What makes HALs room service club sandwich so special?

[POA1]

To continue this silliness, I don't see a third slice of bread in the club sandwich picture. (It's Friday after a long week)

 

I ordered it that way. It's too much bread otherwise. Also, the triple decker sandwich would be too tall for my petite and delicate mouth. :)

[TiogaCruiser]

POA- this piece is deserving of an award. Love it!

 

Oh Clippy. I hated him. And all I ever got from him was what appeared to be an angry gesture when he finally left. I had cancelled him several times and ( the Witt that coded him apparently created an index) as he said something like "you have cancelled me x times. Are you really sure you want me to leave?"

[chrispb]

Every night he would eat a huge bowl of popcorn. I would have loved to do it but I can't get away with it.

 

I buy large bags of slightly salted popcorn, hardly any calories. Certainly helps with the evening munchies:D

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

I ordered it that way. It's too much bread otherwise. Also, the triple decker sandwich would be too tall for my petite and delicate mouth. :)

 

Perfect! Thanks for the answer. I'll order it that way next time.

[POA1]

I walked up the two flights of stairs to the Lido and proceeded to look for my traveling companions by the pool. I saw DSIL right away. She wears an orange visor when's she's reading - very helpful for spotting purposes. She was sitting with my wife and brother-in-law by the port side of the Lido pool. Sadly, the lounge chairs were all filled. That's what I get for going to the pool mid-afternoon on a sea day. :(

 

I figured that I would grab a drink at the Lido pool bar and wait to see if a chair opened up somewhere. I headed over to the bar and took a seat in one of the oh-so-comfortable "fish-butt stools" that they have on the Vista Class ships. (Gentlemen: These stools are quite designy, but under no circumstances should you try to turn sideways while sitting on them.)

 

 

The bartender greeted me and asked what I would like. I said that I would enjoy a Bacardi and Coke Zero with Lime. (I ordered the Coke Zero for the same reason I skipped the middle piece of bread on my club sandwich: I'm trying to watch my carbohydrate intake.) The bartender smiled and asked if I would like to make it a double for an extra dollar. I was surprised, because I had never seen a happy hour by the pool. Apparently it's not for everyone. It's just something they do for club sandwich eaters. I hadn't told him what I had for lunch, but he said my serene countenance told him that I had partaken of the magnificent Holland America Club Sandwich, thus qualifying me for the special happy hour pricing. (This may be a limited time only thing, so it may not apply on your next sailing. Also, it's quite possible - nay, probable - that I am making this up.)

 

I thanked the bartender and tipped him [insert the amount you think to be appropriate here, no arguing!] before heading over to where the rest of my party was reclining on the poolside loungers. While there wasn't an actual person in all the chairs near DW and my in-laws, all the chairs were "saved" with books or towels or beach bags. I don't mind if people keep their chairs while they're in the pool, or when they pop into the Lido to

to eat. But when someone saves a chair from morning to night, only spending an hour or two there, it really gets my hackles up.

 

Luck was with me this day, though. The nice woman who had the two chairs closest my wife came dashing up (at a responsible pace, because running is not allowed at the pool) and said, "Oh, I'm sorry sir! Would you like to sit in one of these chairs? I have my things spread across two chairs and I will be away for more than a half hour, so I will gladly surrender a chair so you can sit with your friends. You look like you could use some sun time." I thanked the woman for her gracious offer and sat down in the lounge chair for a quick nap in the sun.

 

Later that afternoon....

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

And the beat goes on. I love this thread. I really need a life.

[shrimpboat123]

I walked up the two flights of stairs to the Lido and proceeded to look for my traveling companions by the pool. I saw DSIL right away. She wears an orange visor when's she's reading - very helpful for spotting purposes. She was sitting with my wife and brother-in-law by the port side of the Lido pool. Sadly, the lounge chairs were all filled. That's what I get for going to the pool mid-afternoon on a sea day. :(

 

I figured that I would grab a drink at the Lido pool bar and wait to see if a chair opened up somewhere. I headed over to the bar and took a seat in one of the oh-so-comfortable "fish-butt stools" that they have on the Vista Class ships. (Gentlemen: These stools are quite designy, but under no circumstances should you try to turn sideways while sitting on them.)

 

 

The bartender greeted me and asked what I would like. I said that I would enjoy a Bacardi and Coke Zero with Lime. (I ordered the Coke Zero for the same reason I skipped the middle piece of bread on my club sandwich: I'm trying to watch my carbohydrate intake.) The bartender smiled and asked if I would like to make it a double for an extra dollar. I was surprised, because I had never seen a happy hour by the pool. Apparently it's not for everyone. It's just something they do for club sandwich eaters. I hadn't told him what I had for lunch, but he said my serene countenance told him that I had partaken of the magnificent Holland America Club Sandwich, thus qualifying me for the special happy hour pricing. (This may be a limited time only thing, so it may not apply on your next sailing. Also, it's quite possible - nay, probable - that I am making this up.)

 

I thanked the bartender and tipped him [insert the amount you think to be appropriate here, no arguing!] before heading over to where the rest of my party was reclining on the poolside loungers. While there wasn't an actual person in all the chairs near DW and my in-laws, all the chairs were "saved" with books or towels or beach bags. I don't mind if people keep their chairs while they're in the pool, or when they pop into the Lido to

to eat. But when someone saves a chair from morning to night, only spending an hour or two there, it really gets my hackles up.

 

Luck was with me this day, though. The nice woman who had the two chairs closest my wife came dashing up (at a responsible pace, because running is not allowed at the pool) and said, "Oh, I'm sorry sir! Would you like to sit in one of these chairs? I have my things spread across two chairs and I will be away for more than a half hour, so I will gladly surrender a chair so you can sit with your friends. You look like you could use some sun time." I thanked the woman for her gracious offer and sat down in the lounge chair for a quick nap in the sun.

 

Later that afternoon....

 

Have you left us wanting more, long enough?? :D

Edited June 10, 2014 by shrimpboat123

[POA1]

Have you left us wanting more, long enough?? :D

 

I'm sorry. Tonight or tomorrow. It was such a life-changing experience that it's sometimes hard to put words to paper.

 

[cruz chic]

I'm sorry. Tonight or tomorrow. It was such a life-changing experience that it's sometimes hard to put words to paper.

 

 

I only look at chocolate like that:D. Never a sandwich.

[Nghthawke]

I think you are right. I think it can depend upon the ship and even who the chef/person is in charge of in room dining.

I've been giving this some thought and have concluded that it is likely more what the chefs have to work with; that is the quality of the meat/produce delivered to the ship before sailing away. Add the time of year into that as well: I'm sure the New England/Canada cruises are sailing off with hothouse produce right now whereas if you take the same cruise later in the summer it would likely be fresh grown produce. Same thing with the fruit: trucked in from far away California for example, versus fresh-picked in season.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I'm sorry. Tonight or tomorrow. It was such a life-changing experience that it's sometimes hard to put words to paper.

 

 

I only look at chocolate like that:D. Never a sandwich.

 

 

I agree -- never for a sandwich -- just chocolate.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

I don't see us going back to the Dive-In on a future cruise.

 

We did it just to try them and find out about the quality of the meat.

 

DH was disappointed in the size of the hot dogs but he knew that Nathan's hot dogs are small when he ordered one.

 

At home I buy sirloin beef when we want a hamburger -- 92% lean -- Black Angus.

I agree . It was something new

[Alberta Quilter]

I agree -- never for a sandwich -- just chocolate.

 

Wow! Those are very pretty! Did you receive that when you stayed in the PH? Sigh. Maybe one year, I'll get there....

[theloo]

I agree -- never for a sandwich -- just chocolate.

 

 

Very pretty. Was this from a dessert buffet or some other special event?

[Krazy Kruizers]

Wow! Those are very pretty! Did you receive that when you stayed in the PH? Sigh. Maybe one year, I'll get there....

 

 

Yes -- we got that on embarkation day on the Nieuw Amsterdam. We have stayed in the PS on other ships and never got anything.

We also got these as well:

 

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

Very pretty. Was this from a dessert buffet or some other special event?

 

 

Both PS cabins on the Nieuw Amsterdam received all those items on embarkation -- about 1 PM.

Very tasty.

The chocolate cone was solid.

[POA1]

Later that afternoon....

 

Did you ever wake up from a nap feeling more tired than you did before you lay down? I don't know if it was the bonus happy hour drinks or the tropical sun, but I awoke feeling a little groggy and disoriented. I quickly recovered, but the warm feeling on my face told me that I should have gone with something higher than an SPF 10 sunscreen.

 

It was fairly late in the afternoon and my friends and I decided to call it a day - for pool time at least. It was a formal night, so we all toddled back to our staterooms to get ready for the evening's festivities. When we got back to our room my wife noticed my sunburn. "Holy cow Poey!" she exclaimed, "You look like a lobster. You better grab the aloe vera and put some on your face, or it's going to peel. (She affectionately calls me "Poey" instead of my more formal name, POA1.)

 

I told her that I would dig through the suitcase to find the aloe. She started off to the Neptune Lounge to grab a snack and asked if I would like anything. I told her that I still had half of a Holland America Club Sandwich in the fridge, but that I would love a glass of water. After rooting through the suitcase, I realized that we didn't pack the aloe, nor did we pack Solarcaine, or any other sunburn relief products. Isn't that the way it always goes? You pack something in your suitcase time and time again and you never need it. But leave it home once....

 

Looking in the mirror, I realized that this was going to be one of those painful, peeling sunburns. Since we didn't have any ointments, I figured that a cold shower was the best remedy available to me.

 

Before I hopped in the bath, I opened the mini fridge and took out the remaining half of my Holland America Club Sandwich. I nibbled a few bites and then set the sandwich back down on the plate. Next, I headed into the bathroom and turned on the shower, making sure to keep the water temperature set to cool. Once in the shower, I immediately began to feel relief from the sunburn. I don't know if was the Elemis luxury shower products, the cooling effects of the water, or the magical power of the club sandwich, but I began to feel immediate relief on my sunburnt skin. I won't say whether or not I actually sang in the shower, but suffice to say that there were times when it was a mere flip of the coin whether I would or not I would break into a joyous melody.

 

Getting out of the shower and wiping the steam from the mirror, I was surprised - nay shocked - to find that my sunburn was gone, replaced with a golden tan! Remember the Coppertone Tropical Blend tanning oil ads from the '80s? It was exactly like that, only without the tiger. Or the big hair. Or the smell of pina coladas or coconuts. Definitely not the bikini. Actually, when you get right down to it, it wasn't exactly like that at all; but the burn was gone and it was replaced with a deep, bronze tan.

 

 

 

My wife returned from the Neptune Lounge with her snack and immediately noticed the change in my skin color. "Wow! I thought for sure you were going to be red like a lobster. You're lucky you didn't burn," she remarked.

 

 

 

She sat down to eat her snack and I took a few bites of my of my club sandwich, leaving a little smackerel for later. It was nearing time to meet my in-laws for pre-dinner drinks in the Ocean Bar, so it was time to get dressed. It was our final formal night of the cruise. (Random side note: Tuxedos and Black Tie are really semi-formal. White Tie and Morning Dress are formal. Suit and Tie is informal. I only point this out because (A) it's true, and (B) I want to see if anyone's head explodes.) In any case, we still belong to the group of people that "Tux it up" on formal nights. We already have the gowns, tuxedo, waistcoats (vests), cummerbunds, bow ties, cocktail dresses, and whatnot and there really aren't a whole lot of opportunities to "get our wearings in" during our everyday lives.

I don't know about you, but we tend to schedule our clothing for a cruise in such a way that the tighter garments are worn early on and the items with a bit more room make it into the order later in the trip. My vests are fully backed which means they have less "give." Consequently, they get worn on the first couple of formal nights. My cummerbunds have a bit more elasticity which places them in the late inning rotation. Being that this was the last of our formal nights, I fully expected to be forced to wear a cummerbund. Before committing to the cummerbund though, I decided to try on my vests. This is always a risky decision, because you tend to get depressed when you realize that your clothes have somehow gotten smaller during the course of your trip. But I was feeling pretty chipper after my club sandwich and shower, so I started with the looser of my two vests. There's no way the tighter one was going to fit. It was a little snug two days into the voyage and to say that I was less than diligent about watching what I ate and drank would be an understatement. (We were knees deep in a project researching the Signature Beverage Package, and it's quite possible that we had one or two drinks more than we normally would have.) The bigger vest still fit!:D

 

 

Throwing caution to the wind, I grabbed my "smaller" waistcoat from the closet. I slipped on the vest and began to button it, knowing full well that the third and fourth buttons were going to be a problem. Maybe if I exhaled... or didn't sit down to eat dinner....

 

The strangest thing happened. Not only did my vest fit, but it fit well. "Odd," I thought. By this point in the cruise, I fully expected some serious snugness. It just wasn't there. I removed the vest and hung it back on its hanger in the closet.

At this point, I decided to finish the last bits of my Holland America Club Sandwich (Patent Pending.) After polishing off my sandwich, I put on my shirt, inserted my studs and cuff links and got ready to tie my bow tie. Feeling pretty good after the vest incident, I decided to attempt to tie my bow tie one-handed. I am happy to report that I was able to easily manage single-hand bow tie tying.

We finished dressing, and looking natty if I do say so myself, we headed to the Ocean Bar to meet up with DSIL and DBIL.

 

Still not done... (Sigh.)

Edited June 10, 2014 by POA1

[AlohaPride]

ROFL. Lord, you're funny.

 

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk

[realnurse2]

Best post I have read in a long while! :)

[nana51]

You know if you ever write a book, let us know. I will be first in line to buy it. You could write a hilarious murder mystery.

[cp556]

So aboard Amsterdam I had the room service club sandwich more than once, due to the recommendations on this forum.

 

Interestingly, sometimes it had cucumber on it, sometimes not. Once it had salami instead of ham.

 

But it was ALWAYS just delicious :)

[djhsolara]

When we first started cruising HAL a few years back they were pretty good. Now they are not great at all, in my opinion.

[POA1]

Interestingly, sometimes it had cucumber on it, sometimes not. Once it had salami instead of ham.

 

But it was ALWAYS just delicious :)

 

Does the combination of cucumber and salami give you super powers?

[TiogaCruiser]

ROFL. Lord, you're funny.

 

Agreed. POA- thanks for the laughs. I really needed it- it's been a sad, bad week in our house. Eagerly awaiting the next installment....

[Krazy Kruizers]

So aboard Amsterdam I had the room service club sandwich more than once, due to the recommendations on this forum.

 

Interestingly, sometimes it had cucumber on it, sometimes not. Once it had salami instead of ham.

 

But it was ALWAYS just delicious :)

 

That is weird getting cucumber on a club sandwich.

And salami -- ugh.

We never even got a slice of ham on ours.