If I was spending big bucks to rent a yacht, I'd not only want my meals served at my preferred time, I'd want to be able to say "I'll have eggs benedict today", and not just eat whatever Ben fixes.
Well, within reason, I think. The reason they give a preference list is partly so they can shop and have food to make you onboard. If they didn't and you show up and say "oh hey, Captain Crunch sounds good today" and you didn't specify that you might want Captain Crunch, you're SOL because they're not going to be able to get it for you on the water.
Plus, if you pause and read through what they show of the preference sheets, there's a range of preferences. Some guests are say they like whatever, but they have an allergy to shellfish, so no shellfish. Some guests (like this week's) are much more specific - they say they like grilled shrimp ONLY and seafood and don't want anything else, so tuna one night, swordfish the next, and clams or whatever. I think it depends more on the guest and I get the impression Ben mostly does what he's told, but I figured the way it worked was he'd pitch an idea or take a suggestion from the preference list and go with it, sort of like your mom cooking dinner. I don't think Ben's there to be a short order cook, but rather to make it feel like that's what you wanted before you knew you wanted it - based on your preferences, of course.
That said, how do we know that the preference lists are also not producer driven? Not that a producer sits there and says "you want dinner promptly at 8:30 - *hint*hint*" while elbowing them, but I have no doubt that when a guest is chosen for the show and they get all of this explained to them one of the points is "you can be as specific as you want. *wink* this is high class. *nudge* you are the king of this charter" and those with already existing egos run further than the ones without.
If I were Ben I would have packed up breakfast at 9:30 sharp (and probably fed it to my coworkers) and told the primary that he was sorry and per the discussion they had last night he was strictly adhering to their scheduled preferences. (Again, if you pause and read his preference sheet, it specifies that breakfast is not to be served after 10:30.)
I would have served those two girls that were up before everyone else, though. Did they have to wait for the primary to show up so they could eat? If so, that's ridiculous!
Edited September 7, 2014 by McMandancG1vNJzZmien6fCrr%2BNqamipZWptq6x0WeaqKVfqbyxtcJoaG1oaWV6tHyRnmdtZZOdrrPAxKtkoK2VqMFuv86uo6aZpJp8sa3GnmZrZw%3D%3D