bert425

Bert - thank you for the follow up. That does sound disappointing despite a few bright spots!!

 

Did they actually make the Guac and Margaritas tableside?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

yes, both were tableside, from different carts.

and they actually made two different versions of the Guac for us (one spicy, one mild) so the table had choices.

Definitely agree. It's not Creme Brulee, it's flan. If you like flan, it's delicious. For me the texture was all wrong.

HAHAHA. . .glad it's not just us!

I posted the exact same thing to the thread just now without reading thru the responses.

two others feel it's Flan, not Creme Brulee :)

I see this listed as a daily dessert. Is it any good?

 

Joyce

as a Crème Brûlée?

it's terrible.

but if you think of it as ordering a Flan? it's quite good.

we had a long, long discussion with our servers about the misleading naming on several things during our cruise (this, the "frozen souffle" (which is a strawberry mouse), and a few other things).. .the naming sets an expectation that isn't met.. . .

but if you realize you aren't getting traditional Creme Brulee and are getting a decent Flan?

you'll enjoy it.

That's very disappointing - would you mind sharing more about what you got and what did not meet expectations?

 

Was the menu and desert plate the same as it's always been or has it been changed with the lower price?

 

We are traveling on Liberty in April and would love the feedback.

 

Also -was it $15 to book on board as well?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

sure.. (I just pulled up the menu to refresh my memory).

on-board our trip last week - on Liberty, sailing from Galveston 2/19-2/26, it was *NOT* the discounted $15 (it was $25 per person).

We sent back:

Carne Asada (it was *not* as advertised, and tasted just like a can of dinty moore beef stew had been opened and dumped into a stale tortilla)

Spicy Chicken Flauta (was so overcooked, it was absolutely inedible.. you could barely cut thru the overcooked shell. . chewing it was impossible, unless you just scooped out the insides)

the replacements brought for these two by the waiter (his suggestions) were:

Red Snapper (which the lady at the table liked, and said it was a decent replacement)

Pato Gordo (which had absolutely no duck flavor at all. . might as well have been mystery meat, so we were 'ehhhh")

& he also brought out, we think, Pollo Picante (since he never really told us what they were, but they were 3 tacos in tortillas that dried out super fast and became inedible at the edges. . but the meat inside wasn't too bad).

Not sent back, but only 1/2 eaten was:

Tres Quesos (Quesadilla.. but Nick is a picky eater anyways, so that he ate 1/2 of it was a surprise).

Chicken stuffed Jalapenos (app) - there were only 4 on the plate, and one was left, from 3 people eating. . so not really a hit. tho bacon saves most everything.

Yucca Barrel Fries (side) -- so overcooked, completely inedible. Only about 7 of them in the dish, and only 1/2 of 2 got eaten.

Mexican Beans (side) -- undercooked, and after a bite, nobody touched them.

Mexican Rice (side) -- very little flavor, again, after a bit, nobody touched it.

Ending on a positive tho.. the things that were GOOD?

apps: Queso Fundido was great, and just the way good interior food should be (not a "dip your chips queso, so if you are expecting that, it will be disappointing. . but we liked it)

the Chili Calimari was also decent, although not spicy at all (to us)

the tablemade Guac (as noted, the real reason to go, especially if the price has been lowered to only $15 cover)

Chicken and Roasted Corn Empanada - everyone had a taste, but it was the only full meal that was completely finished and we all liked.

the desert box :) (which had some misses, but there were enough "hits" included that overall it was good.

the Margaritas. . fresh and tableside made.

so yeah. . not a good showing. but as noted, for $15, we'd likely go back just to have chips/guac and Margaritas. . but not nearly as good as Chops or Giovanni's (which was amazing)

just FYI, the food at Sabor was absolutely horrid last week -- we sent a couple of things back, and left several things half eaten. (however, for only $15,it's worth it just for the fresh Guacamole, and if you have the deluxe drink pkg, the Margaritas are "free" too then).

Giovanni's was absolutely fantastic, and highly recommended, and Chops was very good as well.

Maine Lobster is an upcharge. The free Lobster is the warm water lobster.

and when you upgrade, it's the WHOLE lobster, not just the tail.

and it was goooood broiled :)

On Liberty recently I found it interesting they dropped the whole "Friends of Dorothy" euphemism. LGBT events were listed in the Cruise Compass. There was a charter of bears that cruise, not sure if that had anything to do with it.

just a coincidence :)

I'm not sure many of our group went to the LGBT mixers (there were over 320 of us Gay/Straight, married/single, with Arno on the Liberty sailing last week), and although there were nightly LGBT meet ups in the Olive & Twist bar at 10pm, I believe,, that was completely RCCL / other. . . .

they were mentioned on the Bulletin board in the Promenade by the stairs down to photo studio near the Cafe Promenade.

We didn't AVOID the LGBT mixer (tho I can't speak for everyone in the group) but our group had separate parties -- although even tho the signs said "private events" to my knowledge, they didn't turn anyone away who got invited by members of the group -- yeah.. talk to the bears, you'll find us very friendly!

our 80's / "the Fifth Element" party down in Sudio B ran much longer than the 45 minute "70's" party the ship had on the promenade :)

we just sailed on her last week, and unfortunately, the MDR food is stunningly mediocre (with exceptions being the Lamb with Mint Jelly (on the Thursday), the Scallop appetizer on Sat (after the 2nd formal night (Friday) - and the lobster of course :)), and the Lobster Bisque on the 1st formal night (Monday) (tho it needed a little more spice).

it wasn't *bad* .. but not *great* either.

I'd highly recommend Giovanni's Table, or Chops, on any nights other than these (or upgrade to the Chops steak and / or full lobster from the MDR menu each night), if you're a foodie and want a great meal

We just got off the Liberty (2/19-2/26).

Lobster night in the main dining room is the 2nd Formal Night (it was Friday Night for us, after Cozumel stop).

The 1st formal night has Lobster Bisque tho.

however, you could "upgrade" to full lobster any night from the menu in the main dining room.

Interestingly, on Sat. night, we heard reports (from friends who never ate in the main dining room) that Windjammer had the lobster tails as well -- I suspect they were leftovers from Friday in the Main Dining. . but they were there, for what it's worth.

(Main Dining Room had a scallops option on that last Sat evening)

We wear tuxes to Dinner, but then change to a more casual slacks and jacket (no tie) for the shows.

I have no issue with folks who don't want to dress up, but really, they shouldn't go to a show in shorts on Formal nights.

How come whenever the subject of gambling comes up, you only hear from the alleged winners. Just to change the pace, my wife and I lost $1,200 at the craps table during a January Westerdam cruise.

"alleged" ?

that's why I provided photographic proof!

:p

I did go ashore and I took the "Cultural Highlights of Samana" shore excursion. It was okay -- Nothing fantastic. It also took a lot longer than it should have (about an hour and a half longer) because there were two buses and we were always waiting for the other one. I already mentioned in the post-cruise survey that maybe they could think about having each bus make their stops in a different order so that the delays could be minimized.

is that the one I just mentioned with the included lunch?

or is this the other one offered.

Did you go ashore in the Dominican Republic? What did you do there? Thanks for sharing your info.

Not the OP, but we took this cruise in November, and in Samana, we did the excursion that took us out of the main city, and went to a "Cigar Factory", "an old church" and to a "plantation for lunch"

I have those locations in quotes, because although they were TECHNICALLY those places, you'd have to squint hard to qualify them as such.

but, regardless, we very much enjoyed this tour, as once you are out of the city proper -- and the bus goes from the port/drop off IMMEDIATELY out of the city -- it's like you're in Hawaii. All very lush and tropical. (as opposed to an extremely poor city, where ever where you look are people just sitting on the stoops of crumbling homes and watching the bus go by).

the Plantation is of course, a chance to sell you things (as is the Cigar place), but surprisingly, much of the merchandise is decently priced, and worth it (we ended up buying a few things, such as Vanilla, and some jewelery). . . the lunch at the Plantation was very good, and was truly home cooked (it was served in glass casserolle pans, that looked like the lady of the house had just pulled them from the oven).

So I'd recommend that one, just for the lovely island views you get once out of the city.

Responding:

not listed on any of the excursions, but specific to Curacao, since that's the longest port

after we did the tour of the Caves (which was interesting, tho not longer than 45 minutes needed), we took a taxi from the shopping district (across the pontoon bridge, near the giant Curacao sign). . to the Curacao Sea-Aquarium.

the taxi cost ~$20.

the Sea-Aquarium is NOT cheap. it's about what you'd pay in places like New York, or Maui, but OMG. . we had the greatest time. Spending over 4 hours there with lots of exhibits, several interactive shows (feeding the Flamingos was great), and the dolphin show is a must see. There's also a theatre showing short conservation films, and a nearby beach/restaurant area you can walk to.

wonderful (though small) gift shop as well.. we bought several T-shirts for friends whom all loved them.

http://www.curacao-sea-aquarium.com/en/

one word of warning -- it's all outside (tho covered in most cases), but the humidity will really get you. So I'd recommend bringing along a hand fan.

(we did the Ostrich Farm on Aruba, and enjoyed it, because although they are clear that it's just a tourist thing, the Aruba one has a lot of other animals to see and touch).

Nice !!! Congratulations. :)

 

That is my favorite style slot machine. I like the flames, particularly when lined up three 'on fire' 7's. :D

 

yeah. I like the "wheel of fortune" type machines too.. the ones on the ship didn't pay at ALL when spinning. . but on the reels?

kept hitting and came out ahead.

that triple flaming 7's there paid out 1000 coins ($250) (on a $20 investment that let me play for a good 40 minutes before hitting this).

Penny slots, yes, very tight.

but we came out ahead on quarters and on dollar slots.

this pic is from our last evening on the Noordam back in November (it was enough to put us ahead and leave with winnings after playing the whole cruise).

my deepest condolences on your loss.

we were supposed to have 3 sail-away parties on our 11/3/14 Noordam Caribbean cruise.

but all 3 departures ran so late they never really happened.

at least two of them (initial Sail-Away, and Grand Turk) were due to medical evacuations that delayed our leaving the port at the time announced (tho initial departure also had an issue with the lifeboats needing to pass Coast Guard check).

I'd bet the 3rd missed party was the same reason.

Noordam Nov. 2014 had it as the "Tea Extravaganza" in the afternoon.

and it was like wild, uncaged pigs rushing the buffet lines, rather than servers with trays (as the typical tea would have been).

just awful.

You should see what happens when they're showing a movie on the ship. The guy comes in with a plate of popcorn bags, and people lose their minds. They're falling over each other to get a bag of popcorn .

 

I was shocked as hell when I witnessed this.

and THEN half the folks get up and walk out.

they came only for the popcorn.

If it was casual, that is totally different. The one meeting I noticed this on there was only one way to get it, right past the sign. It was in a corner and there was no other way to get in. Impossible to miss the sign.

on our recent Noordam cruise, there was NO PLACE in Explorations to sit down after getting coffee (and a pastry). . every single seat was taken with folks dozing, or reading.

so we went into one of the rooms where people were sitting playing cards, not realizing it was a group event (even tho they were only using 3 of the 6 tables).

We realized it was a Bridge group after we had already sat down (and we got a stinkface from a couple of folks).

Like I said there was no where to sit and we had cups of hot coffee, so we stayed there and they actually warmed up to us once I asked a few questions as to how the game is played (and, I'm sure, once they realized we had no interest in their snack table that was off to the side with cookies/sweets -- and we hadn't seen from outside, I'm sure "hidden" from view on purpose).

we finished our coffee and pasty, and after 5-10 minutes headed back out into the Explorations cafe.

not sure why the doors were open, if they didn't want folks to come in, but again, once they realized we didn't want their treats? it all SEEMED to be ok.

If you do not take your Diet Dr. Pepper into the MDR, what do you drink with your dinner?

water.

If I bring soda onboard does it need to be consumed in our cabin? Or can I take it to the pool? Or anywhere else onboard. If I can carry around my own cans of soda, would a Pepsi product stand out too much?

we carried ours around, and no one said a thing.

Granted, we were drinking Diet Dr. Pepper -- something HAL does not serve, but I don't see why not.

if you do 20oz bottles, you can re-seal with the cap, and we just poured them over glasses of Ice from "Dive In" or Lido.

we did not bring soda into MDR for dinner tho, as we decided for us that would be tacky :)

One more question

does HAL allow you to take soda onboard with you??

 

Thanks

short answer: yes.

you can bring bottled water aboard too.

We discovered on our 11/3/14 Noordam cruise, that the 20oz plastic soda bottles (8 packs bought at Big Lots day before cruise) are perfect, as you can check them in luggage - the plastic keeps them from bursting during transport onto ship, but also are re-seal-able, so you can carry them with you and just pour over a glass of ice picked up anywhere on the ship.

we brought soda we prefer that HAL doesn't offer (Diet Dr. Pepper), but there's no restriction.

Thank you for coming back to clarify that. Also curious about doing the same with soda.

as I noted in my response, we checked soda, so should be no issue.

the best advice I can pass along tho (as given to me last year here on CC). . buy the 20oz plastic bottles of soda.

1) less chance they will puncture or leak when being moved, as the plastic has some give

2) they have screw on caps, so you can re-seal them once open (we used them for on-shore water bottles too).