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Holland America Line Introduces Fleetwide After-Dinner Chocolate Parade


LauraS
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We have enjoyed the surprise and the pleasure of the chocolate parade of delights! During the parade we've been in the Piano Bar, Ocean Bar and a lot of other lounges on the ship when delighted by the light or decadent choices offered by the wonderful white gloved staff! Special - yes! Whether you choose to partake or not - enjoy the moment....enjoy the parade!

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We had this event on our cruise on Koningsdam (Aug 27 - Sep 03, 2017) on the second formal evening, so evening 6, to be exact.

 

Very nice surprise, nothing huge, but: The waiters were coming around the bars at deck 2, serving small chocolate finger food like cupcakes, chocolate drinks, or lollipops.

I found it to be a neat event and a very nice gesture compared to many other cruise lines.

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We were on the Konningsdam the first two weeks of August and enjoyed the parade of chocolates very much. I tried a chocolate marshmallow and another small cup of chocolate and both were delicious. We were on the 2nd floor bar area at the time.

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I agree with you Chief. There are soooo many complainers. It amazes me. Do people live such charmed lives at home that only perfection (in their perception anyways) will do on vacation??

 

I totally agree. Let's all have fun---that's why we cruise !

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Could NEVER understand why people complain . Like in itself has a lot of ups & downs . Get used to it & ya all be better off for it

 

Can't wait for the new parade of sweet treats on our upcoming Oosterdam cruise Feb 25 2018 :D:D:D

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I’m doing a fourteen day cruise on the Eurodam in January. I’m looking forward to this.

 

 

I’ve been cruising with Holland America since 1996. They used to have a chocolate themed buffet called the Chocolate Extravaganza. It had many different chocolate desserts. I guess it was discontinued because it was wasteful. It’s gone the way of the gala buffet, magnificently decorated cakes, ice sculptures, and swan thingies.

 

 

I’m not complaining. Less waste means a lower cruise fare.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just got off Veendam. Last Gala night was when they had the parade. Waiters moved very fast. Casino and other public areas on deck 8 were covered. We were not in Crow's Nest so cannot comment on whether or not waters got up there. Pretty good variety of treats. About 15 or so waiters carried trays with goodies on them.

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Your shock is to be expected. Following the cruise lines as frequent forum participants do does seem to foster a tendency to look at everything with a jaded eye, to expect the worst, and to adopt a default negative response to everything. Eliminations and cost-cutting get excessive attention while the fact that cruise fares are less than they were twenty five years ago adjusted for inflation gets practically none. Mitigations, such as the increase in specialty restaurants, are regarded far too often in a negative light instead of as the mitigations that they are. And the default negative view feeds on itself, prompting us toward negative assessments while those who were not exposed to that default negative view tend towards more positive assessments for the same thing. It reminds me a bit of the (fake) Buddha quote, "Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional," the point being that we have so much control over the quality of our vacation experiences by how we choose to regard the inevitable realities. And I'm not immune. After a decade, my instinctive reaction to seeing some great news like this is to expect that some others will see only the thorn on the rose.

 

 

 

That being said, I'm actually looking forward to this. It'll prompt me to go a but further afield choosing dessert (peach crisp, blackberry and bourbon cobbler, strawberry Charlotte, etc.) knowing that my chocolate addiction will still be served.

 

 

 

It is extremely sad to me that anyone complains about anything on a HAL cruise. Why waste a second? If you don’t like a food, don’t eat it. If you do, take two. And, as for gratitude, I just keep thinking how lucky my husband and I am that we can afford to cruise. So many people want to but cannot. I try to remember them every cruise. Next March we are taking our two sons, two daughters in law and four grand-children on a cruise to celebrate our 50th, plus 9 others are coming. I plan to smile and enjoy every single minute of it-dry cupcakes will be ignored

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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We experienced the Chocolate Parade twice on the Nieuw Amsterdam (just got off on Saturday!) ... it was very nice ... but too many of the goodies had nuts in, on, or around them ... oh well ... Mr Chew & our friends sampled one of each of the treats, and I had 3 or 4 of just one! Yummy!

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We experienced the Chocolate Parade twice on the Nieuw Amsterdam (just got off on Saturday!) ... it was very nice ... but too many of the goodies had nuts in, on, or around them ... oh well ... Mr Chew & our friends sampled one of each of the treats, and I had 3 or 4 of just one! Yummy!

 

Thanks for reporting in! 2 more weeks to go, yum :D

 

dh

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I too got off the NA last Saturday. It was a wonderful cruise. For our last chocolate parade my mom and I went holding plates. We sure got teased but hay we were able to get back to our cabins with unsquished chocolates. They could organize the parade a little better but no matter what the chocolate was great.

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It is extremely sad to me that anyone complains about anything on a HAL cruise. Why waste a second? If you don’t like a food, don’t eat it. If you do, take two. And, as for gratitude, I just keep thinking how lucky my husband and I am that we can afford to cruise. So many people want to but cannot. I try to remember them every cruise. Next March we are taking our two sons, two daughters in law and four grand-children on a cruise to celebrate our 50th, plus 9 others are coming. I plan to smile and enjoy every single minute of it-dry cupcakes will be ignored

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Well said, I totally agree. Bon Voyage.

Allan

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My sincere thanks to bUU and kenphy for the succinct, heartfelt and thought-provoking posts. We are cruising on the Eurodam May 2018. I think I have read so many posts on the ship, the food, the entertainment, the ports that I am cross-eyed. Even everything about what to pack, what not to pack, and the list goes on. It is amazing how the Reviews and Boards are exactly as you have discussed, yet one doesn't like the MDR, the next person does!

 

I'm not sure the reasoning of sharing the negativity to the degree that people do, or at all? Really? As kenphy stated, we know how others dream of a cruise, but may never get to cruise. A good example of being thankful.

 

I guess, I would say to the folks that didn't like it, then don't go on another cruise! Find another trip you can do, then come back and complain about that one. Oh, I'm sorry! Was that negative? I'll shut-up now. (I think My DH would say, yeah, right, that would never happen!)

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Speak for yourself! Yes I NEED MORE CHOCOLATE ALWAYS!!!!

Just back from a Canada/New England 14 day cruise on the Maasdam and while we were looking forward to the Chocolate Parade, I can't say it was a big event for us after all. Kudos to HAL for implementing it, BUT do we all really need MORE chocolate (or food) on a cruise. We were so well fed... and overfed with wonderful desserts and free anytime nibbles in the Exploration Café... that we really didn't need the chocolate concoctions, especially that late at night.

 

The only real negative I noted with the event was our fellow passengers. As soon as the crew members came out with the sweets, hundreds of passengers (I think everyone on the cruise was waiting on deck 6) descended on them like hungry seagulls. There was jockeying for position and I'm sure many a crew member feared for their lives. It was a sad example of Western World greed.

 

Having said that, the goodies were tasty (even the cupcakes) and the "entertainment" of the event the HAL provided was fun.

 

I didn't attend on the second event, but rather was content with being overstuffed by dinner.

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