ekerr19
November 29th, 2004, 01:08 PM
I figured I am going to have to post this in sections, as I am still working on finishing up, we've been so busy. Here is Part I - I will work on getting the rest (along with pictures) up shortly. It was a fantastic cruise and exceeded our expectations, which was a HUGE plus. :)
Noordam III - Voyage 861 – Romantic Rivera’s Cruise 11/3/04 – 11/12/04
Captain: Pieter Visser
Hotel Manager: Dirk Verhey van Wijk
F/B Manager: Peter Carew
Cruise Director: Jack Chambers
As many of you know, this was the final sailing of the Noordam III under HAL’s flag. We were very excited to book this cruise as I was on the maiden U.S. voyage of Noordam III back in 1984.
We flew from Denver to Rome via British Airways. We were only able to fly out one day in advance, I must say – one day is not nearly enough for Rome. I fell completely in love with the city and cannot wait to return. After much deliberation (and a little help from the Cruise Critic friends) we choose the Santa Maria Hotel as our overnight stay. The Santa Maria is rated the #1 hotel in Rome on the website www.tripadvisor.com.
The hotel was located in an older part of the city – the Trastevere district – and was quite nice for the price. The rooms were very clean, quite spacious and we enjoyed cocktails and breakfast in a lovely courtyard setting. The staff was very helpful and accommodating. I would recommend this hotel to anyone looking for an experience that is different than the usual Hilton, Hyatt chain hotel. When we checked in, we asked about a good local restaurant, the concierge made reservations for us at “Taverna Trilussa” which was fabulous. We had a wonderful “family style” meal that was superb. Next time we travel to Rome, we will make a point of stopping in for dinner – the food and service were well above average.
Taverna Trilussa
Via del Politeama, 23 (Trastevere) Tel. 06/5818918 - Roma
The hotel concierge also arranged a 3-4 hour tour of Rome before we headed to Civitavecchia, and our driver was very good at getting us to some of the sites we wanted to see before we headed off for embarkation on the Noordam.
We reached Civitavecchia about 3:00 pm and managed to board the ship within about 30 minutes or so. The terminal was not crowded; all the pax seemed very excited. I must say, I did have tears in my eyes when the driver pulled into the harbor area and I got a glimpse of the Noordam.
We had booked cabin C-101, we were waitlisted for C-100 for sentimental reasons, but it never became available so we kept C-101. These cabins are forward facing, located on the Boat Deck right under the Bridge, but well above the Promenade Deck. We were told our cabin would be ready, so we headed up the stairs to take a look. We already had one bag in our room, so I unpacked it and off we went to the Silver Bar & Piet Hein Lounge to see if we knew any of the bar staff. We met Ronald and Eduardo (bar tenders) and Noemi, Michael and Mark, the bar wait staff.
Off to the Lido for some lunch, we were very impressed with the food presentation and selection. They did have the Prime Rib, but DH and I opted for a bit lighter fare. I was pleasantly surprised by the selections at the salad bar – and I was able to stick primarily to salads at lunch for most of the week.
We attended the Sail Away festivities briefly, and then headed back to the Silver Bar for a cocktail – then up to the room to put away the rest of our clothes. All our bags had arrived, so we were able to get everything in order before the lifeboat drill.
Dinner that evening was casual dress and we had an eight-person table (#83) at second seating. Our tablemates, Linda and Rob from St. Louis and Bruce and Pat from Las Vegas (in addition to DH’s Mom and her husband) were a lot of fun and we enjoyed their company immensely. For appetizers, DH had the Buccatini with meatballs, I had the Low Carb Steamed Mussels (Chef’s recommendation), DH had the Kansas City Steak House soup, I had a Salad Nicoise, and for entrees, I had the Chicken Cordon Bleu and he had the Roasted Pork Loin with Caramelized Apple. Dessert was Tiramisu for me, and Jamaican Calypso Espresso for DH.
In the Admiral’s Lounge: Dream Vacation (Noordam Cast) and Carme Pitrello (a Vegas style singer)
Princess Theatre: Manchurian Candidate and The Alamo
Late Night Snack: Italian Style
We met a couple of Officers that afternoon in the Silver Bar and ran into them later in the evening in the Horn Pipe Club where Corey, the DJ was playing requests. I stopped into the Mint Casino and won $250 on the Jackpot Party quarter slot machine. I cashed out and off to bed we went.
Day Two
We decided to sleep in a bit, after all the traveling and excitement of embarkation, we needed to decompress, however, our cabin steward had other ideas. He was at the door by 7:30 am, so we decided to get up and get a light breakfast. Our cabin was usually made up (if we were up!) by 9:00am everyday. Very impressive.
This was an “At Sea” day – some of the days’ activities were: Wine tasting Seminar with the Assistant Food & Beverage Mgr., Noordam Kitchen Tour with Executive Chef Pedro, and Guest vs. Staff Volleyball. We tried our hand at the Daily Quiz and it was too hard for us – and opted for relaxing by the pool
Dinner this evening was formal, with the Captain’s Champagne Reception.
On the Menu:
Appetizers: Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail (Chef’s Recommendation)
Malossol Caviar
Escargots Bourguinonne
Buccatini Carbonara
Fresh Fruit Medley
Soups: Parisian Onion
Kickin’ Crab (Chef’s Recommendation)
Chilled Mango
Salads: Our House Salad
Classic Caesar
Entrees: Cold Water Lobster Tail
Filet of Beef Wellington (Chef’s Recommendation)
Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken Breast
Honey Glazed Baked Ham
Potato Gnocchi
Grilled: Noisette of Veal
Low Carb Halibut Fillet
Desserts: Ananas Dos Moccha Brazilian (pineapple mocha flavored crème)
Chocolate Brandy Harmony with sauce Anglaise
French Chambord Cake
Peach Melba Sundae
Flambé: Pear Belle Helene
The food and selections were excellent – I won’t post each night’s menu, but wanted to give you an idea of some of the food which was available. We were very impressed with the selection each evening and I’m wondering if it is just because it is a European cruise – we certainly didn’t have near the selection on the Maasdam last April.
I don’t think I saw anyone who was not dressed in accordance with the recommended dress of the evening. Most people (on formal night) were dressed to the nines and having a great time. The Piet Hein Lounge had a great trio that got a bunch of folks up and dancing – I think it helped that there was a singles group from Atlanta on board.
In the Admiral’s Lounge: The Noordam Cast in “Personality” (Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Elvis, Barbra Streisand tunes)
The Princess Theatre: The Alamo and The Terminal
Late Night Snack: New England Style
A few observations… we noted that the Noordam seemed to be in remarkably good condition, considering her age. We were last aboard right before her dry dock in Mobile, Alabama – which is were we disembarked. We always use the stairs on the Noordam, the elevators are small, cramped and S-L-O-W, but from what we heard, all seemed to be in working order. The shops were not replenished prior to the final voyage, which was fine by me – and all “Noordam” merchandise was marked 50-75% off. We bought a few small things and a HAL Teddy Bear for our daughter. I got a couple “Dam Ships” shirts and that was about it. We did not purchase any liquor, however an interesting note – the shop was out of almost all cigarettes, they only had menthol for sale – cigarettes could be purchased at a few of the bars, but by the seventh day of the voyage, the bars were sold out as well.
Noordam III - Voyage 861 – Romantic Rivera’s Cruise 11/3/04 – 11/12/04
Captain: Pieter Visser
Hotel Manager: Dirk Verhey van Wijk
F/B Manager: Peter Carew
Cruise Director: Jack Chambers
As many of you know, this was the final sailing of the Noordam III under HAL’s flag. We were very excited to book this cruise as I was on the maiden U.S. voyage of Noordam III back in 1984.
We flew from Denver to Rome via British Airways. We were only able to fly out one day in advance, I must say – one day is not nearly enough for Rome. I fell completely in love with the city and cannot wait to return. After much deliberation (and a little help from the Cruise Critic friends) we choose the Santa Maria Hotel as our overnight stay. The Santa Maria is rated the #1 hotel in Rome on the website www.tripadvisor.com.
The hotel was located in an older part of the city – the Trastevere district – and was quite nice for the price. The rooms were very clean, quite spacious and we enjoyed cocktails and breakfast in a lovely courtyard setting. The staff was very helpful and accommodating. I would recommend this hotel to anyone looking for an experience that is different than the usual Hilton, Hyatt chain hotel. When we checked in, we asked about a good local restaurant, the concierge made reservations for us at “Taverna Trilussa” which was fabulous. We had a wonderful “family style” meal that was superb. Next time we travel to Rome, we will make a point of stopping in for dinner – the food and service were well above average.
Taverna Trilussa
Via del Politeama, 23 (Trastevere) Tel. 06/5818918 - Roma
The hotel concierge also arranged a 3-4 hour tour of Rome before we headed to Civitavecchia, and our driver was very good at getting us to some of the sites we wanted to see before we headed off for embarkation on the Noordam.
We reached Civitavecchia about 3:00 pm and managed to board the ship within about 30 minutes or so. The terminal was not crowded; all the pax seemed very excited. I must say, I did have tears in my eyes when the driver pulled into the harbor area and I got a glimpse of the Noordam.
We had booked cabin C-101, we were waitlisted for C-100 for sentimental reasons, but it never became available so we kept C-101. These cabins are forward facing, located on the Boat Deck right under the Bridge, but well above the Promenade Deck. We were told our cabin would be ready, so we headed up the stairs to take a look. We already had one bag in our room, so I unpacked it and off we went to the Silver Bar & Piet Hein Lounge to see if we knew any of the bar staff. We met Ronald and Eduardo (bar tenders) and Noemi, Michael and Mark, the bar wait staff.
Off to the Lido for some lunch, we were very impressed with the food presentation and selection. They did have the Prime Rib, but DH and I opted for a bit lighter fare. I was pleasantly surprised by the selections at the salad bar – and I was able to stick primarily to salads at lunch for most of the week.
We attended the Sail Away festivities briefly, and then headed back to the Silver Bar for a cocktail – then up to the room to put away the rest of our clothes. All our bags had arrived, so we were able to get everything in order before the lifeboat drill.
Dinner that evening was casual dress and we had an eight-person table (#83) at second seating. Our tablemates, Linda and Rob from St. Louis and Bruce and Pat from Las Vegas (in addition to DH’s Mom and her husband) were a lot of fun and we enjoyed their company immensely. For appetizers, DH had the Buccatini with meatballs, I had the Low Carb Steamed Mussels (Chef’s recommendation), DH had the Kansas City Steak House soup, I had a Salad Nicoise, and for entrees, I had the Chicken Cordon Bleu and he had the Roasted Pork Loin with Caramelized Apple. Dessert was Tiramisu for me, and Jamaican Calypso Espresso for DH.
In the Admiral’s Lounge: Dream Vacation (Noordam Cast) and Carme Pitrello (a Vegas style singer)
Princess Theatre: Manchurian Candidate and The Alamo
Late Night Snack: Italian Style
We met a couple of Officers that afternoon in the Silver Bar and ran into them later in the evening in the Horn Pipe Club where Corey, the DJ was playing requests. I stopped into the Mint Casino and won $250 on the Jackpot Party quarter slot machine. I cashed out and off to bed we went.
Day Two
We decided to sleep in a bit, after all the traveling and excitement of embarkation, we needed to decompress, however, our cabin steward had other ideas. He was at the door by 7:30 am, so we decided to get up and get a light breakfast. Our cabin was usually made up (if we were up!) by 9:00am everyday. Very impressive.
This was an “At Sea” day – some of the days’ activities were: Wine tasting Seminar with the Assistant Food & Beverage Mgr., Noordam Kitchen Tour with Executive Chef Pedro, and Guest vs. Staff Volleyball. We tried our hand at the Daily Quiz and it was too hard for us – and opted for relaxing by the pool
Dinner this evening was formal, with the Captain’s Champagne Reception.
On the Menu:
Appetizers: Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail (Chef’s Recommendation)
Malossol Caviar
Escargots Bourguinonne
Buccatini Carbonara
Fresh Fruit Medley
Soups: Parisian Onion
Kickin’ Crab (Chef’s Recommendation)
Chilled Mango
Salads: Our House Salad
Classic Caesar
Entrees: Cold Water Lobster Tail
Filet of Beef Wellington (Chef’s Recommendation)
Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken Breast
Honey Glazed Baked Ham
Potato Gnocchi
Grilled: Noisette of Veal
Low Carb Halibut Fillet
Desserts: Ananas Dos Moccha Brazilian (pineapple mocha flavored crème)
Chocolate Brandy Harmony with sauce Anglaise
French Chambord Cake
Peach Melba Sundae
Flambé: Pear Belle Helene
The food and selections were excellent – I won’t post each night’s menu, but wanted to give you an idea of some of the food which was available. We were very impressed with the selection each evening and I’m wondering if it is just because it is a European cruise – we certainly didn’t have near the selection on the Maasdam last April.
I don’t think I saw anyone who was not dressed in accordance with the recommended dress of the evening. Most people (on formal night) were dressed to the nines and having a great time. The Piet Hein Lounge had a great trio that got a bunch of folks up and dancing – I think it helped that there was a singles group from Atlanta on board.
In the Admiral’s Lounge: The Noordam Cast in “Personality” (Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Elvis, Barbra Streisand tunes)
The Princess Theatre: The Alamo and The Terminal
Late Night Snack: New England Style
A few observations… we noted that the Noordam seemed to be in remarkably good condition, considering her age. We were last aboard right before her dry dock in Mobile, Alabama – which is were we disembarked. We always use the stairs on the Noordam, the elevators are small, cramped and S-L-O-W, but from what we heard, all seemed to be in working order. The shops were not replenished prior to the final voyage, which was fine by me – and all “Noordam” merchandise was marked 50-75% off. We bought a few small things and a HAL Teddy Bear for our daughter. I got a couple “Dam Ships” shirts and that was about it. We did not purchase any liquor, however an interesting note – the shop was out of almost all cigarettes, they only had menthol for sale – cigarettes could be purchased at a few of the bars, but by the seventh day of the voyage, the bars were sold out as well.