BYO Teabags

[3rdGenCunarder]

Teapots are a fire hazard?! :D

 

Ok, the word must mean something very different over there.

 

This is a teapot.

 

 

Pre-heating involves pouring some boiling water into it to warm it up, then disposing of the water before staring to make the tea.

This prevents the temperature of the water for your tea dropping too quickly and not extracting the full flavor of the tea.

 

And a very cute teapot, too. KK meant an electric kettle. Posters sometimes ask if it's OK to bring one along (and sometimes they say "electric teapot.") Electric kettles are against HAL's rules.

 

You can get a small pot of tea in the MDR. Ask for a pot, ask for the kind of tea you want (or hand the waiter your own teabag) and ask that the bag be put into the pot, not served alongside. if you have a fixed dining time with the same waiters, they'll learn what you want, at least ours did. If you've got open dining, then you'll have to tell the waiter what you want each night.

[LobstersLass]

And a very cute teapot, too. KK meant an electric kettle. Posters sometimes ask if it's OK to bring one along (and sometimes they say "electric teapot.") Electric kettles are against HAL's rules.

 

You can get a small pot of tea in the MDR. Ask for a pot, ask for the kind of tea you want (or hand the waiter your own teabag) and ask that the bag be put into the pot, not served alongside. if you have a fixed dining time with the same waiters, they'll learn what you want, at least ours did. If you've got open dining, then you'll have to tell the waiter what you want each night.

 

Hi, yes I had heard that kettles were prohibited. I couldn't for the life of me work out why a teapot would be.

 

Thanks for the tip about getting a decent cup of tea in the MDR!

 

Edit - I've searched the HAL website and can't find where it says that kettles are banned. I can see the bit about irons, but not kettles. Does anyone have a link please?

[LobstersLass]

Hi, yes I had heard that kettles were prohibited. I couldn't for the life of me work out why a teapot would be.

 

Thanks for the tip about getting a decent cup of tea in the MDR!

 

Edit - I've searched the HAL website and can't find where it says that kettles are banned. I can see the bit about irons, but not kettles. Does anyone have a link please?

 

Sorry for bumping my own post, but does anyone have a link to where HAL says that you can't take kettles on board. I've spent some time looking but can't find anything.

Thanks in advance.

 

I saw that you can't take your own power bar but can get them from the front office. Does anyone know how much they cost to hire? Thanks.

[RuthC]

I saw that you can't take your own power bar but can get them from the front office. Does anyone know how much they cost to hire? Thanks.

There's no charge for this. Just return it at the end of the cruise (you can leave it in the cabin).

[LobstersLass]

There's no charge for this. Just return it at the end of the cruise (you can leave it in the cabin).

 

That's great! Thanks for the speedy reply.

[OHCruiser]

I am not a tea expert but love a cup of tea in the afternoon in the winter. A few years ago on the NA we got soaked coming back to the ship in roatan...we ordered room service and I ordered hot tea...I got a tea bag with holland America on the bag...it was a great cup of tea:). Not sure if it was because it was good tea or that I was freezing!!!

 

That being said...how much room does a few tea bags take...I bring my own when I babysit the grands:)

 

DH & I love the Bigelow English Breakfast and yes, it's always the first to disappear--and I strongly suspect that it's because thoughtless people hoard it. However, we also think that the Holland America brand tea is wonderful and we often order it in the MDR where the water is always steaming hot.

 

I think that sometimes the teas don't taste as good as they could because not only is the water too cool for good brewing, but also because the water is "different" than what we're used to.

[Typhoon1]

DH is a tea drinker. He has always found the tea selection on HAL to be very much to his liking. It may vary depending on which venue you are dining in.

[snowmc]

My kids like PG Tips and have been able to find Tetley's onboard several HAL ships, which was acceptable. I like a cup of pomegranate herbal tea at night, so always bring that. I think this cruise, the kids (19 and 23) might bring their own, as they have gotten far more particular as they get older!

[feathersandnananose]

Just wondering - has anyone noticed tea differences according to where you're sailing to/from?

 

For example, if PG Tips was offered, was the cruise sailing out of England? I've never seen it sailing from U.S. ports (Seward, San Diego, Ft. Lauderdale), but I'm not a committed tea drinker. Just a now and then.

 

But we're doing a Midnight Sun cruise out of Dover this summer - perhaps the teas will be different?

[GeriatricNurse]

Just wondering - has anyone noticed tea differences according to where you're sailing to/from?

 

For example, if PG Tips was offered, was the cruise sailing out of England? I've never seen it sailing from U.S. ports (Seward, San Diego, Ft. Lauderdale), but I'm not a committed tea drinker. Just a now and then.

 

But we're doing a Midnight Sun cruise out of Dover this summer - perhaps the teas will be different?

 

 

There was always a large box of PG Tips teabags located with all the other tea selections in the Lido onboard the Westerdam on my recent 20-Day Trans Panama Canal cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to San Diego. ;)

[Skipper's Mom]

My dear MIL loves the darjeeling tea onboard HAL. This last cruise, she would specifically ask for it in the MDR and at first our waiter played dumb. However, when we would order room service, we would get the HAL darjeeling bags.

 

It really looks tacky when she picks up the darjeeling in the Lido and hoards it for later in the day. :p

 

Lynne

[Valley Girl of VA]

Bring your own teabags. All the teabags that I saw in February were all decaffeinated. I prefer tea with some caffeine in it.

[baadbee]

OP, first cruise on HAL? In the MDR or Pinnacle Grill do not ask for a cup/pot of tea. Ask for either a specific type and brand or ask to see the tea chest and choose your tea:D

 

Good hint, I know that from restaurants around Seattle. If you don't ask for a specific type of tea sometimes they have Liption and bring you that. Those are floor sweepings in my book. Nice to see all the tea lovers reading the thread. I'm usually the odd duck here in the US. When I moved from Canada I had to learn to ask for "hot" tea (more of a requirement south of WA state). It never occurred to me that anyone would consider iced tea the default....

[baadbee]

There are not any tea pots in the cabins on HAL ships.

 

Also do not bring your own.

 

They are a fire hazzard.

 

I'm used to posts going off the rails but this tangent I didn't see coming. Just for the record the reference to preheating tea pots was just to draw a distinction between folks who are particular about their tea and those that aren't. I wasn't planning to heat my own water, too much bother even if it was allowed.

[Kesstral]

All this tea talk just made me fire up my kettle! I'll watch for the HAL branded one, it sounds interesting.

[Topsham]

The Rotterdam has PG Tips in the Lido. This is the first time I've seen this type of tea on HAL. We are also tea drinkers only. We always bring a tea supply with us just in case ......

 

 

Well that make ROTTERDAM the best in the business!!!!

 

PG TIPS is THE tea of teas!

 

They probably carry it because they store ship in Rotterdam and it is easy to get from UK.

 

I've got one brewing right now as I write this.

[TiogaCruiser]

What is PG Tips? A style of tea? A brand? A specific variety? Part of the tea????

[GeriatricNurse]

Bring your own teabags. All the teabags that I saw in February were all decaffeinated. I prefer tea with some caffeine in it.

 

I find that hard to believe! :eek: I have never had any problem locating all sorts of caffeinated teas in the Lido! :) Did you ask any of the Lido staff? :confused:

 

[wombat57]

PG Tips are a UK brand of tea bags which are quite difficult to find and expensive here in Australia - so I was very pleased to find them on board our recent cruise on the Volendam from Kobe to Hong Kong.

I'm very keen on them - so much so that when my sister (who was living in Britain at the time) came home from the UK for a Christmas visit a few years ago she brought me a very welcome Christmas present - a bulk package of 2500 PG Tips tea bags thoughtfully wrapped in Christmas paper.

[GeriatricNurse]

My dear MIL loves the darjeeling tea onboard HAL. This last cruise' date=' [b']she would specifically ask for it in the MDR and at first our waiter played dumb.[/b] However, when we would order room service, we would get the HAL darjeeling bags.

 

It really looks tacky when she picks up the darjeeling in the Lido and hoards it for later in the day. :p

 

Lynne

 

If I were ever to dine in the MDR again, :eek:, I would bring my tea bag(s) of choice, (obtained from the Lido), with me to dinner, just in case they were unavailable at dinner in the MDR! ;)

[iancal]

My mother seldom travelled anywhere without her own teabags. Airplanes, some restaurants, hotels, etc.

 

After that, her biggest issue was actually getting boiling water for the tea, not just that warm/hot water that does not bring out the taste.

 

PG Tips comment brought a smile to my face...so would M&S brand tea.

 

Many of the tea bags now seem to be more dust than tea and little taste.

[Valley Girl of VA]

I find that hard to believe! :eek: I have never had any problem locating all sorts of caffeinated teas in the Lido! :) Did you ask any of the Lido staff? :confused:

 

 

I did not find any in the MDR where I would have tea after dinner. A box was brought out to me and there were no caffeinated tea bags. I was on the Oosterdam in February and I can only report what happened to me. I'm sorry if you are confused.