High Tea

[retiredf]

Does Holland America have (high tea) on their ships in the afternoon and how often?

[FlaMariner]

I do not know the difference between high tea or low tea.....but we've enjoyed tea (served with tea and sandwiches and sweets) at 3pm on sea days.  

 

Most of the time it has been in the MDR but we've also "had tea" in BBKings (Rotterdam). 

 

When Mother is onboard, it's a required event. 

 

 

[Mary229]

It is just tea served in the MDR with cakes and scones.  As much as I don’t like Oceana they could take a note from them and offer tea in a more congenial atmosphere with live soft music.  You could just as well go to the lido and fix a cup of tea and grab a cookie for the same ambiance available in the MDR

Edited September 18, 2023 by Mary229

[mcrcruiser]

 

Thanks for the  ingo about the high Tea in the MDR in the after noon .We were not aware HAL did this on sea days

[SargassoPirate]

Maybe I can help a bit.  It's my understanding that "High" tea is not as posh as it sounds.  "Afternoon" tea is what you'll find on a ship in the afternoon when tea is served with little sandwiches, scones, and merengues.

 

High tea is traditionally served late in the day, at a "high" table with high chairs, and includes an assortment of breads, cheeses, and meats.   It serves as an evening meal for the working class.

 

I had it explained to me in Bermuda when a traveling companion went into a big hotel there and asked for "high" tea.  He was looking for the snooty, posh, afternoon tea and  thought that high made it highfalutin when he was really asking about the plowman's supper.

 

[ExArkie]

Differentiating between high tea and afternoon tea:

https://teatimemagazine.com/high-tea-vs-afternoon-tea/

[Woofbite]

7 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

Maybe I can help a bit.  It's my understanding that "High" tea is not as posh as it sounds.  "Afternoon" tea is what you'll find on a ship in the afternoon when tea is served with little sandwiches, scones, and merengues.

 

High tea is traditionally served late in the day, at a "high" table with high chairs, and includes an assortment of breads, cheeses, and meats.   It serves as an evening meal for the working class.

 

I had it explained to me in Bermuda when a traveling companion went into a big hotel there and asked for "high" tea.  He was looking for the snooty, posh, afternoon tea and  thought that high made it highfalutin when he was really asking about the plowman's supper.

 

 

[VMax1700]

11 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

High tea is traditionally served late in the day, at a "high" table with high chairs, and includes an assortment of breads, cheeses, and meats.   It serves as an evening meal for the working class.

This is my  understanding too.  Also served as the evening meal in the old style 'boarding houses' that travelling salesmen and other transient type workers ate and overnighted in.

The 'event' on HAL ships is Afternoon Tea unless otherwise named (eg Royal Dutch Tea, Indonesian Tea etc).

[Banditswife]

Afternoon tea will be posted in the Navigator app & in the daily program.  I believe they only do this on sea days at 2:30 or 3 PM.  I have not seen a "Royal Dutch Tea" or "Indonesian Tea," but I have never looked for those-so maybe I just missed them, would like to try.

[BetsyS.]

Years ago on the Veendam they had "Royal Dutch Tea" and "Indonesian Tea."  I did not see that last year or this year on HAL ships. This summer on Zuiderdam tea was in MDR at 3 PM on sea days. It was very nice. Waiters kept refilling my tea cup and I didn't have to ask them to do it.  I wish HAL would bring back the special teas.

[neeuqdrazil]

Last week on Zuiderdam, we had afternoon tea on two days - the port day in Bar Harbor, since we left port at 3PM, and the sea day between Charlottetown and Quebec City. The sea day afternoon tea was 'French', and I'm pretty sure that the Bar Harbor tea was themed, but I didn't attend, so I can't remember.  

[Rubyfisch]

41 minutes ago, neeuqdrazil said:

Last week on Zuiderdam, we had afternoon tea on two days - the port day in Bar Harbor, since we left port at 3PM, and the sea day between Charlottetown and Quebec City. The sea day afternoon tea was 'French', and I'm pretty sure that the Bar Harbor tea was themed, but I didn't attend, so I can't remember.  

It was Dutch in Bar Harbor on my Zuiderdam cruise. Here's some pictures of the treats:

 

 

 

[Vict0riann]

When I was growing up, "high tea" meant, yum, the grownups were going out for dinner and we children would have a boiled egg and toast fingers before they left.  It was always a favourite.

[VMax1700]

12 minutes ago, Vict0riann said:

toast fingers

Soldiers?

That is what we called the toast fingers that we dipped into a runny egg.😃

[Heidi13]

3 hours ago, retiredf said:

Does Holland America have (high tea) on their ships in the afternoon and how often?

 

This is Afternoon Tea, which is a light meal consisting of finger sandwiches, scones and cakes, served with a pot of tea. Often served mid-afternoon.

 

High Tea is a more robust meal, which includes a plated dinner (choice of protein and chips), then followed up with the multi-tier plate of scones and cakes. Also served with a pot of tea, and when served in pubs, pints of ale were also available. When growing up, we often enjoyed High Tea at the local pub on a Friday evening after school. Dinner, scones, cakes and a pint were a perfect end to the week.

[Heidi13]

30 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

Soldiers?

That is what we called the toast fingers that we dipped into a runny egg.😃

 

Same here, soft boiled eggs with soldiers was a favourite breakfast.

[retiredf]

Thank you all for answering,never realized what high tea really meant

[BackNow]

Having afternoon tea in London [England], Hong Kong [China] or Victoria [Canada] at a fancy hotel can be very expensive.

 

We were not expressed with the afternoon tea at the Konningsdam MDR.  You are served tea [not very hot] from a big pot.  You don't get a choice of tea and your own tea pot on the table.  The snacks look and taste like they have been sitting around for hours if not overnight.  We didn't go the 2nd time.

[neeuqdrazil]

1 minute ago, BackNow said:

We were not expressed with the afternoon tea at the Konningsdam MDR.  You are served tea [not very hot] from a big pot.  You don't get a choice of tea and your own tea pot on the table.  The snacks look and taste like they have been sitting around for hours if not overnight.  We didn't go the 2nd time.

 

I only went once (on the sea day), and was similarly not hugely impressed. They never came back to refill my teacup, and the treats had all obviously been sitting out for quite a while after being pre-plated. 

 

I much prefer the Cunard approach. They do have a main tea offering, but you can request a different type of tea and get your own pot. The treats (finger sandwiches, warm scones with actual clotted cream and jam (in little pots; not pre-applied), and cakes and other sweet bites) are brought around on large trays and you can select what you want - if you only want cucumber sandwiches, you only get cucumber sandwiches, instead of having a tower of food most of which you don't want. They come around with teapots frequently - I don't think I've ever had my teacup be empty for more than about 30 seconds at a Cunard afternoon tea, and that was at the very end of service. 

 

You can also go up to the buffet and get the same items (scones, finger sandwiches, cakes) there, and either enjoy them there, or take a plate and a cuppa to a lounge, or out on deck if you so desire. 

[QuattroRomeo]

I'm glad to see Rubyfisch's account of the tea on Zuiderdam; it means that some ships get it right. Or at least better. Koningsdam's was not great on our Inside Passage Alaska cruise either. They poured tea once and never came back. The food was very bland, the sandwiches in particular were pretty bad. The only thing that had taste was the little chocolate cupcake. It was very crowded too that day, probably because the weather was cool and rainy, so no one wanted to go outside. That may have contributed to the poor service, but it doesn't excuse the food. The food elsewhere during the cruise was good so not sure what happened with the tea.

The event was listed as Afternoon Tea in the daily program, at 3 pm on sea days (including Glacier Bay).

[3rdGenCunarder]

It could be worse. On an American Queen ship this June, they did afternoon tea one day. They had the lovely tiered servers, and the sweets were okay. Sandwiches were a bit dry--apparently nobody knew about the trick of covering them with a damp tea towel (or plastic wrap). Except for needing more raisins, the scones were good, but the horror of horrors was that the scones were served with packets of jam, the kind you get at a diner. Tacky! And check out the flavor I got! Who does that????????????

 

 

[QuattroRomeo]

Oh boy, that's pretty sad..!

[lyndarra]

Have had High Tea at Raffles Hotel, Singapore. I've not seen high tea on a HAL ship that comes close.

Edited September 18, 2023 by lyndarra

[RuthC]

1 hour ago, lyndarra said:

I've not seen high tea on a HAL ship that comes close.

That's because HAL has never served 'high tea'. The closest they ever came was the old Royal Dutch Tea, but that is long gone. 

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, lyndarra said:

Have had High Tea at Raffles Hotel, Singapore. I've not seen high tea on a HAL ship that comes close.

 

High Tea at the Raffles is new to me. I know they serve Afternoon Tea, but never seen High Tea on any of our visits.

 

Just out of interest, what were the menu choices for the plated meal.