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

[Crew News]

He was our Captain the two weeks we sailed Nieuw Amsterdam.

Have you met HAL's new President? Interesting to see if he and all his TA's stay aboard the whole week.

 

I join the others in telling you how enjoyable your thread is. I look for it daily. :)

 

 

The HAL execs were not at the Suites Reception tonight. I asked the Captain what he thought about the visitors and he replied, "it is our chance to show how good we are.

 

The entourage will be dining in the PG tomorrow and the Canaletto the next day. When I asked the PG Manager if the entourage would be dining at the Lido Restaurant, he just smiled. Rudi Sodamin is with the group and will be doing a cooking demo this week. Several crew members reported to me that photographs of the visitors are posted in the Crew area.

 

The is a special PG add-on, complements of Rudi, just for this week that include pate foie gras and a whole Florida lobster. The lobster stretched a good eight inches over the edge of the plate. It was really, really good tonight. Might have to have it again this week. The PG has a new dessert menu that deletes the chocolate souffle.

 

Tamarind is again featuring the Bento Box delivered to your stateroom for $9.75.

Edited December 8, 2014 by Crew News

[PathfinderEss]

I think POA mentioned that there were about 100 travel agents on board. Made me stop and wonder. Many years back we were cruising around this time of the year in the Caribbean and they had the top 100 TA, sellers of Holland America on board. I wonder if this is the same kind of thing. What was really fun, when we were in the Crows Nest at night they had some private parties and because we were already there we got included into them. There was also some Hal big wigs on board for that too.

 

Don't you just love those Espresso Martini's. Wow they are so good. We had a great bartender on the Westerdam by the name of Ryan, couldn't be the same guy by chance, probably not. Just tell your DW she has good taste.

[POA1]

Thank you for the new wine list.

 

This is different than the new wine list that was changed on our second segment of our Noordam cruise.

 

You're welcome, KK! There are some excellent values on the new wine list as well as some not so super choices. I don't know if it's a fleet-wide list change, or just for this really travel agent intensive segment. We'll try to find out more.

[POA1]

POA1 could you please answer a question for me ? We are sailing the NA , same itinerary in January. I'm curious and turn around day at FLL . Did you have to get off the ship ? I apologize if you already covered this . Frank

 

Frank -

 

We did not have to get off the ship. We went to the main show lounge for about a half hour, and then we continued with our day. The procedure pretty much followed what I posted earlier. Look for "Turnaround Process/Procedure" earlier in this thread.

 

Bear in mind that your experience is subject to the whims of the US Government (Motto: "Making Your Life Easier Since 1795.") so your experience might vary.

[POA1]

You do not have to get off the ship. You will have to report to the show lounge at an appointed time. I was there for over an hour. POA repoted his time as being much quicker. Depends how quickly the zero the ship.

 

From the time we were told to report to the main show lounge until the time we were cleared was about 35 minutes.

 

Also, we got a new waiter tonight. It's Chandra. He says "Hi."

 

We say, "Neener, neener." :D

[POA1]

He was our Captain the two weeks we sailed Nieuw Amsterdam.

Have you met HAL's new President? Interesting to see if he and all his TA's stay aboard the whole week.

 

I join the others in telling you how enjoyable your thread is. I look for it daily. :)

 

 

Thank you so much. I really appreciate the feedback.

 

We did not exactly "Meet" Orlando Ashford, but we did pass him outside the Queen's Lounge during the second B.B. King set tonight. Rudi Sodamin is on board as are a couple of other operating unit executives. We are pretty sure we spotted upper management people from Cunard and Seabourn. (We can't really be 100% certain, as our area of expertise is in telecommunications.)

 

The only impact to guests (and by guests, I mean "us") thus far is that there is an abbreviated B.B. King show schedule, and that the Crow's Nest is closed from 5 PM - 9 PM for private functions.

 

We'll continue to keep you posted.

[POA1]

The is a special PG add-on, complements of Rudi, just for this week that include pate foie gras and a whole Florida lobster. The lobster stretched a good eight inches over the edge of the plate. It was really, really good tonight. Might have to have it again this week. The PG has a new dessert menu that deletes the chocolate souffle.

 

Tamarind is again featuring the Bento Box delivered to your stateroom for $9.75.

 

First, let me apologize for not stopping by this afternoon. We're traveling with DFIL and he wanted to head to the Crow's Nest for sail away. Hopefully, we'll catch up soon!

 

Second, we had a house on the coast of Maine for a long time. We have had a condo in Florida for quite a while as well. I mean no disrespect, but those things they call "Florida Lobsters" are just a sad excuse for a propah lobstah. :D

[POA1]

Don't you just love those Espresso Martini's. Wow they are so good. We had a great bartender on the Westerdam by the name of Ryan, couldn't be the same guy by chance, probably not. Just tell your DW she has good taste.

 

I'm sure she would agree about taste in martinis. :)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you so much. I really appreciate the feedback.

 

We did not exactly "Meet" Orlando Ashford, but we did pass him outside the Queen's Lounge during the second B.B. King set tonight. Rudi Sodamin is on board as are a couple of other operating unit executives. We are pretty sure we spotted upper management people from Cunard and Seabourn. (We can't really be 100% certain, as our area of expertise is in telecommunications.)

 

The only impact to guests (and by guests, I mean "us") thus far is that there is an abbreviated B.B. King show schedule, and that the Crow's Nest is closed from 5 PM - 9 PM for private functions.

 

We'll continue to keep you posted.

 

 

Wonder if that is going to be the norm for the Crow's Nest to be closed each evening for special parties?

[Krazy Kruizers]

You're welcome, KK! There are some excellent values on the new wine list as well as some not so super choices. I don't know if it's a fleet-wide list change, or just for this really travel agent intensive segment. We'll try to find out more.

 

 

I never thought about your cruise having "maybe" a special wine list for the packages because of that "special" group on board.

[cruz chic]

From the time we were told to report to the main show lounge until the time we were cleared was about 35 minutes.

 

Also, we got a new waiter tonight. It's Chandra. He says "Hi."

 

We say, "Neener, neener." :D

 

Say hi to him too. How funny that he's your waiter.

[4friends]

POA1 you are sleuth/reporter extraordinare. I look forward to reading all your updates. There have been a lot of Explore 4 promotions, of which we will take advantage of in April. Are there any changes / updates to the wines by the glass under $7.00?

[POA1]

 

On this Day in History - December 8th - The Bird Banding Society was formed 105 years ago today. If we don't celebrate this, no one else will.

 

We had a gorgeous day for sailing out of Fort Lauderdale yesterday (I can see my house from here!) and the weather looks to be just as stunning today as we enjoy a sea day on our way to Grand Turk. We dropped by Shrimpboat123's & Shrimpette's house for a few minutes after the muster drill, where we had hoped to run into Sapper1 and Mr. Sapper1 - who wisely crouched, hidden in the hall, just until we had to leave to meet DFIL in the Crow's Nest. We said a quick hello and then a speedy goodbye on our way upstairs. We had hoped to catch up with Crew News and IRL_Joanie, but we ran out of time.

 

We hightailed it upstairs to meet up with Huskerchick's dad and grabbed a drink and a prime viewing location for sail away. A lot of people will tell you that the best place for sail away is the aft pool. Still others will tell you that it's your balcony, especially if your verandah is draped with a Canadian flag or two. Us, we prefer the Crow's Nest. It's got good sight lines, comfortable seating, and a great bar staff. (The aforementioned attributes are not necessarily in priority order. ;) ) The sail away drink was Alligator Punch, so I had Maker's Mark on the rocks. DW had her Ketel One & Soda with lime. DFIL was rockin' a gin & tonic.

 

DW and I then went back down to our stateroom for a well-deserved nap. Doing nothing all day sure takes a lot out of you. We went up to the Crow's Nest for our usual pre-dinner libations, but it was closed for the travel agent & VIP event. If I understand it correctly, the Crow's Nest will be closed from 5-9 most days, which means we'll have to find an alternate venue. Not that we're bitter.

 

Plan B was the Ocean Bar where we ran into the Canadian Posse (Shhrimpboat123 & his wife, Sapper1 and her husband.) Shrimpboat123 reported that he had less than stellar dinner service in early seating. This worried us a little because he's at Table 3 and we've been moved to Table 9 for this week. They needed our old table for a large party, so we got the boot. It's all good though, as our new table is a four top along the window. It went from good to awesome when we found out that our new waiter was Chandra whom we had on the cruise three weeks ago with Cruz Chic.

 

MDR Menu for 12/7/2014:

 

http://www.evernote.com/l/AFjbtRaGEcFOp7vSA7804IdhfihOzMtetfk/

 

We managed to take some food photos, but they won't sync from my phone until Grand Turk tomorrow. DW & I both had the beef carpaccio and the scallops as appetizers. I'm very lucky we had two orders of scallops, because an unforeseen butter fingers incident caused our principle food photographer (me) to drop his phone onto one of the scallop plates. (If you've ever wondered what a Nexus 5 tastes like when topped with avocado puree, it's not half bad.) We enjoyed both dishes. DFIL had the shrimp cocktail and the butternut squash soup. We take his silence as a vote of approval. DW and her father had the salmon entree, while I had the snapper. I thought my fish was quite good. DW & daddy wished that there was a little more pesto on their salmon.

 

Our wines were the 2013 Mollydooker Maitre'D Cabernet Sauvignon and a bottle of 2010 Ramey Hyde Vineyard Chardonnay. If you are looking for a very nice red in the $20 - $30 range, check to see if your local wine shop stocks any of the entry level Mollys. Mollydooker has wines that sell for $22 for their Two Left Feet, all the way up to $185 for their Velvet Glove. We find them to be consistently good across the whole price spectrum. Just make sure that you do the "Mollydooker Shake" if your wine is less than two years old - based on September of the vintage date. People will look at you funny when you do this in the restaurant, but it gets the nitrogen out of the wine and helps it to show much nicer in the glass. (Hat tip to Chris Baley, the wine director at the White Barn Inn in Kennebunkport, Maine for this tip. It's printed on the labels of the more recent bottlings, though.) The Chardonnay was excellent, which is kind of to be expected in a $55 bottle.

 

Mollydooker Shake Video:

 

 

DFIL had the Viennese Apple Strudel with a scoop of ice cream for desert. Chandra asked him if he wanted the ice cream on top or on the side. Snaps for that. I had the cheese plate, as did DW. I am pleased to report that the cheeses were spot on and served at the proper temperature. Best of all, there wasn't a prune in the neighborhood. While I'm handing out attaboys, I have to hand it to Huskerchick who read the dessert menu from top to bottom and spotted the biscotti ice cream. She ordered a scoop to try it. Thankfully, Chandra brought us a dish of two scoops. Otherwise, I could have seen a fight erupting over the last spoonful. (In case you've missed my oh-so-subtle hints, this ice cream is splendiferous.)

 

We caught the final B.B. King Show while my father in law went to the piano bar. After that, we stopped for a night cap in the Crow's Nest. We took a detour two decks down and all the way back for a slice of pizza under the stars, and then headed back to the room.

 

Tonight is a formal night. I got the impression that this crowd is a little more casual than the previous weeks' were, but it's always hard to tell on the first day. A lot of people have traveled a long distance to get to the ship, and it's hard to psych yourself up for a dressy evening after 8 hours on a plane.

 

"Speaking of formal night..." he says, stepping onto the soap box, "We all appreciate gentlemen who take the time to tux it up. Just remember that your tuxedo needs either a cummerbund or a vest/waistcoat. Without one, you look like a valet parking attendant." (Steps down off soap box, and readies himself for the tomatoes and darts that are sure to be thrown.)

 

I'm off to join Huskerchick in the cabana formerly known as Cruz Chic's cabana just a few short weeks ago.

[POA1]

POA1 you are sleuth/reporter extraordinare. I look forward to reading all your updates. There have been a lot of Explore 4 promotions, of which we will take advantage of in April. Are there any changes / updates to the wines by the glass under $7.00?

 

None so far, although there are a couple of wines that come in under $7 on the International Night Menu, which I still have to post.

[POA1]

I never thought about your cruise having "maybe" a special wine list for the packages because of that "special" group on board.

 

Someone posted a similar list as being new to one of the ships at the end of the Alaska season. This new list is pretty similar, so I don't think it's a one-off. There are a couple of regular cruise critic posters on this sailing who continue next week, so I am sure they'll let us know.

[POA1]

Here's today's On Location. It's a Sea Day, so it will give you a good idea about the activities available. There's a presentation on the Koningsdam. Hopefully someone from CC will attend, because I have a date with a cabana and a very understanding wife who lets me fritter away my time on this. :)

 

On Location for 12/8/2014 - Sea Day

http://www.evernote.com/l/AFjP19Cl4TZPDasX0BWSlduA7hDBaDQ77BI/

[Krazy Kruizers]

Someone posted a similar list as being new to one of the ships at the end of the Alaska season. This new list is pretty similar, so I don't think it's a one-off. There are a couple of regular cruise critic posters on this sailing who continue next week, so I am sure they'll let us know.

 

 

Thanks -- looks like there is going to be inconsistencies on the wine packages.

[Krazy Kruizers]

That is a shame that the Crow's Nest is going to be closed most evenings from 5 - 9 PM.

[Lizzie68]

Apart from loving all your reports, they are kind of educational too - now I know what the Mollydooker Shake is, and when to do and when not to do it!:D

[pamelabrown53]

Hello, POA1! Loved the Mollydooker Shake video: it put some fun into what sometimes may feel a staid ritual. Also think it's great that the nitrogen allows them to use less sulfides. Some of my fondest memories are drinking house white wines by the carafe in a cafe in picturesque Italian villages. No sulfides, they give you a gentle buzz that doesn't disrupt your day and no sulphides!

 

Also, would like to mention the energetic label; how cool is that?:cool:

Edited December 8, 2014 by pamelabrown53
spelling

[POA1]

Here's the updated bar list with beer, liquor, cordials, wines by the glass, and other drinkables. Please be aware that this is a booklet that was taken apart and scanned. It's printed on both sides, so what you see here in the PDF will be a bit out of order compared to the paper book you would hold in your hands. I ran OCR on it so you should be able to copy & paste from the PDF into your favorite word processing or text application.

 

http://www.evernote.com/l/AFjfjoMv8_JHkbYYbtoRGyWwQbib0_LzvTU/

 

Some important notes for people who have been asking: 1) There is a cider, Strongbow. It would be eligible for the Signature Beverage Package. 2) There are a couple of extra wines on the list that are SBP eligible. These were not there in March, but they were probably there two weeks ago when we cruised. I just don't pay a lot of attention to the wines by the glass because we're more of a wines by the bottle people.

 

Each bar has its own list of signature cocktails as well. I love you all, but there's no way I'm scanning all those. However, there's a good chance that Roger (Crew News) loves you more and he may scan them.

[jaspersmycat]

POA1:

 

I hope you feel the love back at you from all of us that truly enjoy your postings. Thanks!

[65 Gator]

Here's the updated bar list with beer, liquor, cordials, wines by the glass, and other drinkables.

 

Super... That is very helpful. Nice to see so many drinks eligible for SBP.

 

Do you know if the Guinness is cans or bottles?

 

Thanks again for your "research"...

[PathfinderEss]

Super... That is very helpful. Nice to see so many drinks eligible for SBP.

 

Do you know if the Guinness is cans or bottles?

 

Thanks again for your "research"...

 

Recently when we were on the Westerdam Guinness was in bottles, same as other ships we've been on.

[65 Gator]

Recently when we were on the Westerdam Guinness was in bottles, same as other ships we've been on.

Thanks...

 

Three of my last four cruises had Guinness Foreign Extra in bottles but one trip was that "draft" in a can. Seems more likely to have Foreign Extra if the ship has recently been to Europe...

Edited December 8, 2014 by 65 Gator