9/21–Azamara Quest White Night

Tonight – Saguenay – is White Night. This is a “special” night on each  Azamara cruise where they transform the pool deck into a dining venue, replete with tables, white table clothes and glassware.  There is a huge seafood (in this case) buffet and all the senior officers are there to help out – serving, cooking, carving, etc.  People on Cruise Critic wax poetic about it – and they go overboard for the Conga line.  Conga line?  Really?  We won’t tell you our thoughts!

Let’s just say that we were really ambivalent about going.  As we walked toward the ship from the pier, we could see everyone up on the pool deck already – which added to our wavering – would we even find a seat?  In the end, we decided to give it a try.  We quickly changed into something white – me my white 3/4 sleeve shirt with black pants, Ed his white (actually ecru!) striped long sleeve shirt and pants.  We found a table at the very back of the pool deck – near the smoking section, but out of the way of everything else – and settled in.

And it was a good decision.  There was music – some guy we’d never seen before – and never saw again – playing guitar and singing. Endless flowing beer and wine. And the food!  Oh my gosh – it was amazing!  Grilled lobster tails, grilled lamb chops, the herb crusted cod, a carving station with roast beef cooked perfectly, every type of vegetable you could ever want, crab claws, stone crab claws, shrimp – cold with cocktail sauce, grilled on skewers or tempura battered - breads (including this awesome looking focaccia bread that ended up being blue cheese – ick!), cheese galore – and for us at least – the piece de resistance was a whole salt encrusted halibut.  Probably the best thing we’ve had to eat in ages. 

It was sinful. And oh so incredibly good!  It turned out to be a wonderful evening – including the conga line, in which of course we did not participate. There was also a parade of staff with all the country flags, which was nice, and then just the music and the atmosphere.  We totally lucked out with the weather. Up until today, we’d had cold, foggy, cloudy or rainy weather – but tonight it was clear skies and lovely temperatures.  Perfect for a white night in Canada!