American Pride Dining

Like so much else on American Pride, food is a slice of American life, particularly life in the south. Menu items include things like buttermilk pancakes, Louisiana Oysters Rockefeller, Creole braised breast of chicken, Door County fish broil, Gulf Shrimp bisque and bourbon pecan pie.

All meals are served in the dining room on Deck 1, with the exception of breakfast, which can be delivered to your cabin if you put your order form on your doorknob the night before.

Breakfast is usually 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., unless there's an early morning tour. Lunch service begins at 12:30 p.m. and typically runs to 1:30 p.m., and dinner begins at 6:30 p.m. and winds up around 7:30 p.m. It's all open seating.

Lunch and dinner must be ordered at breakfast time. Typically, you get a choice of two entrees for lunch and three for dinner, with at least one lighter choice to counter the somewhat heavier Southern cooking. Given the demographic of the ship, all dietary needs can be accommodated. And, if you don't like what's on the menu for the day, you can ask for something different -- though you need to give the chef a day's notice. (The next day's menu is always posted the night before.) We're finicky, so this was a lifesaver for us, though on days the chef somehow didn't get our requests, we ended up eating a lot of salad.

There are also always two dessert cake or pie options, as well as a selection of ice creams and sherbets.

Sweets are available throughout the day. Warm cookies are served up in the Magnolia Lounge starting at 10 a.m., a light tea with pastries is served at 3:30 p.m., and ice cream sundaes and root beer floats are passed around during the evening entertainment.

A free cocktail hour with hors d'oeuvres is served at 5:30 p.m., as well.

Beer and wine are provided free during lunch and dinner, while soda and water are available on a complimentary basis all day long in one of the lounges, as well as during meal service.