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

[POA1]

We had lunch at Casa Mission, in town. It's a really nice, authentic Mexican restaurant with a Mayan touch. DW had the combination plate. I had the Chicken with Mole. (Sorry, typing from the phone. No accented characters. I'm referring to the sauce, not the blind, subterranean member of the rodent family.)

 

This was the real deal Mexican restaurant, and a very nice location. The restaurant is located in a former mission. It's family owned and the owners live on premise. We give this place a rating of two glasses, raised high in the air - our best score.

[POA1]

We're facing a bit of a conundrum tonight. The dress code is Tropical Freaking Casual, but we're going to Tamarind, the pan Asian specialty restaurant. There's also a mariachi band playing for sail away. I've settled on a Sombrero, a shirt made from a Mexican blanket, and linen trousers. DW is going to dress as Helen Roper from Three's Company. We'll change into something more comfortable after dinner. We spotted some logo t-shirts in port that said, "You are an excellent dancer! - love, Alcohol." I might go with that.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I thought I'd post this Special RuthC Rush Edition of our daily briefing. We took a little tour at Kaokoa, a small, family-owned chocolate factory. We got to grind the beans and make our own rudimentary chocolate. What we made was beverage chocolate, for hot cocoa or old school Mayan chocolate beverage.

 

The company's chocolate is really quite good. We picked up a small supply. We got dark, milk, dark with chili, white. white with coconut, dark with hazelnut, dark with espresso, and cactus. Yes, cactus. We're concerned that cactus is going to be awesome because we only bought one bar of it. We got backups of all the others. Some, like the dark and the espresso, have backups of backups. (Like the Boy Scouts, we are prepared!)

 

The tour group was us. Just the three of us. There are six enormous ships in port, so a tour of 3 people is pretty sweet. Speaking of sweet, Huskerchick picked up some chocolate liquid soap, and some pure cocoa butter moisturizer and lip balm.

 

The tour is $10 per person, and you get to keep the beverage chocolate disk that you make. You also get to sample all their chocolates. Sadly, when there are only three people in your group, you can't jump back in line and get multiple samples. They'd catch on. ;) All in all, it's one of the most relaxing things you can do in such a busy port.

 

 

That is my kind of tour.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thanks for checking in again today.

[POA1]

Here's last night's dinner, Le Cirque at the Pinnacle Grill - with honest to goodness photos for once!

 

https://www.evernote.com/shard/s88/l/AFg3YeY64fdCWroVPrWXggMt4aDTlNrq6ToA

/

 

i won't have MDR menus from last night or tonight for a few days. We were in the Pinnacle last night, and we're in Tamarind tonight. Our MDR waiter, Guruh is saving them for me - or for you actually. :)

[POA1]

Sounds like a great tour.

It was very nice. Highly recommended. I'll post more details once I do the full write up.

[freestyling]

The photos are great and someone received a healthy scoop of eggs! Looking forward to more reports.

[cruz chic]

We're facing a bit of a conundrum tonight. The dress code is Tropical Freaking Casual, but we're going to Tamarind, the pan Asian specialty restaurant. There's also a mariachi band playing for sail away. I've settled on a Sombrero, a shirt made from a Mexican blanket, and linen trousers. DW is going to dress as Helen Roper from Three's Company. We'll change into something more comfortable after dinner. We spotted some logo t-shirts in port that said, "You are an excellent dancer! - love, Alcohol." I might go with that.

 

Your outfits sound smashing:D;):p.

[RobertoF]

POA1, I have been reading your review every day. I am absolutely captivated. It is the best "Live From" I have read on Cruisecritic. I was not going to clutter the tread with a thanks, but I could no longer resist. My mom is on this cruise with you and, although my 10-year-old son set her up with GrooveIP to use to make calls over wifi in port, I am sure she cannot figure it out. (Or maybe she is having too good a time to call. No, I am sticking with can't figure it out.) Your reports are the closest we have to knowing what is going on. You have no idea how valuable that is. So for all of the people reading along who do not want to clutter up the thread, let me just say a huge THANK YOU.

 

P.S. I should add that I find your prose to be lyrical. It is a pleasure reading every word.

[PathfinderEss]

Here's last night's dinner, Le Cirque at the Pinnacle Grill - with honest to goodness photos for once!

 

https://www.evernote.com/shard/s88/l/AFg3YeY64fdCWroVPrWXggMt4aDTlNrq6ToA

/

 

i won't have MDR menus from last night or tonight for a few days. We were in the Pinnacle last night, and we're in Tamarind tonight. Our MDR waiter, Guruh is saving them for me - or for you actually. :)

 

Your photo's are great. I love Le Trio - Butternut Squash Soup - DH loves the Lobster Salad - Black Cod and I usually have the Chicken Under The Brick. Gosh, you just make me very hungry, thanks for the photo's.

[POA1]

.... My mom is on this cruise with you and, although my 10-year-old son set her up with GrooveIP to use to make calls over wifi in port, I am sure she cannot figure it out. (Or maybe she is having too good a time to call. No, I am sticking with can't figure it out.)

If you want to email me, poa1 at instituteofcheer.com - we can try to track your mother down and make sure all is well. They haven't made any announcements about lost passengers, and we don't know of any medical evacuations, so I think she's fine. :D

[BruhnSisters]

If you want to email me, poa1 at instituteofcheer.com - we can try to track your mother down and make sure all is well. They haven't made any announcements about lost passengers, and we don't know of any medical evacuations, so I think she's fine. :D

 

You are not only witty and clever, you are also kind!

[TiogaCruiser]

We had lunch at Casa Mission, in town. It's a really nice, authentic Mexican restaurant with a Mayan touch. DW had the combination plate. I had the Chicken with Mole. (Sorry, typing from the phone. No accented characters. I'm referring to the sauce, not the blind, subterranean member of the rodent family.)

 

This was the real deal Mexican restaurant, and a very nice location. The restaurant is located in a former mission. It's family owned and the owners live on premise. We give this place a rating of two glasses, raised high in the air - our best score.

 

So did the mole (sauce, not rodent) also contain chocolate?

[POA1]

So did the mole (sauce, not rodent) also contain chocolate?

 

Yes. The Mayan mole is a little sweeter than regular mole. It's got a little bit of banana in it as well as the chocolate and the spices.

[POA1]

 

On this Day in History - December 5th - The television program Dragnet premiered today in 1951. The story is true. Today is Friday. It carries a badge

 

After we returned from a long day of excurting, DW and I freshened up before heading off to happy hour in the Crow's Nest. As always, the service was excellent. Jeffrey, Ryan, Kurt, and Lara do a great job. While we were in our usual jovial mood, we had the misfortune to be seated near a small group we dubbed the PissyPants Patrol. As awesome as our cruise experience has been on the Nieuw Amsterdam, theirs appears to have been exactly the opposite. It seems that the crew had the audacity to replace some drapes in one of their rooms and the jobs wasn't quite done when the Patrol members returned from shore. (Horrors!) There was also an unacceptable amount of tarnish on someone's shower drain. (Vacation - ruined!) We wound up leaving happy hour a little early. We were concerned that all the negativity would cause the bubble of awesome in which we travel to spring a leak.

 

We had a a very nice meal in Tamarind last night. DW and her father had the baramundi wrapped in rice paper from the menu's water section. I had the scallops and prawns device from the Wood section of the menu. For starters, DW had the beef salad and a selection of sushi and sashimi*, while I had the spring rolls and pot stickers. DFIL had the wonton soup and the tempura battered prawns. For dessert, DW and her dad had the tempura ice creams, while I sampled the mango cloud. For wine, we had a bottle of Charles Smith's Kung Fu Girl Riesling and a bottle of Mumm sparkling wine from Napa. The Kung Fu Girl has the honor of being a $12 wine that gets to ride along with us for $18 in corkage. While that seems a little upside down, it's a really great Riesling. It was #51 on Wine Spectator's Top 100 of 2013. It's an excellent pairing with Asian foods.

 

Because of our meal's timing, we missed the Mariachi Band at sail-away. That's okay, though. We have all their albums, so we can listen later.** My father in law was tired from the long day of touring, so he skipped the night life. If you can't run with the big dogs, stay on the porch. Huskerchick and I went to the Crow's Nest to catch the solo guitarist's last set. After that we headed to the Northern Lights and caught the end of Beatles Night. We ran into Jason Waters and Wesley, the male vocalist and the saxophone player from the B.B. King All Stars in the disco. We bought them a drink and tried to see if we could get the Four Tops' "Ain't No Woman Like the One I Got" on the B.B. King playlist. Apparently, the whole band doesn't know the song, but Jason serenaded Huskerchick with an a capella version. Jason drinks Hennessy and ginger ale. Wesley had the Wang Wang.*** I was angling for "Green Onions" by Booker T and the MGs. I wanted that song to be our announcement song as we entered our wedding reception, but our DJ didn't have the single. (Kids today, with their downloads and MP3s have no idea how harsh and difficult life was back in the early 90s when we got married. Real pioneer stuff.)

 

We ended the evening with a slice of pizza out on the aft pool deck. It was a lovely evening, with a nice warm breeze. We stayed out there, talking for a little while until it started to rain. I'd blame the PissyPants Patrol but I know that they were down at the front desk, demanding credit for whatever slights they experienced during the evening.****

 

*This is actually true. Cruz Chic will have a hard time believing it, because DW made it a point to say that she didn't like sushi two weeks ago, but that's what she ordered. For real.

 

**This is not true. We don't even know if the Mariachi Band has an album out.

 

***Make a note Wang Wang lovers: Not only is it still available on the Nieuw Amsterdam, it makes and excellent saxophone juice.

 

****While this is unlikely as it was after midnight, I can totally see it happening.

 

Not to go all Holland America Cheerleader on y'all or anything, but we are really enjoying this cruise. The Nieuw Amsterdam is a beautiful ship, made even more so when decked out for Christmas. The food has been great - and not just "cruise ship great." The service has been top notch as well. We're very happy that this isn't just a week long trip. Having said that, we know that there are some people who will beg to differ. We ran into them today. Hopefully they're not on Cruise Critic, but if they are, you know how their review will read. :rolleyes:

 

We've got a sea day today, and our second formal night. It's also the day our friends get their 300 day medallions, so we're going to attend the ceremony to lend our support. (And check for ponies.) Have a wonderful day!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Wonderful review.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We always do Le Cirque as well.

One thing we noticed on our last cruise -- people asking the staff about the poached egg on the deconstructed Caesar salad. Most people just pushed it aside. We haven't tried the latest Caesar salad for Le Cirque.

[Krazy Kruizers]

POA1

After reading your report from the Noordam last spring about the Caviar in the Pinnacle, we decided we would try it on our recent Noordam cruise. Our server told us not to order it as it was not the top quality caviar that they used to get -- thus not worth the $45 upcharge price.

So -- what is the Pinnacle caviar like on the Nieuw Amsterdam?

[pamelabrown53]

:cool:It has been an absolute delight vicariously accompanying you and Huskerchick on your journey. You seem to accomplish so much and with such joie de vivre. Maybe today will be a restful day at sea? Possibly read "War and Peace" by the pool?! Whatever you do, can't wait for your next installment!

Edited December 5, 2014 by pamelabrown53

[cruz chic]

Thanks for the latest installment. Hilarious as usual!

[POA1]

POA1

 

After reading your report from the Noordam last spring about the Caviar in the Pinnacle, we decided we would try it on our recent Noordam cruise. Our server told us not to order it as it was not the top quality caviar that they used to get -- thus not worth the $45 upcharge price.

 

So -- what is the Pinnacle caviar like on the Nieuw Amsterdam?

 

It's Osetra. Up in Maine, we go to Browne Trading for our caviar. They're a big purveyor and have a lot of big name restaurant clients, like Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Thomas Keller (Per Se & The French Laundry.) Because of our proximity to Browne Trading in Portland, we were fortunate enough to have caviar pretty often, and we used to pop in to Browne for a tasting now and then, which allowed us to compare various caviars. The caviar we had on the Noordam in the spring was a good quality Osetra.

 

The little scoop I had on Le Trio was very good quality. We haven't done the full blown caviar yet, but we plan to get it when we're in the Pinnacle next week. There's a better than 50-50 chance that we'll have it before then, because... well, I dunno. Do we need a good reason? Nah!

 

I'll let you know what we think as soon as we can give a full report. We may have to repeat the experiment several times just to be certain of our results. :D

[freestyling]

Looking forward to the Caviar report as well. We board on Sunday for 14 days and my DW loves the caviar...also the elusive creme friache :D

[POA1]

Howdy Little Buckaroos!

 

Here's the On Location, the Holland America Daily Program for our second sea day.

 

http://www.evernote.com/l/AFjsFuUDQmBKGJqCd0CzFaVF9Q6OOi-uKtI/

 

The eagle-eye among you will notice that steel pan drum lessons were offered today.

 

The smart bettors in the crowd put their money on me not taking the lesson. Pay the winners!

[PathfinderEss]

Also looking forward to your caviar report. What we had on the Zaandam this last spring was wonderful.

[Krazy Kruizers]

It's Osetra. Up in Maine, we go to Browne Trading for our caviar. They're a big purveyor and have a lot of big name restaurant clients, like Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Thomas Keller (Per Se & The French Laundry.) Because of our proximity to Browne Trading in Portland, we were fortunate enough to have caviar pretty often, and we used to pop in to Browne for a tasting now and then, which allowed us to compare various caviars. The caviar we had on the Noordam in the spring was a good quality Osetra.

 

The little scoop I had on Le Trio was very good quality. We haven't done the full blown caviar yet, but we plan to get it when we're in the Pinnacle next week. There's a better than 50-50 chance that we'll have it before then, because... well, I dunno. Do we need a good reason? Nah!

 

I'll let you know what we think as soon as we can give a full report. We may have to repeat the experiment several times just to be certain of our results. :D

 

 

Looking forward to the report.

We were really looking forward to the caviar as we used to get it all the time when we had the Suite luncheons.

Thankfully our Pinnacle server was a lovely young lady whom we have had on 2 other cruises.