Dining on a River Cruise

What's a typical evening onboard a river cruise like? 

When we last left our exploration of a river cruise, in River Cruise Anatomy - Safety First,  we'd had our safety briefing, welcome cocktail party, and port talk from the Cruise Director.  It's now time for our first meal onboard the vessel.  We'll use our Avalon Waterways Rhine & Moselle river cruise for real examples throughout this mini-series.

click images to enlarge - more pics in albums

Dining on a River Cruise

Dining on a river cruise is very similar to the large cruise ship experience, but on a smaller scale.  

Each evening the menu will offer starters, appetizers, main courses, and desserts that are unique, as well as selections that are always available.

On Avalon, several wine and beer selections are also offered - some for free, and others at reduced pricing. Most other lines are similar.

Our Dinner Selections

• Lamb's Lettuce with Potato-Bacon Dressing
• "Zuricher Geschnetzeltes" Pan fried strips of Veal Loin in Creamy Mushroom Sauce served with Rosti Potatoes
• Classic Vanilla Custard with Berries
• Freshly Sliced Fruit

View the rest of the menu in our photo album: Artistry 2 - Embarkation Dinner

Dining Room with a View

Dining on an Avalon river cruise is open seating.  There were several different size tables for you to select from.   Pictured here was a typical table for six. 

You'll notice the large picture windows in the background.   We had a front row seat for all the action as our ship entered one of the 35 locks we'd traverse during the cruise.  If you look at the rest of the pictures in our photo album, you'll see that we were lowered quite a few feet before our ship exited the lock.  Also, the sun was setting making for an enjoyable backdrop.

The evening isn't over - stay tuned to see what's next.

 

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Crown Princess Welcome Dinner

Welcome Aboard Dinner

click on images to enlarge

Our early seating dinner was scheduled for 5:45 PM in the Botticelli Dining Room on deck 6 aft. Due to the safety drill, we were running behind schedule.  A waiter escorted us to our assigned table (#39) for two, at the rear of the dining room.  There were a few more tables of two near us, as well as one larger table which was occupied by an extended family group. It was in a nice location, near a window, so we were content.

As usual, the assistant waiter helped seat us, gave us our menus, put the napkins on our laps and took our drink order.  We like ice tea with our meal and regular water.   This would be the last time we'd have to tell them since from then on, they remembered and had it waiting for us shortly after we were seated every night.  This is one of the things we love about traditional dining.

Tonight's Choices

Dining on a Princess cruise ship is equivalent to fine dining at home.  The daily menu consists of Starters, Soups & Salads, Signature Patas, Mains, Featured Beverages, and always available Princess Favorites.  Typically you select an item from Starters or Princess Favorites, a soup and /or salad and a Main entree.   It is possible to select one of the pasta as one of your starter choices as well.   Desserts are presented in a separate menu at the conclusion of the meal.  You can purchase alcoholic beverages and wines from your wait staff if desired.  There also was a nice selection of rolls and bread sticks on the table to complement your meal.

Our Selections included:  Crispy Hand-Rolled Vegetable Spring Rolls (peanut dip), Frozen Rum-Infused Pina Colada Soup (chilled), and Roasted Pork with Apricot Glaze (for me) Slow-Roasted Corn-Fed Prime Rib (husband).  See the menu for complete details and alternate choices.

We picked two different desserts as well:  Milky Chocolate-Hazelnut Souffle and French Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee.

More Pictures:  Welcome Dinner

Additional photos can be found on our South America Shutterfly page

View Our Other Shutterfly Share Pages

Note:  we will be adding to these albums as we continue our journey.

Click on the image to the right for more Blog posts about this trip.




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