Observations, first time on HAL. Zaandam 23Aug to 03 Sep 2023

[Caribbean Chris]

I’d be interested in knowing the name of the piano player in the Mix piano bar when you have a chance.

We’ve had some great evenings in HAL piano bars on the smaller ships like this one. Looking forward to boarding on 9/03 in Montreal.

[Haljo1935]

54 minutes ago, OlsSalt said:

Start polling for other people's Pinnacle Grill favorites - another menu to pick through carefully. 

 

Indulgent as it is, we love the Hanger Bacon as a starter, and after that it almost does not matter what else we order.  It is fun food, and that is what the evening is supposed to be about...

Oh YES - Clothesline Candied Bacon!!

[AroundWithMAPTravels]

5 hours ago, JonSchick said:

Cherry Garcia always was one of my Ben and Jerry's favourites so this may well be on the shortlist!  Best ice cream so far on this trip has been from a van called "Gelato Fiasco" in Portland Maine - some of the best gelato I've ever tasted.  

We found the Gelato Fiasco store in downtown there . We thought same- some of the best gelato ever!

[Blackduck59]

7 hours ago, Caribbean Chris said:

I’d be interested in knowing the name of the piano player in the Mix piano bar when you have a chance.

We’ve had some great evenings in HAL piano bars on the smaller ships like this one. Looking forward to boarding on 9/03 in Montreal.

I think his name is Eli, our new friends we met at dinner last night had struck up a friendship with him the night before. He came over to where we were sitting and chatted with them during a set break. 

[Blackduck59]

8 hours ago, JonSchick said:

Cherry Garcia always was one of my Ben and Jerry's favourites so this may well be on the shortlist!  Best ice cream so far on this trip has been from a van called "Gelato Fiasco" in Portland Maine - some of the best gelato I've ever tasted.  

Make sure you visit Cows ice cream, I'm told by good authority that ut is excellent. There is apparently one on the boardwalk in Halifax and the original location is in PEI I have no personal experience with it but I trust my niece's recommendation. I'm not sure the weather today will be very conducive to ice cream though. 

[Caribbean Chris]

31 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

I think his name is Eli, our new friends we met at dinner last night had struck up a friendship with him the night before. He came over to where we were sitting and chatted with them during a set break. 

Thanks for this info and for the details you are sharing about your trip. I’m enjoying it very much!

[kazu]

35 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

Make sure you visit Cows ice cream, I'm told by good authority that ut is excellent. There is apparently one on the boardwalk in Halifax and the original location is in PEI I have no personal experience with it but I trust my niece's recommendation. I'm not sure the weather today will be very conducive to ice cream though. 

 

Cow’s is definitely good and worth a taste test 👍 

I am afraid Halifax is getting the same weather we are 😔 

[Mareblu]

12 hours ago, NSWP said:

Lyle try those massive dog bowls of salad in Lido Chop Chop. Healthy, lol. on Noordam few years ago food was good except for the soups, horrible. You might sample them, Young Lyle.
 

Enjoying your blogs, onwards !

Love hearing from Young Les🥰

[Haljo1935]

3 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

...I'm not sure the weather today will be very conducive to ice cream though. 

Every day is a good day for ice cream 🍨 🍦 

Glad your cruise is going well.

[Hobcat]

22 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

We just got back from the trolley tour in Saint John. It was a nice excursion although the trolley had wooden bench seats as trolleys do. The tour guide was excellent and we drove through historic Saint John. There is a short (15 minute) stop at the reversing falls which everyone should be aware they may not be "reversing" while you're there, it all depends on tge tides. 

We were also on that trolley tour. Almost slid off the seat when I sat down however the tour guide was entertaining and informative so compensated for the slick seat. 😀

[Ken the cruiser]

So far it sounds like you are enjoying yourself on the ship. If I might ask a few questions regarding your onboard experience, some of which you may not have the answer to yet.

 

1. Did the music the Step One Dancers performed to the other night also include recorded vocals with recognizable lyrics, such as from the 60s through the 80s, to make the whole experience more enjoyable?

 

2. You haven't mentioned attending any game shows yet. Does the Entertainment staff provide them nightly but just don't interest you, or are they simply nonexistent? I'm guessing they provide trivia games at certain times in the evening and on sea days.

 

3. I realize your first of 3 sea days won't be until tomorrow but have there been any port lectures yet? If not, I would be interested to hear later on what if any port or other type of lectures were offered on your upcoming sea days.

 

These are some of the areas of entertainment we enjoy when we're on a cruise and were wondering if some of them have or will be provided on yours. Thanks!

 

[Blackduck59]

2 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

Every day is a good day for ice cream 🍨 🍦 

Glad your cruise is going well.

Cows was the only food kiosk open on the boardwalk and your darned right we got ice cream after walking more than a kilometer to get there. 

[OlsSalt]

14 hours ago, JonSchick said:

But the other dining has not yet quite lived up to expectations given I'd previously heard HAL were renowned for good food. 

 

I hope my comments have been balanced as it really isn't all bad!

 

Reviews for good food on HAL maybe are relative to other mainline cruise ship offerings. The food on HAL is good and offers decent variety. There is always something to enjoy.

 

We sailed Crystal a few times known for its high end food offerings, and two things happened: you can only eat so much rich food every day, and we found we liked something superior on HAL ships, as well as having more variety.

 

HAL variety particularly shines on the longer cruises when one settles into more limited personal choices, after the novelty of first impression indulgences wears off ... and the pounds start accumulating. I could eat a fresh breakfast crepe with butter, lemon and sugar every single day when on a 7 day cruise; but would pay in pounds if I did this on anything longer. (Boo hoo)

[Blackduck59]

21 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

This! Not sure what people are expecting at a mainstream cruise line lunch buffet. Lobster? 

Funny thing there was a lady at the Lido yesterday that asked for a lobster roll 🤔. The guy looked at her with that "excuse me what?" Look.

[CruiserBruce]

3 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

Funny thing there was a lady at the Lido yesterday that asked for a lobster roll 🤔. The guy looked at her with that "excuse me what?" Look.

We already have several places scouted out for lobster rolls ashore in two weeks!!

[cruisemom42]

22 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

This! Not sure what people are expecting at a mainstream cruise line lunch buffet. Lobster? 

Right; that would be Oceania, lol. Lobster everywhere - Maine even - and nary an up charge. 😁🎉👍🏻

[Blackduck59]

53 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

We already have several places scouted out for lobster rolls ashore in two weeks!!

We had planned on Dave's Lobster on the boardwalk here in Halifax. Apparently they are fair weather folk because the only food kiosk at the boardwalk was Cows Ice cream. Don't miss the ice cream. 

[Blackduck59]

So we just had a disappointing experience in the Crow's Nest, we sat down and no one even came to ask if we wanted anything. After 20 minutes I went up to the bar and asked if it was table service or not, he said there was table service. I said,  well we've been here 20 minutes, I sat back down and the server just kept stocking glasses. We left. We're in the Ocean Bar now, we weren't here 10 seconds and the bartender took our orders. Then about 3 minutes later drinks on the table. I have to admit there are very few people here right now but it wasn't like the Crow's Nest had a steady stream of people flowing in.

[Mary229]

2 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

So we just had a disappointing experience in the Crow's Nest, we sat down and no one even came to ask if we wanted anything. After 20 minutes I went up to the bar and asked if it was table service or not, he said there was table service. I said,  well we've been here 20 minutes, I sat back down and the server just kept stocking glasses. We left. We're in the Ocean Bar now, we weren't here 10 seconds and the bartender took our orders. Then about 3 minutes later drinks on the table. I have to admit there are very few people here right now but it wasn't like the Crow's Nest had a steady stream of people flowing in.

That is pretty standard for crows nest unless there is a happy hour or event.  It used to be an entertainment venue but now is more of a quiet sitting area.  

[Blackduck59]

2 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

So far it sounds like you are enjoying yourself on the ship. If I might ask a few questions regarding your onboard experience, some of which you may not have the answer to yet.

 

1. Did the music the Step One Dancers performed to the other night also include recorded vocals with recognizable lyrics, such as from the 60s through the 80s, to make the whole experience more enjoyable?

 

2. You haven't mentioned attending any game shows yet. Does the Entertainment staff provide them nightly but just don't interest you, or are they simply nonexistent? I'm guessing they provide trivia games at certain times in the evening and on sea days.

 

3. I realize your first of 3 sea days won't be until tomorrow but have there been any port lectures yet? If not, I would be interested to hear later on what if any port or other type of lectures were offered on your upcoming sea days.

 

These are some of the areas of entertainment we enjoy when we're on a cruise and were wondering if some of them have or will be provided on yours. Thanks!

 

Frankly we just enjoyed the dance one show as a whole and I wasn't focused on any lyrics just the impression from the overall show.

We happened to be in the Crow's Nest last night (the service was good then) and the trivia started. We were on the side away form the action but we could hear the whole thing (had we played we would have done very poorly).

I think we missed the early port lecture yesterday because dinner service was slow (see earlier post). Then after dinner the piano bar was more interesting than a port lecture. As it turns out anything we may have thought to do from that lecture would have been rained out today. 

[Blackduck59]

57 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

Right; that would be Oceania, lol. Lobster everywhere - Maine even - and nary an up charge. 😁🎉👍🏻

I think you could probably pay the additional tariff for lobster every night on a HAL cruise and still not come close to covering the cost difference between HAL and Oceania.

[Sherry H]

Very good point on ordering lobster every night on HAL vs the cost of cruising Oceania. 👍 

[cruisemom42]

45 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

I think you could probably pay the additional tariff for lobster every night on a HAL cruise and still not come close to covering the cost difference between HAL and Oceania.

True indeed but ‘‘tis not the only difference.

 

To keep this thread on topic, we will likely be crossing paths this evening as Insignia will port in Halifax tomorrow after a day at sea today.

[3rdGenCunarder]

1 hour ago, Blackduck59 said:

We had planned on Dave's Lobster on the boardwalk here in Halifax. Apparently they are fair weather folk because the only food kiosk at the boardwalk was Cows Ice cream. Don't miss the ice cream. 

 

Oh, sorry to hear that. That's one of my favorite stops on the boardwalk. Much better than McLobster from the Mickey D's near the Citadel--don't laugh, I was doing a challenge to have lobster roll in every port and I was curious.

 

[Mareblu]

2 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

True indeed but ‘‘tis not the only difference.

 

To keep this thread on topic, we will likely be crossing paths this evening as Insignia will port in Halifax tomorrow after a day at sea today.

It is indeed the total experience, and I confess we are Oceania regulars.  Lobster isn’t everywhere though.  It is offered in one or two of the specialty restaurants, which, btw, have no surcharge.  Yes, the fare is steeper, but teas, barista coffees (real coffee), pastries, etc. all available all day from Baristas Cafe are all included.  We have sailed Seabourn, Silversea, Viking and Norwegian and I would place Oceania in the middle of these four.  Viking is also more expensive, but apart from the stunning design and decor of the vessels, it didn’t match Oceania for total ambiance and experience.   Horses for courses, but I’m sure we’d also enjoy many aspects of a HAL cruise.