LAFFNVEGAS Alaska Bound...Live September 3, 2023 HAL Westerdam

[BetsyS.]

Cosmopolitan, Gourmet greens, Spiced roasted chicken, Fruit crisp of the day:

Mango blueberry crisp with vanilla ice cream, iced tea.

          Good variety on the menu!

[cccole]

Love this game.  Gourmet greens, peruvian chicken or spiced roasted chicken, fruit crisp.  And wine to drink.  Can't wait to see what you ordered!  Cherie

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Ok what I actually had. Of course had a glass of Chateau Ste Michelle Riesling, then forgot to take a picture of the Tomato Mozzarella Starter, the the Roasted Chicken with carrots and green beans and dressing. Then Passion Fruit Sorbet(not showing on the menu) and a cup of coffee.
Tom skipped the Starters but had 

the NY sirloin and a Hot Fudge Sunday.

[bellebaby]

This is a fun game.  Thanks, Lisa!

 

B

[cccole]

Looks great.  Do you have fixed dining or anytime dining?

 

Thank you for letting us cruise with you, I'm really looking forward to the adventure.  Cherie

[LAFFNVEGAS]

12 minutes ago, cccole said:

Looks great.  Do you have fixed dining or anytime dining?

 

Thank you for letting us cruise with you, I'm really looking forward to the adventure.  Cherie

We have fixed Early Dining. 

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Good Evening from the Westerdam.

we are in deck 5 corner aft and as reported previously it does really vibrate and a ver loud noise. We are ok with it but I could imagine that people who never had an aft cabin and or are fairly new to cruising would be shocked. The aft on the Vistas have always had a bad vibration but now it is very loud.

 

We had a nice early dinner, then headed to the shops, Tom bought a couple of shirts, I did not see anything but may change my mind later in the week. No shows tonight in the World Stage just a film on Alaska at 7:30 and movie Fast 10 at 9:00 pm. We actually were exhausted so decided to end the evening out early.

We will check out the Music Walk tomorrow night. Tomorrow night is a show called Major Fourth “Sing”. We will definitely check that out.

 

Signing off from the Holland America Westerdam.

 

[rafinmd]

Gourmet Greens, Peruvian Chicken, and Mango-Blueberry Crisp a la mode.

 

Roy

[kazu]

30 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

Gourmet Greens, Peruvian Chicken, and Mango-Blueberry Crisp a la mode.

 

Roy

 

the Peruvian chicken is very good.  Had it on the Koningsdam.  for you and all who chose it - it’s a Club Orange entree - only available to those who have CO.

[albingirl]

Have a wonderful time!  I always love your reviews!

[vicd1969]

1 hour ago, kazu said:

 

the Peruvian chicken is very good.  Had it on the Koningsdam.  for you and all who chose it - it’s a Club Orange entree - only available to those who have CO.

I may try that the next time i get CO. Was leery previously because there is a lot of good Peruvian chicken in the DMV area. Still have yet to dare taste the crab cakes onboard lol. Maybe @rafinmd can vouch for either ones?

[rafinmd]

22 minutes ago, vicd1969 said:

I may try that the next time i get CO. Was leery previously because there is a lot of good Peruvian chicken in the DMV area. Still have yet to dare taste the crab cakes onboard lol. Maybe @rafinmd can vouch for either ones?

Sorry I don't eat seafood.  I've tied a crab cake once and it is just not my thing.

 

Roy

[0106]

31 minutes ago, vicd1969 said:

Still have yet to dare taste the crab cakes onboard lol.

As a fellow MDer, don’t try the crabcakes.  I’m a pescatarian and was talking to the chef at the Pinnacle about what I should order.  He said, “the crabcakes.”  I said, “I’m from Md. “. He said, “Don’t order the crabcakes.”  
 

However, Peruvian chicken was one of my DH’s favorite. Also,  he ordered a “veal cutlet” dish but it looked like a veal chop to me and he said it was delicious too.

[SilvertoGold]

OK, I like this game but this is the same menu, with a few name changes, as in March and April in NZ/Australia. Also, very siiliar to 2022, May through October, Alaska and Hawaii.  I would love to see a new menu every 6 months or so!

 

Salmon Chowder, Vegetable Cutlet (fantastic!), Strawberries Romanoff and DH: Cod Slider, Salmon, Brownie Cheesecake.

Thanks, Lisa, for the great, detailed thread amd menus.  Just like being there without the calories :)

Edited September 4, 2023 by SilvertoGold

[Blackduck59]

I'm looking forward to following and finding your observations about Westerdam, we just booked a 14 day Auckland to Sydney on her for 2025.

Edited September 4, 2023 by Blackduck59

[Blackduck59]

1 hour ago, SilvertoGold said:

OK, I like this game but this is the same menu, with a few name changes, as in March and April in NZ/Australia. Also, very siiliar to 2022, May through October, Alaska and Hawaii.  I would love to see a new menu every 6 months or so!

I'm not sure there are that many cruisers who are on the same ship multiple times a year. Menus may get stale for those who do multiple cruises every year but is that the majority of guests on HAL?

[SilvertoGold]

1 hour ago, Blackduck59 said:

I'm not sure there are that many cruisers who are on the same ship multiple times a year. Menus may get stale for those who do multiple cruises every year but is that the majority of guests on HAL?

Thanks for your thoughts :)  I have no idea how many pax do more than one cruise a year (or every second year... )  We do/did different ships and the menus were... the same, with a few variations. Some of these menu items are identical to those offered pre-Covid, so it has gotten old.  When we did 5 B-Bs it was a bore after three weeks of identical menus.  We did start ordering not our first choices, but our second and third choices each evening.  

[Live4cruises]

@LAFFNVEGAS Lisa, we are in port corner aft on 5 starting October 1. We are big fans of corner afts and enjoy the rumbling and occasional creaks. Have a great trip!

[LouChamp]

Aloha. Love your posts and of course the food pictures.  All the best

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Good Morning from the Westerdam, sailing to Alaska in the Pacific 😂 that is about as detailed as I can tell you. 
Got up around 7:30 this morning, showered and went to the Pinnacle Grill for breakfast same usual breakfast. I have been attempting a better food plan which consists of lowering my bad carbs and increasing my protein so skipped any breads this morning but had the Passion fruit yogurt dish I always enjoy then an omelette with no potatoes or toast. But did have to indulge with a mimosa. It really was not overly busy in the Pinnacle but sadly service was very slow. I would have like more coffee. 
I am looking forward to our December cruise on the Nieuw Statendam to compare the difference with the Club Orange dining room. 
Right now my comparisons for recent cruising is NCL Encore Haven Restaurant that was in February and Discovery Princess Sabatini’s Suite breakfast last December. Sadly at least for breakfast HAL ranks third. 

Overall I thought food quality was very good last night and as well as lunch in the Lido. 
After breakfast we decided to visit the Neptune Lounge, definitely different. Reminded me of a smaller version of the lounges on the newer Princess Ships (Royal Class on up) Although it did not appear to have much for food offerings.

The decor was nice and relaxing and confused me at first with the door placement on starboard side.

The sun is trying to peak out. So may be coming into nice weather.
We have early dining but there is a Disneynature film in the World Stage about a family of bears in Alaska I want to see at 3pm so may try to go to that for an hour.

Interesting in The Daily I saw that at 12 noon is a Mainer Society Welcome Aboard Lunch, there were no invites for it that we saw. Doubt we will go, would rather have a lite lunch in the Lido.

Signing off now till later 😃

 

[BetsyS.]

Thank you for your reports and great pictures! 

[Sea42]

2 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

I'm not sure there are that many cruisers who are on the same ship multiple times a year. Menus may get stale for those who do multiple cruises every year but is that the majority of guests on HAL?

We only cruise every couple years or so. We have not seen all of the shows or gotten tired of the same old menus. I'm sure that's bound to happen though for those who cruise multiple times a year over many years.

We have multiple land trips scheduled between now and our next cruise. I can guarantee I won't remember what was on the menus of our last cruise!

[0106]

@LAFFNVEGASI really like these breakfasts from the “International Menu”. My favorite is is the Pan Asian.  Just skip the rice if you’re watching your carbs.  Nothing like a piece of salmon to keep you full if you have a long excursion.

[SilvertoGold]

31 minutes ago, 0106 said:

@LAFFNVEGASI really like these breakfasts from the “International Menu”. My favorite is is the Pan Asian.  Just skip the rice if you’re watching your carbs.  Nothing like a piece of salmon to keep you full if you have a long excursion.

Lisa:  The European (substitute for the herring smoked salmon or grilled salmon, as I do because I am not a fan of herring) and Fritatta (add in bacon on the side?) are favourites, quite light and tasty.  

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Let Play What’s for dinner tonight!!
It’s Dressy night what are you ordering?
We are starting with some Prosecco 🥰

Not showing is the Club Orange Entree is a Braised Short Ribs with potatoes and Asparagus but hint they let you switch out the veggie for a different veggie 😉