Dave’s Live from Zuiderdam Voyage of the Vikings, July 30 – Sept. 3, 2019

[Mtn2Sea]

Looks like a great itinerary.  Looking forward to your review and observations.

[RetiredMustang]

4 hours ago, freestyling said:

Please let us know if any special dinners are offered and the surcharge amount. Thanks

 

On the first 10-day voyage planner, there are listed:

- a pop-up Rudi's Sel De Mer on Aug. 3 in the Pinnacle Grill.  This is usual now a couple or more times a cruise.  

- a Rijstaffel dinner in the Pinnacle on Aug. 7.  I know what a rijstaffel is and may attend.  This is the first time I've seen it listed.

- a Cellar Master Dinner in the Pinnacle Grill on Aug. 8.  Again, usually held once or twice a cruise.

 

I will try to get the menus and costs and post them.

 

Dave

 

[RetiredMustang]

6 hours ago, RetiredMustang said:

 

According to today's When and Where (which I will post in full later), at 5 p.m., there is Ballroom Dance Hour (pre-recorded) in the Ocean Bar.  That tells me no live band.  I will also report later from personal observation of the bar made at that time. 😁

 

 

Also, happy hours are listed at 4 p.m. in the Ocean Bar and Crow's Nest, and at 10 p.m. in Billboard Onboard (deck 2).

 

Dave

 

Pre-recorded music played starting at 5 p.m.; no band.

 

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

5 hours ago, taxmantoo said:

Thank you for the amazing amount of info and Bon Voyage !

If you have the opportunity, could you please find out the names of the piano players in Billboard Onbard?

 

I will certainly try, and will report back if I have success.  (Weren't we cruise mates on the Viking Passage on Eurodam in 2009; with Captain Darrin "Hurricane" Bowland?)

 

We are not piano bar patrons, being early to bed types.  But we have heard some (pretty strong) opinions about the piano bar being in the Billboard Onboard on those ships that have been modified.  The objection is not to the musicians, but rather that of the fact it is open to the casino across the aisle, and it is difficult to get into the music with the ping-ping-ping-wheeeel-offff-forrrtuune! playing loudly in the background.  (I have not read Ruth's opinion, but I bet it's impressive and expressive.)

 

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

3 hours ago, boards said:

Would you please comment on the new job classification of "Cruise and Travel Director"   On our Koningsdam cruise last Oct.-Nov. 2018, they were two different persons.   Hoping that the position is well accepted by all, including the C&TD.

 

O.K., that is a new one on me.  It seems to me the EXC director is the travel director, while the cruise director is, well, the CD.  Has running the EXC been added to the CD's job?  I will try to find out, but I'm not sure I can get a definitive answer.

 

Dave

 

[RetiredMustang]

KK, Robert, et al,

 

Thanks for the support.  But, since I see a red bar that says CC will start forum maintenance at 9 ET, and the fact that we lose an hour tonight en route to Sydney, NS, I will sign off for today and report on our stay in Bar Harbor sometime tomorrow.

 

Dave

[taxmantoo]

23 minutes ago, RetiredMustang said:

 

I will certainly try, and will report back if I have success.  (Weren't we cruise mates on the Viking Passage on Eurodam in 2009; with Captain Darrin "Hurricane" Bowland?)

 

We are not piano bar patrons, being early to bed types.  But we have heard some (pretty strong) opinions about the piano bar being in the Billboard Onboard on those ships that have been modified.  The objection is not to the musicians, but rather that of the fact it is open to the casino across the aisle, and it is difficult to get into the music with the ping-ping-ping-wheeeel-offff-forrrtuune! playing loudly in the background.  (I have not read Ruth's opinion, but I bet it's impressive and expressive.)

 

Dave

Thank you Dave.

We have sailed with Captain Bowland a few times on Eurodam but never on a Viking Passage.  

We are regular Piano Bar patrons and do prefer the old style version of the closed in Piano Bar on the Vista ships or even the Mix type setup of the smaller ships.  The times they are a'changin...

[erewhon]

Hello Dave,

Thanks for doing a live review of your cruise, will be following along.

Hope you both have a fantastic cruise.

[RetiredMustang]

July 31, Bar Harbor (Cont.)

 

We approached Bar Harbor in the morning, in a heavy fog, with the ship’s horn sounding as we went.  But as we went, the fog started to thin, and sunlight filtered down, making the mist a golden if somewhat spectral sight.   As we got to our place in the harbor, the fog had lifted a lot, but it was still misty:

 

 

 

However, the fog rolled back in, making tendering a slow go to shore to begin with.  But, as the morning progressed, the sun came out more and more, although I’m afraid those with early tours to Cadillac Mountain may not have seen much from the top.

 

There are so many 4 and 5-star Mariners on board that they had us gather in the Ocean Bar to get tender tickets.  When we were ready, shortly after 10, we went there and got tickets, and were called about 10 minutes later.  The ship was running some tours as well as other passengers in the same tender, and presumably everyone was able to go ashore in a reasonable amount of time.

 

We had been in Bar Harbor twice in October 2014, on Veendam for a Boston-Quebec-Boston b2b cruise, and had toured Acadia National Park both times.  So, this time, we decided just to walk about the town a bit, and see if we could get lunch at the West Street Café, which we had done in 2014.

 

The weather turned out to be great for walking about, mostly sunny with temps in the low 70s F/low 20s C.  I took a few shots of the town, which is very pretty, if somewhat crowded with vacationers and us cruise passengers.  Here are a few shots, including one a puffin we spotted, and one of Zuiderdam, still somewhat in mist:

 

 

 

 

 

 

We got to the West Street Café in due course, and were surprised, as the building has been changed since 2014.  Then, it was a one-story wooden-frame house-like structure built in, at a guess, the 1950s.  It had not many booths/tables to seat customers, and a line of people waiting to get in.  But, the food was reportedly good, so we waited our turn and were glad we did.  Today, we found a new-looking, multi-story structure, with signs for the house specials on the outside wall:

 

 

 

 

Inside was light, airy and spacious, with much more seating, including an upper story section.  There was also a nice bar along one wall.  The visit was for me, so I could have the lobster special again.  I had gotten a lobster roll while in Boston (after all, it’s the law – when you visit Boston you must have a lobster roll), but I wanted the West Street special as well.  DW does not like most seafood, and had a salad with chicken.  I ordered the lobster special, with a 1-1/4 lb. lobster, fries and coleslaw.    Another special added a cup of clam chowder and blueberry pie, but I didn’t want that much food.  The prices are “market” prices, and so vary.  I got a shot of the current prices:

 

 

 

You could probably get similar prices at many other places in Bar Harbor, but we like this place.  Here is a shot DW took of me with my lunch; I was wearing a silly, but functional as it turns out, plastic bib and a goofy lobster-eating grin:

 

 

 

 

More later,

Dave

 

 

[RetiredMustang]

July 31, Bar Harbor (Cont.)

 

After lunch, we strolled about some more, and then took a tender back to the ship.  The tenders were new, ones that we had not encountered before on other HAL ships.  They seemed larger, and the interior was more spacious, with bench seating.  They were cool, in both senses of the word – as we were going back to the ship, we felt the air conditioning kick in and blow cool air into the tender.  Here are some photos:

 

 

 

 

 

Has anyone else seen these on other HAL ships?  I hope they spread throughout the fleet, as they are more comfortable than the older versions, and the a/c would have been welcome on those times when we have bobbed about in a hot port while waiting our turn to go to the tender pier. 

 

 

More later,

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

July 31, Bar Harbor (Cont.)

 

We rested for a bit after coming back aboard, and then went to the first happy hour, in the Ocean Bar.  Afterwards, we went to dinner.  Here is the MDR dinner menu:

 

 

 

We both had the butternut squash soup (excellent).  DW had the strip steak, and I had the spaghetti aglio e olio with shrimp.  I also caught a shot of the dessert menu from our stateroom TV:

 

 

 

And, for comparison, here is the Lido dinner menu (I will see if I can manage to post it only once this time instead of twice like before – I’m still getting used to the new CC format).

 

 

 

More later,

Dave

[jbhcw]

Following....great photos!  

[Krazy Kruizers]

Great reporting.

 

Hate that the old time sing-along Piano Bars are disappearing.

 

We love Bar Harbor -- walking around -- eating lobster, etc.

 

Great pictures.  Not sure I like the new lifeboats.  Air conditioning is great but no support for the back.

[ski ww]

Bon Voyage, great itinerary. Looking forward to reading your posts.

[jimbri]

Wonderful review and photos.  Looks like a great itinerary.  Enjoy!!

[RetiredMustang]

Aug. 1, at sea

 

Here are the pages of today’s When and Where:

 

 

 

 

 

More later,

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Specialty dinners

 

To get back to you, I have tracked down info on specialty dinners.

 

First, the Rudi’s Sel de Mer pop-up dinner on Aug 3.  Price is $49 per person.  Here is the menu:

 

 

 

Next is the Indonesian Rijsttafel, on Aug. 7 and 24.  Cost is $30 per person, according to the Pinnacle Grill receptionist.  Here is the menu:

 

 

 

 

And, the Cellar Master Dinner on Aug. 8, $95 per person:

 

 

 

More later,

Dave

[Mtn2Sea]

Your lobster lunch looks really good!  I guess I’ll try to enjoy my ham sandwich at lunch today while dreaming about returning to Maine.  Thanks for your thorough review.

[freestyling]

Thanks for posting the menus and pricing Dave. Love the Indonesian dinner. Let us know how you like it if you decide to go. It will be interesting to see how they change things up for the return journey. Thanks again.

[Cruising-along]

I'm enjoying this so much, thank you!  Looking forward to reliving the ports from our 2018 VOV.  

[FlorenceItaly]

I look forward to following along.

Thank you so much for taking the time to post all this information.  It is greatly appreciated.

[puppycanducruise]

Thank you so much for taking us along.

Your lobster lunch looked great!

Looking forward to more.

[cruisinteach2]

Excited to be following along - thanks for posting! Special friends are traveling with you so will be looking for them in your pictures.

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

Dave,  always enjoy your "Live Froms". Thanks for taking the time to do them.

I will be on the Zuiderdam for her late September cruise NY to Quebec and am interested in any comments you have as to the condition of the ship. Those new tender boats look quite nice. Friends I am traveling with want to go to the Bar Harbor Inn for the full lobster bake but your choice of the West Street Café looks pretty good to me.

[RetiredMustang]

Aug. 1, at sea (Cont.)

 

Today we sailed mostly in fog, headed toward Sydney, Nova Scotia.  The fog/mist would build and then recede, and then return. And the ship sounded the fog horn a lot.  I also kind of drifted in and out.  I attended the Cruise Critic M&G from 10-11, which was held in the Billboard Onboard and was well attended; dozens of people showed up, possibly as many as 100 or more.  I was able to match up with sansterre and we discussed blogging.  After lunch, I attended the military meeting in the EXC for a while. 

 

Then, it was relaxing in the stateroom or on the balcony a bit, and then dressing for the first Gala Night before heading to happy hour in the Ocean Bar.  The dinner menu was what we have taken to call Gala Menu One, as it varies almost not at all from cruise to cruise.  Here is the combined dinner and dessert menu:

 

 

 

I had the shrimp cocktail, the ricotta-stuffed shells and the Black Forest Cake.  DW had the Iberico ham and the mushroom risotto, both of which dishes are among her favorites, and followed with one of the top two HAL desserts in her book, the chocolate soufflé.

 

 

And, here is the Lido dinner menu:

 

 

It was a lazy, easy, relaxing day -- perfect for me, since I am lazy, easy and generally relaxed.  So why am I so beat?  I’m so bushed I will probably only blog for an hour or so and then read for another before turning in 😉.

 

 

More later,

Dave