Live from the Westerdam-Join the "Pearls of the Pacific" gang's South Pacific Cruise

[MekesMom]

Glad you all are finally having a sunny day. Hope that didn't change once you were on your tours.

Why limited tenders?? Confused

 

 

Infrastructure at dock. Can only handle one tender at a time. 2:30 they finally announced no tender tix required. Had earlier said crew shore leave canceled. Besides free laundry, definitely a benefit to be four star this cruise.

[Vict0riann]

We had a fabulous day, a hair-raising tour across the island, great lunch at Yvonne's, now we are back and getting ready for the Cellar Master's dinner with Kazu and Taxmantoo. I'm sure Jacqui will be posting amazing pics as soon as we can tear ourselves away from the festivities!

 

 

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[Krazy Kruizers]

Infrastructure at dock. Can only handle one tender at a time. 2:30 they finally announced no tender tix required. Had earlier said crew shore leave canceled. Besides free laundry, definitely a benefit to be four star this cruise.

 

 

 

Thank you for explaining.

That is awfully slow with only 1 tender at a time.

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

Thank you for explaining.

That is awfully slow with only 1 tender at a time.

 

Especially for the number of passengers on the Westerdam.

[SilvertoGold]

Thank you for explaining.

That is awfully slow with only 1 tender at a time.

 

That is how it works at Nuka Hiva. Only room for one tender.

 

Have not experienced the opening of tenders so late, though. I think noon was as late as I've seen that happen.

 

Worth the wait!

[MekesMom]

Olga is our favorite! Hoping she is on Westerdam in October in the PG.

 

 

She said she will until November

[gigianne]

Angie - sorry to hear about your tendering difficulties - had we have thought about it you could gave come off with DH and I. The Captain did say in his announcement around 5:30 that he had spoken with the local authorities about the docking facilities that were supposed to have been upgraded. There was a nice new pavilion that gave us shade while we waited for the tender, but the dock was one of the worst we have seen. There were lots of crew there to give assistance. Nuka Hiva is a beautiful island and we were happy to have been able to see a small portion of it. Thanks to Kazu for organizing a great tour!

Edited April 26, 2016 by gigianne

[VacationCharlene]

We had a fabulous day, a hair-raising tour across the island, great lunch at Yvonne's, now we are back and getting ready for the Cellar Master's dinner with Kazu and Taxmantoo. I'm sure Jacqui will be posting amazing pics as soon as we can tear ourselves away from the festivities!Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Hi ALL!! Glad you got to enjoy beautiful Nuku Hiva. We are thinking about doing Temarama's 1/2 day tour in his jeep - Evasion Circuit Tour - and would love an honest review. What did you guys think and would you recommend it? Did you pay $60pp? I think he is now asking $75pp. ANY info would be great. Is this a DIY port?? THANKS AGAIN

[frankc98376]

She said she will until November

 

thank you! Makes us very happy!

 

Did our favorite Clifford come back to the Westerdam? He wasn't sure

[kazu]

Hi ALL!! Glad you got to enjoy beautiful Nuku Hiva. We are thinking about doing Temarama's 1/2 day tour in his jeep - Evasion Circuit Tour - and would love an honest review. What did you guys think and would you recommend it? Did you pay $60pp? I think he is now asking $75pp. ANY info would be great. Is this a DIY port?? THANKS AGAIN

 

 

Hi Charlene,

 

We used Kevin Ellis of Nuka Hiva Tours. Very good tour.

 

Hopefully those that used Richard will report. Is your tour a 1/2 day tour?

 

If it is, FWIW, our guides told us that Richard does two 1/2 day tours and takes the roads faster than they do. The roads are rough in spots so going fast is not advisable in my opinion unless you want a real rough ride.

 

I was very happy with Kevin's tour and considering the elbow, appreciated the way they tried to handle the rough roads. It was still tough on the elbow though and I confess as we got towards Chez Yvonne's, I told our driver I would walk rather than ride. SusieK's DH and I walked, got some great pics and were there within a minute of when the vehicle was (tells you how slow it was going - or we are fast walkers - LOL).

 

Kevin's tour included lunch at Chez Yvonne and I highly recommend it . It was fabulous and much better than I would have expected!

 

Nuka Hiva is absolutely fabulous and we really enjoyed it. They are changing the satellite beam so I probably won't be able to post pics for a bit. I have so many it is going to be REALLY hard to choose.

 

We have the mariner's medallion ceremony, Mariner's luncheon today and then our cabin crawl, so I will probably post a bit later unless tap a talk co-operates.

[kazu]

thank you! Makes us very happy!

 

Did our favorite Clifford come back to the Westerdam? He wasn't sure

 

 

Clifford is not on right now, sorry. The PG staff is quite good though. Really enjoy Didi and LaLa along with the others.

[kazu]

'DH got this red wine last night and he said it was VERY good.'

 

That is a good wine Jacqui, it costs $15:00 in the store, ciao from Napa Valley!

 

It would be a LOT more in Canada then - thanks :)

 

Seems that the mark up was very reasonable then, since with our bottle bonus, it is around $23 per bottle.

 

I want to apologize to our Temarena excursion group. We got a tender ticket at 9:35 and I even told Leah we had a private tour at 10:30 and she said should be no problem. Long story short--our number was finally called at 11:30! By then it was so late we didn't even go. We had checked a couple of times while waiting, even went and asked in the Vista Lounge but they weren't willing to help. One time when I queried I was told NO tenders were running for more than 30 minutes but no one told them the reason. Hope you had a great tour and I hope we didn't keep you waiting too long.

 

 

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Oh Julie, I am so sorry to hear this. Wish we had known you needed help. We would have been happy to. Got another CC member off nicely on this tender as well as others at another port. So sad that you missed your tour.

[shrimpboat123]

Clifford is not on right now, sorry. The PG staff is quite good though. Really enjoy Didi and LaLa along with the others.

 

Clifford was on the Nieuw Amsterdam when were at the PG on Feb 1st this year. Perhaps he is still there.

[Lizzie68]

Clifford was on the Nieuw Amsterdam when were at the PG on Feb 1st this year. Perhaps he is still there.

 

Oh I do hope he is! I'm on the NA in just over a week. One of my favourite HAL people, and we had him last year in the Westerdam PG.

[kazu]

Hi Charlene,

 

We used Kevin Ellis of Nuka Hiva Tours. Very good tour.

 

Hopefully those that used Richard will report. Is your tour a 1/2 day tour?

 

If it is, FWIW, our guides told us that Richard does two 1/2 day tours and takes the roads faster than they do. The roads are rough in spots so going fast is not advisable in my opinion unless you want a real rough ride.

 

I was very happy with Kevin's tour and considering the elbow, appreciated the way they tried to handle the rough roads. It was still tough on the elbow though and I confess as we got towards Chez Yvonne's, I told our driver I would walk rather than ride. SusieK's DH and I walked, got some great pics and were there within a minute of when the vehicle was (tells you how slow it was going - or we are fast walkers - LOL).

 

Kevin's tour included lunch at Chez Yvonne and I highly recommend it . It was fabulous and much better than I would have expected!

 

Nuka Hiva is absolutely fabulous and we really enjoyed it. They are changing the satellite beam so I probably won't be able to post pics for a bit. I have so many it is going to be REALLY hard to choose.

 

We have the mariner's medallion ceremony, Mariner's luncheon today and then our cabin crawl, so I will probably post a bit later unless tap a talk co-operates.

Oops - sorry, can't edit. Just to clarify, the lunch stop was included in the tour, but the cost of lunch was not included in the tour, of course. We each paid for our own lunch. The portions are very large (Kevin warned us) and most of us just split a plate between us.

 

I didn't want to mislead in my post

[shrimpboat123]

Oh I do hope he is! I'm on the NA in just over a week. One of my favourite HAL people, and we had him last year in the Westerdam PG.

 

We were there on DW's birthday with another couple. He was our server. Quite a character. Really enjoyed the evening. :)

[kazu]

Going to do this a bit in reverse.

Last night was the Cellar Master Dinner.

 

This was a DIFFERENT Cellar Master dinner.

 

Csaba created it upon request for another different one.

 

He found wines in Papeete. Ironically, it was the same place that taxmantoo had told me about previously.

 

An invitation was extended first to those that had attended either the Master Chef Table or the first Cellar Master dinner.

 

 

The menu:

 

 

Our cellar master:

 

 

Our Amuse Bouche...

 

 

The consommé with caviar....

 

 

 

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[kazu]

Cellar Master continued.......

 

Our shrimp and scallop....

 

 

Then it was time for the Orange Spoom (the Intermezzo)

 

It arrived like this...

 

 

And slowly the bottom rose to the top and it turned into this....

 

 

Uploads are starting to fail so I will be back with dinner, dessert, etc. Later. Sorry.

 

 

 

 

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[Krazy Kruizers]

Wonderful pictures.

I see they raised the price from $89 to $95 plus 15% gratuity on the wines.

[SilvertoGold]

It would be a LOT more in Canada then - thanks :)

 

Seems that the mark up was very reasonable then, since with our bottle bonus, it is around $23 per bottle.

 

 

The Wente Sandstone Merlot is selling in BC at about $23.00 to $25.00 per bottle.

Edited April 26, 2016 by SilvertoGold

[Vict0riann]

I thought I might add my two cents' worth about the Cellar Master's Dinner! I thought it was a very interesting menu. It was called "The Versailles Chronicles", and he used references to the Kings of France from Louis XIII to Louis XVI. We had our own sommelier at the table, Taxmantoo, and heard his opinions on the pairings as well. I thought the wines went very well with the different courses. The anchovy was amazing - sort of tempura style, I wonder if the French knew how to do that before the French Revolution. But anyway, very tasty. The soup was lovely, a very light but flavourful chicken broth, poured over a small poached egg with caviar on top.

 

 

 

Hope I got the right pictures to post.

 

Until the orange spoom the meal seemed wonderfully light, and I hoped I would go away not feeling uncomfortably full, but the next courses were much richer!

 

 

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[MekesMom]

Vintage Master's Sommelier class this afternoon with some tasty and pricey wines. Vega Sicilia $799, Chateau Figeac $499, Opus One $229, Quilceda Creek red blend $119. Prices are HAL, not retail. More of Csaba's French themed food pairings not from the menu. Sorry his vacation is postponed but no luck with finding a replacement from interviewing prospects from other cruise lines so he is staying on longer. Will still be joining Koningsdam in August. He has some interesting ideas/suggestions that I hope are adopted by HAL. Love his enthusiasm.

[kazu]

Wonderful pictures.

I see they raised the price from $89 to $95 plus 15% gratuity on the wines.

 

This was a special Cellar Master KK.

 

The other was the regular price.

 

The wines were purchased in Papeette for this and I suspect reflected the cost of the purchase there.

[kazu]

Back to the Cellar Master Dinner and to finish it off if I can...

 

Our main course...

 

 

The main course was a filet mignon. It was quite good if you got it the way you liked it. I don't know if this was a good choice as people are usually fussy on how they get it.

 

Our dessert...yummy - the white chocolate was nearly a mousse. Mix the two together and you were in heaven..

 

 

The butterfly was totally edible - I hated to clip it's wings, but...

 

 

And then the cheeses...

 

 

It was a nice evening. The wines were good, the menu was different and much tastier than it sounded.

 

 

 

 

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[kazu]

Here is our On Location for today and our dinner menu.

 

It's a Gala night and yes, there is a Black and White ball!!!

 

I did bring a black and white dress this time - hoping it may happen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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