Back on HAL- Some ????

[Alebd]

We've just booked the Volendam for NZ- Australia in November, after an absence from HAL of more than four years. The other lines we've sailed in the interim have been generally good but don't measure up to our previous HAL cruises.
I was wondering about some of the HAL traditions- do they still exist? Specifically: Being escorted to your stateroom upon boarding, free expresso/capuccino with dinner in the dining room, the yum-yum man, Dutch night, the crew show, souvenir tiles with the ship's name? And what is the Master Chef's dinner?
Any general comments about the Volendam would be appreciated too.
We're really excited to be back on our favorite cruise line!

[cf_chuck]

We've just booked the Volendam for NZ- Australia in November, after an absence from HAL of more than four years. The other lines we've sailed in the interim have been generally good but don't measure up to our previous HAL cruises.

Welcome back to HAL. I sailed the Volendam in Feb. 08.

I was wondering about some of the HAL traditions- do they still exist? Specifically: Being escorted to your stateroom upon boarding, free expresso/capuccino with dinner in the dining room, the yum-yum man, Dutch night, the crew show, souvenir tiles with the ship's name? And what is the Master Chef's dinner?

I don't know about the excort, I generally board early and enjoy the view from the Lido. Yes, there was free expresso and capuccino. Yes, the yum yum man was there. I haven't seen a Dutch night in the last 3 cruises going back to late 2006. Yes, there is a crew show that varies between the two major crew segments. No, the tiles are more generic. The Master Chef's dinner is a more restricted menu than the usual nights, but I found it enjoyable (except for the wearing of chef's hats).

Any general comments about the Volendam would be appreciated too.
We're really excited to be back on our favorite cruise line!

I liked the layout and found it generally easy to get around. I particularly liked having the oceanview pool outside the Lido restaurant, and spent many hours enjoying the views, stuffing myself, and catching rays. You should be aware that the Volendam recently underwent a period of dry dock, and there were some reports that service wasn't quite up to par afterwards compared to other cruises. I spoke with a number of the crew and they weren't looking forward to the time not sailing, so I attribute the fall off to getting back into stride. By the time you sail, they'll have plenty of time to work out the kinks. I found the service to be excellent. The shows were ok, about what I would expect on a cruise in today's market. There were places around the ship that were showing wear, but I understand these were addressed while in dry dock.

The CD was a temp, so hopefully this has been fixed. I wasn't particulary excited by the captain's views from the bridge, it seemed like a recitation of facts without any personal investment.

While I've pointed out some negatives, I thoroughly enjoyed the cruise and the ship. I hope you'll enjoy.

[mindydaile]

Just got off the Volendam on Sunday so I'll take a stab at some of these.

Being escorted to your stateroom upon boarding - I don't know for sure. We were on board well before the rooms were ready so we just went on our own to the room when it was announced as being ready. I do believe I heard an announcement that if you would like as escort to your room you could go back down by the gangway and be escorted from there.

free expresso/capuccino with dinner in the dining room - Yes, had one every night :)

the yum-yum man - Yes

Dutch night - No, but they did have Dutch Tea at least one afternoon.

the crew show - Yes. The alternate with the Phillipino crew going one week and the Indonesian crew going the next week

souvenir tiles with the ship's name - Souvenier tile, yes, but they are just "generic" HAL tiles with no ship names on them.

and what is the Master Chef's dinner - A dinner with singing, dancing, juggling by the show dancers as well as the dining stewards followed by the parade of Baked Alaska.


Hope that helps.

[jec2]

The tiles are pictured here:

http://www.hollandamerica.com/marinerSociety/Main.action;jsessionid=89B1693401A1E6BCCC483D31255 C7F97.www3-hal

Once at the page, click on the tab marked Tiles under the picture of the flower.

Hope this helps.

John

[Krazy Kruizers]

Depending on the ship and Itineray, it may or may not be offered (we did it 4 times and hate it - JMO).

Master Chef Dinner
There were only 2 dining times for this: 5:45 and 8:30.

It was on day #7 - an Informal night.

The group "The Mix" from the Crow's Nest played the music about 80% of the time. The crew staff and dancers from the production shows led the waitstaff in the dance routines. The lead singer from the cast did the opening song. It was the only time she sang. Since she was on the steps, halfway down, many people didn't even know that she was singing.

When we entered the dining room there was already a Parker House with various seeds on top on the butter plate which was under your chef's toque and menu. The menu was a special cut out showing a spatula, cork screw, rolling pin, chopping knife and big spoon.

Then we had the Ballet Service. This was the only time we had a singer. The waitstaff entered both levels of the dining room to the tune of "Swan Lake". The assistant waiter held the try of napkins while the waiter placed them in our laps. The crew and cast had to help out here in some sections as there weren't enough waitstaff to quickly get the napkins to everyone.

Act 1 - Once again the waitstaff, crew and cast entered the dining room carrying the Chef's Amuse Surprise -- mushroom mousse with asparagus en bouche. This was a tiny empty puff pastry with a tiny dab of mouuse on top.

After those dishes were cleared away, the waitstaff. crew and cast again assembled in the hall and entered the dining room to begin Act 2 -- The Swing Service. The crew and staff "mixed" the salad in HUGE salad bowls to music -- waitstaff get throwing in fake tomatoes, peppers, etc -- some of the waitstaff tried to juggle the peppers -- very funny. Show Salad Spectacular: menu said that we were to have assorted baby greens, pepper rings, mushrooms, scallions & cherry tomatoes with a honey mustard dressing. What we actually got was a tomato stuffed with the assorted baby greens, enoki mushrooms with chopped up onion, scallions and peppers sprinkled on top and the honey mustard dressing drizzled over everything.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Then the waiters came around and took our orders for the Starters and Entrees.

Starters:
1.Dialogue of Alaskan Salmon Tartare with avocado: cold smoked, pickled and chipotle-hot-smoked salmon with lime-avocado-tomato sauce. DH had this -- loved it the first segment. 2nd segment -- it was mostly BIG chunks of onion and very little salmon.

2.Golden Baked Brie in Phyllo Dough served with a cinnamon-spiced apple cranberry compote -- have had this many times in the past -- love it -- it was excellent the first segment -- not completely heated through -- brie -- wasn't even melted a little bit.

3.Lobster Bisque sensuously smooth classical shellfish soup enhanced with aged French cognac and whipped cream. We both have had this in the past -- it's okay -- not one of our favorites.

4.Oxtail En Crote - flavorful classical soup slow-simmered and served in a crisp pastry crust -- excellent both segments.

[Krazy Kruizers]

1.Tagliatelli with Roasted Chicken & Portobello Muchrooms tossed in olive oil and lemon cream.

2.Sauteed shrimps "Provencales" scented with Mediterranean herbs, tomato concassee', florets of crisp, tender broccoli and sticky rice -- you got 4 medium size shrimps -- some people ordered 3 of this dish in order to get more shrimp -- which sent the waiter into a tizzy since they were on a time schedule.

3.Apricot Glazed Salmon with Soya Garlic and Ginger Spalsh -- I have had this on other ships and love it. 1st segment -- excellent RED sockeye salmon -- 2nd segment -- pink salmon -- tasteless.

4.Duck Breast a l'Orange - the old time favorite, oven roasted until crisp amd served with a Grand Marnier sauce, braised red cabbage, pea pods, carrots julienne and William potatoes. DH had this the first segment -- excellent.

5.Whole Roasted Tenderloin of Beef on an earthy bed of calvados-spiked mushroom ragout, with vegetable bundle, braised onion & horseradish mashed potato. DH had this the second time -- beef was tough and fatty.

6.Wild Mushroom Strudel - selected forest mushroom spinach & feta cheese rolled in Phyllo dough and baked until crisp and flaky. Served with a Thai red curry sauce and a timbale of basmati rice.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Act 3 - The Final Service --- the waitstaff, crew and cast began to assemble out in the hallway around 7:15 for this. Then they came parading into the dining room carrying trays of Chef's Rudi's "Hat's Off" dessert. Some of the cast and crew members had bottles of fake champagne that when they popped the corks, some bottles sent out streamers aimed towards the chandeliers which also landed on the people and tables directly below. Other fake botles of champagne gave off smoke. We have had this dessert before. There is a small piece of cake resembling a peg that holds the chef's hat in place - the chef's hat is made out of white chocolate - chef's hat conceals a small amount of chocolate mousse. It was excellent the 1st segment. The second segment -- the cake was flavored in mint -- the mousse was flavored in mint. All you could taste was mint!! A lot of white chocolate went to waste. Many people could not (including us) break the hat up -- it was too thick in places.

[Krazy Kruizers]

You will not be excorted to your stateroom since passengers are allowed to embark between 11 and 11:30 AM and the cabins are not ready until 1 - 1:30.

Haven't seen Dutch night in at least 3 years -- and we have sailed on quite a few different HAL ships in that time.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Have you been assigned traditonal dining or AYWD dining?

[Alebd]

Thanks, all, for the info on present-day HAL "traditions" and specifically the Volendam.

The Master Chef Dinner sounds like a hoot!

We prefer early seating with the same waitstaff (who should promptly learn your name/preferences) but were told only AYWD was available. Our only experience with that was with NCL a couple of years ago. We'll see how HAL does it.

Can't wait 'til November!