`You came on as passengers, you`ll go off as cargo”-this is a long-standing line for cruise ship comedians.
Well, the comics had better come up with some new quips, for changes in shipboard dining are following shoreside trends toward lighter fare and better nutrition. Cruise ship galleys have let up on the heavy sauces and rich preparations, offering low-calorie, low-fat dishes and accommodating most special diets.
As diners ashore became more discriminating in their tastes and more health-conscious, cruise lines responded by revising menus. Royal Caribbean lowered the fat and sugar content of its dishes. Carnival developed a new line of menus in 1990, a move from heavy sauces, adding more emphasis on fish and seafood selections. American Hawaii expanded and updated its menus, included lighter fare and added new, more imaginative dishes, such as Warm Duck Salad at lunch, Kona Coffee Lamb Noisette at dinner. Premier brought in a team, including two nutritionists, to ensure that the new menus were not only healthy, but also tasty.
Changes in dining patterns in the Princess fleet are indicative of those on other ships. Julie Benson, a spokesperson for the line, reports passengers don`t eat as much as they used to, that midnight buffet gluttony and heavy sauces are out, salads for lunch are in. The formerly elaborate midnight buffets have turned into lighter snacks. Sometimes, these buffets have a theme, such as pasta, and there`s still one gala midnight buffet per cruise for those bent on overindulgence.
Pasta, always a staple at Princess with its Italian kitchen and dining room staffs, is a hot item at sea. Clipper has been getting so many requests for pasta that the vessels are carrying more varieties, serving more dishes such as seafood and primavera pastas. Pasta and the salad bar are the most popular items at the lunchtime lido buffets on Holland America.
Vegetarian plates are increasingly popular. Renaissance and Regency ships and the Cunard`s Sagafjord offer vegetarian platters at all dinners, and the line`s QE2 has a vegetarian menu.
Lines such as Holland America, Windstar, Cunard and Clipper can provide vegetarian diets if given advance notice. Most lines will accommodate special diets-low-sodium, low-fat, diabetic, low-sugar-if sufficient advance notice is given. Usually, such requests are made at the time of booking. Some lines, such as Royal Caribbean and Clipper, cannot accommodate kosher diets. Others, such as Windstar, need at least eight weeks advance notice for kosher diets.
Kids` menus make waves
Lines that attract families, such as Carnival, often have kids` menus, typically featuring hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, chicken nuggets. Norwegian Cruise Line`s Little Character`s Menu features Woody Woodpecker and other familiar cartoon characters, a tie-in with NCL`s designation as the official cruise line of Universal Studios in Hollywood and Florida. Celebrity offers young cruisers dishes such as Pirate`s Pick butterfly shrimp. Premier promotes good nutrition on its extensive kids` menu with Health Boat selections, items the line says are ”loaded with energy, vitamins and minerals.”
The Crystal Harmony came along at the time of these culinary changes, introducing a shipboard cuisine featuring contemporary dining with emphasis on presentation and the use of top-quality, fresh ingredients and the first alternative dining rooms at no extra charge other than a $5 gratuity (per person, per meal). These restaurants add flexibility and variety to the dining experience.
The Crystal Harmony`s Prego features fresh pizzas and Italian dishes, such as whole wheat linguini with sauteed scallops in roasted red pepper sauce, and Kyoto offers Japanese fare, such as teriyaki, tempura and sushi.
The Seabourn ships frequently open their Veranda Cafes for informal Italian dinners, available on a no-charge, reserved basis. Norwegian Cruise Line offers more intimate, sophisticated dining at the Norway`s Le Rendezvous and the Seaward`s Palm Tree. Average cost for dinner in these is $35 a person. The Princess fleet and some Costa ships have pizzerias-good for those times when you don`t want a full lunch or dinner or want something to eat between meals.
Entrees lighten up
Lean and light are the new buzzwords on ships` menus. Some lines, such as Celebrity, Windstar and Norwegian Caribbean, offer a low-fat entree at dinner. Other lines go further, presenting entire lean and light menus. Royal Cruise Line, with its Dine to Your Heart`s Content program; and Cunard, with its Golden Door at Sea menus, were leaders in this trend.
Royal was the first cruise line to offer shipboard cuisine that conformed to the American Heart Association`s reduced-salt, low-cholesterol, low-fat guidelines. The line`s booklet gives passengers tips on combining these choices with the rest of the meal to meet the association`s guidelines. There are also suggestions for a healthful approach to the buffets, for controlling weight and for budgeting calories while enjoying shipboard dining.
When the Golden Door at Sea came to sea on the Cunard vessels, new dining choices accompanied the new physical fitness facilities. Each menu has a Golden Door Recommends selection of courses, low in fat, no salt added. The Golden Door menu on the Sea Goddess I and II is designed for maximum energy plus weight loss, and gives specific calorie counts.
Menus on Commodore and Princess ships include several items low in cholesterol, fat and sodium, and American Hawaii`s Pu`uwai (Heart) Program, offers lower fat and cholesterol options at all meals. Premier`s Fitness Cuisine, available even for theme dinners, such as Italian, is an entire meal with only 30 percent of its calories from fat.
Regency now offers a full lean and light menu, with nutritional counts provided. The counts for protein, carbohydrates, fat, cholesterol and sodium are part of Crown Cruise Line`s SeaLite menus.
The 800 Club is Renaissance`s 800-calorie dinner, a simpler, lighter preparation of the main menu`s offerings. For example, one 800 Club entree is a cutlet of veal with zucchini (355 calories) while the main menu features noisettes of veal with a sweet sherry dressing.
The Simplicity segment on Seabourn`s dinner menu offers a choice of broiled and grilled entrees, with fruit, ices or sherbets for dessert. On Clipper, which has no specific low-calorie entrees, passengers can specify broiling or grilling, ask that sauces and butter be eliminated. Half portions can also be ordered. Dishes that can have simpler preparation are starred on the Crystal Harmony`s menus in the main dining room, which also have a Perfect Harmony choice of lighter dishes.
Many lines tie in the reduced sodium, cholesterol, fat and calorie choices with their fitness programs. Carnival`s Nautica Spa fare, named after the ships` fitness facilities, includes entree, salad and dessert. Royal Caribbean`s ShipShape fitness program`s logo designates the appetizer, entree and dessert that conform to the AHA guidelines. Holland America has made dining a part of its Passport to Fitness program. Choosing the Perfect Balance menu selection earns stamps, which accumulate toward a prize. Royal Viking has a daily spa menu. Costa`s SpaCosta is a full program of nutrition and exercise, including dining choices with nutritional counts.
The Norway`s Roman Spa Cuisine is the most comprehensive program. Low-fat, low-cholesterol, calorie-controlled meals, based on fresh ingredients, complement the large array of exercise options and therapeutic treatments at the ship`s 6,000 square-foot Roman Spa. There`s a fee for the spa treatments, but not the menu.
So, given the healthy choices, leaner menus versus the temptations of early risers` breakfast, breakfast and lunch buffets, breakfast and lunch in the dining room, mid-morning snacks, afternoon tea, room service, dinner and the late night buffet, how do passengers eat? Norwegian Cruise Line reports that, overall, less than 1 percent of its passengers order the light/spa entrees (understandable when the NCL lean entree on Italian night is a fruit and cottage cheese plate). On the other end of the spectrum, up to 30 percent of Renaissance passengers order the 800 Club Menu.
Rudolf Sodamin, executive chef and assistant vice president at Cunard, observes that people eat more on a ship because the food is already paid for. He further explains that typically a passenger does not realize that the low- fat, calorie-controlled choices are of high quality, flavorful and satisfying, so justifies overindulgence by saying ”I didn`t pay to go on a diet.”
