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

POA1

By POA1,
in Holland America Line

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dot73

dot73

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This is the best blog I have ever followed. I don't think I have ever been so revved up for my cruise as I am for this one in January. You and your wife are the kind of people I would love to share a dinner table with. The lady from Alberta also sounds like a lot fun. Enjoy your last two days. Of course, coming back home to Florida is not as bad having to come back home to the great white north.

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POA1 "Live from...." Rare

POA1

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We have really enjoyed your thread, thanks for the entertainment.

Question, what are your favorite desert cheeses on the ship or otherwise?

 

DW loves Stilton. I like just about anything. We're pretty open-minded when it comes to cheese. Cow's milk, goat's milk, sheep's milk, you name it.

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cruz chic

cruz chic

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This is the best blog I have ever followed. I don't think I have ever been so revved up for my cruise as I am for this one in January. You and your wife are the kind of people I would love to share a dinner table with. The lady from Alberta also sounds like a lot fun. Enjoy your last two days. Of course, coming back home to Florida is not as bad having to come back home to the great white north.

 

I hope you mean me. I hope it's not someone else from alberta. If it is me, the cheque is in the mail:D;):D. Is that ever true about the cold North. I'm afraid to say this but so far this winter has not been bad. I know it's not officially winter but by this time last year I think we had about 5 feet of snow. Maybe POA and huskerchick would like to trade condos with me.

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POA1 "Live from...." Rare

POA1

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Glen -

 

Thanks for the full-frontal chocolate ball "before" photo. As we discussed earlier at our "team strategy meeting" in the Crow's Nest, we're going to try to get an action sequence Saturday night.

 

Also, if that's the last chocolate ball, someone's getting hurt. Here's our tiny, plush assassin getting ready to take out an invading towel monkey. He's practicing his moves to make ready for the stationery not-gonna-print-it person.

 

Angry-monkey-death.jpg

 

Poohby Joe goes all fierce Ninja-style on a

towel monkey that tried to touch his honey pot.

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POA1 "Live from...." Rare

POA1

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Here's the second formal night menu. Once again, it is in the four panel, square fold out format.

 

http://www.evernote.com/l/AFjOVgGWWGJKdbLMrGIJN_iSN0E7REhryME/

 

Please note that the everyday items are available, but you have to request them. (We did not request any.)

 

If you scroll back and take a look at the last formal night's menu, you will see that it's in the same four panel, fold out format. The eagle-eyed among you will notice that the formal night menu from 12/8 had a gold colored cover, while the one from the 12th is silver.

 

I'll fill you in on our impressions of dinner tomorrow. They were generally positive. There was no cheese course on the menu, and I didn't ask for one since DW really wanted to see the show, "Cantare" and we needed to finish our meal post haste. However, there was some Stilton earlier today and we had a hunk with some crusty bread, and a touch of honey. There was no Humboldt Fog, but if we didn't sail with it, it's probably not going to show. (Come to think of it, there weren't a whole lot of goat's milk cheeses, period.)

 

I'm not sure if the new formal menu formats are going to continue, or if this is just a one-off because this is a Centurion Cruise for HAL's 100 highest producing travel agents. There were a number of HAL executives on board for the trip as well. Some left the ship in San Juan, but there are a fair number of extra Holland America headquarters people still around.

 

There's been minimal impact on the rest of the passengers, and really nothing negative comes to mind.

 

More to follow. They're giving back our extra hour tonight, but I still miss it.

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dot73

dot73

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I hope you mean me. I hope it's not someone else from alberta. If it is me, the cheque is in the mail:D;):D. Is that ever true about the cold North. I'm afraid to say this but so far this winter has not been bad. I know it's not officially winter but by this time last year I think we had about 5 feet of snow. Maybe POA and huskerchick would like to trade condos with me.

 

Yes, I meant you. We had a snowstorm on Thursday. As usual, Toronto came to a standstill, like we never had snow before. We seem to be getting a lot more snow than the previous last 15 years. POA and huskerchick certainly have this cruising thing figured out quite well. Can you imagine not having to fly out to catch a cruise ship in the winter and not having to worry about overweight baggage? I can only dream.

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POA1 "Live from...." Rare

POA1

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13-Half-Moon-Cay-2014-12-13.jpg

 

On this Day in History - December 13th - On this day in 1642, New Zealand was discovered by Dutch navigator Abel Tasman*. No one was enamored of the dress code, but the entertainment, "Attacks by the Maori" was called "riveting" by critics.

 

The Department of Scanning Things proudly presents: On Location - Half Moon Cay - 12/13/2014:

 

http://www.evernote.com/l/AFifEbffd0BBOr-E2m-S66Zn0Rh5JOG14_o/

 

*Abel Tasman has his own personal suite. It's one of the starboard Penthouse/Pinnacle Suites on either the Zuiderdam or the Oosterdam. We stayed in it, but I can't remember which ship it was. (Paging Krazy Kruisers! Paging Krazy Kruisers! Do you remember if it's on the Zuiderdam or the Oosterdam?)

 

Last night's dinner was very good, yet somewhat bittersweet (the mood, not the food) as it is our last MDR dinner for the year. Our most excellent waiter Chandra is going home after this cruise, as is his wonderful assistant Ketut. Our wine steward Dominic is also going home. We made sure that we gave them their little thank you cards and tips since we're going to be in the Pinnacle Saturday night.

 

Everyone started with the shrimp cocktail. (For whatever reason, they did a much better job on the deveining this week than they did on the past two cruises. Most people wouldn't notice, but we don't want Cruz Chic to accuse us of being too easy to please. :D ) The citrus aoili was a nice change of pace for a dipping sauce.

 

For our seconds, Huskerchick had the apple, pear, and cucumber salad. She pronounced it quite good. Her father had the papaya with a rainbow of fruit. I had the duck pate, caviar, and smoked salmon. It was good, and it was actual caviar, not jut roe. (Granted, it's not enough caviar to write home about, but I always appreciate caviar.)

 

For our mains, both DW and DFIL had the grilled veal chop with chanterelles. Hers was ordered medium rare. His was ordered medium. Both chops were to temp, tender, and tasty. Chicken under a brick was on the menu, so I ordered it. It's been on the Le Cirque menu for quite a while, but I've never wanted to "waste" a Le Cirque entree on the chicken. I thought it was quite good, with a nice, crispy skin and adequate seasoning.

 

For dessert, DFIL had the Master Chef's Sundae. It was the clear winner among our choices. DW had the pumpkin chocolate cake, and I had the dark chocolate coconut Napoleon. We thought both were a little on the dry side. The Napoleon, in particular, could have been great if the filling had more moisture. Our neighbors at the next table over had the Grand Marnier souffle and said it was excellent.

 

For wines, we had Nicolas Feuilatte Brut Champagne, Estancia Pinot Noir from the Admiral's package, and some Loosen Bros. "Dr. L" Riesling that we had left over.** We didn't dawdle at dinner because DW wanted to see "Cantare" at the 10 o'clock show.

 

More on that later, but it's time to head to the island.

 

**For those of you that know us, you might be thinking that "leftover wine" must surely be a typo. It's not. DFIL isn't a big white wine drinker. We even gave some Champagne to the lovely couple from NYC who sits next to us, because there is no way that we're having "leftover Champagne." Just typing it makes me cringe. :)

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cruz chic

cruz chic

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I ordered 2 desserts on the last formal. I very rarely do that. I got the Napoleon and the pumpkin choc cake. The cake was like a dried out muffin. The napolean was no better. I think they are the worst desserts I've ever tasted.

 

I'm delighted to see they are going to tender tickets for HMC. It's a hot mess when the don't on every cruise I've been on.

 

Enjoy your last day.

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POA1 "Live from...." Rare

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How many points for the Estancia Pinot a Noir, in your opinion?

 

Probably mid 80s. All in all, a solid Pinot. Structure and balance were good, and the fruit presented itself nicely. I don't think it's going to knock your socks off, but it's a decent wine.

 

The last two wines we're going to have on this cruise are the Decero 2012 Remolinos Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon and a bottle of Franciscan's Equilibrium, a white blend that's primarily Sauv. Blanc. We were fortunate enough to stay at Franciscan's guest house last year, and enjoyed this wine - often. It's a very food-friendly wine. (A friend of ours buys about $3 million in wine for his restaurants in Santa Barbara. He gets stellar treatment in wine country. We just rode on his coattails, glasses out and clinking. Every other trip to wine country will now suck by comparison. ;) )

 

There are some pretty nice wines on the new package list, even in the Navigator's selections. We only needed three bottles to supplement the 21 we started with - 18 of ours and 3 bottles of Nicolas Feuillatte NV Brut Champagne from our TA and American Express.

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POA1 "Live from...." Rare

POA1

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I ordered 2 desserts on the last formal. I very rarely do that. I got the Napoleon and the pumpkin choc cake. The cake was like a dried out muffin. The napolean was no better. I think they are the worst desserts I've ever tasted.

 

I'm delighted to see they are going to tender tickets for HMC. It's a hot mess when the don't on every cruise I've been on.

 

Enjoy your last day.

 

Thanks! HMC had ticketed tendering from around 8 AM until just before 9 when it went to open. The water's nice and smooth, a big contrast to previous weeks.

 

We were on the beach for about 2 - 2.5 hours before coming back to the ship for lunch in the cabana. You would have loved these cabana guys. One of them, John, is the son of the second chef on the line in the Lido. Both he and Ed are excellent. Huskerchick will miss them when we get home. Our building has a guy who sets up your clamshells and arranges your chairs on the beach, but he never brings snacks, lunch, or beverages.

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kazu "Live from...." Rare

kazu

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Probably mid 80s. All in all, a solid Pinot. Structure and balance were good, and the fruit presented itself nicely. I don't think it's going to knock your socks off, but it's a decent wine.

 

The last two wines we're going to have on this cruise are the Decero 2012 Remolinos Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon and a bottle of Franciscan's Equilibrium, a white blend that's primarily Sauv. Blanc. We were fortunate enough to stay at Franciscan's guest house last year, and enjoyed this wine - often. It's a very food-friendly wine. (A friend of ours buys about $3 million in wine for his restaurants in Santa Barbara. He gets stellar treatment in wine country. We just rode on his coattails, glasses out and clinking. Every other trip to wine country will now suck by comparison. ;) )

 

There are some pretty nice wines on the new package list, even in the Navigator's selections. We only needed three bottles to supplement the 21 we started with - 18 of ours and 3 bottles of Nicolas Feuillatte NV Brut Champagne from our TA and American Express.

 

Thanks for the input on the wines onboard. I hope the new packages stay in effect. Sounds better. Love Sauv. Blanc.

 

If it's not too much trouble, do let us know what you think of the others. I've found the Navigator whites better in the past so it would be nice to order the Admiral as DH likes a glass of red now and then and the reds are definitely better in the Admiral's.

 

I'll still be bringing some on board of course, but I like to alternate. Many thanks again for your wonderful posts.

 

We are all indebted. You have brightened up my winter considerably:D

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POA1 "Live from...." Rare

POA1

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Thanks for the input on the wines onboard. I hope the new packages stay in effect. Sounds better. Love Sauv. Blanc.

 

If it's not too much trouble, do let us know what you think of the others. I've found the Navigator whites better in the past so it would be nice to order the Admiral as DH likes a glass of red now and then and the reds are definitely better in the Admiral's.

 

I'll still be bringing some on board of course, but I like to alternate. Many thanks again for your wonderful posts.

 

We are all indebted. You have brightened up my winter considerably:D

 

I plan to do a little research on the wines in the packages, since our next trip is likely to be one that starts in Canada and ends in Boston - which means that we'll be buying our wines instead of bringing them from home.

 

I'll let you know what we thing of the Cab, and the Equilibrium after tonight. The Franciscan white blend is about 70% Sauvignon Blanc, about 20% Chardonnay, with the rest being Muscat. The other two grapes take a bit of the acidic bite out of the Sauvignon Blanc, and make it a good choice for people who sometimes find Sauv. Blanc to be a bit too acidic, or even "grassy."

 

Glad we can help brighten winter - which, as I hate to remind you, hasn't even begun yet. :eek:

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