Live from Nieuw Statendam Premier Voyage, December 2018

[kazu]

6 minutes ago, OVgirl said:

The whole menu at Sel de Mer is a la carte, so you either get a discount or you don't( for every item ordered).

 

Stupid me of course it is.

 

I forgot.  I've only done the 'pop up".  You're right they should get the discount (I hope).  Apologies.  I forgot about the Pinnacle class a la carte.

[kazu]

2 hours ago, dfish said:

Fruits de Mer was always $49 at the restaurant on the Koningsdam.  It was only $25 at the pop up restaurants because you were already paying $49 to dine there.   

 

When I was planning a cruise on the Koningsdam with my sister and Dad, they were adamant they were getting the Fruits de Mer and we discussed the $49 cost regularly.   That was the cruise we had to cancel due to my broken hip.

 

Deb

 

yes, I forgot it was a la carte on this ship.  I've only done pop up.

 

apologies again 

[rkacruiser]

1 hour ago, sppunk said:

They moved the salt-encrusted branzino 

 

I am not familiar with this fish.  What is so special about it that would entice me to order it?

[deck chair]

2 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

A previous post said that stolen books from the Library would cost HAL $2,000,000 to replace.  Having a cruise staff member whose responsibility was overseeing the Library and re-instituting the check out of books such as once was done would not cost Two Million dollars.  To reach such a figure would take many years in the salary paid for such an employee. 

Hi

 

All Cunard ships have wonderful libraries with real librarians who check the books out and back in.  Great system.  

Deck Chair.

Edited December 7, 2018 by deck chair

[Cruiser Bruiser]

52 minutes ago, stickey_mouse said:

Are the Billboard shows in the main theater a thing of the past? 

That's a once-per-cruise production show. I just saw it on Nieuw Amsterdam a couple weeks ago. I'm sure they will have it on NS, too. Saying that, I think HAL needs to come up with a few new production shows to add to the mix, as I'm worried that One World and Billboard Live will end up on all of HAL's large ships.

[rkacruiser]

1 minute ago, deck chair said:

Hi

 

All Cunard 

 

I don't understand your response to my post.  When I sailed on QM2, there was a dedicated staff person for her Library.  I assume that this is the same for the other Cunard ships.  But, "All Cunard"?  Not really sure what you are saying.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Wonder why HAL is making so many menu changes in the specialty restaurants -- getting rid of items that many people like??

[sppunk]

1 hour ago, rkacruiser said:

 

I am not familiar with this fish.  What is so special about it that would entice me to order it?

A tender semi-sweet whitefish cased in salt, bathed, then removed from its salt home. It’s divine.

[dfish]

2 hours ago, kazu said:

 

yes, I forgot it was a la carte on this ship.  I've only done pop up.

 

apologies again 

It is hard to keep track of all the various variations from ship to ship.

[aliaschief]

2 hours ago, Krazy Kruizers said:

Wonder why HAL is making so many menu changes in the specialty restaurants -- getting rid of items that many people like??

 

Like any restaurant maybe what the individual diner thinks is a great dinner;  is not a favorite among the masses. The day of the week special of liver and onions does not seem to be on the new menu.  However, we had it on our Koningsdam cruise and everyone at the table agreed it was the best selection of the night

 

Obviously many folks don’t like liver and onions and now seems removed from the  restaurant menu and replaced. Hal has the statistic not us.

 

. Again who orders Liver and Onions in a primarily seafood restaurant? I did and it was the best ever.

 

Other than that;  Sol De Mer was a nice alternative dining experience.

 

Restaurants frequently change menus based on how many are ordering specific selections. Obviously they have statistics and have changed menu to please and hopefully sell new entres.

 

 

Edited December 7, 2018 by aliaschief

[deck chair]

3 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

I don't understand your response to my post.  When I sailed on QM2, there was a dedicated staff person for her Library.  I assume that this is the same for the other Cunard ships.  But, "All Cunard"?  Not really sure what you are saying.

Hi

 

Thanks for the comment.  By all Cunard ships I mean the Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria and the Queen Elizabeth.   That completes the Cunard fleet.  All of them have splendid staffed libraries.

 

Deck Chair.

[Vict0riann]

6 hours ago, POA1 said:

 

Take your iPad down to the front desk with the screen open to this Live From and tell them, "Hi. I'm Ann from British Columbia. I'm doing a live blog of this cruise. We're barely getting started and we have over 14,000 views, so I'm kind of a big deal. I was wondering if you could help me?"

 

That is so funny!  Just looked at your Christmas blog, and you have over 80,000 views, so I am a mere peasant in comparison.

 

actually I checked the account this morning to see if the Night Accountant had done his job, but everything remains the same, and we have $126 in laundry charges!  😬 

 

there are are a few items in the room that are not quite right, too, and I am wondering if we should  notify the Front Desk or just go to Wayan, our room steward.  Like the TV remote doesn’t do much.  We get this notice all the time

 

Edited December 7, 2018 by Vict0riann

[Vict0riann]

6 hours ago, sppunk said:

That Sel de Mer menu makes me sad. They moved the salt-encrusted branzino to a once-a-week special and removed the moules frites entirely. 

 

Those were my two of our favorite thing there. Damn.

 

Our waiter, Gabriel, whom we met on Koningsdam, told us they do have mussels at the moment, fresh!  I had a problem with the moules frites on the K as the were vacuum packed, and many did not open.  I was annoyed they did not remove the unopened ones.

 

i missed the whitebait!  I mentioned that and the Manager said others had said the same.  

 

While we were at S de M last night the Pinnacle manager came in to say she was having to bump us from our reservation tonight as they were having a private function.  (We have heard the “bigwigs” are leaving in Malaga.)  We rebooked for the night between Malaga and Funchal, and she said she would treat us to the premium wine tasting - which is  taking place in Club Orange.  We also booked the Cellar Master dinner, which is evidently $79 on this cruise.  Our CM, I think his name is spelt Czaba - pronounced Chaba - presented us with a lovely bottle of champagne at dinner last

night, we have met him on a few cruises.  Fernando had told me he would be the CM, but evidently he disembarked in Rome after he set everything up.

 

we are having a good time!

[scluvsrain]

Welcome to Cartegena, Spain. We have arrived!

[scluvsrain]

[Vict0riann]

BTW it’s not going to be 90 in Cartagena today- just 60.....

 

 

[POA1]

3 hours ago, Vict0riann said:

That is so funny!  Just looked at your Christmas blog, and you have over 80,000 views, so I am a mere peasant in comparison.

I expect that your numbers will wind up kicking my butt. (1) You're on a brand new ship's inaugural sailing. That's something people are very curious about. (2) Your thread has many, many excellent photos of things people have never seen before. 

 

And of course, (3) Twice as many stuffed animal mascots! 

 

Keep after the auditors. I'd be voicing my concerns both verbally and in writing. Just give them a summary note of what you want fixed or adjusted. Snap a photo of your note so you have a record. Just state your issue, hand them the note, and say, "Here's your copy." That tells the customer service rep that there's another copy floating around out there and you have written documentation regarding the issue you discussed with them. (I call this "the sword of Damocles" method. It's very effective.) [Dang it! That's the kind of high quality customer advocacy advice I should have saved for my upcoming "Live From." I'm never going to make my viewership numbers now. ) 

Edited December 7, 2018 by POA1

[kazu]

3 hours ago, Vict0riann said:

 

Our waiter, Gabriel, whom we met on Koningsdam, told us they do have mussels at the moment, fresh!  I had a problem with the moules frites on the K as the were vacuum packed, and many did not open.  I was annoyed they did not remove the unopened ones.

 

i missed the whitebait!  I mentioned that and the Manager said others had said the same.  

 

While we were at S de M last night the Pinnacle manager came in to say she was having to bump us from our reservation tonight as they were having a private function.  (We have heard the “bigwigs” are leaving in Malaga.)  We rebooked for the night between Malaga and Funchal, and she said she would treat us to the premium wine tasting - which is  taking place in Club Orange.  We also booked the Cellar Master dinner, which is evidently $79 on this cruise.  Our CM, I think his name is spelt Czaba - pronounced Chaba - presented us with a lovely bottle of champagne at dinner last

night, we have met him on a few cruises.  Fernando had told me he would be the CM, but evidently he disembarked in Rome after he set everything up.

 

we are having a good time!

 

Good news on the mussels, Ann 🙂

 

Glad you are having a good time - now, if you can just get your account fixed. 🤞

[kazu]

11 minutes ago, POA1 said:

I expect that your numbers will wind up kicking my butt. (1) You're on a brand new ship's inaugural sailing. That's something people are very curious about. (2) Your thread has many, many excellent photos of things people have never seen before. 

 

And of course, (3) Twice as many stuffed animal mascots! 

 

Keep after the auditors. I'd be voicing my concerns both verbally and in writing. Just give them a summary note of what you want fixed or adjusted. Snap a photo of your note so you have a record. Just state your issue, hand them the note, and say, "Here's your copy." That tells the customer service rep that there's another copy floating around out there and you have written documentation regarding the issue you discussed with them. (I call this "the sword of Damocles" method. It's very effective.) [Dang it! That's the kind of high quality customer advocacy advice I should have saved for my upcoming "Live From." I'm never going to make my viewership numbers now. ) 

 

That's a very good suggestion, Brian.

Not sure why it should be so hard to get what you are entitled to 😞 

[kazu]

3 hours ago, scluvsrain said:

 

Pretty 🙂 

[Krazy Kruizers]

Ann

 

I am enjoying your reports.  Guess you will be glad when the bigwigs get off the ship.  But at least you were compensated for the "bumped" dinner.

[puppycanducruise]

I'm taking notes.  So much info.

Thank you everyone.

[POA1]

1 hour ago, kazu said:

 

That's a very good suggestion, Brian.

Not sure why it should be so hard to get what you are entitled to 😞 

The "putting it in writing" method works surprisingly well. It really comes in handy when you have to escalate a problem. I suspect that it tells the service rep that you're the kind of person who might come back to haunt them. I learned it way back in college when I worked in customer service at Sears. Now Sears is gone, but I still have a problem resolution technique. 

[hexdragon]

5 hours ago, Vict0riann said:

BTW it’s not going to be 90 in Cartagena today- just 60.....

 

Gee that is so much better than the 20's I am getting here 

 

 

[hexdragon]

And as far as the libraries, how many people here are either bringing books already, or an iPad/Android tablet/Nook with books loaded on them? I am...