CSI: NA Reloaded (Nieuw Amsterdam 11/30 to 12/14/14)

[shrimpboat123]

Here are a few pictures of the Christmas decorations that are appearing on the ship.

 

 

 

 

[cruz chic]

Nice pics. Thx shrimpboat.

[pamelabrown53]

shrimpboat,

 

Those decorations are gorgeous. I can't thank you enough for posting those pics.

 

As a Christmas Cruiser, who has never been on HAL, I'm saying: Outstanding!

[PathfinderEss]

Please accept my apologies if the last post has any spelling or grammar errors. It's really bright where I'm sitting and there's a lot of screen glare. I couldn't really proof my work, so it's entirely possible that it's a hot mess.

I for one make plenty of mistakes, so why in the world would I criticize anyone for their errors. It was a great report and I noticed no errors.

Here are a few pictures of the Christmas decorations that are appearing on the ship.

 

 

Awesome photo's shrimpboat, thanks for making the time to take and post the Christmas decorating going on around the NA.

[DavyJoneses]

Enjoyed the report.

[Love the beach]

If you are taking pictures could you snap one of the cinnamon buns before you inhale it? I never found them and love cinnamon buns.

 

Those cinnamon buns were to die for! We had them on the Noordam in Oct. they were at the waffle station.

[SilvertoGold]

Awesome photo's shrimpboat, thanks for making the time to take and post the Christmas decorating going on around the NA.

 

I second that! Fabulous photos. Thanks for posting them!!!

[kazu]

Here are a few pictures of the Christmas decorations that are appearing on the ship.

 

 

Fabulous pictures. Thanks so much. Sounds like you are all in for a treat as you watch it unfold :)

[POA1]

Where's the prunes?

 

They were on my cheese plate last night. Tonight's menu features a prune dessert, albeit not one that is prunes and cappuccino. I guess it's just about regularity this week, not alterness.

[cruz chic]

They were on my cheese plate last night. Tonight's menu features a prune dessert, albeit not one that is prunes and cappuccino. I guess it's just about regularity this week, not alterness.

 

I think we had some pork dish with prunes on my last week. You won't want to miss that one.

 

I'm in Dallas right now. So jealous if you! Say hi to huskerchick.

Edited December 2, 2014 by cruz chic

[freestyling]

Thanks for the report to date. Sorry you missed HMC. I noticed you brought a bottle of my fav Cab Shafer 1.5. Love that winery (the new release Relentless is good as well). Don't eat all the cinnamon buns...we board the ship next week and i need an excuse on why my tux vest won't fit :D.

[POA1]

Very cool photos from Shrimpboat123. We hope to see him and Mrs. Shrimpboat (Shrimpette??) at the Meet & Greet tomorrow. The ironic thing is that we went over to their house* before sail away to say hello, but we have quite honestly not seen them at all since.**

 

*By "their house" we mean their stateroom.

 

**It's quite possible that they are seeing us first and going into hiding. :eek:

[POA1]

Quick update because it's 12:50 AM and this is a Holland America cruise, which means that there's a huge, late night party happening and I have to get back before they miss me.***

 

Last night's MDR dinner had significantly larger protein portions than we has just two weeks ago. We thought that might be an anomaly, since we ate in Tamarind the first night and didn't have a point of comparison. However, tonight's dinner was a repeat of what we had two weeks ago on Day 2. I made a point to order the same dishes and I can say that the proteins in the main course are definitely bigger.

 

My cheese course was once again, accompanied by prunes. My digestive system is in fine shape, so this is beginning to worry me. We are now on the alert for diced, chopped prunes masquerading as raisins, as well as prune-laced pastries.

 

More to follow tomorrow after the Meet & Greet....

 

***This is an example of completely made up information. However, there were several couples in the Northern Lights at around 12:30 AM. The DJ was performing some sort of bizarre ritual sacrifice on Taio Cruz's "Dynomite" which made the vocals sound like they were straight out of Munchkinland. It scared us, so we retreated to our room.

[Crew News]

Those cinnamon buns were to die for! We had them on the Noordam in Oct. they were at the waffle station.

 

During a cooking demo two years ago, we found the secret to HAL's cinnamon buns was to add dry vanilla pudding mix to the batter.

Edited December 2, 2014 by Crew News

[POA1]

On this Day in History - December 2nd - Sam Cooke's "You Send Me" reaches #1 on the US Pop Music charts in 1957. Let's see how many times we can get the B.B. King All Stars to play it tonight.

 

The ship's been decorated for Christmas. Here are a few photos to supplement the ones that Shrimpboat123 was kind enough to upload.

 

Tamarind:

 

 

 

 

The MDR (Manhattan Dining Room) Entrance:

 

 

 

 

[POA1]

The Ocean Bar:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Explorer's Lounge:

 

 

 

 

Whenever we pass by the Explorer's Lounge after our late seating dinner, we noticed that it appears to be a place of rest for many guests. We've taken to calling this area "The Corridor of Snooze."

[POA1]

Our last stop on the Nieuw Amsterdam Holiday Tour is the Atrium. (It was a little bit bright to get decent photos in the Crow's Nest yesterday, so we'll give that another chance one evening when it's a bit darker.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 2, 2014 by POA1

[kazu]

great pics :) thanks :)

[TiogaCruiser]

If you can't find the cinnamon rolls in the MDR or lido continental counter try Explorations. At least when we were on Veendam the head baker said he made a limited number (like 24) and that's where they were sent. They went quickly.

[POA1]

If you can't find the cinnamon rolls in the MDR or lido continental counter try Explorations. At least when we were on Veendam the head baker said he made a limited number (like 24) and that's where they were sent. They went quickly.

 

Actually, I am trying to avoid the cinnamon rolls at all costs. :)

[shrimpboat123]

Very cool photos from Shrimpboat123. We hope to see him and Mrs. Shrimpboat (Shrimpette??) at the Meet & Greet tomorrow. The ironic thing is that we went over to their house* before sail away to say hello, but we have quite honestly not seen them at all since.**

 

*By "their house" we mean their stateroom.

 

**It's quite possible that they are seeing us first and going into hiding. :eek:

 

We've been watching for you. We'll start going clock-wise around the ship and you go in the opposite direction. Maybe that way our paths will cross. :D

 

See you at the Meet & Greet for sure.

[Lizzie68]

Great photos, thanks to both of you. It must look really lovely onboard.

[POA1]

Seeing that we had an impromptu sea day yesterday, DW hung out in her Cabana for a few hours. It was a pretty gloomy and wind blown affair. At around noon, we headed to the Dive-In for some burgers. You might want to make a note for yourself that the Dive-In is to be avoided right at noon. We knew that, but we went anyway. The wait was a few minutes longer than normal - and totally worth it. We had the Dive-In Burger, double stack. We kind of thought it might simulate an In-n-Out Double Double. It didn't, but it was a mighty fine sandwich in its own right. In a nod the health consciousness, we didn't finish all of our fries. We also had Coke Zero in our Barcardi & Coke, so basically. it was like an hour at the gym.

 

We bopped around the ship for a bit in the afternoon and took some photos of the ship's Christmas decorations. After that, we reported for the mandatory passenger happy hour in the Crow's Nest at 4:00 PM. We were surrounded by people whose wives or husbands were feeling under the weather (seasick) and count ourselves as fortunate the we don't have a problem with rolling seas.

 

Last night's dinner was quite good. Standouts were the corn chowder and the sole. DFIL had the liver and onions, add onions. Our wine pairings were a 2009 Gabbiano Chianti Classico Riserva and Chateau Doisy Daene Blanc, a white Bordeaux. I had the cheese for dessert. DW had the pistachio ice cream. DFIL had the fruit crisp and the rum cake with vanilla sauce. My cheese plate once again had prunes, this time as a chutney. The cheeses were also not the ones listed on the menu. (I think that tonight's cheese were actually yesterday's.) I am beginning to wonder if this is all an elaborate cheese ruse (Haha de fromage) designed to see if anyone is going to call them out on it. Perhaps there's a prize. I should ask.

 

We got to work with our wine steward, Dominic for the first time last night. He's got a lot of ground to cover, but did a fine job nonetheless. We got DFIL over the whole more-than-one-bottle-of-wine thing. I guess the secret was to lovingly find a wine to pair with his liver and onions. The timing was perfect, because formal nights mean red, white, and Champagne.

 

On our way out of the dining room, we stopped at the Yum Yum man for some after dinner mints because, well... liver and onions, add onions.

 

The dinner menu for our not-exactly Half Moon Cay day:

 

http://www.evernote.com/l/AFiAFtSjDfNLU4nUvqNS98dJsPMsLBmCyc4/

 

Please note that there is a prune based dessert. If you are having problems finding prunes in your local grocery store or supermarket, it's because they're all here on the Nieuw Amsterdam. :D

 

Our evening entertainment was Jeremy in the Piano Bar and B.B. King. By the time we arrived at the Piano Bar, it was standing room only. Jeremy had a really enthusiastic crowd and the Piano Bar stayed busy all night. My wife's dad really enjoyed the Piano Bar and we suspect that it will be his go-to spot. DFIL spent the remainder of the evening in the Piano Bar, while DW & I went to the Queen's Lounge to catch the last B.B. King show. They were excellent as always.

 

After the show ended, we decided to check out the Northern Lights disco. It was pretty busy. "Busy" is a relative term when it comes to the disco as it's a pretty small venue. They were having a happy hour from 11 to midnight, so I switched from Maker's Mark to an alternate bourbon. Did you ever have one of those nights when you drank too much? I have. However, last night was one of those nights when I drank exactly the right amount. I woke up bright-eyed and annoyingly cheerful at 7:15 AM. I'm sure that I'll hit the wall later, but it's a sea day, so a nap is on the agenda.

[RuthC]

Wow. Just wow. The pictures you and Shrimpboat have posted make me wish I were on board that ship right now. Makes my humble efforts at home look so, I don't know, pathetic.

 

Thank you, once again, for taking us along for the ride. And for making the ride so much fun! I would love to meet up with you on some dam ship some day.

Edited December 2, 2014 by RuthC

[kazu]

Wow. Just wow. The pictures you and Shrimpboat have posted make me wish I were on board that ship right now. Makes my humble efforts at home look so, I don't know, pathetic.

 

Thank you, once again, for taking us along for the ride. And for making the ride so much fun! I would love to meet up with you on some dam ship some day.

 

I have a feeling that if POA1 posted on the boards that they have booked a cruise there would be huge jump in their roll call within 24 hours :D