CrabbyHarper
November 22nd, 2004, 06:48 PM
Now a few notes on food! Every cruise is different - we usually eat most of our meals in the dining room, but this cruise we ate in the Lido a lot.
The lines were manageable, the waiters very attentive, and the food was good. For some reason we just didn't have the patience to eat in the dining room. We had one lunch where the wiener schnitzel was among the best I have ever eaten!
For Breakfast there is an omellette station in the Lido - taste is good and service pretty quick. We also liked the fruit, the salmon, and DH liked the hotcakes. We would have liked a waffle grill.
For lunch I liked the Grill near the pool, but carried my tray into the Lido. The Hamburgers, tacos, nachos ,etc were excellent! Fries better than Mickey D's! Service just a tad slow, depending on how many folks were there at once. The cooks at that grill really do hustle, though!
Dinners in the dining room were slow, but for the most part excellent. I thought the beef very tasty, the cold soups to die for, and the overall choices imaginative. There were even lighter desserts - my sister particularly liked the ice cream quality. There were indeed two lobster tails on lobster night - but I ate something else - can't remember what, but it was good.
Room service brought me cheese plates of blue and brie at my request - served quickly and cheerfully. Several nights we had hot and cold hors d'oeuvres in our suite - very nice!
I don't expect five star food on a cruise ship. I do expect good variety, nice presentation and attentive service. Maasdam provided all these. Food is literally non- stop if you want it. I had to put on the breaks where the pastries and desserts were concerned!
We dined at 5:45, which was great for us. If we could have dined at 4:45 my DH would have been more happy. Our waiter, Anggit, was competent.
One night - the second formal night - we chose not to dress up and stayed in our suite, eating hors d'oeuvres and cheese. It was the day of Barbados - I think - or one of the other ports, and we just did not feel like dressing up! Another night we ate at the barbecue on the Lido deck. DH loved the spare ribs which literally fell off the bone.
We don't cruise HAL for the food. And we are generally satisfied with everything offered - always something that even a vegan could eat - and we are carnivores! But I am diabetic and didn't find any problem with maintaining proper blood sugar levels based on diet alone- and I didn't feel deprived either!
The lines were manageable, the waiters very attentive, and the food was good. For some reason we just didn't have the patience to eat in the dining room. We had one lunch where the wiener schnitzel was among the best I have ever eaten!
For Breakfast there is an omellette station in the Lido - taste is good and service pretty quick. We also liked the fruit, the salmon, and DH liked the hotcakes. We would have liked a waffle grill.
For lunch I liked the Grill near the pool, but carried my tray into the Lido. The Hamburgers, tacos, nachos ,etc were excellent! Fries better than Mickey D's! Service just a tad slow, depending on how many folks were there at once. The cooks at that grill really do hustle, though!
Dinners in the dining room were slow, but for the most part excellent. I thought the beef very tasty, the cold soups to die for, and the overall choices imaginative. There were even lighter desserts - my sister particularly liked the ice cream quality. There were indeed two lobster tails on lobster night - but I ate something else - can't remember what, but it was good.
Room service brought me cheese plates of blue and brie at my request - served quickly and cheerfully. Several nights we had hot and cold hors d'oeuvres in our suite - very nice!
I don't expect five star food on a cruise ship. I do expect good variety, nice presentation and attentive service. Maasdam provided all these. Food is literally non- stop if you want it. I had to put on the breaks where the pastries and desserts were concerned!
We dined at 5:45, which was great for us. If we could have dined at 4:45 my DH would have been more happy. Our waiter, Anggit, was competent.
One night - the second formal night - we chose not to dress up and stayed in our suite, eating hors d'oeuvres and cheese. It was the day of Barbados - I think - or one of the other ports, and we just did not feel like dressing up! Another night we ate at the barbecue on the Lido deck. DH loved the spare ribs which literally fell off the bone.
We don't cruise HAL for the food. And we are generally satisfied with everything offered - always something that even a vegan could eat - and we are carnivores! But I am diabetic and didn't find any problem with maintaining proper blood sugar levels based on diet alone- and I didn't feel deprived either!