- [Rachel] I've never seen a dolphin up here, have you?

- [Brian] Uh Yeah.

- [Rachel] You have?

Where have you seen a dolphin?

On the the Whidbey run.

- [Rachel] Wanna do a puzzle?

- [Brian] Yeah.

- [Loudspeaker] Welcome to the Washington State Ferries.

- [VO] When I see a cruise ship in a Seattle port getting ready to take thousands of people to Alaska, I'm not thinking of adventure.

I'm wondering how are they going to feed all those people?

I'm Rachel Belle Host of Your Last Meal podcast, cookbook author and long time journalist.

From lunch aboard a Washington state ferry to a behind the scenes look at how a cruise ship galley runs.

This is the Nosh at Sea.

Maybe it's the thrill of novelty, but I love to eat on a plane, No matter what the food is like, a train or a ferry.

My friend Brian and I have taken dozens of ferry rides together, but we've never sat down for a meal.

I'm so excited.

I want to eat everything.

I never get to eat here.

- [Brian] I mean, I want a corndog.

- [Rachel] You want a corn dog?

- [Brian] Yeah.

- [Rachel] Ok My mouth just started watering.

Frickin love a grilled cheese.

- [Brian] I didn't know they had grilled cheese.

- [Rachel] I didn't either.

- [Rachel] Do you want to share a chowder?

Oh, you're going to get, oyster crackers?

Yes.

- [Rachel] Should we get some popcorn?

- Sure.

- You know what?

We really have to sustain ourselves for this journey.

- [Loudspeaker] As we work together to ensure our ride today is safe and enjoyable... - Cheers.

- Cheers.

Which beige item should we try first?

- [Brian] I'm going in on the corn dog.

A gourmet corn dog.

This is one of my favorite state fair foods.

- Well?

- Mmm!

- Wanna try that chowder?

- Mhm.

- [Rachel] This is probably the most classic of ferry foods in my mind just because it's Ivar's.

And you know, you're eating fish on a boat.

It's very smoky.

Have you ever dipped a corndog in a chowder?

No But it sounds like you're about to.

I want to try it.

- Mmm.

Mhm - Oh okay.

This tastes like the kind of grilled cheese I would have when I was a little kid.

This tastes like a grilled cheese I would have had like last month.

I love this stuff, yeah.

It's kind of fun to have a meal on on the high seas.

Oh, yeah.

We are on the high seas.

- [VO] When a cruise ship returns from Alaska The crew only has a few hours to freshen up the rooms for the next 2200 guests.

And restock all the food before the ship heads back to Alaska.

And a lot of the produce, meat, fish, wine, dairy and spirits comes from local Washington producers.

Welcome on board the Eurodam Thank you.This is my first time ever on a cruise ship.

Oh my gosh, well you're in for such a treat today.

I have always wondered how you feed thousands of people on a ship.

So I am very excited to see the galley.

Okay.

Let's go.

So how many people total are you feeding on the ship?

So, 2200 guests.

And then we have about 850 crew.

So we're talking about over three thousand people on board.

Day and night, 24/7.

There's no off days on a cruise ship.

This is the pastry team here already getting to work for lunch.

Pastries that we're gonna be putting out for the guests that are coming on in the next hour.

2500 eggs a day.

500 pounds of flour a day.

So you're feeding 2200 people a day.

How do you do that, physically?

I don't understand how that happens.

Like how many people are cooking in the galley?

It's wild.

You think about the galley that we're in right now?

In the space.

So the chef has an amazing team of 124, and it's a 24 hour operation.

I mean, the bakery and the pastry, 24 hours a day.

We are making pastries, baking the breads, whatever needs to be done for breakfast, lunch, dinner, you name it.

But you think about about 2200 people eating 11,000 meals.

It's, I just, it's crazy.

- [Marisa] So it's summer, of course peak season.

We're loading those fresh Washington berries, which we're really proud of.

We've got our donuts with a white chocolate ganache.

- Should we dip some donuts?

- Yeah, Absolutely.

- [Rachel] Do you do the whole thing?

- [Marisa] That looks perfect.

- [Rachel] Okay.

- [Marisa] No.

That looks... - [Rachel]Do you want to do one?

Because it's very fun.

I'm a little rusty, so don't judge.

- [Rachel] Woah, oh I'm judging.

- [Marisa] There she goes.

I'm judging.

Mmm.

So good.

- [Marisa] We have our Dutch apple pie which is a signature dish.

- [Rachel] And these are all Washington apples?

Yes.

So Washington Golden Delicious apples that were loaded from Charlie's Produce today.

- [Rachel] Pie for breakfast.

Let me put the creme anglaise.

It's so warm.

So he's just finishing up our smoked salmon deviled eggs.

If you want to try one.

- [Rachel] Can I have one?

- Yeah, yeah go for it.

- Ok.

Thank you.

This is so fun.

Just walk and taste.

So this is our roast pork leg that's going to be going to our roasting station in Lido Market.

- [Rachel] This is Flintstonian.

These are witches cauldrons.

We've got soups and sauces being made for the day.

Want to give this a stir?

This is our French onion.

- Oh, with with the shovel.

- With the shovel.

That smells really good.

That's 600 portions for tonight for dinner service.

- Wow!

- [VO] Now it's time for all th- at food to move from the galley to the buffet.

Hungry guests are welcome to start eating the moment they board the ship.

The buffet covers many cuisines, everything from sandwiches to Bolognese to sushi.

But for those looking for a less chaotic dining experience, the ship has several sit down restaurants with handcrafted cocktails and plated fine dining featuring sustainable seafood picked up along the route to Alaska.

- [Marisa] Okay, so I'm really excited for you to try our Glacial Ice program.

We're going to bring you one of our signatures.

It's the Pacific Northwest Penicillin, a little bit ginger, honey, and then that float of whiskey on top.

Okay.

Oh, here it comes.

So this is actually from an Alaskan glacier.

This is from an Alaskan glacier.

How does this work?

So we work with someone that's licensed to be able to pick up the pieces that have already broken off the glaciers in Alaska, fish them out, and they get to have the ability to bring it on board and serve it as ice.

How cool is that?

Mmm.

Very glacial.

Nice and cold, I hope.

Ooo, our next course is here.

- [Marisa] This is grilled halibut with a Thai red curry sauce.

Halibut is such a mild fish.

I feel like you have to really do a lot of zhuzhing l ike, it's very good texture, but it needs more flavor.

And this has so much flavor.

- Absolutely.

And with the sauce and also like I appreciate a grilled lemon.

I love that extra little smoky flavor that it gives.

Living in Seattle you just always see the cruise ships.

So getting to come on and actually see what a complicated operation it is and the guests don't see that at all.

Like they just see the food and the beauty of the room and their beds are made up.

So it's been really interesting to kind of see like the underbelly of how the cruise works.

You know, I love eating in an Ikea.

Watch out for this ghost.

Oh, my God!

We should do that again.

- [Producer] Maybe put it back in.

Okay.

And then not run into the ghost.