SSFrance69

Lekker! I'm excited! First Holland cruise next year to Alaska. I'm looking forward to eating some Dutch food!

We had the same quartet on our Vista sailing last month. They were wonderful. The ship is beautiful. The food was amazing. We were on a 10 night sailing and ran out of time to try all the food we wanted to try. We had to double down on a few things the last day. Other than specialties and all the wonderful food in the GDR, be sure to try the gazpacho soup and crunchy chicken sandwich with avocado and chipotle mayo at Aquamar... it was so good, I had to go back for it a second time. Also the pizza at waves. We should have done more of that pizza. Sigh... Oh and the stateroom bathroom and shower had me spoiled for ship bathrooms. If you know... you know. 😉

We just returned from an Oceania cruise on Vista last month. Our second Oceania cruise. First was on Riviera the year before. Both were lovely in every way. We enjoyed the quartet, especially during cocktails and afternoon tea. Next year we are trying HAL for the first time to Alaska... also first time visiting Alaska. I know it will be a different experience, but that's what makes life interesting...experiencing different things on different lines. I hope there will be some classical music on our HAL sailing, but we try to be open minded and go with the flow. Food is important to us, so hopefully HAL will be solid in that department. I'm not going to compare it to Oceania food, because O was a world apart from anything we've had at sea... but I'm hoping that HAL will pleasantly surprise us.

Great tips, all! Thank you! I'm really looking forward to the Dutch Cafe. My grandmother was from NL and my favorite thing there to eat was the Krokette. I'll be sure to have some. I also love Dutch split pea soup. I have the recipe that my Dad got from HAL many years ago. It's a little different from their recipe I found online... but so delish. I make it at home all the time during the winter months. Will there still be snow capped mountains in July? We got an aft veranda, so I'm hoping for nice views and will be able to see out aft, plus I should be able to see pretty well both port and starboard from there. I started to second guess myself if I should have chosen a veranda on the bow, but I decided on aft, because I love a wake view and I figured the cold wind would be less intense there. Cheers, Tammy

Hello all, Completely new to HAL, never been to Alaska, and booked a 2025 July sailing round trip Vancouver to Alaska on Koningsdam. Our sailing is July 19. I understand the daylight is long that time of year. We have a verandah stateroom. So my question is... do the staterooms have black out curtains that will block out the light while we are sleeping? While I'm at it with questions... any other advice or tips anyone wants to share regarding HAL or Alaska in July? Cheers Tammy

You mentioned that on Celebrity only Eden was at or above a HAL standard. You also mentioned the service in Blu. Are you saying the food in HALs MDR is better than the food in Blu? If that's the case, I'm really looking forward to our cruise on HAL next year. Dined in Blu on Summit last July and the food was excellent. I thought it was almost as good as Oceania. Good to know that HAL has high standards.

Downright luscious is a perfect way to describe it. Here it is in all its luscious glory...

Worth a try!

I also noticed that a dish I tried last year on Riviera is not on the Vista menu. Pancetta Wrapped Filet of Veal with Bay Lobster Tail Oscar Style. What a shame because I really quite enjoyed it. I'm sure I'll find something else.

It's also worth mentioning that Waves Grill turns into a wonderful pizza spot in the evenings with yummy toppings like burrata, prosciutto and arugula.

What time do they start serving the wine and appetizers in the evening?

Thanks for posting this new menu. Good to know what's changing. Some of the new items look like nice additions. However, replacing a tuna or salmon burger with breaded cod and cheddar cheese sounds like a downgrade. Breaded cod and cheddar sandwich sounds like something you could get at McDonalds. I'm sure it's better than that, but not what I want to eat on vacation. Also I noticed the Matador no longer has jalapeno cheddar and the Texan no longer has bourbon BBQ sauce... just BBQ. Are they toning things down to appeal to people who like bland food? Just my observations... I will be able to judge for myself when I sail on Vista later this month. Just curious... are they also changing the grand dining room menus or menus elsewhere in the near future? If it's not too much trouble would you mind inquiring with the Vista Gen Mgr? I hope not... I was looking forward to having some of my favorites from our last sailing.

I can give you an update now since we sailed on Summit in July of this year. The large Thalassotherapy pool is still alive and well and just as amazing as ever... The hot tubs however are no longer typical hot tubs. The water is warm but there are no jets. They are whirlpools now. Not sure if it's the same on Infinity. We spent a lot of time in the T-pool and in the Persian Gardens. Persian gardens are included with Aqua staterooms, but you can also pay a fee to use them if you're in another stateroom category. Enjoy your cruise!

The Jacques Lobster Thermidor was excellent. I didn't care for the lobster bisque in the GRD. It tasted like tomato bisque to me. The lobster bisque in Polo however was wonderful!

Thank you! Now I have something extra good to look forward to... one of many!!!

Thank you so much for sharing the photos and menus. I have a question. On day 14 you show a Maine Lobster baked in shell with a mushroom cream sauce. Is it anything like the Lobster Thermidor they serve in Jacques? That was one of the best dishes we had on Riviera last March. I'm drooling just thinking about it.

I've enjoyed following along. Your photos are fantastic. I drooled on my keyboard looking at some of the food photos. I'll have to look out for that Mexican themed lunch when we sail on Vista in February. I agree that the pizza in the evening at Waves is really good. I wish it were available for lunch as well. You say you make better pizza though? I say, what time should we come over to try it?!? Just kidding. We are in the DC area, so that might not be logistically feasible. I went to your other website too and you are a couple in your 70s? You must be doing something right, because you both look like you're in your 50s. Thanks so much for taking the time to write the review and post photos. I'm also looking forward to reading your friend's review and seeing those photos. I've been to his site before and always enjoy all the detailed food pictures and menus. Is it done yet, Mike? 😆

This is the best answer yet! Love it! 😂

That's fair. I thought O let you bring hard liquor as well, but then I didn't really pay attention to that policy since I don't drink it.

That's another reason we left Celebrity. They reduced their wine allowance policy from two bottles per person to one. That's ridiculous. We like to enjoy it in our stateroom and your comment mirrors my sentiment on the matter. Treat us like adults. Oceania does allow you to bring a lot of wine. If I recall correctly 6 bottles per person but don't quote me on that. I've been told by regular O cruisers that they really don't stop you from bringing more than the printed policy.

Nice! A fellow designer. Though I'm not retired yet. I love what I do, so I don't mind it at all. Enjoy your time on Vista. I'm looking forward to hearing all about your dining experience. My husband and I used to be loyal to Celebrity and started cruising with them back when Michelle Roux was in charge of the food. Oceana's food reminded me of what Celebrity used to be. We had our first O experience last March on Riviera. We loved it. We probably won't look back. I won't say I'll never sail with Celebrity again, but there is a very very low chance of it. My daughter and I sailed on Summit at the end of July and we dined in Blu which was wonderful, but I feel the pricing is similar to O in Aqua, but without the other added value we felt we received on O. We are booked on Vista next February for a Caribbean sailing, and are looking at Riviera again in 2025 for Alaska! Enjoy!

We love two beaches there. Tobacco Bay is great for snorkeling. Our last visit we went to Jobson's Cove and loved that. The water is calm, shallow and clear, thanks to the big rock formations that shelter it from the sea... but there is a larger beach next door to it called Warwick Bay Beach. It's an easy public bus ride from dockyard. Not sure where Insignia docks. I don't think it's dockyard though.

Booked on Oceania Vista next year. Based on the reduction of food quality and choice on Celebrity, I would only sail in Aqua for Blu (did that last month) and since the new prices for Aqua are about on par with standard veranda or french veranda (depending on Vista or Riviera) staterooms on O, I would chose O over X any day. On Celebrity our only good dining option would be dinner in Blu. On Oceania, food is wonderful everywhere on the ship and it's ALL included. Also I would not book with Celebrity again unless it was not only Aqua but a good last minute deal, because you never know what they are going to cut back or take away, from month to month it seems. I'm also looking at trying Princess for a future cruise.

How does one of the smaller ships like Insignia handle high seas? I understand the crossing from NY to Bermuda can be dicey. We just did the crossing on Celebrity Summit, and it was fine, but that is a larger ship and the seas were fairly calm. We are O converts after our Riviera cruise last March, so just curious about the smaller ships as well.