The dining rooms

1910s: Leasing
During the first fifty years, the restaurant operations of S/S Blidösund were leased out. There were not many seats for guests, as part of the restaurant was a smoking lounge, there were no fixed seating times, and the food was simple with no set menu. The lease agreement for the restaurateur included providing the crew with three meals a day. The captain, first officer, and engineer ate in the restaurant’s dining rooms, while sailors and firemen had their meals in the lobby two flights down from the restaurant.

1950s: Simple Conditions
In the 1950s, a waitress could work without a salary and was expected to live off tips. Often, just one person handled serving all the guests. Orders were shouted down to the kitchen via a speaking tube, and food was sent up with a manually operated food lift. At that time, it was the upper-class travelers who enjoyed food and drink in the different dining rooms. In a lounge called the “Lobby,” two flights down, local archipelago residents could eat their own brought food, like salted pork or sandwiches. Eventually, pytt-i-panna (a Swedish hash) began to be served there, a great way to make use of leftover steamship steaks that were intended for the upper-class restaurant guests. Today, the Lobby is used as an extension of the restaurant operations

Today, the restaurant is an important part of the passengers’ experience onboard. The service staff is held to high standards of speed, efficiency, and friendly interaction. In the past, food orders were placed through a speaking tube between the galley and the pantry; today, orders are sent automatically via the restaurant register and arrive with an electric food lift, an improvement from the earlier manually operated lift