HE sceme was a cor-
mmner of the cruise ship’s
dining room and a chef,
isted by a reporter
‘om a New York news-
paper, had just made a
hrimp dish adding a
h of this and a pinch
ae that, and in my
front-row seat I could
ell from the aroma it
yas going to make a
licious lunch for our

mall group.

Then, from the back row,
other reporter piped up:
BOK, but how do you do that
pr.1,800 passengers?” The
ghef didn’t hesitate. “We use
bigger pan,” he said. He
ight have been joking about
¢ pan, bur the ships are def-
ly getting bigger. Galaxy,
mt nearly 78,000 tons, is one
bf the biggest and newest ves-
cls in the shiny flect of
Eelebrity Cruises. And
ithough the restaurant can
Beat 1,088 passengers on
ree ievels, complete with
eeping staircase, the food
id service matches that of a
p shoreside restaurant.
The reason is that when
hn Chandris of the Greek
ipping family founded
brity seven years ago he
icided to make good food
line’s trademark. As it
pened he was a customer
a Michelin three-star restau-
tin England, the Waterside
» where Michel Roux holds
ourt. Chandris hired Roux as
‘consultant to design the
ips’ menus, choose the
ies, help train restaurant
ff and visit che ships.
Add to that the selection

‘ENC}—Be an “Envico Boater”, Use
By a dropsticet when sanding, scrap-
@ ing or removing any antifoulant
from the hull, and correctly
dispose of the residue, Instead of
‘antifoulant, use regular hull paint
ae: and acoat of slick bottusn wax (some
axes also repel zebra mussels).
For mare information call
Canadian Power and Suit
Squadrons (CPS) at
1-888-CPS-BOAT,

THE 78,000 ton Galaxy tow-
ers over a pirate ship (far
soft) off Grand Cayman. The
Celebrity Cruises’ mega-ship

will do a roundtrip from

Vancouver to Alaska every

Friday from May 16.

of the best, freshest products,
service normally found in a
small restaurant and the

result is a dining experience
superior to all but the most
expensive, luxury cruise ships
where passengers pay more
than $1,000 a day. Celebrity
guests pay about the same as
passengers on vessels where

-Waiters bellow “Who ordered

the pasta?” and finding a
wine steward is like winning

rival a Toyota plant, superb
thalassotherapy pool and
treatment rooms where thera-
pists wrapped peaple in sea-
weed and otherwise pam-
pered them as they do in the
best clinics in the desert.
Anotker Celebrity hall-
mark is its focus on technolo-
gy. Every cabin has a big-
screen Sony TV and custom
interactive system that allows
passengers to choose movies,

‘ ... others used the spa with its
aerobics area, gym with machinery
to rival a Toyota plant.... ”

at bingo.

Galaxy has 14 wine stew-
ards wiiereas the last ship I
was on had none, the waiters
getting stuck with a job they
did not understand and could
not handle properly.

One advantage of a big
ship is that you can cat well
and work it off by pounding
around the deck, and on the
Galaxy 12 times "around the
top deck equals a mile. I did
this for an hour every evening
as the sun set into the
Carikbean Sea, but others
used the spa with its aerobics
area, gym with machinery to

Exclusive

Inside From *779
Outside From *919
Deluxe 71039

preview and book shore
excursions (no line-ups!) and
even gamble. Losses are limit-
ed to $300 and | heard of
one $2,500 winner.

Cabins are among the best
afloat, and 220 of them have
verandas, just the ticket for
sunbathing as you like it,
although the bridge does not
take kindly to calls asking for
a change in course to accom-
modate the angle of the sun.
Best place for me was the
stern deck where a book
could be read quiedy while a
band rewed up the party
crowd around the two spa-

nono
& Coastal Cruise

7 NIGHT PACKAGE

FROM S7 ere

~ Alfare to Reno ~ 4 nights accommodation
at the Sands Regency
~ J nights cruise aboard the Regal Princess
ransiers

| OREGON ADVENTURE TOURS

Photo submitted

cious pools. This is just aft of
the stern atrium and its slid-
ing roof and the ubiquitous
cafe which on this ship is the
best design yet for gracefully
handling a large number of
people.

Galaxy (and sistership
Horizon) will be based in
Vancouver this summer for a
season of Alaska cruises and
breaking a few records along
the way: largest ship ro transit
the Panama Canal, to visit
Vancouver and to ply the
Alaska trade.

Galaxy will do a roundip
from Vancouver every Friday
from May 16, which is of
course ideal for locals who
simply have to take a taxi to
Canada Place. Horizon does a
mixture of roundtrips as well
as one-ways to and from
Seward allowing for time
exploring Alaska before or
after your cruise.

Finally, [have to say chat
the Galaxy is the smoothest
ship'on the high seas. In a
week in the Caribbean the
only time the ship rolled was
after happy hour. The dining
room had a faint but joyous
seagoing rumble that came
cither from the 42,000 hp of
four diesel-clectric engines, or
from those big shrimp pans in
the galley.

§ Prime Travel

| 925-2677

Sunday, March 9, 1997 — North Shore News — 29

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