Dec 17

Cheryl, Wolfgang, Pat & I have a tradition of having a special steak tartare lunch on a day at sea each cruise segment.  The different captains always like tartare so they are invited.  This time we had the pleasure of inviting Felice Patruno who would normally be captain now but is on a corporate project.  He happened to be on board now with the project so we had 2 captains at the lunch.  We 4 guest couples, including us, as well as the Chief Engineer, Cruise Consultant and Cruise Director.  The Staff Captain was supposed to attend but got called to some duty.  We had 2 tables and our own waiter, bar waiter and Sommelier to serve us.  The lunch was prepared and served in Signatures, the French restaurant, which is only open for dinner, so they don't have to explain to other guests why some of us have so many officers at our tables.  It's our party and we invite the officers.  The Executive Sous Chef did the preparation for us and the served portions were huge, about 1 pound for each.  A small salad was on the plate and toast points & French fries were on the tables and a choice of a red and a white French wine.  The Pastry Chef prepared a special desert of 3 small cakes for us.  It was a delightful meal and we were so full that we weren't hungry at dinner.