May I have your attention please! T bone Steak for two from our favourite fine dining restaurant. As I started with the Chefs Table, let’s continue with the dining on this series of cruising blogs.

Why is this our favourite fall back, fine dining experience? Well has a lot to do with service, atmosphere, food quality, but, I think it also comes down to the fact, a visit here usually means we are indulging in a cruise break.

The service here goes above and beyond, to the point that if you treat yourself more than once on the same cruise, staff will remember you and your favourite drinks. The job of the staff is make you relax, and enjoy an meal which is not just a meal, but an entire experience in itself. Is it worth the cover charge per person? Well yes, we believe it is.

Every meal is going to commence with this delightful bread starter. You then choose, your appetiser, entree, main and desert.

Now I suggest you decide before boarding your cruise, if you have any important nights you wish to celebrate with a fine dining meal, or, any evenings you feel might be best for you to dine out. Make a Salt Grill booking when you board, either by dropping past the restaurant, or calling in your booking from your cabin. Be advised though, many people like to call through bookings upon boarding, we find it much quicker and easier to head to the restaurants direct to make our bookings. When you book, staff will enquire as to allergies of any patrons at your table. Be sure to advise as they are very careful to ensure those with allergies are looked after too.

Through the softly veiled windows, we were treated to superb horizon sunset. Order from the drinks menu, take your drinks in from the bar if you still have them in hand. We had preordered some packages which included a bottle of wine in the weeks prior to the cruise, hence myself arriving with the ice bucket and bottle in hand! No problem doing that either.

Tempura prawns and carpaccio pictured above. It’s really very difficult to describe the dishes as they are all simply superb. Upon ordering you will have been asked to order sides for your table. There’s quite a selection to choose from, don’t be shy! Order to ensure there are sides enough for everyone.We always say if the sides are for one or both of us. We don’t often share sides as we both have different preferences, hence advising the staff so we are not inundated with plates of sides.Dessert is always a nice finish to the your dining experience. If you can fit it in!

Another tip for this restaurant, let them know when booking if you want to take your time to dine. Staff are trying to accomodate many different bookings, you need to be fair to the staff and clear on your intentions.

We have referred a number of cruisers to Salt Grill, every one of them has always enjoyed and remarked on on the outstanding ambiance, food quality and service.

I’m hoping one day to run into Luke Mangan himself on one of the cruises. As a hint I hear he does tend to favour the shorter food & wine cruises. One day we hope to have the opportunity to personally thank Luke. We have probably dined more than a dozen different times now, and still the experience does not wear thin.

Well done to Luke and the staff. You all do a fantastic job!