the company’s latest design ambitions and incorpo- rating the feedback they received from passengers on other vessels within the line. Marina is a mid-size ship by most standards but the biggest in the fleet, and the extra space has been creatively utilised to provide innumerable corners, alcoves, bars and retreats. The ambience is spacious and suitably soothing.
E
mbarking passengers step into a two-deck- high lobby with a winding staircase finished in Lalique crystal. The Canyon Ranch Spa
franchise occupies sumptuous quarters on Deck 14. There is a more than adequate library with innumer- able quiet reading spaces. The vessel also has a culinary centre, the only one of its kind at sea, under the direction of Chef Kathryn Kelly. An intimate and excellent coffee shop, Barista, has been ingeniously inserted into a small crescent space looking out on to the pool. But the star of the show is the food, exactly as Chairman Del Rio intended. When it came time to shoot some images for this article, I asked Garanger if he could provide six or eight dishes he felt would be emblematic of the culinary style. For the first time, he looked perplexed. Six or eight seemed difficult; they would not illustrate the breadth and scale of what is available. Garanger promptly delivered twenty-two dishes, each pre- pared a la minute and with astonishing finesse. Each looked exquisite, as the accompanying im- ages attest, but many also roll right off the tongue: Maine Lobster baked in its shell with Mustard Mushroom Cream Sauce; Pan-Seared Sea Bass Fillet with an Emulsion of Sorrento Lemons, Capers and Chardonnay; Perlita of French Caviar d’Aquitaine plated on Mother of Pearl; a Kobe Burger served with truffle Demi-Glace and Parmesan Foam; and a Lasagna al Cioccolato served with a Roasted Pistachio sauce.
Holding all this together, having so many people to supervise, as well as meeting the daily demands of your own creative standards, is a relentless task. To unwind, Garanger, who now lives in Spain, likes to run marathons to clear his head, or at the very least, get off the ship and jog along whatever prom- enade is available. He knows them all. Palma de Mallorca, where we are currently berthed, has a 3km waterfront and a flat path winding beneath shady palm trees. But Garanger isn’t there.
My last sight of him is as he disappears into an
elevator on board Marina, clipboard in one hand, mobile phone in the other, some new idea taking form in his head. He waves goodbye. “Come to Denia,” he calls out. “I’ll make you a paella!”
Autumn 2011 I WORLD OF CRUISING 65
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