Maasdam Menus- Week of June 12

Since food and menu changes are a topic of interest I am posting the menus from our recent Maasdam cruise. No veggies listed to save space and they are not much more than a garnish. No desserts listed as that menu is not given to suite pax.

DAY 1-

Fresh Fruit Cocktail

Smoked Salmon w/ Grilled Asparagus

Prosciutto Ham

Steamed Penn Cove Mussels

Kansas City Steak House Soup

Cream of White Mushrooms Soup

Chilled Apricot Soup

Our House Salad

Baby Spinach w/ White Mushrooms

Red Snapper

Roasted Pork Loin

Teriyaki Turkey Tenderloin

Eggplant Canneloni Parmegiana

New York Sirloin Steak- from the Grill

Fillet of Swordfish-from the Grill

DAY 2- FIRST FORMAL NIGHT

Wedge of Honeydew Melon

Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail

Pate Foie Gras

Hazelnut Crusted Brie

Parisian Onion Soup

Lobster Bisque

Gazpacho

Our House Salad

Caesar Salad

Sesame Crusted Salmon Fillet (replaces Crab Legs)

Lamb Loin Chops

Roasted Tom Turkey

Vegetarian Tofu

Fillet Mignon a la Oscar- from the Grill

Mahi Mahi Fillet- from the Grill

DAY 3-

Watermelon Pearls

Seared Beef Carpaccio

Oyster Trio Rockefeller

Duck and Black Bean Quesadilla

Chicken Noodle Soup

Potato and Leek Chowder

Chilled Strawberry Soup

Our House Salad

Greens w/ Herbed Goat Cheese

Crisp Baked Grouper "Vera Cruz"

Roast Prime Rib of Beef Au Jus

Braised Lamb Shank

Vegetarian Pot Pie

Cornish Game Hen- from the Grill

Pepper Crusted Ahi Tuna- from the Grill

Pork Medallion- from the Grill

DAY 4- Dutch Night

I'm omitting Dutch names if an explanation is necessary

Fruit Medley

Bay Shrimp Cocktail

Dutch Ham w/ Asparagus

Grilled Chicken Sate

Beef Consomme w/ Vermicelli and Meat Balls

Dutch Green Pea Soup

Chilled Three Berry Soup

House Salad

Greens w/ Endive Salad

Seafood (shrimp, scallops, & mussels) in lobster sauce

Dutch Beef Pot Roast

Nasi Goreng-Fried Rice Dish w/ Pork

Asparagus Risotto

Duck Breast- from the Grill

Pork Chop- from the Grill

Halibut Medallion- from the Grill

DAY 5-

Fruit Salad in Papaya

Iced Crab Legs (an appetizer, not entree size)

Tomato w/ Mozzarella

Thai Spring Rolls

French Vegetable Soup

Dos Frijoles Soup

Chilled Guacamole Soup

Our House Salad

Romaine Leaves

Pecan Crusted Salmon Fillet

Parmesan Chicken Breast

Braised Osso Bucco

Boiled New Englan Dinner

Vegetable Cutlet

Swordfish Steak- from the Grill

New York Sirloin Steak- from the Grill

DAY 6- 2nd Formal Night

Melon Medley

Trip of Atlantic Salmon

Malossol Caviar

Escargot Bourguinonne

Italian Wedding Soup

Cream of Green Asparagus

Iced Vichyssoise

Our House Salad

Caesar Salad

Surf and Turf (petit filet mignon & half lobster tail)

Roasted Veal Noisettes

Peking Style Rotisserie Duck

Potato Gnocchi

Halibut Fillet- from the Grill

Double Venison Loin- from the Grill

DAY 7-

Orange and Grapefruit Cocktail

Gravlax

Portabella and Tomato Crostini

Crab and Artichoke Dip

Kickin' Crab Chowder

Basil Tomato Soup

Chilled Pineapple and Banana Soup

Our House Salad

The Greek Salad

New England Lingcod Fish & Chips

Slow Roasted Prime Rib

Roast Leg of Lamb

Home Style Meatloaf

Mushroom Ravioli

Chicken Breast- from the Grill

Kingfish- from the Grill

I see that calve's liver with sauteed onions is gone. We always looked forward to that on the last night.

I think it possible one of the reasons Dover Sole is gone because of the time it took for the stewards to de-bone it. With fewer stewards, they cannot spare the time for that.

An FYI for the steak fans....The New York Steak on DAY ONE is fantastic. A tablemate had it and she said it was the best steak all week. I ordered the pork and it was very good, but I confess, I was coveting her steak....and all week, I regretted not ordering it. She said the marinade was absolutely the best. I ate alot of beef that week, and it was all very good, but she said this was the BEST she had all week.

No one at our table had any complaints with the food, and one lady had cruised with HAL extensively, and she said this was the best yet. This was my first HAL cruise, so I had not comparison, but I am cruising on the Veendam next month, so we'll see.

Marie

I see that calve's liver with sauteed onions is gone. We always looked forward to that on the last night.

It was served the last night on our recent Rotterdam cruise and as I stated before we also had the dover sole. Maybe each ship is different or that the Maasdam cruise was 7 days and the Rotterdam 10 days. :confused:

We were on the Oosterdam last week, and the menu looks very similar, except we had NONE of the chilled soups! Very strange--I was looking forward to them. But both my husband and I loved the food, as did our other 4 tablemates. I also thought the personal attention that the one vegetarian got at our table was outstanding--makes me want to be vegetarian for my next cruise!

Hi Peaches from Georgia,

Thanks for the Maasdam menus. We are planning to be on the Maasdam the week of July 24th. I made reservations for the Pinnacle Grill for Wednesday night which I thought was Dutch night. However, that would be our 5th night and your menus indicate that Dutch night is the fourth night. Do you remember which is correct? I had read elsewhere on these boards that Dutch night was the informal night and that it was on

Wednesday. I figured that we'd kill 2 birds with one stone--the men would already be wearing jackets and we would miss Dutch night. Thanks for any information you might have.

Reggie

We also had the liver on the same Rotterdam cruise you took. But that was several months ago, and it may be possible things have changed since we (and you) were aboard.

It was served the last night on our recent Rotterdam cruise and as I stated before we also had the dover sole. Maybe each ship is different or that the Maasdam cruise was 7 days and the Rotterdam 10 days. :confused:

REGGIE, the day I posted w/ each menu is the day that was PRINTED on each menu, so it is not a matter of memory. Dutch Night was on Tuesday, Day 4.

That's the problem when so many people want to plan and reserve everything ahead of time before they are on the ship and have the schedule for THEIR ship and THEIR particular week. While Dutch night may be Weds. night and informal night on some ships, it is not the same on all ships. On our Maasdam cruise Dutch Night was Tuesday and I know on other ships we have been on it has been a casual night because there was also a BBQ held on deck at the same time.

We made our PG reservation the morning of, got a beautiful table for 2 by the window, and there were not more than 4 or 5 couples in the whole restaurant. In fact we walked by every night from dinner and there was never more than a few tables taken which was a shame because the food and service was fabulous. Enjoy no matter when you go!

Thanks for posting the menus Peaches. I agree with some posters saying things are different on 7 day cruises. On our 21 day cruise this Spring we had all of the "old" favorites..guess I`ll find out what`s what in Dec. We will be doing a 7 day back to back with a 10 day.....jean

Thanks for posting, Peaches, I am hungry just reading it. One thing I noticed that they served fish and chips??????? Never saw that on the menu before.

I did have the fish and chips, and the fish was good, but couldn't say much for the french fries. Also, another thing I appreciated was that the food was always HOT.

Marie

From our experience, Dutch night can change, even while onboard. You may have to change your Pinnacle reservation a few times if you are trying to opt out of Dutch night in the diningroom.

Thanks for posting the menus, Peaches. It looks to be the same as it was last April when we were aboard, we thought the food and service to be above average (compared with recent past sailings).

How did you find the Pinnacle Grill? We thought it was the dining highlight, even better than we'd imagined it to be... sorry to ask again if you posted about the Pinnacle previously on the boards.

Peaches you are a Peach for doing the listing for us. I see your week had several varaitions from our May 29 which was only a few weeks apart.

The biggest varaition and one I wish I was with you is you had Oysters Rockefeller. We had no oysters our week, in fact you don't usually see oysters on any ship's menu. I like them better than the escargo which I see you did have yet the week before us did not have them. As you stated it's really fruitless to tell people when Dutch night is, when formal is, when informal is , when you have crab legs, etc. as it does vary from week to week. People plan around what you tell them and they find out different when they go so they blame you!

Thanks for posting the menu's and the hints to wait on reserving the Pinnacle until onboard.

I have a question.. Does HAL have an alternative menu? This would include things the same every night. Example: Steak or Grilled Chicken. It would be nice if they do as it's a great alternative if there's nothing on the menu that seems appealing (yes.. I see a night that I wouldn't prefer to select from the list).

Also.. may you order food "plain"?

Peaches,

Thanks for taking the time to do this. Where did you sail? The reason I'm asking is that I've been on 2 HAL cruises, both to Alaska, and never saw cold soup on the menu. I'm guessing the cold soups are served in warm climates. Is that true?

I read a review on another Board saying that they would never sail HAL again because of the food. Among other things, they said the food wasn't up to par because of a lack of cold soups. Isn't cold soup oxymoronic anyway???

Well, I'm hoping that I get to try a cold soup on my Zaandam cruise this December. Apparently it's the measure of haute cuisine.

Iluvcruisin,

The HAL cruises I've been on (all of 2!) offered a grilled chicken or fish, along with a steak, every night. Plain side dishes with it, baked potato and a steamed veg. I selected grilled salmon with the potato and broccoli one night when the rough seas were making me feel a little green around the gills. The richer entrees just weren't appealing on a queasy stomach.

Roz

What I see regarding the menu is variety. For us that's very important - we hate to eat the same thing two days in a row (or even repeat the same things on a 10 day cruise). There are postings on this board about whether the dining room food is better on HAL or Celebrity. For us, day 1 on Celebrity is better than day 1 on HAL; but Celebrity food starts to look the same every night. HAL food is constantly changing, which is a big plus for us. That makes HAL food better for us than Celebrity food

Funny, we have the opposite orientation than other posters regarding Dutch night: we don't want to miss it, and we don't want to miss Indonesian food either! As for the Pinnacle, we hope it lives up to the quality of the former, free Venetian Room. We love northern Italian food, and eat Italian food (northern or southern) about once a week. We eat in steakhouses once every ten years - maybe less. (Probably under five times in 36 years of marriage.) We'll try the Pinnacle, but we're skeptical.

Thanks Roz!

This is so good to know as I really enjoy having dinner in the dinning room versus the alternate one. :D

You may always order your food served with any sauces served on the side. The same goes for salads that are pre tossed. There is usually a good selection of grill items each night, usually two or three items...jean

I'm puzzled about the surf and turf. What is meant by half a lobster tail?

The lobster tail is split in half long ways. You get one half and somebody else get's the other half or you can do like me and order two orders and get the whole tail in two pieces. At my table there were 4 that didn't want the tail but wanted the filet so I told them don't worry just throw your half tail my way. I ended up with 3 whole tails that night. I don't know why they started that half tail thing other than to cut back on prices but to me a half tail is better than no tail if you know what I mean! I'd rather have a bigger half tail than a smaller whole tail like some ships serve. Some are so small they are more like crawdad tails or shrimp scampi tails. The little tail they served at Pinncale Grill was a disapointment too but it was at least the whole tail. In fact the tail was so small they placed it on top of the 5 oz. Filet you got with it. That's small!

Thanks the menu sounds fantastic.The more I read the more interested I am in booking the New England cruise.Everything I have read sounds great.Never been to New England,either.

If you want to really enjoy whole lobsters from New England as they should be eaten, while on this cruise take either the Peggy'sCove w/ Lobster Lunch excursion in Halifax, or the Bar Harbor Rustic Lobster Bake/Tour of Acadia Forest, or as we did take BOTH! Forget the little lobster tails on the ship- not worth talking about. On the excursions you get whole steamed lobsters to dig into along with clam chowder, mussels, corn and even dessert. Now that's the real New England!

OR...if you wish to have a lobster the way lobster should be but do not wish to take a ship's tour in order to be taken someplace they serve it, you can walk up two or three blocks from where the ship docks in Portland and find GREAT Maine steamed lobster. Maine hardshell lobster, fresh from the sea, steamed not boiled and served the way it should be. This from a Bostonian who has lived here my whole life! Once you have a Maine lobster in Maine, the frozen tails they serve on the ship will not be nearly as appealing to you IMO We ordered them once....ab out 40 cruises ago, and never ordered them again.

That is our plan for Portland and we get lobsters here on a regular basis. Just had wonderful steamed clams and lobsters this past Sunday at our friends. Spent the day at their pool and this is what they served for dinner. IT WAS SOOOO GOOD!!!