CSI: NA Reloaded (Nieuw Amsterdam 11/30 to 12/14/14)

[dot73]

Dark chocolate covered marzipan with a walnut on top, dark chocolate crisp, and hazelnut crisp. The marzipan had more of a coconut flavor, but they were all good.

 

Marzipan???? I hope it's not only for the bigshots on board but will still be there for me on January 4. I looooove marzipan. :D

[POA1]

Loved the Pinnacle Food Porn pix. Question: what sauces were served with the steaks? One looked like bearnaise; the other looked like butter?

 

Have a terrific day and look forward to your updates.

 

(Note to self: Buy box of Thank You notes prior to next week's cruise).:)

DW had Bearnaise sauce with her ribeye, as did I with my tenderloin. DFIL had Horseradish-mustard with his junior varsity Filet Mignon. Huskerchick would like me to emphasize that her steak was PERFECTLY seasoned. She's a stickler for properly spiced grilled meats. :)

[POA1]

Loved the Pinnacle Food Porn pix. Question: what sauces were served with the steaks? One looked like bearnaise; the other looked like butter?

 

Have a terrific day and look forward to your updates.

 

(Note to self: Buy box of Thank You notes prior to next week's cruise).:)

I'll find out the other sauces for you and report back.

[POA1]

I have seen and photographed this monument. Unfortunately, the picture got thrown out in my great photo album purge about 10 years ago. What are the odds that you would post this obscure piece of knowledge and someone from Canada reading your blog, with great enjoyment I might add, had been there and done that.

 

 

I would imagine that the odds would be pretty high. Once you've seen a weevil monument, it's not something that you will forget. It's like the Mona Lisa in that respect.

[POA1]

 

Pictured above are the dried apricots and "medjool dates" that were on the cheese plate. They taste exactly like prunes. It's weird, because we've had medjool dates plenty of times, and they were always firmer and more fig like than these. ;)

 

I've been reduced to tasting prunes just to make sure they're not dates. I hope you're happy. :D

[Mirage]

To the Esteemed Director(s) of the Institute of Good Cheer,

 

As one who has enjoyed your lively and erudite banter on all things HAL NA during your interval B2b’s.

 

I have a humble request.

 

Due to your both currency and recently of experiences, would you be so kind to think back on your b2b’s on NA.

 

As you do this, while sipping the days libation in contemplation of all good cruises that way to soon come to an end, consider this.

 

To top off your dispatches that many view as the go to thread each day, and as you start to warp up your reviews, would you be so kind as to issue - The Institutes findings of the top 5 experiences, that you and your fellow Institute Directors have enjoyed, and are not to be missed on the Nieuw Amsterdam. As an example, I read between the lines that the Pinnacle grill touched one or more of your team’s fancies.

 

Some of us do board the NA in several weeks to celebrate a New Year on the Nieuw Amsterdam and would be interested in your perspective of all the items you have so graciously written about, which have been most interesting, pleasurable and memorable.

 

I am sure there are many good memorable times, as your writing style is both prolific and informative.

 

These captivate the reader and draw them in to a new opportunity each day to have this ongoing dispensation of smiles.

 

Bravo to your entourage and you for dispensing to us currently shore bound your musings.

 

As I make my way to the first happy hour upon boarding, I will raise my Maker’s Mark to your Institute.

 

Mirage

[POA1]

We chartered a sailboat to take us snorkeling in St. Thomas. After taking a taxi to the Vendor Plaza ($4 pp) we met the Island Girl's dinghy at the dinghy dock. It was just DW, DFIL and me, so we were able to shuttle to the boat in one trip. The wind was slack, so we motored over to Turtle Cove. Captain Mike gave us a choice of spots, and we chose Turtle Cove because Huskerchick likes sea turtles. We saw quite a few, as well as some southern stingrays, and various and sundry other fish. The water was clear to at least 60 feet (about 18 meters in Canada, or 400 cubits in the time of Moses.)

 

DFIL, who was disappointed in the rough snorkeling conditions in Cayman, was thrilled here. My new snorkel worked like a charm. Thanks for asking!

 

After about an hour in the water, we went for a leisurely sail, under wind power, back to the harbor.

 

We had a great trip, and having a boat to ourselves was wonderful, especially compared to some of the large catamarans that came along after us. They carried close to 70 passengers.

 

I'm going to head down to the Pinnacle and see if I can lock in a couple of chocolate balls for Saturday. I'm not a huge fan of chocolate. That's Huskerchick's department. However, I'm a sucker for "action desserts."

[POA1]

Mirage -

 

That seems to be a reasonable request. I'm sure we'll be able to take care of that when we get home, but in plenty of time for your trip.

[POA1]

One random little thing we noticed: On the last night of the cruise, the information monitor screens, like those outside the main show lounge, will show all of the luggage tag colors with the expected departure times for each.

 

It's entirely possible that this is always there and we just noticed it last week.

[POA1]

Pinnacle Sauces: Sun dried tomato, green peppercorn, bearnaise, Horseradish-mustard, hollandaise, and maitre'd garlic butter.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Dark chocolate covered marzipan with a walnut on top, dark chocolate crisp, and hazelnut crisp. The marzipan had more of a coconut flavor, but they were all good.

 

 

Thank you

Glad to know that your ship has dark chocolate.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Marzipan???? I hope it's not only for the bigshots on board but will still be there for me on January 4. I looooove marzipan. :D

 

 

My DH loves marzipan as well.

Haven't seen it on any HAL ships in years.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Glad you all had a wonderful day of snorkeling on your private boat in St Thomas.

[kazu]

We chartered a sailboat to take us snorkeling in St. Thomas. After taking a taxi to the Vendor Plaza ($4 pp) we met the Island Girl's dinghy at the dinghy dock. It was just DW, DFIL and me, so we were able to shuttle to the boat in one trip. The wind was slack, so we motored over to Turtle Cove. Captain Mike gave us a choice of spots, and we chose Turtle Cove because Huskerchick likes sea turtles. We saw quite a few, as well as some southern stingrays, and various and sundry other fish. The water was clear to at least 60 feet (about 18 meters in Canada, or 400 cubits in the time of Moses.)

 

DFIL, who was disappointed in the rough snorkeling conditions in Cayman, was thrilled here. My new snorkel worked like a charm. Thanks for asking!

 

After about an hour in the water, we went for a leisurely sail, under wind power, back to the harbor.

 

We had a great trip, and having a boat to ourselves was wonderful, especially compared to some of the large catamarans that came along after us. They carried close to 70 passengers.

 

I'm going to head down to the Pinnacle and see if I can lock in a couple of chocolate balls for Saturday. I'm not a huge fan of chocolate. That's Huskerchick's department. However, I'm a sucker for "action desserts."

 

Good for you on the private charter !! We did it in St. Lucia with 12 of us and it was fantastic and we watched as the packed catamarans/sailing vessels came by. The captain laughed.

 

I am glad your scuba gear held up. But, I had no doubts. Those private charters are a lot of fun.

 

BTW - I am still laughing too hard at your other post. I'm glad I didn't have a cup of tea in my mouth when I read it :D

 

You are truly talented and make for a very enjoyable reading while the rest of us are suffering from Mother Nature. Thank You:D

[POA1]

A little third-party entertainment update: We don't always get to see every show, and even when we do see something, we know that our tastes and preferences aren't the same as all of yours. So, we make it a point to ask people we meet about the entertainment that they liked and disliked on the ship.

 

Don Waugh, the solo guitarist in the Crow's Nest has been getting some good reviews and he does seem to be playing to ever-larger crowds.

 

Al, the steel drummer, drew raves from a group of Canadians that we met. The two couples said that they try to catch every steel drum performance that they can. They mentioned that Al was taking requests and someone requested Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. Apparently Al gave it a pretty good rendition. That's impressive considering that the piece is not generally arranged for a single steel pan drum. (These are new, and different Canadians from Sapper1 and Shrimpboat123. The new folks are from Ottawa. I didn't want our Canadian survey sample to be too heavily drawn from the Maritimes.)

 

The new HALCats singer, Amber is very good. The last one, Ashley was good, too.

 

If you're one of the people who are bothered by loud volumes in the shows or lounges, we have a recommendation for you: Hearos High Fidelity Earplugs. They'll knock about 12 dB off the sound levels but they don't take out any of the highs or lows. These are what the people who man the sound boards at concerts use. They don't muffle the sound, so they're quite helpful for noise reduction without loss of sound fidelity. Best of all, they're only about $10 from Amazon. The are reusable, and come with a little carrying case. We got them for DFIL. (He still doesn't like the music that the B.B. King band plays, but at least it's not too loud now.)

 

Edited December 11, 2014 by POA1

[pv girl]

POA1

What are we going to do for our morning coffee entertainment after Sunday?

 

All the other current threads are boring - now we are down to toilet paper again!

 

I suggest you and Huskerchick just stay on board and keep writing reports. Every one of your reports has a new factoid for us to salivate upon or an interesting observation of shipboard life. And we are jealous.

 

Have you seen the new Prez out and about and what is he doing? Are things this week any different than last week?

 

Congrats on 4* - you earned the pony after all your hard investigative work! Hope HAL rewards you for being such a good salesman.

[pamelabrown53]

I agree with every word pv girl said. Interesting factoid: pv girl and her husband live just up the road from us (walking distance) and will meet for the first time at the M&G on our Christmas cruise.:D

 

P.S. Thanks, POA1, for posting the Pinnacle sauces!

[POA1]

Here's the On Location for 12/11/2014 - St. Thomas.

 

http://www.evernote.com/l/AFhdjoyjv0tLUYtcOKPj7egX0NLF36eUs2I/

 

I am missing last night's MDR menu because we were in the Pinnacle, but I am sure our most excellent waiter Chandra will have it for me tonight. Then, we can have the Institute of Cheers' Department of Scanning Things prep it for you.

 

Special Note: Our entertainment tonight is comedian Rondell Sheridan. (You probably remember him from the Disney Channel's "That's So Raven." You guys totally seem like the Disney Channel 2003-2007 demographic. Seriously, though, we've seen him before and he's funny.)

[Danni3ll3]

re: Prune/Dates post:

 

Yes I am. LOL

Edited December 11, 2014 by Danni3ll3

[POA1]

P.S. Thanks, POA1, for posting the Pinnacle sauces!

 

You're very welcome. We're here to help!

 

Since Roger (Crew News) is on this sailing, I'm sure you'll get a far more extensive set of menu scans that what we were able to put up. He usually gets the Lido menus, lunch menus, breakfast menus, and everything in between.

 

I manage to get the dinner menus (barely) so it's always good to have alternate sources of quality information.

[POA1]

We've finally got the whole taking pictures of dinner thing baked into our routine. In fact, Huskerchick's father made me give him the camera last night because he had a different filet mignon (7 oz) than I did (10 oz.)

 

It only took three weeks, but we may actually have the whole photographing dinner thing figured out.

 

Since the dinner photos are all done using my phone and saved in Evernote Food, those photos won't be online until after we return home on Sunday. We have a long, harsh, difficult journey back to our condo, so it could be as late as 10 AM until the photos are available.

 

We'll post the wrap ups next week, which means you're stuck with us for at least another 7 days.

[kazu]

We've finally got the whole taking pictures of dinner thing baked into our routine. In fact, Huskerchick's father made me give him the camera last night because he had a different filet mignon (7 oz) than I did (10 oz.)

 

It only took three weeks, but we may actually have the whole photographing dinner thing figured out.

 

Since the dinner photos are all done using my phone and saved in Evernote Food, those photos won't be online until after we return home on Sunday. We have a long, harsh, difficult journey back to our condo, so it could be as late as 10 AM until the photos are available.

 

We'll post the wrap ups next week, which means you're stuck with us for at least another 7 days.

 

HALLELUJAH!!!!:D:D 7 more days? WE ARE TRULY BLESSED :D:p

[SilvertoGold]

We've finally got the whole taking pictures of dinner thing baked into our routine. In fact, Huskerchick's father made me give him the camera last night because he had a different filet mignon (7 oz) than I did (10 oz.)

 

It only took three weeks, but we may actually have the whole photographing dinner thing figured out.

 

Since the dinner photos are all done using my phone and saved in Evernote Food, those photos won't be online until after we return home on Sunday. We have a long, harsh, difficult journey back to our condo, so it could be as late as 10 AM until the photos are available.

 

We'll post the wrap ups next week, which means you're stuck with us for at least another 7 days.

 

You MUST get a photo or two of that Chocolate Ball dessert thingy! Before and during the melt!!

 

Please! For Ruth and me!!

 

7 more days! YAY!!!!!

[POA1]

HALLELUJAH!!!!:D:D 7 more days? WE ARE TRULY BLESSED :D:p

 

Don't get too excited. It's not going to be new material, since we'll be home. It will simply be recaps and reviews. We'll try to keep it exciting, but at the end of the day, it's still going to be leftovers.

[POA1]

You MUST get a photo or two of that Chocolate Ball dessert thingy! Before and during the melt!!

 

Please! For Ruth and me!!

 

7 more days! YAY!!!!!

 

If we can score another chocolate ball, we're going to try to get the before photo, and a video of the melting process. (Rest assured this has nothing to do with DW's love of chocolate. We're doing it for you. ;) )