cruz chic

It will be applicable to everyone in the room. I think you can negotiate it downward with Hal.

Thanks for checking in. I hope things get better in terms of getting on and off the ship.

Great pics!

Beautiful pics. Thx for the latest installment:).

Thx for today's update.

Very nice pics. Thx.

Thanks so much Dave!

 

DH will be so happy.

 

Wonder if they still have the original dim sum lunch menu available for non sushi eaters?

 

So glad they are generating extra revenue and using the sushi bar...

 

Wonder if they will add it on the NA?...

 

Thanks for your awesome report!

Stay safe!

It would be nice if they had the regular menu at lunch. I love dinner but lunch is so so. I do not like sushi enough to pay for it. I'll be able to let you know first hand in mid October :D.

Ruth appreciates it. :D The prime rib, too. All of a sudden, I'm ready for supper.

Lorene likes it too:D. Guaranteed its going to be better then my dinner tonight. Thanks for the update Dave.

There will be a booklet when you get on the ship that describes the ports. It will also lists the dress code for every night. The daily on location will repeat this info daily. They will generally have a sign in front of the MDR to tell you the dress code for the evening.

Thankfully we are getting amazing summer weather. After the historic flooding in June it's great to feel some warmth. I hope the weather improves for everyone.

Lorene, you got autocorrected. :) That's a downright dangerous feature of the iPad. I remember looking at a collection of screen shots of autocorrections once and it was hilarious.

 

 

Just google "autocorrect fail"

I had to read the post 3 times to see what was wrong :D. Yes my fish was over cooked not over looked:D. That autocorrect drives me nuts but it does help on occasion since I can't spell properly.

Dave,

I think you missed out on the Grilled Halibut with Lemon Foam that night! We had this fish on our Baltic cruise and it was the best halibut I have ever tasted taste and I love good halibut. If I had not been so full that evening I would have ordered another entrée of it.

Rick, I had it on the O and found it very ordinary. The fish was overlooked and there were no potatoes or starch on the plate. That's just wrong:D.

Sun., Sept. 1, 2013, at sea (Cont.)

About midday, we passed a frontal zone from sun to cloud. Since then, the weather has gotten progressively suckier. It is raining, the seas have picked up, and the ship has closed the weather decks. It is not as rough as last night, but it is not a night to stroll the decks, either. We only hope that this passes and tomorrow in Reykjavik won’t be like this.

We lazed about for the rest of the afternoon, and then went to our early seating dinner. Here are the main and dessert menus:

I had the shrimp cocktail for starter, probably the most ordered dish on HAL. I did not take a photo because, hey, everybody has seen the shrimp cocktail. For the entrée, I considered the duck to make it a trifecta of weird birds (after the quail and the pheasant), but decided on the tenderloin and grilled shrimp. I didn’t take a photo because I forgot until I was half-way through (D’oh! Can’t shoot … eating).

I did remember to take a photo of dessert – the vanilla soufflé:

More later,

Dave

Love this update. Hilarious! Hope the weather improves. It sounds totally sucky.

Bitterballen are not like traditional meatballs. Here is a description from Wikipedia:

 

 

Bitterballen (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈbɪtərbɑlə(n)]) (plural of bitterbal) are a savoury Dutch meat-based snack, typically containing a mixture of beef or veal (minced or chopped), beef broth, butter, flour for thickening, parsley, salt and pepper, resulting in a thick ragout. Most recipes include nutmeg and there are also variations utilising curry powder or that add in finely chopped vegetables such as carrot. The ingredients are combined and cooked, then refrigerated for the mixture to firm up. Once firm, the filling is rolled into balls roughly 3 to 4 cm in diameter, then battered in a breadcrumb and egg mixture and deep-fried. They are typically served with a ramekin or small bowl of mustard for dipping. They are eaten in Suriname, the Netherlands Antilles, the Netherlands, Belgium, to some degree in Indonesia, and hardly anywhere else. The very similar but spicy cutlets of Sri Lanka can also be made with fish instead of meat.

Bitterballen are very similar to kroketten (plural of kroket) in their ingredients and preparation/cooking methods, as well as flavour, though the larger kroketten have a distinct oblong sausage shape, but with a similar diameter. The bitterbal derives its name from a generic word for certain types of herb-flavoured alcoholic beverages, called a bitter in Dutch, and are popularly served as part of a bittergarnituur, a selection of savoury snacks to go with drinks, at pubs or at receptions in the Netherlands.

 

 

Ted

Thx for the info. I appreciate it. They were served with mustard on the O.

Dave, thanks so much for all your effort on this blog. I really appreciate it and love reading it every day.

Wondering what are those bitterballen taste like ? They look fried ? Like falafel?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

I believe that they are a Dutch meatball but to me they don't taste that way. The have a gooey inside and they taste like melted cheese to me. I'm not doing them justice. They are fried. Sooooo yummy. I'm not a meatball fan so I was surprised to hear that is what they were.

Sat., Aug. 31, 2013 (Cont.)

The Captain said the weather would worsen this afternoon, but I think it has actually improved a bit. The wind seems to have let back a bit, and there is almost no spray. The seas are still strong with a long swell, though, and we are taking the occasional deep pitch. Quite relaxing for

Although I have not mentioned it, there have been hot hors d’oeuvres in the Ocean Bar in the afternoon. Today’s included bitterballen, so I took this photo for lorekauf (Lorene), and anyone else interested:

Also, a special photo for Boytjie. Peter, I saw an earlier thread where you and Copper John discussed these being available at Explorations Café:

I clearly need to re-do my photo strategy. I'll be back with more later,

Dave

Yum, I'm trying to pull those bitterballen off the screen. Thx for the pic. Your updates are great.

Thx for the update. Is that all you had to eat? A bowl of soup?

Sapper,

 

I asked Samantha, the Culinary Arts specialist, and she said it was a U.S. gallon.

 

Dave

I hope this means she'll have a nice pot of pea soup ready for me when I visit in Oct:D;):p.

Beautiful! Thanks for today's update.

Thx for the update. Love the pics.

Lorene,

 

Thanks. Sorry, I can't send bitterballen, but didn't you get some recently? I thought Penthouse cruisers got whatever they wanted! I read your reports from the Penthouse -- they helped with a cruise fix as we were counting down the final days to our cruise.

 

Dave

Yes, I got a "fix" twice at parties. I should have ordered them every night ;). I'm so jealous of you being on this cruise. Will be looking forward to every update. Thx so much for this live from.

I love reading your live from threads! I hope you and Mrs. Dave have a wonderful time. I'd love to do this itinerary. Could you send some of those bitterballen to me? I love them!

It's a very rare occasion that I know where someone's cabin is unless we happen to be sailing together. Reading on this forum you would think it was a hot issue onboard. It really isn't.

I agree.

Loved your review. Thanks so much.