Growler
June 23rd, 2008, 10:31 AM
For those of you lucky people heading off to Rotterdam for the inaugural, I'd just like to pass on my sincere best wishes for your trip, and to hope that your personal weather deities smile on you for the duration! :)
I'm sure that all the questions below will be answered admirably in your reports, so there's probably no need to ask, but more as an aide memoire, would you be kind enough to determine the following!
Are the daily trivia questions still horribly US biased ? :p
Is Ani the chef for the Tamarind? I've sailed with him twice before on the Volendam (Xmas '06) and Ryndam (Oct '07), where he was in the Pinnacle Grill, and he thought at that point he was going to be in the Tamarind for the inaugural season.
What's the food like in Tamarind - can you equate it to an existing asian cuisine standard? ie is it 'High Street' quality, or 'Bombay Brasserie' / Nobu quality....?
Is Canaletto 'too close' to the Lido buffet to be comfortable? Is it always full? Wouls you advise booking it immediately upon boarding?
There's a bottle of Villa Maria New Zealand Sauvignon priced at $63 (from memory) on the 'pre-order' wine list. Is this a 'Private Bin', 'Cellar Selection', 'Reserve' or 'Single Vineyard' edition wine? The reason for asking the question is simply to give me a chance to gauge the 'markup' on the wine. It's usually spectacularly good btw, and is a great alternative to the now vastly overpriced 'Cloudy Bay' that's being raved about all over the place.
(I think the vineyards are actually next door to each other on the same hillside!)
Should I cancel my Cabana booking? :eek: (ie have they blown away yet)?
Is the aft pool deck *really* noisy at night? (my cabin is directly below)?
I'll probably post a few more later when they come to me ;)
If any of you at a loose end for something to do in or around Newcastle on the 11th, then drop a note here, because I may be able to free up some time, and take a carload of you somewhere not covered by the ususal cruise tour destinations!
Cheers
Tim
I'm sure that all the questions below will be answered admirably in your reports, so there's probably no need to ask, but more as an aide memoire, would you be kind enough to determine the following!
Are the daily trivia questions still horribly US biased ? :p
Is Ani the chef for the Tamarind? I've sailed with him twice before on the Volendam (Xmas '06) and Ryndam (Oct '07), where he was in the Pinnacle Grill, and he thought at that point he was going to be in the Tamarind for the inaugural season.
What's the food like in Tamarind - can you equate it to an existing asian cuisine standard? ie is it 'High Street' quality, or 'Bombay Brasserie' / Nobu quality....?
Is Canaletto 'too close' to the Lido buffet to be comfortable? Is it always full? Wouls you advise booking it immediately upon boarding?
There's a bottle of Villa Maria New Zealand Sauvignon priced at $63 (from memory) on the 'pre-order' wine list. Is this a 'Private Bin', 'Cellar Selection', 'Reserve' or 'Single Vineyard' edition wine? The reason for asking the question is simply to give me a chance to gauge the 'markup' on the wine. It's usually spectacularly good btw, and is a great alternative to the now vastly overpriced 'Cloudy Bay' that's being raved about all over the place.
(I think the vineyards are actually next door to each other on the same hillside!)
Should I cancel my Cabana booking? :eek: (ie have they blown away yet)?
Is the aft pool deck *really* noisy at night? (my cabin is directly below)?
I'll probably post a few more later when they come to me ;)
If any of you at a loose end for something to do in or around Newcastle on the 11th, then drop a note here, because I may be able to free up some time, and take a carload of you somewhere not covered by the ususal cruise tour destinations!
Cheers
Tim