Spain and Brazil

We’ve been onboard the Sovereign for 9 days. For the first part of the journey sailing from Malaga to the Grand Canary Islands, there were only about 300 passengers so the boat was relatively empty. The passengers were older and more European. Many of them spruced up for dinner – elegant dresses for the women, suits and ties for the men – even when the suggested dress code was casual.

However, this changed significantly once we got to Las Palmas. The average age went down as the majority of the original passengers disembarked and a younger free-spirited clientele embarked in its place. Shorts, t-shirts, and torn clothing made their appearance in lieu of elegant dresses and suits and ties – even when the suggested dress code was gala.

The food on the Sovereign has been both excellent… and not. Watermelon, honeydew and cantaloupe have been the staple of my breakfast for the last 9 days and I have no reason to believe this will change for the 2 days remaining. In addition to the melons, pineapple is usually available along with oranges and granny smith apples. Why there are no bananas available is a little mind boggling. They’ve only shown up once at the midnight tropical buffet where we also got to sample papayas and guavas. Luckily, dates and raisins are available as toppings for the muesli so I occasionally indulge in those when I need a more caloric breakfast.

Normally on a cruise, I tend to avoid the lunch buffet, preferring instead to save my appetite for the sit-down dinner at the end of the day. However, as vegans aboard the Sovereign, the lunch buffet has proven to offer the best and yummiest choices. Typically, there’s a salad bar, a section with specifically vegetarian options, and an Asian section that also offers vegan/vegetarian choices. Even the regular section usually has an item or two available to vegans, like those little oh-so-delicious roasted potatoes. There’s usually a whole variety of deserts, cookies, mousses, bread pudding, crumbles, rice pudding, fruit tarts, cakes, as well as the ol’ reliable slices of melons, pineapple and fruit salad.

Dinner, on the other hand, has been a disappointment. Although the menu offers an appetizing variety for the carnivore passengers, there is usually only one vegetarian option available and it’s rarely gluten and dairy free. Add to the fact that despite changing tables twice, we still find ourselves at an empty table with no other dining guests to chat and mingle with and you can understand why dinner is not our favourite meal onboard.

That being said, our assistant waiter, Jose has been a real charm. When we got transferred out of his section after arriving at the Grand Canaries, we asked to be transferred back. Jose is a real sweetheart, very personable and always service with a smile. When he found out we were having a tough time with the menu, he arranged to have the chef make us a special vegan dish – Indian curry. If it weren’t for him, Roch and I would probably skip going to the dining room and just go upstairs to the buffet instead. The buffet serves pretty much the same menu as the restaurant but usually has a salad bar, and if we’re lucky, a compose-your-own stir-fry station.

With 2 more days at sea, I’m starting to look forward to terra firma and all the tropical fruits that Brazil supposedly offers.En savoir plus