TL/DR – The food is amazing.

The other night was our first formal dining night…

(Short aside: During our 132-day cruise there will be about two dozen formal nights. By the second night I will have worn a suit more while on my retirement cruise vacation than I did in my last 10 years as an engineer at Lockheed Martin. Where did I go wrong?)

The other night was our first formal dining night, and by chance I was invited to the Hotel Director’s table. I like this tradition – I sat with a retired dentist and his wife, a couple who lived less than 30 minutes from where I worked in England, a retired concert promoter and one of the on-board singers. There was wonderful conversation over the two hours that otherwise I would never have had. During that dinner I had:

• My first ever caviar (Ossetra). I was assisted by my table-mates with the proper process of mixing the fish eggs (I tried not to think about it) with the dressing and diced onion, and to spoon some onto a small pancake called a “blin”. It was not nearly as salty as I feared – the taste was pleasant. I won’t go out of my way to buy any, but I’ll eat more if offered.
• My first ever foie gras (I tried not to think about it). I thought the sweetness of the fruit chutney offset the strong taste of the pate well, but I won’t be eating it again. I’m not a fan of how it’s produced.

Other dining events include:

• Lobster buffet. For lunch. Let me say that again – this restaurant is buffet for breakfast and lunch, and this day you walked into the buffet area and were greeted by piles of lobster and crab. Lobster. Buffet. I may never use those two words in the same sentence ever again.
• Hot Rocks. In the evening the pool grill converts into a hot-rock-cook-it-yourself-at-your-table place. I had New Your strip and prawns, and I did not burn myself. Yes, those are onion rings, because why not. I had my veggies earlier, all right?

I am exercising daily, working up to walking two miles daily and Silversea has a good stretching class. But I may need to hide in my cabin and only eat bread and water to average out these calories. Yow.