Day 14 - Galley Tour and Regent Rewards
April 7, 2019 - Has it really already been two weeks? Time really does fly when you are having fun. It became apparent that this was our last day on board when we returned to our suite after lunch to find that Hazel and Widi have placed our luggage on the bed for us.
Before we start packing for the trip home, we were invited to attend a special galley tour with a small group of other guests. Rickee went to Team Trivia and I attended the galley tour. Our group was greeted by Chef Suraj, one of the main chefs in the Compass Rose restaurant. While there are other smaller galleys servicing other dining venues (Prime 7, Chartreuse, La Veranda, etc.), the galley at Compass Rose is the main galley, where all breads are baked and prep work is done to serve the other galleys. Chef Suraj starts by showing us the wine and liquor storage room.
As we approach the "pass", where dishes are delivered to waiters on trays for service, the first thing you notice is how spotlessly clean everything is. You have never seen so much gleaming stainless steel. Even the ceiling is stainless steel, and for good reason. Other materials like plastics or tile can never be completely sanitized, but stainless steel can be.
We get a peek at the soup station where all soups and sauces are prepared. All appliances are electric, there are no open flames or gas due to safety regulations. There are 87 chefs working in the main galley.
The tour only lasted about 20 minutes, but it was a very interesting look at the 'back of house' operations.
After the galley tour, I returned to Constellation Theater where my team, without my help today, had their first win of the cruise. They took first place with a total of 16 points! They got a perfect score of 15 plus a bonus point. Should I be concerned that they accomplished this on the one day that I was not there to help? In any case, this is the last day for Team Trivia and everyone has all of their Regent Rewards ready to exchange for a variety of logo items. We were able to get a windbreaker, a t-shirt and a polo shirt!
This evening, we enjoyed a very nice dinner at Sette Mari with two of our Team Trivia teammates whom we can now consider new friends. Malcom and Denise are from Birmingham, England, and are some of the nicest people we have met on any cruise. It was the perfect ending to a great cruise. When we returned to our suite, Hazel has left the daily Passages (newsletter) on the bed, along with a room service breakfast menu and they even provided us with two "3-1-1" bags to use for liquids at the airport.
Tomorrow morning we will disembark Seven Seas Explorer and fly home from Lisbon, Portugal, to Dallas, Texas. Soon, we will be posting a complete review of the ship, crew and destination.
