Oceania Marina Baltic Cruise Review

Oceania Marina Baltic Cruise Second-Rate Despite Fine Itinerary

 The Oceania Marina is a fine new ship, in service since 2011, with little signs of wear to its fixtures.  Our stateroom, as mentioned previously, was first-rate and so are most of the public areas. But after completing our Oceania Marina Baltic Cruise, we won’t book Oceania for another sailing.

Even considering our lengthy history with the cruise line going back to the R-Ships, breaking up is not that hard to do. We decided never to sail Oceania again in the finals days of our Baltic cruise. It was a surprise decision, something we never imagined. Oceania was the cruise line we’d always told others was “our favorite.”  We tell them a different story now.  It’s not as good as it was, that they can sail most of the same itineraries for far less.

What did we find so unsatisfactory we won’t sail Oceania again?  Based on our expensive experience, Oceania has become a second-rate, lower quality version of its former self.  Oceania wasn’t operating like an upper premium  cruise line should. (This link suddenly no longer works. Why? Answer at  the end.) Perhaps the most obvious example of its decline is our blog describing how our cruise began in Stockholm, Sweden.  The Marina was the only cruise ship not docked near a terminal and the Marina did not offer any sort of shelter for its arriving travelers. As a result, a good number of passengers were forced to stand in the rain, waiting in line to board. Not the kind of treatment you would expect from an upper premium class cruise line, (Thankfully, we were lucky enough to board before it rained.)

This blog will deal more with day-to-day concerns. And it should be pointed out we were not the only ones dissatisfied with Oceania last summer.

Oceania Marina Main Dining RoomOceania Main Dining Room meals are as subdued as the decor

The travel agent who booked our cruise is with one of the country’s largest agencies. After we returned home,  he asked about our experience on the Oceania Marina. We told him how much the dining had deteriorated. He wasn’t surprised, saying “Other passengers had said the same thing, that the food had declined and that they were cutting back on quality.”

Our poor Oceania experience was not out of the ordinary.

Marina  Dining Hit and Miss   

Dining is one of the most important aspects of any cruise, but particularly on one like Oceania which touts “The Finest Cuisine at Sea.”   

That was not our overall experience in the main dining room or Terrace Café. While we were served numerous picturesque dishes, many were bland, tasteless and totally forgettable. Imagine being trapped on a ship dedicated to the current cuisine fad favoring presentation over flavor, of feeding the eyes and ignoring one’s taste buds. Such frou-frou sometimes resulted in unappetizing combinations. One night in the main dining room, I couldn’t find an appealing appetizer or salad.  That was a remarkable kitchen accomplishment.

Some other passengers avoided the main dining room for a different reason. One Canadian woman explained once there was enough for her because  “It’s just too pretentious.”  Pretentious is a term you don’t often hear, so I was surprised to hear the same term from several American couples at separate times about the pompous attitude in general of the cruise staff and particularly at public functions. Grandiosity definitely did flow at the cocktail party for past Oceania passengers, but that silliness  didn’t really concern us.

The poor dining did.  For breakfast, the only place we visited was the Terrace Café because service in the main dining room was sometimes slow. The waiters there did their best but it was obvious they were understaffed, especially in the evenings.  With the Marina visiting a new port almost every day, we didn’t want to waste time waiting to be served breakfast. Although the dining room might offer more variety than the buffet, in our experience most cruise lines vary their breakfast buffet from day-to-day to prevent monotonous selections.

Same Food, Always Lukewarm

Breakfast in the Terrace Café, however, varied little. It did become too repetitive.  A single new egg dish might appear every other day while pancakes and waffles  were infrequent. What also never changed was how the buffet warming pans were poorly heated. The way to avoid lukewarm/chilly eggs was forego the buffet pans for the Terrace grill where they could be freshly prepared. A similar option for heating other “warm” buffet items did not exist. Too bad there wasn’t a microwave available. As for breakfast pastries, they were nothing to look forward to. Many were unusually dry, somewhat crumbly and with negligible taste. Bread was the safest bet.

Oceania Marina Jacques French Bistro Specialty RestaurantJacques French Bistro was sometimes open for lunch

For lunch, you will not go wrong at the outdoor Waves Grill. Wonderful sandwiches made fresh to order with no effort to dumb down their taste. The selection was large enough for a new sandwich every day for a week.  The Waves Grill was a viable lunchtime option for the Terrace Café which started out strong but gradually deteriorated.

The Terrace Cafe at both lunch and dinner was consistently reliable for its sushi and its salads, especially the individual Caesar salads made to order quickly. In the evening, its  grill also was dependable for steak and  lobster. Adjacent to the grill you could have a freshly prepared different Asian wok dish most nights; those were usually excellent. Regardless of the quality of its specialty stations,  the Terrace Café’s primary flaws remained at all meals: semi-warm/cool  bland buffet foods that too often wouldn’t match a Golden Corral all-you-can-eat restaurant.

The Terrace Cafe will be remembered for the worst lasagna Linda ever tasted.  And the slice of semi-petrified apple pie with dehydrated  fillings that must have been in a freezer for a long, long time. Should have taken a photo of that.  But the dehydrated pie also explained why the breakfast pastries were so dry as well as cookies in the concierge lounge. They’d all been trapped in the same freezer.

Room Service Poor & Limited 

Room service was available virtually anytime. With the exception of its breakfast options, the menu was small, basic and never varied during the cruise. We didn’t dare request breakfast room service after making our one and only order for a simple late lunch: sandwiches and salads.  The sandwiches,  made of unusually dry bread and minimal, flavorless ingredients were left mostly uneaten.  The salads weren’t quite as bad but hardly up to Terrace Café standards. Both  sandwiches and salads tasted as if they were made days before and then shoved into a refrigerator. A good hotel would never dare offer such lousy room service fare.

Yet operating a superb room service is not beyond the ability of other cruise lines. Some gladly deliver anything from the ship’s  lunch and dinner menus while the main dining room actively serves those meals. Not on Oceania.

We cannot imagine an extended cruise on the Oceania Marina. We once spent 35 days on Holland America’s Maasdam and found the dining not only varied but exceptionally good. After 12 days on the Oceania Marina, we were eager to eat elsewhere.

Linda and I are foodies.  See our posts on cruise dining aboard the  Maasdam and  National Geographic Endeavour.  Those who praise Oceania for its  fine dining may  base it on the specialty restaurants–which, regretfully, are not open for three meals a day.  And are not representative of Oceania’s  ordinary dining venues.  

The Exceptional Specialty Restaurants

The saving grace at dinner was the four specialty restaurants: Jacques (French), Toscana (Italian), Red Ginger (Asian) and Polo
Grill .

Our meals matched  the high standards we recalled from previous cruises.  All of the Marina’s specialty restaurants do offer some of the “finest cuisine at sea.”  Unfortunately, a shortage of  dining room waiters sometimes spoiled an otherwise perfect evening.

Oceania’s no extra-charge specialty restaurants are much sought-after by passengers ravenous for quality cuisine. Except for Jacques, open for lunch on occasion, the specialty restaurants serve dinner only and require  advance reservations, which limits their access.

The specialty restaurants demonstrated the Marina could serve flavorful meals. When it chose to.

Oceania Marina Red Ginger Specialty RestaurantRed Ginger’s flavors are as pronounced as its colors

The most popular restaurant on our cruise seemed to be Red Ginger with its spicy Asian menu.   Red Ginger lives up its name. so if you don’t appreciate a pronounced ginger flavor, this isn’t the restaurant for you. We dined there twice, when all reservations were booked. Yet we noticed quite a few tables without place settings when other passengers wanted to be there. Were the restaurant’s three cooks working in view at the back of the room unable to accommodate any more diners?  Or did the vacant tables reflect a lack of servers? Or more cutting back?

Our favorite of the four restaurants was long reliable Polo Grill featuring high-grade steaks, lobster, chicken, pork and lamb. The only time we could book this restaurant was for the last night of the cruise.  This will sound exaggerated but it’s true. When I tasted the garlic mashed potatoes accompanying my entree, it was a jolt to my system. I realized how starved I was for garlic and every other flavor. This was the first and only time on the 12-day cruise I tasted any distinctive seasoning except at Red Ginger.

Our long-awaited Polo Grill evening turned into a disaster due to understaffing.  Thirty minutes after receiving our dessert menus we still were unable to order. A group of eight had arrived just as we were handed our dessert list. Our waiter and his helper were so busy attending to the new group they didn’t take time to scribble down our short order.

Tired of waiting, we left our table. We mentioned our situation to the manager, who consulted the table chart showing the tables our server was assigned. He said, “But he’s only serving 12 people. I don’t understand how this could happen.” Maybe because the arrival of eight was monopolizing his time?

Although the restaurant manager wasn’t doing anything in particular, he didn’t call for anyone to assist us or even consider helping us.  Perhaps he missed the memo about providing  “upper premium class” service?

The Moody Marina  

With the exception of The Polo Grill manager, the cruise staff always was helpful and acted friendly yet something felt off, not quite  right. Linda and I can’t put our finger on precisely what it is. We think back to other cruises.

“These people don’t seem happy.”

Indeed, they didn’t. Waiters did not joke with or act especially friendly toward passengers they saw every day. We noticed very few of the staff going out of their way to interact with passengers. Exceptions were the cruise director (he does his job well), all of the room stewards on our floor and the concierge lounge staff. They couldn’t have been nicer or more efficient.

Otherwise, whenever passengers were not gathered together, the Oceania Marina often felt like an abandoned ship.

Oceania Cruises Sold To NCL

The very day we disembark the Marina, it was announced that Prestige Cruise Holdings– parent company of Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises—had sold both cruise lines to Norwegian Cruise Line. No wonder Oceania crew members were unhappy. They had to be wondering their futures under new ownership since rumors of the impending sale must have been well known.

Reading the NCL press release confirmed our impression that the dining had deteriorated noticeably.  As our travel agent later pointed out, Oceania probably cut back on dining quality in order to increase its profit line before completing the sale to NCL. Cutting costs would also account for the chronic understaffing we encountered..

The PR release also stated NCL would pay Oceania’s parent company “a cash consideration of up to $50 million to Prestige shareholders would be payable upon achievement of certain 2015 performance metrics.”

Oceania Cruises performance metrics should place customer satisfaction near the top.  Our Oceania dining experience lowered our satisfaction with Oceania from 10 to 3 or 4. Whatever happens with NCL/Oceania in the future, for better or worse, we won’t be back to find out.  It would be too costly a gamble and, frankly, there are too many other good cruise lines to choose from less pretentious, less expensive and more dependable.  We know not to care about Oceania anymore.

This is the slowest blog in history because we  never wanted to get to where we shout “the king has no clothes!”  Ironically, Oceania’s recently updated website lacks any previous claims (dead link above)  of   its “upper premium class” status  that I can find.   New owner,  new  reality?  The latest corporate description of Oceania is of a comfortable, upscale cruise. Yet the prices remain premium class.    

Dining on the National Geographic Endeavour

food_paella-1
Classic Spanish paella with shellfish but no shrimp

Sustainability may guide the ship’s dining choices—but yum!

Lindblad Expeditions takes its dedication to conservation seriously, extending it even to the National Geographic Endeavour’s dining room. Although seafood is a staple on the ship’s menus, you’ll never find a shrimp cocktail, fried shrimp or shrimp of any sort. Lindblad banned shrimp from its kitchens more than a decade ago, in the summer of 2001 as part of its sustainable dining program to help preserve fish stocks worldwide.

Lindblad says it could not find any shrimp suppliers who could prove that their shrimp harvesting methods did not damage the marine environment. One of the serious problem shrimp trawlers create is the “bycatch” of unwanted fish species that end up being killed and thrown away. And in some areas the trawlers may sweep the same section of sea bottom several times a year, which leaves no time for re-growth or recovery of the marine habitat.

No shrimp allowed

Shrimp farming also has serious negative impact because shrimp growers have made their pond water poisonous due to the large amounts of artificial feed, pesticides, chemical additives and antibiotics used for the highest possible production rate. Typically, the ponds are located in coastal areas to provide easy access to new fresh water sources to refill them. Unfortunately, instead of reducing pressure on overharvesting, shrimp aquaculture’s toxic  effluent is blamed for reducing local shrimp and fish populations in some regions

When it comes to the fish served on board the Endeavour and other Lindblad ships, they are species considered not to be over-fished or caught by environmentally destructive practices. Lindblad Expeditions is not extremist in its sustainability approach. According to Ocean Wise, a Canadian non-profit education and conservation association, an estimated 90 percent of all large, predatory fish have disappeared from the world’s oceans. It states that one recent scientific study predicts a world-wide fisheries collapse by the year 2048.  Obviously, this is a topic that impacts all of us and one we all should be concerned about.

Placing the serious aspects of the Lindblad Endeavour’s menu aside, as you’ll see from the accompanying photos and the week’s menus on accompanying pages, no one starves.  There is a serious emphasis on flavorful food, although the preparations are not always ones we have every day or perhaps ever have had before. But trying new foods always has been an essential part of travel. The menu emphasizes Ecuadorian cuisine, as you would expect.

Here are some sample signs that are posted to explain unfamiliar dishes:

food montepillo sign-1 food potato patty-1

Lindblad Expeditions does try to cater to the diverse tastes of its passengers. The photo at the top of this post shows paella served once a week at lunch that definitely would not suit vegetarians.  So, a vegetarian paella is served at the same meal.

This kind of catering is routine on large cruise ships. But the Endeavour carries fewer than100 passengers. Below is a photo of the vegetarian paella. .

food veg paella-1Vegetarian paella, a rice dish from Valencia, Spain

See for yourself what the dining on the Lindblad National Geographic Endeavor is like. You won’t be disappointed, I promise you. If I didn’t like it, I say so. But I do wish that just one time during the week there was an option for a hamburger with all the trimmings. But maybe that was just me.

Lindblad Endeavour Galapagos Cruise Links

The Galapagos Experience                                        Endeavour Dining
Galapagos Adventure Upcoming                       Sustainable Dining Policy
How Darwin Saved The Galapagos                   Saturday Dining Menus
Galapagos Photo Tips                                                 Sunday Dining Menus
What To Pack For Cruise                                           Monday Dining Menus
Getting to Guayaquil                                                   Tuesday Dining Menus
Las Bachas Shore Landing                                      Wednesday Dining Menus
North Seymour Shore Landing                          Thursday Dining Menus
Fernandina & Isabela Islands                              Friday Finale Menus
Urbina Bay Shore Landing                                      Endeavour Recipes
Life Aboard The Endeavour
More About Life On Board
Puerto Egas Shore Landing
Endeavour’s Floating SPA
Meeting One of World’s Rarest Animals
Puerto Ayoro Walking Tour
Santa Cruz Highlands Tour
Hunting Tortoises in the Santa Cruz Highlands
San Cristobal, Endeavour’s Final Stop

National Geographic Endeavour Galapagos Dining Recipes

Galapagos cruise food

I would swear that I took photos of some of these dishes on board the National Geographic Endeavour but I can’t find them.  My bad!

Shortly before the cruise, Linda found out she was allergic to wheat products and needed to be gluten free.  Among numerous other items, that really reduces the kinds of bread you can eat.  During the voyage, we met some people who also needed to be gluten-free and  especially for them the kitchen is making cassava bread.  Linda and I both try it.  Where has this been all our lives?

Linda asks Edison, the always helpful dining room manager, if she can be added to the cassava bread list. We have it for breakfast every morning from then on.  That’s how accommodating things are in Lindblad Expeditions National Geographic Endeavour dining room.

Cassava Bread/Pan de Yucca

Ingredients:

2 cups   Cassava flour (Yucca or manioc)
2 cups   Grated mozzarella cheese
2   Egg yolks
4 Tbsp.   Butter
Salt to taste

Preparation:
1) Mix all ingredients until consistent and firm in order to form the dough.
2) Form little buns and let them rest for about 10 minutes.
3) Preheat oven at 375 F.
4) On a buttered pan place the buns and put it in the oven for 20-25 minutes until the tops are  golden.
______________

Brazilian Xim-Xim Soup

This is a wonderful soup but the recipe makes enough for all the diners at lunch. So, I would suggest you make one-tenth of what the recipe calls for. By the way, this recipe took almost an hour to translate the ingredient measurements (such as a “taza” of this or that).

Ingredients:

Group 1
1 cup   Butter
4 cups   Pearl onion finely cut
4 cups   Red onion, Cubed
4 cups  Green & red peppers, cubed
6 Tbl   Garlic, finely cut
1 cup   Ginger, finely cut

Group 2
4 cups   Tomatoes (Skinless & finely cut)
2 cups   Canned tomatoes
16 cups  Chicken broth
1 Tsp.   Turmeric
½ Tsp.  Cheyenne

Group 3
11 lbs.   Fish (wahoo), cubed
1.4 cups  Coconut , toasted
1.7 cups  Macadamia nuts, toasted
6 cups   Coconut milk

Preparation
1) Toast coconut and macadamia nuts in oven until golden brown.
2)  Sautee ingredients of Group 1 in butter.
3)  Add all ingredients of Group 2 and simmer at low temp for
about 15 min.
4)  Just prior to serving the soup, bring to a boil. Add Group 3, stirring
well until the coconut milk is dissolved. Cook until the fish is done

Salt & pepper to taste
________________

Carrot and Ginger Soup
Serves 10

This is a simple soup that anyone who likes carrots and ginger (one of my favorite spices).  This also is an easy recipe to reduce from 10 servings to five.

Ingredients:

10   Carrots
1/3 cup   Ginger
1-1 /2 qt   Chicken stock
1 cup   Onions, chopped
1 cup   Whipping cream
1/4 cup  Scallions chopped
1/2 cup  Parsley
3.50z   Butter

Preparation:
1)  Boil carrots until tender. Puree with hand held mixer or food processor.
2)  Sauté pureed carrots with onions, ginger and butter.
3) Add chicken stock and bring to a boil for 30 minutes .
4) After carrots are cooked, liquefy through a strainer, return to pot and bring to a boil.
5)  Lower heat to medium and add whipping cream, parsley. Salt & pepper to taste.
_____________

Chocolate Decadence

For 12 people

I know there are photos of the Chocolate Decadence somewhere and when I find them I will add them and tweet their appearance. Again, this recipe needs to be cut for 4-6 people rather than the 12 this recipe covers. Add vanilla ice cream.

Ingredients:

11   Eggs
1 lb.   Semi-sweet chocolate
1-1/2 cups   Butter
1 cup   Vegetable oil
1 cup   Sugar

Preparation:

1) Melt together the chocolate, butter and oil, and let it sit until warm.
2) Beat the eggs with the sugar until the mix has become thick. Put it on low
heat for a couple of minutes and combine half of this mix with the melted
chocolate. Combine it slowly, and add the rest of the eggs.
3) Put it in the oven for approximately 20 minutes (350 degrees) When you take
it out of the oven the cake will be a little wet; put it in the refrigerator over
night or at least two hours.
4) Before serving you can pour on Grand Marnier or any kind of liquor on
top along with whipped cream, some chocolate sprinkles and raspberry coulis.

These recipes are a small sample why it can be so difficult to leave the Lindblad Endeavour’s dining room behind.  Not saying I wouldn’t have liked a hamburger or pizza at some point during the week. However, Linda and I always like to try new foods. And bring back recipes and see which ones we can incorporate into our lives. Cassava bread is the highest on our priority list.  As for the Chocolate Decadence, that will be treat for friends when we can be sure there won’t be any leftovers.  I need to lose weight.

Lindblad Endeavour Galapagos Cruise Links

The Galapagos Experience                                       Endeavour Dining
Galapagos Adventure Upcoming                            Sustainable Dining Policy
How Darwin Saved The Galapagos                         Saturday Dining Menus
Galapagos Photo Tips                                                  Sunday Dining Menus
What To Pack For Cruise                                            Monday Dining Menus
Getting to Guayaquil                                                    Tuesday Dining Menus
Las Bachas Shore Landing                                         Wednesday Dining Menus
North Seymour Shore Landing                                 Thursday Dining Menus
Fernandina & Isabela Islands                                   Friday Finale Menus
Urbina Bay Shore Landing                                          Endeavour Recipes
Life Aboard The Endeavour
More About Life On Board
Puerto Egas Shore Landing
Endeavour’s Floating SPA
Meeting One of World’s Rarest Animals
Puerto Ayoro Walking Tour
Santa Cruz Highlands Tour
Hunting Tortoises in the Santa Cruz Highlands
San Cristobal, Endeavour’s final stop

Lindblad National Geographic Endeavour Friday Menu Finale

Friday Galapagos cruise dining

Friday night’s dessert menu features what many consider the best of the week: the chocolate decadence. Friday’s lunch and dinner menus feature different presentations of amberjack but don’t overlook the beef filet with caramelized onions and wine sauce.

Lindblad National Geographic Endeavour Friday Lunch Menu

Lindblad National Geographic Endeavour Friday Dinner Menu

 Lindblad Endeavour Galapagos Cruise Links

The Galapagos Experience                      Endeavour Dining
Galapagos Adventure Upcoming
                        Sustainable Dining Policy
How Darwin Saved The Galapagos                     Saturday Dining Menus
Galapagos Photo Tips                                              Sunday Dining Menus
What To Pack For Cruise                                       Monday Dining Menus
Getting to Guayaquil                                               Tuesday Dining Menus
Las Bachas Shore Landing                                    Wednesday Dining Menus
North Seymour Shore Landing                            Thursday Dining Menus
Fernandina & Isabela Islands                              Friday Finale Menus
Urbina Bay Shore Landing                                     Endeavour Recipes
Life Aboard The Endeavour
More About Life On Board
Puerto Egas Shore Landing
Endeavour’s Floating SPA
Meeting One of World’s Rarest Animals
Puerto Ayoro Walking Tour
Santa Cruz Highlands Tour
Hunting Tortoises in the Santa Cruz Highlands
San Cristobal, Endeavour’s final stop

National Geographic Endeavour Galapagos Thursday Menus

Galapagos cruise dining 

There is no Lindblad National Geographic Endeavour lunch menu for the day spent on Santa Cruz Island. This is Galapagos tortoise day, with the morning exploring the Charles Darwin Research Foundation and the afternoon in the highlands watching tortoises roam in the wild.

For lunch is at the Ranch Altair restaurant/hotel in the highlands we had BBQ chicken prepared in a huge traditional oven. The atmosphere, and ready availability of the local beer from the bar made for a relaxing lunch.  I turned lazy, not thinking ahead of how I should record everything in notes and photos for this blog.  I went into vacation mode. Obviously, Altair is a very satisfying stop.

Thursday’s dinner menu was a buffet BBQ. It was the perfect way to end  an outstanding day following our interactions with the Galapagos tortoises. The amberjack was my favorite but the steak was very good, too.

Lindblad National Geographic Endeavour Thursday Dinner Menu

 Lindblad Endeavour Galapagos Cruise Links

The Galapagos Experience                                   Endeavour Dining
Galapagos Adventure Upcoming                       Sustainable Dining Policy
How Darwin Saved The Galapagos                    Saturday Dining Menus
Galapagos Photo Tips                                             Sunday Dining Menus
What To Pack For Cruise                                       Monday Dining Menus
Getting to Guayaquil                                               Tuesday Dining Menus
Las Bachas Shore Landing                                    Wednesday Dining Menus
North Seymour Shore Landing                           Thursday Dining Menus
Fernandina & Isabela Islands                             Friday Finale Menus
Urbina Bay Shore Landing                                    Endeavour Recipes
Life Aboard The Endeavour
More About Life On Board
Puerto Egas Shore Landing
Endeavour’s Floating SPA
Meeting One of World’s Rarest Animals
Puerto Ayoro Walking Tour
Santa Cruz Highlands Tour
Hunting Tortoises in the Santa Cruz Highlands
San Cristobal, Endeavour’s final stop

Lindblad Galapagos Cruise, Endeavour Wednesday Menus

Wednesday Galapagos cruise dining

The lunch highlight today on the  National Geographic Endeavour is the traditional Spanish paella. Other options are also available.

food Lindblad paella-1
Paella is a highlight of every Endeavour cruise

Wednesday Lunch0001

Wednesday Dinner0001

 Lindblad  Endeavour Galapagos Cruise Links

The Galapagos Experience                                     Endeavour Dining
Galapagos Adventure Upcoming                          Sustainable Dining Policy
How Darwin Saved The Galapagos                       Saturday Dining Menus
Galapagos Photo Tips                                                Sunday Dining Menus
What To Pack For Cruise                                          Monday Dining Menus
Getting to Guayaquil                                                  Tuesday Dining Menus
Las Bachas Shore Landing                                       Wednesday Dining Menus
North Seymour Shore Landing                              Thursday Dining Menus
Fernandina & Isabela Islands                                Friday Finale Menus
Urbina Bay Shore Landing                                       Endeavour Recipes
Life Aboard The Endeavour
More About Life On Board
Puerto Egas Shore Landing
Endeavour’s Floating SPA
Meeting One of World’s Rarest Animals
Puerto Ayoro Walking Tour
Santa Cruz Highlands Tour
Hunting Tortoises in the Santa Cruz Highlands
San Cristobal, Endeavour’s final stop

National Geographic Endeavour Tuesday Menus

Tuesday Galapagos cruise dining

The Lindblad National Geographic Endeavour’s Ecuadorian lunch buffet is perhaps the most colorful and flavorful of all the buffets. If you want to photograph it, be first in line. And shoot quickly. Many of the first for lunch lunch crowd are ready for a feeding frenzy.  (The dinner crowd is more mellow.)

One of lunch items, mote pillo, is unusual. Mote is the Ecuadorian word for hominy, made from white corn kernels. Hominy is a staple throughout the Andes. Mote pillo by itself can be served for breakfast. At lunch it becomes a side dish.

   Roast suckling pig  Wahoo covered with coconut sauce
Roast suckling pig; steamed wahoo in coconut sauce.

 Roast suckling pig is a common offering in Ecuador’s highlands. The crackling, (the crisp and tasty roasted skin) is highly prized by Ecuadorians and tourists. It is one of the first things to disappear. Oh, so good!

Wahoo is a hard-fighting fish that every serious salt water angler wants to find and then dine on. Today is wahoo day, served at both lunch and dinner. Do it! The Endeavour chefs do a fine job.

 Lindblad National Geographic Endeavour Tuesday Lunch Menu

Lindblad National Geographic Endeavour Tuesday Dinner Menu

 Lindblad Endeavour Galapagos Cruise Links

The Galapagos Experience                                         Endeavour Dining
Galapagos Adventure Upcoming                              Sustainable Dining Policy
How Darwin Saved The Galapagos                          Saturday Dining Menus
Galapagos Photo Tips                                                   Sunday Dining Menus
What To Pack For Cruise                                             Monday Dining Menus
Getting to Guayaquil                                                     Tuesday Dining Menus
Las Bachas Shore Landing                                          Wednesday Dining Menus
North Seymour Shore Landing                                  Thursday Dining Menus
Fernandina & Isabela Islands                                   Friday Finale Menus
Urbina Bay Shore Landing                                          Endeavour Recipes
Life Aboard The Endeavour
More About Life On Board
Puerto Egas Shore Landing
Endeavour’s Floating SPA
Meeting One of World’s Rarest Animals
Puerto Ayoro Walking Tour
Santa Cruz Highlands Tour
Hunting Tortoises in the Santa Cruz Highlands
San Cristobal, Endeavour’s final stop

Lindblad National Geographic Endeavour Monday Menus

Monday Galapagos cruise dining

Monday had one of my favorite lunches on the National Geographic Endeavour. The Brazilian Xim Xim soup and the pasta with a trio of sauces were excellent.  An unexpected surprise were the cassava fries. Cassava–also called yuca, mogo, or manioc—makes a wonderful bread but we had no idea it could be turned into fries, too.  One fry goes a long way, as this photo demonstrates:

Lindblad cassava fries-1Cassava fries for Monday’s lunch.

Lindblad National Geographic Endeavour Monday Lunch Menu

Lindblad National Geographic Endeavour Monday Dinner Menu

Lindblad Endeavour Galapagos Cruise Links

The Galapagos Experience                             Endeavour Dining
Galapagos Adventure Upcoming                            Sustainable Dining Policy
How Darwin Saved The Galapagos                        Saturday Dining Menus
Galapagos Photo Tips                                                 Sunday Dining Menus
What To Pack For Cruise                                          Monday Dining Menus
Getting to Guayaquil                                                   Tuesday Dining Menus
Las Bachas Shore Landing                                       Wednesday Dining Menus
North Seymour Shore Landing                               Thursday Dining Menus
Fernandina & Isabela Islands                                 Friday Finale Menus
Urbina Bay Shore Landing                                        Endeavour Recipes
Life Aboard The Endeavour
More About Life On Board
Puerto Egas Shore Landing
Endeavour’s Floating SPA
Meeting One of World’s Rarest Animals
Puerto Ayoro Walking Tour
Santa Cruz Highlands Tour
Hunting Tortoises in the Santa Cruz Highlands
San Cristobal, Endeavour’s final stop

National Geographic Endeavour Sunday Lunch and Dinner Menus

Sunday Galapagos cruise dining

The Monday Peruvian lunch buffet illustrates how Lindblad’s National Geographic Endeavour highlights local cuisine. The grilled chicken sandwich with roasted onions is for those who don’t want to be adventurous.

Soups are offered at every meal, although Sunday’s menus don’t reflect it.  Go for the fish soup anytime it’s offered. Lindblad National Geographic Endeavour Sunday Lunch Menu

Lindblad National Geographic Endeavour Sunday Dinner Menu

Lindblad Endeavour Galapagos Cruise Links

The Galapagos Experience                             Endeavour Dining
Galapagos Adventure Upcoming                               Sustainable Dining Policy
How Darwin Saved The Galapagos                            Saturday Dining Menus
Galapagos Photo Tips                                                     Sunday Dining Menus
What To Pack For Cruise                                               Monday Dining Menus
Getting to Guayaquil                                                       Tuesday Dining Menus
Las Bachas Shore Landing                                            Wednesday Dining Menus
North Seymour Shore Landing                                   Thursday Dining Menus
Fernandina & Isabela Islands                                     Friday Finale Menus
Urbina Bay Shore Landing                                            Endeavour Recipes
Life Aboard The Endeavour
More About Life On Board
Puerto Egas Shore Landing
Endeavour’s Floating SPA
Meeting One of World’s Rarest Animals
Puerto Ayoro Walking Tour
Santa Cruz Highlands Tour
Hunting Tortoises in the Santa Cruz Highlands
San Cristobal, Endeavour’s final stop

Lindblad National Geographic Endeavour Saturday Menus

Saturday Galapagos cruise dining

These are the welcome aboard menus for passengers on their first day of their Galapagos cruise.

When it comes to cruise ship food, a critic’s likes and dislikes can unfairly bias a dining review. My own admitted prejudices: I don’t like turnips. Though I recently had a turnip puree with something in it that started winning me over. 

To me it makes sense to provide the menus for the entire cruise so  each person can make their own decisions about the selections. Breakfast and lunch normally are buffets. Dinner may be a buffet or a sit-down meal, depending on the afternoon activities. One or two vegetarian options are offered at every meal.

Cheesecake is my great weakness and I judge the chocolate cheesecake served at dinnerto be  fine. It was perfect following the sea bass, my favorite of Saturday’s dinner entrees.

Lindblad National Geographic Endeavour Saturday Lunch Menu

Lindblad National Geographic Endeavour Saturday Dinner Menu

Lindblad Endeavour Galapagos Cruise Links

The Galapagos Experience                            Endeavour Dining
Galapagos Adventure Upcoming                                Sustainable Dining Policy
How Darwin Saved The Galapagos                             Saturday Dining Menus
Galapagos Photo Tips                                                      Sunday Dining Menus
What To Pack For Cruise                                                Monday Dining Menus
Getting to Guayaquil                                                        Tuesday Dining Menus
Las Bachas Shore Landing                                             Wednesday Dining Menus
North Seymour Shore Landing                                    Thursday Dining Menus
Fernandina & Isabela Islands                                      Friday Finale Menus
Urbina Bay Shore Landing                                             Endeavour Recipes
Life Aboard The Endeavour
More About Life On Board
Puerto Egas Shore Landing
Endeavour’s Floating SPA
Meeting One of World’s Rarest Animals
Puerto Ayoro Walking Tour
Santa Cruz Highlands Tour
Hunting Tortoises in the Santa Cruz Highlands
San Cristobal, Endeavour’s final stop