TERRAIN SUPREME
Terrace is the upper level – and the same waiter is yours for the cruise.
Our server was Aries, and after two weeks we wanted to take him home. He noticed immediately that my husband Les was left-handed and after day one the cutlery was laid accordingly, which is more than I usually manage.
In fact, I did wonder if Aries was a mind-reader, because you only had to think “my wine needs topping up”, or, “I’m ready for that pudding”, and there he was at your elbow, proffering the very thing you’d only just realised you wanted.
This is the formal restaurant, open for breakfast and lunch too, where dinner is five courses with plenty of choice.
The View is a more informal restaurant for breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner, with a huge and varied buffet served at the counter. Being informal types (OK, slobs) with eclectic food tastes (OK, greedy), we came here for breakfast most days and for lunch on sea days.
But one of the stand-out things about Bolette is its two speciality restaurants, which have a very reasonable surcharge per person if you book in advance.
The first is Vasco, which makes excellent use of the talents of Fred Olsen’s Goan crew members. Our first dinner there included taster portions of four starters – curried mackerel balls, chilli squid, deep-fried spicy mushrooms and Sri Lankan sausage.
There was a bread basket that would feed a football team – puris, stuffed parathas, naans, chapatis and poppadoms – plus six dips. Hold back if you want to make it to dessert.
Our mains were melt-in-the-mouth xacuti chicken and pork vindaloo with rice and side dishes. It was all presented with flair and knowledge by a Goan native full of expert advice. The menu changes every three days, and you could eat here every night if you wanted to.
Another excellent option is Colours and Tastes, which offers Asian fusion food to die for. On one of our three visits we had pork sisig, a Filipino street food, and delicate, fragrant Chinese dumplings, followed by light, tender crispy beef and massaman curried lamb shank. Another night we had prawn and scallop ravioli in a chilli bisque followed by Korean beef rib with kimchi fried rice.
Every mouthful was delicious.
Some of it was familiar, but it was all tastier, lighter and less greasy than any version I’d tasted before.
After all those calories, we dragged ourselves up to the excellent gym a few times, where there was a programme of classes.
We also answered the siren call of the Atlantis Spa, where massage therapists pummel away your aches and pains. I tried the
Traditional Thai massage and the
Hot Stone Massage, both €98 for 75 blissful minutes.
Our last port of call was Madeira’s capital Funchal, where we joined a trip to the beautiful Monte Palace gardens… 17.3 acres of plants from all over the world. It is perched in hills behind the town, reached by cable car, in the grounds of an old hotel.
There is very little that won’t grow in Madeira’s climate and here exotic orchids and African cycads flourish beside Scottish heathers and English roses. Paths wind around lily ponds, through arches and past statues, a surprise around almost every corner.
Then it was back to Bolette for three days at sea, chatting to the staff who’d become our holiday family, savouring a drink while listening to live music in The Observatory bar.
No wonder the Future Cruise desk was one of the busiest spots on board.