"Live from" ms Volendam to Alaska! My First HAL Experience

[lovely_serenity]

the dispenser at the drink station:

 

 

The strawberry rhubarb pie:

 

 

The brownies:

 

 

The little fruit cobblers:

 

 

and some more desserts from the dessert area:

 

 

After finishing up, we all went to the Explorer's Café to hang out. Here's a shot of Mom's Cranberry-Apple Tea she drank often (from the Lido drink station). It was pretty nice!

 

[lovely_serenity]

As Dad went to go see if the Ship's Photographers were at the Gallery (to ask them for help in fixing my camera's problem of automatically cutting my video off) and Mom chilled on the couch with her tea, Bro & Sis started playing chess together:

 

 

Here is also a shot of the computer stations to my left.

 

 

and the Café connected to the area. There's a metal casing I got the food from. The lady actually refused me the second time I asked for food! She said that if I wanted more, I'd have to buy a drink :(

 

 

After hanging out for a while, we went back to the room and got ready for dinner. We came up to the Rotterdam and were quickly seated. Here were tonight's menus!

 

 

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

I love Lamb and one of the reasons I picked HAL for this cruise as the last time I was on a Dam ship they had it every night in some form....Is this still true?

 

Sandy

 

Having sailed HAL for many years, lamb has not been available every night.

Salmon -- yes on Alaskan cruises.

There is always a fish available on the main menu and in recent years salmon is one of the entrees under the "available" every night.

I, too, love lamb and could eat it every night.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Great job.

[kjeanne2001]

I am really enjoying your review. I am trying to decide which ship to book for Alaska 2014 and I am seriously considering the Volendam after reading your review! Thanks so much for doing this!

[shrimp56]

Took the liberty of running your Volendam picture through Photoshop. It's far from perfect, but enjoy it if you wish:)

 

[ScruffyBC]

Anyone know if all of the items at Explorer's Cafe have an additional cost? I thought it was just coffee that has a cost?

[RuthC]

Anyone know if all of the items at Explorer's Cafe have an additional cost? I thought it was just coffee that has a cost?

Certainly all the drinks do. I happily pay for the hot chocolate there. :D

[ScruffyBC]

Certainly all the drinks do. I happily pay for the hot chocolate there. :D

 

How about the snacks and desserts? Is there a charge for those?

[maysdot]

Certainly all the drinks do. I happily pay for the hot chocolate there. :D

 

Do they make the hot chocolate with whipped cream on top in the Explorer's Cafe? Do you remember how much it costs. I understand if you buy a drink that the food there is free. I have never stopped by to find out, but going to Alaska, the idea of hot chocolate really sounds good!!:)

[RuthC]

Do they make the hot chocolate with whipped cream on top in the Explorer's Cafe? Do you remember how much it costs.

Sorry, I've never paid attention to the price. I want it, so I buy it. :D I do get it at half-price due to Mariner * status, so I just charge it to my cabin card and proof out the charge when I proof out my final bill, but don't really notice what any of the charges are for, so long as they agree with my charge slips.

 

I don't want the whipped cream, so have never asked for it. I do believe that all you need to do is ask, however.

I do ask for a little extra chocolate :D, and that it be made extra hot.

 

I Alaska, while you're out on deck, there will be a time when hot chocolate (not as good as that in Explorations) is served to everyone. No charge.

[lovely_serenity]

Having sailed HAL for many years, lamb has not been available every night.

Salmon -- yes on Alaskan cruises.

There is always a fish available on the main menu and in recent years salmon is one of the entrees under the "available" every night.

I, too, love lamb and could eat it every night.

Yes, you are completely correct! Salmon was available every night and there was lamb about only half of the nights.

 

Great job.

Thanks!

 

I am really enjoying your review. I am trying to decide which ship to book for Alaska 2014 and I am seriously considering the Volendam after reading your review! Thanks so much for doing this!

Thank you! & remember, this was specifically from my perspective, so you could have a completely different experience. I'm flattered that I was able to do that for you, but I suggest you note down all the things I complain about too just in case! :)

 

Took the liberty of running your Volendam picture through Photoshop. It's far from perfect, but enjoy it if you wish:)

 

Haha, thank you for taking the time to do that ^^

 

Anyone know if all of the items at Explorer's Cafe have an additional cost? I thought it was just coffee that has a cost?

How about the snacks and desserts? Is there a charge for those?

Everything on their menu (drinks) had an additional cost to it. Only the snacks that I ate were free. :)

 

Do they make the hot chocolate with whipped cream on top in the Explorer's Cafe? Do you remember how much it costs. I understand if you buy a drink that the food there is free. I have never stopped by to find out, but going to Alaska, the idea of hot chocolate really sounds good!!:)

I'm sure they do still make that, but I'm not sure how much they cost. The snacks were free for me the first time. She asked me to buy something the second time.

 

Sorry, I've never paid attention to the price. I want it, so I buy it. :D I do get it at half-price due to Mariner * status, so I just charge it to my cabin card and proof out the charge when I proof out my final bill, but don't really notice what any of the charges are for, so long as they agree with my charge slips.

 

I don't want the whipped cream, so have never asked for it. I do believe that all you need to do is ask, however.

I do ask for a little extra chocolate :D, and that it be made extra hot.

 

I Alaska, while you're out on deck, there will be a time when hot chocolate (not as good as that in Explorations) is served to everyone. No charge.

Cool! & in actuality, during glacier day, they did have hot chocolate, but it was being sold in a mug. A mug you would keep. It was like a HAL tumbler.

[startwin]

How about the snacks and desserts? Is there a charge for those?

 

The snacks at the Explorations Cafe are free when you buy a coffee (or hot chocolate etc).

[lovely_serenity]

First up on the menu was Dad's Sitka Sound Crab and Artichoke en Bouchée:

 

 

I thought this was pretty good. A little too squishy and salty, but I still liked it.

 

Then came Bro, Mom's and My Fairbanks Seafood Platter:

 

 

The piece of salmon was a little dry, but the clam, shrimp, tuna and pepper covered smoked salmon (that blob on the right) were good. Tuna & smoked salmon especially.

 

Next up was my Yukon Wild Berry Fruit Mélange:

 

 

I really liked this one! Sweet and not at all sour (mostly). The only thing I would have preferred was to not have so many raspberries. Squishy and sour.

 

Then came Dad's Duck Pâté Brioche:

 

 

Personally, I don't like pâté so it was kind of gross to me. Squishy and dry o_o

 

After we finished eating our appetizers and we were waiting for the rest of our food, I took some random shots. First was of the restaurant from my POV:

 

 

and my butter & table number from my seat:

 

[lovely_serenity]

The snacks at the Explorations Cafe are free when you buy a coffee (or hot chocolate etc).

They actually did give me the snacks without me buying any drink at all. Only the second time around, the lady requested that I buy something.

[JamesEM]

Thanks for posting the menus, our DS will be joining DW and I this Fall on the NA and this will be his first Holland cruise.

[lovely_serenity]

Finally after a short wait, our entrées had arrived. Sis didn't see anything she wanted today, so she ordered a medium rare 8 oz New York Striploin Steak from the Available Daily menu:

 

 

This was REALLY good. Excellent steak indeed.

 

Then came Dad's Pan-Seared Salmon with Vegetable Confit:

 

 

Pretty good. Not dry! (:

 

This was followed by Mom's Grilled Halibut with Lemon Foam:

 

 

Okay, to me (I don't like fish cooked this way). So probably pretty good to someone who likes fish. Mom & Dad seemed to like it.

 

Bro ordered the Bay Scallops and Manila Clams over Noodles:

 

 

I quite enjoyed his seafood pasta. It was tasty.

 

This was what I ordered, the Yukon Bay Fisherman Salad:

 

 

I actually didn't really care for this. There was nothing wrong with it, but it turned out to have

1.) Too much vegetables for me

2) A huge piece of fish (which I dislike) plopped in the middle, and

3.) Not enough of the other types of seafood :/ Meh. I'm sure someone else would have enjoyed it more than I did.

 

After we finished our entrées; I slower than everyone else; our servers handed us tonight's dessert menu:

 

[lovely_serenity]

Thanks for posting the menus, our DS will be joining DW and I this Fall on the NA and this will be his first Holland cruise.

 

No problem! (: & I hope you enjoy yourselves!

[lovely_serenity]

Here is what we got for dessert tonight. Bro opted for the Raspberry Sorbet:

 

 

Good, nothing new, sorbet.

 

Sis went for the Alaska Fudge Sundae:

 

 

Not bad, tasty, normal sundae. Nothing special.

 

I devoured the Apple Tower:

 

 

Pretty good, I liked it! Spongy and not too sweet.

 

Dad tried to order the Grand Marnier-Marinated Cherry Mille Feuille for Mom and himself (pronounced meel-feuh-iy; meaning million layers in french), but ended ordering the "mihl fwil". ^^' Good try, Dad.

 

 

With a side of (wow LOL, did I think that was something else) Pistachio Ice Cream. At first, I refused to eat it, thinking it was the dreaded Colgate ice cream, but was reassured that it wasn't :P

 

The dessert itself was quite good, I very much enjoyed it.

 

After everyone ordered, we realized we didn't order a must (even recommended by our server), the Chocolate Alaska Avalanche Cake! So we asked Basek to get us an extra one to share:

 

 

And wow was it worth it! This was delicious!!

 

We finished everything up and headed out. Now this was actually a pretty awesome moment. We exited the dining room, light on our feet and completely satisfied with dinner. As we left, we noticed this at the restaurant's entrance:

 

 

There was a server (dressed in a nice bellboy uniform ^^) giving out after dinner mints. The options were (from left to right): dates, peppermints, dried figs and candied ginger. I only ate the peppermint because I didn't like anything else. Mom, Dad & Bro seemed to like the other stuff though. (Not for me :/). The peppermints were yummy though.

 

Anyways, we left the dining area feeling all fancy and dressed up, to hear this being played by the live music (violin & piano duo) in the Explorer's Lounge:

 

 

(wait a little, the music starts in ~8 seconds)

[lovely_serenity]

With my camera fixed (I got it working properly this afternoon with the photography people), and a happy heart, we hung out, took family pictures and listened to the live music of the violin & piano duo for a little while.

Since there was no show tonight (Yeah. cutbacks man..), just some "battle of the sexes thing in the Wajang, we just hung around until it was time for the late night snack in the Lido.

 

At around 10:30pm, we headed upstairs for this:

 

 

I then took the liberty to take a picture of all the things I liked :D

 

Mexican Chocolate Cake (Looks like a brownie..):

 

 

Bread (Sis likes it):

 

 

Banana Empanadas (a little strudel/samosa type pastry):

 

 

Coconut Cream Cake (looks a a gross jello pie) (looked kind of weird..):

 

 

Mexican Flan (some sort of custard pudding):

 

[lovely_serenity]

All the different kinds of delicious looking pies:

 

 

The available hot food (Taco fixings):

 

 

Sliced Cold Roasted Pork Laced with Lemon-Cilantro-Red Onion Vinaigrette, Garnished with Prunes (turned out to be raisins or something, instead):

 

 

This was alright, not bad.

 

Some tasty Fresh Fruit Salad:

 

 

Some salad with chicken:

 

 

This was delicious. Very well seasoned. The sauce complimented it perfectly.

 

Here are some assorted cheeses. For some reason, my brother likes this type of stuff too. Kind of weird to me though..

 

[lovely_serenity]

Next was the Jicama and Grapefruit Salad in Citrus Dressing:

 

 

and lastly (our favourite) Red Snapper, Calamari and Scallops Marinated in Lime Juice with Onion, Peppers and Cilantro:

 

 

This one was just simply awesome. Very good and filled with things I like :D

 

After eating and hanging around for a while, we listened to some more live music for a little bit before returning to our rooms.

 

We were met with this little fellow:

 

 

And we went to sleep. Not really looking forward to tomorrow's stop: Skagway.

 

End of Day 3

[lovely_serenity]

*Note 1: if anyone tooking offence to my "****ing" during my colgate ice cream rant, I do sincerely apologize

 

Note 2: Apparently this afternoon's burger was really dry (just saw in my notes)

Edited May 19, 2013 by lovely_serenity

[lovely_serenity]

Day 4: Skagway

 

We woke up to cloudy skies at around 10:30am, already docked in Skagway. After getting ready, we all headed up to the Lido for an early lunch at around 11:30am since there was no lunch in the main dining room today. I (with my macro lens) put my priorities first as I stepped into the buffet. Shots of my favourite food LOL.

 

Jello!

 

 

This one had a funny name, "Red Velvet Potato" ^^

 

 

It tasted quite dry :/

 

Strawberry Cheesecake: (This one was REALLY good)

 

 

Some little coconut cake:

 

 

A swiss cake roll (I love these!):

 

 

A strawberry mousse cake:

 

Edited May 19, 2013 by lovely_serenity

[lovely_serenity]

Chocolate Bread Pudding: (THIS was yummy. Much better than my first bread pudding)

 

 

I then moved on to the hot food.

 

Bacon!! :D

 

 

Potato chips at the Make-A-Sandwich Station. (We would eat these every single day :D):

 

 

Sushi: (they all tasted okay, some were better than others. Usually could only find one kind I wanted ex. salmon/tuna. A lot of others were filled with stuff like pickled daikons, tuna salad, and cucumber. Not things I'd want to eat :/ The ones I actually DID want were pretty good):

 

 

Now that we had all we wanted, we plopped down and started digging in!

 

 

Dad loves his pasta, he ordered it at the pasta station and had them pan-fry it first. Mmm .. SO good.