Cafeteria

The kitchen on the ship is called a galley. The Polar Explorer’s original galley now houses the cafeteria.

Of the various jobs on ships, one of the most important and often neglected professions is that of ship’s cook. Deckhands are sailors who perform manual labour like cleaning and serving meals to passengers, but the responsibility of making those meals falls on the shoulders of the ship’s cook.

Cooking on board is very unlike cooking ashore. There are few major differences: What’s on Board is What You’ve Got–there are no supplies available at sea; Then, there’s the limited space, cooking from scratch, motion of the boat, limited fresh water, limited equipment and the same “customers” every day, a few times a day.

However, the vessel has water-making equipment that produces up to 5 cubic meters of freshwater per day. That’s very essential for long voyages.

It needs to be noted that ship galley jobs pay very well and that’s a major attraction to being a ship’s cook. In addition to this, the job offers a very high level of exposure not just to various destinations but also to a variety of international dishes and cuisines.

There are sitting areas on two decks. The galley is on deck number 4 -over the main deck and under the front deck. Another sitting area is available downstairs on deck 3, at the same level as the main deck.

On deck 3 you’ll find a room that used to be the ship’s hospital, but now it’s used as info point and the icebreaker souvenir shop. Because they spend months at sea, all ships have to have an isolation area for sick crew members to avoid spreading an infection. In the past, this hospital room was equipped with 2 beds, and closets with medicines and first aid items.

Doctors were not always available at sea, but ships’ crews are trained in rescue operations and first aid.

The sitting area near the hospital was once a living area. It used to consist of 7 air-conditioned cabins for crew members, each cabin with its own toilet and shower and one bed. Now you can see there are still 2 cabins remaining for use by crew members who stay aboard the Polar Explorer all the time. Other cabins have been removed to create spacious areas for tourist passengers. There are another 6 double cabins on the upper decks for the Polar Explorer crew members.

To continue the tour please go via the main deck to station 4, the machine room, or take the stairs up to station 2, the front deck. Please watch your step as the deck and the steps might be slippery.