Afternoon tea

[Nanobot]

Could anyone give me an update about afternoon tea? Specifically these two points. Firstly, is afternoon tea still served in the MDR aboard Zuiderdam? Lastly, does the ship still serve whipped cream instead of clotted cream with the scones? IMHO, the whipped cream is too sweet and doesn't taste well combined with the tart scone and the sweet preserves, it really should be a fatty cream to compliment the other two ingredients.

[OlsSalt]

It is whipped cream. Not sure they have the capacity to serve clotted cream. But these are meant to be just tiny bites. They work.

[SilvertoGold]

I have never seen clotted cream on HAL. Maybe things will change and HAL will copy Cunard.

 

Last I know the Zuiderdam had Afternoon Tea in the MDR but has been know to use the Crow's Nest on occasion. I've haven't found that it works well there, although the view is great!

[3rdGenCunarder]

I have never seen clotted cream on HAL. Maybe things will change and HAL will copy Cunard.

 

Last I know the Zuiderdam had Afternoon Tea in the MDR but has been know to use the Crow's Nest on occasion. I've haven't found that it works well there, although the view is great!

 

(bold is mine) They've got a long way to go to copy Cunard. Starting with pots of tea, not tea bags and hot water. And they need to get the jam right. Last time I went to "Royal Dutch Tea" on a HAL ship, they served scones with orange marmalade and whipped cream. Marmalade is for breakfast toast, not afternoon tea scones!!

 

HAL does a nice job with the sweets, though.

[SilvertoGold]

(bold is mine) They've got a long way to go to copy Cunard. Starting with pots of tea, not tea bags and hot water. And they need to get the jam right. Last time I went to "Royal Dutch Tea" on a HAL ship, they served scones with orange marmalade and whipped cream. Marmalade is for breakfast toast, not afternoon tea scones!!

 

HAL does a nice job with the sweets, though.

 

HAL normally uses two jams, apricot and strawberry.

 

Maybe this is the Dutch touch?! I like both and find the whipped cream great with the scones.

[take us away]

Have had true clotted cream and raspberry jam on the Amsterdam a few years back - hope it is still there as do not always do the tea but sounds like these are gone with the wind.....

[AncientWanderer]

I guess this is an okay time to do a little "grumbling."

 

We're 4 Star Mariners with HAL. I love afternoon tea, but always skip it on HAL. They kind of seat everybody together at as few tables as possible, make one pass of all the goodies, and send you on your way. It seems very perfunctory, to me. Not the relaxing, pleasant afternoon experience it should be. We sometimes sail with Princess, and they do a much better job, so I make sure to "indulge" as often as possible on our Princess cruises.

 

Okay. End of grumble. I'm obviously not going away hungry from any HAL cruise.

[SilvertoGold]

I guess this is an okay time to do a little "grumbling."

 

We're 4 Star Mariners with HAL. I love afternoon tea, but always skip it on HAL. They kind of seat everybody together at as few tables as possible, make one pass of all the goodies, and send you on your way. It seems very perfunctory, to me. Not the relaxing, pleasant afternoon experience it should be. We sometimes sail with Princess, and they do a much better job, so I make sure to "indulge" as often as possible on our Princess cruises.

 

Okay. End of grumble. I'm obviously not going away hungry from any HAL cruise.

 

You are right: on some ships it can be a bit perfunctory, not so much by design, I think, but the guys seem bored sometimes. Our experience is that they are quite willing to make a couple of passes if you flag them down and let them know what you want.

 

Sometimes it is a matter of the supervision and can be a great time.

 

I have found that HAL doesn't teach the guys, waiters or bar guys, how to cover a room properly. There is room for improvement there and it would make the afternoon tea an even greater pleasure.

[RMLincoln]

I'm just quite surprised and so very happy that HAL still has an afternoon tea... every day! No charge, like there is on some cruise lines!!

 

May not be perfect for every culture but there are lots of choices and you can even have coffee if the tea is done wrong for you....

 

Works for me, at least I don't have to put it together and clean up after it. :)

45 days and counting.....

m--

[OlsSalt]

You are right: on some ships it can be a bit perfunctory, not so much by design, I think, but the guys seem bored sometimes. Our experience is that they are quite willing to make a couple of passes if you flag them down and let them know what you want.

 

Sometimes it is a matter of the supervision and can be a great time.

 

I have found that HAL doesn't teach the guys, waiters or bar guys, how to cover a room properly. There is room for improvement there and it would make the afternoon tea an even greater pleasure.

 

Good suggestions to put on the post-cruise evaluation form.

[OlsSalt]

They used to have "brewed tea" in a pot that was closer to the real thing than the insipid little bags.

 

We found HAL logo tea is pretty good as is Dilmah and "Tips" choices. But for us the real sleeper treat was the Sumatra coffee at the Indonesian Tea. Not quite the infamous civet cat pre-digested Indonesian coffee, but still a very rich and stand alone flavor

[BVsmurfette]

Did HAL bring back PG Tips/other brands to the MDR?

When we were last on a ship (march 2015 Caribbean), they were serving a new brand of tea, their own brand i guess... and we found it to be terrible! much too weak and no flavor. There was PG Tips avail in the Lido upstairs, but not in the MDR.

I know a lot of people complained about this (our waiter told us he had heard grumblings), so i'm wondering if HAL did anything to address it.

Any recent cruisers out there who can share their experience?

[OlsSalt]

Did HAL bring back PG Tips/other brands to the MDR?

When we were last on a ship (march 2015 Caribbean), they were serving a new brand of tea, their own brand i guess... and we found it to be terrible! much too weak and no flavor. There was PG Tips avail in the Lido upstairs, but not in the MDR.

I know a lot of people complained about this (our waiter told us he had heard grumblings), so i'm wondering if HAL did anything to address it.

Any recent cruisers out there who can share their experience?

 

Zuiderdam - June 2016 - PG Tips available at the Lido. If one has a preferred brand and does not want to deal with HAL choices or availability problems, at least it is easy to tuck in a few bags in your own bags. I would always carry my own favorite Jasmine tea bags to the MDR for after-dinner. Most gorgeous Jasmine Tea I have ever tasted was picked up on a HAL Indonesia cruise. Never found it to be as good, even when trying to order the same brand online.

Edited August 17, 2016 by OlsSalt

[RuthC]

On my last cruise HAL had gotten rid of that awful shredded foliage, and brought back some decent brands. I don't recall if they had brought back their own brand, though.

[3rdGenCunarder]

On my last cruise HAL had gotten rid of that awful shredded foliage, and brought back some decent brands. I don't recall if they had brought back their own brand, though.

 

If you mean the bags in the white packets with the HAL logo, I haven't seen them in a few years. I loved that tea, a really nice Darjeeling.

[SilvertoGold]

I'm a big fan of the Harney and Sons tea from the Pinnacle. I've seen it at Afternoon Tea on a couple of ships, too.

[RuthC]

If you mean the bags in the white packets with the HAL logo, I haven't seen them in a few years. I loved that tea, a really nice Darjeeling.

No! I love the HAL tea.

It was whatever they had for a brief period; can't remember the brand. It was horrible; everyone complained; no one would drink it. HAL got rid of it. Didn't even last a year, IIRC.

[OlsSalt]

No! I love the HAL tea.

It was whatever they had for a brief period; can't remember the brand. It was horrible; everyone complained; no one would drink it. HAL got rid of it. Didn't even last a year, IIRC.

 

I think that was the switch from Twinnings to Bigelow, or was it vice versa? :confused:

[Old As Dirt Mom]

The awful tea was called Field and Selects, and as Ruth said, there was such a hue and a cry it didn't last a year. On board I have seen P G Tips, and I think Tetley, and I've forgotten what the fancy tea is in the Neptune lounge, you know the one in the posh silky bags? I haven't seen the Holland America brand darjeeling tea in a while, but then I haven't been on a HAL ship since last October. :eek:

 

I will be doing my "tea research" when we're on the Maasdam in less than two weeks:)

Edited August 17, 2016 by Old As Dirt Mom

[BVsmurfette]

Field and Selects! how could i forget?! (actually it was awful so maybe i shut it out of my memory! thanks for the reminder, that was the brand i was trying to remember and couldn't! Glad to hear it's gone!

I'm a PG tips fan, so if they can make that avail in the MDR as well as the Lido, I'll be happy. For course if they want to serve me fancy Harney and Sons, i won't complain either :) we sail in less than a month, so we can compare "tea notes"!

[Old As Dirt Mom]

Not Tetley, Bigelow! That's the tea brand, as well as PG Tips, which has been on board since they got rid of Field and Selects. And yes, Harney and Sons in the Neptune Lounge and Pinnacle Grill (at least last time I was on) so thanks for the right name, smurfette :) Cluvsrain, who was just doing her "live from" on Maasdam, confirms the Bigelow:)

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have gone only to a few teas and never had the clotted cream.

Also the tea was poured from a pot a couple of times. Other times we had a choice of tea bags. Don't remember the name of the tea bags.

As usual -- HAL is not consistent on their ships.

[RuthC]

I think that was the switch from Twinnings to Bigelow, or was it vice versa? :confused:

Neither. Both of those are at the very least palatable.

[RuthC]

The awful tea was called Field and Selects, ...

That was it. Someone "selected" some weeds from a "field" and called it "tea". :rolleyes:

Thanks for refreshing my memory, and giving me a good way to remember the name.

 

Have a good time on the Maasdam.

[Bostonjetset]

That was it. Someone "selected" some weeds from a "field" and called it "tea". :rolleyes:

Thanks for refreshing my memory, and giving me a good way to remember the name.

 

Have a good time on the Maasdam.

 

Perhaps this solves the mystery of what happened to the fake palm tree that used to adorn Veendam's Seaview "pool". ;)