And now comes the breath-taking news that on Celebrity Cruise ships you can now get high tea. Yes, the silence is deafening, isn’t it? At least, where we live it is.
As I recall, we have had “high tea.” Once. It was in Victoria, British Columbia, capital of the province as well as all things British in Canada. It was in the Empress Hotel, which is even older than the Queen, and the only thing we found “high” about the “tea” was the “price.” Even the chairs were low. Tea and crumpets for what was an exorbitant piece of my paycheck, although just about anything would have been an exorbitant piece of my paycheck in those days.
To make matters even worse, most of the customers seemed to be what I would call stuffed shirts, and I didn’t have one of those in my closet. Or in my boudoir, either.
In fairness, the Celebrity folks are jazzing it up a little. They’re calling it “Champagne High Tea” and I can only imagine that means there will be some flutes around for those of us who aren’t musicians. They’re having live music (with the other flautists, obviously), and they’re enhancing the experience with savories and pastries and pastries and truffles and things that are high on calories but taste better. And if you aren’t British or care for high tea of any brand, they also have coffee that includes all the espresso-based options.
Champagne High Tea happens once on all the week-long cruises, twice on the longer ones, and on every company ship except the Xpedition, which kind of dances on its own waves, if you know what I mean, going back and forth to the Galagapos. The tab is $25 per person — see what I mean? — but when you throw in all the extras maybe it’s not such a bad deal after all.
It’s just not, well, my cup of tea.