LAFFNVEGAS "LIVE" from the Nieuw Amsterdam, First HAL Ship to Sail!!

[aliaschief]

17 minutes ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

Actually ever we have spoke to have been long time crew. I actually recognize several. 

Great to hear! We have been concerned as many of us.

[highland cruiser]

Thank you, Lisa for all your information.  Appreciate you taking the time to do all the posting and answering questions.  Good to know about wine packages and mariner receptions.  I am sure it will take some time to get back into everything working smoothly.  I am so happy for the crew that is back at work.  Sounds like everyone is glad to be back on a HAL ship. 

Enjoy every minute of your trip. 

 

 

 

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Tonight was the first Gala night. 
yes the menu did improve slightly from what was originally posted sometime this morning. 
what they don’t post anywhere is the Club Orange entree which I actually ordered this evening. It was Bone in Veal Cutlet with Mushroom Risotto and Asparagus. Tom had the Beef Tenderloin.

our server offered coffee so that was good. We have early dinner at 5:30 but unfortunately there was only one Captain’s Toast and that was at 6:45 we did not get the Main Entrees till  6:20 so there was no way to make the Captains Toast. We would not even have made it to the first performance of Humanity, luckily we were not planning on seeing it since we have seen it three times on our last three HAL cruises. We actually just relaxed some watch a small amount of whale activity outside. We were cruising very slow. 
with Gala night many of you asked about dress. Now I do think there is often a slight difference between those that dine early and those that dine late. I think late diners see more passengers dressed up. With being early Tom said he felt more dressed up than most. There were absolutely no men in a tux, we maybe saw 7 or 8 men in a jacket and tie. Many wearing just a plain shirt no tie. Women for the most part were dressed nice, a few with sparkly tops. No super formal dresses. Many with just slacks and nice top.

Below is food photos if they upload.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Well shockingly the WiFi is strong tonight must be not many using it right now. Lol

Here is tomorrow’s When and Where. 
We also turn our clock back tonight one hour.

 

[ksmaxey]

The invitation to the reception was in our cabin last evening when we returned.  I am guessing others who planned to attend the roll call had a similar experience and that may explain the attendance.  I apologize that we didn't make it.

[canadianbear]

Your dinner looked delicious!!  We rarely found anything on the Club Orange menu way back on our last cruise December 2019.   Since we had anytime dining we did find we were seated almost immediately though at a two top when we checked in at the CO desk.  Were you not given a different menu with the extra CO entree? 
 

Always nice to see whale action-so many miss the wildlife enroute to Alaska.  
 

Great when the clocks go back an hour too.  Enjoy your evening! 
 

 

 

[zelker]

@LAFFNVEGAS  How was the veal?

 

AND

 

Would you mind posting a photo of Canaletto’s nightly specials part of the menu so we can plan accordingly.  

 

Thx.

[dmcfad2]

Entertainment seems to be lacking. Just a movie on the main stage? Hmmm.

[Radbooks]

2 minutes ago, dmcfad2 said:

Entertainment seems to be lacking. Just a movie on the main stage? Hmmm.

That's pretty typical on a late port night.

[Coffeeluvr05]

The food looks delicious! We don’t have club orange and we have booked the Pinnacle Grill for embarkation evening. As a HAL newcomer is there any reason not to do a specialty restaurant on embarkation night?

[dmcfad2]

Deleted

Edited July 26, 2021 by dmcfad2

[Boytjie]

4 hours ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

Yes it appears everything in the spa is open. Oddly Lido pool and hot tubs were empty with no water yesterday but hydro pool in Thermal suite was bubbling away. But water was aft today to Lido pool but when we walked by at lunch it still was closed. They had probably added chemicals so could not let people in yet.

 

Thank you. 🙂

[zgscl]

23 minutes ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

Well shockingly the WiFi is strong tonight must be not many using it right now. Lol

Here is tomorrow’s When and Where. 
We also turn our clock back tonight one hour.

 

Lisa, thank you again so much for taking time out of your vacation to post and keep us all updated. I am hoping to return the favor in 3 weeks when we are onboard! 

[dmcfad2]

10 minutes ago, Radbooks said:

That's pretty typical on a late port night.

Yes, you’re right. I was thinking that was tonight’s program.. I’m a dummy. LOL

[LAFFNVEGAS]

35 minutes ago, canadianbear said:

Your dinner looked delicious!!  We rarely found anything on the Club Orange menu way back on our last cruise December 2019.   Since we had anytime dining we did find we were seated almost immediately though at a two top when we checked in at the CO desk.  Were you not given a different menu with the extra CO entree? 
 

Always nice to see whale action-so many miss the wildlife enroute to Alaska.  
 

Great when the clocks go back an hour too.  Enjoy your evening! 
 

 

 

They are avoiding all menus and want everyone to upload menu from the QR but they don’t have a QR for Club Orange.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

36 minutes ago, zelker said:

@LAFFNVEGAS  How was the veal?

 

AND

 

Would you mind posting a photo of Canaletto’s nightly specials part of the menu so we can plan accordingly.  

 

Thx.

Here is Canaletto 

 

[LAFFNVEGAS]

31 minutes ago, Coffeeluvr05 said:

The food looks delicious! We don’t have club orange and we have booked the Pinnacle Grill for embarkation evening. As a HAL newcomer is there any reason not to do a specialty restaurant on embarkation night?

No, not at all, we often do Tamarind but decided to wait a few days. We are doing Tamarind tomorrow night but when we return in September we have reservations already for Tamarind. Then we usually always do Pinnacle the last night.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

40 minutes ago, zelker said:

@LAFFNVEGAS  How was the veal?

 

AND

 

Would you mind posting a photo of Canaletto’s nightly specials part of the menu so we can plan accordingly.  

 

Thx.

I forgot to answer you on the vela, it was actually very good. Definitely would get again.

[Calicokat]

Canaletto's menu is not legible. If possible can you try photographing again ? Lisa, you have been over the top helpful! 

[zgscl]

1 minute ago, Calicokat said:

Canaletto's menu is not legible. If possible can you try photographing again ? Lisa, you have been over the top helpful! 

If you have the navigator app the one posted appears to be the same I am seeing from home. Actually the MDR menus have so far matched from home which would be a great feature for those of us looking ahead to future cruises! 

[Coffeeluvr05]

2 minutes ago, Calicokat said:

Canaletto's menu is not legible. If possible can you try photographing again ? Lisa, you have been over the top helpful! 

The full menu is available in the Navigator app.

[atexsix]

3 hours ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

OMG 😱 that would have been really nice to know about. We were never told nor given an invitation. We are almost 5 star but never hear a word of this. This really makes me sad and sort of angry 😢

Is it me or do they not quite have their stuff together?  A lot of oversights, and I know it's been 14 months, but some of it is just newbie to me.  I'm sure I will get ripped one here, but Lisa has a right to be angry, not difficult to find out who your 4 n 5 stars are, especially a ship only half full.

Edited July 26, 2021 by atexsix

[dmcfad2]

I am trying to pull up menus on my Navigator app here at home by clicking on “Experiences” then “dining and drinks” but only get a blank page. I wonder what I’m doing wrong?

[atexsix]

24 minutes ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

They are avoiding all menus and want everyone to upload menu from the QR but they don’t have a QR for Club Orange.

That means I will be doing all the work, no way Dear Dad will figure out the app, he can't even figure out the volume rocker.....sigh.

[zgscl]

3 minutes ago, dmcfad2 said:

I am trying to pull up menus on my Navigator app here at home by clicking on “Experiences” then “dining and drinks” but only get a blank page. I wonder what I’m doing wrong?

For me I am on the home page, then when you scroll down under dining you can select the restaurant and on that page there is a link to the menus