Silver Explorer

[Alipius]

So, this May on the Explorer you go down to Lunch on that gloriously sunny day in the middle of a shiny Sea off the coast of France and, on the way in and in the middle of the Restaurant, you see the Chef, the big tall man who has done so much to make the cruise what we had hoped for, with his florid and smiling face under his white-tall-hat, gloriously there in the middle of the Restaurant and for the first time performing, wonderfully, before a large gathered-around audience of admiring Explorers, in front of an enormous Paella-shaped steel basin of dozens and dozens and dozens of bubbling mussels he bought that day at the local market and is attending to each, one-by-one precisely, as if each was special and doing so as he had done for the last half-hour or so: and, as he then announces, what is needed to finish the mussels to his satisfaction is nothing other than a good splash of the Californian Chardonnay he can see at a service-island nearby and he leaves what he is doing and goes over to get it and he, the Chef, is stopped by a waiter and told he, the Chef, can’t do that and that he, the waiter, the one who just pours out the wine thereby must be the one to pour it onto the Chef’s mussels or that otherwise it can’t go in ..... and when you hear this you just walk away not believing what you’ve seen and heard - but it is standard for the running of the Restaurant, where the Phillipinos have completely taken over, on this ship and on the others and (lovely people though they otherwise may be) bring to it everything they know and, unfortunately, what they don’t; unlike the bon vivant Italian/NZ/Aus/Estonian etc waiters on this ship in past years who were probably taken to restaurants as kiddies and who know what to do from what they saw but who are now a little more expensive to hire. I wish it were otherwise, but it ain’t; and it’s boring; and the whole dining experience is ‘dumbed down’ and, at its worst, can be ‘in ya face’ painful. And I couldn’t get off this boat fast enough,and wouldn’t go back again ‘to save meself’.

[duct tape]

I am dying to respond but I won't.

[RachelG]

I know, very strange.

[rojaan19]

He is not talking about the Explorer I know.

[duct tape]

Rojann,I don't think many people know the Explorer better than you and drron!

[rojaan19]

Rojann,I don't think many people know the Explorer better than you and drron!

 

 

 

:D :D :D :D thanks Duct Tape !

[drron29]

Well we got off the Explorer in April.And this is what I said about our Phillipino wine waiters in my cruise report-

"So we went up to the bar for some last drinks.The last song was performed by our wine waiters Ricci and Eva.Both were exceptional at their job and they could sing too-

.

 

Alfredo at the piano was as good as ever-we had met all 3 before."

 

I cant wait to get back on the Explorer soon enough to be looked after by them.Both of them knew the style of wine we liked so if the wine of the day was different they came with their alternative which nearly always was the wine we drank that day.

 

Just shows we are all different.

[NCCruzQueen]

drron,

 

Fun photos. Ricci was just great last January in Antarctica. I would love to return to the Explorer.

[bohaiboy]

So, this May on the Explorer you go down to Lunch on that gloriously sunny day in the middle of a shiny Sea off the coast of France and, on the way in and in the middle of the Restaurant, you see the Chef, the big tall man who has done so much to make the cruise what we had hoped for, with his florid and smiling face under his white-tall-hat, gloriously there in the middle of the Restaurant and for the first time performing, wonderfully, before a large gathered-around audience of admiring Explorers, in front of an enormous Paella-shaped steel basin of dozens and dozens and dozens of bubbling mussels he bought that day at the local market and is attending to each, one-by-one precisely, as if each was special and doing so as he had done for the last half-hour or so: and, as he then announces, what is needed to finish the mussels to his satisfaction is nothing other than a good splash of the Californian Chardonnay he can see at a service-island nearby and he leaves what he is doing and goes over to get it and he, the Chef, is stopped by a waiter and told he, the Chef, can’t do that and that he, the waiter, the one who just pours out the wine thereby must be the one to pour it onto the Chef’s mussels or that otherwise it can’t go in ..... and when you hear this you just walk away not believing what you’ve seen and heard - but it is standard for the running of the Restaurant, where the Phillipinos have completely taken over, on this ship and on the others and (lovely people though they otherwise may be) bring to it everything they know and, unfortunately, what they don’t; unlike the bon vivant Italian/NZ/Aus/Estonian etc waiters on this ship in past years who were probably taken to restaurants as kiddies and who know what to do from what they saw but who are now a little more expensive to hire. I wish it were otherwise, but it ain’t; and it’s boring; and the whole dining experience is ‘dumbed down’ and, at its worst, can be ‘in ya face’ painful. And I couldn’t get off this boat fast enough,and wouldn’t go back again ‘to save meself’.

I was on this cruise and found just the opposite. It was truly magnificent. THe Relais and Chateaux Chef Rudy, the cheese guy Tom, the wine specialists from Italy and president of sparkling wine maker Domaine Carneros, a food critic, a WWII historian and a MidEvel History historian.

 

Would go back in a heartbeat. The staff were brilliant, especially some in the dining room. And Eva was one of my favs.

[spinnaker2]

was ridic to try and read. But once i got my magnifiers, i could.

 

I did not have the same experience as the small print person. In fact the Explorer and all the crew were just wonderful, I would go back in a second. i intend to post the remaining saga of my trip this weekend. Polar opposite to the initial post above.