Dutch Night?

[MeOhMy]

What is Dutch Night, please? And should we expect it on the Westerdam Alaska cruise? Thank you.

[arzz]

i doubt that there will be a real Dutch night on the Westerdam/Alaska. The last real Dutch night that I experienced was on the Volendam in October and that was my first one in several cruises. There is still usually a night, however, when many (but not all) of the traditional Dutch night foods are on the menu in the dining room.

[Copper10-8]

Dutch night, unfortunately, went out the window:( . HAL used to have a Dutch night in the main dining rom with typical Dutch food including "erwten soep" (green pea soup with ham hocks) or "kippen soep met vermicelli" (chickensoup with noodles), "Hutspot met klapstuk" (Hodgepodge with brisket of beef), "gebakken scholfilets" (filet of sole), "echt Hollandse gehaktbal" (classic Dutch meatball), "Bossche bollen" (egg-rich cream puffs), etc. :) They topped it off with Dutch "his and her" hats for the passengers (that you could keep), Dutch flags and a lot of red, white and blue plus the wait staff was dressed in Dutch look-a-like costumes without but without the wooden shoes. Good stuff, too bad they did away with it!

[Krazy Kruizers]

It had been several cruises since we have had the real Dutch night with the Dutch food and Dutch hats, but on our last cruise on the Amsterdam, there was one - complete with everything. We had already made reservations for the Pinnacle before we left on the cruise and decided not to change the reservation, so we missed it.

[Mollynme]

Dutch night, unfortunately, went out the window:( . HAL used to have a Dutch night in the main dining rom with typical Dutch food including "erwten soep" (green pea soup with ham hocks) or "kippen soep met vermicelli" (chickensoup with noodles), "Hutspot met klapstuk" (Hodgepodge with brisket of beef), "gebakken scholfilets" (filet of sole), "echt Hollandse gehaktbal" (classic Dutch meatball), "Bossche bollen" (egg-rich cream puffs), etc. :) They topped it off with Dutch "his and her" hats for the passengers (that you could keep), Dutch flags and a lot of red, white and blue plus the wait staff was dressed in Dutch look-a-like costumes without but without the wooden shoes. Good stuff, too bad they did away with it! We had a modified version of that on both the Volendam in October and the Veendam in March. I don't remember the menu being as "Dutch" but the wait staff was dressed in orange and I have pictures from both times with sheepish relatives wearing the hats. :D

[CJcruzer]

Last August on the Veendam (Alaska cruise) they had the Dutch night - which coincided with Indonesian Independence day (Aug. 17th).....so included in the evening's events was the Indonesian staff lined up the staircase singing their national anthem....it truly was a special Dutch Night!! Dutch dishes, Dutch hats and caps.....

On the Westerdam this February, I'm not sure if there was Dutch Night - the only night we did not eat in the dining room was when they had their BBQ up by the pool.......nobody from our table ate in the dining room, we all met at the BBQ and then watched the ice carving demonstration - so possibly it could have been that night.

CJcruzer

[sail7seas]

We had a 'true Dutch Night' on Volendam and Maasdam complete with hats. I think they might have had it on Ryndam but we had prebooked to go to Pinnacle and didn't know in advance what night it would be. When we saw that evening's menu, we were disappointed as we like Dutch Night.

I don't know if they had the hats.

[LHC]

On the Zaandam in December one of my fav dishes was the Sole! No Hats but the fish was spectacular.
Linda

[sail7seas]

Dover Sole was back on the menu on Ryndam. :)

[torpeedo]

Last Veendam cruise we had Dutch something or other..??:confused: I think we had it at the Lido for some reason. I can't recall if it was in the main dinning room too. Had the Bami Goreng ( have no idea how to spell that one) and it was terrific! Many have recommended that so we tried it.

[Willsot]

On our last three HAL cruises (Zaandam, Westerdam and Veendam), all within the past two years, we had Dutch night in main dining, complete with Dutch items on the menu and hats for men and women.

[benchmarklearning]

We had it on the Oosterdam in March to Mexican Riviera. Wanted to post pic of DW in her hat but couldn't figure out how. :confused:

[kletskop]

Dutch Night last night on the Westerdam! Dutch hats and all. Menu was Dover Sole. I did'nt go. What dutchman wants dutch food??

For those interested. Mostly all Dutch officers. Captain Henk Keijer. Cruise director Drew .... Julie Barr is helarious. Shows are good.

First night and sea day was rough seas 18 ft waves. We did fine and we took Bonine and some of us had the patch. Seas have been calm since

Having a reat time. Glazier Bay is spectacular. Had a good time in Juneau. Took the "Best of Junua" tour. whcih consisted of 3 hour whale and wildlife tour, saw lots of whales eagles and even a bear. Mendenhall glacier was a very short visit approx 30 minutes. Not enough time for a vsit. Stay away from the visitors center otherwise you run out of time to go to the galcier. Salmon bake was good, but it was pouring down rain. It was outside but canpies were set up with portabel heaters. It has been raining everyday. Cold approx 40-45 degrees.

Sitka we did the band hike whcih was a little disapointing, but still fun.


Only real disappointment is the so called midnight buffet that is not a midnight buffet. All I ever see is one station open on the Lido deck with pizza, coffee and cookies and ice cream.

Gorgeous ship!

Now on our way to Ketchikan.

[TLHB]

Dutch Night last night on the Westerdam! Dutch hats and all. Menu was Dover Sole. I did'nt go. What dutchman wants dutch food??

For those interested. Mostly all Dutch officers. Captain Henk Keijer. Cruise director Drew .... Julie Barr is helarious. Shows are good.

First night and sea day was rough seas 18 ft waves. We did fine and we took Bonine and some of us had the patch. Seas have been calm since

Having a reat time. Glazier Bay is spectacular. Had a good time in Juneau. Took the "Best of Junua" tour. whcih consisted of 3 hour whale and wildlife tour, saw lots of whales eagles and even a bear. Mendenhall glacier was a very short visit approx 30 minutes. Not enough time for a vsit. Stay away from the visitors center otherwise you run out of time to go to the galcier. Salmon bake was good, but it was pouring down rain. It was outside but canpies were set up with portabel heaters. It has been raining everyday. Cold approx 40-45 degrees.

Sitka we did the band hike whcih was a little disapointing, but still fun.


Only real disappointment is the so called midnight buffet that is not a midnight buffet. All I ever see is one station open on the Lido deck with pizza, coffee and cookies and ice cream.

Gorgeous ship!

Now on our way to Ketchikan.


Thanks for posting this, kletskop. DH and I will be boarding the Westerdam on June 4. I have wondered about the weather and I am trying to figure out what to pack. If you don't mind me asking, what do most people seem to be wearing for port days? DH and I will do the whale watch and glacier tour by floatplane in Juneau. (Two different excursions) We will do the sea otter and wildlife quest in Sitka. We will do salmon fishing in Ketchikan. I am just trying to figure out what clothes I should pack for port days/excursions. I have read mixed reviews about jeans. Do passengers appear to be wearing jeans for these ports?

[MeOhMy]

You did not ask me, but I went to Alaska 3-4 years ago on another ship. I will be wearing jeans in port, pace those who have trouble with that. Almost everyone who was not dressed in costume, and for that matter, many who were, who lived and/or worked for the summer in Alaska were wearing jeans. And, lets face it, if you take a boat to view whales, or many of the hikes, etc., jeans just are the best for protecting yourself. And please, good quality walking shoes.

"Layers" is the idea. I hope you do not mind my sticking my nose in.

[TLHB]

Thank you so much MeOhMy. I was hoping that jeans would be ok. That is basically all that I have for casual wear for port days; I don't have jogging suits or such. I know that rain may be an issue, but if DH and I wear weather resistant jackets and pack umbrellas in the backpack then I thought jeans may be just fine. I do plan to bring two different pairs of walking shoes. Thanks for the insight. This is our first Alaskan cruise so it is all new for us. We are looking forward to the beautiful scenery so much, but we are so unsure about the clothing to pack!

[kletskop]

Jeans, T-shirts are perfectly fine anywhere on the ship. However no jeans t-shirts tennis shoes are not allowed in the Vista dining room. The Vista dining room is open for lunch and dinner. The Lido restaurant is open for b'fast lunch and dinner. Jeans are allowed , but no bathing suites. Shirt must be worn at all times in the Lido restaurant. If you go into port be comfortable and wear whatever you like. Don't miss the "superstars" karaoke night. It is not about the singe but the helerious judges, Cruise director Drew Murdock and comediene Julie Barr and stage manager Dave.

I missed dutch night, but our wonderful dining room manager. Ms. Michels arranged for me to get Nasi Goreng complete with sate and kroepoek last night! What great service! Dutch night included some of the great dutch dishes: Hutspot, sole. nasi goreng, split pea soep etc etc. Complete with white caps for the woman and boerepet ,farmershat, for the men.


The baked alaska parade was the last formal night that is Friday night.
Overall a great cruise for a firstimer. Sitting at the airport now in Seattle to fly back home to Calif and back to work tommorrow.

[CoconutFish]

Just back form 3 weeks on the Zuiderdam.

A semi-Dutch menu one night (sole, hodgepodge of beef brisket, etc), but no decorations, no hats, no waiter costumes.

Hal seems to be determined to become just another cruise line, with less and less to distinguish them than in the past.

[kletskop]

Perhaps it depends on the ship? The Westerdam had all. Flags, dutch songs. Also the sing Happy birthday in 3 languages. Happy Birthday, Lang zal ze levern" and a Indonesion song.

For the Dutch folks like me, that are interested, they also serve Bokma Jonge en oude Jenever!

[Copper10-8]

Perhaps it depends on the ship? The Westerdam had all. Flags, dutch songs. Also the sing Happy birthday in 3 languages. Happy Birthday, Lang zal ze levern" and a Indonesion song.

For the Dutch folks like me, that are interested, they also serve Bokma Jonge en oude Jenever!

Now you're talkin! Proost en op je gezondheid!;)