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Do you eat at a special place after your cruise?

J&Dhighdesert

By J&Dhighdesert,
in Holland America Line

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OlsSalt

OlsSalt

Posted
Posted
On our way home from the airport we usually go through a McDonald's drive through for a quarter pound burger and fries. Not very exotic' date=' but it says home for us. That being said, we never eat McDonald's any other time, just post cruise.[/quote']

 

When I do foreign land travel I always try to check out a McDonalds just to see how the brand translates around the world - amazingly they keep the exact same flavor and texture consistency, but also add some menu items that are very local like Durian milkshakes in Malaysia, green pea pockets in China and some sort of curries in Sri Lanka.

 

Most interesting is seeing how other cultures adapt to the McDonald's culture of fast food service and selections. Like eating french fries with chop sticks.

 

I don't mean to defend fast food (can't) and I am not keen seeing it replace local food at all (truly tragic). But it is what it is, and it is quintessentially "American' which is why it became such a fascinating outpost to observe around the world. (File under: the good, bad and ugly)

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lvz2cruz

lvz2cruz

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I had to laugh at the title.

We usually drive and end up at McDonalds or Wendys and lament how far we have fallen from the food on the ship. If it is not a Sunday Chick Fil A is the easy and only answer. That's not such a disappointment.

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Sundagger

Sundagger

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After flying into Albuquerque from a port, on my way home to Santa Fe, I always had to have a green chile cheeseburger and a malt at the Route 66 Diner. An antidote to the ship's cooking. I really, really miss that tradition since I moved to a suburb of Minneapolis not long ago.

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OlsSalt

OlsSalt

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Posted (edited)
...... Coffee at home in the morning tastes sooo good.

 

An ironic twist on the first day back cup of coffee is DH fell in love with the coffee we discovered on a HAL shore excursion in Puerto Chiapas Mexico to the Argovia Coffee and Flower Plantation.

 

He now orders kilos of it directly from Chiapas, Mexico, and even with shipping it is cheaper than other premium brands available locally. So that is always his first thing when he gets back - a cup of his HAL shore excursion find: Argovia coffee. In fact, HAL should look into a special relationship with them and make their brand the official HAL coffee brand.

Edited by OlsSalt
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RMLincoln

RMLincoln

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Posted
After flying into Albuquerque from a port, on my way home to Santa Fe, I always had to have a green chile cheeseburger and a malt at the Route 66 Diner. An antidote to the ship's cooking. I really, really miss that tradition since I moved to a suburb of Minneapolis not long ago.

 

It's still there on Central, Route 66! Hard to beat an authentic NM green chile cheeseburger! Glad you have good memories of it. m--

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kazu "Live from...." Rare

kazu

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We usually stay post cruise for a day or two (or more), so yes I try to find a nice place to eat. Since we will be going to Paris this time, I expect we should be able to find a great place to eat and trust me, it won't be McD's ;)

 

We prefer to savor the flavour on our cruises in different ports and don't do the North American fast food places :)

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ellieanne

ellieanne

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Posted
When I do foreign land travel I always try to check out a McDonalds just to see how the brand translates around the world - amazingly they keep the exact same flavor and texture consistency, but also add some menu items that are very local like Durian milkshakes in Malaysia, green pea pockets in China and some sort of curries in Sri Lanka.

 

Most interesting is seeing how other cultures adapt to the McDonald's culture of fast food service and selections. Like eating french fries with chop sticks.

 

I don't mean to defend fast food (can't) and I am not keen seeing it replace local food at all (truly tragic). But it is what it is, and it is quintessentially "American' which is why it became such a fascinating outpost to observe around the world. (File under: the good, bad and ugly)

 

I always like to check out McDonald's in other places as well. They are the same, but slightly different. I even try some of the regionally different items. I make no apologies for that.

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ellieanne

ellieanne

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Timmies!!:D

 

Timmie's is always a required stop on our Canada/New England cruises. Unfortunately this last time, we only made it to one Timmies because we had to skip two Canada ports due to rough seas. (And I have to say the TimBits were a bit disappointing -- it seemed like they were a bit old and stale, not as fresh and new as I remembered getting in the past.)

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Randyk47

Randyk47

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We usually go straight home but that's because we use a car service and don't have our own vehicle. What we do once home really depends on the time we get home. For our string of Med cruises we weren't getting home until 9:00-10:00 PM after usually 16-18 hours of travel so no thought of going out. Last year was a much easier, at least in the sense of travel home, Caribbean cruise and we were back home by about 3 PM. In that case we took a couple of hours to unpack, got our cats out of hiding, and went to our favorite Irish pub that evening. It's relaxed and we have a lot of friends there so it's good to reconnect. With Mrs K still working full time it's usually not more than two or three days until we're back into the routine of cooking at home with at least Friday evening as "date night" out.

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OlsSalt

OlsSalt

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Posted (edited)

Tim Hortons also offers "Timbits" which are the donut holes. By the bag. That is our ritual treat when we have layovers in any Canadian Airport.

 

BTW: just saw a new bar/restaurant in our hometown in Southern California is offering poutine. After having the best at Chez Ashton in Quebec on our recent Veendam cruise, I shall inspect this California version to make sure it has the requisite squeaks.

Edited by OlsSalt
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slidergirl

slidergirl

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Posted (edited)

I usually have a late-night arrival from my flights, after 9pm. By the time I get up the mountain to my town, everything but the Del Taco or, if it's the weekend, Wendy's at the Interstate offramp is closed. So, it's the soft chicken tacos or a grilled chicken sandwich for me.

 

As for Mickey D's: I will frequent them overseas if I need a restroom. Buy a drink for the ability to honestly use the restroom meant for customers. I do notice some local differences: saimin on the menu in Hawaii, beer on the menu in Konigsee, Germany, etc. But, I do not eat there - I reserve my dining for mostly non-fast-food-takeout places. I'll admit to grabbing some frites at a stand in Belgium, grabbing a panini from the window of a bar in Rome and popping into a Paul store in Paris for a sandwich ;)

Edited by slidergirl
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vicd1969

vicd1969

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Posted

Before the cruise: Nothing - I'm starving myself to prepare for all the food I will feast on during the cruise. Ok, maybe the airline peanuts.

 

After the cruise: Movie popcorn when I catch up on what blockbuster movie I missed during my time away.

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