Afternoon Tea - social event on cruise ships

Cruise Travel, Sept, 2000 by Georgina Cruz

"Down To The Sea In Sips" Is An Old World Cruise Tradition That Has Endured

"May I please you with a cookie?" Sabine, a European-trained, white-gloved waitress, smilingly presented a fine silver tray filled with assorted sweets displayed in neat rows.

"Hmmm, I feel like a princess," a 40-something blonde from Boca Raton, Florida, replied, while trying to decide between blackberry tarts, scones, strawberry tartlets, almond cookies, and other goodies.

A harpist played classical music on a golden instrument. More than a dozen white-gloved waiters and waitresses poured a variety of teas and coffees. And passengers sat back and relaxed in the opulent Midnight Sun Lounge with views of indigo waters. Welcome to elegant teatime on Seabourn Cruise Line's Seabourn Sun.

Afternoon tea, a cherished tradition at sea, is very popular on the Seabourn Sun, with an average of 300 passengers attending each day, said Dario Miranda, the ship's food & beverage manager. "It is a social occasion. Guests love to gather in one of our lounges, meet new friends, talk about their day."

Some afternoons, tea is presented buffet-style--a lovely spread that features a variety of finger sandwiches, pastries and cookies, sugar-free cakes, and fruit salad--with waiters going from table to table pouring tea or coffee for guests and offering refills. Other days, elegant tea is served butler-style with waiters bearing trays of finger sandwiches--including salmon, egg salad, ham and cheese mini-croissants, and other varieties--and an assortment of sweets, plus scones with clotted cream and jam. Great sustenance after exploring the ports--the perfect snack to tide you over until dinnertime, particularly if you like to dine late.

"Sometimes we feature special themes: Viennese Tea [including Sachertorte, of course], Madame Pompadour [with French pastries], and Chocoholic [with all manner of chocolate delights]," Miranda said. "Guests love themes."

They also enjoy the entertainment--a piano player alternates with a harpist during some teatimes, said Jill Galt, the Seabourn Sun's cruise director. And occasionally, a fruit carving or marzipan demonstration, or a musical video such as the "Three Tenors In Concert," is also presented during the teas. "Many of our guests view tea as an alternative to evening entertainment," Galt said. "After long days in port, many like to call it an evening after dinner and retire to their staterooms with a video or a good book."

Ah, yes, unlike mid-morning bouillon--which has vanished from many a line's roster of treats--the tradition of afternoon tea is alive and well at sea. Most cruise lines offer it in some form--from informal buffet-style snacks (some extremely casual, with cold cuts, fruit salad, and the like consumed on paper plates, and coffee or tea in plastic or styrofoam cups) to elegant, lavish, British-style teas (the phrase "high tea," properly used, means a meal) with cucumber sandwiches, scones, clotted cream, and jam served as in the finest land-based resorts, featuring fine bone china, gleaming silver, and crisp table linens. On some lines, there are even "themed" teas with bountiful spreads and wait staff and musicians in period costumes, like in the case of Crystal Cruises' "Mozart Tea Time."

Here is a line-by-line summary of teatime offerings available during a typical cruise.

American Hawaii Cruises--Tea is served every afternoon aboard the moderately priced Independence in the Constitution Lounge, a pleasant piano bar with big windows, potted ficus trees, and memorabilia of the line's former ship Constitution. It includes a delicious taste of the islands. Waiters pour the tea for guests, and a variety of "pu pus" (Hawaiian hors d'oeuvres) are set up on a table for self-service.

Carnival Cruise Lines--A traditional afternoon tea is offered, usually between 3:30 and 4:30 p.m., whenever this mass-market line's ships are at sea. The location varies from ship to ship, with many of the teas taking place in the vessels' piano bars; on the Carnival Triumph, for instance, it's in the classy Oxford Bar. Wait staff serves such treats as fruit tartlets, cheese puff pastries, cookies, and cheese crumble, as well as a selection of tea (including herbal) and coffee.

Celebrity Cruises--While sailing aboard the Century in the Mediterranean in May of 1999, every afternoon around 4:30 p.m. a gentle knock was heard on our veranda suite door. Our gracious butler, James, was there to tempt us with a trolley filled with delicious pastries, cookies, finger sandwiches, tea, and coffee, which we invariably chose to enjoy al fresco on our terrace. This moderately priced--but a premium product--line also features casual afternoon tea in its informal cafes. Served buffet-style, it offers pastries, cookies, finger sandwiches, frozen yogurt, and a variety of tea and coffee from 4 to 5 p.m. Once during each sailing an elegant tea is presented in one of the lounges or the formal restaurant with white-gloved waiter service. Tea boxes are presented in rolling trolleys, along with finger sandwiches and freshly baked, delectable pastries. A quartet generally plays classical music.