Running out of food? and other dining questions.

[heyabbott]

I was reading a review of a cruise of the Westerdam from December 2004. The reviewer discussed running out of steaks by the 5th night.

Is this a common occurance, to run out of a main menu item?

From our prior vacations in the Carribean, we always look forward to Carribean lobster. Does has have Carribean lobster or Maine/cold water lobster?

[Giorgi-one]

We always bring plenty of sandwiches and cookies just in case!

[Arubalisa]

Our ten night trip the only thing they ran out of one night was Calves Liver! Fine by me for sure! :)

[dakrewser]

I was reading a review of a cruise of the Westerdam from December 2004. The reviewer discussed running out of steaks by the 5th night.

Is this a common occurance, to run out of a main menu item?

From our prior vacations in the Carribean, we always look forward to Carribean lobster. Does has have Carribean lobster or Maine/cold water lobster?

Most likely South African lobster. :rolleyes:

WE've never encountered a menu item that we've ordered being out of stock. Still, anything's possible :rolleyes:

[heyabbott]

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=8377 (http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=8377)


found the link in case anyone's interested in his review

[sail7seas]

I've never seen (heard of them) running out of steaks.....never!


For that matter, I don't think I recall an HAL ship ever running out of anything that we were aware of or missed.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Amsterdam (2002) - 22 days - got caught in the longshoremen strike - no supplies were put on the ship in Seattle, LA, or San Francisco. The ship had just completed a 7 day Alaskan cruise and was supposed to get supplies in Seattle. We did run out of certain meats, alcohol, wine, and a few other things.

Statendam (2004) - we ran out of fish! - And of all places in Mexico. Caught the chef and 3 helpers bringing back tons of supplies from Sam's Club in Puerto Vallarta.

[ekerr19]

We ran out of things on the Noordam, but then it was the final voyage so provisioning for our cruise was "as absolutely required" and unfortunately - they found a supply of the much dreaded "Bitten Ball" (I think that's the spelling) Dutch appetizers they pawned off on us every night. :eek:

We made friends with the Officer in charge of provisioning and he never heard the end of it from us!

Another thing that had pax in fits was no lemons the last two days of the cruise, and cocktail napkins were at a premium.

Seriously, this is the only time we ever experienced any shortages on a ship. :)

[RuthC]

Several times over the years the ship has run out of iceberg lettuce by the last night.

On the 34-day Grand South Pacific cruise back in '95 there was virtually no milk or cream on the last morning. Coffee and cereal was an interesting experience that morning! (Chocolate milk on the Cocoa Puffs?)
And that morning the ship was delayed getting in to L.A. harbor for several hours. We were still on board when it was time to serve lunch, but the provisions were quite meager.

[jhannah]

Provisioning is quite an artform. They generally have it "down to the penny." However, there are times that a particular sailing of passengers goes outside the norm when ordering, thus causing a shortage/outage of some things. I seem to remember one time a tablemate wanting something they were out of ... but I don't remember which ship or what they asked for. We've never experienced an outage of anything ourselves.

[kryos]

I've never seen (heard of them) running out of steaks.....never!


For that matter, I don't think I recall an HAL ship ever running out of anything that we were aware of or missed.
Well, I was on one cruise where they began running out of certain things ... like lettuce and other salad makings. That was on the Zuiderdam, and it occurred when our cruise got extended to 10 days from its original 7, compliments of Hurricane Francis.

You can only keep lettuce for so long, so I guess that's why they only stock so much of it for each sailing. By day 9 or so, they had run out and there were no salads in the Lido.

But, they really didn't run out of much else ... maybe a couple of unusual brands of liquor ... but nothing in the way of food. The dining room menus were the same as always, and the cruise director took pains to assure passengers that there was NO CHANCE of running out of food. The ship usually stocked plenty for even a week's extended stay at sea.

But, boy ... they must have come close. You should see how much stuff they were loading onto that ship on turnaround day! :)

Blue skies ...

--rita

[garydm]

We were unaware that a 5 day cruise on Amsterdam to Alaska in 2003 was a charter and the company really filled the ship up-1700 people. They ran out of a whole host of foods about day 3. Lobster night was half of one of the tiny lobster tails with a piece of mystery meat about the size of a silver dollar.

Really felt bad for the crew as they were clearly embarassed.

Gary

[sail7seas]

Quote:
Originally Posted by sail7seas
I've never seen (heard of them) running out of steaks.....never!


For that matter, I don't think I recall an HAL ship ever running out of anything that we were aware of or missed.


Well, I was on one cruise where they began running out of certain things ... like lettuce and other salad makings. That was on the Zuiderdam, and it occurred when our cruise got extended to 10 days from its original 7, compliments of Hurricane Francis.

You can only keep lettuce for so long, so I guess that's why they only stock so much of it for each sailing. By day 9 or so, they had run out and there were no salads in the Lido.

But, they really didn't run out of much else ... maybe a couple of unusual brands of liquor ... but nothing in the way of food. The dining room menus were the same as always, and the cruise director took pains to assure passengers that there was NO CHANCE of running out of food. The ship usually stocked plenty for even a week's extended stay at sea.

But, boy ... they must have come close. You should see how much stuff they were loading onto that ship on turnaround day! :)

Blue skies ...

--rita

[/Quote]


Well, Rita.....

I guess I have now heard of that happening..... :)

Never had before but now I have.

[Traveller1]

Last cruise we took with HAL --the transatlantic one in June/July 2004 --after the first 17 days there was no more soy/rice milk. As I usually have cereal for breakfast it meant I had to think of something else (had hard boiled eggs instead.) But it was slightly annoying--I guess they only bring a couple of the tetra blocks aboard.

[KAKcruiser]

The only thing I have ever seen HAL run out of on at least 10 cruises is the waffle cones at the ice cream bar. It happens all the time on all the ships. Sometimes after a couple of days they will reappear. I don't know where they come from. On the Rotterdam in December they didn't have any the whole 10 days.

[richnorto]

If I'm on a 7 day cruise that gets extended to 10 days- Wah hoo!!!! You can run out of everything you want, except beer maybe... ok, maybe even that!:D

[michmike]

just as long as they don't run out of bourbon I can get along fine.. *S*

[mp17706]

Transatlantic on Westerdam in Nov. ran out of several varities of fresh fruit. Didn't bother to resupply when we stopped at St. Martin either.

[doone]

I have never experienced HAL running out of steak until my Rotterdam cruise last March. It was at the BBQ, not only did they run out of steak early on, like within 45 minutes of the start of the buffet, but they ran out of ribs and salmon as well. Possibly poor planning by the kitchen, not sure what happened, but that was certainly a first. I also noticed that they didn't have two side of the buffet line to go through, only one side, which made for alot of congestion. That was a first for me, hope they learned and have changed back to the 2 lines for buffet, and more steaks, ribs and salmon.

[ExpCruiser]

On the Noordam Steak buffet night they had almost no steaks! But what they had they graciously held for the crew :mad: so the passengers had none! They promised to bring me one so I could start on my baked potato but it never arrived! Oh well, guess I didn't need it!

[doone]

Steak buffet night, are you talking the BBQ night? I never heard of steak buffet night.

[blackbird71]

The meal planning on a cruise ship is an art form. For any meal they can peg the number of people that will order X over Y pretty good. But once in awhile something will go wrong.

I have read that cruise lines also are very careful where they buy things. I can only remember one cruise in 14 that they had on menu a "local fish".

[kryos]

If I'm on a 7 day cruise that gets extended to 10 days- Wah hoo!!!! You can run out of everything you want, except beer maybe... ok, maybe even that!:D
LOL ... I wish I had a working scanner here, I would put up a photo that was taken on the Zuiderdam on, I believe, day 9 of our extended cruise. They gave us a guided tour of some of the "off-limits" areas of the ship, including the holding areas for foodstuffs. One photo is of the liquor storage area ... and it was PACKED! Nope, no chance of running out of beer. :)

By the way, I got a photo of the "Coffin Room" too. :) No, thankfully there was no one in there. :)

Blue skies ...

--rita

[blackbird71]

I believe it was on the Noordam I went to the medical center for something and they had a drawing of all decks and rooms. I like the "padded cell" myself.

Also as you entered the med center there was a big white box with a lock on it. I did not think about it at the time, but one of my friends was a fireman and was on it's sister ship in Tampa doing a check. When he saw the big white box there was no lock on it and one of the fireman opened it up to see what was inside. Condoms.... hundreds and hundreds..........:D

[jcrandle]

I believe it was on the Noordam I went to the medical center for something and they had a drawing of all decks and rooms. I like the "padded cell" myself.

Also as you entered the med center there was a big white box with a lock on it. I did not think about it at the time, but one of my friends was a fireman and was on it's sister ship in Tampa doing a check. When he saw the big white box there was no lock on it and one of the fireman opened it up to see what was inside. Condoms.... hundreds and hundreds..........:D
Yeah, you fill them up with water, and drop them from the top of the Atrium!

[sail7seas]

I have never experienced HAL running out of steak until my Rotterdam cruise last March. It was at the BBQ, not only did they run out of steak early on, like within 45 minutes of the start of the buffet, but they ran out of ribs and salmon as well. Possibly poor planning by the kitchen, not sure what happened, but that was certainly a first. I also noticed that they didn't have two side of the buffet line to go through, only one side, which made for alot of congestion. That was a first for me, hope they learned and have changed back to the 2 lines for buffet, and more steaks, ribs and salmon.




With no ribs, salmon or steaks......what did they serve you for dinner?

Just the 'side dishes'?

Did they make no effort to provide you with something for an entree?

I know you are a very reliable person and know your posts are accurate so I am trying to imagine the chefs standing behind the grill saying.....sorry, you do not eat tonight; we ran out of food? Please 'fill in the rest of the story'. I am curious.

[Arubalisa]

Most likely South African lobster. :rolleyes:

WE've never encountered a menu item that we've ordered being out of stock. Still, anything's possible :rolleyes:FWW... For our Captain's Farewell Dinner we had what was termed "New England Lobster Tails (http://www.arubabound.com/image/lg/us/zaandam/scans/captfarewell.jpg)", which indeed were just that and delicious at that...:)

[bepsf]

just as long as they don't run out of bourbon I can get along fine.. *S*

Mike--

I'm with you there...

They didn't have Maker's Mark at the Lido Bar for sailaway on my Alaska cruise - They sure didn't make that mistake the rest of the week...:eek:

[Kate-AHF]

I'm not sure I've met too many other Maker's Mark fans.

This will make you weep. They used to be a sponsor of an event I was involved in. I used to get it for free. :cool: Boy, I miss that company, and I can't say I drink it as much as I used too.

I always enjoyed watching folks meet up with that dipped neck for the first time. Great spectator sport!

[dakrewser]

I'm not sure I've met too many other Maker's Mark fans.

Nothing better has ever come out of Kentucky, but <shh> don't spread the word too far - wouldn't want shortages to appear!

[gizmo]

They ran out of limes only a couple of days into a 13 day cruise.:( A vodka gimlet must have a lime.

[michmike]

have either of you tried knob creek?? goes down AWFULLY smooth.. not that makers is shabby in any way.. but give knob creek a try if you haven't.. about $35 a fifth up here in michigan.. so I get mine at AH Riise when in St Thomas (seems the last bottle was $19)

[dakrewser]

have either of you tried knob creek?? goes down AWFULLY smooth.. not that makers is shabby in any way.. but give knob creek a try if you haven't.. about $35 a fifth up here in michigan.. so I get mine at AH Riise when in St Thomas (seems the last bottle was $19)

I've tried it. Wasn't all that impressed, though. Still, one could do a lot worse!:)

[Druke I]

Several years ago (4-97) on Sky Princess, Osaka to Vancouver, we ran out of some veggies, ice cream, and whole milk. Several of the pre-positioned containers did not make it to the dock.

When we arrived at Dutch Harbor in the Aleutians, crew members for the Purser's Office, and chefs, "raided" the local grocery store, and bought a lot of food.

Running out of food, while not common, is not unheard of.

[ekerr19]

On the Noordam Steak buffet night they had almost no steaks! But what they had they graciously held for the crew :mad: so the passengers had none! They promised to bring me one so I could start on my baked potato but it never arrived! Oh well, guess I didn't need it!

What! The crew does not eat at the BBQ - this post doesn't even make sense. The crew does not even have the same menu as the pax!

If you are bound and determined to continue to slam HAL at every opportunity - at least be factual. :mad:

[peaches from georgia]

What! The crew does not eat at the BBQ - this post doesn't even make sense. The crew does not even have the same menu as the pax!

If you are bound and determined to continue to slam HAL at every opportunity - at least be factual. :mad:
I have no idea what went on at ExpCruiser's BBQue, but the officers DO eat meals everyday in the Lido, in fact there is a large table reserved for them, and also at the BBQue, so he may have well been referring to uniformed officers instead of crew. In that case his post makes sense.

[ekerr19]

I have no idea what went on at ExpCruiser's BBQue, but the officers DO eat meals everyday in the Lido, in fact there is a large table reserved for them, and also at the BBQue, so he may have well been referring to uniformed officers instead of crew. In that case his post makes sense.

He did not say Officers, he said crew. There is a difference, imo. Also, the Officers and staff eat in the Lido before dinner is served to the pax - there would be no reason to "hold" food for them once dinner was being served to the pax.

[HeatherInFlorida]

Yup, you're absolutely right Laura ... big difference between "officers" and "crew". And the term used was "crew".

They've never run out of food for us, either, but I think if they did I'd take it as a hint that I'd had enough.;)

[Kate-AHF]

Michmike -

I have not tried Knob Creek, but will try it for sure. Since I will be in St. Thomas in just a few days, the tip was very timely. Particularly for $20 per bottle.

Thanks for the heads up!

[peaches from georgia]

ekerr19- He did not say Officers, he said crew. There is a difference, imo. Also, the Officers and staff eat in the Lido before dinner is served to the pax - there would be no reason to "hold" food for them once dinner was being served to the pax.

HeatherInFlorida- Yup, you're absolutely right Laura ... big difference between "officers" and "crew". And the term used was "crew".


Hmmm. I was just trying to give ExpCruiser the benefit of the doubt that he meant 'officers' were eating at the BBQ in the Lido and not the actual crew, who we all know do eat in their own dining room. So what is it you are trying to say without actually saying it- that ExpCruiser is lying?

[HeatherInFlorida]

....................


Hmmm. I was just trying to give ExpCruiser the benefit of the doubt that he meant 'officers' were eating at the BBQ in the Lido and not the actual crew, who we all know do eat in their own dining room. So what is it you are trying to say without actually saying it- that ExpCruiser is lying?

This is difficult, Peaches, because as I stated I never mention a particular poster individually nor do I generally direct a response to any one poster. I explained my reasons for this. I've been asked not to do it.

But you asked me a question. ExpCruiser is also an experienced poster and knows a lot about cruising and has told us this. So you need not assume he meant "officers" when he said "crew". I'm sure he (or she) does know the difference.

At no time did I suggest even for a second that ExpCruiser is "lying". Lying about what? All I said was that the word was clearly "crew" when you corrected Laura.

I have to admit complete confusion about your question ...

[ekerr19]

So what is it you are trying to say without actually saying it- that ExpCruiser is lying?

Absolutely not! I think ExpCruiser may be exaggerating the events - but he has yet to provide anything concrete. He has been on two HAL cruises according to his posts on other threads. Both cruises absolutely miserable... every possible thing that could go wrong, apparently did - but he won't give any detail. Just posts how bad things were and leaves it. Then comes back and chimes in on another thread about how miserable his cruises were...

His statement on this thread is very inconsistent to any of my experiences on HAL and in my mind it is inaccurate. The staff and officers dine before the pax in the Lido - there is not reason the cook or chef would "hold" food for the staff or crew (as he put it) once the pax dinner commenced. As you stated, the crew do dine in their own dining room and eat food that is prepared more in accordance with their local custom.

I, for one am getting tired of seeing the "bash and run" posts - the slamming of HAL by those who've yet to even cruise on HAL, the name calling (shill, KoolAid drinker, etc.) and the inconsistent versions of some of these "terrible" events. I have posted my fair share of negative occurances on HAL, mostly in regard to our cruise on the Zui - being factual and accurate about an experience lends credibility to the poster - "bash and run" does not - in my opinion.

No person should be harrassed or ostracized for posting a negative experience, but at the same time I also believe that no one should be called a KoolAid drinker or HAL shill because they have a good experience.

[ExpCruiser]

YIKES didn't mean to cause a stir . . . did make an error, staff not crew.

Here are the FACTS . . . arrived at the outdoor cook out, got my non meat dishes and the last steaks got served to my group in front of me. Someone arrived with more. There was a separate line for the white suited HAL personnel. They received each of the steaks as they were cooked as the pax line increased. After 15 minutes, I asked if they could bring the steak to my table and pointed out where I my group was (I had been the last on line and the only one w/o meat). Well, here it is 13 months later and I'm still waiting! Oh I can hear you all LOL! Perhaps it will arrive with the drinks that never came, the cabin that never got cleaned . . but I digress. Yes I did go to HAL but you all laughed at my 11 page letter. And you laughed at my CD of pix and I can't figure out how to attach the Noordam pix, but the tar and dirt was just disgusting. GLAD none of you have ever had a problem I'm just sharing my experience.

[ekerr19]

I have been on the Noordam numerous times - please explain what you are alluding to... We never saw your 11-page letter or anything else.

I am a HUGE Noordam fan and I know that ship (crew, staff & Officers) some what intimately so please advise.

I am still not following your post. What pictures are you referring to?