Eating Alaska

The average cruise ship passenger gains seven pounds in a week on board.

That little gem was shared by the cruise director of the Island Princess during one of his daily "talk shows" broadcast on the boat's TV network.

Seven pounds.

You've probably heard about "THE FOOD" on a cruise. I've put it in all caps because it is usually said with some emphasis. You know, like it's an event. Or the star of the show.

Before we left, I imagined tables laden with fancy fruit carvings and ice sculptures, surrounded by giant silver bowls filled with shrimp cocktail strewn about any and all public walkways on the ship. I pictured rooms stuffed with fancy chocolate towers, those glazed fruit pastries and tiered fondant-covered cakes. I assumed there'd be waiters circulating with heavy hors d'oeurves on every deck, in every lounge, in every elevator at every hour.

It wasn't quite like that.

Yes, there was an all-waking-hour buffet restaurant. Yes, you could get a slice of pizza, a burger or an ice cream cone on the Lido Deck (Yes! There really was one!) just about any time of day. Yes, the occasional reindeer chili or crab leg station could pop up mid-afternoon for an hour or so by the pool. And, yes, formal dinner was a four or five course event.

In other words, it was a lot like any "all inclusive" sort of resort.

Did we eat? Sure. We ate. More than we'd normally eat at home. But we didn't start eating at 7 a.m. and keep chewing until bedtime. There's something about food that's prepared for 2000 people at a time that starts to seem more than a little industrial. I'm just not that into it.

As such, thankfully, we didn't gain those seven pounds because we didn't go crazy. We ate sensibly at mealtimes and balanced it out with a bunch of fun, physical excursions and a ton of walking in every port of call.

There was only one thing on the ship that I ate that was truly memorable. One morning I had a chocolate croissant for breakfast. OK, I had two. So simple and so good. (It's my favorite vacation food of all time and someday, I'm going to eat it in France.)

Oddly enough, my favorite meal of the whole vacation did not come on the ship. The best meal I had was in Juneau at a restaurant called The Hangar (http://www.hangaronthewharf.net/waterfront_restaurant.html).

It was an absolutely perfect fresh halibut fish and chips, eaten seaside on a rare sunny afternoon, looking out at the mountains as the float planes took off and landed. It was enjoyed with an ice-cold Alaskan Brewing Company Stout and Jim ... a picture perfect combination.

I hope you get to experience it some day. I might even loan you Jim.