QuattroRomeo

Random Ship Photos

Comment Cards- we couldn't find any cards specifically designed to use for appreciating staff members, so we used the general comment sheets from the Service desk. We filled out several and dropped them in the box near Guest Services throughout the cruise, as we usually do. We found several crew members to be really good and they helped to make our cruise more enjoyable. The comments definitely made it to the crew members within 24 hours or so, as we heard back from staff how much they appreciated it. So please fill out a comment or two while you are on board- it sure makes their day!!

Iditarod Talk in World Stage.

One daily program was delivered to the stateroom each night. Every day had mostly activities that were designed to get you to buy something. Not a surprise, but so many?? Monday's for example, had 19 activities listed with "Promotion" highlighted. Mercifully, no Park West Auctions.

The music walk venues'  musicians were mostly okay to good, but I found the sound mix to be off- the drums seemed to overpower the rest of the instruments and singers. 

The World Stage had a pretty impressive widescreen and it was a good venue for the talks that were held there. They had dancers some evenings with the screen show showing its own images in tandem. The dancers weren't our cup of tea, but they were certainly skilled dancers and many people seemed to enjoy them. 

Our one try at Tamarind was disappointing. Lovely decor, lots of staff, nice uniforms. But..first they brought us the wrong wine. Then I had the shrimp tempura- 3 shrimp in a cone-shaped serving dish. One of the shrimp was actually missing- just a shell-shaped tempura..The batter wasn't as light as it should have been, and there was just no flavour. DH had the satay sampler, which was good. His Mongolian lamb was not- very very tough. My crispy duck was not at all crispy, (soggy skin isn't too appetizing), the meat overcooked, and the udon noodles unremarkable. The sides- dungeness crab fried rice had no discernable crab and was otherwise very ordinary. The oyster and shiitake mushrooms in sake sauce - well, there were no oyster or shiitake mushrooms at all, they were button or cremini, in some kind of sauce, maybe oyster. The waitress tried to tell me that it was just supposed to be oyster sauce, not mushrooms..well, that was not the case; the menu reads "sake- braised oyster and shiitake mushrooms". All around not as described. At least the desserts were good..We were disappointed with the meal. The waitress didn't seem to know what to say when we described each issue as the meal progressed; she finally blurted out "well what about the service??" In the end she seemed to get it, and refunded the meal. We paid for the wine and cappucinos. 

After that we were a little gun-shy about trying the even more expensive specialty restaurants, so we stuck to our reliable Canaletto. We may have missed out on something great elsewhere, but at the time it seemed like the right decision!

Canaletto, shrimp daily special, lamb chops with chanterelles.

Specialty Restaurants

Canaletto- We ate supper here four times, and found that they have a good variety of dishes. The langoustine soup and minestrone soup were both very good, as were the antipasto and carpaccio. Osso bucco is DH's favourite and didn't disappoint- it is the daily special on Mondays. I tried the branzino, spaghetti alle vongole, shrimp daily special and osso bucco and enjoyed them all. DH had the lamb chops and found them a bit tough. (He encountered even tougher ones in Tamarind later, so maybe the the supply wasn't that great). He found the veal scallopine better. Desserts we tried were all good, but the favourite had to be the Sicilian marzipan cassata torte. Different and not too sweet. Affogato was very tasty, but small. The trio of gelato was also good. 

We were recognized by staff as repeat customers and developed a good rapport with the staff. Much to our surprise they didn't charge us for the third visit and thanked us for coming. We of course booked another night, and were able to get the Osso Bucco again, even though it wasn't the right day for that special. Great meal again. 

We ate most breakfasts at Lido. Could always find a seat, and the attendants were friendly. Usually grabbed some fruit and had some bacon and eggs from the station that makes eggs to order.

I like that most things are served to you rather than self serve, although it sometimes means moving from station to station and waiting in a different line each time. We had a couple of dinners here too, one was pretty good, another was bland. Staff were always good and a couple of them were very good. 

Our go-to place for lunch turned out to be New York Deli. It is a bit out of the way but worth finding. Loved the reuben sandwiches, salads and Central Park pizza. I asked about the breakfast sandwiches that were on the menu, and was told that since the startup, breakfast was not made there, except for on the Rotterdam. We enjoyed some conversation with good staff here. 

1 hour ago, oakridger said:

Those pictures in Ketchikan are beautiful!  You are so lucky to be there on a sunny day.  I am really enjoying your detailed review.  Thank you!

 

~Nancy

Thanks Nancy! We definitely lucked out on the weather.

23 hours ago, kentuckycruiser said:

We had Club Orange - great use of $350 to move from obstructed balcony to a VA. We also enjoyed the CO dining room. Fantastic service. I was glad the CO had nice views of the ocean, so long as your table was in the right place. I think the MDR is a hot mess for breakfast even pre-covid. We didn't set foot in the MDR except for one tea. I was glad the ship was at lower capacity, I think it would have been jam packed in the Lido and elsewhere if full.

I think you're right about the Lido. We didn't really take Club Orange into consideration; have to check into it!🍊

In Exploration Cafe Deck 12.

Grand Dutch Cafe. Midship Deck 3.

Grand Dutch Cafe

FOOD continued.

We had good coffees for the rest of the cruise from the Explorations Cafe and Dutch Cafe. Great service at both places. They remembered us and knew what we wanted.

Explorations, being a more confined space,  had miniature croissants, biscotti, and sometimes brownies. 

Grand Dutch cafe had a few sandwiches, pea soup, full-size croissants, muffins, cookies, cream puffs and terrific apple pie- not too sweet.

There was no charge for the food at either venue. 

Almond milk and soy milk were available, although Grand Dutch ran out of soy on the last day. 

Both cafes had stevia available (in small glass shakers).

Both had Tazo Teas.

And for you tea drinkers out there, MDR had PGTips and Lido had Bigelow.

lunch place

more shots away from the touristy areas

- DH pretending to pan for gold..

- random town shots

local colour of a different sort!..

Ketchikan

Some local colours. 

Last week on Koningsdam masks were required when getting on or off the ship. Otherwise, just recommended.

2 hours ago, ew101 said:

As an MDR breakfast fan I have a theory here.  So dinner is all set up and assigned by room and practiced.  There is a time tested staff hierarchy.   Breakfast (and lunch) seem to be a pick up team of random, mixed wait staff + managers.   So there is no built in teamwork- you get what you get.  There is no easy way for guests to report poor service- they are not at their assigned /tracked table.  If it is really bad talk to the Hotel or F&B Director.  

 

We were locked out of our room in a hotel recently.  The door lock/card reader batteries last 3-5 years and fail when they fail.  In our case the manager had a screw driver and replaced the battery.  This is an excellent case of technology that needs an upgrade.  Like a flashing light to warn of a low battery.  

EW you are absolutely right about the battery! I can't imagine that ours was the first to fail on the ship and pose such an inhospitable response..A warning light would help!

We had fond memories of the MDR; we also liked a nice leisurely breakfast in such an elegant room years ago. It was also fun to try things you wouldn't normally have at home! (I remember caviar as a  dinner appetizer, but that sure dates us). The room is still beautiful, but unfortunately the food we had wasn't very good. Maybe it will improve as time goes on. But we do like the variety of restaurants that have evolved.

first one is a silt covered glacier