your greatest HAL dining experience?

[respondeat.cruiser]

The current thread on MDR vs. specialty restaurants got me to thinking about all the great meals I've had with Holland America.

 

But the one that stands above all the rest was on the Veendam, in the Rotterdam Dining Room's second floor, first seating. The ship was sailing from Saint George. Our six-top had been set for seven (all family) and we looked out the aft window we were up against, at the wake, and the many little islands on our way to Hamilton. It was the greatest table with a view ever.

 

By the end of dessert, we were tied up on the dock at Front Street. And the sun was still shining!

 

I can't remember what I ate. But the ambiance was unmatched, and the company was great, too.

 

 

So what is your greatest HAL dining experience? And what makes it memorable for you?

[Hflors]

My greatest dining experience was also on Veendam. It was the one and only cruise my sister and I took with my mom before she passed away.

 

Every night we would wheel her down in her wheel chair to the the dining room and the Matre'D would take over from the doorway and wheel her all the way to the table. He would then help her out and sit her in her chair. He always took her napkin and spread it on her lap before taking her wheel chair away. My sis and agreed that secretly we thought my mom enjoyed the attention though she would never admit it.

 

My mom dressed with care each night or what she called "got spiffed up" and she always seemed to sit a bit straighter in her chair when we approached the dining room. It was wonderful to be able to take my mom on that cruise and see her waited on instead of her doing the cooking as she did for years raising 8 children and waiting on us and my father.

 

Just remembering it brings a smile to my face and a tear to my eye.

 

Helen

[B Russo]

I remember many great meals on HAL, I hope it has not changed to much. :) Bill

[kazu]

Wow - so many to choose from - we really enjoyed the Sommelier dinner on the old Rotterdam. It was just a joy and every mouthful was a joy.

 

My other favourite moment is ironically the breakfast in the pinnacle grill on the Prinsendam. Beautiful views out of those windows and the staff were so incredible I can't describe it. Every morning DH was tempted to get a 'sexy bun'.(the raisin buns). The poor guy must have come back three times every morning and we said no. Finally, we said yes as we were getting close to the end of our cruise - I still remember the delight in his eyes to this day. silly, no?:D

[Copper10-8]

PG dinner on the Volendam with my wife on our anniversary in 2011:) Aelita, the PG manager, took very good care of us that evening:)

[lovetocruise2020]

Our family wedding dinner in Canaletto on the Eurodam.

 

6 of us, pre set menus we ordered ahead of time.

 

A large bowl of meatballs. Lots of Lasagna, and Linguine Alfredo with Chicken & Shrimp, Osso Bucco, and lots of sauteed garlic for dipping.

 

A great Chianti, Moscato, and Champagne, and the chef kept bringing out great things for us to try. It was so special, the staff went above and beyond, the food was amazing and my mother from an Italian American family, and my Father in law from the same loved it all.

 

Very casual, very family style, simple good pastas, and a staff so amazing we will never forget it. They still made things from the old menu without batting an eye. As we had not been told it had changed yet.

[ellieanne]

Sailing into the St. Lawrence Seaway, having dinner and looking out the window to find there was a pod of whales following the ship.

 

Followed very closely by sailing out of Stockholm and with the sunset lighting the archipelago -- absolutely stunning views!

[CowPrincess]

hflors, your remembrance brought tears to my eyes, too. Thank you for sharing it <3

 

Our greatest HAL dining experience, I think, is one evening in Topolobampo. We invited our MDR table companions to join us for dinner on our balcony. We were facing the shore, and the CD Eric (or Erik) got karaoke going, some of the vendors were taking part, there were people dancing and we had a great view of all the activity. It was a fantastic evening, lots of good conversation and laughter and relaxation.

 

Interesting that (thus far) everyone is talking about the company and the locale and the scenery, without much comment on the actual meal. I love it......

[sammygoose]

My greatest dining experience was also on Veendam. It was the one and only cruise my sister and I took with my mom before she passed away.

 

Every night we would wheel her down in her wheel chair to the the dining room and the Matre'D would take over from the doorway and wheel her all the way to the table. He would then help her out and sit her in her chair. He always took her napkin and spread it on her lap before taking her wheel chair away. My sis and agreed that secretly we thought my mom enjoyed the attention though she would never admit it.

 

My mom dressed with care each night or what she called "got spiffed up" and she always seemed to sit a bit straighter in her chair when we approached the dining room. It was wonderful to be able to take my mom on that cruise and see her waited on instead of her doing the cooking as she did for years raising 8 children and waiting on us and my father.

 

Just remembering it brings a smile to my face and a tear to my eye.

 

Helen

beautiful, thanks Helen. Your story touched me in so many ways.

[Cruising-along]

Rotterdam, 2008 Med cruise. We were sailing with my sister and BIL that cruise and my sister's birthday was the day we were in Toulon and drove all over Provence -- a magical day. At dinner that night our dining stewards (the best we've ever had before or since) sang Happy Birthday to her. She was so flustered she said Happy Birthday to the Dining Room Manager (we still laugh about that) :p

[SwissMyst]

The best overall MDR experience was on the Zuiderdam to Alaska, late evening sun, a window side table and really good food. Being able to see the sea go by during those late daylight hours made the experience even more special -- which is why I like lunch, tea and breakfast in the main dining room too - to fully enjoy those wonderful open windows.

 

Ironically, our worst dining experience was on that same Zuiderdam in the Pinnacle Grill at that same time. Heard they have greatly improved and we have certainly had some excellent meals later in other Pinnacle Grills. It was just one bad night from start to finish unfortunately.

 

Best single meal might well be the Pinnacle Grill lunch on the recent Rotterdam trip, though no problems with their lamb skewer dinners either.

 

The Pinnacle lunch antipasto appetizer was sublime, and actually it was just a hamburger for the main course which was done simply with fine pure flavors, and a lovely orange/lime panna cotta for dessert. Lovely setting, lovely flavors, lovely service - it just all came together.

 

Best MDR meal was a seared ahi with horse radish mashed potatoes and asparagus on a Ryndam Culinary Council Cruise where they were trying out new dishes. It was superbly prepared and just the right combination of flavors, textures and sides.

 

Best single side dish may well be that fresh nutmeg cold soup, also on the recent Rotterdam.

 

Strangest meal was the Librjie (sp?) specialty night on the Rotterdam as well - a very frou from 3 star Michelin offering for the heavy numbers of Dutch passengers who knew this restaurant well in Holland.

[OCruisers]

:D Here's a funny one:

 

DH had noro on Veendam so I was not to leave the cabin either.

I was given the menu for the evening so I called room service to place my order. They asked what I'd like.

Joking, I said I'd like lobster with drawn butter and a filet which was NOT on the menu. They ask me how I wanted my steak cooked? Yes, I got the lobster & the filet. :rolleyes:

 

LuLu

~~~~

[localady]

:D Here's a funny one:

 

DH had noro on Veendam so I was not to leave the cabin either.

I was given the menu for the evening so I called room service to place my order. They asked what I'd like.

Joking, I said I'd like lobster with drawn butter and a filet which was NOT on the menu. They ask me how I wanted my steak cooked? Yes, I got the lobster & the filet. :rolleyes:

 

LuLu

~~~~

 

You surely deserved it, my friend, for being a trooper and staying cabin bound!! ;) What a hoot!:D

[sppunk]

Honestly, a tuna sandwich on the bow of Westerdam one afternoon in Glacier Bay as whales danced around us.

[localady]

My favorite to date dining experience was during the Christmas cruise we took with my boys on the Volendam. They handled the challenges of ordering and their table manners like seasoned pros on New Years Eve formal night. They managed to order 4 courses with ease and to refrain from teasing each other with the paper horns we'd received as table decorations. We had such fun, and they really enjoyed our long formal dinner. It was a family cruise and meal remember!

[jaguarstyper]

The week I spent on Amsterdam in Alaska in 2010 provided all my best HAL dining experiences. I was cruising with my elderly parents and we ate in the MDR all but one night. The food and service was the best I had ever experienced on a HAL cruise. I'm not sure what they are doing different on Amsterdam, but whatever it is, they need to look into it and do it on the other ships. The dining stewards were excellent, quick, friendly and engaging. The food was consistently some of the best I've ever had on a cruise ship and the ambiance of the Amsterdam MDR was exceptional. Maybe we just got lucky with the draw on the dining stewards and we had a particularly good table location, but I was really impressed.

[DaveOKC]

Believe it or not, my best experience was a room service meal!

 

What happened is that my Mom suffered an injury just prior to leaving on the cruise and the first few days she was in pain (ribs). The first night she really did not feel like going out to dinner, so the three of us decided to just do room service.

 

Fortunately, thanks to Cruise Critic, I knew about the option of ordering from the MDR menu. We all had a very nice prime rib dinner, while watching the beautiful scenery of sailing out of Vancouver. Again fortunately, we were in a deluxe suite, so we had plenty of room, plus a nice balcony to use.

 

Great experience from a situation that may not have been so good on other line.

 

DaveOKC

[SwissMyst]

My favorite to date dining experience was during the Christmas cruise we took with my boys on the Volendam. They handled the challenges of ordering and their table manners like seasoned pros on New Years Eve formal night. They managed to order 4 courses with ease and to refrain from teasing each other with the paper horns we'd received as table decorations. We had such fun, and they really enjoyed our long formal dinner. It was a family cruise and meal remember!

 

You reminded me of seeing the little kids all dressed up for Christmas dinner on the Oosterdam, which was one of the most fun memories of that holiday trip. They just sparkled and strut like little peacocks - they knew just by what they were wearing that night, it was going to be special. And from all the beaming smiles they got back from the rest of us, who were also enjoying the show.

[Typhoon1]

Every HAL dining experience is a great, unique experience. Savor it.

[The Tsar]

One never forgets their first.:rolleyes:

 

Our introduction to Holland America line was over almost thirty years ago. We were young (by HAL's standards) and on our very first cruise. I was barely able to scrape up the fare, and we had an inside cabin - It was a very special belated (20+ years) honeymoon.

 

Ironically, on my Wife's birthday, we had been invited to join the Captain's for cocktails and dinner. Dinner was running late but at the end of the main meal, they brought out a special birthday cake for my wife (in those days they actually baked large special order cakes). The entire table and most of the dinning stewards sang Happy Birthday to my Wife. What made it so extra special for us was that while we ate birthday cake all the late dinners waited and waited behind the closed dinning room doors (only one level MDR) - Did we get a lot of "dirty" :mad: looks upon leaving.

[SilvertoGold]

A half hour out of Juneau, at window table on upper level. Humpbacks started popping up within 75 feet of the ship and stayed for about 15 minutes. Talk about a good seat! The food was extremely good, too!

 

Second best: Shanghai overnight; 25th wedding anniversary; unbelievable, magical lights and boats on the river along the Bund; local Shanghai Acrobats presentation in the Show Lounge; reservation at 8 pm, running the whole way to the Pinnacle because the show was late and so were we. Fabulous meal, food perfect, service perfect, anniversary cake was seriously the best we have ever had on HAL! Memorable!

[sansterre]

Hmmmm, I was thinking about dinner with Captain Timmers and some great Pinnacle Dinners. And then there were recent dinners in Antartica with a two seater window table watching the penguins, seals, and whales. But the best of all was as we left Sydney after a full day of sightseeing. We were too tired after the safety drill to join our table of 8 for early seating. Instead we sat on our veranda enjoying the last views of the Sydney Opera House and called the Canneletto. Yes, they had a window table available for us! I don't remember the food as much as the great service, wine, and the incredible views of Sydney at sunset sail-away.

[SwissMyst]

This is from a fellow traveler's blog on the Rotterdam when they featured the Dutch restaurant De Librije in the Pinnacle Grill several evenings.

 

It was a very "composed" meal (aka fussy) and highly visual - tastes for us were only so-so but it was fun to try - not sure if it is going fleet wide or just because there were so many Dutch on this particular cruise:

 

http://travels.psgv.ca/de-librije-dinnermar-6-2013/

 

Thanks Gerritt, enjoying your blog!

[tapdancemom]

My greatest dining experience was also on Veendam. It was the one and only cruise my sister and I took with my mom before she passed away.

 

Every night we would wheel her down in her wheel chair to the the dining room and the Matre'D would take over from the doorway and wheel her all the way to the table. He would then help her out and sit her in her chair. He always took her napkin and spread it on her lap before taking her wheel chair away. My sis and agreed that secretly we thought my mom enjoyed the attention though she would never admit it.

 

My mom dressed with care each night or what she called "got spiffed up" and she always seemed to sit a bit straighter in her chair when we approached the dining room. It was wonderful to be able to take my mom on that cruise and see her waited on instead of her doing the cooking as she did for years raising 8 children and waiting on us and my father.

 

Just remembering it brings a smile to my face and a tear to my eye.

 

Helen

 

Thanks for sharing your story. what a special memory for you and your sister to share.

[lovetocruise2020]

This is from a fellow traveler's blog on the Rotterdam when they featured the Dutch restaurant De Librije in the Pinnacle Grill several evenings.

 

It was a very "composed" meal (aka fussy) and highly visual - tastes for us were only so-so but it was fun to try - not sure if it is going fleet wide or just because there were so many Dutch on this particular cruise:

 

http://travels.psgv.ca/de-librije-dinnermar-6-2013/

 

Thanks Gerritt, enjoying your blog!

 

wow, thanks to Gerritt, but heck does not look like anything I would like.