The food in the main dining room has been very good, though after a while it does get a little monotonous.  Despite all the nationalities in the crew, they don’t push to get creative, ethnic, etc. with the food.  Of course since the passengers are mostly American, they have to offer what will most broadly appeal to that crowd.

There are a couple of upgrade restaurants on board, i.e. you can eat at them instead of the main dining room or the buffet for an extra charge of $20-$25 per meal.  We splurged the second night on the Italian restaurant, Sabatinis.  The food was definitely superior to the main dining room.  Tami had her Lobster Three Ways (tail, risotto, and sauce).  I had a soft shell crab appetizer and duck for my main course.  However, I was most impressed by some of the small touches.  The duck was accompanied by some small candied fruits (looked like cherry, grape, apple, etc.).  They looked like little translucent blobs.  What was most amazing was that when eaten, they weren’t just candied, they had also been infused with some kind of essence of mustard!  They were both sweet and spicy.

Then with my dessert there was a garnish that looked like a candy lemon slice, but it turned out to be infused with a licorice flavor, probably anise.

Unfortunately the upgrade restaurants have the same menu every night, so you wouldn’t want to eat there too often.

-M