Last Glory Dinner

It was Sunday night, our long weekend trip was ending and we were almost back to NYC. It was time for our last dinner on the Glory! A got a few appetizers, one entree and a dessert. M wanted to construct a meal with a few appetizers for each course, which didn't work out so well, since they just brought all the appetizers a few at a time with no break, and then an entree (more on that later).

We both started with the crab cake, which was to be served with roasted red pepper sauce. Here's the crab cake that M got:


And here's the crab cake that A got:


Notice anything different? M wasn't sure why hers came with no sauce, since she hadn't asked for it that way. Maybe they gave her the wrong one. The crab cake was fine but nothing special. On a 5 scale, we both give this a 3.

We both also got the salad of "vine ripe beefsteak tomatoes and fresh buffalo mozzarella, marinated with basil leaves and virgin olive oil":


This was nice and light, but we've had better caprese salads before. This gets a 3.5 from M and a 3 from A.

We both also got the "study in sushi" (part of the didja ever section, although we didn't think sushi was that exotic):


According to the menu, the "study" came with "seared ahi tuna and Norwegian salmon tartar in spycy lemon sauce" (not sure what "spycy" means). What actually came was a piece of shrimp on a block of rice (M gave this to her grandmother), some salmon inside a cucumber slice and a small cube of seared tuna. It was ok, but nothing special. The sushi was, however, much better than the sushi from the sushi bar upstairs! We both give this a 2.5-3.

M also got a regular garden salad with balsamic vinaigrette, thinking this would be a light accompaniment to one of her appetizer courses:


It was boring and not really worth talking about, but there was nothing wrong with it. This gets a 3.

We both also got the "gratinated onion soup" baked with a slice of homemade bread, freshly grated gruyere and parmesan cheese:


Overall the soup was just okay. We were both a little surprised that the french onion soup was only offered on one day as every other cruise we've ever been on offered it daily. The soup itself was a little disappointing. The "toast" was basically just some bread plopped into the soup, and the normally full cheese topping was, as you can notice, just a small portion. The gruyere was never going to be as good as what we got in Geneva, so we kept our expectations low. We both give this a 3.

For the entree course, we both got the bourbon and honey glazed roasted spring chicken, which came with grilled zucchini and onions and pave potatoes:


The interesting thing about this was that M didn't actually want an entree. In addition to the 5 appetizers, she asked if she could get the grilled vegetables that came on the side of the chicken, trying to keep portion size small since she was trying to make a tapas-type meal. It didn't really work as they just brought out the whole plate since that was easier to do so she ended up eating some chicken anyway.

The chicken itself was moist and flavored well. The vegetables were tasty, and exactly what M was looking for. The potatoes were okay. A bit too creamy/heavy, but decent flavor. We both give this a 3.5.

For dessert, M stuck with mango sorbet:


This isn't on the menu so unfortunately you can't just order it for dinner. (We're not sure why it's not on the menu as it's healthier than ice cream and sherbet and we think plenty of people would order it, like they did on our last cruise.) But since some people in the family told them they couldn't eat dairy, they had just been given this as a dessert over the course of the cruise. We got smart and asked in advance (since apparently sorbet had to be requested in advance) if we could get more for other people in our group, and they brought out a bunch of sorbet dishes for dessert on our last day. So much better (in M's opinion, as A loves ice cream). M gives this a 3.5. A makes better sorbet, but this was still better than the sherbet usually offered! A gives this a 3 since he can make it better.

A got the baked alaska, something that always seems to turn up on cruises:


According to the menu, this was vanilla sponge with assorted ice cream and baked with meringue. Baked Alaska, as we both understand, is a giant ice cream cake covered in meringue and lit on fire. The fire "bakes" the dessert but keeps the ice cream nice and frozen. This, however, was not a baked Alaska. The cream does not compare at all to actual meringue, and the ice cream was melting by the time it got to A. Overall, this was very disappointing. A gives this a 2. M didn't try it at all.

That was the last real meal on the ship before it was time to pack up and get ready to go home. Not too bad but nothing really special either. M would have gladly switched this out for another Mexican meal. Next time, we may pay serious attention to the Indian offerings.