High Tea

[Blackduck59]

I have to say the "Afternoon Tea" served on Zaandam was rather a waste of time. The quality and taste of the  snacks provided were pitiful. I saw some pictures on this thread and thought "if only ours looked like that", even then the best picture shown in this thread isn't great. I would caution anyone going to "afternoon tea" on HAL and thinking it will be some event. 

[RuthC]

Afternoon tea on HAL used to be very nice. You had your selection of various teas, and could choose which one you wanted. The water was served in individual pots.
Stewards came around with trays of various little sandwiches and pastries. There was a choice of whipped cream, jam, and marmalade for the scones. Nothing came already assembled. 
There were some lovely choices. 

[syesmar]

For whatever it’s worth, the HAL “Know Before You Go” page still says this under “Dining Venues,” sub-section “Other Delightful Dining Options”: 

• Classic High Tea once per cruise.

 

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/faq/know-before-you-go.html

 

I also miss the Royal Dutch Teas and Indonesian Teas! Do they still do the Cupcake Teas?

Edited September 19, 2023 by syesmar

[RuthC]

12 minutes ago, syesmar said:

Do they still do the Cupcake Teas?

I haven't seen those, either. No great loss (to me), since they all tasted the same---with no real flavor. 

13 minutes ago, syesmar said:

For whatever it’s worth, the HAL “Know Before You Go” page still says this under “Dining Venues,” sub-section “Other Delightful Dining Options”: 

• Classic High Tea once per cruise.

Which just means HAL is still using the term incorrectly. 

[Banditswife]

The difference in quality might have something to do with Covid & cutbacks.  Pre covid, even on a Carnival ship "tea time" was something special, post covid -not so special.

[Blackduck59]

We went to the highly rated "afternoon tea" on Viking...once. We also went to tea on Zaandam...once. What they "used to do" doesn't count, what they do now counts, and it's not anything special. You're better off grabbing some cold cuts, cheese, bread and fruit from the lido and making your own.

[AncientWanderer]

6 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

It could be worse. On an American Queen ship this June, they did afternoon tea one day. They had the lovely tiered servers, and the sweets were okay. Sandwiches were a bit dry--apparently nobody knew about the trick of covering them with a damp tea towel (or plastic wrap). Except for needing more raisins, the scones were good, but the horror of horrors was that the scones were served with packets of jam, the kind you get at a diner. Tacky! And check out the flavor I got! Who does that????????????

 

 

 

 

This is really funny.   Thanks for sharing.  

[3rdGenCunarder]

1 hour ago, RuthC said:

I haven't seen those, either. No great loss (to me), since they all tasted the same---with no real flavor.

 

I had the same response to the cupcake tea. The icing was different colors, but no flavor to set them apart, and the servers didn't know what they were supposed to be. Maybe they knew the taste was all the same. So disappointing! I think it was on Veendam the first year they resumed the NY-Bermuda cruise. 

[bennybear]

 

 

12 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

This is my  understanding too.  Also served as the evening meal in the old style 'boarding houses' that travelling salesmen and other transient type workers ate and overnighted in.

The 'event' on HAL ships is Afternoon Tea unless otherwise named (eg Royal Dutch Tea, Indonesian Tea etc).

 

Ooh I so miss the Indonesian tea, their tropical green tea was wonderful, and loved seeing the national costumes! 

 

8 hours ago, neeuqdrazil said:

 

I only went once (on the sea day), and was similarly not hugely impressed. They never came back to refill my teacup, and the treats had all obviously been sitting out for quite a while after being pre-plated. 

 

I much prefer the Cunard approach. They do have a main tea offering, but you can request a different type of tea and get your own pot. The treats (finger sandwiches, warm scones with actual clotted cream and jam (in little pots; not pre-applied), and cakes and other sweet bites) are brought around on large trays and you can select what you want - if you only want cucumber sandwiches, you only get cucumber sandwiches, instead of having a tower of food most of which you don't want. They come around with teapots frequently - I don't think I've ever had my teacup be empty for more than about 30 seconds at a Cunard afternoon tea, and that was at the very end of service. 

 

You can also go up to the buffet and get the same items (scones, finger sandwiches, cakes) there, and either enjoy them there, or take a plate and a cuppa to a lounge, or out on deck if you so desire. 

Cunard does it right, their scones and clotted cream and harps, heavenly! 

2 hours ago, RuthC said:

Afternoon tea on HAL used to be very nice. You had your selection of various teas, and could choose which one you wanted. The water was served in individual pots.
Stewards came around with trays of various little sandwiches and pastries. There was a choice of whipped cream, jam, and marmalade for the scones. Nothing came already assembled. 
There were some lovely choices. 

Yes,  miss those days! 

[Toofarfromthesea]

12 hours ago, ExArkie said:

Differentiating between high tea and afternoon tea:

https://teatimemagazine.com/high-tea-vs-afternoon-tea/

 

I researched all of this when we did a pre-cruise stay in London.  But I think the use of the terms in less formal settings like a cruise ship or anywhere here in the States is unlikely to follow the real definitions.  And if memory serves, isn't there another type of tea called a cream tea?  I think I saw that listed on some of the Cotswolds' day trips I researched.  But since we were going to do the afternoon tea in town we picked an outing that included a pub lunch.

 

IAC, our afternoon tea at The Ritz London, was a highlight of our stay.  Despite the high cost.

[lyndarra]

2 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

High Tea at the Raffles is new to me. I know they serve Afternoon Tea, but never seen High Tea on any of our visits.

 

Just out of interest, what were the menu choices for the plated meal.

It was some time ago, twenty years perhaps. There was no plated meal or menu. It was a more like a posh buffet with the tiered cakes and sandwiches on your table. A variety of teas were available, served by the waiters. We had small plates which we took to the buffet table. We could do as many trips to the buffet as we liked and I remember the waiters giving people a fresh plate and cutlery each trip.

A memorable event for me was on one trip to the buffet I decided the little sausage rolls looked nice so I took a couple. Nearby was a gravy boat so I poured some gravy on them. Back at our table I took a bite and realised that what I thought was gravy was really chocolate sauce!  I still ate them.

 

[lyndarra]

5 minutes ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

 And if memory serves, isn't there another type of tea called a cream tea?  I think I saw that listed on some of the Cotswolds' day trips I researched.

 

A cream tea is, basically, tea with scones and jam - usually strawberry - and clotted cream on top.

The same thing here in Oz is called a Devonshire tea but I have no idea why.

[cruisemom42]

2 hours ago, RuthC said:

Afternoon tea on HAL used to be very nice. You had your selection of various teas, and could choose which one you wanted. The water was served in individual pots.
Stewards came around with trays of various little sandwiches and pastries. There was a choice of whipped cream, jam, and marmalade for the scones. Nothing came already assembled. 
There were some lovely choices. 

 

When I was on Oceania last month, I thought several times about various things that "this is how HAL used to do it."  One of those items was their afternoon tea. Your choice of tea, your own teapot, special china, proper small sandwiches, scones and other cakes served from a trolley, and a string quartet playing. It was delightful. Offered every day but I only went once -- it was all too easy to overeat on that cruise!

 

 

 

[Toofarfromthesea]

2 minutes ago, lyndarra said:

A cream tea is, basically, tea with scones and jam - usually strawberry - and clotted cream on top.

The same thing here in Oz is called a Devonshire tea but I have no idea why.

 

Where do you come down on the great debate on whether you put the clotted cream on first and then the jam or first the jam and then the clotted cream?

[lyndarra]

2 minutes ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

Where do you come down on the great debate on whether you put the clotted cream on first and then the jam or first the jam and then the clotted cream?

Has always been jam first then cream on top. We use whipped cream but it's much the same thing.

[oakridger]

I'm not @lyndarra but definitely jam first then huge gobs of clotted cream!!!  😁

 

 

~Nancy

[Blackduck59]

9 minutes ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

Where do you come down on the great debate on whether you put the clotted cream on first and then the jam or first the jam and then the clotted cream?

clotted cream first (like butter) then the jam. Keeping in mind this is supposed to be an elegant affair without getting gobs of cream all over your face.

Edited September 19, 2023 by Blackduck59

[3rdGenCunarder]

15 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

clotted cream first (like butter) then the jam. Keeping in mind this is supposed to be an elegant affair without getting gobs of cream all over your face.

 

Now, what's the fun in that?!?

 

Somewhere I heard or read that the preference depends on where you're from. Devon does one way and Cornwall does the other (but I can't remember which is which).

 

If it's clotted cream, I put that on first. As you say, like butter. But if it's whipped cream, then the jam goes first because whipped cream is too soft and squishy for the jam to spread on top. 

[Blackduck59]

When we go to the trouble of doing "Afternoon Tea" in our house, I go to the trouble of getting "double Devon cream" it's very thick almost like butter. I will agree with you about whipped cream, you can't put jam on top of that.

[cruisemom42]

To me, a scone isn't worth having without clotted cream (or the "double Devon cream", which is the nearest I can get to it where I live...)

 

[Toofarfromthesea]

29 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

To me, a scone isn't worth having without clotted cream (or the "double Devon cream", which is the nearest I can get to it where I live...)

 

 

You can always make it yourself:

 

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/257734/chef-johns-clotted-cream/

 

I've never made this, but a few years back we did an afternoon tea for a special occasion and I made the cream cheese for some of the little sandwiches.

[Toofarfromthesea]

1 hour ago, lyndarra said:

Has always been jam first then cream on top. We use whipped cream but it's much the same thing.

 

Is the whipped cream an Australian thing, because I hadn't heard of using that before.

[lyndarra]

1 minute ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

Is the whipped cream an Australian thing, because I hadn't heard of using that before.

On scones? Could be. I've not seen clotted cream sold here, having said that, I've never looked for it.

 

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

I researched all of this when we did a pre-cruise stay in London.  But I think the use of the terms in less formal settings like a cruise ship or anywhere here in the States is unlikely to follow the real definitions.  And if memory serves, isn't there another type of tea called a cream tea?  I think I saw that listed on some of the Cotswolds' day trips I researched.  But since we were going to do the afternoon tea in town we picked an outing that included a pub lunch.

 

IAC, our afternoon tea at The Ritz London, was a highlight of our stay.  Despite the high cost.

 

Affirmative, Cream Tea is basically a light Afternoon Tea. You only get the scones, clotted cream and jam along with a pot of tea. Generally doesn't include the finger sandwiches and cakes.

[Heidi13]

56 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

When we go to the trouble of doing "Afternoon Tea" in our house, I go to the trouble of getting "double Devon cream" it's very thick almost like butter. I will agree with you about whipped cream, you can't put jam on top of that.

 

Lyle - you bring back happy childhood memories. Any double cream but especially double Devon Cream, OMG!!! it is so good, but just a  little bad for you. You can almost whip it with a fork. If I can't find clotted cream, I'll use this as an excellent substitute.