NEW YORK — When you come to New York, fast becoming a popular port for cruise ships to hang their shingles or drop their anchors, you go to Broadway and see a show. It's just one of those things you do, so it was one of those things we did. We went to the corner of Broadway and 51st Street…and did we see a show!
This was the night after Royal Caribbean's introduction of its new ship, Quantum of the Seas. It wasn't a Broadway show in the traditional or conventional sense, because what 
you'll find at the corner of 51st is a diner. Specifically, the Ellen's Stardust Diner. We stumbled across it quite by accident, while searching for a late-evening meal that wasn't at a restaurant reviewed by Bon Appetit.
The menu looked appealing — that means lots of variety and unlikely to consume next month's mortgage payment — so in we went. The first thing we noticed was that it was loud and a young woman whose voice could break a wine glass was hitting the high notes as we were being seated.
Then another server sang. And another. And on into the night. We asked ours (he goes by Slick) if all the servers sang.
"Everyone," he said.
The diner is staffed with young people who come from all over the country and who don't want to work there, because where they want to work is on Broadway. Not the street, the district. They probably work for minimum wage, hoping that one of their customers is a talent scout, or a theatre manager, or a performer who isn't afraid of competition.
They sing everything from Let's Dance (Donna Summer) to Runaway (Del Shannon) to Dancing Queen (Abba) to Phantom of the Opera. It may be self-effacing, but they call it the "best free show on Broadway."
Once per meal, it seems, the waiters pass the bucket for tips, which they explain are pooled so that at the end of each week there's enough to pay for one singing or acting 
lesson, per person. It's either a wonderful idea or a good shtick to top up the tip jar, but either way the show they put on is worth an extra five bucks in the kitty.
Standing outside the diner, post-dinner, we were approached by a passerby who asked if we were going into a place where he'd taken his children and grandchildren. We asked if anybody ever made it to the big stage from serving tables and he said it was tough, but a few had probably made the step and that, in the end, it was good for them anyway.
It is, after all, on Broadway.
Carnival Sensation
4 nights
May 19, 2013
Port Canaveral (return): Freeport, Nassau
Inside: $189
Cost per day: $47
www.carnival.com