Poll 2: Worst HAL ship for food in Main Dining Room

[Pereiras]

If interested, please vote on the HAL ship from the list which you believe to have the worst food in the MAIN dining room. (Not the speciality or buffets). I do realize this is highly subjective, and perhaps based on only one cruise experience on HAL. Please only vote if you have taken a HAL cruise before.

[Pete Jackson]

I didn't vote here since they have mostly been similar enough, and all very good if not great.

 

By the way, it's spelled Prinsendam, (which we will be on this summer)

[Pereiras]

Thanks Peter,

 

I will take your note as a general all is equal and great.

Sorry for the misspelling.

 

Good luck on the Prinsendam..

 

I didn't vote here since they have mostly been similar enough, and all very good if not great.

 

By the way, it's spelled Prinsendam, (which we will be on this summer)

[james j feller]

I am going on the RYNDAM this month, thank god it wasn't on your list.

 

JIM

[Pereiras]

Chuckle!

I am going on the RYNDAM this month, thank god it wasn't on your list.

 

JIM

[Himself]

I did not vote. I was just at the Dr. the other day and I have to lose weight.

I would like to tell you I have become corpulant in the Dining Room of the Holland America Ships. I have not had many bad meals.

 

Himself

[Pereiras]

Himself.. I am a person who truly appreciated the humor in this note. Thanks for your note on the food too.. well taken.

 

I did not vote. I was just at the Dr. the other day and I have to lose weight.

I would like to tell you I have become corpulant in the Dining Room of the Holland America Ships. I have not had many bad meals.

 

Himself

[Krazy Kruizers]

This time I could not vote - Ryndam was not listed.

In 2003 we did back-to-bqck Alaskan cruises on her (sailed her many times before) and there was a new chef. It was the worst food we ever had. If there was a way to destroy a dish - he found it!! We ended up eating in the Pinnacle many evenings.

We will be back on the Ryndam in November and I know the food will be better since HAL has done a lot of changes in the last year concerning food.

[liz336]

I didn't vote since I've only been on the Ryndam. I have taken 3 cruises on her and have only had one dish I didn't care for. But it's so subjective.....I loved all the soups, while some people were telling me not to order the soup since it was tasteless. I thought each soup was a work of art. I don't like highly seasoned food and what other people thought was tasteless, I thought was perfect. So........

[stanford's girl]

Pereiras..you just don't quit, do you?

Maybe he has Iggi.:D

[Pereiras]

Dear Iggi,

 

Thanks for your note. Please observe that I have posted a best food and a worst food poll. Are you interested in these threads, or just squelching the non-positive discussion? I guess I could ask the same question of you re just not quitting. Enjoying your posts though, and.. you have as much right to be here as me.. so please keep them coming.

 

PS.. if you have been on a number of HAL cruises, please take a moment to vote in both.. folks like you and ESME would probably have the most to offer. ESME.. 45 HAL cruises. .wow. That has to be close to some kind of record.

 

With kindest regards

 

 

 

 

 

Pereiras..you just don't quit, do you?

[Pereiras]

wow.. 45 cruises. I hope you will take time to vote in both best and worst polls. I think you would be the most qualified of anyone here to let us know what you think. By the way, I have not brought that message to this thread.. at all. Also, folks reading this would see that you have propagated it here, not me. I won't be mentioning my bias on this or the other poll thread. Curious as to why you might have done that? If you are totally positive on HAL, it was kind of a strange thing to do, IMO. This is an info gathering poll only. I have personally voted once.. and that is all. I will be interested to see where the chips (no pun intended) fall.

 

Kindest

 

:rolleyes:

 

He sure doesn't Iggy. One HAL cruise, one supposedly horrific" meal, and now he's telling everyone to stay away from HAL. Funny in over 45 cruises with HAL, I can't say I ever had a "horrific" meal. :rolleyes:

[kgjg]

Pereiras

 

Sorry to rain on your parade, but this poll is just plain useless. In order for it to work you'd have to be standing at the dock of each ship when the passengers disembark and ask the to rate the good on a scale from 1 to 10. Even that poll would be suspect. My advice is, take a cruise on each ship and eat in the Main food dining room, If you find one you don't like, send us a letter and we'll judge whether you know what you talking about or not.

[Bill S]

I also didn't vote! In 9 HAL cruises, I've never experienced any "bad" food. One one cruise I did not particualarly enjoy the menu selections, but the food was good, just not appealing to my tastes, which is a wholly different and entirely subjective issue. :cool:

[FoxyTerrier]

I can't vote in the worst poll. I voted the Noordam was the best, but all the other ships (Ryndam, Maasdam and Zuiderdam) were just a tad below the food on the Noordam.

 

The reason I voted Noordam best was they had a nightly flambee which I love.

 

I know you were very unhappy with the food on the Zuiderdam, but I just got her yesterday and thought the food was quite food. I even enjoyed the Lido which I always try and avoid. We did not get a chance to eat in the Pinnacle Grill either so most meals were eaten in the Vista dining room.

 

I had fish or seafood most nights and lamb several times. No chicken, beef or pork.

 

Joni

 

PS. I will be posting a Zuiderdam review soon - we have a great time!!!!

[Jemima]

Not voting. All HAL ships have the same menus (or dishes that make up the menu), chefs change, availability and quality of fresh ingredients must be somewhat dependent on itinerary and time of year.

[Pereiras]

Thanks for your note. Please vote on the best food poll, and if you change your mind, please vote here too. Look at is as your best and worst food experience.. and yes, it is dependant on the timing, chef etc.. but, I think the folks here would be still very interested.

 

Kindest regards,

 

Not voting. All HAL ships have the same menus (or dishes that make up the menu), chefs change, availability and quality of fresh ingredients must be somewhat dependent on itinerary and time of year.

[Pereiras]

I must disagree regarding the merit of this poll and the other one. Yes it is informal, and yes there are very limited ways to use the polls here to solicit information. No, I don't believe it is useless.

 

Thanks for your advice, I'm sure a few here might take that approach.

 

Kindest regards,

 

Pereiras

 

Sorry to rain on your parade, but this poll is just plain useless. In order for it to work you'd have to be standing at the dock of each ship when the passengers disembark and ask the to rate the good on a scale from 1 to 10. Even that poll would be suspect. My advice is, take a cruise on each ship and eat in the Main food dining room, If you find one you don't like, send us a letter and we'll judge whether you know what you talking about or not.

[gizmo]

I voted for the Amsterdam. This was the only Hal cruise that I was somewhat disappointed in the food. From what I recall, the soups were terrible. They tasted like corn starch. These were the same soups served on other Hal ships. After a couple of nights, I just gave up ordering them.

 

The rest of the food was not terrible, unedible, or horrific. There just seemed to be something lacking in the food on this particular cruise.

[xpcdoojk]

Outside of a HAL loyalist how could any normal poster participate in this poll? Since you would have to know who had the worst food on multiple ships. In other words, not only is the poll unscientific, it borders on the ridiculous. :D :p BTW, I hate polls... so I am going to vote that this is the worst poll this month, and I will nominate it for the worst poll of the year. It really needs to be considered for that prize! :p

 

 

jc

[ekerr19]

so I am going to vote that this is the worst poll this month, and I will nominate it for the worst poll of the year. It really needs to be considered for that prize! :p

 

 

jc

 

I will 2nd you on this jc! I was hoping this would pass to page 2, but the OP keeps it up top!

[L454S]

I am sorry to put this thread on top, but I had to get in a comment. I am NOT some HAL fanatic, have never sailed with them before.

Pereiras my boy, down here on the bayou we have a term for what you are doing, it's "Evinrude in a cesspool". Buddy, my wife tells me I have a hard head........I think ya got me....

[ron46936]

I was a bit reluctant to vote at all since most times if I'm served a dish I don't care for the waiter get me something else. On the Volendam we would have been lucky to get a refill on the iced tea. I only got that lucky once.

[fridayeyes]

I couldn't vote either. I've only been on HAL once and will be going on the same ship next month. Frankly, though, I'd eat pork n beans out of a can just to get my cruise fix.

 

Tangent 1) Devil's Advocate: If you liked HAL for every thing BUT the food, why not go again and just PLAN to eat in the Pinnacle? It would cost less than moving up to Crystal or one of the other true-premium lines.

 

Tangent 2) Just for curiosity's sake, what's your cruise history like? I know you've cruised before - Princess, was it? What would you call your best overall experience, and best food experience? Best overall would have been my last HAL cruise, best food would have been Celebrity Infinity.

 

If you don't want the thread to get off topic, feel free to start a new one or contact me off-list. My email is the obvious at yahoo.

 

Cheers,

 

Friday of the tangents

[Pereiras]

Hi there,

 

Actually, we did follow tangent 1.. and not a bad idea, if cost was the only concern, as you know.. I has Customer Service issues as well with HAL. Don't want to get too far off topic here.. but, suffice it to say, I have found the HAL board very useful in gathering the info that I have been looking for regarding cruising with HAL again. I have been on Princess a few times, Norwegian once, and a couple of European cruises a few years back.. just FYI. 6 in total I think... to answer your other question.

 

I couldn't vote either. I've only been on HAL once and will be going on the same ship next month. Frankly, though, I'd eat pork n beans out of a can just to get my cruise fix.

 

Tangent 1) Devil's Advocate: If you liked HAL for every thing BUT the food, why not go again and just PLAN to eat in the Pinnacle? It would cost less than moving up to Crystal or one of the other true-premium lines.

 

Tangent 2) Just for curiosity's sake, what's your cruise history like? I know you've cruised before - Princess, was it? What would you call your best overall experience, and best food experience? Best overall would have been my last HAL cruise, best food would have been Celebrity Infinity.

 

If you don't want the thread to get off topic, feel free to start a new one or contact me off-list. My email is the obvious at yahoo.

 

Cheers,

 

Friday of the tangents