National Geographic Endeavour II Dining

With so much going on outside, meals serve as the bookends to the day's activities ashore. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are held in the main restaurant on Deck 1 -- an attractive, window-lined space all the way at the back of the ship.

Breakfast and lunch are served buffet-style, while dinner is usually a plated affair. Passengers sign up for their dinner entree choice during breakfast or lunch, using the sign-up sheet outside the main entrance. On one evening, a barbecue dinner is offered up on the Observation Deck, if conditions permit.

Buffets consist of a broad selection of hot and cold items, plus an action station serving up omelets at breakfast that turns into a carving station during lunch.

Food is flavorful and plentiful, with options that will appeal to North Americans, alongside Ecuadorian and South American specialties. At least one or two dishes per meal will feature these authentic regional specialties. Lunches feature a soup of the day, served to each table.

Dessert offerings change daily and focus on authentic Ecuadorian or South American delights. Try the heavenly "alfajores," fresh cookies with a gooey dulce de leche center.

One white and one red wine is available for purchase each evening, for about $8 per glass or roughly $30 for the bottle. Bottles not consumed over the course of the evening are marked with the room number of the purchasing passenger and trotted out at dinner the following night.

Allergies and dietary restrictions are taken very seriously. Gluten-free bread is always available, as are gluten-free and vegetarian meal options. Dietary restrictions noted at time of booking are catered to with precision; on our sailing, people with allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, avocados and lactose were well cared for.

Appetizers are served during the cocktail hour and briefing each evening in the ship's lounge, and light snacks (like Ecuadorian beef jerky packages) are available there during the daytime. While it might not tide you over, the Reception (or Working Desk, as Lindblad likes to call it) on Deck 2 has a small dish of Ecuadorian candies for those with a sweet tooth.