Okay, so what's the best thing you've eaten in a HA cruise... and the worst?

[jeepers13]

I've heard there is bread pudding on the Lido buffet that's different every day and comes with a sauce.

 

Could it be true???

[gigianne]

Best - coconut ice cream, pineapple/cucumber cold soup. Worst - pork belly (still can not figure out why I ordered it)

[foodsvcmgr]

Best - Porterhouse in Pinnacle

Worst - a sad and thin Reuben in MDR lunch

Best dessert - original bread pudding

Worst - the day somebody on Eurodam made the bread pudding with leftover garlic bread....oops.

[JandPB]

This has me excited to grab the schnitzel at lunch, french onion soup at dinner and enjoy a porterhouse at the Pinnacle which we already have booked. Thanks everyone for chiming in.

[LadyVol1]

I agree on Pinnacle steaks but let me add another best, HAL's soups are almost always very good. Can't really think of a worst, I seem to like everything :p.

 

 

I'm probably opening up a can of worms, but on our October/November Maasdam cruise the soups in the Main Dining Room were all "pour over" soups. We did not experience this when we were on the Maasdam in November, 2015 and the maître d' on our most recent cruise said it was something that Seattle had recently implemented. What this meant was that the waiter now brought out a bowl for each person that ordered soup and it contained at most 1 tablespoon of "stuff" in it. Then he would bring over a small little teapot that would contain the broth or the cream part of the soup. He would pour this onto the "stuff". Unfortunately, the broths all seem to be very watered down, weak and not very flavorful and there was never enough "stuff" to start with. And, none of the soups were ever hot enough. We had fixed dining and at our table for six no one enjoyed this new concept. Does anyone think it's good? Maybe we just had a bad soup chef for the entire 52 day cruise but my husband and I used to order the soups at every single dinner since we loved them. However, after a couple of weeks on our most recent cruise we ordered salads instead. This "pour over" technique also added to the already overworked waiter's workload.

 

 

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[Florida_gal_50]

I'm probably opening up a can of worms, but on our October/November Maasdam cruise the soups in the Main Dining Room were all "pour over" soups. We did not experience this when we were on the Maasdam in November, 2015 and the maître d' on our most recent cruise said it was something that Seattle had recently implemented. What this meant was that the waiter now brought out a bowl for each person that ordered soup and it contained at most 1 tablespoon of "stuff" in it. Then he would bring over a small little teapot that would contain the broth or the cream part of the soup. He would pour this onto the "stuff". Unfortunately, the broths all seem to be very watered down, weak and not very flavorful and there was never enough "stuff" to start with. And, none of the soups were ever hot enough. We had fixed dining and at our table for six no one enjoyed this new concept. Does anyone think it's good? Maybe we just had a bad soup chef for the entire 52 day cruise but my husband and I used to order the soups at every single dinner since we loved them. However, after a couple of weeks on our most recent cruise we ordered salads instead. This "pour over" technique also added to the already overworked waiter's workload.

 

 

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I'm not a fan of it either. Just bring the soup in a bowl please.

[daisybertie]

Never heard of this! Sounds awful. We were on the Maasdam relocation cruise from Seattle to Sydney this year and only ate in the Lido. The soups there were really lovely, a big bowl straight out of the serving pot! Other favourites were the cinnamon rolls, the bread pudding and the ice cream. Worst thing was the pizza.

[mek]

I had terrible , tough lamb one night in the MDR on Eurodam and the same night DH had almost raw duck. It was not a good meal.

 

The prime rib was pretty good on the last night, but overall, I really didn't care for the food in the MDR.

[crystalspin]

Best: Made to order lunch pasta in the Lido, with LOTS of veggies and about a tablespoon of spiral pasta (I eat low-carb, so even that is a splurge).

 

Worst: Some sugar-free dessert in MDR -- also flavor-free.

[whogo]

Best: Lamb

Worst: The sauces that accompany beef and lamb. They make the meat taste worse, not better.

 

DW was crazy about lemon sorbet they served years ago, it had little bits of lemon in it.

[headhunterke]

I travel solo and do not like to sit with others in the MDR during dinner, so I often go to the Lido. I can not help it, but I find the food in the Lido during the evening much less exciting than during lunch. Average is how I can describe it at best, especially during the evenings.

 

The best thing I ever ate: The first time I put a spoon of bread pudding in my mouth. That was a true revelation! And as for "real food" I can't name 1 things as there are many dishes that stand out.

[Vict0riann]

I love the lamb and the duck on board. They do both very well. My favourite at breakfast are the little pastries - especially the ones with chopped pecans on top. I, also, think the Lido desserts are tasteless. DH loves the soups.

 

 

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[EDLOS]

Worst Pizza on Oosterdam in July made with CHEDDAR cheese.... had an orange glow to the top and tasted yuck! Two premade choices.

 

Best pizza on Eurodam in November TA....Thin crust, great toppings (pick your own) and MOZZARELLA cheese... delicious ! line around the aft deck every day.

[debut]

Taking our first Hollland cruise on the Maasdam in February. We always eat in the Lido on Our cruises for our meals. I am sure there will be enough there we will like to eat. Just wondering about bread, salad, meat to make a sandwich and ice cream, is all this available in the Lido? I love cookies so hope they are there also. Husband is big breakfast eater, loves bacon, eggs, toast, etc. I am mostly cereal person. Anyone have any info about the lido, would love to know

Thank you

Debbie

[kazu]

Taking our first Hollland cruise on the Maasdam in February. We always eat in the Lido on Our cruises for our meals. I am sure there will be enough there we will like to eat. Just wondering about bread, salad, meat to make a sandwich and ice cream, is all this available in the Lido? I love cookies so hope they are there also. Husband is big breakfast eater, loves bacon, eggs, toast, etc. I am mostly cereal person. Anyone have any info about the lido, would love to know

Thank you

Debbie

 

Lots of info on the Lido on these boards. You'll find lots of eggs, bacon, toasts, cereals and more at breakfast.

 

Lots of salad for lunch, ice cream, etc. Sandwiches are available by ready made and on some ships, it sounds like made to order are coming back. Not sure if that is the case on the Maasdam. If you want to make your own you may need to get a bit creative, but it can certainly be done ;)

[Hlitner]

We are confirmed "foodies" and could list many likes and dislikes. But, as weird as it might seem, my favorite item on HAL was when they had Wagyu Beef Burgers in the Pinnacle at lunch! Unfortunately, that has gone the way of "cut backs" and been replaced with more ordinary beef. We are surprised at the number of folks who listed Pinnacle steaks as their best item. We have had some good steak in the Pinnacle....but none came close to the quality we get in a real land-based steakhouse. But that Waygu Burger was just amazing....

 

Hank

[saxon6732]

Best - Cornflake crusted Hawaiian Hebi

Worst - Baked Alaska

[Zwervend]

Best - a mushroom strudel. Absolutely nothing else on the menu appealed to me that night so I picked it by default. It was delicious.

Worst - there's an awful lot to choose from, but I'd have to say the desserts. Pretty to look at, but tasteless.

[St. Louis Sal]

I've had lots of good dishes on HAL (wasabi tenderloin in Tamarind and flourless chocolate cake in MDR all time favorites) but the absolute worst ever was the Caesar salad soup. Yuck! Rudi you were really reaching on that one. Have no idea why we even ordered it :)

 

St. Louis Sal

[Dobermangal]

Best... Lamb Wellington. Only encountered it once on a long intinerary about 4 years ago and have been hoping it might appear again ever since. It was amazing.

[summersigh]

Just back from the Zuiderdam ...

Best - the Lamb the first time it appeared on the menu:) Cooked to tender perfection

 

Worst - the Lamb the second time it appeared on the menu a few days later:( Dry and overdone. (broke my heart):(

[Karennella]

I cannot think of any particular item that was great on our Koningsdam cruise last year, but I generally found the food good; what we here call "club food" ie decent mass catering food.

But my disappointment was lamb shanks. I like them to be falling off the bone, not served like steak. Also I am not a sweet tooth and I did not especially like the desserts; too sweet and creamy.

[erewhon]

Taking our first Hollland cruise on the Maasdam in February. We always eat in the Lido on Our cruises for our meals. I am sure there will be enough there we will like to eat. Just wondering about bread, salad, meat to make a sandwich and ice cream, is all this available in the Lido? I love cookies so hope they are there also. Husband is big breakfast eater, loves bacon, eggs, toast, etc. I am mostly cereal person. Anyone have any info about the lido, would love to know

Thank you

Debbie

 

At lunch time, there is a selection of breads, salad ingredients, cold meats etc, if you wish to make your own sandwich.

If you wish to have salad, the server will give you your choices in a bowl or on a plate, and ask which dressing you would like.

There is an ice cream station by the desserts, the flavours are listed on a screen.

Cookies are available.

[MisterBill99]

I had terrible , tough lamb one night in the MDR on Eurodam and the same night DH had almost raw duck. It was not a good meal.

Was it duck breast? That is best served medium-rare (same as rack of lamb). I also like my salmon cooked that way, and from a few "worsts" here it seems like HAL cooks it that way, at least at times. I almost never order salmon on a cruise ship because I figure it's going to be overcooked but maybe I should give it a try on HAL!

 

Related question: when they serve tuna as an entree, is it actually possible to get it served rare?

 

On Celebrity in the Blu dining room (for Aqua Class cabins), I could not get them to do the duck breast properly, it was always fully cooked (and terrible). The maitre'd kept telling me they could not cook it that way, yet the menu listing had an asterisk warning against eating under-cooked food, so clearly it was intended to be served medium-rare.

 

Someone on this board who is posting photos of his Eurodam cruise just posted a photo of the menu screen outside of Tamarind, and it appears that the duck dish in "Wood" is now duck breast (although I haven't seen an updated print menu online). I'm really looking forward to trying that when we're on board in a couple of months.

Edited January 2, 2017 by MisterBill99

[RMLincoln]

There's rarely on the menu a Chocolate Purse dessert, sometimes goes by a German or Austrian sounding name, and for that reason we almost missed it, but I think that is a quite amazing dessert.

 

The lamb is usually a sure bet whereas the beef can be hit or miss.

The "fresh catch" fish is usually excellent - last cruise the macadamia crusted barramundi stole the show.

 

My halibut in PG was not good - tasteless and dry but I'd had so much other wonderful food including the scampi prawn it is paired with, I just left the halibut on my plate. Next time I'm going for filet or lamb chops.

 

Worst desserts... there's a lot to pick from but watermelon pie comes to mind, also the pina colada creme brulee... the waiter warned me very few people eat it but I gave it a try, 2 bites and asked for a sorbet instead.

 

Fun and informative thread! Thanks, m--