Pit5 Music News Cache

Foot-weary and hungry after a long morning of viewing Vatican art, my grandson and I were in need of a sit-down lunch. Rome, of course, has many splendid restaurants, but there's an unwritten law that no good restaurant surfaces where you are looking for one. On and on we trudged until we finally stumbled on a pleasant Tuscan-like eatery -- only to find that it wouldn't open until dinner time.

I began thinking longingly of my last cruise, when dining was never more than a few hundred feet away, give or take a deck or two. If for no other reason, cruises are ideal for seniors because the eating is so easy on the feet.

But there is another bonus to cruise dining -- it's the camaraderie of the assigned table. I like to approach a table full of random strangers on our first night at sea, knowing that by the end of the voyage we'll be exchanging hugs and e-mail addresses.

On my last voyage on the QE2, I shared a table with a retired general and his wife, an expert on Pilates; a horse trainer, an artist, a couple of Brits and a couple of Aussies, all people I might never meet ashore. Although four formal nights were a bit hard on our limited wardrobes, my friend Dee and I found we enjoyed the old-fashion custom of dressing for dinner and seeing everyone else aglow in their finery (though Dee, recovering from a broken ankle, had to wear sneakers with her evening gowns.)

These days, however, cruise lines are outdoing themselves in their efforts to present restaurant-like alternatives to the traditional assigned-seating dining room. Princess Cruise Lines boasts of being first to introduce Personal Choice Dining and even suggests that "where should we eat?" may be the hardest decision to make on a Princess cruise, as though hard decisions were a good thing, instead of exactly what people like me take cruises to avoid.

In any case, aboard a Princess "Love Boat," you can dine anytime, quite like home, with your spouse or companion, at the Sterling Steakhouse, the Bayou Cafe, the Lido Cafe, the neighborhood Trattoria, a seafood grill, a sidewalk cafe at sea or maybe a half-dozen other buffets and cafes.

Carnival's newest superliners offer Total Choice Dining, described as an endless array of formal or casual options. On the city-size Carnival Liberty, for example, there's Harry's, a reservations-only supper club modeled after upscale steak houses ashore. There also are the poolside restaurant and buffets and food courts everywhere you turn.

On Holland American liners, which cater to an older crowd than Carnival's -- the average passenger is 60 -- you pay a small extra fee to dine in the Pinnacle Grill, the ultimate in elegant dining, according to spokeswoman Jerrol Golden. Apparently, for many seniors, however, the fixed-seating dining room with its multi-course meals is elegant enough. Few cruise lines have given that up. Holland American liners offer four sittings, and most vessels have at least early and late sittings for dinner, usually at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. Many passengers, of course, go for a more casual breakfast or lunch in the Lido Cafe.

But there is something to be said for having the same daily waiter, who by the end of the cruise will know your name and your tastes (and you will probably know his or her early history.) Since many seniors have dietary restrictions, the easiest course is to prearrange for special meals in the main dining room, whether it's vegan, low-sodium, no-sodium, low-msg, dairy-free, sugar-free or gluten-free. That's not to say mistakes aren't made. On a recent Royal Caribbean cruise, the waiter gave the no-sodium soup to the low-sodium man, leaving the no-sodium man with no soup. Such slipups are easily repaired, however, and usually result in increased bonding at the table.

If I were honeymooning, I might want a table for two, but honeymoons are far behind me now. I'll take a table for 10, please, with at least eight new faces who may soon be new friends.

Incidentally, my grandson and I did find a good restaurant in Rome. We ate well throughout the week, but we did not make any new acquaintances in either his generation or mine.