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

[liv2cruise4ever]

I asked for, and received, a lounger for my "regular balcony" on the Dec. 7 sailing! Loved every minute of it!

[catl331]

I asked for, and received, a lounger for my "regular balcony" on the Dec. 7 sailing! Loved every minute of it!

Now that that cat's out of the bag everybody will be asking for them!! :D Edited December 24, 2014 by catl331

[POA1]

I had every good intention of posting our impressions of the ship as well as some helpful hints and tips for travelers sailing on the Nieuw Amsterdam in the near future. Despite these best of intentions, my schedule has gotten away from me a little. I'll do my best to post the rest of the review in the coming days. In the meantime, here's a public service announcement to warn you about the dangers of eating too many cookies, too much candy, and that innocent looking extra scoop of mashed potatoes:

 

Poohby Joe Says: "Carbs. Just say 'No.'"

[Lizzie68]

Now that that cat's out of the bag everybody will be asking for them!! :D

 

They may begin disappearing from the Lido pool deck.....:D

[cruz chic]

Bad poohby joe. Give to cookies to cruise chic:D. Hilarious!

[Crew News]

We didn't in 5186

 

Every aft wrap cabin that we have had on Vista Class ships came with two loungers. This continued on our 5187 on the NA with you.

[PathfinderEss]

I had every good intention of posting our impressions of the ship as well as some helpful hints and tips for travelers sailing on the Nieuw Amsterdam in the near future. Despite these best of intentions, my schedule has gotten away from me a little. I'll do my best to post the rest of the review in the coming days. In the meantime, here's a public service announcement to warn you about the dangers of eating too many cookies, too much candy, and that innocent looking extra scoop of mashed potatoes:

 

Poohby Joe Says: "Carbs. Just say 'No.'"

 

Up until you got to the extra scoop of mashed potatoes I was doing fine.:D:eek:

 

[ger_77]

Poor Poohby Joe, he's taken on a serious bloat! I'm sure it's that Dam sea air; likely his ankles started to swell and because of his, well, short stature, the swelling had nowhere to go but up! Get well soon little buddy!

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

[jagger16]

POA1, Thanks for your informative and entertaining report. We love the Nieuw Amsterdam and enjoyed hearing about your experience sailing on her in the Caribbean.

 

Just wanted to let you know that we have read all of your information regarding bringing wine on board, we are well studied, prepared, have our Ze bag, a gift certificate to Total Wine and are ready to shop on Saturday and bring a case of wine on board the Eurodam on Sunday. We'll see how we do. Thanks for your advice and guidance.

 

Happy Holidays to all!

[Traveling Dot]

We actually had 2 lounge chairs and two regular chairs and a small table on our balcony on Deck 4 Stateroom 4132. Couldn't believe how big our balcony was.

[liv2cruise4ever]

Now that that cat's out of the bag everybody will be asking for them!! :D

 

Did I say that, "I needed one to relax and enjoy my cigar with?" ;)

[Mystymom]

POA1---Thank you for this most entertaining report, DH and I LOVED it especially since we board the N A this Sunday for a wonderful 7 day New Years Cruise. Hope you and yours enjoy the season!

[POA1]

POA1---Thank you for this most entertaining report, DH and I LOVED it especially since we board the N A this Sunday for a wonderful 7 day New Years Cruise. Hope you and yours enjoy the season!

Thank you for reading! We're very jealous of your New Year's Cruise. Have a fabulous time!

[Mystymom]

Thank you! Hope we run into you on some DAM ship someday!

[Suzcruz57]

POA1---Thank you for this most entertaining report, DH and I LOVED it especially since we board the N A this Sunday for a wonderful 7 day New Years Cruise. Hope you and yours enjoy the season!

 

We're on het too this Sunday. Can't wait

[ithaca gal]

I guess you and I aren't "special" enough to get one:D. Maybe they ran out because of everyone else requesting them.

 

Can't remember which HAL ship or when it was, but we requested one lounger instead of the chairs and we were told they could not bring us one. :(

 

Guess we'll have to be more persistent next time!

[Mirage]

Thanks for your reviews.

 

Onboard, pinnacle grill booked.

 

Christmas decorations still in abundant display.

 

Makers Mark hoisted and delectably consumed in your honor.

 

Let the fun begin.

 

Mirage

[POA1]

So.... If you're three weeks past your return date, it really doesn't count as being "Live From" anymore, does it? I suppose not. -- Oh well.

 

When we last visited our sad, neglected thread, it was right around Christmas. I was getting ready to talk about the condition of the Nieuw Amsterdam. Then Poohby Joe and I got into the cookies. From there, it was all a blur.

Happy Belated New Year all! -- What better way to celebrate Belated New Year than with some Belated Posts to a stale old "Live From" thread?

Anyhow... When we last left our thread, it was just about to pick up with the part about the condition of the ship. (Look! Here it is now!)

 

A little on the ship itself, her condition, public spaces, and maybe even a tip of two for you:

One of the helpful things about writing a "Live From" or a review is that you are forced to take a good look around so that you have something to write about. A great thing about the Nieuw Amsterdam is that she's a very nice ship on which to take a good look around.

If you've sailed on the Vista Class ships (Zuiderdam, Oosterdam, Westerdam, and Noordam) the Nieuw Amsterdam will be comfortably familiar. I imagine that the same thing holds for the NA's sister ship, the Eurodam, although we have not sailed her - yet.

I suppose I could prattle on about the ship, and write volumes before getting to the meat of the thing and giving you our conclusions. But I've kept you waiting for weeks, and you are a busy person with a lot going on. So, here's the bottom line:

Huskerchick has declared the Nieuw Amsterdam her favorite Holland America ship, bar none. She can't wait to sail on the NA again. She's also eager to sail on the Eurodam. For my part, I prefer the Volendam. I would probably like the entire R-Class line, except for the ones that have out of control dogs wreaking havoc.

 

Having sailed on the ship for three weeks out of a month, we can honestly say that the ship is in great shape. The Nieuw Amsterdam is due for a dry dock in the near future, and a little bird has told us that new soft goods, some carpets, and furniture refurbishment are in the offing.

We made a point of trying to find things wrong with the ship - because there's a segment of our readership that absolutely, positively will not rest until we locate a worn spot on a carpet somewhere. Here's what we found:

 

• In the Lido restaurant, along the starboard windows, roughly 17 1/2 feet* forward of the Eggs Benedict station, there is a small worn patch between two of the chairs. It measures nearly 16 square inches** (4" x 4".) We did not take a photo of the worn spot, but I am certain that it would be big enough to ruin the entire cruise for certain individuals.
  

*5 1/3 meters.

**Celine Dion

 

• One of the two chairs in our stateroom had some nicks. The other one was pristine. We can only surmise that a prisoner was tied to the former and beaten, while the interrogator sat in the "good chair" and laughed manically.
   
  It's also possible that the chair with the dings got banged up because the room's previous occupants requested that the special request reclining deck chairs be delivered to their balcony. The lounge chair delivery did not go as smoothly as possible, resulting in some scratches to the chair closest to the balcony door.
  

 

• The third bar stool in the Crow's Nest - traveling clockwise from the port side entrance - is a little wobbly. If you're the kind of person who avoids the weird bar stool, you should steer clear of this one.
  

 

• Cabin 6088 is missing a closet. There is a Finkelstein portal in its place, but we would have preferred a closet.
  

The "defects" above are really only minor quibbles, and we thought that the ship was clean and very well-maintained. As is the usual case with Holland America, there was quite a bit of ongoing, periodic maintenance taking place. During our trip, the teak rails were refinished. The outdoor walking area on Deck 10 got a spruce up, and the metal on the roof of the sliding Lido pool cover (The Thunderdome, or alternately "Kevin") got a fresh coat of paint.

 

We found the decor of the ship much to our liking. The design palette is black, white, gray, and red. The New York City theming is carried throughout the ship, and works well in our opinion. It's a little different from standard Holland America design and decor, but we found it to be very tasteful. The Manhattan (main) dining room and the main show lounge are done in red. It wouldn't be our first choice for our home, but it works well here.

 

The ship never felt crowded and traffic flow in the public areas was good. All in all, the Nieuw Amsterdam is a very attractive and functional ship. A couple of random notes:

 

• The sound levels in the main dining room and Lido were acceptable and we never had a problem conversing.
  

 

• We found all the public rest rooms to be in good shape and fine working order. (That seems to be a point of interest for the people who look for worn carpets, so I mention it here.) While I cannot attest to the condition of every single gents' room on the ship, I can say with reasonable certainty that DW made a comprehensive survey of all the ladies' facilities.
  

 

• There is plenty of room to maneuver between tables in the dining areas and we never felt crammed in or cramped.
  

 

• The movie theater looks extremely comfortable, and other guests told us that it was. We did not, however, take in any movies while we were on this trip.
  

 

• The sight lines in the main showroom are better from the floor (Deck 1) or first tiered/mezzanine level (Deck 2.) We would recommend avoiding the upper balcony on Deck 3.
  

 

• If you go all the way forward on certain decks - past the most forward cabins - you will find doors that take you to an outside area. I'm not referring to the bow access, but rather to open areas a few decks above the bow. You can get some nice photos from up there. Here's one of the pirates invading Fort Taylor in Key West.
  

This photo was taken from Deck 6, You can see the bow of the Nieuw Amsterdam in the foreground. If you can get some people in your party out onto the bow, you should be able to get a pretty cool photo of them by shooting the picture from a couple of decks above***. If I recall correctly, you can get outside on Decks 5, 6, and 7. I'm sure some nice person here will tell us how to get to the bow.

***If you are not allowed on the bow, send the members of your party whom you dislike. You can get some great action shots of them getting captured by security and dragged off to the brig.

 

Coming up next: More pointless, month-old information.

Edited January 6, 2015 by POA1

[ger_77]

In the Lido restaurant, along the starboard windows, roughly 17 1/2 feet* forward of the Eggs Benedict station, there is a small worn patch between two of the chairs. It measures nearly 16 square inches** (4" x 4".) We did not take a photo of the worn spot, but I am certain that it would be big enough to ruin the entire cruise for certain individuals

*5 1/3 meters.

**Celine Dion

 

• One of the two chairs in our stateroom had some nicks. The other one was pristine. We can only surmise that a prisoner was tied to the former and beaten, while the interrogator sat in the "good chair" and laughed manically.
   
  It's also possible that the chair with the dings got banged up because the room's previous occupants requested that the special request reclining deck chairs be delivered to their balcony. The lounge chair delivery did not go as smoothly as possible, resulting in some scratches to the chair closest to the balcony door.
  

 

 

[*] The third bar stool in the Crow's Nest - traveling clockwise from the port side entrance - is a little wobbly. If you're the kind of person who avoids the weird bar stool, you should steer clear of this one.

 

 

 

[/font][/color]

 

One can only hope you put your observations in writing to management while onboard, and that the offensive scratches, worn carpet and wobbly bar stool (not necessarily in that order) would have sufficed for them to offer a free cruise, or at least a hefty OBC, or a refund of your corkage fees. As far as Celine Dion . . . I'd send her out onto the bow . . . . .

 

Say hi to Poohby Joe for me.

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

[kazu]

This is review is just TOO good :)

 

Love it. and your picture.

 

Happy New Year to the three of you:D

[Vict0riann]

I've noticed that HAL uses a fair amount of red underfoot. I like it, too. It is a warm colour, almost as good as hardwood flooring stained quite dark, and it hides a multitude of sins - particularly red wine sins. We used to have a pale green and cream Chinese carpet in the dining room, but had to change to a red and black Bokhara, there was so much sinning going on. :)

[POA1]

Two of the most subjective parts of any review are the sections where the reviewer discusses the food and the entertainment on their cruise. There's really no way around it. Different people have different tastes. They also have distinct and varying expectations.

 

As do we.

 

That means that my comments here are going to reflect Huskerchick's and my opinions, with a little sprinkling of her father's tastes and preferences thrown in for good measure. So when you read my comments on the food, bear in mind that what you like could be completely different from what we like.

 

To help you better understand how we dine on a cruise, here's rough overview of our normal routine.

 

Breakfast - We typically order room service breakfast, although we did eat in the Lido fairly often on this trip. The Lido is DFIL's go-to spot for breakfast. He likes to walk around to all the stations so he can see what's available. Once he's assessed the situation, he has an omelet - pretty much the same omelet every day. But at least he's scoped out his options.

 

We did not eat in the MDR for breakfast, and I can't recall the last time we did. There's nothing wrong with the MDR breakfast; it's just not our thing. In the past, when we wanted a table service breakfast, we ate in the Pinnacle. But, since neither we nor DFIL were in a Neptune Suite, it wasn't an option on this trip.

 

Lunch - While we do partake in the occasional sit down, table service lunch, we are much more likely to grab lunch on the go. If we're being good, we generally grab a large helping of broiled fish, chicken, or other proteins from the lido line and pair it with some vegetables or a salad. Being good only gets you so far, so we slip in a burger or hot dog from the Dive-In every so often. Our favorite table service lunch venue if the Pinnacle Grill. It's a $10 supplement, but it is well worth it in our opinion.

 

Dinner - We're a fixed, late seating people by nature. We eat most dinners in the MDR and we sprinkle in the occasional specialty restaurant. Typically, we're in the MDR five out of seven evenings. We never have a problem finding something that appeals to us on the regular menu, and the odd time when we get something from the everyday selections it's because we're in the mood for salmon, or a Caesar salad, or a baked potato.

 

We enjoy the Pinnacle Grill - provided the service is up to snuff. I'm happy to report that the Pinnacle Grill was excellent on the Nieuw Amsterdam, but more on that later. We like Le Cirque night in the Pinnacle and we're huge fans of fussy, fancy food. (If we're on the Eurodam, we would do De Librije in a heartbeat.) We enjoyed trying the Tamarind restaurant, but we are not nearly as keen on it as many of our Cruise Critic compatriots are.

 

We view the evening meal as a social occasion. We tend to travel with friends and it's our opinion that the conversation adds to festivities. While we hate to wait a long, long time between courses, we'd much rather have a relaxed pace than feel rushed. Our typical MDR dining experience clocks in somewhere between 75 and 90 minutes. That's for a typical four course dinner (appetizer, soup or salad, entrée, and dessert.) If we are out at a good restaurant with our friends - say, a party of 6 for instance - we figure on 3 hours or more. Bottom line: We're usually not in a hurry.

 

Wine - Heck yeah! Seriously though, we do like our wine, and our normal routine is to have a red and a white with each meal. If it's a formal night, we add a bottle of Champagne to the mix. This might seem a bit much to some of you, but I can assure you: The table with the most stemware wins.

 

Now that you have a baseline, feel free to read our opinions. Just remember that your perspective may be completely different than ours, particularly if what you've read thus far differs a lot from the way you cruise. You might consider us slowpoke lushes, or you might think that we're your kind of people. At least you have a frame of reference for what you are about to read.

Oh for crying out loud, tell us about the food already!

Room Service Breakfast:

 

Our room service breakfasts arrived on time and hot. Every day. (Except the day I forgot to hang the card out. I left it sitting there, next to the tip money. There have been some claims that alcohol was involved, but I am blaming the hour that we lost the night before. I must have put the breakfast card on the door just as the time was changing. Therefore, it never happened.)

 

If you're not familiar with Holland America's Room Service Breakfast offerings, the Institute of Cheers' Department of Scanning Things is pleased to provide a PDF at the link below:

 

http://www.evernote.com/l/AFjH6f6ojMtOloombnAyuohL-8CAqozXDXk/

 

Our typical room service breakfast was omelets or eggs. Years ago, we realized that where your sides wind up is a crap shoot. If you're the kind of person whose day is ruined if your spouse's bacon touches your eggs, or there's ham on you plate even though you clearly hate all porky treats, then room service breakfast might not be for you. As for us, we're perfectly fine sorting the breakfast meats out after our tray arrives.

 

We occasionally got some toast, or a danish, or the beloved chocolate croissant, but most of the time we stuck to protein for breakfast.

 

Also honey.

 

 

I'm sure most of you already know this, but you can do a fair amount of special ordering on your breakfast card. Want your bacon crisp? Write the word, "CRISPY" next to bacon. Looking for a chocolate croissant? Write "CHOCOLATE" next to Croissant on the card, and have your order delivered when the MDR is open for breakfast. (I'm not 100% sure why this is. I mean, they're not baking them in there. They must be made up ahead of time. Next time you eat breakfast in the main dining room, check to see if there's a little cage with chocolate croissants all cooped up in it.)

 

If you followed the link above and taken a gander at the room service breakfast menu, you will have not doubt noticed that you can order both stewed prunes and prune juice for breakfast. Delivered right to your room! These are truly wondrous times in which we live. It's you, and prunes - in both solid and liquid form - mere feet from a room with your own private commode. Can it get any better?**

 

I'm running out of room for this post, so I will continue on with "Breakfast in the Lido" and other stirring mealtime observations in the next post.

 

**Yes it can! The Penthouse/Pinnacle Suite has a bidet on many of the ships. Prunes and a bidet??? Better check off the box next to Tabasco.

Edited January 7, 2015 by POA1

[thetexasaggiecruiser]

Thanks for coming back and updating us! The information is always relevant, and entertaining.

[POA1]

As I continue to slowly trickle out my review content, I noticed that this (No Longer) "Live From" thread is just shy of the 50,000 views mark. I suppose I'll have to get better at updating it if I want to have any chance of catching the "Out of control dog on the Amsterdam," which is kicking butt at 55K+ views.

 

In contrast my booze-related thread "Wines and corkage and bars, Oh my! (Signature Beverage Pkg, Beverage Cards & Corkage)" is just shy of 70,000 views, which means it clocks in at #25 on the Cruise Critic Holland America Board Hot Parade. I wonder why there's so much interest in that topic? ;)

 

Anyway... Where was I?

 

Oh, breakfast in the Lido, right.

 

Lido Breakfast - Buffet Style:

 

In general, we're not really a pro-buffet, "Rah-rah, sis-boom-bah! Go chafing dishes!" kind of people. We'd much rather sit down with a menu and order a la carte. My wife's father, however, is quite the buffet aficionado. Since this was a family trip and he agreed to have dinner with us where ever we wanted to eat, it seemed only fair that we return the favor and have breakfast in the Lido every other day or so.

 

We were pleasantly surprised.

 

Holland America's Lido breakfast is very well done. There's a nice selection of items and the busier stations, such as the one for omelets, are duplicated on both the port and starboard side of the ship. There's a very nice selection of breakfast items of all stripes. You'd be hard pressed to come up empty handed, not finding something that meets your fancy.

 

Our advice is to make a full lap of the Lido before you start filling your plate. There's really an impressive array of breakfast items. I managed to find jagerwurst (a.k.a. jagdwurst) tucked away in the corner one morning. Depending upon your ancestry, you will either think that this is cool, or you will avoid it like the plague. Either way, it speaks to the plethora of choices available to you.

 

Now, I can imagine some of you saying, "Well, Mr. Smartypants. If you like walking around and seeing all the choices laid out for you, how can you be anti-buffet?" I will concede that you have an excellent point. However, I'm just not a buffet devotee. (Don't even get me started on Brazilian steakhouses. They're just buffets for people too lazy to get up and fetch their meats. -- But I digress.)

 

One of the highlights, for me at least, was the cinnamon roll. It's very much like the sticky buns I had growing up. They're delicious. So much so, that I made it a point never to go near them again until the day we were getting off the ship. There's also a raisin roll, and many people are fond of it. However, it's not drizzled in sticky, glazed goodness. It's pretty much health food compared to the cinnamon rolls.

 

Everything we had for breakfast in the Lido was good. DW was very fond of the English breakfast. Her dad loved his omelets. I tried to limit my carbohydrate intake at breakfast - sticky bun not withstanding - so I usually stuck to eggs and a side of breakfast meats.

 

If you're not sure what you're in the mood for at breakfast, the Lido is a real winner. We never had a problem finding a table, but we usually met around 7:00 AM. The room definitely picks up closer to 8 o'clock, so plan accordingly. Depending on the time you decide to toddle up to breakfast, you may have to employ a table-holding strategy, with one of your party holding the table while the others get their food, or some similar technique.

 

Breakfast service was prompt and efficient. There was always someone to freshen your coffee, and tables were cleared, wiped down, and reset with alacrity. The Lido staff was very friendly, with a cheery greeting and a friendly "Good morning" for everyone. (I love watching the happy people interact with the grumpy people in the morning. It makes me smile.)

 

As I mentioned in a previous post, we didn't have breakfast in the MDR on this cruise. We had every intention of doing so, but we never got around to it. Maybe I have a title for my next cruise's report: "Live from Breakfast in the Main Dining Room: Finally!" That's a pretty terrible title, so hopefully I'll think of something better before then.

 

As I close out the breakfast segment of this report, I realize that some photos of the Lido breakfast stations would have definitely been helpful. Sadly, I was distracted by all the pretty Christmas lights, and I have failed you.

 

Coming up next: Lunch - Alternate title: I really intended to have broiled fish and vegetables, but the Dive In burgers and fries are so darn good.

[lammy1952]

Two of the most subjective parts of any review are the sections where the reviewer discusses the food and the entertainment on their cruise. There's really no way around it. Different people have different tastes. They also have distinct and varying expectations.

 

As do we.

 

That means that my comments here are going to reflect Huskerchick's and my opinions, with a little sprinkling of her father's tastes and preferences thrown in for good measure. So when you read my comments on the food, bear in mind that what you like could be completely different from what we like.

 

To help you better understand how we dine on a cruise, here's rough overview of our normal routine.

 

Breakfast - We typically order room service breakfast, although we did eat in the Lido fairly often on this trip. The Lido is DFIL's go-to spot for breakfast. He likes to walk around to all the stations so he can see what's available. Once he's assessed the situation, he has an omelet - pretty much the same omelet every day. But at least he's scoped out his options.

 

We did not eat in the MDR for breakfast, and I can't recall the last time we did. There's nothing wrong with the MDR breakfast; it's just not our thing. In the past, when we wanted a table service breakfast, we ate in the Pinnacle. But, since neither we nor DFIL were in a Neptune Suite, it wasn't an option on this trip.

 

Lunch - While we do partake in the occasional sit down, table service lunch, we are much more likely to grab lunch on the go. If we're being good, we generally grab a large helping of broiled fish, chicken, or other proteins from the lido line and pair it with some vegetables or a salad. Being good only gets you so far, so we slip in a burger or hot dog from the Dive-In every so often. Our favorite table service lunch venue if the Pinnacle Grill. It's a $10 supplement, but it is well worth it in our opinion.

 

Dinner - We're a fixed, late seating people by nature. We eat most dinners in the MDR and we sprinkle in the occasional specialty restaurant. Typically, we're in the MDR five out of seven evenings. We never have a problem finding something that appeals to us on the regular menu, and the odd time when we get something from the everyday selections it's because we're in the mood for salmon, or a Caesar salad, or a baked potato.

 

We enjoy the Pinnacle Grill - provided the service is up to snuff. I'm happy to report that the Pinnacle Grill was excellent on the Nieuw Amsterdam, but more on that later. We like Le Cirque night in the Pinnacle and we're huge fans of fussy, fancy food. (If we're on the Eurodam, we would do De Librije in a heartbeat.) We enjoyed trying the Tamarind restaurant, but we are not nearly as keen on it as many of our Cruise Critic compatriots are.

 

We view the evening meal as a social occasion. We tend to travel with friends and it's our opinion that the conversation adds to festivities. While we hate to wait a long, long time between courses, we'd much rather have a relaxed pace than feel rushed. Our typical MDR dining experience clocks in somewhere between 75 and 90 minutes. That's for a typical four course dinner (appetizer, soup or salad, entrée, and dessert.) If we are out at a good restaurant with our friends - say, a party of 6 for instance - we figure on 3 hours or more. Bottom line: We're usually not in a hurry.

 

Wine - Heck yeah! Seriously though, we do like our wine, and our normal routine is to have a red and a white with each meal. If it's a formal night, we add a bottle of Champagne to the mix. This might seem a bit much to some of you, but I can assure you: The table with the most stemware wins.

 

Now that you have a baseline, feel free to read our opinions. Just remember that your perspective may be completely different than ours, particularly if what you've read thus far differs a lot from the way you cruise. You might consider us slowpoke lushes, or you might think that we're your kind of people. At least you have a frame of reference for what you are about to read.

Oh for crying out loud, tell us about the food already!

Room Service Breakfast:

 

Our room service breakfasts arrived on time and hot. Every day. (Except the day I forgot to hang the card out. I left it sitting there, next to the tip money. There have been some claims that alcohol was involved, but I am blaming the hour that we lost the night before. I must have put the breakfast card on the door just as the time was changing. Therefore, it never happened.)

 

If you're not familiar with Holland America's Room Service Breakfast offerings, the Institute of Cheers' Department of Scanning Things is pleased to provide a PDF at the link below:

 

http://www.evernote.com/l/AFjH6f6ojMtOloombnAyuohL-8CAqozXDXk/

 

Our typical room service breakfast was omelets or eggs. Years ago, we realized that where your sides wind up is a crap shoot. If you're the kind of person whose day is ruined if your spouse's bacon touches your eggs, or there's ham on you plate even though you clearly hate all porky treats, then room service breakfast might not be for you. As for us, we're perfectly fine sorting the breakfast meats out after our tray arrives.

 

We occasionally got some toast, or a danish, or the beloved chocolate croissant, but most of the time we stuck to protein for breakfast.

 

Also honey.

 

 

I'm sure most of you already know this, but you can do a fair amount of special ordering on your breakfast card. Want your bacon crisp? Write the word, "CRISPY" next to bacon. Looking for a chocolate croissant? Write "CHOCOLATE" next to Croissant on the card, and have your order delivered when the MDR is open for breakfast. (I'm not 100% sure why this is. I mean, they're not baking them in there. They must be made up ahead of time. Next time you eat breakfast in the main dining room, check to see if there's a little cage with chocolate croissants all cooped up in it.)

 

If you followed the link above and taken a gander at the room service breakfast menu, you will have not doubt noticed that you can order both stewed prunes and prune juice for breakfast. Delivered right to your room! These are truly wondrous times in which we live. It's you, and prunes - in both solid and liquid form - mere feet from a room with your own private commode. Can it get any better?**

 

I'm running out of room for this post, so I will continue on with "Breakfast in the Lido" and other stirring mealtime observations in the next post.

 

**Yes it can! The Penthouse/Pinnacle Suite has a bidet on many of the ships. Prunes and a bidet??? Better check off the box next to Tabasco.

 

POA

 

Thanks for the great review(s), however I wonder if you could answer one specific question. On our previous cruise with HAL on Noordam there was an Asian station in the Lido at lunchtime, is this available on NA. My wife loved it previously and is really hoping it will be on NA.

 

Thanks